Keep Calm And Carry On

For the last few years I've toyed with the idea of adopting a "word for the year" as have so many of my friends and fellow bloggers.  However, I never seem to be able to find quite the right word  to symbolize my goals and aims for the year. This year I decided to abandon my quest for the perfect "word" and to go with a phrase instead. Here it is:

This poster  was originally created by the British government back in 1939 as part of the war effort. Two other similar posters (seen below) were created and released to boost wartime moral.

However, the "Keep Calm And Carry On" posters were held in reserve in case of an enemy occupation and were never released. Most of the copies were destroyed after the war. However, in the year 2000 one turned up in an old Northumberland book store. The poster was framed by the shopper, found instant fame, and was copied thousands of times. It has gained popularity on both sides of the Atlantic as a symbol of the stiff upper lip and determination the British showed during a time when war was on their doorstep.

The "Keep Calm And Carry On." slogan has been my unofficial motto over the last few years as my life has turned topsy turvy and upside down. Throughout it all I have tried my best to "Keep Calm And Carry On." Sometimes I've succeeded. Sometimes I haven't.

To be quite honest, there are days when this motto seems more symbolic of my feelings.

Fortunately, my British heritage usually seems to win out and I just "Keep Calm and Carry On." :)

I Survived!!

Hooray!!! I survived my first semester back in school. At first, I was really scared and intimidated to hit the books again. I had to keep reassuring myself that I was a good student and would eventually get the hang of everything. Fortunately, I was right. :)

Getting The Hang Of It!!

Six weeks!! I've been back in school for six weeks now!! At first it was hard to get used to all the online learning tools. In fact, I was pretty intimidated in the beginning. I had to keep reminding myself that before long the new and overwhelming would become the old and familiar.

I am happy to say that I am starting to get the hang of being back in school. I am enjoying my classes and getting into the groove of everything. As I mentioned in my last post, I am taking Audiology, Speech Pathology, and Phonetics. I enjoy learning and find my classes interesting. And to a large degree the new and overwhelming has indeed become the old and familiar.

My Fall Line-Up

I start school on Monday! Yikes! I will be enrolled in the Post-Baccalaureate Speech Pathology Teaching Program at Nevada State College. I'm more than a little nervous. It's been a very long time since I've been a full-time student. The good news is that my classes will all be online, which will be convenient since it would take me about 90 minutes to drive one way to NSC.

Here are the classes I'll be taking:

Introduction to Speech Pathology

Introduction to Audiology

Introduction to Phonetics

The Graveyard Book

I recently finished reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. It is utterly unlike anything I have ever read before. I absolutely loved it! It is a children's book, but like so many children's books, is actually better reading for adults than for children.

Blueberry Muffin Recipe

 A few months ago I watched the movie Julie and Julia and decided to begin my own cooking project by making all of the 50 recipes I had saved in my recipe box at allrecipes.com. Well, I started cooking with great gusto, but soon remembered why I seldom try out new recipes. Quite simply, it's because family typically turns up their noses at them. Nevertheless, I recently tried out a new recipe for blueberry muffins. The result: an amazingly scrumptious muffin. Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2  teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the oven, or until done.

These are so delicious! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

August 2nd-This n' That

I can't believe the summer is almost over!! Where has it gone?

In just a few weeks the kids will be back in school and so will I!! On August 22nd I start my first semester of classes in the Post-Baccalaureate program in Speech Pathology at Nevada State College. When I first tried to register for my classes, they were all full :-( . However, some new sections must have opened,  because when I checked back I was able to get into all three classes. Hooray! This fall I will be taking courses in Audiology, Speech Pathology, and Phonetics. The best part is that they are all online. I feel like finding this program was really an answer to prayer!! I'm both nervous and excited about hitting the books again.

I have to admit that we have been watching a lot of movies/TV this summer. In our family we have a rule that PG-13 movies are outlawed until a child's 13th birthday, at which time PG-13 movies deemed appropriate are allowed. Makenna turned 13 a few weeks ago and began devouring a feast of PG-13 movies. She especially seems to like scary/suspenseful ones, so we have watched a lot of those lately, including The Ring, Red Riding Hood, When a Stranger Calls, The Glass House, and The Village. I think The Village is my favorite. I also like scary movies, so it's been kinda fun to share that together. Next on our list are Premonition, What Lies Beneath, and The Sixth Sense.

I've started a new (as opposed to no) exercise program recently. My sister gave me The Brazil Butt Lift exercise program for my birthday. I really like it! It's super hard and really works the whole body. I was going to include a picture of the case, but it was practically pornographic, so I decided against it, opting for a generic exercise picture. And no, that isn't me in the picture. I've been alternating walking with using the exercise DVDs. I haven't seen any miraculous results yet, but hopefully I will soon. It feels good to be back into an exercise program!!

I celebrated my 27th (okay, okay 37th) birthday by adding some bling to my wardrobe. You probably can't tell from the pictures, but these jeans by Miss Me have a whole lotta bling. I can't believe how heavy they are!!  They probably weigh twice what my other jeans do. I'm probably getting to old for them, but I figure it's either now or never. My sister also bought me a really cute black top with sequins in the front, so I will really be the Bling Queen.

The kids and I have watched a lot of documentaries (yep, it's been a really exciting summer) lately. My favorite by far was The Human Family Tree by National Geographic. I don't know much about the Human Genome project, but what I do know totally fascinates me. I would LOVE to trace what the experts call my "deep ancestry." There probably wouldn't be any big surprises, but one never knows!

So that's about it for me and my life. Hope you are having a great summer!