BzzAgent- Buitoni!

I recently received a coupon to try another Buitoni product and let you know what my family thought of it, courtesy ala BzzAgent. The Buitoni Riserva Chicken & Mushroom Ravioli, and we paired it with a marsala wine sauce!

This meal is make with all natural--minimally processed ingredients. It was super easy and quick to make AND you only need one pot. Once the ravioli is cooked to perfect (160 degrees F internally), you simply mix in the sauce and toss to coat--it smelled absolutely wonderful (in my opinion)!  As for taste--my husband's exact comment, as he was getting up from the table after eating, was "Mmm, that was good! I'd get it again."  with a vegetable on the side, we had broccoli, and a glass of milk and we all left the table well satisfied!

Our family eats Buitoni products regularly, and we will continue to do so, especially after trying this great one for free!

Thanks BzzAgent and Buitoni!

I received this product for free from BzzAgent but it did not affect my opinion

I was fortunate in receiving a package of Buitoni Riserva Wild Mushroom Agnolotti to try. I held off for a while because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. After seeing other foodies post fabulous recipes using the pasta, it only made me ponder what I wanted to do with it even further. Well, it is a beautiful Sunday morning and I "need" to make some soup and I want it to be somewhat light (not as in calories...as in not heavy) and I want to use my pasta, so I decided to combine all of my efforts into one tasty bowl. Agnolotti is a sort of ravioli. This one in particular is large, half moon shaped with scalloped edges wrapped around an ABSOLUTELY, AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS mixture of fresh portobello & crimini mushrooms, Grana Padano & Parmesan cheeses and fresh roasted garlic; and the Buitoni Riserva pasta line is All Natural (minimally processed with no artificial ingredients). I decided to float some in a hot bowl of broth made chock-full of garlic, herbs and mushrooms. Garlic, Mushroom and Herb broth w/ Wild Mushroom Agnolotti by girlichef serves: ~4 Parsley Sprigs, small bunch Thyme Sprigs, small bunch Bay Leaves, small sprig (3 or 4) Garlic, 1 head, peeled Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, 3 ea. 6 c. Vegetable Stock, Broth or Water 1 pkg. (9 oz) Buitoni Riserva Wild Mushroom Agnolotti Combine all ingredients except Agnolotti in medium pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook for about 20 minutes. - See more at: http://www.girlichef.com/2009/05/its-souper-day.html#sthash.c3QG2lCu.dpuf

I was fortunate in receiving a package of Buitoni Riserva Wild Mushroom Agnolotti to try. I held off for a while because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. After seeing other foodies post fabulous recipes using the pasta, it only made me ponder what I wanted to do with it even further. Well, it is a beautiful Sunday morning and I "need" to make some soup and I want it to be somewhat light (not as in calories...as in not heavy) and I want to use my pasta, so I decided to combine all of my efforts into one tasty bowl. Agnolotti is a sort of ravioli. This one in particular is large, half moon shaped with scalloped edges wrapped around an ABSOLUTELY, AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS mixture of fresh portobello & crimini mushrooms, Grana Padano & Parmesan cheeses and fresh roasted garlic; and the Buitoni Riserva pasta line is All Natural (minimally processed with no artificial ingredients). I decided to float some in a hot bowl of broth made chock-full of garlic, herbs and mushrooms. Garlic, Mushroom and Herb broth w/ Wild Mushroom Agnolotti by girlichef serves: ~4 Parsley Sprigs, small bunch Thyme Sprigs, small bunch Bay Leaves, small sprig (3 or 4) Garlic, 1 head, peeled Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, 3 ea. 6 c. Vegetable Stock, Broth or Water 1 pkg. (9 oz) Buitoni Riserva Wild Mushroom Agnolotti Combine all ingredients except Agnolotti in medium pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook for about 20 minutes. - See more at: http://www.girlichef.com/2009/05/its-souper-day.html#sthash.c3QG2lCu.dpuf

Bzz Agent- Comforts for Baby

Loved the free diapers I got from Bzz Agent and Kroger!  They were great for keeping my baby dry, fit him well, and moved with my very mobile baby!

