Holly the Hedgehog (aka Holly Hedgie)

I have always wanted a hedgehog.  I researched their behavior and pet requirements for about a month...and yesterday was the big day.
Since there are no pet stores with exotic animals in my immediate area, I decided to search for a breeder.  My fiance, Kyle, suggested Craigslist.  I was very skeptical about this idea, but decided to give it a try anyways.  I found a hedgehog breeder in my area who had just posted an ad.  She had several hedgies, and when I looked at them, I immediately bonded with this little one ----->

There are many rewards to having a hedgehog.  Once they get comfortable and bond with you (which takes some patience), they will make wonderful little friends.  Their spikes are pretty prickly, but they won't puff up and spine you unless they're really scared/nervous.  Once a hedge learns to trust you, you can handle them without fear of getting poked.

Hedgehogs are easily litter trained, and will respond to their name after hearing it enough times.  They're nocturnal, which is perfect for me and others who are in school and/or work all day. 

The Saddest Part of Having Pets, is Losing Them :'(

Alfie, my second little hamster passed away last night :( She passed away exactly one month after her sister Lilo.

Yay Religion....

Ahhh...the ever controversial topic of religion.

Let's start with my upbringing and past church life.

I was baptized when I was very young, and my parents took me to church every Sunday.  When I was around 10 or 11 my mother took me to several different churches so I could see what other takes on Christianity existed.  We went to a Church of Nazarene, a Presbyterian church, a Catholic church, a few others I don't remember, and finally, a Lutheran church.  This became our family's church.  When I was old enough, I began Communion, and I served as the acolyte. In middle school I went to a private Christian school, but went to a public high school becuause I was in the IB Program (International Baccalaureate Program).  So basically, I was raised with a firm Christian upbringing.

But I always had questions.  I always asked the "wrong" questions. For example, in 6th grade I asked if my pets and other animals go to heaven. My teacher said no, because they don't know Jesus. Now...I love animals...often more times than people...so this did not sit well with me. Not at all.

I asked other questions, deeper than just whether or not animals had souls, but if I went into that I'd run out of characters for this post.

I have lost many family members in my life.  But none have been as painful as the loss of my Grandmother.  She practically raised me more than half of my life.  She was everything. When my parents fought with each other, or when they were upset with me...I turned to her for help. I never went to slumber parties with my friends, but I spent almost every single weekend at my Grandmother and Uncle's house growing up. My parents (and I'm sure I will regret saying this later) never really complimented me on anything.  Nothing was ever good enough for them.  But things were different with my Grandmother.  She told me everyday how much she loved me, that she was proud of me, and that I was beautiful and intelligent.  We had a tradition, every Thanksgiving and Christmas we would cook the meal for our family together.  My Mother would cook the turkey/ham, and my Grandmother and I would make everything else.  Then, after everyone ate, they would disperse throughout the house and it would be just me and her.  We would talk for hours, until she and my Uncle had to go home.

But it's not like that anymore.  Everything changed January 31, 2006. I am not the emotional/crying type of person...but I never cried as much as the day she left--and months after.  I cried myself to sleep for an entire year.  I would speak to her photo every morning and every night. I still have a photo of her in both the center of my bedroom at my parent's house, and in the middle of my apartment. I still tell her I miss her. I know this is silly, but every birthday since then, and for every birthday that I will have--I wish for her to come back, just for one day.

I apologize for the slight tangent, but I have to express how much she means to me for this to make sense.

So I had already had my doubts about religion starting in middle school. After the loss of my Grandmother, I threw out everything. At first I "prayed" telling God I hated him.  Then the prayers just stopped.  Then I started reading.  Actually reading the Bible, word for word.  I also started reading agnostic/atheist blogs on the internet.

Hopefully it's not too late to say this, but long story short: when I transferred to a new university, I joined the Atheist Student Alliance.  Many people would be surprised to know that Atheists are actually not evil, mean Satan worshipers.  We spend more time defending ourselves than sharing our point of view unfortunately. 

I don't understand how people buy into Christianity when the Bible is full of such awful things.  For example, Judges 19:1-20 tells of a story where a woman is raped all night long by "men of the city" and when she returns to her "master" he stabs her to death and then cuts her body into 12 pieces because she is a filthy, unclean whore now. That makes no sense! How can someone believe that such stories serve to teach morality and are products of divine wisdom.  Unquestioning adherence to the Bible would only serve to make one a sociopath instead of a "good/ethical person".  The next time I hear someone say there is no morality without the Bible, I will tell them to go read Judges 19:1-20.

From the website linked above: "The story, which must be one of the most disgusting stories ever told, ends with: "consider of it, take advice, and speak your mind." Those who do consider it will immediately reject the idea that the Bible is inspired by God. Hopefully, they then will speak their mind."

DIY Stickers

I like owls. I like stickers. And recently I have been searching online for owl stickers.  I quickly realized that one puny little sticker would cost about $4.00. So, I decided to make my own. They turned out so well, that I am going to share my method with the world!

