Adopt A US Soldier

I've been wanting to do something nice for someone or something for awhile.  Rachel and Anna signed up for  "Adopt A US Soldier" and after going to their site and reading about their program I was sold.  I wanted to reach out to a soldier fighting for our country and do my part to reach out to be a friend, confidant, or just someone for them to talk to.  After I submitted my application I felt like it was Christmas morning I was so excited to find out all of my soldier's information and begin writing to them.

I received my soldier's information 2 days later.  As soon as I got the email notification sent to my phone I opened it right away and read all of his information.  Obviously due to privacy rights and all, all I can say is his name is Will.  I finished the email with some basic facts on myself and questions for him and sent it off immediately.  After re-reading the email Adopt A US Soldier sent me it said that Internet can sometimes be spotty for soldiers so they might not receive emails right away.  Because I have the patience level of a 5 year old, I wrote a hand written letter to him yesterday.  This letter was a lot more detailed than my original email. Surprisingly I was able to fill the entire page with my letter (I can't remember the last time I wrote a hand written letter, let alone one that filled an entire page).

This morning I received an email response from Will.  I was so excited to open it up and read it.  We then  decided that talking via Facebook would be easier.  We were able to find each other and began getting to know each other.  From what I've gathered so far, he's a pretty awesome guy whose been fighting for our country for about 6 years and plans to sign up for another 6 years - whatta guy!  He's team leader in an infantry platoon line.  We've been sharing facts and stories about each other and it's been a lot of fun.  I know zero about the Army and all that it entails so it's great and fascinating to be able to talk to a soldier about it all.

I'm a couple days late but Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all the troops fighting for our country and to the Veterans who served also.  I'm honored to be a part of this program and to do what I can to keep him entertained on his breaks.  Luckily I like to talk, type, write, and email so he either really lucked out getting me as a pen pal or he's doomed.  

If you're bored or just looking for something nice to do like I was, read up and check out adopting a US soldier, it's easy!

Keep Music Alive

A little back story on myself... I graduated from SUNY Oneonta in May 2010 with my BA in Music Industry.  I initially went to college with no specific major in mind.  I enjoyed the freedom and the social life more than my studies.  As my junior year was approaching my parents sat me down and told me that it's time I finally declare a major if I want to be out of school within the 4 years.  I talked to friends on campus, looked at my options of different majors to "declare" and finally decided that if I wanted a 4 year degree within 2 years, the only major that would make that possible would be Music Industry.

Having both of my parents as music teachers throughout my ENTIRE year of schooling was a big helping factor in the decision.  I never enjoyed playing music or performing it so at first I was very skeptical to choosing this major.  As I got into the major I found that I really enjoyed the curriculum they had set out mostly because we had a huge array of classes we could pick from to gain our credits.  I found that I became really close to some kids in my classes and to some of my teachers.

I was recently informed that due to recent cuts SUNY Oneonta will no longer be offering about 11 Music Industry classes.  Initially, I was pretty taken back by this news.  To me one of the things SUNY Oneonta is known for is their kick ass Music Industry program and as a graduate of that program I can attest that the program really is awesome.  I think the program is so awesome because the amount of classes that are offered leave room for every single person to take classes that they are interested in, not just classes that fulfill a credit.  For me, not being a performer I was still able to get the most out of my major and I was able to go to performances to watch my fellow classmates who do like to perform, play their hearts out!

The classes listed to be cut are:

More Music for Listeners

Jazz Improvisation

Music Cultures of the World

Performance Practice Workshop

Music Ensemble: Jazz Small Group

Music Ensemble: R&B Band

Music Ensemble: Guitar Orchestra

Music Ensemble: Jazz Octet

Music Ensemble: World Percussion

Music Ensemble: Zappa Band

Music Ensemble: Funk Band

Not only are these classes and ensembles great classes that they are deciding to cut, but music is huge outside of the class room on campus and in the town of Oneonta.  Bands are performing constantly on campus and at events; Battle of the bands, the fashion shows, and the Jazz festival to name a couple.  As for downtown, a majority of the downtown scene is filled with open mic nights or class bands that are performing for crowded bars.  Music is a HUGE part of Oneonta as a whole.

