soda cake?

1 box cake mix (any flavor)
10-12 fl oz diet soda (I prefer flavored seltzer water because it doesn't have any artificial sweeteners)

Mix together and bake according to the time and temperature on the box. Top with light whipped topping. For real, that's it.

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A co-worker told me about this, and I was definitely skeptical but figured it was worth a try. I would think it would need the eggs and oil to come together, but it really does work. Think of all the fat that saves.

I've made this recipe twice now (dark chocolate fudge + coke zero, and french vanilla + raspberry seltzer). The first one I made in cupcakes (btw, don't fill the cups all the way) and the second as a cake.

If I could find a vegan cake mix, I'd be interested to see how it works without all the oil.

from postsecret.com

I feel this way ALL the time.

end of 2008

Things I've accomplished this year:

Healthier Habits
*Quit smoking (1 year on New Year's Eve!)
*Lost close to 20 pounds since Jan. 1 First year in a very long time that I have ended the year smaller rather than bigger.
*Joined Weight Watchers
*Started exercising regularly.

Professional
*Got my Professional License in Spanish
*Took a graduate class and got an A (while working full time!)
*Passed the test to add an endorsement in English to my license

Personal
*Met more people
*Traveled to Portland
*Tried out new haircuts
*Went to FloydFest


Goals for 2009
*Continue losing weight, eating well, and exercising
*Join a group of some kind that has similar interests
*Continue not smoking
*Get a passport
*Travel abroad
*Get my house organized for real
*Save money

Goodwill finds!

Yesterday Becca and I went to Moe's (delicious) and then to Goodwill and JoAnn's Fabric. Excellent finds all around. I found some fantastic vintage kitchen items:


An ice bucket for $3.95. It was in perfect condition until I dropped it and broke the handle on the lid. Fortunately, I didn't really like the handle to begin with, and it can easily be replaced. I'm actually going to use it on my counter to store my bags of coffee to keep things nice and tidy.



And for lack of official terms, a wrap dispenser for $3.60. This thing amazes me. Each little door opens up to hold a roll of aluminum foil, wax paper, or paper towels, and each door is labeled. The edge of the door has little teeth to tear it. I just love it. And I think my mom might have the matching bread box. I tried using the bottom door for plastic wrap, but the tearing teeth aren't really designed for it. Great for the few paper towels I use though.

stolen from libby

1. What did you do 10 years ago? as much theater as I could. lots of homework for my first year of high school taking several honors classes. worked at girl scout camp that summer.


2. Five items on your to-do list:

* get an oil change
* fill out my teaching license application
* finish getting my extra bedroom organized
* take a ton of stuff to goodwill
* give Tillie a bath

3. Snacks I enjoy: triscuits and smoked gouda, peanut butter and chocolate chip granola bars, chips with corn and black bean salsa

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

* Take a year off work
* Buy an awesome house and fix it up however I want (including being off the grid)
* Buy a hybrid car
* Houses and hybrids for my parents and sister, maybe other friends and family too
* Big donation to an environmental non profit
* get a master's degree or two in whatever I want
* Travel to South America and help their school systems


5. Places I would live: I might live in Knoxville again eventually, Charlottesville, DC, San Francisco

6. Jobs I have had: cashier at Best Buy, cashier/music person at Circuit City, counselor and Arts and Crafts director at Girl Scout Camp, waitress at Falafel Hut, technology sales and copy center at Office Depot, appliance parts salesperson in a call center, teacher

updates and whatnot

First, a recipe my aunt gave me:
Zucchini Bars

3 cups thinly sliced or grated zucchini
1 cup bisquick
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 tbsp snipped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
dash of pepper
1 garlic clove chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs slightly beaten

Heat oven to 350
Grease 13 x 9 x 2 pan
Mix ingredients and spread in the pan
Bake until golden brown, about 45 mins
Cut into squares

makes 4 dozen

I had some grape tomatoes I was needing to use, so I chopped those up, and threw them in.

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Next, the bike:

I bought it at Goodwill a few months ago for $10. I love it. All it needed was a new tire tube. I'm looking forward to riding it around town, and hopefully using it to commute to school.

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For now I'm just enjoying my summer of no work and no school. I'm taking it easy and getting some projects done around the house. My parents are planning to come up next week for the 4th of July. I'm looking forward to them seeing how my apartment looks and showing them around town.
At the end of the July, I'm heading out to Portland to visit Russell for a long weekend. I can't wait! I may also be making it out to FloydFest this year. Very excited.

