Adventures In...

Windows Movie Maker

I wanted to make a promotional video for the "9400 Stories" program that I am heading up through RHF, but I was clueless about Movie Maker. I didn't have any actual footage for the video, but I wanted to put some of the photos together.  The program was surprisingly easy to figure out and I think I have it down now! I am very pleased with how it turned out- it was worth all the time that went into picking the right song and making it in sync with the photos and transitions. Enjoy!

Sketching on a Saturday

I wanted a stress release, so I looked to my sketchbook.  I chose my dog, Dixie, as my subject because I just miss her so much! This is how it turned out...

Look Ma, I Can Bake!

Since Blacksburg is not the most exciting of towns, it takes some creativity to have fun on the weekends.  Last night I hung out with some great friends and we decided to make the Oreo cupcakes that I saw on Pinterest (http://www.instructables.com/id/Death-By-Oreo-Cupcakes/).  Well, the girls did the making and the guys did the eating, but hey, that is alright! We wanted something easy, with few ingredients, and these cupcakes were just that. We substituted apple sauce for the oil (partially because it is much healthier, mostly because we're in college and we do not have  oil on hand) and you could not tell at all! We also bought icing and then just added Oreo crumbs to it instead of making it from scratch.  Believe me when I tell you that these were dangerously good.

A whole Oreo on the bottom of each!

On a cute and appropriate journal, a valentine's gift from GC

Card Making

I wanted to share the lovely card that I made for Valentine's Day! I started with black and white stationary (Liberty of London for Target) and cut out a heart shape.  I inserted and secured the heart shape back into the card, but I flipped it, resulting in this...

Inside

Outside

so simple. so cute.

Look Ma, I Can Cook!

The last time I was home, I had the opportunity to do some Super Bowl party cooking! When I say party, I mean my fam plus GC, but hey, it was an excuse to exercise my cooking skills. Okay, it was more like an excuse to find my cooking skills, because quite honestly, I did not know if I had any kitchen abilities.  I decided to go big or go home with and took on a modified seven layer dip with, wait for it, homemade guacamole.  You know, from scratch, using a real avocado, crazy right? Yeah.  After googling how to use avocados, I went to work and I was shocked at the size and weight of the seed, incredible!

I scraped the avocado into a bowl, and added in the rest of the ingredients (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/guacamole-recipe/index.html).  I left out the onions and cilantro, but added even more tomatoes than it called for. I just love tomatoes.

After successfully making the guacamole, I created the Johns family (aka the lactose intolerance) version of the seven layer dip:

Layer 1: re fried beans - they definitely tasted better than they looked

Layer 2: mild, chunky salsa

Layer 3: the fresh guacamole

Layer 4: Black Olives

It was delicious, and I felt so accomplished!

TRUTH:

Look I'm Loving...

Emma Watson in Valentino

I still can't believe that I met Emma this summer while she was filming "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" in my hometown.  She is so unbelievably gracious and gorgeous and she is such a fantastic role model.  Wow, this past summer really was incredible. 

 

Emma at a Pre-Bafta party in the lovely Valentino