Five on Friday

1)  You've probably seen the macaroni-and-cheese-boiled-in-milk pin/recipe floating around for a time, but I finally tried it on Wednesday.  It was very decadent and filling, but I approve.  The only thing is, I over salted it.  Blurgh.  I will have to try again soon.

2)  To put me in the holiday mood further, the Christmas trees went up on campus this week AND we had our annual Thanksgiving feast today.  In our meeting this morning, we early Christmas celebrators were chastised with the song here.  It was coincidental considering I tried to convince Zach to let me listen to Holly on route to work today because I was feeling bad, but no dice.  For the Thanksgiving lunch, my suite mates headed over 20 minutes early, so we could get in line first, and half of us braved the freezing temperatures (literally 32 degrees) to walk across campus there.  But it was worth it!  I'm so ready for turkey day and the Christmas rush.  :)

3)  I watched this video, and now I am obsessed with learning more about Hasidic Jews.  I love learning about other cultures, and I was really touched by one man's description of his soul being attached to God (I immediately thought of an umbilical cord) and how nothing can severe that connection or break God's love for him.  (He worded it much better than me.)

4)  The night before Veterans Day, we were visited by a little grey cat.  Then that Thursday, I heard the cat mewing when we got home after my long night of teaching.  This kitten was so sweet, purring and rolling around so we could rub its tummy.  It was clearly domesticated and not feral.  So we made it a box with blanket and put out some food since it was getting skinny.  Little kitty got upgraded to a carrier and a warmer blanket, and we started calling him "Pancake."  Now, we have found him a home with my SIL's coworker, so we are keeping him inside where it's warm.  Meet Pancake!

5)  Zach and I are "adopting" a little boy for Christmas through a program at work.  I am very excited to serve and go shopping for him over the coming weeks!!  I've already spent my lunch breaks all week combing through Amazon and Black Friday previews for a game plan to maximize our budget for the most blessings.  :)

Greek Is Greek? The "Tri Omicrons"

Today, I'm linking up with Kelly at Messy Dirty Hair to tell you about my "Greek" days! Why is "Greek" in quotation marks like that? Well.... I wasn't exactly Greek, but I was in a "sorority." Meet Erin, Emily, and Rose.  (Erin is also my cousin!)

Yep, we are that classy and sophisticated. Okay, these are a bit more normal:

We were roommates my junior and senior years in college.  None of us knew Emily; she just signed up for our apartment because there was a free space in it.  Rose went to high school with Erin and me and was in band with Erin, too.  We did find out that Emily's boyfriend was in choir and in Nick's (Erin's boyfriend) music frat (Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia).  And thus we bonded quickly.  One of our first weeks together, we did a craft night and decorated canvases with our names to put on the wall.  But this was before my digital camera and the smartphone-era, so I don't have photos of that.  :(  I do remember I almost wrecked driving us home from Walmart and thought I had scarred Emily for life!

We had movie nights, made up games (like "Fun," which is what you see with the streamers), and cooked and baked together.

With our first Halloween together, we started a tradition:

Yes.  I went as a pregnant homecoming queen one year.

Because we started spending a lot of time together, it meant that we spent a lot of time with Nick and Philip and their Phi Mu Alpha friends.  After a while, we got sick of hearing about their fraternity stuff all of the time, so we decided to start our own sorority.

with the guys

And the Omicron Omicron Omicrons were born!

This is us throwing up our sign.

Yes, I know it can be seen as something kind of sexual.  That's half the fun.  ;)

(We first thought we were the Tri Omegas, but Nick clarified that the "O" is not the Omega sign.  *lol*  Apparently, we didn't pay much attention in church or in history class!)

We've been Tri O's through illnesses, vacations, weddings, birthdays, babies, and holidays.  After all, O's are never-ending. ;)

Be sure to say hello if you are a Greek (or non-Greek) popping in!

Be Grateful #5

I love my furry brats!  They enjoy getting inside the hampers we use to tote laundry up and down the stairs.  It doesn't matter if the laundry is dirty and wrinkled or clean and folded.

1)  I am thankful for the IHOP coupons we received this week--two free Fresh 'N Fruities can't be beat!  Going to IHOP definitely takes me back to college and reminds me of Black Friday shopping.  I can't wait for the holidays.  :)

2)  I am pleased as punch when it comes to the weather we are having in these parts.  Ah, fall, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways (and bake autumnal desserts to show you)...

3)  I am happy that I have finished the big chunk of mentor training for this semester.  Oh, five hours of training wears me out...

4)  I am grateful my first Phoenix class went well, even if we fell behind a bit.  ;)

5)  I am so excited to celebrate THREE years of marriage and FOUR years together with Zach on Wednesday.  He is cooking me dinner, which is a big deal if you know him.  We are going to watch Parenthood and hang out.  I hope he likes my present!  My husband is one of my greatest blessings, and "we" makes me a better "me."

6)  I am blessed to have had today "off;" I think I worked too many hours this past week, and I was so worn out, I decided to work from home today.  I may have not been as productive as I had hoped, but I got a lot done on all fronts!

7)  Yep, I'm gonna have to say praise Jesus for funny shows like Community (even if they aren't exactly wholesome and politically correct).  Yep, I'm obsessed.

8)  And it doesn't make me mad to listen to Christmas music as I run errands.  Too early?  Not if it puts me in an excellent spirit!

9)  Thank you, Lord, for my brown sugar Cadbury chip cookie-baking talents.  I baked some "NWACC" cookies for my mentor training--I used green and white M&M's--and I only brought home 2 of 42 cookies!  I love baking, and I am so thankful I am a good cook for my husband, our family, and our friends.

10)  I am grateful for the week and weekend ahead.  It won't be as busy as last week (I hope!).  :)