"hangry"

It's one of those made-up words that just fits. Those moments when you get so hungry it instills irrational anger from deep within... A hunger that causes intense cravings and situations where a Snickers bar could keep you from strangling someone. A fine line to be walked. Luckily for those around me, I have learned to master this hangriness. First line of defense: Eat at least every 3.5-4 hours. Any more than 4 hours and you might as well hand cuff me to the dinner table and tape my mouth shut until food arrives. Second line of defense: Drink a ton of water. Seriously, have your water bottle as handy (if not handier) than your cell phone. Wake up, drink water. Before meals, drink water. Feeling slightly froggy, drink water. I'm telling you- minus my recent caffeine withdrawal headaches, MOST of the time I can cure dizziness or headaches by closing my eyes for 5 minutes and hydrating. I am one of the lucky few now days that doesn't suffer from migraines and thank God for that. Moving on... Third line of defense and last resort: Recognize your hunger and impending hangriness and tell/warn the people you are currently sharing your time with. My husband has quickly learned when I say something along the lines of 'Babe, if I don't get something to eat soon, I'm going to get grumpy.' that he needs to feed me ASAP. He has also caught on that asking me what I am hungry for, is not only viewed as a cruel and torturous question but will also launch my hunger-induced anger if I'm close enough to the edge. Lol, I'm making myself sound like a monster but really, I am not myself when I'm hungry and it hasn't always been like this. Just these last 2 years or so. Maybe I have some underlying medical condition or something. Maybe it is something that happens at infant-hood and reoccurs when you've stopped growing. It could possibly be due to the amount of energy I expel daily. When I exercise harder and more frequently, I definitely need more nourishment. In any case, this last month I haven't been on top of my game. Starting right now....I AM BACK!

Finally Home

In more ways than one, I am finally home. Home in the literal sense as I am FINALLY back in the beautifully green state of Washington so close to my family. As well as home in the...well... the other sense. Home is where the heart is, right? So, I am home. I am with my husband (my heart), my loving baby boy (aka Jake... my heart), my family and dear friends (hearts as well), and within the reach of actively pursuing my dreams. Oh my, did I forget to mention the reason for the picture I posted? I am also home. As in, my new house :). Okay, so it's roughly 20 years old, but it is new to me and I am a new home-owner. The reality of the last part is still hard to grasp. God has blessed me so richly. I keep losing count of the many ways He has blessed me, though, I will always continue to try and keep up. I am officially hired on as a dental assistant on base here so I will soon have an income to justify filling our new home and disappearing on weekends to go to auditions.
Speaking of auditions, I should share with you my plans for accomplishing my dreams. Or, shall I say, put forth my darndest of efforts toward tackling the acting world full on. We're at 4th and goal people and I'm about to bring it home. -See what I did there with the wording... home? I can be so clever sometimes. ;)
Anyway, my plans:
1. (Numbering them makes them more official I think.) Kick my butt in the health and fitness department. Basically just get back into my old routine so I can maintain the same healthy physique and therefor be more consistent for auditions and resume purposes. As well as more enticing for agents. Healthy is #1 priority. I don't necessarily want to model, but I will not turn down the opportunity because it could be an awesome gateway to acting. However, because I am so short, fit modeling and print are pretty much my only options in that department.
2. Once that post-workout glow has returned full-stream. (I would say 2 or so weeks.) Schedule a photo shoot to boost the resume.
3. Create a rock-awesome resume to get noticed in a good way by agents and talent directors!
4. Go to open calls for talent agencies. I am going to start with the one I have wanted to join for a really long time. It is a friend of the family's business but I don't think it would be smart to put their name on here, just in case.
5. Once I've gotten accepted to an agency, I will accept every opportunity they give me-assuming its appropriate for me. If they are looking for an amazonian-type woman, I don't think I qualify for that, so I don't think I'll show up for that one lol.

So that's that. It is all here typed out and staring at me. This is the scary part. This is where I have to give everything and just pray that I have everything to give. That I am enough. *shudder*. This is where I have to combat the fear of success. The daunting "what ifs" and the internal  heckler that so loves to put me down. Doesn't she know  how badly I want this? Doesn't she know the talent that I was born with? Doesn't she know she is wrong and mean? She does. I guarantee it. But she is me and that means this leap of faith is just that. A leap. A scary, hesitant, wanting, insecure, unsafe and unrealistic at best jump toward a dream no one has told me I am capable of. No one except the giver of the dreams I possess in my heart. The dream that hasn't changed no matter how unrecognisably I have. It should be interesting. It might be hard. It WILL be worth it. I just know it.

*Gulp*
Here goes everything.

It's Easter! Let's Cook!

Let's just give this a go....

It's Easter Sunday and since I have nothing to do (okay, you caught me, I am actually avoiding the MANY things I have to do today) I decided to blog what I am making myself for dinner.

Bear with me, I've never done a foodie post before. Hopefully you approve :) These are my own pictures that I took myself in my own home, with my own camera. No haters please. I found a recipe on Pinterest.com and decided to tweak it a little and make it my own and wanted to share my results. I am in no way trying to take full credit for this recipe, however, my changes made it pretty awesome.

Baked Egg With Spinach
Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium pan, warm 1 1/2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp finely minced garlic over medium heat.

Once hot, add about 1/2 cup to full cup (depending on flavor preference) of finely chopped shallots to the garlic oil combo.

Once shallots begin to soften, careful place handfuls of baby leaf spinach to the mix. Don't be shy, they shrink down a whole lot so mound those suckers on!

Once all the spinach is properly wilted, add about 1/4 cup of Feta cheese (or any crumbly cheese you so desire)  and promptly remove from heat. Toss gently with spatula to distribute cheese.

Place in tiny baking dish or ramekin . (by now it should be smelling SO yummy!)

Crack an egg or two on top, depending on size. 2 for small eggs, 1 for medium to large eggs. (Since I currently live in Germany, I took advantage of the natural farm-fresh brown eggs... so much better than the ones that sit on the grocery store shelves for what seems like forever in comparison, they also tend to have a darker yolk.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven and desired level of done-ness. (Yes, I just made up that word.) I like my yolks a little soft so I went a little closer to 15 than 20.  Remove from oven VERY carefully, the whole thing is crazy hot.

Dice up some tomatoes and sprinkle them on top once out of the oven, the residual heat alone should soften the tomatoes just perfectly. (If you don't like tomatoes, just skip this step. I happen to love tomatoes.)

and...... ENJOY! It is a fantastic, healthy, savory way to have eggs and it works for a light snack, small meal or addition to a larger meal. I feel that it is pretty versatile too, you could probably get away with adding anything you'd like to it since that is pretty much what I did to make it my own. :)

So that's it. My first Food Blog. I had quite a bit of fun doing this and think I shall try again with more foods in the future. Until then, Happy Easter everyone!