Cookin' With Chlo...Round 2

Soooo....this post is a little late. Considering it happened like two weeks ago. Buuuut, it is just too classic of an evening in the life of Andi Blackwell for me to not share.

Also it's super funny because Chloe is this "super great cook who runs the kitchen and never messes up and everybody wants her to cook for her and I'm laughing at what I'm about to write about because it goes against everything I just said".

So here goes:

It was an ordinary Wednesday evening for Chloe and I while we were hanging out. We decided that eating and watching Scandal would be our exciting event for the night. You know, we decided to switch things up and try something crazy.

Well I found this super delicious idea on Twitter from a Pinterest account. It was called a cookie bowl. A COOKIE BOWL. And you are supposed to put ice cream inside of it. Like, get in my belly....NOW.

I mean honestly, who doesn't want a slice of that Heaven? If you say you don't then you are a liar and I just can't trust you anymore.

So I tweeted the link to Chloe and we planned to make these a week later. And to be honest, I thought about these bad boys for that whole week. And I'm still thinking about them. To this day. Right now. Okay I need one.

ANYWAYS....

So Wednesday night gets here and like any normal night of cooking with Chloe, I'm kicked out of the kitchen before the cooking even begins. Apparently I get in the way and don't exactly know what I'm doing. Oh, and she just really hates to share a kitchen. She's going to be one of those real nice wife ladies.

So Chloe tells me to just go start watching Scandal while she makes the cookie dough and she'll call me into the kitchen for the fun part once it's ready.

So going into this process, we had visions like this dancing in our heads:

Just beautiful.

So Chloe FINALLY calls me into the kitchen after taking her sweet, precious time creating an egg substitute since we didn't have any eggs. Apparently that makes you some kinda chef. Whatever.

This was my huge contribution to this project. Yeah, I really love cookie dough. That should have been obvious.

So we begin the process of molding these delicious pieces of art.

We decided to play it safe and only make three bowls to start out with. You know, JUST IN CASE they didn't go exactly according to plan. That way we would have some cookie dough left to use.

JUST LOOK AT HOW HAPPY AND EXCITED WE ARE.

So it's about time to put these little treasures into the oven and here comes a direct quote from THE Master Chef Chloe. "These really could use a bit more flour. Oh well, they'll be fine."

WRONG.

SO VERY WRONG.

DISASTER STRUCK.

We were watching some Scandal while they were cooking, and I smelled something burning. I don't have very good eyesight, and I can't hear very well, but by God I've got the snout of a police canine.

So after I suspiciously smell the burning for a minute or two I turn to Chlo and say, "Hey, you smell that burning? Think it's okay?" And she's all, "Yeah, I smell it, let's give it like five more minutes."

So we return to our show. Hellooooo, huge mistake.

A few minutes later the burning smell is getting quite strong, so we decide it is time to investigate. Our friend Amber was there too and had been sitting watching TV in the living room the whole time. I don't know how she handled the burning smell without saying anything.

So we open the oven.....and this is what happens....

Hasta la vista any hopes of having a cookie bowl that night....

Does the disaster stop there? OH NO.

So these little trouble makers decided to drip onto the bottom of the oven. Well when Chloe closed the oven door after removing them, it continued to smell like something was burning really bad. So I told her to open the oven again.

"FIRE!!!!!!!!!!" I yelled at her. She thought I was yanking her chain. LOL because I wasn't. She opened the door, yelled, and closed it again.

My brains kicked in and I told her that the fire won't actually put out itself and we need to actually do something. So she opened the door again. And obviously my first reaction was to have my camera ready....because what would have been a smarter decision?

There she blows.

Well, at this point Chloe asks me what we're supposed to do. I'm just laughing. Thank God for Amber being there because she took over and extinguished the flames.

What a champ knowing how to save lives and whatnot.

At the end of the day what did we have? Crushed dreams, burnt cookie bowls, an extremely smoky apartment, and our lives. I guess living and having a standing apartment are still decent outcomes.

But look at how sad we were. How can you not want to cry for our devastating loss?

I still need a cookie bowl. Now taking applications for better cookie bowl chefs. Sorry, Chlo.

