Who doesn’t love a good-fried-ooey-gooey-stringy-melty-mozzarella-stick? Very few people, that’s who. It’s just that fact that nobody wants the calories that go along with those little pieces of heaven. I was browsing around over on the Pinterest the other day when I stumbled upon a pin for baked mozzarella bites, unfortunately the recipe was so simple I didn’t pin the pin so now I don’t know who to give credit to this recipe for. Oh well, sorry! 

Ingredients

•  - Mozzarella string cheese (whichever brand is on sale this week!)
   - Bread crumbs (I used plain, but I bet Italian would work too!)
   - Milk (I used 2% but whole milk would probably work better and add a few more calories)
   - Paprika & Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning (she’s my hero)

Directions

Today was the day that I headed back to the South for my ten year classroom reunion on Saturday, little did I know that God had a lesson in store for me on the plane today.

 I boarded my flight from Madison and was sitting near the back of the plane when the occupant on the seat next to me asked if I would be willing to move to the front of the plane to the single seat aisle so her friend could sit next to her. I was more than happy to do it because I would be sitting by myself and I wanted to take a nap, working night shift and early morning flights do not mix well. I settled into my seat and began looking through the magazines provided by the airline. Two people sat down on the seats across the aisle from me. The male occupant seemed very uptight, just squirming in his seat. Not only that but he kept staring out my window, often times leaning across the aisle to look out of my window. He also kept, what I supposed was, stretching his arms and legs out into the aisle. I was get more and more annoyed by this point. 

I finally looked over at the guy and realized he was not stretching but was actually having muscle twitches or spasms. I then heard his female counterpart, I learned later in the flight that it was his sister, trying to calm him down. At this point I was starting to realize to realize that the man had some sort of mental disorder, I’m not sure what it was exactly. Halfway through the flight, the man soiled himself. His sister had to take him to the restroom to clean him up, never seeming annoyed or even inconvenienced. They came back to their seats, the man actually seeming a little calmer now. The man’s sister laid her head down on her seat tray. Ten minutes later the man placed his hand down his pants, the sister woke up and removed his hand. The man eventually took a nap and settled down for the rest of the flight. 

I returned to reading my book when I started to think, and as we all know me thinking can be a dangerous thing. I realized that I could have been that man, or one of my sisters could have been that man. I realized that I am truly blessed with my mental health and the mental health of my family. I generally try to write down three things every day that I am thankful for, and I don’t believe that I have put down my mental health, not even once. I started to realize that I take my mental health for granted. God has given me good mental health. Yes, I get sad and yes I can be moody, but overall my mind is in very great shape. So why have I never thanked God for my mental health? I take it for granted that’s why. I realized that I thank God for a lot of material things such as my job, my car, my physical health and even my loving family, but I often do not thank him for the mental health that he has given me and mine. How selfish and unappreciative is that? I feel very ashamed that I haven’t taken the time to thank God for something that I take am so appreciative for. 

So what I thought was a little perk on my trip (who doesn’t want the single seat?), turned into another lesson from the man-up-stairs. It’s funny how something so simple as switching a seat turned into a lesson on gratitude. So take a moment to thank the good Lord up above for your mental and physical health and for everything else that you have. 

Well the past five nights have just been so much fun I’m not sure how I could put it into words. Oh wait! That’s right I was at work. Actually, work wasn’t that bad even though I did experience something that I have never had to do in my nursing career: I had to dig an IV out of the toilet. Don’t ask me how it got there because I’m not really sure how it did nor was the patient. That is definitely one experience that I’d rather not have again. 

My 10 year high school reunion is this weekend and to prepare I’ve been watching Romey & Michele’s High School Reunion over the past two weeks. Granted my high school class was about 21 people and it’s not being held an any fancy hotel and resort. I do wish that it would end like the movie, with a big dance number and someone picking me up in a helicopter. One can hope. 

For me though, it’s like I’ve given birth to my own baby girl. Ya know. Only like she’s a big giant girl who smokes and says shit a lot. – Michele. 

Today I headed out to check out Little Manatee River State Park and I was not disappointed. I just went for the hiking trail, not for the kayaking so I will not be reviewing the kayaking aspect of the park (which it is known for). I arrived at the main entrance and proceeded to the ranger station to pay the entrance fee ($4.00 per vehicle + $1.00 per extra person). Upon paying my fee, I received a park map. The map is very basic and quite confusing. I proceeded to the parking lot and pavilion area where I hoped to find the hiking trail head. I never found the trail head, gave up, and wandered back to my car with frustration in my soul. I got to looking at the map and noticed that the hiking trail is on the other side of the river from where I was. I turns out you don’t even have to go into the main entrance to get to the hiking trail. The trail head is located about half a mile up from the main entrance, if you are not paying attention you will drive right by it as it is a dirt road and a very primitive parking lot. The entrance fee is an honor system and they ask you pay $3 to get in to hike the 6.2 mile trail. There were no maps in the map box, and I’m not sure how much they actually stock it with maps.

The hiking trail itself is not a difficult hike, but not suitable for strollers or the feeble. The trail is one big loop that comes back to the trail head. I was disappointed that there were not a lot of places that you could actually see the river from. Bugs were not a problem that I noticed, but I was covered from head to toe in chemical repellent (or testical shrinker). The terrain ranges from muddy, rooty, shell, grassy, to sugar sand. It is a wide variety of terrain. I didn’t notice a big incline anywhere in the hike. Dogs are allowed as long as they are leashed and as with all State Parks, no alcohol is allowed.

Little Manatee River State Park is located at 215 Lightfoot Road Wimauma, Florida.

