walkin' in a winter wonderland

 This past weekend was the first real touch of winter, and what is winter without some adventures, and pumpkin spice lattes. A few of my good friends came up for a visit from Phoenix and much to their delight, we froze together and enjoyed the laziness of the season- movies, games, hot chocolate, the works. Here are a few pictures from a spontaneous adventure in the woods in which I wore Toms and forgot my jacket.

~Miranda

fall happenings

These are my roommates at Halloween. We had a ton of fun dressing up and going to a costume party. We are obviously some of the most creative people :)

Here are our awesome pumpkins and a random guy that decided to carve pumpkins with us.

Some of my small group friends and I had a paint war. It was really fun, but I will probably never do it again, just because it was SO messy!

Caprese Turkey Burgers

Start by making the grilled vegetables. I chose to use zucchini and carrots. Rinse and cut the vegetables into pieces of even thickness.  

 Make a rub for the vegetables using olive oil and two of any other herbs you prefer. Add salt and pepper. I chose to use Rosemary and Garlic salt (with a large punch of salt and pepper). You don't need to measure amounts as much, but a little goes a long way.

Throw the cut vegetables into the oil mixture and fully cover. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and rub a small amount of olive oil on the foil or use spray. Lay the vegetables in a single layer on the cookie sheet and place in a pre-heated 425 degree oven.

 Chop up the cheese, basil, onion, and garlic and set aside. You can use as much of each ingredient as you would like, keeping in mind the flavor you are going for. You can also leave out any of the ingredients or substitute them for something of your choosing.

 Combine the ground turkey with the ingredients and combine fully. Create even sized patties. Heat a skillet on the stove at medium heat and place patties on top of stove.

Cook the vegetables for 10 minutes and then flip and cook for another 10 minutes. You can cook the vegetables a little less if you like them to be soft or more for crisper vegetables.










 Cook the burgers until they are browned  on the top and cooked fully to a light grey color. 

 Toast a piece of bread, place a slice of tomato and some basil. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and call it good! 

Eat and Enjoy!

I'm all X'd out

Today I completed my 2nd day of P90x, yes my 2nd. That might not sound that impressive, but it is seriously tough. I have been wanting to start P90 for a few months, but I finally took the plunge and I'm so glad I did. I can already feel a difference, okay maybe it's the super sore muscles speaking, but I really do feel like my posture is better and I am well on my way to a 6 pack... I joke. Tony Horton (the master of P90x) is so funny and that really keeps me going. So now it is almost 11 o'clock in the evening and I have all of this energy, and no where to use it.

On to more exciting things besides working out, I went to an Asian Market today called LeLe's, it's here in the Chandler area, and boy was I in for a surprise. After overcoming the smell of fresh butchered animals, I completely enjoyed the culture shock that was every isle of the store. They had an isle dedicated to each different country, and it was so cool to smell the different smells and unique varieties. (some things I can't imagine swallowing, truthfully) No asian exploration is complete with out a Boba drink.. one of which I have become quite fond of recently... Almond Snow! It's so good.. like oh man get me some now.

Tomorrow, after many months of waiting, I am starting housekeeping. I'm really excited but really nervous about starting a new position. I get to be in a new area of housekeeping every day this week, so I will get a sense of what everyone does, but I sure will need my Wheaties. Those people sure don't need P90x.. I'm into the home stretch and honestly a little sad to be leaving my little Hyatt family. My internship was officially complete on the 2nd of this month, but I decided to stay on another month, because what else am I going to do with my summer.. for reals. I'm really sad to be leaving Phoenix in a few weeks, but I'm also so ready to get some studying in and get back to my beautiful home up in Flagstaff.