The Moment I Realized I'm a Blackwell with Standards....almost

First things first......raise your hand if you know one of the Blackwell boys. If you aren't raising your hand, well, I don't know if I'm happy or sad for you. They're a unique bunch, that's for sure. 

Here are three things that every Blackwell male is known for:

1. They can talk to a brick wall. No joke. I've never gone somewhere with one of them where they haven't either known some random person or made friends with some random person. This is one trait that I am actually pretty okay with getting from them. It comes in handy for lots of situations. Trust me.

2. They are late for EVERYTHING. Seriously. If you want to be somewhere on time you might as well just go without them. However, growing up with men like this has made me agree very much with needing to show up fashionably late to most situations. 

3. They don't let things go to waste. Food, clothes, toys, anything. You name it, and they will find a "use" for it. My Uncle Flipper has even been known to dig through trash to get some treasured item.

Which brings me to my story......

Today, though I am not necessarily proud, I channeled my inner Uncle Flipper. 

It's a normal day in the life of Andi. You know, wake up, go to work, come back to the 217, watch Netflix, read Harry Potter, nap, read more Harry Potter, decide to do something productive and take the trash out. 

I travel the long distance across the parking lot to the dumpster and what do I see just out of reach? A golf bag IN PERFECT CONDITION. Come on, college kids. Why would you throw such a great bag to waste? If you can't fit it in your car the least you could do is take it to Good Will. There was no need to put it in the dumpster. 

So, super sad with my peer, I head back up to my apartment to text all of my family to explain what I just saw. I was kinda happy with myself however, because this was the moment I realized I had this not wanting to waste anything trait, but with a twist.....I had standards. I didn't dumpster dive.

Well immediately everybody texts back saying it was stupid not to climb in the dumpster to get the bag because somebody could use it. The more responses I had, the more I realized what a stupid move I was making.

"That's what showers are for Andi!!" - Tiff

"No question should have climbed in n got it" - Uncle Flipper

"Get the bag and give it to me!" - Chan

"You'll get hurt- don't do it" - Mom (Classic response from the fun sponge)

"Don't you have a fishing pole?" - Aunt Karla

"Go girl!! Make sure someone gets a picture of this please!" - Tiff

"I agree with Tiff!" - Alex

Obviously if I didn't go fetch the bag I would never live this down. 

So I went.

And I dove.

And I fetched.

And I won.

And she's packed snug in my trunk to deliver to my brother tomorrow night. Hopefully there wasn't a rodent in it. In that case, my Uncle Flipper will be getting a call because I have not graduated to that level of him yet.

Now that I've showered and scrubbed all of my skin off, I think it's time to just relax with some more Harry Potter and Netflix for the rest of the night.

#NoShame

Turning Pages and Moving On

First things first.....yeah it's been a long time since I've posted. However, it was finals time and I was being a good student and focusing on my studies..... Actually I talked about needing to study more than I actually did. Finished my semester with all A's though, so that's a check in the win column for me. Score.

Also this month's happiness project is being in the present and focusing more on the real world and less on the virtual world. So there is another of my excuses for not posting. 

ANYWAYS. Now for the reason I am posting today. My brother and all of his friends have graduated and have completed their careers in sports....well the majority of them anyways. There are a few who will be playing sports in college. 

While there are SO many people in his grade that I have grown up around and love dearly, I'm really just going to focus on the group of boys I have been around more than I ever hoped for. 

These boys have been playing baseball together for a decade. Which means I have been sitting at the fields complaining about being either bored, hot, or hungry for a decade.

When the boys were younger they were on a traveling team together. Many of our vacations involved being at some random city for a baseball tournament. The best of these was obviously Branson, but we didn't get to do anything cool except Ride The Ducks so I will forever be mad at them for that. 

Yeah, they all played other sports. Most of them played football which is obviously way more fun to watch. However, I grew up watching them on the baseball field. As much as I complain and carry on about how bored, hot, and hungry I am, I think in the upcoming years this is what I will miss the most. 

I don't have a picture of them when they were younger and I really wish I did because they were much cuter then than they are now. They actually are much nicer to me now compared to when they were younger though. I guess they FINALLY just realized how cool I am and that it's a much better idea to be my friend. About time they got smart. 

