The view from Jeremy’s apartment balcony.
So I’m going to end up doing my posts a little bit out of order. I was going to write my post on Japanese lolita fashion first but I figure the next post I wanted to do (a review of my choco-latte wig from CosplayWigs USA) will probably be on that topic so I might as well wait. ^_^’
This last break (Christmas) I went to Florida to visit Jeremy and to meet his parents. This was my first time flying by myself and most of it went well. I traveled out on the 27th (Yeah…two days after Christmas. Don’t ask how much Jeremy paid for THOSE tickets. xD) and then came back on January 5th (or at least it SHOULD have been the 5th, but I’ll get to that later).
At first I was a little worried about traveling by myself. However, I eventually realized that it’s all pretty much straight-forward and not that difficult or scary. I was kind of hoping I could meet people on the way there but I ended up sitting next to people who weren’t all that talkative on each flight (minus the first girl who talked to me just a little). On another flight I sat next to a lovey-dovey asian couple that kept playing games on the girl’s ipad and then an older woman who was doing something else and didn’t seem the social type. Maybe I didn’t take the right steps to strike up conversation (good thing I didn’t try on the one flight where no one was seated next to me… the other passengers might not have taken that well) but it just didn’t seem to come as easily as it could have. It’s too bad.
So anyway, the trip there was fine and full of blessings in the form of coincidences. The biggest one was the fact that even though my first flight was 40 minutes late in leaving (when my layover in Atlanta was only 30 minutes to begin with), the plane ended up catching tailwind and we got there 30 minutes before my other flight was scheduled to depart— not to mention I was dropped off on Concourse A where my connecting flight was leaving so I didn’t have to go anywhere.
Anywayyyyy, all of my travel stuff is boring so I won’t talk about that anymore. Jeremy picked me up and we drove to his house where I knew I would meet his parents. I was welcomed with open arms and many compliments which was so sweet. I knew I would love his parents. <3 Jeremy didn't miss a beat before throwing my giant dolphin plushie (that he got me months ago at Seaworld) at me so I could touch it for the first time. I had seen pictures but didn't realize the sheer size of the thing until then. Thanks Jeremy, for hitting me with a giant fish...mammal...thing.
Anyway, after throwing my dolphin at me, Jeremy presented me with a new GPS for Christmas. He received it from his office Christmas party and decided that I (being someone who is not particularly good with directions) might really appreciate a GPS. I was seriously so excited because I had been wanting one forever. Jeremy's phone works as a GPS so it would have been mostly useless to him. One man's trash is another girl's treasure, I guess.
Now here's where Jeremy made a mistake. Earlier (before the trip), he had expressed to me the excitement he felt because he had two gifts to give me--- so I knew the GPS wasn't the last thing. After giving me the GPS, Jeremy ran into his room and came back. "My mother wants her ring back." he said. Up until this point, I had been wearing his mother's old engagement ring (her ring was replaced on one of her anniversaries with a new one and she gave Jeremy her old one to give to me--- kind of a long story). I handed the ring to his mommy and then he pulled out the box and presented me with a beautiful marquise-style diamond ring of my own. Maybe it's stupid, but I've really always dreamed of having my very own engagement ring made/purchased just for me so this was all very surreal to finally be receiving it. Oh, don't get me wrong, I appreciated his mother's ring too... but there's just something about having your very own.
Jeremy and I hugged and kissed and his mommy smiled and “aww’ed” at us. The whole thing felt kinda like a ceremony of some sort (passing off of the old ring, putting on of the new one, celebration afterward). I still can’t stop looking at my finger. That’s the kind of feeling I always wanted to have.
Jeremy’s parents and I went shopping for some groceries the next day. I was determined to make all of them my mommy’s (although she didn’t make up the recipe) “White chicken chili.” It can easily be made in a crock pot or on the stove and it’s super straight-forward (although it does take a bunch of ingredients). Because I would like for other people to be able to enjoy this, here is the recipe for you guys! I included the notes that my mom added to the recipe when she gave it to me. 
White Chicken Chili:
from Busycooksabout.com (with “doctoring” from Dr. Mom)
3 cups chicken broth(I use a lot more–and I sometimes use a mixture of chicken and vegetable broth–depends what I have on hand)
2 19 oz cannellini beans(white kidney)
1 chopped onion( I use WAY more than that-at least a cup or more)
2 cloves garlic, minced(I sometimes use more)
4 oz can of green chiles(I use two cans, and Iike the brand that is fire-roasted but any brand will work)
2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups cooked chicken
I usually cook the chicken in the crock pot, adding some water and some kind of seasonings(like Montreal chicken or Mrs. Dash) I like to use chicken breasts, and they can take anywhere from 4- 8 hrs, depending on how hot the crock pot cooks(some cook faster than others)
I saute the onions and garlic in oil until they are tender and translucent.
Rinse and drain the beans. Combine all ingredients a large pot and simmer gently about 1 hour. I have also used a crock pot for this part, but it takes longer than an hour. You want the beans to cook a little bit, and to get the seasonings to blend. You can serve in bowls topped with grated cheese.
Note: If you increase the amount of broth, you may want to increase the amounts of seasonings(not necessarily doubled, but add to taste) When I make my big “cauldron” amount, using at least a couple of the large boxes of broth, I double the cayenne, and maybe add 2 tsp cumin, 3 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp cloves or leave at 1/4 tsp, etc.) Be careful about too much cloves–that will overpower the other flavors).
Hope you enjoy it! Post a comment if you try it out and let me know what you thought! It’s one of my favorites!
So as some of you who know me on facebook may have noticed, I spent a lot of time with my future kitties. Jeremy worked every week day I was there so the kitties and I had some bonding time during the day. So many opportunities for cute pictures arose that I just couldn’t pass them up. x3 It looks like all I DID there was play with the cats.
These are just two of my favorite shots. The cats love being in the window and have done some major damage to the blinds in the because of that. Jeremy and I don’t particularly care because we’ve both always hated blinds. xD Whatever, kitties. Go ahead. Mess them up.
Anyway, as I’ve discovered, taking pictures of cats near a window/natural light is about the best way to get a shot that doesn’t include alien-like glowy eyes. You can capture the natural color of the cat’s eyes and it makes for a great shot. See?
Salem:
The next shot of Lazarus is funny to me. I uploaded it to facebook and his face was apparently so close to an old man’s face (I knew it!) that it thought he was an actual person and wanted me to tag him. xD What do you think?
Lazarus:
So not everything that happened in FL while I was there was good. Check out the damage some random kids living in the apartment complex next to Jeremy’s office did to his poor little BMW. D:
It’s now fixed (and his insurance doesn’t cover glass) but it totally wouldn’t hurt our feelings if somebody caught those little buggers and punished them! This was the 3rd rock incident but only the first to be reported to the police.
Oh, another good thing! I met up my friend Cora from elementary school while I was out there. She was visiting a friend (or more-than-friend :P). We hadn’t seen each other in 10 years! Jeremy, Cora, her boyfriend, and I all went out to eat at Steak ‘n Shake which was exciting by itself since it was probably about 10 years since I had been to one of those too!
Cora and Me
I got to do a lot of fun things while I was out in Florida like use the new kinect for the Xbox 360 (fun, but I don’t know if it’s anything we’ll invest our money in— Jeremy and I don’t think we’d get our money’s worth from a physical game like that). I’ll also have to do a separate entry about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure (well, and the park itself— but I have wayyyy more pictures from the HP section) because this post is already super long and picture-heavy. x3
Here’s a preview though!
Hope I didn’t forget anything too important! I can always go back and edit this but facebook posts it and doesn’t change it when I do. I wish they’d fix that and give us that capability so we don’t have to change things twice. D: