Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread!

So my roommates and I went on a baking adventure. We purchased a crockpot from Target, and we bought all the necessary supplies and ingredients. Lets just say our room smelled like fall. I was a little hesitant on the sound of it being that I am not the hugest pumpkin fan, but let me tell you this was delicious! So being that I have my nice camera at school, We all decided to document each and every measurement. For your sake I am not going to post every picture.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (or in our case... chocolate chips)

Preparation:

In mixing bowl, combine oil with granulated and brown sugars; blend well. Stir in beaten eggs and pumpkin puree. Sift dry ingredients together; stir into pumpkin mixture then fold in chopped nuts. Pour batter into greased and floured 1 lb. 10 oz. coffee can (make sure it will fit in your crockpot with cover on) or use baking dish which holds batter and fits in your crockpot. Place can in crockpot. Cover top of can with 8 paper towels; place lid on crockpot. Bake on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Do not lift lid until the cake has cooked at least 2 hours.

Cassandra and I getting excited!

With our beautiful crock pot!

Ingreds

What a beauty!

Abby so stoked!

The gang: Kaity, Abby, Cassandra, and I

Here we go!

Kinda looked like tomato sauce in the pic..

Just mixing away.

The aftermath.

Gotta cook it right!

Before...

So amazing!

After.

One Word... Jillian.

Jillian Michaels will soon be the death of Brittany Miller. She is killing me. Cassandra bought this DVD:

Yeah. 

So I had the brilliant (and I mean BRILLIANT) idea to join her. I have never been so dumb. Granted it feels great to see myself getting smaller after only 5 days, but my walk to class and those stairs to anatomy have been pretty bad. I forgot to take a before picture, but I will take an after picture and hopefully figure out how much weight I lost. 

I probably shouldn't have eaten that cup of ramen thirty minutes ago. Jillian will haunt my dreams tonight. 

25 more days. 

Happy Wednesday!

Today has been a great day. I even woke up early without my alarm, and read a book. I talked to my mom and dad. Had two moderately good meals from the dining hall. I am done with classes for the day, and  I paid the remainder of my tuition today. Today has been a great day.

That is the best balance in the entire world.

I know this is very cliche to say, but "I can do all things (include writing large checks) through Christ who gives me strength." This has been the toughest summer for me emotionally and economically. I have been able to live a life where money is normally budgeted or scarce, but this summer has taught me dedication and persistence to paying for my education. It felt so good to walk out the business office twenty minutes ago thinking I am free (economically) for another 4 months. I may have shed some happy tears. Who knows what the next bill from school will bring, but for now I am free. 

Tonight I will be studying, exercising, socializing, and thanking God for the wonderful life He has given me.

I am off to study the body regions for my anatomy quiz, going running with Lori and Cassandra, and going to Zumba with my girls.

Adios!

Move-in and such

Warning..... This post may be extremely random. It is coming from a very tired sophomore nursing major. 

I have had a great first week of classes, and move in went extremely well. 

I moved into Alumni Hall on campus Monday morning. It was a great workout. It was weird to say the least. I will eventually post pictures of suite 111. We are unpacked, and ready for a fabulous year. Classes started on Wednesday. I am taking 7 classes this semester, and that may have been a mistake on my part. I feel overwhelmed a little, and it has only been 3 days. 

We had a three day week, and now we have a three day weekend! We have watched episodes of Friends and 7th Heaven. We also have watched The Vow, The House Bunny, and probably others that I don't remember. 

I have had the new Taylor Swift song stuck in my head for probably 72 hours since being on campus, and I have probably sung Call Me Maybe 5 different times. 

I have done most of my homework surprisingly, and I am currently listening to Spotify, blogging, and Facebooking with textbooks by my side. On the bright side tomorrow is Monday, and I don't have classes! Can someone say IHOP run with my gals? 

That is it for now. Sorry about the wacked out post. Talk to you all soon, and hopefully I will have dorm pics or others for you? 

Last weekend at home.

It is my last weekend at home before I move back to school tomorrow morning. Its about twelve hours until I leave my home, family, and pets behind for a fun filled, second year at college. I am beyond stoked, but I will probably get homesick fairly quickly.

Friday, I had the day off of work. What? She took a day off? Yep. For my sanity. I went to Olive Garden with my grandma, and we had a great time catching up and just chit-chatting. I love her dearly, and I will miss seeing her at church and whenever we hang out.

My cousin's artwork, and my grandma. (She turns 75 on Tuesday)

My mom and I also drove down to my Aunt's house to decorate secret stuff for my cousin Sarah's baby shower in just 3 short weeks. We had a blast making a bunch of cute stuff, and I got to catch up with my family and friends that live down there. 

Saturday, Mom and I went to the Cubs vs. Rockies baseball game. It was alot of fun. We usually make it a habit to go every year to see a game. I had my camera with me, and I got some great shots too. Although, the Cubs didn't win. 

His bat broke!

Momma and me.

Amen!

Today, I went to church! I was so happy to go to church on my last day in Waukegan. I haven't been able to go to church in a while because of work. I also packed today. Nothing like waiting till the last minute. I got a futon matress from my awesome and amazing youth director Kari. She is so awesome, and I am so grateful for her! I finally finished packing about an hour ago, and mom and I loaded her SUV. 

I can't wait to get back down to campus, and unload all my stuff. I am so excited to see everyone again, and I am dreading class. Good bye for now.

Horrible tragedy.

I read about a family tragedy while on vacation. A family of seven was on vaca and the mother passed away. I donated to help this family out. Hopefully you can too. You can read it for yourself here:

http://elleapparel.blogspot.com/2012/08/leannebarlow-giveaway-for-good-cause.html

Thanks!

All ready or Already?

Am I all ready to go back? Cause it's already time to go back?

I haven't even begun packing. Good thing I have about ten days to do so. It will be a very busy and quick 10 days. I have work, get togethers, party's, packing, going to a Cubs game, and so much more before I make the 62 mile drive back to campus! I am excited and stressed.

I really need to write a long post cause these short ones aren't cutting it, but I am trying to pack something before I leave for work in one hour! Hasta Luego!