Throughout this past decade, I was closer with some of the boys than I was with others. No matter what though, they're all family. Tyler, Zach, Devan, Justin, Gannon, Tyler, Chandler, Austin, Brandon, Cullen, Tristan, and my real life brother, Chandler. All of these boys are little brothers that I never asked for but got stuck with.

This past decade has had so many ups and downs, but no matter what I will always be so proud of them all. Even after all these years when they hit a home-run they always cross home with that same goofy, boyish grin they had when they were 8. Watching Tristan pitch on senior night probably made me happier than when I had my own senior moments. Seeing that a few of them will go on and play ball in college. Watching these boys grow up has been my favorite thing. 

Of course I need to send out a little shout out to our baseball family. The moms, dads, brothers, and sisters have all been there just the same. Without all of them, my life would be a lot more dull. I'll miss hanging out with them just as much. 

Finally, I want to talk about how happy watching this kid play sports throughout life has made me.

Not only is he a great athlete, but he's an even better person. I can't even begin to explain how many times I have heard somebody come up to mom and tell her how excellent of a sport he was and they were really impressed with him for that. 

Well being a classic older sister for a minute, I couldn't agree with them more. Except for his occasional fits when he made a mistake. Those were ridiculous and I don't claim to be his sister during those. Yikes. 

But seriously. I always knew that Chan would be the first one to give out a high five or a congratulations to a teammate. He also was always there to literally help someone from the opposing team up off the ground when they were down. 

I really will miss all of these boys next year. And I have no idea who I am supposed to watch play sports anymore. And who is going to eat all of the food and candy at home? And what am I going to do without them constantly making fun of my life? 

My little brothers are all grown up. I couldn't be more proud. 

Thanks for making me have slightly tougher skin. I don't know what I would have done without y'all constantly picking on me. 

If those of you coming to Mizzou next year see me on campus, don't take it personally when I don't wave back. I never wear my glasses. 

Peace out, boyz. 

Trusting God's Plan

So if you have ever been around my mom and sister during one of Chandler's baseball games.....you will catch on pretty quick to two things.

1. They lecture me a lot (and Chan we really have two moms how fun).

2. They plan.

Now when I say they plan I don't mean what we're going to have for supper that night or discuss what we're all doing that weekend. They plan events months and months in advance also expecting me to remember all of this and schedule it in my mind. LOL okay. 

Okay okay, I'm not saying that I don't plan things. I'm a firm day by day planner. It drives me crazy if I don't have my complete day planned out in the morning because I just really like to know what I'm doing.

I also like to really be in control of my life. I like to think about my career and where I'll be at in 10 years and when I'm going to be able to afford to buy a Jeep Wrangler. You know, important stuff.

However, this is something I have really been trying to work on.

I mean, no matter how much I WANT something, it's all going to come down to if it is in God's plan for me. And this is scary for me to think. It's not like I can just get God on the line and be all, "Hey, man. So can you just tell me real quick like if I'm finally in the major that you want me in?". 

I'm big on facts. I like knowing if something is good or bad, right or wrong, ect. So when it comes to planning my future, trusting in God is seriously really hard for me. I know that He knows best, but how am I supposed to figure out what He wants me to do?

This semester in Prayer Group through Phi Lamb I have done a lot of soul searching and praying about what my purpose is in life. I think it has something to do with serving. God has put me in so many positions throughout my life to serve others and that is what makes me truly happy. 

I don't think I'll ever actually know what God's plan for me is. Maybe this makes me a bad listener, I don't know. I've been told that I tend to slightly interrupt others on the rare occasion so maybe I should work on that before I really give a good listen to what the Big Guy has to say. 

I believe that God knows my heart though. And he knows me better than I know myself. No matter where I go in life I know that His plan will always find a way to overcome my stubborn self and He will take control. And that's pretty neat, really. 

The fam. We're so cool.

Caring For Columbia

So Saturday was a fun day.

Mizzou does this super neat thing called Caring for Columbia. A TON of organizations took part in this. Phi Lamb did too. And we had a great time serving our community.

Originally Phi Lamb was all supposed to serve at Boys and Girls Club. However, after a strange mix-up, they had to cut down a lot on the volunteers at that site, causing our sorority to have to split up. After we got divided out, our group went and served for Cleaning up Columbia.

