Rachel's Meaty Enchiladas

1 can Loma Linda Vegeburger
1 can Vegetarian Refried Beans
2 cans red Enchilada sauce
finely shredded Cheddar Cheese
Lawry's Seasoned Salt, to taste
Onion Powder, to taste
Garlic Power, to taste
20 corn tortillas

Heat a small amount of oil in a large skillet, and add vegeburger. Season to taste with Lawry's salt, onion and garlic powder. Allow vegeburger to cook thoroughly, about 5-7 minutes. Add refried beans and allow to mix and cook. Mix in 3/4 - 1 cup enchilada sauce, and approximately 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese.

Microwave tortillas, stacks of 5 at a time, for 45 seconds in between damp paper towels. Fill tortillas with bean/meat mixture, roll, and place seam down in a pyrex baking dish. Cover with remainder of enchilada sauce, and sprinkle cheese over entire dish.

Bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes. Makes approximately 20 enchiladas, give or take.

i'm a little dizzy from all the propoganda::

My head is spinning today from watching all of the inaguration coverage on TV last night. There were so many different channels to choose from -- ABC, Fox News, CNN...heck, even MTV got in on the Youth Inaguration Ball (one out of the nine thrown last night). I went to bed feeling quite a bit uneasy about this new chapter of our lives. Now before you jump down my throat about how unpatriotic and disrespectful I am about our leader, understand this. I am patriotic, because I want whats best for my country. I won't say that Bush was the best, and I refuse to say that Obama is the best. I don't think McCain was a good option either. I'm just really worried about what is to come with our new leader.

Here's one thing that really blew me away, and raised red flags in my head. Americans have never been SO in love with a political leader. I've never seen news footage of practical worship of a leader as with this man. He really is the Messiah to his followers, and that is a huge problem. We cannot put so much trust and hope in one mortal human being. Sure, he hugs and kisses his wife and kids, and puts on such a good face, and his speeches blow you away. But is that all we look for now days in a leader? What about someone who truly has the experience we need to save our country. What about someone who has actually served our country in the military, who is willing to give his life for the land of the free. To hear the crowds break into chants of "OBAMA!!! OBAMA!!!" reminded me of rallies given to past leaders in history -- Castro, Mao tse tung, Hitler. WAIT! I'm not saying that Obama is a maniac who is intent on genocide. I'm just saying that worship and adoration of a leader like that can lead our country down the wrong road. When he presents a "solution" to a problem, the entire nation will blindly follow along, because he so easily speaks up front and it's so easy to get swept away. Shoot, after listening to all his speeches yesterday, I even found it easy for myself to follow along.

I'm bothered by all this socialistic terminology that is being thrown around. Everything is for "the people". "The people" want this..."the people" need that. If we don't watch out, soon we'll be calling each other comrade while standing in line for our daily bread ration.

I know this is the mainstream media we're talking about, but everyone is going on about how bad our lives were, and how much change and hope we have to look forward to. They make it sound like our lives were in complete shambles. Can we open our lives and look around at what has happened to our country?? WE WERE ATTACKED! Terrorists blew up our buildings and killed thousands of people, and we fault our president for defending our country and keeping us safe. For 8 years we've prevented further attacks, something that many people would not have been able to accomplish. Have you seen concentration camps pop up? Has there been food rations and the inability to receive nutrition? Have we been forced to stand in lines for hours just to get a loaf of bread? Come on people...think logically about all this and remind yourselves just how lucky our country really is, how blessed we all are to have the resources we have and the freedoms that we are still clinging to.

I'm just worried that America thinks we can build a utopia. We can't, and I don't think that levelheaded people should get caught up in this ideology. This is a sinful world, and we must remember that we will always have unrest, and there will not be peace until Jesus comes again. I'm just asking you to keep an open mind, and remember that no matter how wonderful all the speeches and photo ops seem, there's more behind it than meets the eye, and we need to be careful!