Okay, so of course it is hard to give up the name brands and go generic. There will always be name brands that just far out beat the generic. I have an 8 month old. When he was first born I used pampers over huggies because in my experience the huggies would leak, mostly overnight, sometimes during naps. I used pampers with him up until we discovered Comforts for Baby because of being a BzzAgent, so now we dont use pampers, because they were ridiculously priced.  After giving the diapers a shot I found they were great. Of course some nights they may have a little too much liquid right before bed, and the diaper and pull up can only handle so much, but overall I have not had many issues with leaking. I am currently buying the size 2 diapers. The diapers are not much cheaper but when you buy them often the little that I do save adds up. The pull ups however are drastically cheaper and Ive heard, just as efficient, which will be good when I need to start buying those too. I am satisfied!

I received this product for free from BzzAgent but it did not affect my opinion!

It's been a while

Well hello old friends, it's been a while since I poked my head out, and for that I appologize.  It'll probably be a while longer again even if I do plan on writing here.

Currently, my life is pretty great.  There are a few unfortunate things, but the good outways the bad, and I'll take it.  Since writing last, I got married, we went to Canada, I've taken a year of ASL, Adam graduated, aaand we found out we're expecting (quite possibly the greatest part), we also relocated back to the grand Tri-Cities, and it's good to be home. 

Soo, I guess that's the simmary of the last 7 months I guess.  My life is moving quickly, and I kind of hope it slows down soon so I don't miss much.

Rewritting a poem.

In my Creative Writing: Poetry  class we had the assignment of looking through a punch of literary journals and finding two poems we liked.  After we found these two poems, we had to write a poem similar to one of the ones we had found, and we had to write it in the voice of the original author.  Check it out:

Kaleidoscope
By Maria Stanton

She used to think it would be fun to be a piece of colored glass at the end of a child’s kaleidoscope, a tiny part of a bright pattern that shifted every time the amazed kid turned the handle and looked through the eyepiece, but now that she’s in here, a gleaming glass bead, she’s not so sure. Whee! Here they go again! The little beads shake and shimmer against the mirrors, and another gorgeous symmetrical design appears, but she’s beginning to have trouble telling herself apart from the reflections of herself. Is she really up here or down there? Of course it doesn’t matter, she tells herself, it’s the overall impression that counts. …and now she’s spinning again, bumping against other glass beads, part of a new arrangement, and she tells herself she should be proud to be a representative of ephemeral beauty. But why is the kid shaking the kaleidoscope like that? Now he’s banging it against the wall. One of the mirrors breaks. The glass beads spill out, and she rolls under the bed next to a dusty M & M.



(Found on Page 100 of the Denver Quarterly Vol. 42 Num. 2 2008)


First
By Mark Halliday

For me it was Robin Hentz:
In fourth grade and fifth grade she made me tense.

Her beauty was inexplicable and utterly cogent
Like talent;
She reminded me of Prince Valiant.

Robin was quick and dark and small.
On our field trip to the planetarium, to be beside her
And have her see me
Was the thing in the universe that mattered at all.

I don’t know if she moved away
Before I moved away (from Raleigh, NC),
Somehow I don’t recall;
But each of us needs a first discovery
Of the kind of love into which you fall—
Admiration madding and immense—
And for me, it was Robin Hentze.

(Found on pg. 18 of Never Before: An anthology Edited by Laure-Anne Bosselaar)

-----My poem written as Maria Stanton----

Paper Airplane

The hands that created me folded me with care, for distance, speed, and tricks. I dance around the room, elegantly without fault flying passed the cat, hoping it doesn’t jump at me. Dodging the bookshelf, I know that I’m lucky this time. The ceiling fans gusts give me more power, making me soar down the hallway, passed photos of the boy who created me. Here I go, for one last loop making it as fancy as they come. Oh no! He forgot to open his door, my body smashes against my nose, and here I lay, crumpled, wrinkled and used.

Creative Writing Class

For my Creative Writing: Poetry course we had to write a poem with these instructions:

Picture in your head something that you've experienced/a memory that you've had. The examples were camping and such. You were encouraged to elaborate or embellish.
Here were the prompts:

Title: Fill in the blanks "The _______ of ________"

• 1st sentence: Looking down from above-descriptive
• 2nd: Action sentence- Something moves.
• 3rd: What are things people brought with them? Elaborate.
• 4th: Quote something someone said.
• 5th: More scenes-Include images, and things that are happening that you're not aware of.
• 6th: Write a sentence starting with "All along"
• 7th: Write two sentence fragments.
• 8th: Write a desire- Bonus points if you begin the sentence with "let me".