FYI

deliciousness = 1 jar of salsa + 1 can of black beans + 1 can of corn

tostitos scoops work well with this.

My new favorite shoes

Tom's Shoes

For every pair of shoes or t-shirt you buy, they donate a pair of shoes to a child who needs them in South America or Africa. They also sell bags that guarantee food and education for a child for a year. I think it's great that shoe company is being so socially responsible.

The shoes themselves are lightweight and supercomfortable. I love them.

Project Run-Away-Before-I-Hurt-Someone!

Um WTF?

How could they vote Kevin off for one little dress that was mediocre when all of his other designs have been wonderful?

why not vote off someone like christian or ricky who have been mediocre the whole time??

ugh.

a very tillie christmas

here's a couple short clips of Tillie opening her Christmas present, with help from her Grandma.

Project Funway

I loved tonight's episode! In the beginning of the season, I was mostly unimpressed, but since then things have definitely changed.

My faves are Jillian, Kevin, and Rami. They consistently create inventive, well put-together designs! Love them.

my favorite things!

TILLIE!
Family and Friends
Urban Outfitters
Target
Craft Projects
My job
Decorating
Good food
Good beer
Playing games
Movies that make you think
TV that makes you laugh and cry and ask "what were they thinking?"
Music that I can sing along with
Recycling
Books that take our world and place them in a metaphoric fantasy land

my favorite things?

Stacy tagged me in her favorite things post....and I will put them, but I want to think it through, so stay tuned....

infinite light

mirror
Originally uploaded by jeannieo

I realized that I never posted pictures of my fancy schmancy light up mirror once I had finished working on it....so here it is.

Head to my flickr to see much more new apartment decor, including a bead curtain, a new chandelier, and new window curtains!

check this out

This camera takes 4 pictures at once. I'm amazed.

silly kids

so last week we went to the computer lab because I had to give a student survey evaluating my performance as a teacher. They had to anonymously rate whether they agreed, disagreed, or were neutral to several statements: my teacher gives clear instruction, respects all students, explains assignments, etc etc....

then there was a space for comments. Surprisingly, the only negative comments were that there are too many quizzes, surprise, surprise. I agree, there are too many quizzes. But it's countywide, not my choice. Also, many of my students either think I'm married or are unaware of the differences between Mrs. Ms. and Miss.

Anyway, here are some of my favorites (Original spelling and grammar have been maintained for authenticity)

i dont like spanish but i like mrs o. =]

Mrs. O is amazing. And Blues Traveler is good.

the class is fun mosty of the time (not when test are out ^-^)

I think that we should have more time to study for quizzes and tests. It would be a more efficient way to learn. I barely get a day between quizzes. To understand the material think that we should be given more time. I also think that we should spend more time on learning the information so that we would learn more and have a higher class average!!!

Mrs.O is a great teacher and I can easily get help outside of class. Also, she helps with an issues I have and answers any questions I have about something.

whoooooooooo mrs o is tha shizzznit

Awesome teacher! Just.. class is a little hard because most of the class has no foundation (i.e. Spanish 2 and 1)

This Class is GRRRRREAT!!

I love Ms. O...mucho...

good teacher!!!!!!

SHEs a GREAT TEACHER=)

And my most favorite comment:

miss o is my dude love markus

I <3 Value City

So after months of squiggly white lines across the screen and the fear that my TV would explode at any moment, I decided to buy myself a new one. The one I had was a 19", about 10 years old. The new one is a 27" RCA with HD potential (my satellite receiver doesn't have it, gotta scope that out with directv). It's massive and beautiful. Scottie and Jason helped me get it all setup and for that, I am very thankful. It would have been impossible for me to get it out of the car and into my house without them. Oh and a big thanks goes out to the cashier too, who accidentally scanned the 20% off barcode instead of 10%. YOU ROCK!


I also got a wicker trunk thing to keep by the door to contain my shoes. I always have a big pile of random shoes in the living room because I take them off as soon as I get in the door usually. This way, they're still here where I take them on and off but the room looks a tiny bit less sloppy.


And now with photos (as Libby requested), I also sewed new buttons onto my red corduroy jacket this weekend. It really gave it the face lift it had been asking for. (it talks)

Soo this is scary....

21 schools closed after teen dies of staph

This is my school district. I feel sorry for the dead student's family.