Common Sense Wedding Etiquette for Those Who Have None, Part 1: Bridesmaids

Let me clarify, this is for those who have neither common sense OR wedding etiquette, or both. Read on.

Ahh, weddings. Admit it, we all love them, and we all hate them. Single guys look forward to meeting beautiful bridesmaids, just to have their hopes dashed when they see all the either married or ugly girls lining up behind the bride. All the bridesmaids dread the dresses, and all the brides say the same thing, "It's such a great dress! You can shorten it and wear it after!". All the guests bring as generic a gift as they can find, and all the parents cry about how grown up their children are. Now I've only planned one wedding for myself, but I've helped many other friends plan their weddings, and watched brides plan weddings through all the blood, sweat and tears. So the things I'm sharing here are from personal experience and observation.

Here's the first thing I'd like to share. Weddings are about brides, and no one else. You would think that people know this by now, especially people who have been to multiple weddings, but it always seems to slip their minds as soon as they hear those wedding bells ringing. I don't really know what thoughts flit through their minds, but it always seems to revolve around themselves, rather than how they can help and support the bride. I believe that weddings are the one time that a girl can really be selfish. It really is all about her. Now I'm not endorsing turning into a bridezilla here. That's a little far fetched, especially the bride I saw on TV forcing her fiancee to work out at 5am for three hours a day, two weeks before the wedding in order to "get in shape", disregarding the fact that she was fatter than he was. She even stood there munching on donuts in front of him, just to irritate him. Anyway, back to topic.

Let me share a few examples with you about how to NOT make the bride's life easier. Being asked to be a bridesmaid in the wedding means you should be supportive of the bride, and it is not a time to flaunt yourself out outshine the bride. Neither is it a time to buy a dress far too small for you in order to make yourself lose weight. Chances are, you won't drop from a size 18 to a size 14 before the wedding, especially in just 3 months. And if, six weeks before the wedding, your dress (obviously) doesn't fit, it's a good time to listen to the bride and go exchange that dress for one that does fit and looks good on you. Another thing you should not do before a wedding is get tattoos or nose piercings. Especially when you mention it to the bride ahead of time and she adamantly says "Do not get a large tacky tattoo of blue hearts all over your foot and ankle, considering that you are wearing a knee-length dress to my wedding!" This is not a good time to go get a tattoo, no matter how much all those hearts and stars make you think of your bratty nieces. Same with the nose piercing. If you are just dying to pierce your nose or tattoo your foot, you can wait another six weeks until after the wedding.

Don't accept the position of a bridesmaid, and then decide that hanging out in Dallas with all your friends the weekend of the wedding is more important than being a bridesmaid. If you do choose to do this, don't show up an hour late to get dressed the morning of the wedding, thus causing everyone to be late for pictures. Also, if you chose to leave the wedding party all weekend, and show up just before the wedding, don't be offended that no one knows who you are, and no one pays much attention to you while you are getting ready. Chance are, everyone is slightly irritated that you couldn't be bothered to come and help with decorations, parties or making your own bouquet, and couldn't care less how pretty you think you are. They just wish you'd never showed up.

Don't be a bridesmaid who expects that the weekend of the wedding is a perfect opportunity to spend lots of quality time with the bride. Remember that this is the most stressful day of her life, and know that she greatly appreciates having you there by her side, and needs your support. However, her life will greatly change after this day, and she will no longer be able to just "hang with the girls". Also, you have no idea what all is going on in the brides life and mind at the time, and if she snaps your head off, she's probably more stressed than you've ever been, especially if you are single. So get over it.

Just because your husband is a groomsman, that doesn't mean you're gonna be a bridesmaid, ESPECIALLY if you barely know the bride. Don't call up the bride a couple months before the big day asking why you never got the information about the dress, even though you never received an invitation to be maid. Then, don't fly off your handle, calling the bride the meanest beyotch you've ever met, in order to attempt to get your way. Don't email the groom, telling him how he deserves better than the bride, and you really feel sorry for him because he's such a nice guy. That's a sure fire way to get yourself UNINVITED from the wedding. Then don't email the bride telling her that since you are in cosmetology school, you will do her makeup and hair for the big day. And especially if you think hot blue glitter eyeshadow is glamorous looking, don't be offended when the bride says don't come near her with a ten-foot pole.