So... Here is what I came up with:

The End of Coming as You Are
by KaTrina Gayken

The city looked awfully busy that day.
Cars flying by going west and crawling headed east.
Students carried book bags and had a sort of stench that high school boys could never leave at home.
Driving by, someone was attempting to sing along with the radio "I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends, they're in my head."
Eventually we pass the scene, a car overturned with sirens blaring and people rushing around trying to account for everyone.
All along, as we traveled to Seattle, the boys were only in it to get out of class.
A girl fell. Smelled stench. Gagged.
"Let me buy you some soap" she thought.

So...That's what I wrote. At first I wasn't a big fan but when the professor read it out loud, it just sounded better coming out of someone else's mouth. He called it "strange" and "provocative" I enjoyed it. When he reads peoples works, he doesn't read their names and after class people were talking about it and about how much they liked it! One person even picked up on a few things I hid in the poem!!! It was so exciting to have someone pick up on the fun things I put in the poem.

Want to know what it was that I put in the poem? Nirvana references. Six of them to be precise.

Hope every one's having a great day!

Stupidness....

Have you ever had one of those times where you and a friend got in a sort of a ... "tiff"? and for some stupid reason haven't talked since. Where you and a friend had a sort of...Disagreement? Not even really a disagreement, it's just that one was a little upset over something the other thought was stupid. Now, both of you are too hard headed to really talk to each other. Why would you throw away a friendship for something so stupid?! Ugh. Frustrations.

Prayers.

Today has been a very eventful day, both good and bad. For now, I'll post about the bad... Later, I'll post about the good, but I believe the bad is much more important at this time.

I was at the playoff game for our football team when I received a call from a very upset soon-to-be-sister-in-law... Adam's cousin passed in a car accident last night. To make it worse, their mom and older sister are currently driving back from Colorado where they were attending a funeral for their great aunt who died because of cancer a little over a week ago.... His cousin died in Asheville North Carolina, his girlfriend survived, and was released from the hospital this afternoon. Adam had two cousins living there, and the other is on a plane on his way home to be with his family.

...I feel like this post is scatter-brained at this moment... But my mind is going a million miles an hour.

Because Adam's mom and sister aren't here to help support Adam and his younger sister, a lot of that has been put on myself, Mick (Adam's step-dad), and Jake (Adam's older sisters husband)... We have to be strong and support the family, while two of the major supporters are gone. Adam's eldest aunt is on her way from Colorado with his sister and mom, and she will also help be a strong support team.
At this time, I'm finishing making two casseroles to bring to the family, and we brought them KFC earlier... I need to make sure they eat, and take care of themselves. I just feel so helpless. I need prayers. I need prayers to know the words to say to comfort them, and prayers for strength so I can help support them. Please pray for the family too. They need it so much right now, everyone is so confused and hurt.

...his cousin was 29... why do these things happen?! ..I'm just so angry right now and I don't know how to react to it.

Adam and his sister are currently sleeping. They need it. Soon I'll wake them to bring food to their Aunt's house.


...Parents shouldn't have to bury their children....

Applebee's is giving away free meals

to Veterans and current members of the military; look here for the meals you can choose from and the list of identification that will be accepted:

http://applebees.com/vetsDay/default.aspx

And she vanished...

I'll be disappearing for a while.

Sorry.

Awesomeness...

My mom has posted a new blog, and I'm so proud of her I thought you should have a chance to be proud of her too.

First day back to school.....

Today I'm going to my first day of class, and of course, I'm ready too early...It happens every time lol.

Happy birthday to....

ME!!! :)

Another great shift...

So today I went to work... This is my 3rd of 14 shifts in 17 days...Anyway, thats not the point..

I'm becoming a trainer so I had a girl following me around my shift just to kind of get the feeling for how everything works. Anyway, I was in the back and noticed a ticket that was about ready to come up so I went through and explained it to her, then I noticed that the table for a couple of old ladies that come in together wasn't rang in right (they ALWAYS get the same thing), and so i told the cook that the entree needed to be split onto two different plates, but the cook said it wasn't rang in that way, so he's not going to do it because its not my table so i dont know what im talking about, so the guy that had the table came into the back and i told him and he didn't really seem to care, so I said whatever, and helped him bring stuff out to the table.

When we got there the ladies said "oh, they normally split this up for us in the back" and I MAY have had a slight smirk on my face, but I wasn't in front of them and I wasn't talking to them, so I had no idea if I did it, or if I did that they had noticed, it was more just me thinking in my head that I was right and they should have listened to me. Anyway, apparently as I was walking away they said something to their server saying that I was laughing at them having a problem with their food, and that when they were finished eating they wanted to talk to the manager on duty. Well I was thoroughly embarassed, especially because I was being followed around by a new girl, and she had to experience all of this, and also because i had another table on the opposite side, so they heard the entire thing! So that too was embarassing!

I went up to the manager on duty and told him what was going on, so he went over and talked to the table, and as soon as I walked out to check on my table they point at me and say "that one!", so I ignored them and continued talking to my table and walked away like I was oblivious to everything. I walked past their table to another one of my tables and still pretended to know nothing, and they looked at me and glared and then had a smile like they had just accomplished something they were really proud of so I smiled back. But the story gets better!!

Apparently my table talked to the manager after the old cat ladies had left and they told my manager that they were talking about how they know how to get free food everywhere they go even when things are right that they're always going to complain about things so they can get free stuff. But my manager was cool with everything and just told me to ignore them that they were just dumb old hags, and that they were.

Too bad they ruined my entire night though.

A new prayer to say before going to work....

"God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food, by His hands, we are fed, but please give your server their daily bread...and by that we mean the suggested 18-20% please."

Dear Blogging world,

I'm tired of working, can I quit yet...???

It wouldn't be so bad if my days off were consecutive and that it was only 1 shift a day for 5 days, but nooo it's Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday from 4pm-11pm and then Saturday at 10:30am-2pm and then 5pm-12am.

I don't know how much more I can go with just having Wednesday and Sundays off anymore. It's icky.

Don't be bored this summer....

Volunteer!

RIP Michael Jackson

He may have been a little strange, but you can't deny that he was a musical genius.

Realburgers for Real Heroes

My place of work is doing "Realburgers for Real Heroes", and yes, I know I just gave away where I worked, but I don't care because I don't do many "I hate my job" posts anymore. But the reason I am talking about my job is because of the promotion we're doing.

If you go on to this website you can nominate whoever your hero is, and they're eligible for something like $1,000 drawn every week. To promote this we have a cover that fits on the magnet of our name tag, and it says "Realburgers for Real Heroes! My Hero:" and you fill in the blank, well....Mine says "Brad Gayken, my dad." I know it's a little cheesy but it's true!

I got a little flack about it at work on Saturday...during my 13.5 hour shift... So I just want to set the record straight. No, I didn't put that my dad was my hero because of Father's Day that was Sunday, I've been wearing this name tag slip for over a month, and I didn't even realize Father's Day was coming up when I was writing his name on my tag. Would you like to know why my daddy is my hero? Here's why...

Dear Dad,

You're my hero in so many different ways, and not just because you kept me safe when I was younger, and raised me, but because you did it with pride, and a sense of accomplishment. You're my hero because you've always been there for me, whenever I needed you to be. When it was just the two of us, I remember you making me breakfast in the mornings, and watching Dinosaurs with me at night, taping every episode of Rugrats so I would have something to watch when I didn't want to go out side and play with the two puppies you got me, Bart and Lisa, or even when you saved me from the big giant rooster that attacked me because I went to swing on my swingset. How about when we used to throw Bud, our cat, into our pond and call him back over and over and over again... Or when you let me shoot the Bebe gun into the pond at the Koi Fish...It doesn't matter that I was 3 or 4 years old, we had fun, and thats all that matters. You're my hero because you took so much pride in having a daughter, that you put me in all of your Christmas commercials at work. You're my hero because when I was a teenager and lied to you about going to a school basketball game, and instead met up with boys, you made them run all the way home, even though we didn't follow them, and on top of that, I'm still alive to talk about it. You're my hero because even when you thought that Amy and I set my bedroom on fire you still didn't kill me again. You're my hero because you took other peoples children into your home when they were unwanted in their own home... You're my hero because even though it was a 20 minuit drive to youth group, and you didn't attend church, that you still made sure that my friends and I got there, even in the cold winter, we were still there. You're my hero, because even if it may have taken me asking you to go to church with me when I was very young, eventually you came around, and are now a very active member of the church. You're my hero because you got baptized, and I love the fact that I got to be a part of it. You're my hero because every time I get off that plane to come home, you're there waiting for me, and I love that you're the first face that I recognize. Daddy, I love you so very very much, no matter what you're always there for me and I appreciate that more than you could ever imagine. Thank you for everything.

