Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had a great holiday and has a wonderful new year!

I have taken a break from blogging while I organize my thoughts and my life. The last couple of months has been rough for me for many reasons. I felt as if I had nothing to share on my blog and basically just lost the desire to communicate through my blog.

I am finally starting to feel like myself again. I feel excited to do the things that I enjoyed doing so much. For a while I was cooking only minimal, quick dishes. Food was not the only thing to suffer. I was in auto-pilot mode in all of my life.

But with the holidays came a rejuvenation for me. I feel happier and more satisfied in life. I feel ready to tackle things with desire. I cannot promise that I am returning to my blog indefinitely, but I will be blogging again. I have a lot to look forward to and a lot to be thankful for. I have finally figured out how to appreciate these things in my life and move past the negative.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and I hope to be able to provide some new clean eating recipes and some lifestyle for everyone in the coming year!

November, December, Vacation!

Happy November! I cannot believe that it's November already. The holidays are approaching plus John and I are looking forward to our vacation in January. John suggested a great way to realize just how close our vacation is. He breaks the time remaining into smaller segments knowing that each segment will go faster than the whole. Here is the break down for us.
- Three full work weeks (including this week) until the week of Thanksgiving
- Three full work weeks after Thanksgiving until the week of Christmas
- Short weeks of Christmas and New Years
- 1 full work week after the new year
- Our vacation week!
Can you tell that I am excited?? My last vacation was in September 2009 and before that, it was our honeymoon in July 2006. Much too long between vacations!

This weekend was a good one. We got our bedroom painted from the bright green it was to a neutral coffee color. I love the coffee color generally. It is the same color as our living/dining room and now the office. But I really liked the green so I miss it already. I know it was necessary, but I still miss it. I will just have to wait to paint our new bedroom green.

We just have one or two more trips to the storage unit and I will be ready to post some pictures of the completed rooms. After that we will be ready to list our condo for sale after we return from our vacation in January. We are crossing our fingers for a quick sale and also hoping that the remaining units for sale by the association (apartment to condo conversion) sell quickly. There are three left and we really don't want to compete against them. They can offer more incentives than we can, obviously.

We are also considering the difference between renting or buying in Ohio. Honestly, the rents that I see posted online are not nearly as cheap as the house prices themselves. But our realtor here is working to find us a realtor in Ohio so that the realtor can show us properties, both rental and sales, out there. We need someone who has some idea of the area to help us pick where to live. We need to know where stores are and things like that. Hopefully there will be some news in this area shortly!

Sauce or Gravy?

I finally feel in the mood to really, truly blog again! Today was a good day. The first good day in a few weeks. Finally!

John has a special love for meatball sandwiches and this week I added them to our meal plan to oblige his neverending request for them. Last time we had them, we got everything from the Italian deli near our house, including the meatballs. This time, I made the meatballs and just purchased the sauce and rolls at the deli.

Into my meatball mix went:
- 1 pound organic ground beef
- 1 egg
- About 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 red onion diced
- Sprinkle of kosher salt

These were mostly clean, except for the bread crumbs. I need to make my own bread crumbs, but I've yet to attempt it. I dumped all the ingredients into a bowl and mixed with my hands. Then I formed the meat into even size balls and placed on a foil-lined cookie sheet. I baked at 350 for about 25 minutes.

While the meatballs were baking, I put the cold sauce from the deli into a sauce pan and began heating it through on a low temperature.

I also cut up some broccoli to make roasted broccoli. Once the meatballs came out of the oven, I put them in the sauce and threw the broccoli into the oven to cook.

I served them in club rolls and sprinkled a bit of parm cheese on top. It really hit the spot.

Ideally, I'd like to make my own sauce, but John is Italian. He is very used to his mom's sauce. Until I have the chance for her to show me, I'd rather just buy the sauce at the Italian deli because he likes it and it's easy. Someday I will learn and I'm sure it will be worth it then.

And this brings me to the title of the post. Obviously, I call the sweet tomato liquid "sauce." John also calls it sauce. Many people call it "gravy." I find it extremely interesting when people call things by different names. What do you call it?

Going Bananas

I made a decision a couple of weeks ago that I would get a second job. With ethical considerations, I cannot really have a second job in the legal world. Not to mention that it's hard to find a legal job with hours. Instead, I focused on who I knew would be hiring right now with the holidays approaching. Retail. I haven't worked retail since I graduated from college almost 7 years ago. But I decided to literally go Bananas. Banana Republic that is. I applied there a week ago and yesterday I got offered a position.

Here are the positives:
- It's a job that pays! And it pays more than it used to.
- Extra money for Christmas gifts, our cruise, and moving. Even if it doesn't pay enough to help with my loan payment per se, it will still provide extra cash that we need.
- 50% discount in the entire store! This is a great perk because I need to stock up on suits for my clerkship. A slightly lower discount also extends to Gap and Old Navy. Both discounts will also be great for buying gifts as well.
- It's only 10-25 hours per week, which is probably only 2 to 3 nights per week. This is similar to going to school, but less strenuous because there's no homework associated with it.
- Having a job where I feel needed and am busy the whole night.

And there's always negatives. But they are limited. Obviously, the restraint on my time is the biggest negative. But I did it when I was in school and I can do it again. Dealing with the public is another negative, but I will be positive about it. I will attempt to enjoy the people rather than get frustrated. Finally, the job is just seasonal at this point, but they do keep some people past the holidays and I could be one of them.

