Tiff Explains It All

Not really, I'm just drawing a serious blank on the blogging front, guys. I'm thinking about starting a mini series about how boyfriend and I started and how it's working out with all my lovely cynicism. I figure it's a part of my life at the current and it's actually a pretty funny story, so maybe you guys will enjoy it. If not...well, too damn bad! BUT FOR TODAY, I'll be listing five things (hopefully interesting) about me. I know, it's so great and original.

1] I eat and drink in the shower. 

Yeah, I'm not even kidding. My sister does it, too, so I know I'm not the only one! It's just so convienient to have a soda, a bowl of cereal, or perhaps a popsicle while showering! It's multitasking at it's finest, I assure you. 

2] I have a serious knack for memorizing song lyrics and people.

I can hear a song once or twice and know the words to it. Everything I have to learn ever should be in the form of a song, and I'd be golden. Swear it. Physical chemistry jingles...I'm coming for you. As for people, I remember names and what not really well. So well that sometimes I'll pretend to not remember someone's name just so they don't think I'm too interested or just a creepy lady...

3] Two favorite poems:

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe. He's a genius. I fell in love with this poem the first time I read it, and I'll always love it.

Sonnet XVII by Pablo 

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close and I fall asleep. 

4] I would love to be veterinarian, but...

I cringe when I see a dead animal on the road, I would cry if I ever hit one, and I think I would just die if I had to euthanize one. We have such strong ties to our pets, they really are family, and it'd be like killing someone's son or daughter or brother or sister! 

5] I have an obsession with red velvet.

I have made red velvet whoopie pies, crepes, rice crispie treats, cake balls, cheese caked, cookies, brownies, and cake. I can't get enough. I love it so much.

It's aliiiiiive!

That's right, I am in fact alive. I'm sorry about the ridiculous hiatus from blogging I seem to have taken. I don't really have any excuses this time except I've spent my down time reading and pinning with nothing interesting to blog about! I need to make it a goal to blog at least once a week. I'll try really, really hard. Promise.

Quick recap of the past month and a half:

Book Time
I've been reading a lot lately, and I love that I've had time to do so. I read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire, both were excellent. The Hunger Games trilogy (can't wait for the movie!). Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince which I loved. The Maze Runner trilogy, also loved it!

Hockey Game
I went to my first hockey game a few weekends ago, and I gotta say it was awesome. It's a very fast paced sport, so there is something going on the whole time they play which is nice. There was only one fight, which, I feel awful admitting, was the best part! Although the team I rooted for lost, they made several goals right that the end which gave us hope. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough!

Toby
I got a puppy! His name is Toby. Bask in his utter adorableness. He's a sweetie. Eli and I took him for a ride around town, and the poor guy got super car sick. Of course he had to be in my lap since Eli was driving, so I got vomited all over and all over Eli's truck. It's okay though, now he has car sick pills. = )

Valentine's Day shenanigans
Yup! I got a new camera for Valentine's Day! Whoo! I was pretty stoked. Actually, he handed me the camera box, and in my family it's not unusual for someone to grab a random box to put your gift in, so I immediately start opening the box wondering what's inside. It never occurred to me that he actually bought me a camera. Right about the time I got the box open he says, "Why are you opening it?!" "OH MY GOD IT IS ACTUALLY A CAMERA OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!" Yep. I was excited. And gummy bears. Hollah.

Also on Valentine's day, Eli had to work so I suggested a date night the weekend before. So I get all cute in my dress, and we head to the city for dinner. Get to Olive Garden, there's a 45 minute wait, so he suggests we go see how long the wait is at the Japanese place. 45 minutes with an incredibly full waiting area (Eli hates crowds and it was balls ass cold out side), so we go to another place. An hour and a half later, we are back at Olive Garden, waiting the 45 minutes in his truck. He's grumpy because he's starving, so I suggest we go back to town, order a pizza, and just have a pizza and beer night at his house. He agrees. He gets out of the car to take the buzzer back, stops, turns around and says, "Wait...was that the right answer?" "Yes! Just go take that back!" I've never eaten a pizza so fast in my life.

I text in my sleep
Apparently, when I'm texting and falling asleep, I will slip out of consciousness and continue texting. Woke up one morning to find this gem waiting for me. I still have no idea what I was talking about.

And some random pictures taken with my fancy shmancy new camera:

"You are supposed to read the instruction manual first, Tiff!"

Excuse me, we mustache you a question...

Why yes, this is Big Boy with a 'stache.

He wouldn't stop chewing gummy bears. 

Alas, this is all I have for now! I have a few ideas for some posts, and I will try my hardest to post at the very least once a week. I promise I've still been reading your blogs. Have a fabulous week!

Christmas Haul 2011!

Well, guys, I hope you had a magnificent holiday!  I know it was crazy at my house on Christmas Day with all my nieces and nephew running around, but I loved every minute of it. This year, due to my, as well as my mom, sister, and Cait's, obsession with Pinterest, some adorable DIY gifts were made. Seriously, Pinterest is eating my soul. If only I could get paid to pin all day, right? Anyway, here are some of the fabulous gifts I was given this Christmas:





1] A magnetic board to hold pictures, notes, or even little make up organizers! Given to me by my beautiful sister.

2] A shirt that says Always with the Deathly Hallows! Given to me by the lovely Cait. (She also made me one that says, "Come at me bro," but it doesn't show up well in pictures.)

3] A stencil I made for Kei. (Thanks to my boyfriend for introducing me to the world of stenciling!)

4] Canvas art for Cait. Audrey is felt from an old shirt I have with the quote, "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, 'I'm Possible.'"

Along with all these wonderful handmade presents, I got some really awesome commercial gifts. My brother got me Easy A, a bunch bath stuff from my parents and a coat, a scarf and lotion from Katie, and a scarf from my boyfriend's mom. From my awesome boyfriend I received The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. That's right. I said The Complete Calvin and Hobbes! I was so excited. I love, love, love Calvin and Hobbes. Now I have them all!

Things to do in place of studying.

Well, bloggers, it's that time again. That dreadful week of sweats, coffee, and more math than I've ever wanted to cram into seven days. Finals week. Luckily, I have but three finals, and one of them I'm not even counting because I'm cocky and not worried at all. It will probably come back to bite me later, but this is something I'm willing to accept. Unluckily, I'm pretty sure I have tonsillitis, so studying is that absolute last thing on my to do list, hence me blogging instead of studying.

In honor of avoiding my finals prep, I've compiled a list of the ridiculously exciting things I'm doing instead.

1. Blogging.
This is a given since I'm writing this blog, but still. I'm not only writing this blog, I have been perusing blogs as well. I'm trying to find a link-up I really like so that I can blog at the very least once a week, even when school begins next semester!

2. Rockin' my hips to the blues.

If I learned anything from Grey's Anatomy other than doctors are whores, it's that when you're down, dancing it out is the best thing you can do if you don't cry. The stress of school is bogging me down, what do I do? I crank up one of the best forms of music ever and get to moving. I can't actually dance at all, but it feels good! If you don't do this, do it. I promise it's surprisingly effective.

3. Baking.

We all know how I am about baking. I just cannot help it. I love it. The other day, I made cream cheese cookies. It was my first time tweaking a recipe a bit, and I have to say they didn't turn out horribly! They weren't as sweet as I'd like, but I'm pretty sure that's just the result of the cookie and my intense sweet tooth. I've been all over blogs and pinterest, compiling a list of recipes and desserts I want to try! I'll be posting about them because that's what I do. Maybe I'll start a list of recipes I've tried?

4. Reading.

I've been holding off on the reading because I know once I start, it'll be bye bye studying for finals and hello literature. I keep telling myself, just one more week, just one more week! Then, I have about eight or so books to borrow from the boyfriend and I will crawl into seclusion and bask in the glory of my book adventures. It will be heavenly.

5. Pinterest.

I cannot get off of this thing. It is so wonderful. It's an addiction. I'm on here more than I'm on facebook, which lately, I haven't been on facebook all that often. If you have pinterest, link me so I can follow you!

6. The Nutcracker Ballet.

Tonight, Eli is taking me to see The Nutcracker Ballet. It's just the one here in town because he had to work last night so we didn't get to go to Memphis to see it. I am absolutely in love with The Nutcracker. It's definitely one of my all time favorite ballets. When I was eight, my school took a trip to see it in Memphis(where I lived at the time) and I was entranced. Ever since, Tchaikovsky has been my favorite composer. I love his ballets and his fantasias after Shakespeare. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. So is my boyfriend for taking me to see a ballet which is arguably very unmanly. ;D

Legit almost burned down my kitchen.

I decided I'd be a good girlfriend and cook dinner for Eli Sunday night. Problem being, I'm more of a baker than a cooker, and I hate to handle raw meat with a sincere passion. Lucky for me, he took over the chicken cooking, and I did the rest. He's so sweet. When it comes time to cook the chicken, I pour olive oil into the skillet for him and BAM! Huge flames. All over the place. I just stand there in shock remembering the time my mom and I burned down our kitchen, until I finally manage to say, "ELI! DO SOMETHING!" He just held the skillet and let the flames burn out, but my microwave was all covered in soot. I just knew my kitchen would burn down, I was so horrified. I guess the skillet was too hot and we should've put the oil in BEFORE heating the skillet. I'll know for next time at least. We did have fun cooking together though. We made chicken parmesan over a bed of spaghetti with mac and cheese and garlic bread. Talk about nommy. The kitchen was such a mess by the time we got done, I should've taken pictures!

Speaking of pictures, I did take pictures of a pumpkin cheesecake I made the other night. I'm pretty sure by the time this week is over I will have gained ten pounds from eating it. I love pumpkin so, so much. My coworker cut up, cooked, and pureed pumpkin for me, and it was delicious. I combined a few recipes based on ingredients I have, but I'll link the main recipe with the praline toppings. Graham cracker crust, pumpkin cheesecake filling, and pecans covered in brown sugar on top. Sounds ridiculously wonderful, right? ;D
Recipe here!

I hope you all have an excellent Thanksgiving and eat tons and tons of great food with your families!

"I'm SO glad our marshmallows taste like marshmallows, mother!"

Hey guys! I hope your November is going splendidly. This is my last week before Thanksgiving break, and let me tell you, it cannot get here quick enough! I've got so much to do by Friday, yet here I am blogging instead. I'm okay with this. ;D

Last week Eli and I carved pumpkins. Yes, I know, it was after Halloween, but we didn't get the chance before Halloween! We had fun doing it anyway. I ended up with an extra pumpkin that I think I'm going to use to make my own pumpkin puree for a pumpkin cheesecake. Sounds delightful, yeah?!

Eli's vomiting pumpkin. XD 

My Jack Skellington!

This weekend was pretty busy for me with my niece's fifth birthday party and spending the day with my darling Katie Saturday. Friday started out with my car dying while I was at Target, so I had to wait for an hour before anyone was available to come get me! Turns out my alternator is bad and it's been draining my battery. Bummer. That night Eli and I went to Chuck E. Cheese's  for Zoe's birthday party. Naturally, I jacked coins and ran around with Eli playing games. Lots of pretty pictures were taken, but these are hands down my favorites!

My sister and I completely unprepared to be taking the picture!

The boyfriend and me. 

My momma, sister, and me!

Me with the beautiful birthday girl!

Then, Saturday, Katie was in town so we got the bright idea that we'd bake together. What did we decide to bake? Marshmallows, of course! It was horrid. For starters, gelatine smells terrible. It was very sticky and way too much work. They did taste delicious though. While waiting for the marshmallows to set, we made red velvet whoopie pies which were awesome! Somehow I ended up with all but two of them.

So happy to be mixing the marshmallows! (Before it thickened)

Pretty marshmallow mix.

Check out those beauties. Homeade cream cheese frosting.

The marshmallows being cut. Not an easy process.

All in all, the weekend was lovely even though my car broke down. What could be better than Chuck E. Cheese's, baking, the Razorbacks AND the Titans winning?? Have a great week, guys!

Halloween Weekend

I suck at blogging, I swear. I know I haven't been blogging since classes started, but it's really because I have nothing to talk about. I do the same stuff all the time! My apologies. 

This past weekend I actually went out though, which was pretty fun. Went to some bars in Little Rock with the boys and the boyfriend. We went to this place called The Flying Saucer that has oodles and oodles of beers from around the world. I got a hard cider, which was wonderful, and an Italian beer that was horrible. It was really bitter, so I stopped drinking it. It was that bad. I think we had to pass it around the table to get it all finished because everyone hated it. We also got to watch the Cards win the World Series. Whoo! 

Ummm...Saturday I went to Rocky Horror with Katie and Eli. I dressed as Olive from Easy A and she was Flo the Progressive Girl. We tried to get Eli to wear his scrubs and be Dr. Karev from Grey's, but he wouldn't. That's the most exciting weekend I've had, sorry I don't have better things to blog about!