Not to make this a terribly long post or anything, I just had to get a little frustration off my chest. I tried to go to the lake today just outside of Phoenix, and to my very great disappointment, you had to have some sort of ridiculous parking pass. Now, I understand it's normal for national parks or whatever, but it's nature people, let's blaze our own paths and call it good. Besides the slight problem of not having a pass, I was also not so willing to drive 15 miles to get a parking pass.. that's an extra 30 miles out of the way! Needless to say, our day of fun at the lake turned into a few pictures, breaking the law and eating Subway on a bench with out the beloved parking pass, and a lazy afternoon at the pool. I still say it was a successful day, and I know now to get my pass a head of time :)  So glad I just verbally vomited all that out..

Did you purchase a pass?


(Here are a few of the shots I took "illegally" with my friend Sarah on lookout)

what I ate: breakfast edition

 

This morning I really wanted to have a delicious breakfast, and this was definitely a good decision. This is super easy and filling. 

2 eggs

2 slices tomato

1 english muffin

2 tbsp cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste 

1 peach (mine become mush)

half a cup non-fat, plain greek yogurt 

Combining the items is slightly self explanatory based on the picture, so I'll save the effort of typing it up. 

Accompany with your favorite beverage, shown here is an iced coffee, my absolute favorite from Seattle Espresso.. this place is bomb guys.. trust me. 

Happy Monday.. My week is almost half way done already, take that hump day! 

this blog just got a whole lot more interesting

This blog just got a whole lot more interesting because of this beautiful object. I recently purchased a Canon Rebel T3 and I absolutely love it! It kicked off my summer break and we have been having a lot of fun so far. Also, I am officially a senior now, hello cool kid in school! Woo, this time next year I will, unfortunately, be a real life (hopefully employed) adult.. Today is full of exciting things such as laundry and car repairs, but I guess at some point those jeans you've warn way too many times have to get a little R and R too.

Also, my lame obsession with really bad shows has a new driver tonight.. the Bachelorette starts tonight! I know it's sad, but I'm excited :0

Here's to another really hot SUMMER day!

When relaxing gets boring...

Well the flu has struck my poor little body and it had a tight grip for the last few days. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I happened to have yesterday and today off of work already, so I didn't even get that feeling of rebelliousness from missing work. My momma came up yesterday to take care of me :) which was really sweet, but even so, I wish we could have spent the day popping into stores and getting IKEA cinnamon rolls. Everything seemed awful from sitting for two hours in the doctors office to drinking hot liquids.. not that doctors offices are really ever fun. But after about 48 hours of doing nothing but laying in bed watching TV shows and movies and occasionally falling asleep (less occasional than normal, very curious) I am just out of things to do.

I even picked up a new show in the last few days. "How I Met Your Mother" is downright hilarious. The plot line is randomly entertaining and the only question it leaves me with is, "When will he ACTUALLY meet their mother?" I mean these kids are not exactly young. I keep thinking every episode, this is it, then it's not.. which makes me think, how many episodes or even seasons could this go on for? I have seen this show before, but I didn't realize that these kids were STILL waiting to figure out how their parents met.

There are definitely some awkwards about being sick..
-The outfits you think look okay when you're sick
-Filling out information at the doctor's office and realizing you not only can't remember your own social security number but also your own phone number.. blame it on the sickness
-Reading the signs on the wall about a customer's satisfaction about the cleanliness in the lobby if the doctors office, and slowly taking your feet off the chair.
-Thinking that when they mentioned the idea of an IV that they were going to send one home with you to do on your own... guess that was not in the prescription
-Realizing that the 600, 325 people you checked in and out of the hotel yesterday are probably waking up with the flu this morning... think of it as an early holiday :)
-My voice, some people think that Sophia Bush has an attractive voice, what about Kermit the Frog?
-Falling asleep with a full box of tissue and waking up to a full bed of tissues.. surely I didn't blow my nose in my sleep.

All in all this has been a veryyy relaxing weekend(my weekend), well restful I guess. It may turn into a long weekend of some more resting, but hopefully I will be returning to my exciting life as a hotel intern fast enough ;)

I am also so obsessed with the song "Thousand Years" By Christina Perri.. must. watch.

Tah Tah for now!