Brown Paper Packages #5

Well... here it goes.

If you read last week's BPP, you know that my cousin, Kaitlynn, was competing to win a singing contest on Mix 92.9 called the Singing Star. Teenagers all over the Nashville area (within 60  miles of Nashville) submitted youtube videos to the radio station and they narrowed the submittals down to the top 10. Every day for the past two weeks one person from the top 10 has been eliminated. Well.... KAITLYNN WON! As her manager, I would just like to say, thanks to EVERYONE who cast even 1 vote! (just kidding about being her manager. I'm really her agent) All kidding aside, its exciting that I know a famous person now.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO WHEN MIX 92.9 ANNOUNCED THAT KAITLYYN WON!

We got our taxes done for the first time as a married couple. It was not very exciting, honestly, but it is something that happened. Shoutout for taxes?... (no real picture available, because it would be awkward taking your picture with your tax lady....)

The time change. It happened. My thoughts about the time change for the first 36 hours are hatred. But, I have to say, it has been really nice getting home before dark! Click here to read Nathan's view of Daylight Savings Time. Additionally, the cold weather seems to be leaving for good this year! We have been able to go on a walk around the block 3 days so far!

Last weekend, we had supper with the Logsdons. It was a good time because its never not a good time with them. #tower

See ya later.

Koba's Human Age

Every morning we wake up to meows every 2.5 seconds to remind us that it's breakfast time. If we push the snooze button, he politely starts knocking stuff off of our night stands. He's so helpful. Not being a morning person, our kitten is super annoying starting at around 5:00 am until we feed him. His crying and throwing a fit makes me wonder what age Koba would be if he was a human, based on only his actions.

Infant: Koba likes to be carried like a baby... Apparently, being held belly-up is not something that all cats like. Koba does, at least for a few minutes until he finds something better to do.

Age 2: Early in the morning, Koba acts like a two year old. as I mentioned, he will meow and meow and meow until we get up out of bed. If that doesn't work, he starts knocking things over. Once one of us is up and out of bed, he will continue meowing until he thinks we are following him, and then try to lead us to his food bowl. Apparently, he thinks the reason we aren't feeding him is because we forgot where his food is. This is literally an everyday occurrence.

Age 3: Koba's curiosity reminds me of a 3 year old. Sadly, he can't just accept the fact that he's not allowed to do certain things. He just has to check out everything new, and he's quick enough to run away when he gets in trouble. He's so excited to go outside and explore, but half the time we take him out he's either scared or cold and wants to go back inside.

 

Age 6: When Koba is playing he reminds me of a young boy. He will wrestle with you until he feels like he is losing, and then he will run away. He loves to play catch and jump for a string. He loves to play!

  

Teenage Boy: When it's mealtime, he scarfs down his food like a teenage boy who just got home from football practice. He scavenges for food EVERYWHERE and he doesn't care if its several days old. Its gross.

Old Man: At bedtime, Koba acts like an old man. The way he will just lay on us, or snuggle up to us to get warm, or nuzzle his nose under the covers is so sweet.

So who knows how old Koba would really be if he was a human...

Click Here to watch a video of Koba when we first got him!

Daylight Savings Hallelujah!

I never understood why my mom hated the time change when I was younger, but now, I feel her pain. I hate getting off of work and walking outside right into nighttime. I struggle to feel 100% happy during the cold, dark winters, and I begin to count down the days until I lose an hour of sleep in exchange for an extra hour of sun.

THAT. DAY. HAS. ARRIVED.

The time has changed, I've barely been able to get out of bed, but I don't care--I will take the trade. The weather forecast seems to know that I long for Spring after the last two snowstorms and has decide to bless me with beautiful weather. Heck, I'll even take the cloudy days if it's warmer and it doesn't get dark until 7! 

Thank God for changing seasons...if you get stuck in one, don't worry; a new one is on its way. And I may be jumping the gun, but it's time for shorts and Sperrys now, right?

CC Image courtesy of North Charleston on Flickr

Brown Paper Packages #4

**Vote for Kaitlynn** My cousin Kaitlynn has been entered in a singing contest on the Nashville radio station, Mix 92.9. She was chosen to be in the top ten finalists on Monday morning. People can vote as many times as they want from 7am to 7pm. Everyday someone will be eliminated. Kaitlynn has made it through the first few rounds, and we are all hoping she will win the whole contest. The winner gets $1000 for college and $1000 for their school! Everyone help, by voting on THIS LINK.

Here are some quick tips on speed-voting:
1. you do not have to capitalize or add spaces in the letters/numbers submittal
2. you can press enter, instead of clicking submit
3. if you have been refreshing the page, try F5 (on a PC) or "command, R" on a Mac

If you can get in a rhythm, you can get several votes in (I just speed-voted and got 11 votes in one minute). We want her to win!!!

Another Snow Day = Another Whistling Video. This was requested by some of my good friends! I had a fun time playing with the different settings that iMovie offers. CLICK HERE to watch the video!

Look out for Murray State! I saw a status on Monday afternoon that said, "Hey world, do yourself a favor and ask Siri who her favorite college basketball team is." Honestly, I didn't think much about it because I figured it would be something about UK and honestly, I don't care that much about UK.... or really sports in general, for that matter. Several hours passed, and I saw a screenshot of someone's iPhone. Check my alma mater out! HEYO!!!

Look at the T-Shirt Quilt my  mom made! In case you haven't heard (which is unlikely), my mom is retired. She taught at Olmstead School for 30 years and now she's got plenty of time to basicaally do whatever she wants. One of her new past-times is t-shirt quilt making. She made me one for Christmas (It. Is. Legit.) and she made the one pictured below for DanDan for the Chinese New Year (We miss you DanDan!!) She has got 3 more in the works currently, and another one on order! If you are interested in ordering a t-shirt quilt from my mom, CLICK HERE.