Since receiving the news about the cuts, I'm embarrassed because I helped an incoming freshmen of 2012 pick Oneonta over the other colleges so got into because I was bragging about the music program.  Now she is there and she is going to be right in the middle of all of this chaos as classes are cut.  She's not going to be able to experience the entire music program like we were when we were in school.

The other thing that really blows my mind about these cuts is all the new work they did in the Music Department's building.  My senior year they were building all these additions onto the building.  After I graduated and the work was finished the Music Industry majors finally had their own theater and sound proof practice rooms - we never had ANY of that while I was there we had to "share" the stage with the theater majors and there was NOTHING silent about our practice rooms we had.  So after putting all of this money into a new music building they decide to start cutting classes from the curriculum?  I don't get it.

Thanks to social media the news of these cuts spread like wild fire.  I know myself and others within the major wrote letters to the provost and the president sharing our overall disgust for their decision to cut these classes from the major.

People have even started a petition to stop the cuts.
If you haven't signed this petition already or want to help out, sign it!  

We all need to help keep music alive!  Do your part!

Anna's Stand-up Debut

Last night we were lucky enough to a part of Anna's very special night.  She has been attending a stand-up comedy class for the past 6 weeks and tonight was the comedy classes graduation show, tonight was Anna's Stand-up Comedy Debut.  The show was held at The Comedy Works Comedy Club in Albany.  There were a total of 12 amateur comedians performing who also took the class.  We also had a group of 12 people, but we were all there to show our love and support for Anna!  The show started out great, the performers were funny and there were many jokes that had the crowd roaring.  It was a packed house for the Graduates and the crowd came ready to laugh, and boy did we laugh!

About a year and a half ago Anna decided she wanted to get into acting.  She had never acted before or done anything like it.  Since then she has been a part of three different independent films and she's currently in the process of continuing her acting career; however, this was the first time she wasn't reading from a script in front of a camera.  This time it was just her, her humor, her jokes, a microphone, lights, and a full live audience 2 feet in front of her... And boy did she did a FANTASTIC job!

I had been talking with her for weeks, days, hours, and even minutes before it was her time to take the stage.  It's expected that anyone taking the stage in any form for the first time in front of an audience would be nerve racking, especially when a dozen of those audience members consist of family members and close friends sitting less than 5 feet in front of you. 

Here are some of her own original jokes:

"Just to give you some background information on me, when I was in high school I struggled with bulimia.  Well, not exactly, I just had a really sensitive gag reflex..."

"Actually in college I started to gain weight.  You know, the freshman 15 and so forth.  But strangely enough it was only in my uterus.  After falling down drunk one night down the stairs I was back to a size six again, Thank you Svedka."

"As a single female, I feel we're given a hard rap for expecting too much from our boyfriends/men.  It's like I really don't ask for much in a relationship - really I'm just looking for those three magic words - seven figure salary."

As soon as she was introduced and the applause for her quieted, she looked and sounded like she had been doing this for years.  She made eye contact with everyone in the room, her presentation of jokes just flowed and she used pauses, smiles, and little one liners perfectly to keep everyone involved, interested, and especially laughing.

You can watch her entire routine below!! Or click here!!  Way to go Anna you killed it!!

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all mothers and soon to be mothers, but wishing a very special Happy Mothers Day to my mother, Cristy.  We had planned earlier to have Mom, Dad, and Steven all over to our house where we would cook up a brunch and spend the day together, dogs included.

What's on the menu?

-Homemade blueberry muffins with a brown cinnamon sugar crumble topping

-Fruit salad
-Homemade mini quiches; turkey bacon, cheese, green pepper, onion, and broccoli
-Mimosas - of course!

I decided to make the muffins the night before to make for an easier Mothers day morning and especially to make sure that the muffins were edible!... and boy were they! They turned out awesome, they were so delicious and moist, it was hard to just eat one as a tester, so Aaron, Matt, and I might have had a couple more...

Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose 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

Crumble Topping

1/2 brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease muffin cups or use muffin liners.

2.  Combine 1 1/2 cups of 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 crumble topping mixture.

3.  Crumble topping: Mix together 1/2 brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon.  Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking

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

Aaron was able to stay and celebrate with the family for a little bit before he had to leave to celebrate with his family and mother, Happy Mothers Day to you too Laurie!!!  We sat around the table and ate some food and hung out telling stories.  Steven picked up a bouquet of roses and they were the perfect center piece, SO PERFECT that we had to take a picture of them with the cutest couple ever!

