Kings Dominion

Other KD pics.

This is the Volcano. Perhaps the best and one of the scariest coasters they have! Fire comes out as you go through.

This is the Anaconda. This is also my little sister's first upside down roller coaster as of last weekend (she's 9). Go her! It goes under water in a tunnel.

Map to Kings Dominion

Finals

I am so happy that Freshman year is almost over. I have one final in Anatomy which is going to kill me but I'm pretty confident I can get a good grade. This summer I'm going to have a season pass to Kings Dominion and I'm going to go at least 10 times. If you've never been, you should seriously think about going. They have one of the tallest roller coasters in America called the Intimidator 305 (305 ft. tall). It's so tall that they don't even open it on cloudy days because they are afraid of lightning. Amazing right?  I'm also going to be working a lot too. I hope Summer goes by extremely slow because I need a break, as do we all.

Clothesline Project Pics (see previous blog)

Clothesline Project

Did anyone go to the clothesline project earlier this month? If not, you really missed out. It was a display of tee-shirts that were decorated by women who were assaulted in some way.

 All the different colored shirts represented different stories. The yellow shirts were of women who were physically assaulted. The red, orange, and pink shirts all represented women who were raped. The blue and green shirts represented women who were raped or sexually assaulted by family members (incest). The purple shirts represented women who were assaulted because of their sexual orientation. The black shirts (which there were very few of) represented women who were assaulted due to their political standing. Worst of all, the white shirts represented women who were sexually or physically assaulted and died because of it. 

The large number of white shirts that I saw literally scared me and brought tears to my eyes. All of the white shirts were made by people who were close to these women. Most of them displayed a name, date of death, and the words “Rest in Peace.” The white shirts definitely stood out to me and touched me emotionally. Most of the white shirts that I read were of young women under the age of 18. Some were as young as 5. 

Almost every single shirt, though, had a glimpse of hope, faith, and forgiveness. Some symbols that I saw repeatedly were bible verses, stories, hope symbols, pictures of hearts, hands, birds, flowers, footprints, smiley faces, frown faces, tears, smiles, words, blood, crosses, sunshine, violence, pictures of people (themselves or their attackers), vast array of colors, torn pockets, acorns, alcohol, ages, and the word ‘virginity’.

It was a great display and I encourage everyone to attend next year!

 

Schedule

Is anyone else really frustrated with they way we have to sign up for classes? Almost all the classes I NEED to take are completely filled, especially Univ. 200 classes at the time I need. I can't even register until tomorrow. I have to wake up at 7 something in the morning to make sure I get one of the 18 spots left in physiology lab class because its absolutely required for the nursing school. With my luck, my alarm won't wake me up or my computer will stop working. What's really frustrating me is that I have 30 credits right now and in order to have been able to register yesterday, you need a grand total of 31 credits. That's definitely not fair! I wish there was a better way to get the classes I need to take. They could at least make registration open at 12pm so I can sleep in a little on my one day off in the week!

Side dish too!

My last post was about chicken marsala because I was hungry. This is the perfect side dish to the chicken marsala that I absolutely love. These mashed potatoes have sour cream which you have to try if you never have. And of course I always put lots of butter in them to make them really delicious. So I have dedicated my blogs this week to this meal that I wish I was eating right now.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
• 1 cup (8 ounces) BREAKSTONE'S® Sour Cream
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
• Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients; mash until blended. Yield: 5 servings.

I'm hungry

I was looking for inspiration for this blog and I realized how hungry I was so I decided to post one of my all time favorite dishes: Chicken Marsala. I love eating it at Carrabba's but I can't always afford to go there so sometimes I try to make my own. Of course its never as good but it's still a great in home recipe!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
• 2 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in halves and pounded thin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups sliced mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shiitake)
• 3/4 cup Marsala
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions

In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour and Essence and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dredge the chicken breast halves in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to the pan and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown around the edges and have given off their liquid. Add the Marsala wine and bring to aboil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Lower the heat to medium and return the chicken breasts to the pan and continue to cook until they are cooked through and thesauce has thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, add salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately