Family, CARDINALS, & A Blate!

TOP: My brother, sister-in-law, and our youngest cousins on the 4 wheelers!
MIDDLE:
1- The youngest cousin was obsessed with my brother and SIL's cat! "Oreo likes me" over and over again!
2- Brother and Sister-in-law's house with our family from Kansas. Happiness in a picture.
BOTTOM:
1- Cardinals played that night, so you know my fam was reppin.
2- Full moon!
3- Cardinals WON! WORLD SERIES BOUND!

Watched the Cardinals game at my parents house and got to see the pound puppy. Love that little brat. Also, picture 2.. that's how she sleeps. She's seriously such a freak.

Did I mention the Cardinals won? And they're going to the World Series? Oh I did? Well let me remind you again.. THE CARDINALS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!

Saturday I did as little as possible. I slept until 10:30am and it was amazing. I watched the IU vs. Michigan game. IU lost but I think this Michigan fan lost more..

And I made homemade ketchup. This is my 3rd time in 3 weeks making it.. I'm in love. It's freaking fabulous. I'll never buy ketchup again.

I was grumpy because I had to work all night, BUT before that, I went on my first Blate with Jenny.

Yea, it happened. More on that tomorrow!
See you then!
Autobots, roll out.

Facebook Drama & Breast Cancer

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I accidentally started a bit of drama on Facebook. It was honestly unintentional. I was originally gonna post about the hilariousness of Facebook, but after receiving SEVEN Facebook messages and multiple text messages all about my Facebook status, I decided to actually start a real discussion on the topic. Also, how many times can I say Facebook in one paragraph? Holy cow.

So it started when I posted this..

At first I started getting comments like this..

Then I logged out of Facebook and went to work. Several hours later I got a text that said I should check my Facebook again. When I checked again, it looked like this..

You can see where I responded.

What you can't see are all of the Facebook messages I had gotten. Most of the messages were from people who agreed with me and supported me. A few were from people who disagreed with me. One was someone who strongly disagreed with me and let me know it.

So let's talk about it. Let's talk about Breast Cancer.

Let's get this out there first - My grandma had breast cancer and is currently in remission. In the 2nd photo the pink arrow is pointing to one of my best friend's mom, who is also in remission from breast cancer. I've known many who lost the battle with cancer, not breast. I've also witnessed first hand the slow decline of someone dying of cancer. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.
I just want to get it out there that I've experienced breast cancer and cancer in general.

Having said that, I stand by my original Facebook post. I admit I wrote it out of annoyance based on some other things I had seen on Facebook that day. Typical and I probably should've let it roll off my shoulders. I didn't. I also may have phrased it incorrectly.

I 100% support Breast Cancer Awareness.

However, I think that the ultimate point of Breast Cancer Awareness is fundraising. Also, early detection, that's probably point #2.

Finding a cure for breast cancer or any cancer for that matter costs money. It just does and the only thing I support more than cancer awareness is finding the cure to cancer.

My problem with the pink ribbons and the pink socks is that breast cancer foundations rarely see any of that money. My dad could wear a pink tie every single day in October to support breast cancer, but what is that really doing? Raising awareness? This is 2013, people are aware.

I have a huge problem with people jumping up on their soap box and preaching about making a difference, without actually doing anything to make a difference.

Practice what you preach is all I'm saying.

Now, remember what I said in this post. Believe in something, believe in it with all your heart, and then stand by your belief, but respect someone else doing the same. 

Having said that, let's discuss! Thoughts?

For further reading I was also sent these 2 articles:

This one is from a woman who's been there and she has a very interesting perspective on Breast Cancer Awareness month and National No Bra Day! 

This one is about how much money the Pink NFL merchandise is actually raising for Breast Cancer.. and how much it isn't.

Highly recommend them both! Good reads! Especially the first one!

Thirsty Thursday - Fall Drink Recipes!

Really excited for today! Every night this week and last weekend I've been trying out some Fall drink recipes for you guys and today I'm gonna share THREE of my favorites with you!

For THE LIQUOR LOVER..

Ingredients
4 Cups Apple Cider
1 Cup Caramel Vodka
1 Tbs Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

Directions
1. Mix all above ingredients in large pot
2. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, just until sugar is thoroughly mixed (be sure not to bring it to a boil or the alcohol could burn off)
3. Pour cider into glasses and enjoy!


For THE WINE-O..

Ingredients
1 bottle of Pinot Grigio (standard size)
2 1/2 Cups Apple Cider
1 Cup Club Soda
1/2 Cup Apple or Ginger Brandy
2-3 Apples (sweet are preferred), chopped
2-3 Pears, chopped

Directions
1. Mix all above ingredients
2. Stir
3. Stir
4. Let refridgerate for AT LEAST 2 hours. (I left mine over night)
5. Enjoy (and trust me, you will enjoy)


For THE UNDER-AGERS (NON-ALCOHOLIC)..

Ingredients
Apple Cider

Directions
1. Freeze apple cider in ice cubes trays
2. After totally frozen, remove from freezer and let sit out for 20-30 minutes. This will cause the cubes to soften/melt slightly. Good.
3. Dump cubes in blender.
4. Blend. You will need a spatula to help work the ice in the blender. I used the pulse 3x, stir, pulse 3x, stir, pulse 3x, stir method. Repeat until mostly blended.
5. Add in a little extra Apple Cider and pulse a few more times.
6. Pour into glass and enjoy!



Wam Bam, thank you Ma'am! Now go hop on over to Kristin's blog (before you get wastey face) and check out everyone else's delicious recipes!

Things I Could Talk About..

Okay so I'm working on a post that started as "HAHAH I accidentally started a bunch of drama on Facebook" and then turned into something a little more serious. Admittedly, I probably could've gotten it done last night, but I worked until 9:45pm and then I had 4 (yes, four) shows to watch that I had to DVR because I have 4 shows on Tuesday nights that I couldn't watch because I had to friggin work on a Tuesday night! So it ended up being a busy night.. Busy as in I stayed up until 1am watching TV with Blogger open, but not actually working on anything.

So say hello to a filler post!
That I actually don't know what I'm going to fill with.. So.. This just got awkward.

I could talk about how nervous I am about the big life decisions I have to make today and in the next few weeks.

I could talk about my new found love of Callard Harris. Because um, hello.. his name is Callard. And he looks like this..

And I don't need any other reasons.

I could talk about how much I love the new Gavin DeGraw cd! Musical goodness, I tell ya!

I could talk about how I'm finally going to start the new Blogger Book Club book tonight! And I'm really excited about it!

I could talk about my thoughts on the "bro code" and how much I want to shove my foot up it's ass. Or possibly just the "bro" attempting to enforce it. Either way, someone is getting a foot shoved up their ass. I'll be sure to wear heels.

I could talk about how incredibly long it took me to write this bullshit of a blog post. Way longer than I'll ever admit.

OR I could end this right now and save us all the trouble.
You're welcome.
See you later, Alligator.
Peace up, A-town down.
Usher out.