After we finished eating, we cleaned up and put everything away.  Today started out pretty gloomy but as the day went on the skies cleared up and the sun came bursting out of the clouds.  It was still pretty breezy, but it was the perfect temperature to get outside with family.  At first we talked about going down to Tulip Fest, but then we all decided to head over to The Crossings of Colonie.  

Apparently a lot of other families thought that was a good idea to go to The Crossings also, because the place was packed full of families and doggies!  My parents had never been there before and Steven had never been on any of the walking trails so we did a nice big loop around the area with both doodles; Muhka and Marley.  We all had a great walk and the doodles enjoyed the outdoor family time also.  It was the perfect ending to a great Mothers Day spent with the family.

This was one of the best Mothers Days our family has had in a really long time!  I hope all other Mothers enjoyed their special day as much as our Mother did!  Love your Mamas all!

D-Day

Sorry for being MIA these past few days friends, nothing post-worthy has happened lately!

This post is about D-Day and in this case it stands for: Deer-Day (Thanks for helping with the post title Aaron, xoxo)  Recently my Dad gave Aaron and I some venison from a friend of theirs.  We had no idea what to do with it so we handed it over to Mikey to cook up something delicious.  I've never had venison before and frankly it weirded me out a bit.  Mike to decided to make a MikeyG Original: venison chili, which Jeanine agreed would be one of the best ways for me to dive into this venison meal (In all years we've been friends Jeanine has always understood my picky eating habits and has never been wrong about if I'll like or won't like a new food).  We went over to their house last night after work and boy was I a little nervous for the meal.

I was having a debacle over the whole situation:

Wow, I'm about to eat deer... DEER!

Okay, it's only venison, people eat it all the time, right?

Oooooh boy, I don't know if I'm okay with this.

Psh, it'll be a piece of cake, I probably won't even be able to tell the difference...

I'm about to eat Bambi!!!

A MikeyG Original: Venison Chili

½ lb Bacon, small dice

1.5 lb Ground Venison

1.5 lb Venison Stewing Pieces, small dice

2 Vidalia Onions, small dice

4 Celery Stalks, small dice

1 Green Bell Pepper, small dice

6 Cloves Garlic, small dice

1 Tomato, small dice

32 oz Pinto Beans, canned, drained and rinsed

2 c Cabernet

24 oz Chopped Tomatoes, canned

¼ c Tomato Paste

2 tbsp Olive Oil

4 c Beef Broth

3 tbsp Chili Powder

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Pepper

2 tsp Cinnamon

2 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

2 tsp Paprika

Add bacon to large stock pot and render fat over medium heat. Once fat has rendered, remove bacon bits with slotted spoon and transfer to plate with paper towels, save for later use. Increase heat to medium-high and add all venison to the pot and cook until well browned. Remove venison from pot and set aside. Add the diced onions, celery, green pepper, and garlic to the pot and reduce heat to medium, add additional olive oil if needed. Cook vegetables until tender. Add venison back to pot with all juices and add 2 c of Cabernet. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer for 10 minutes. While meat mixture is simmering, heat olive oil in small sauté pan over medium heat; add tomato paste to pan and cook while stirring constantly until paste turns a dark red. Add canned and fresh tomatoes to the pan with tomato paste and stir to combine. Add tomato mixture, pinto beans, and beef broth to meat mixture. Season with all spices and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for one to two hours. Garnish with your choice of shredded cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, and green onions and serve with bread.

And there it is ladies and gentlemen, the venison chili!  As soon as I walked in their house, my worries fluttered away because the smell of this chili cooking was overwhelmingly AWESOME!  As soon as Mike announced the chili was ready we all lined up waiting for our bowls like we were in a cafeteria line.  I sat down, took my first bite and it was delicious!  The meat was so flavorful and eating it in the chili was definitely the best route to go.  The cheese, hot sauce, and bread were the perfect choices to accompany the already delicious chili!

Way to go Mikey! Another new food that you've been able to make me love!  Kudos to you!