To wrap up -- use the little bit of brain that God gave you to support the bride and groom. Realize that for just one day, the sun can shine without highlighting you. Give your all to make this day the most perfect they can imagine, and do everything you can to make the happy couple's dreams come true. Once you get started, it's really easy.

lucky charms inspire creativity.

Well, I ate my lucky charms yesterday for lunch, and now I've got all sorts of blog ideas running through my head. There MUST be a connection.

You know, I was thinking about my generation during our trip to Seattle this last Christmas, thinking about how my generation is going to have a lot of lasts. We're going to be the last generation that even remotely knows how to write properly. We're going to be the last generation that can remember land line telephones. We're going to be the last generation who actually had to WAIT to get a cell phone, until we were at least teenagers, or older even. But one thing that really stuck out to me, is that our generation may be the last to know how to read a map properly.

Nathan and I were getting our rental car (don't ever rent from Budget cars..) at the SEA-TAC airport and while checking out, the lady asked us if we wanted a Garmin GPS system with our Escape. Now, Nathan had just gone to another counter, not more than five minutes before, and picked up a city map and brought it back to the Budget counter with him. It was sitting there right in front of him, with his hand resting on it, while this lady is talking to him. Nathan and I both shook our heads, "No, we don't need a GPS". She looked shocked. How could two young whipper snappers NOT need a GPS?? I'm sure she could just imagine us not even being able to get out of the airport parking .. just driving in circles, round and round the parking garage, bemoaning the fact that we never got that GPS, and now we are so lost we can't even find our way back to the Budget counter to crawl on hands and knees to the rental agent and BEG to please give us a second chance and let us rent the GPS. Seriously, a map is so much easier. If you get lost, you just find the next road that loops around to where you need, and it gives you a birds eye view of where you're at. With a GPS system, all you can do is bite your tongue to keep from cursing the annoying woman that keeps telling you to turn around because you missed your turn. It doesn't help that you have absolutely no idea where you're at, because yes, it shows you on your screen the next road up ahead, but if you just took your beady little eyes off the screen and looked at the ROAD, you could see that next road up ahead. And if you had a map, then you could see the next five roads up ahead. Wow, how brilliant of an idea is that?

Anyway. It hit me that most people have fallen prey to Tom-Tom's, Garmins, etc. and no one buys atlases anymore. So I'm sure that when I have kids, they will think I'm weird, square and old-fashioned, when I refuse to use a GPS system, and pull out an old map. But then, instead of being disapointed for their parents being so annoyed with the TomTom that we threw it out the window, the only disappointment my kids will suffer is realizing that state don't change color once you cross the border, but rather most look the same.

...

It should ALSO be illegal to buy only one airplane seat when you are so fat that you take up half of the seat next to you, leaving the poor person who paid good money for that seat squished up against the arm rest. LADY IN SEAT 12C, YOU OWE ME 200.00!!!!

Marley and Me

What an awesome movie...I cried through the last half, and at first I didn't realize it was a true story, but its clean and so sweet. If you love dogs, then you got to watch this movie.

it should be illegal...

These are my own original thoughts. I come up with most of them during work. I'll add on as necessary.

++

It should be illegal to be such an ass at your daughters wedding that you break her heart.

It should be illegal to talk on your cell phone and drive at the same time.

It should be illegal to be completely able to go outside and smoke while you're a patient in the hospital, but then expect your aide to give you a bath.

It should be illegal to ask for nausea medication, and then accept your plate of food full of steak, squash and ice cream.

It should be illegal to sell bikinis above a certain size .. such as size 14.

