Chef for a week

For a long while now, I've been really wanting to learn how to cook. I want to be able to cook and cook well. Now, I can make a few things like meatloaf, Crockpot Chicken, and Chicken Chilie, but I haven't ever made anything new. Well, I have....once. But it was a horrible experience and a not much better meal, so I try to block that memory from my mind.
I've tried my hand at making pasta salad twice. Both times it's been fun and satisfactory to put some creative effort into my food and then eat it. Well, with these successes, I took the advice of my brother, Ryan, and decided to make a meal plan for the dinners of the week.
So, without telling anyone, I went snooping around foodnetwork.com for recipes that captured my interest. I knew I wouldn't have to plan anything for Sunday, and I wasn't going to do anything for Saturday either. So, I was going to find 5 recipes. Suddenly, everything started coming together so I talked to Mom and told her about how I wanted to take over the kitchen for the week. She was all too pleased, as you can imagine.
Well, I'm not going to tell you the recipes until I make them. However, I promise to write a post for each recipe so you can follow me on my journey of cooking. Also, I'll take pictures. :)

Tori's Birthday Outing

Even though this is rather late, I said I'd post it, so, I'm gonna post. I wanted to take my friend Tori out for her birthday. So, we planned to go shopping at Plato's closet which is a resale store that sells name brand clothing. Then, we'd go and hit the movies to watch X-Men: First Class. We hooked up and had so much fun looking through the racks and finding hilarious shirts.

Tori almost wanted to get this shirt. :D 

I thought this one was great.

After Plato's closet, we headed to the theatre where we walked around and looked at posters. On the way, we spotted the cut out for Taylor Lautner's new movie, Abduction. Tori had to stop and take a picture with him. So, I got in it too.  

We had such a fun time! It was really great and she enjoyed the movie as did I (I'd already seen it though). Can't wait to go out with her again. 

July=Fun

While these last few days of July have not had any huge stand outs, the rest of July will be pretty fun packed. On Tuesday, I'm going to be hangin' out with one of my girlfriends! (I'll post on it, with pictures!) Then, next week I have a Region Camp. I'm sure all of you know what Region is, 'cause I've explained it before. I must have. :D Anyway, so it'll be the first time I get my music that I'll be singing for the next few months. Plus, I'll be there with some of my friends! That always makes something fun, more fun. After all of this, I've got an event planned for my choir which will be tons of fun! After that? Who knows? Maybe even more fun things will present themselves!

Rediscovering

     So, with all of this reading I've been doing lately, I have neglected my writing. Shameful, I know. I myself was appalled in thinking back to when I'd last written. And I mean, WRITTEN! Not editing or rereading what I'd written, or adding a sentence here and there. I mean, locked up in my room for several hours, sitting on my bed with the computer on my lap, the open document before me, and wrestling with myself on how to write one page. That's real writing. And I hadn't done it in awhile.
     Well, on Sunday, I was talking to some of my friends about my past books. Thinking over these books that I'd completed, I suddenly got this craving to write again. I got home and when I got the chance, locked myself in my room (not litereally of course), got on my bed, put the computer on my lap, opened the document, and stayed in that position until I'd written about a page. It was something like two hours later. :D
     Boy, did it feel good! I mean, I always know I enjoy writing, but I neglect it so often for something else. Then, when I finally get back to it, I'm like, "WHOAH! Why do I not do this everyday?!" Watching a blank page fill up with words that have come out of you is a feeling that no can understand, unless you've done it yourself. It's surreal, let me tell you that.      
     Also, I've been trying to work out my plot for my upcoming Nano novel. Yes, I start planning early. :) Well, I have the general shell of an idea, but for a few days the names of the characters were really illuding me. And when I can't think of names, it drives me crazy. This may be due to the fact that I have trouble fleshing out my characters until they're named. A lot of other people I know that write make their characters first and then name them. Not me. I've always got the loose idea of what the character's traits are, but I can never find the right words to describe them. When the name hits, then the exact words come.
     So, I was struggling with the names until yesterday. All of a sudden, I had this name streak, and all these names came pouring into my brain. And I found the perfect ones for my characters!!! All 4! It was so exciting. You know what I did next? I went ahead and made their characters. ;)
     Yes, these last few days have been very exciting as I rediscover my passion for writing. There are few things I enjoy doing more. So, I think today, when I have my free time, I'm going to write. :D