Last night was truly a night of firsts.  Not only was it the first time I've had venison but it was also the first time Jeanine had ever seen Dumb and Dumber!!! - I know right?! - how are there still people out there that have NEVER seen this brilliant, one of a kind movie!  It was hard for Aaron, Mike, and I to not quote every single line of the movie, but the movie had us all laughing as if it was the first time for us also.  I got confirmation this morning that Jeanine loved it also!  Now we just have to get her to sing the correct words of the "Mocking Bird" song, don't worry Bean, you can do it!  For those of you weirdos who don't know what I'm talking about and for those awesome people out there who just need/want the funny reminder... you're welcome.

Moral of this post... don't be afraid to try something new - because there's a good chance you'll really love it! 

Birthday Mama

First I'd like to start off by saying, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!  Today is my mothers (since I love her dearly I will not disclose on her actual age, love ya Ma) 21st Birthday!!!  The day was absolutely beautiful. High 70's and sunny with a little breeze.  She spent her day with my father. He took her to the local farmers market where they walked around browsing and just enjoying the day with each other.  Her one and only wish for her birthday was "no presents". So Steven and I decided to take her out to dinner as her present.

Around 6:30 Aaron and I headed over to to my brothers house to meet up with him and his girlfriend, Heather.  Once my parents arrived we headed over to New World Bistro Bar.  Besides Aaron and me, no one else has ever eaten here before.  We started out with drinks and a plate of nachos for an appetizer to share.  Mom, Dad, and I all ordered the burger deluxe which was voted the best burger in the capital region in 2011, Aaron ordered Bulgogi and kim chee, Heather ordered a salad with chicken in it, and Steven ordered a soft shell crab sandwich.  For dessert the table got coffee and since it is her birthday, my mom got a free complementary dessert. She decided to go with the homemade ice cream sandwich which was a peanut butter cookie with cinnamon ice cream. We all shared it as we finished up the family dinner. 

Aaron, Julie, Mom(Birthday Girl), Dad, Steven, Heather 

At dinner we talked about the family vacation we are all going on at the end of June. We have a house rented in Rhode Island. It's the first family trip we will have taken since we used to go to myrtle beach when we were both in high-school.  It's going to be a good time and I can't wait to spend it with my family and make some new memories!

All and all I hope you had a fantastic birthday Mama and I'm so happy we got to spend it together as a family.

xoxo

"Lay of the Land"

TGIF!  Tonight we went to the Lay of the Land art show hosted by the Upstate Artists Guild.  This art show show-cased different types of landscape artwork in different types of format.  Tonight was also 1st Friday in Albany which helps promote art in the Albany community.  Our main purpose for attending tonight's art show was to support and celebrate the art work of our best friend - YAY Jeanine!  She displayed two different art pieces; White Mountains and Sugar Maples.

White Mountains

Sugar Maples

This was Jeanine's first art show and we couldn't be more proud of her!  I've been lucky enough to have watched both pieces start out as sketches and turn into beautiful masterpieces!  She painted both with water colors and then outfitted them with the perfect frames.  It looks like she's been doing this for years!  After the exhibition is done she is giving the pieces away to family members, what a doll!  We couldn't be more proud of you Jeanine and we can't wait to go to many, many more of your art shows!

Netflix Obsessed

If you have Netflix, you already know how awesome it is.  If you don't have it or don't know what it is - WAKE UP!  It's a great way to watch television shows, documentaries, or movies either instantly on a computer, device, or television or you can have discs sent directly to you at home.


Why wouldn't you have Netflix?!  

Recently I've become way more Netflix obsessed and have become so consumed with shows that I get so sad when they've ended, that all I can do to cheer up is start a new one!  I'm going to share 3 of my recent shows that I've watched and loved... enjoy!

First there was Prison Break.  This show is based around 2 brothers, Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield.  Lincoln is falsely accused of killing the Vice President's brother and is sent to prison and is on death row.  Michael, who is an engineer and helped build the prison Lincoln is in, intentionally gets himself sent to the same prison to break his brother out and free him from this conspiracy he's caught in.  Now, this may not sound intriguing to some of you but I became so obsessed with this show, so much that I could not stop watching it or talking about it!  I became so invested in the well being of the brothers that all I wanted to know was what was going to happen to them and would they ever be free again?!  I also began to realize how many characters from the show are part of so many other shows and movies now!  If you're looking for a fast paced, intriguing show, WATCH THIS!