I start work on Thursday with an introductory sessioon with a bunch of new hires for the holidays. I am excited and ready to go. Hopefully it will take some of the pressure of me with work. I can enjoy a second job and not feel like my life is all about my crummy job. While others in my position may feel depressed to take a second job, I am excited. I will know that I am doing all that I can to help pay my student loan and maintain our same standard of living. It isn't ideal, but it will work. I will make it work.

Attorney Candice

I have really been struggling with daily life these last couple of weeks. It's hard to have an enjoyable life when I'm so unhappy at work. Honestly, when I'm not feeling happy, I have a hard time blogging, as has become obvious. I am really struggling with:
- Wanting to practice law now that I'm admitted and being told that I cannot by my employer
- Wanting to find a temporary position until I leave for Ohio and not finding anything
- Disliking the work that I am currently doing and the way that  my current boss has been treating me

Yesterday was a big day for me though. I attended the ceremonial swearing in ceremony to be moved into the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. My parents and John attended. I had to stand in front of the judges with my classmates and take the oath. I had already actually done the oath by way of notary public and my application was being processed. So when I got home last night, I found out that I was *officially* admitted to practice on October 18, 2010 and I now have a bar ID number.

Today, in an effort to circumvent my unhappiness at work, I already e-mailed Legal Aid to start doing some pro bono work. If my employer will not utilize me as a lawyer then I will find people who need a lawyer and donate my services to them. I am extremely excited to start practicing law and wish to start immediately. I am also considering becoming a child advocate, though I need to ascertain the time requirements. I do not want to commit to something and then leave in 10 months for Ohio. I need to find small things that I can do in the time that I have here.

With all this said, I am going to try to return to blogging my meals and struggles with food. A lot of the joy of cooking and eating food has been taken away from me as I struggle, but I am trying to find my happy place again. I'd rather not post depressing, unhappy posts, so I just stay away it. But bear with me and I will return when I have made peace with my reality for the time being.

Vietnamese Chicken

Hi All! Did you miss me? I just needed a bit of a break from blogging. I did not have a good week at work last week. After blogging about asking for a raise, I was informed that I would not be getting a raise. I was prepared for that, but I was not prepared for being treated with disrespect and sarcasm. I was told that I got my "atta girl" and that was all I would be getting. Needless to say, I am searching for a temporary job until we move to Ohio.

Enough of the job talk, this weekend was jam-packed. On Friday night, I primed the office to remove the orange paint we had in there. On Saturday morning, we painted it a nice coffee color, the same color in my living/dining room and hallway. We also moved boxes into our off-site storage unit. Today, we removed the tape in the office, set up our new chair, and re-organized stuff. It is almost complete. Pictures will come soon, I promise! I want it to be complete first.

We have a super busy week coming with plans almost every night. I knew for tonight's dinner, I wanted something quick, yet good. My friend, Quang, shared his recipe for Vietnamese Chicken with me and I decided to make that, along with brown rice and roasted broccoli. The recipe only includes ingredients, not amounts. Quang said he just feels it out, which I did as well.
- Fish Sauce
- Hoison Sauce
- Ketchup
- Honey
- Garlic
- Black Pepper
I marinaded the chicken for about 2 hours.

Then I grilled it on my Cuisinart Griddler at a medium heat until cooked through.

Here's the finished product.

It was delicious, almost exactly like Quang's. Definitely a good attempt. I really recommend trying this recipe if you like Asian dishes. We loved it with the brown rice and broccoli as well. Simple, clean, and good. Perfect Sunday meal.

Go Phillies!

Getting Mine

I want to step away from food issues and physical health for this post and discuss mental health. Many people assume that being healthy includes purely physical health. In actuality, it really includes mental health as well. Stress and unhappiness, mental issues really, take a physical toll on the body. All health is all interrelated.

For me, part of my mental health is having goals and taking steps to reach their goals. Many people are content, or pretend to be content, simply waiting around for those goals to come to them. Some are lucky. Let's face it. Some people will always get ahead by doing less. But the majority of us must work for our goals even when others believe we were simply lucky.

October 8, 2010 marked an important day for me- the day when my dream since 7th grade came to fruition. I became an attorney. How did I make that dream come true? How can I show it wasn't luck?
- Graduated undergrad in 7 semesters magna cum laude
- Began work in law firm because I was not ready to begin law school immediately after undergrad
- Worked my way in the firm from a data processor to a paralegal
- Applied to law school taking the time to adequately study for my LSAT's and paid for editing for my application essay
- Began law school and gave it everything I had which included spending hours upon hours reading, making outlines, and studying (i.e. giving up a personal life for four years)
- Took on activities at law school including Temple Law Review as a staff member and editor to pad my resume
- Graduated law school cum laude
- Incurred a crapload of student loans
Despite all this, I am still not an "attorney" meaning that I am not working as one or being paid as one. I went out and got the education, now I have to go out and get the job. Since I have my clerkship in less than a year, for me this means that I will approach my current employer for a promotion and a raise. This is something that I have never done. I have never needed to ask before. But ask I will. I will go and get mine. I have worked for this, I have earned it, and I deserve it. I just cannot wait for it to fall into my lap.

If I do not do this, then my mental health will suffer as I feel the pressure of not being able to pay my student loans. I will be stressed and unhappy. Therefore, I will put myself out there. I may not get what I want, but at least I will know I tried. And, I can always look for another temporary job to hold me until my clerkship begins in September. I will not settle, not now, not ever.