These are my beautiful sisters that I got to serve with. 

We spent our morning picking up trash along the side of one of the roads in Columbia. Although it wasn't playing with kids like we had originally planned, it was still a great opportunity. God had other plans to use us in a different way and we went with it.

It was definitely an adventure. Emma, Alli, and Courtney were playing the role of my mom telling me where I was and wasn't allowed to walk with my knee. I played the role of rebellious teenager and didn't listen to them as well as I should have. 

They were so impressed with my ability to pick up trash that they gave me A FREE CAR. Kidding. But if anybody lost their car keys they can be picked up at the lost and found....AKA the dump in a trash bag. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Emma found a skull. We stuck this bad boy on a stick on the side of the road because what else do you do with a skull? 

Alli walked down a giant hill with me so I didn't kill myself to see the creek. What a pal. Oh and the vests really bring out our eyes, don't ya think? 

The cleaning really didn't take a whole lot of time considering how many people we had with us. There were a lot more people in our group besides our Phi Lamb gals. 

It really was amazing to see how many Mizzou students wanted to give back and help make our community that much better. 

Oh and our chancellor, AKA my best friend AKA the coolest guy in Columbia, gave a speech. Made my day. He's so great. Apparently I have a slight obsession with him. Whatever. 

Spirit Lead Me

So the month of April is all about focusing on building my relationship with Christ. I know a lot of my posts have been pretty goofy, but this one and most of the ones this month will probably be a little more serious. But I mean, I am me, so obviously I'm only capable of a certain level of seriousness. Here goes.

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert in the Christianity department. I make too many mistakes to count and can maybe name 5 Bible verses off the top of my head. I'm just sharing how I am working to strengthen my relationship with Him. 

I was raised in a Christian home and have defined myself as a Christian for as long as I can remember. However, college has been the time that I have really started to feel a personal relationship with Christ. 

Specifically this semester. And it rocks my socks off. 

Joining Phi Lamb last spring I was hoping to gain a bunch of friends who were Christians and were easy to get along with. Well, clearly my expectations were reached....and passed by a mile. At first I was overwhelmed by how much these girls loved Christ. I mean, I thought I was a Christian, but I quickly realized just how much I was truly missing out on. 

So for the past year I just kinda did my own thing thinking that all of a sudden one day I would have this really cool relationship with Him like everybody else. Well, really no such luck. I mean don't get me wrong, my faith has become so much stronger just by submerging myself into this sorority. And it's been pretty sweet.

Anyways, every semester we do this neat thing called Prayer Group where you meet with a small group of girls and, well, pray for stuff. 

Well this semester my Prayer Group leader is my friend, Linnea. Shout out to her because this gal is pretty tight with Jesus. And she's taught me a lot in the short time that I've known her. At the beginning of the semester she asked us to come up with a spiritual goal that we would like to work on. I chose to have a better personal prayer life in hopes of developing a better relationship with Him. 

This started off pretty rocky for me. Mainly because if you know me, it's pretty clear that my attention span isn't too spectacular. These are some of my attempted fails:

1. Quiet time. LOL. Okay. I should have known this one wasn't going to work. It lasted a whole 3 minutes before my mind had wandered and I found myself just wandering around my bedroom throwing a ball. Fail.

2. Writing in a journal. Yeah, not so great either. I kept up with it for about a week before I decided that it wasn't quite my style. I should have known this just from my past as a kid trying to keep a diary. I've never made it past like 5 entries. 

There are a few other ones but those were the two epic fails. All of the others ended up resulting in me ultimately getting distracted and not successfully building a relationship with Him.

Then one day Linnea prompted me to try and spend time with God while I ran or did something that I got enjoyment from. This made sense to me, so I decided to give it a try. 

Coming from a small town, I have always loved being in the outdoors and observing how beautiful the scenery is. One day I decided to take a little drive by myself on some back roads and just chill with God while surrounded with His beautiful creations. DING DING DING. This one worked! And it was neat. 

Now don't call me a hippy, but all of God's creations are just so amazing and beautiful. To me, when I see them and think about how awesome our God is for creating them, I'm just in awe. Whether it's just looking at the sun set, or taking a walk on a trail, or seeing the mountains, or driving back roads, His creations are everywhere. And that's where I feel His presence the most. 