It should be illegal to have your crack dealer come visit you in the hospital.

It should be illegal to allow children into a hospital.

It should be illegal to tail gate. (o wait, it is. SO GET OFF MY TAIL!)

To all the truck drivers out there: I CAN SEE YOUR MIRRORS, SO WHY CAN'T YOU SEE ME????"

It should be illegal to diss on someone else's presidential candidate and not be able to take it on your own.

random thoughts

So the other day, while Nathan and I were driving back to Chattanooga from Texas, we stop at a gas station to get some taco bell for supper. Since it was a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Express, the prices were like, three times as much as normal, so I decided to forgo a drink at Taco Bell, and get a much cheaper one at the gas station. I headed over to the soda fountain and filled up an odd sized cup (22 oz, not 24 oz. Thought the price sign was quoted for 24 oz. I think they charged me for 2 extra ounces ...), and then headed to the check out. The girl at the register barely looked at me as she rung up my soda, and bruskly told me "Dollar Nineteen." She was looking at someone else while she was talking, so I pulled out a dollar and a quarter, and laid it on the counter. She turns around and sticks her hand out at me, so I pointed to the money and said "You said 1.19, right? Well there's 1.25!" She just looks at me and holds her hand out still, and I look right back and say "There's your money!". I was about to just walk away and leave the change, and she opens her mouth and says (with the biggest attitude) "Pick the money up and put it in my hand!" I look at her incredulous. Are you serious? You can't pick the money up off the counter yourself? At first I thought maybe her hand was paralyzed or something, but her fingers were moving, so I knew that couldn't be it. I just stood there, my mind whirling. Then she says it again, with her voice raised. "Put the money in my hand! God, don't you think it's rude to put it down on the counter?????" I scooped up the money with one hand, because my other hand was full of my taco bell, wallet and drink, and dropped it into her hand, replying "No not really." So she pulled out my receipt and my six cents and carefully laid them on the counter, and said "THERE! DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER???!" I just looked at her again, with this really curious look on my face, and scooped up my money and went on my way. I'm confused though -- what makes someone so anal? I mean, it's not my fault that she's stuck working at a gas station in the middle of nowhere in Texas. There's a community college somewhere around, if she wants a better option for her life. So don't take it out on me --- THE CUSTOMER, who is offering you money, which helps YOU keep your job!

Which brings me to another thought -- My brother-in-law told us about how stores in Florida are now putting PICTURES of the money that a customer is supposed to receive in change on the screen of the register, so that the cashier knows exactly how much change to give back, you know, in case they can't count and all. So imagine you're paying a twenty dollar bill for something that cost 11.65. The screen would pop up with a picture of a five dollar bill, a picture of 3 one dollar bills, a picture of a quarter, and a picture of a dime. Wow, I feel really safe knowing people who can't count are checking me out at Wal-Mart and running my credit cards and checks. I mean, shouldn't that be a requirement for becoming a cashier? "O, you can't count? Well, goodbye. There's a street-sweeper job available next door I believe." O right, that would be politically incorrect to do, and we might offend some poor soul who was too lazy to learn his times tables.

Which brings me to another thought -- This country is going to politically correct itself right into oblivion. Seriously. It's so idiotic, some of the things they make people do nowdays to be "PC". And even they are realizing how dumb they are. All this global warming crap, and we've had the coldest winter in decades. States were breaking cold records left and right just before christmas, so now, ooooo , it's a climate change. No duh -- the climate changes at least four times a year. Lets see, spring, summer, fall and winter. Just get over it, Al Gore, and try to lower your own energy bill. You know, an investigation was launched into Al Gore, and they found that he pays over 16,000.00 a MONTH for his mansion's energy bill. That's right. Now don't get me wrong, I believe we should take care of the earth and protect it. God put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden to care for it, and he in no way said "just do whatever you like, who cares about the garden". But when you care for the earth at the expense of the humans ON it, then I have a problem.