Reverb 10 - Prompt #26

December 26 – Soul Food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul? (Author: Elise Marie Collins)

Holy Blogging Hiatus, Batman!  Now that the holidays are over and done with and 2011 has officially started, it's time to finish my Reverb 10 prompt responses. 

I know this might sound absolutely insane, but the one thing that I ate this year that I will never forget was a chicken salad sandwich.


Hungry yet?

{Insert long awkward silence, sarcastic eye rolls, and choir of crickets chirping here.}

Let me set the scene and this may make more sense.  Comanche (the boyfriend) had invited me to go on a top secret date at the very beginning of our relationship.  All I knew was that he was going to pick me up and take me wherever we were going and that I needed to be ready and wearing athletic, comfy clothes.

This was challenge enough for me because everyone knows that when you first start dating, you want to look gorgeous ALL THE TIME.  Flaws?  I know I don't have any.  (Okay, that's me just trying to pump myself up, but you know how it is - you want to be your best all the time while things are still new and you are still nervous.)

I did accomplish the athletic clothes and tennis shoes (farewell, high-heeled peep toes) much to my dismay.  Then, Comanche got to my house and picked me up and away we went.  We drove for more than half an hour and kept getting closer and closer to the mountains, so I was able to deduce that a hike was going to occur.  I was excited about that, though!

We got to the trail parking lot and got settled and Comanche told me to leave my things in the car.  He, meanwhile, grabbed a backpack.  We started on our way up the mountain, and it truly was gorgeous.  It was pretty warm and balmy, but not to the point where you were intensely uncomfortable.  We took turns taking the lead and went up the winding trail and weathered staircases.  We stopped at certain points to check out the waterfalls and views.

After we made it a quarter-mile up, Comanche started to look around, and he saw a wooden overlook point.  He walked up to it and looked around as though he was assessing the scene and then proceeded to climb down around the overlook onto a large rock located directly beside the waterfall.  He helped me down and then proceeded to unpack a picnic lunch.

It was amazing how thoughtful it was - he thought of everything!  We had a candlelit picnic on a mountain beside a waterfall - I mean, really people?!?!?  Yep, that's my unicorn! 

Because he wasn't sure if I'd like the way he'd made the main course chicken salad sandwiches (he'd picked up on my selectiveness regarding food), he had prepared a second sandwich for me (a peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixed just the way I do it) as a backup.  Yeah, I've got a pretty good situation going, if I do say so myself, and I wish you could have seen my face when he mentioned the second sandwich.

So, while it sounds crazy that I would credit a chicken salad sandwich with being my soul food, that's exactly what it was. My soul learned in the moments while eating that sandwich that there are people who will take time on you.  Those people will put in effort to make you happy.  Those people will go an extra mile (or extra PB&J sandwich) to ensure that you will want for nothing. Those people will pay attention when you speak and then use that information to help you later.

I'm curious - have any of you had any "soul food" that you'd like to share?  Feel free to toss out the recipe if you have it!  :)

Until next time,

Doing Things I've Never Done

With all the changes I've been through this year, I've discovered that I actually had a very surprising reaction to change - I actually am learning how to roll with it.  Not only am I learning to roll with it, but I'm even more open to new ideas and new experiences than I've ever been before.

Couple that notion with people who are actually listening when you speak and putting your thoughts into action, and you've got yourself a new way of looking at the world.

You'd like an example of this?  Guess what I'm doing tonight.  No seriously.  Make my day, punk.

I'll give you a few hints.  Take a look at the following pictures and you might get a better idea of what's going down.

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You've probably been able to deduce by now that I am, in fact, camping tonight.  Outside.  In the dark.  When it's going to get down to the low 30's.  When there will be "patches of frost."  In a tent.  That is going to happen.

Ordinarily, folks would say, "Well, Chicken Wing, why would you be so shocked that you're going camping?"

Because Chicken Wing + camping =

Hot - Yes.  Camper - No.

So, wish me luck, Peeps.  I'll be sure to update you on how this goes.  Technically, this was my idea.  I was the one who said, "I think I'd like to go camping sometime."  Little did I know that I would be presented with a tent, sleeping bags, folding bag chairs, and the promise of a campfire and s'mores.

Moral of this story:  Be careful what you wish for.

Just for fun, and because it's Friday, I will leave you with a video that will most likely be occurring again tonight - my beloved Jessica Simpson and her then-husband, Nick Lachey....camping.  It's one of my favorites of the Newlyweds episodes (yes, I own all three seasons on DVD.  Don't hate.).  It's also a wee bit long, but definitely worth the time if you have it.


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Until next time,

MAJOR Irritation

I pride myself on being nice to people.  I would say I have a lot of friends, and that I'm generally well-liked.  I hope my pals would tell you that if they ever needed me, they could count on me to be there for them.  But, I do have another side that doesn't normally make its way into the light.

This alter-ego is Scrappy, as some of my coworkers hilariously dubbed me.  Scrappy is not one to be crossed.  Scrappy will put you in your place and put fear in your heart.  It takes a lot to bring Scrappy out, but I would like to introduce you to one of my worst enemies in the world, someone I have a MAJOR irritation with:

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Would it help if I put it in a "her" form?

You know girls are catty. Source

Pardon my french, but Ivy, as we'll call her, is a major cuss word.  She's the meanest of the mean, and she doesn't care if you were having a perfectly good day.  If she wants to take you down, she will.  Granted, you might be one of the few lucky ones who are immune to her, but rest assured, I.am.not.one.of.the.lucky.ones.

Let's just say that I got into a tangle with Ivy and while I am not going to say she won, I will say that she is busy telling all her friends, "Yeah, I look like this but you should see Chicken Wing."  Cuss word, like I said. 

She gets bragging rights.  As for me, I got a 12-day Prednisone schedule, coupled with Claritin twice a day.  Oh, and the skin irritation and agonizing itching that pretty much makes you want to go up to an impressionable friend and convince them to just put you down.

I am happy to report that I finally achieved two nights of continuous sleep where I was not awakened with that dreadful itch at 2am.  Or 4am.  Let's hope we can make it three nights tonight.  Pray for me, Peeps.

Hopefully, this will be the last run-in I have with Ivy for awhile.  I haven't gotten into a fight this bad with her in years, and I hope we can put a few more years in between now and the next time we throw down. 

But, just in case I haven't made myself crystal clear with where I stand in this ongoing fued, let me toss this careful warning out there:

Watch your back, Ivy.  If you have a choice between taking a dark alley or a road with a streetlamp on at night, choose the streetlamp.  You better start using the buddy system.  You are making the Wing very angry...and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Until next time,

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SNOWSTORM POST PART IV

This is my final snow post, with some additional recap vlog entries, along with one of my favorite parts of snowstorms - the popular-where-I'm-from snow cream!

Okay, so what about this snow cream bowl? What is the big deal? Well, Peeps, when it snows, you get the opportunity to create your very own wintry version of homemade ice cream! Cleverly named snow cream, it's extremely easy to make, and you only have to have a few ingredients on hand.

Those ingredients are as follows:

1. Milk (usually, I use 1% or 2%)

2. Sugar

3. Vanilla extract

4. Snow

Yep, that's it! I do wish I had exact measurements for you, but unfortunately, I don't! It's one of those "a little of this, a little of that" type of mixtures! But, it's still really easy to do. In order to further help you along the way, I've included pictures! (This way, you can sort of gauge whether or not you're close!)

First, put some milk in a bowl. Then, add some vanilla extract, and stir. When you've added enough, it should be a very light taupe color. Add in a little bit of sugar, and stir to give it some pre-snow sweetness.

Exhibit A.

Then, go outside and retrieve your designated snow cream bowl, and bring your treasure inside! :)

Exhibit B.

Next, add in the snow until it's pretty chunky. You need it to be thicker than you think you would like it because obviously, snow melts pretty quickly in the house. When you've got a good snow-to-mixture ratio, it should look something like this.

Exhibit C.

You may have to add a bit more sugar once you get to this stage - you want it to taste sweet like ice cream. Then, all that's left to do is put your snow cream bowl back outside if you're planning on making more the next day, and then enjoy the delicious treat that is sure to give you a massive brain freeze! Owies! But, as you can tell, the good definitely outweighs the bad!

In other words, it's completely worth it.

I hope you all get the chance to make and enjoy some snow cream. This is one of my fondest snow memories from my childhood, and I can't wait for the opportunity to share this memory with any future baby Chicken Winglets I'm blessed to have. :)

There are only a few Christmas posts left, so stay tuned!

Until next time,

Miss Chicken Wing

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SNOWSTORM POST PART III

Welcome to the first official "vlog" post!!! (For those of you who need reminding, vlog = video blog). I will keep my words super short and sweet, and I will let the videos do the talking. This may take a while to load, as it is content heavy, and I am sorry if the videos come over sideways - I have no idea how to fix that yet! I'm still learning, so bear with me, Peeps!

Will there be snow???

10:22am - Mr. CW gets in on the action!

Slip-up, and "But, Momma, I ain't no quitter!"

"Who's the gunner now, sucker?!?!?!"

So, I hope you've enjoyed this post, full of my newfound love - vlogging! Hang with me because we are almost done with the snowstorm posts, and then I can finish recapping Christmas for you!!! I'm so happy and excited to share these awesome experiences and memories with you!

Until next time,

Your Newly-Vlogging-And-Loving-It Chicken Wing

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SNOWSTORM POST PART II

Okay, so I must admit I've been a bad blogger recently - seriously, Miss Chicken Wing...eleven days without a post - who do you think you are? You've officially been put in TIME OUT!

Okay, so I've been bad, but I have a really good reason! You see, what had happened was...LOL! In all seriousness though, you'll notice that my last post was on Christmas - my very favorite holiday. I was absolutely blessed again this year, and I was able to take a WHOLE WEEK OF VACATION! Since Christmas came on a Friday this year, I was able to have the weekend directly following it, and then I decided to take the next Monday - Thursday off since New Years Day is a holiday for us at work. To me, it just made sense, and it was a well-needed break!

I can't wait to update you on the Christmas posts, because they are super fun, so that should be occupying my time in the very near future. As of right now, I have to finish telling you about the super awesome snowstorm that happened! :)

When I left you, I was showing you the progression of snowfall, and I let you in on the fact that we received about 17" of snow when all was said and done - talk about MAJOR SNOWAGE.

The next part of the equation is fun had in the snow, and so that's what this post is all about. Enjoy it, Peeps, as this will be a photo-heavy post!

Snow MuChi - photo by Little Sister Chicken Wing

Snow CiCi - Photo by Little Sister Chicken Wing

Until next time,
Your "Snow Documentor" Chicken Wing

Pat Eye Owe

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but today in my world, it's a beautiful fall day. The air is slightly crisp, the sun is shining, and all is good today. I've decided to devote this post to one of my favorite places in the rental unit that I call home: the patio (get the post title now?).

The person that made the patio special for me was Mr. Chicken Wing's mom. She gave Mr. Chicken Wing his grill, which makes him (and subsequently me) very happy. Mr. Chicken Wing looooooves to cook, and I loooooooooove to eat what he makes! :) It's a pretty good setup I have here! LOL!

Here we are! Mr. Chicken Wing is wearing the new apron I got him! It's the ultimate "dude's" apron, complete with an insulated pocket for his beer and an attached zipline bottle opener.

That's why Mr. Chicken Wing loves the patio - it's an extension of his kitchen, and it allows him to do what he loves to do, which is feed people! As for me, while I love to be fed, there is another aspect of the patio that makes me pretty happy. Again, HUGE shout-out to Mr. Chicken Wing's mom because she provided us with the most adorable patio set that has ever existed!

See???? I told you! Still not sure???

MuChi loves the patio set, too!

There are many reasons why I love this patio set but there are two in particular that I wanted to share with you. When you have little dogs and a backyard that's not fenced in, you only have a few options. One is to leash them 100% of the time, which is fun while on walks, but not so much for every single time they need to go outside. This patio set allows me to sit in comfort and watch them while they play! It's so relaxing just to be able to enjoy outside all while fulfilling an important obligation of being a devoted pet mother! :)

If you look closely, you can see CiCi doing at the top right of the picture! She's having a ball!

The other reason why I love this patio set so much is that, when the weather is good, it allows me to save an immense amount of time in the morning. Anyone who has ever met me can confirm to you that I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. If I had my way, I would work from 10am on. I don't feel at my best early in the morning, and I can't muster my "go get 'em, Tiger" attitude before 10am. It's sad, but it's true. So, anything that allows me to save time in the morning is something that I love. This patio set has allowed me to do that!

As explained before, the dogs have to go outside every morning. (Come on, can you honestly say that you don't have to "go outside" every morning?) Before, I would stand and wait as the 10-15 minutes of them sniffing every piece of grass in the yard happened, which meant I had to factor that 10-15 minutes into my morning routine by getting up 10-15 minutes earlier. BOO to that. Now, with this patio set, as long as the weather is nice, I sit outside while they "go outside" and I put on my makeup, which is something that I have to do every morning anyways! So, I save the 10-15 minutes and can sleep a little bit longer! YAY TO THAT!!!

See? So much easier!!! It's two jobs in one!

So, as I've said before, I have to give a HUGE THANK YOU SHOUT-OUT to Mr. Chicken Wing's mom, who has basically saved my life in the mornings, and has given us the two reasons why we love our patio. She's extended our home area, and life is much more enjoyable because of that!

I hope that everyone has the chance to enjoy life on a PAT EYE OWE!

Until next time
Miss Chicken Wing