So mission accomplished. I've finally found something that allows me to focus on Him and build a better relationship. And I'm pleased to say it's working. :)

Spring Break 2014!

As my friends took of for PCB and Destin, I hopped on a plane to Pennsylvania. For my Happiness Project one of my main goals is to do the unexpected. Well, I would say going to a town smaller than Centralia is definitely unexpected. And I loved it.

I spent the week with this cool kid and his parents. Chase moved away to Pennsylvania from Centralia after 8th grade. So he showed me around where he spent his high school years. 

He took me to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon (yes it's a thing and yes it's gorgeous). I guess you could say canyons are kinda my thing considering I went to the Grand Canyon last year on spring break too. So if any of y'all know of more canyons that are just dying to be viewed, hook a sista up. 

Just like most of God's amazing creations, pictures really just don't do it justice. 

Everywhere we went was an insane view. I didn't take pictures just because it wasn't the same as actually seeing it. I can only imagine how breathtaking everything is in the summer and fall. 

Chase was an excellent photographer. He even made sure my crutches weren't in any of the pictures. Thanks, man. 

Speaking of crutches, I would highly recommend never getting hurt before you plan on travelling. And if you do, I recommend not thinking that you can make it all the way across Detroit's airport by yourself. Holy smokes if you can learn one thing from my mistake just agree to have someone push you in a wheelchair. Your pride isn't worth it. Unless you're wanting to get a killer arm workout in and be drenched in sweat by the time you reach your terminal. Then totally go for it. 

Oh and sorry, fellas. Met a man up in PA. He's perfect. Never talks. Great listener. True love, man. LOL okay I'm done. (Clarification: this is a statue and a complete joke. My wonderful cousin texted me asking if I actually found a boyfriend. LOL no.)

We also went to a restaurant in town where Mrs. Barnes said that it was necessary for me to try my first real Cheese Steak. The waiter taught me how to order one properly (one wit wiz). And it was delicious.  

Oh and obviously I'm super attractive when I eat. Another reason why my PA boyfriend is perfect. No judgement. HAHA okay I'm really done now.

We went and saw Divergent and Noah while I was up there. They were both fantastic movies! I found it odd that a town smaller than Centralia had their own movie theater. Step up your game, C-Town. Come on. 

Fun fact: I absolutely love museums. I don't care if it is a museum of priceless art or a museum of dirt, seeing some sort of history in person is so fascinating. And, it makes me HAPPY. So when Mrs. Barnes said that we were going to go to the Corning Museum of Glass my interest was captured.

And the museum was awesome. Literally every type of glass you can imagine. Eye glasses, science equipment, glass art, blown glass, glass artifacts, and even a little exhibit from good old MIZZOU was at this museum. It was absolutely fabulous and I loved every second. 

Here's a ton of pictures that I took:

 Just some science stuff.....because I love science and science is cool.

 ONLY MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF THE DAY: IT IS A PERIODIC TABLE. AND ALL THE ELEMENTS ARE ON EACH FLASK. PERFECTION. (I really love chemistry okay)

 These two pictures were part of the Mizzou exhibit. The second one is the slab of glass talked about in the first one. Pretty neat. Go Mizzou!

 Alright so this says Hedwig and Hedwig is the owl in Harry Potter and it's the cup shown and apparently it turned liquid into wine so basically it's magic and Hogwarts must be real.

 Cool chess set. But I don't know how to play chess.

 This looked neat.

 So did this.

 This was hanging from the ceiling and was really pretty.

 Shout out to Chase for pushing me in a wheelchair so I didn't have to walk on crutches through the museum. He's the best.

 Glass flowers. If they weren't glass I would have brought a sunflower back for Alli. Sorry Alli. Thought that counts? 

 This was cool, too.

Chase, Mrs. Barnes and I had a grand old time.

All in all I had an outstanding spring break. Would it have been cool to chill on the beach in Florida in the beautiful weather? Yeah, sure. But how often do you get to try new food, see a canyon, go to an amazing glass museum, spend time with great company, AND really cherish some of God's beautiful scenery? I'm happy I chose to go to Pennsylvania. 

Oh, and it would have been pretty hard to use crutches in the sand.