Net Neutrality Ruling. (Written by Nathan) Net Neutrality is a principle that all online data should be treated equally, without hinderance from Internet Service Providers, such as Comcast, At&T, and Verizon. The internet being considered a utility has blocked the ability for Comcast (for example) to be able to make companies such as Netflix pay high price in order to have speed priority to continue brining their customers streaming video at the same speed. This has essentially taken millions of dollars of profit away form monopolis giants that already charge and unrestricted amount to their subscribers.

(Back to Written by Ashley) Sort of confusing, but this is a good thing!

Birdwell Quilts

Do you have dozens of old t-shirts from your alma mater that are taking up drawer space? Do you have a dilemma with feeling bad about never wearing your Greek life t-shirts ever again? Are you searching for a keepsake to commemorate a specific time of your life?

Look no farther than Birdwell Quilts!

You pick the theme, you pick the size, you pick the colors! Your shirts containing your memories! Complete customization!

Ideas for your Custom T-shirt Quilt:

• University Alumni Quilt
• #1 Sports Fan Quilt
• Greek Life Quilt
• The Player's Quilt (all of your jerseys)
• Baby Clothes Quilt
• High School Quilt (sports, band, clubs, etc.)
• Road Trip Quilt (shirts from vacations)
• Remembrance Quilt (commemorating life of those who've passed)
• Marathon Quilt (all of your race shirts)
• Favorites Quilt (no theme, just all of your favorites!

Quilt Sizes available include: Queen size, Full size, and Twin size. Throw quilts and quilted pillows are also available!

Great Gifts for:

• Birthdays
• Christmas
• High School Graduation
• College Graduation
• Retirements
• Essentially, any occasion!

Don't have enough shirts? Never fear! Consider using the back designs or sleeve designs. As a last resort, you could consider purchasing some second-hand clothing from your local Goodwill or consignment store. 

These are durable quilts with unique stitching and classy compilation. Your quilt will have your shirts, your experiences, your memories! Order yours TODAY!

Contact Tammy at tbirdwell2014@gmail.com for information on sizes and prices!

Tale as Old as Time

This past weekend, Beauty and the Beast came to SKyPAC (Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center). We decided to go because.... well I mean..... do you really need an excuse to go see a tale-as-old-as-time musical?.... The answer is no.

I was excited to go see it for several reasons. Firstly, because I just love musicals. Another reason is because we have never been to SKyPAC and I was interested to see the quality of the Bowling Green Theatre. 

Here are some things we learned:

1. SKyPAC is a nice theatre and you should visit if you get the chance
2. Beauty and the Beast is awesome! I had seen it at Murray State for their annual Campus Lights, but had not seen it by a professional company. Nathan had seen it in St. Louis at the Fox Theatre. Hilarious, touching, and of course great musical numbers.
3. Lots of small children attended. This was a surprise for me. Although, of course, Beauty and the Beast was obviously first designed for children in the Disney Animation, it did not even cross my mind that there would be a ton of kids there. And not just kids, but girls in princess dresses and tiaras. It wasn't annoying, it was just a surprise. We actually had a small girl who sat right behind us. Her quotes throughout the play have turned out to be a good source of one-liners.

My only complaint of the whole night was that there was not a large poster for me to take a picture with. It is customary for me to do that. I guess SKyPAC didn't get my memo.

It was a great night! I would recommend seeing Beauty and the Beast. I would recommend seeing something at SKyPAC. I would recommend all theatres to provide a poster.

Hot Chicken Chili

So.... February 26 was National Chili Day, so naturally, we celebrated with CHILI. I love chili, especially in the winter. And Nathan loves hot dogs. We're perfect combo. I'm the chili to his hot dog. Anyway, enough of that. So, I made chili. I've made chili with this one recipe for several batches, but last Thursday, I decided I would try something a little different, and make the recipe my own.

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of shredded chicken in water
• 1 can of rotel
• 1 can of black beans
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ground cumin
• ground cayenne red pepper

Directions: 

1. Drain and warm the chicken in a large pot. Cook for just a 2-3 minutes, breaking apart the chunks into smaller pieces.

2. Cut onion and add that to your pot. Drain the cans of rotel and beans and add them to your pot also.

3. Add chili powder. Add a few sprinkles of cumin and a few sprinkles of cayenne red pepper.

4. Stir it all together. Cook covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure you keep it covered to keep in the moisture so that the chili won't be too dry. Unless, of course, you like dry chili.

5. Serve in a bowl or on a hot dog. Add cheese, sour cream, or crackers if desired.

Review:

The Original Recipe is from gimmesomeoven.com. Ok, I love the original recipe because its so easy, yet so good. Another good thing about it is that most of the ingredients they recommend are ingredients that we always have on hand. The original recipe uses ground beef, rotel, beans, onion, and chili powder (I have always altered the original to make less since there is usually only two of us eating it). 

For this batch of chili, I decided to use chicken instead of beef, AND add the extra cumin and cayenne red pepper. Let me tell you, the altered recipe tasted significantly different. Obviously the chicken gave it a different taste, but just adding even a few sprinkles of the cumin and cayenne red pepper made it significantly spicier. I have to say, I liked my version better!

Nathan rated my altered recipe a 4 / 5.

I rated my altered recipe a 5 / 5.

Nathan rated the original recipe a 4 / 5.

I rated the original recipe a 4 / 5. 

NOTE: I have also made the original recipe in a slow cooker and its equally as good. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or cook on high for 3-4 hours.