sweet redemption

mostly because i hate to lose, i took another whack at blondies tonight.

they're all gone, and not because they got thrown away. BECAUSE PEOPLE COULDN'T STOP EATING THEM.

this photo is proof of my victory.

judge not.

i always feel a certain sense of shame when i go to the vending machines at school, like people are watching me, judging me.

yes, YES i got pretzels AND peanut m&ms, ok?! YES, it is my lunch. STEP OFF.

sometimes, i decide to grow out my bangs.
sometimes, i can't find a bobby pin to get them the heck out of my face.
sometimes, this is just the only alternative.
sometimes, I LOOK LIKE THIS.

today is my dad's birthday. i love my dad.
my dad is good. my dad is smart. my dad is honorable. my dad is no-nonsense.


one time, for his birthday, instead of us giving him presents, he gave each one of us a present. at the time, i was obsessed with beanie babies, but had yet to acquire one of my own. imagine my joy when i opened this up:
i still have it, not just because it's cute. because it reminds me of the kind of man my dad is--he's the kind of man that thinks about other people, and puts their needs before his own. i have countless memories of him secretly paying for peoples' food at restaurants, picking up hitch-hikers, and offering to help me with my math homework. my dad is the kind of person who just wants to do what is right. i couldn't ask for a better example.

happy birthday, dad. i love you.

i'll never let go.

Taco Bell Reponds to Lawsuit Claiming the Chain Isn't Using Real Beef
saw this article today.

LOOK HOW MUCH I CARE.

if i were a pokemon:

i think this is actually a fairly accurate portrayal of my personality. thanks, nathan.

i hate blondies.

when i lived in missouri, we had these really good family friends. the mom made the best blonde brownies i have ever tasted. i was obsessed with them. once i got old enough for my mom to trust that i wouldn't blow up the house if i were to use the kitchen (approximately age 12), i decided i needed to make some blondies of my own, using the israelsen recipe.
it was a disaster. i don't know what i did. but whatever i ended up creating was bad enough that my mom lost all faith in my cooking abilities (up until maybe about a year ago). i was traumatized. to this day, the israelsen's still laugh at me. i'm not kidding.

but there comes a time in every woman's life where she has to face her fears. today was that day. i was going to a dinner where i had signed up to bring the dessert--i had my recipe picked, my ingredients ready, and my game face on. they went off without a hitch. they looked beautiful. they smelled awesome. i took them out of the oven at 5:27 and left my house at 5:30, all the while so dang pleased with myself for having overcome my fear of making blondies.

this was a bad idea. the cold turned them into little bricks. rather than soft and chewy, they probably could have killed a small child, which was dangerous since there was in fact a small child at this gathering. (sorry for endangering your posterity, megan.)

all those years of coming to terms with blondie failure...wasted. back to square one.