Love,

KaTrina

....And that is my hero.

RIP Denny....

For those of you who remembered Denny, Anita, and Karen in your prayers:

Denny passed away this morning about 1:00 A.M. As difficult it is for his loved ones, they know he went to be with our Lord, and it was a merciful release as there was no improvement after the chemo and radiation treatments.


I guess Jesus receives the best Father's day gifts of all....his children rejoining him...

Update on Denny:

Please pray for my family and his at this time... Here is the e-mail I just recieved from my grandma.

Hello everyone:

Dad and I spoke with Karen this morning. Denny had been in the hospital all week but is home and they brought in Hospice last evening. One doctor said a week; another said 1-3 months. He is not able to eat, however, and they are not feeding him through an IV. He would have to be in the hospital or a nursing home to do that, and his wishes are to die with dignity at home.

Something I did not know is that there is very little or no pain with brain cancer. He is not on any meds for pain and is, in fact, pain free.

When I called Karen, I was just praying that Anita would not answer the phone. What can you say at a time like this? I would have just wound up crying and she certainly doesn't need that. If anyone has a need/right to cry, it is Anita.

Karen is in school three nights a week, six hours each night, plus she is now taking the reins of her new job. Between school, a new job, and Denny's circumstances, they are both just about exhausted. She said a lady at church asked her Denny is doing and she looked at her and said: "He's got brain cancer," (which the lady knew, of course) and turned around and walked away. Later, she found her and apologized -- but that will tell you how useless words are and how tired she is.

If any of you would like to send her a few lines by e-mail, send it to khickman@pasadenaisd.org. You know she would ordinarily be delighted to hear from any one (or all of you), but I've written all of the above so that you may know phone calls are not the order of the day at this time. I'm sure she'd welcome a note and knowing that you are praying for all of them.

Be good to your loved ones. We have no promise of tomorrow -- only the promise of a life with Christ when we get promoted out of here.

Thank you,
KaTrina

I'm just going to say this one thing....

If you're going to skip out on your bill when you're one of my tables, make sure I can't find you on Facebook.

Summer travels.

Hello friends and family!!

Its that time of year again, the time where I COME TO VISIT! Woohoo! I'm super excited because I miss all of you!! I'll be in town from August 11th-20th, and I'd love to see you! I'll be at a wedding the 16th, so thats the only day that is really marked as unavailable, all of the rest of them, let me know when you're available, I'll probably try to have a small get together that way it's easier for me to see everyone.

I can't wait to see all of you! Have a great day!

Love,
KaTrina

Happy birthday to....

Susan!!


Happy birthday! I hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

You can find susan here.

[]D[][]\/[][]D...lol

I have a friend who is posting some of his work on here and would like to have your opinion on it. Go read, go read! He hopes to be published some day, and your honest opinion is welcome.

Car Wreck.

At 2:17pm today I was in a car accident.

A lady didn't stop completely at a stop sign, and then continued across the street. I saw what she was doing, and tried to swerve around her by speeding up a little because I didn't have enough time to stop. Unfortunately, she didn't see me and hit me in the back drivers side right at my gas tank. It shut my car off completely, spun me almost completely around, and smashed the front of her car.

...If I didn't speed up and try to swerve around her, I'd be much worse off. Luckily I only have whiplash, and a headache. They said if I didn't do what I did, she would have hit me in the drivers side door, and because of the impact, more likely than not I would have rolled my Jeep.

I was driving down a busy street, and miraculously no one else was driving on it at the time so no one else was involved in the accident. It was crazy.

Directly after the wreck, I didn't feel anything and was okay a few hours afterward I had the worst headache I've ever had, and my back and neck began to hurt. I went to the hospital and they helped me out, they said I had a severe case of whiplash, and gave me medicine, and a shot in the tookis that hurt really bad lol.

Everyone involved in the accident is okay, and everything will be taken care of through insurance companies.