Let's catch up, aka I have not forgotten about you, dear blog!

Earlier this week I briefly considered giving up this blogging endeavor out of sheer embarrassment since I hadn't posted in, oh, three or so weeks. Then I discovered that there are literally hundreds of blogs out there with giant gaps in them where people failed to keep up, so I decided to press on.

In the interest of being concise about my progress in my 400 goal, let's get to the nitty gritty.

Reading--these past few weeks I have tried very hard to return to my childhood love of reading. Why is it that I could get through two, three, even four or five books a week from third through eleventh grade, but now very rarely get through more than ten (at least, when reading for pleasure) a YEAR?! Thus, I pushed myself to complete a novel, and I'm proud to say that I really enjoyed it! Since my last entry I read The Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdich. The book is about a German immigrant to the U.S. named Fidelis who is a skilled butcher and singer (hope that wasn't a spoiler). Fidelis leaves Germany after fighting in WWI, settles in North Dakota and the rest of the book chronicles his life from that point forward. The plot was complex enough for my liking, focused more on getting as much storyline as possible instead of tiresome or excessive description. The love stories were very real, and the twist at the end was a tear jerker. I'd give it an eight out of ten.
I also read a nonfiction book, a memoir of the 1957 integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas called Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals. Also a very good read, though frustrating and sad, like a lot of books about this era. Admittedly I was assigned this book for a class I'm taking about the Civil Rights Movement, but I liked it so much that I think it can count towards my goal. Also an eight out of ten in my opinion.
So, 98 books remaining...whoa mama

Making things--Dismal effort. The reading takes up all of the making time, or vice versa. Almost done with another pair of mitts, 1.5 completed. Last minute Valentine's projects should crank up my creation total.
96.5 to make

New things Done--This is an area of great success. First of all, I saw my first foreign, subtitled film in theaters. Adrian's friend Jay, a native of India, brought he and I and our friends Brad and Amy to see "Three Idiots", a Bollywood film released this year that has become the highest grossing film in the genre's history. I was very concerned that most of the humor wouldn't translate well in the subtitles, but a good portion of the movie (maybe a quarter of it) was in English. While most of the jokes translated correctly, there was some seriously corny humor at play. All in all, even we white Americans had a good time. Adrian has been singing the songs, especially this one below, "All Izz Well", ever since.




Also on the "Three Idiots" night, we had delicious Indian food and we ate "Indian style", in a booth with our legs crossed, seated on pillows, instead of at a regular table.

Since my last post, I have also been accepted into law school for the first time (and the second, and the third)! So far I've heard from St. Thomas, Mizzou, and Drake, all with scholarship offers. I feel very lucky and blessed, but still extremely anxious to hear from Iowa. Hopefully I will know any day now, though I know of more than one current Iowa Law student who waited until after Spring Break to hear back from them...ugh.

Adrian and I both tried something new together a couple of Sundays ago--all Spanish Mass at St. Patrick's Church here in Iowa City. That was interesting. I was expecting my fluent Spanish speaking boyfriend to carry me through the service, but he didn't know any of the prayers or songs in Spanish! I'm sure we looked like super cool gringos when we didn't know how to respond to anything. We'll need some practice before we return. It was good practice, though!

93 new things left to try!

Things learned--Wow, I've learned a LOT since I last posted, so many things I bet I won't remember them all. Here are just a few.

-In Zimbabwe, it costs several trillion of their dollars to buy just one banana because of the incredible inflation after the government printed money to pay off debt to its veterans. Learned this in my class about Zimbabwe, go figure.
-Indian movies are INCREDIBLY LONG, they even have intermissions like old fashioned American films. We were at "Three Idiots" for three hours.
-How to make kick ass Chili, for only FOUR Weight Watchers points per serving!!!! Here's my recipe, from the Weight Watchers website, with slight alterations.

Ingredients

	2 tsp olive oil
	1 medium onion(s), chopped
	2 medium stalk(s) celery, chopped
	2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
	1 small jalapeno pepper(s), seeded and minced**
	2 Tbsp chili powder
	2 tsp ground cumin
	1 tsp dried oregano
	2 piece(s) bay leaf
	1/2 tsp table salt
	1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste 2 tsp Tabasco or other hot sauce, or more to taste
	28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
	1 cup(s) canned beef broth, reduced-sodium
	8 oz canned tomato sauce
	30 oz canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
	1/2 cup(s) shallot(s), chopped
	1 pound(s) Laura's Lean Beef® 96% Lean Ground Round

Instructions

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, garlic and jalapeño; sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Add beef and sauté until browned and cooked through, breaking up meat as it cooks, about 5 minutes; drain mixture through a colander to remove excess fat.
Return beef mixture to pan (set over medium-high heat) and add chili powder, cumin, oregano, bay leaves, salt and red pepper flakes; stir to coat vegetables and beef with spices. Add tomatoes, broth, tomato sauce and beans, and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
To serve, discard bay leaves, ladle chili into bowls and top with chopped shallots. Yields about 1 heaping cup per serving.

96 things left to learn

All in all, while it's been a rather embarrassing amount of time since my first post, I'm still dedicated to my goal and am excited to keep blogging about it so I can share it! This week alone brings many more fun new things, can't wait to write about them soon.

Things left to Read, Make, Do, Learn=98, 96.5, 93, 96