This dinner is brought to you by: Jenny!

My awesome friend Jenny gave me a pre-made bean soup mix in a mason jar, including the spices, and tonight seemed like the perfect winter night to use it. Add a piece of cornbread and it made a great warm meal! Thanks J-Bomb!! You're the best! :)

Step #1: Admire the pretty beans in the jar.

Step #2: Rinse the beans off in a colander...

Step #3: Cook the beans in the microwave covered in water for 15 minutes.....

Step #4: After rinsing the beans again, put them in a pot, add 8 cups of water, the spice packet and a can of diced tomatoes and you will soon have a million servings of soup!!

Step #5: Enjoy! :)

Who needs a snow day, when we've got cookies?!

So, tonight it's cold and icy and gross out.....what else are you supposed to do but make cookies to take to work to get through the fact that hospitals never have snow days?! I found this recipe on a blog that is great! Cara shares tons of recipes and actually gets to cook for a living as a high school cooking teacher. I bet the school kitchen has tons of interesting sights with lots of learning taking place! Anyway, I tried one (just to make sure they're okay) and I am a fan. I think whenever you combo peanut butter, chocolate chips and M&M's....things are going to work out!Hopefully my friends at work feel the same. :)

Good help isn't so hard to find....

This afternoon I have the pleasure of hanging out with one of my friend's kids....it's a mighty group with spirited personalities! I love spending time with these guys and they are really into the helping mood!

We are all VERY excited for the big K-State/KU match-up tonight. I actually went to my parents' house this morning and had pancakes and watched College Gameday. There is a lot of purple going on! So, the kiddos showed up this afternoon full of energy and ready to help decorate cupcakes for the game tonight. They did a great job helping! They all wanted to do the K-State ones. ;)

After the kitchen duties, they were still itching for more stuff to do....and my dad had told me to shovel the sidewalk before it snows again next week. I'm not one to deny him a task (I know...I'm generous).....but Lutey did it with no complaint!

Geo noticed that my table was dusty so she did some dusting of it and my glass tray. She does FINE work and informed me that she can clean my house, "no problem, just call my mom."

I had picked up two more dining room chairs last week at NFM and still hadn't put them together....man do kids love sorting screws and bolts and nuts! Such good help!

After all the hard work, they relaxed with some popsicles, Snow White, played in the snow and we also did our nails. Way more productive afternoon than I would have predicted! Good luck to the Cats tonight!!

Over stocked...

The other day I came home from work and was absolutely sick of my kitchen pantry and the lack of organization that is going on in there! Turns out I have FOURTEEN cans of soup....btw, I don't have any roommates or anyone else living here. I, Michelle, am a soup hoarder. It's out of hand all of the non-perishable items that I have collected in the year and a half of living here. Wouldn't be a problem if I had a massive pantry like some folks, but my teeny space just can't keep up. Here's what happens....I buy stuff thinking that "might be good sometime" or "that's on sale, I'll buy 3" or "I should buy soup in case they stop selling it." What ultimately happens is that I buy things I know I like and I eat those instead of whatever other stuff I already have at home. For example, I have a freezer full of Lean Cuisines to "try" that I now think sound SICK!

I am envoking the Great Cupboard Clean-Out of 2011 at my house. This means, I am not going to buy an more non-perishable items at the store until these are gone....going to see how long it lasts but I am guessing probably for most of February. I am still going to buy fresh fruits and veggies and dairy products as I run out of those, but I'm going to clean this place up! I would really like to decrease how much processed foods I rely on for quick and easy things and start doing more natural foods.

Hopefully this will result in thoughtful meal planning, equally weight loss, more pantry space and a smaller grocery budget! :)

Here are a few pictures to show the massive quantities that I'm talking about....

My pantry with all of the following foods taken out....there's no room!

A sweet drawer for a sweet tooth...

I am seemingly always trying to eat healthy, lose weight and make good food choices.....and along with that, I need something SWEET in my life! I have developed a sweets drawer in my bar area and don't really have many other sweet treats in my house (with the exception of recently delivered Girl Scout cookies). This candy is not something that I have purchased to "just have around" but nevertheless it's on my property. It's mostly from leftover bunko snacks people have left when they have hosted at my house, my Christmas stocking, etc. It is not realistic for me to resist them all together as some people can with their crazy strong will power (Linds)....as that would be setting myself up for a binge of sweetness at some point down the road. So, I have developed the rule that if I am really craving something sweet, I can go get THREE and three only, pieces of candy. I have to eat them in the other room in a civilized fashion, not cramming them in my mouth as fast as I can over the drawer.....and then after that if I think I want more, I make myself really think about how badly I want them. It's working well so far! Nice little bit of sweetness at the end of a meal but I'm not committing to a bunch of calories! Wish me luck that this "program" continues with success. :)

Show Us Your Singles- Dallas Style!

So, I heard through a friend about a blog called Kelly's Korner. It's widely popular all over the country and rightfully so, she does a great job. Anyway, last week she did a post for people that are singles or who have single friends. She did it previously and there are three couples that have come from that, including two engagements. I thought that was really awesome that those connections happened through a blog post, and I thought, who better to write about than my baby sister Megan?! Here goes...

Meg (as I call her) recently turned 27 and has been in the Dallas area for several years. She is a CPA by trade; more specifically an auditor. This keeps her pretty busy during the accounting season and since she moves around to different sites and rarely works with the same people, it's difficult to make connections......so I thought I would do it for her!

Meg (on the left) and me in New Zealand...

Megan grew up in Kansas and still bleeds purple for our K-State Wildcats where she got both her bachelors and Masters degrees. She is an athletic, kind, funny and smart girl....oh yeah, and beautiful!! Whoever ends up with my sis will be one lucky guy!

Meg by the Opera House in Sydney....

My sister enjoys going to concerts, spending time with friends and traveling. She recently worked abroad in Australia for three months and I was lucky to get to go visit her and travel a bit when she was done. It was such a great experience together!

Meg and me in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge...

I could go on for days, but that's a little snippet about my sis- love you Meg! :)

Meg and me before the K-State vs. North Texas in Dallas this fall...

Non-Wedded Bliss....

So....I don't typically write about dating....nor do I plan on making it a habit, but just need to vent about how tough it can be! It's such a complicated and complex process that I think only gets more difficult. I'm fairly particular when it comes to what I want AND don't want in a person, but there are really only a few things that I am strict about. I wouldn't say I am picky (some may disagree) but I just know what I'm looking for and there are certain things I won't compromise on. Not that I don't love what I've got going on in life and at times really value being single and the freedom that comes with that, but dating can be a daunting task!

Anyway, I went out with a guy last weekend that I had met through a month membership of one of the dating websites. I've done them before and had some rocky encounters but this guy seemed promising and it was actually a really good time! We even talked about how he had a crummy date the night before and how much fun he was having. And he said he would call. And he didn't. Not the end of the world. Obviously not the right guy for me if he's going to do that.....but SO FRUSTRATING! Why go through the antics of acting interested and saying you're going to do something if you're not going to? Life will go on and I'll meet my Mr. Right sometime, but I'm so sick of having to deal with all these frogs in the meantime!

Another example of poor behavior....a good friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) met a guy, went out for drinks with him, and he goes as far as setting a day and specifies a location where they should go to a movie the following week and leaves it as, "I'll call you." And.....he doesn't! And she doesn't hear from him again. WHAT THE TRUCK!?!

Now, I know that there could be other things going on with these guys or things that change in their life, but bottom line, "He's Just Not That Into You" and that stinks. I try to stay excited about meeting my prince, but geeze, life makes it tough! Any words of wisdom on where to meet the guys that are worthwhile?!