First, you will need to obtain a sheet of Avery 2x4" label paper. You can probably get a single sheet for free from someone you know, or by asking very nicely at the print center (i.e. Staples). Then find 10 images you would like to turn into stickers, and paste them into a Word document. I had to adjust the margins to 0.45 for the top and bottom, and 0.25 for the left and right sides. Next, go to "Table" -> "Insert" -> Table" and adjust the table to 2 columns and 5 rows.  Assuming everything looks good at this point, go ahead and print. I wanted to prevent the stickers from fading and aging, so after I printed the stickers, I took a roll of clear shipping tape and covered 1 stickers at a time, applying the tape to where it just covered the image.

Final Product:

Bold Fashion Statement

Last night I think I had a fashion epiphany.  I decided to combine the simple outfit consisting of jeans and a white tank top with bold, impossible-to-miss hot pink Doc Marten boots. But then...I was inspired to take it just one step further.  The end result was the picture above.  A white tank top and dark skinny jeans with hot pink boots and a very visible, matching bra.  I feel like girls today are ashamed or embarrassed by their undergarments.  I also figured...if you're going to spend $50 on a garment, you may as well be able to show it off somehow. 

The overall reaction was shock and interest.  I received a few compliments from girls who would totally wear this outfit, but I also received menacing glares from people who either didn't like the outfit for some reason, or were jealous (I couldn't tell).

Dedication to My Best Little Hamster Friend

In memory of my little roborowski hamster, Lilo :'(

A Quick and Easy (that's what he said) Snack!

Here's a delicious, quick and healthy snack idea that I just invented:

Fresh ripe Calimyrna figs with brie and Wasa sesame crispbread.

Enjoy! :)

One of the Most Absurd Ideas Ever Heard

"Catholic Group Advocates Replacing Democracy With The Church"

My Artwork

I took two courses this summer, one of which was Equity in the School and Workplace.  It was an exit course, otherwise I probably never would have known about it or taken it.  In the class, we were assigned a project, which entailed a paper, a creative portion, and a presentation.  The cartoon below was my "creative" portion of the project.

One of My Favorite Recipes

Plum Cake

This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated, but I modified just a few things. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons raspberry jam

3 tablespoons brandy or wine 

1 pound Italian prune plums, halved and pitted 

1 cup flour (I use King Arthur all purpose)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup slivered almonds (crushed walnuts work nicely as a substitute)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter

1 egg and 1 yolk 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract 

Powdered sugar (optional)

Procedure:

1. Cook jam and brandy/wine in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until reduced to a thick syrup (2-3 minutes). Add plums, cut side down, and cook until they shed their syrup, about 5 minutes.  Cool in pan about 20 minutes. 
2. Preheat the oven to 350. Cover 9-inch springform pan (or cake pan) with butter to prevent sticking (or Pam with flour). Process sugar and nuts in food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. Add flour, baking powder, salt and pulse to combine. Cube the butter, then add and pulse about ten 1-second pulses. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.  Process until smooth, about 5 seconds, scraping bowl once if needed.  Batter will be thick and heavy. 
3. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Using spatula, spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Stir plums to coat with syrup.  Arrange plum slices evenly over the surface of the batter. Bake cake until golden brown, about 40-50 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan, and dust with powdered sugar and/or pour raspberry/brandy syrup on each slice.

Home for the Weekend

Next week my younger siblings will be starting a new school year, so I decided to come home for the weekend and hang out with them before they lose what little free-time they currently have.  While I was looking forward to going to Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the last week...about 3 minutes after I stepped in the door, I was told we weren't going due to the hot, rainy weather. Now...I knew it would be raining...which is why I brought my brand new rain boots with me...but since no one else wants to venture in the rain, I am left disappointed ::Heavy sigh::

On an even less happy note--my bedroom is ever so slowly being taken over by my youngest sister. All of the memory infused stuffed animals from my youth are residing in my closet...and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I will again be forced to either take them to my tiny apartment, or leave them and risk having someone sell them while I'm gone. I didn't know going to college deserved banishment, and I'm not sure why my family wants to erase all traces of me so much :(

My Fabulous Rain Boots Have Arrived!

I am thrilled to report that my Kamik 'Heidi' rain boots have just arrived :) . After an epic search to find them in my size, I finally succeeded, thanks to Amazon.  I went to Nordstrom (both in-store and online), eBay, Google Shopper, and several outdoors websites, and none of them had these boots in a size 8. Amazon, however, saved the day, and I even received free 2-day shipping because I signed up for the student membership. The boots are supposed to be plum, but appear much darker in real life. I have several cute rain ensembles lined up...now I just need some rain.

My First Post

Hello World,

So this is my first post of my first blog. I created this blog as a means of reflecting, venting, and possibly even sharing new things I discover about myself. I tend to stress over everything--whether it's an exam, a minor assignment, arriving somewhere on time, keeping my apartment organized, or even keeping up with a blog. I also tend to take my stress out on those around me...which hasn't been working out so well for me lately...hence this experimental blog.
I've never been one to keep a diary, instead I kept what I like to call a journal of important events in my life...which most would call a diary just because I'm a female. In any event, hopefully I will be able to keep up with this thing, and if anyone ever bothers to stop and read it, I would just like to say thank you now, and I always appreciate comments, advice, and new ideas.