Next there was Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  This show follows an "elite squad" based in Manhattan that follow and solve brutal crimes dealing with rape, murder, kidnappings, and disappearances.  Even those these stories are just depressing and sometimes disgusting I cannot stop watching.  Almost every story line starts out the same with someone getting raped or finding someone who was murdered but the show is now it's 15th season and people still can't get enough!  The worst episode  was when Detective Stabler just NEVER RETURNED - with absolutely no explanation!!!!!!  Any who, no matter how many times I've seen an episode I can still always watch it again, so give it a try!

Lastly, and what I just finished up this morning is Gossip Girl.  This show is about a group of Upper East Siders that start off in an elite high school.  Their deepest secrets and desires are always found out and posted for all the world to see by a mysterious "person" known only as Gossip Girl.  Friendships and relationships are burned, built, and re-built and nothing they do or say is every kept private.  The quest to find out who Gossip Girl really is keeps you guessing all the way until the last episode!   To be honest, I started watching this show to use as background noise but as I listening I couldn't stop watching!  I was able to right off the bat pick out who my favorite characters were.  As the show went on and I went from season to season my favorites became my least favorites and my least favorites became my favorites.  The show and characters evolved so much and you really became close them.  I hate them all at the same time for all the galas and balls they go to and all of the couture and glamorous lifestyles they all lead, but at least I'm boring enough to always stay under the radar should a real life "Gossip Girl" occur.

As you can see, my 3 past choices of shows all could not be more different from each other.  I would like to apologize to a certain few friends of mine that have to sit and listen to me explain about past episodes of shows I've watched and how often I say "this is my new favorite show now!" - guys, I'm sorry and you know who you are.

I can't help it - I love finding new and old shows to watch so if you have any suggestions, suggest away!

30 Day Squat Challenge

For those of you who know me, you know I am not a person who likes to work out, exercise, get my heart rate going, sweat, or just plain move.  For those of you who don't know me... well, now you know also.

One of my goals for this year is to try to be more active.  While exploring around on Pinterest one day I came across (said in a deep scary echoing voice) The 30 Day Squat Challenge and decided that Aaron and I should give it a try...

I always knew what squats were and always thought they were horrifying and torturous and well, I was right - they are.  I can feel these so called "muscles" forming in my legs, butt, and stomach.  It sure is intense.

Since starting this challenge we get home from work, we walk the dog, eat dinner, clean up, and usually pop in a disc of Dexter and get to squatting!  We're up to day 5 and wow are we feeling it.  We're going to try to keep up the good work and finish out these 30 days!

For you special "active" people out there, you should give this challenge a try and let me know what you think about it!  By day 31 I expect us all to be able to kick through a brick wall with our muscles of steel!... until then, squat on everybody!

Here goes nothing...

Today is the first day of May 2013, and what a beautiful day it is.  Sunny skies and the temperature is supposed to reach the 70's.  It is finally spring in Upstate New York!  I decided to create a blog to use as my online journal about 10 minutes ago, and now, here we are.  So here goes nothing...

I'm not going to lie to you, this blog is gonna be boring - I plan to use it as often as possible.  I plan to write and to post pictures of my everyday life and "adventures", any new recipes I decide to try, exciting and non-exciting stories, and pretty much whatever I want because it is MY blog.

I am not a writer.

There are times I'm sure my writing will absolutely horrify some of you.

I'm not good with grammar, spelling, or speaking sometimes.

I tend to jump from topic to topic.

I have no flow.  So try to stay with me.

So this is my warning and my apology to all who may be offended... my bad.

Here's a little about myself... I live in Colonie with my boyfriend, Aaron and our poodle, Muhka.  We rent a house and let me tell you, I love living in the 'burbs!  I'll take a driveway, yard, and neighborhoods over public parking, shared walls and entryways, and just being crowded any day.  My roommate and my poodle are two of my favorite things, and wow do they both put up with a lot from me, I'm not an easy person sometimes... they'll be more stories about them as I continue to write...

I'm 25 and I'm adopted from South Korea.  I have two loving parents who are still living down in Columbia County and enjoying retirement.  I have an older brother named Steven who is also adopted from South Korea - no we are not blood related (which I'm thankful for sometimes!! jk, love ya bro) and he also lives in the Albany area also.

That's all for now, I feel as though hours should have passed while I wrote this passage but as I look at the clock it's been about an hour...  Stick around if you care to read more about my not-so-exciting life, and just remember I did warn you that... It's Gonna Be Boring...