Coquina Baywalk sits, well, right across from Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach Florida. Head down Cortez road turn left on Gulf Drive and you’ll see the sign a few miles down the road, and you’ll see the sign on the left. There are several parking spaces on the left at the entrance to the trail, should they happen to be filled there are quite a few spaces across the road.

The trail is a mixture of dirt, shells, and boardwalk. When you enter at the trailhead, you can go left or right, all in preference as the trails just make a big loop back to the beginning. There are no significant climbs on this trail, unless you want to see a good view of the bay. There is a very easy climb up a small hill that over looks the mangrove trees and the bay. This trail can easily be done in less than thirty minutes. I had no issues with the trails being flooded, but I did notice that several areas were wet, so they probably do get some water at high tide.

Nice enough trail, not near as nice as the trail at Weedon Island Preserve. I also noticed a lot of litter around the trail, which I will say it is close to a beach.

Robinson Preserve is an 400+ acre preserve that is located in Bradenton Florida. I visited the preserve on a Wednesday afternoon, the park was not very busy. Free parking is located to the left almost as soon as you enter the gate. The Valentine house is located on the right across from the dirt parking lot. I can’t comment on the Valentine house because I didn’t go in, but apparently it’s a visitor center.

At the trail head you will find a box of color maps and a kayak launch. The trail head is also that start of the Spoonbill trail, which is a paved trail that basically runs to the end of the park, it is an out and back trail. The Spoonbill trail can be used as a fitness trail, as it has several stations for pullups, pushups, crunches, and even a warmup station. A little ways into the park you can take a right off of the Spoonbill trail and head onto the Osprey loop. The Osprey loop is, well a loop trail, it is not paved, but basically a shell path. This trail offers great views of Tampa Bay and the Sky Bridge. The Osprey trail is packed well, so makes a great trail for biking, which is allowed throughout the park. You can also get to the Observation Tower via the Osprey Loop. The Osprey Loop also runs into the Tern trail, which is an out and back trail. The Tern trail is also a primitive trail that winds through the woods and coast line. There is a lot of sugar sand along the way, but I saw plenty of bike trikes so I guess people still use it for biking. Several of the trees are painted orange because they grow over the trail and I guess you’d prefer to not hit your head if you were on a bike. Follow the Osprey loop on around you’ll connect back to the paved Spoonbill trail. Take a left and you’ll head back to the trail head and parking lot, take a left and you’ll head on down the Spoonbill trail.

Biking is permitted in this park, as well as fishing at designated areas. Several paddle push-offs are located through-out the park as well and benches at some of the more scenic lookouts. No motorized vehicles are allowed. Pets are allowed as long as they are kept on a leash and picked up after.

Overall, this is a great park to visit and a great way to spend the afternoon. Take your bikes, take your dog, or just put on some walking shoes and enjoy nature.

De Soto National Memorial, located in Bradenton Florida, marks the spot where De Soto landed when he sailed into Tampa Bay. Lot of history facts and speculation throughout the park here, so if you are a history buff, go!

The park is free to enter, donations are appreciated. There are several trails here for you to walk on and enjoy, many offering great views of Tampa Bay. This is a very easy walk, no steep inclines, suitable for all ages. Dogs are allowed, but must be kept on a leash (and poop properly disposed of). You can find a trail map at the start of the trail, they do ask you return the map once you are finished. There was only one map in the container when I went, but it is very helpful in identifying some of the rare plants and trees that are on the trail. You will also see many metal cutouts of Native American and Spanish  Soldiers  throughout the trail.

Easy hike, great way to spend the afternoon or early morning. The park is very quite and a great way to get away form the sounds of the city. A visitor’s center is located on the grounds, it sells small souvenirs and books.

I got the urge today, while studying of course, to make something sweet. I pinned a cookie pin the other day on Pintrest and actually bought the ingredients the on my shopping trip to Wally World yesterday. The recipe was simple enough with very few ingredients, no butter and no flour required. As  travel nurse, my kitchen is not always well equipped and I honestly didn’t think about not having a mixer to make this cookies. The recipe called for beating egg whites until they were soft peaks. Do you know how long and how hard you have to beat egg whites to get them to form soft peaks? Long enough that I now need to do some bicep curls on my left arm to even them out. The original recipe can be found here: Divine Baking

Ingredients

• - 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I didn’t measure exactly)
  - 3 large egg whites
  - 2 cups powdered sugar
  - 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
  - 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  - a pinch of salt

Directions

1) Set your oven to 350 degrees, open and make sure there is nothing that can melt, burn, or blow up in there. 

2) Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Hopefully you have a mixer and you aren’t having to use a whisk. Be sure to eat some protein powder and quick digesting carbohydrates if you don’t because it’s going to take a lot of work to whisk those egg whites into shape. 

3) Once your egg whites have peaked, gradually add 1 cup of powdered sugar and continue to mix. Mix until it’s very smooth, shouldn’t take very long at all. 

4) Dump the rest of the sugar, the cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch into the mixture ( I did this in a Hocus Pocus sort of fashion..makes me feel magical). Mix all of those ingredients together and enjoy the fruits of your labor so far. 

5) Open the bag of chocolate chips, eat a few, measure out a cup from the rest (or just eyeball it). Nuke the chips in the microwave until melted be careful not to burn them. It took about 1 minute on HIGH, just stir and the lumps should melt. Dump those into the mixture along with the remaining chocolate chips. 

6) Mix again, now you can call your self Sir-Mix-A-Lot for all the mixing you’ve been doing. 

7) Get a bowl of powdered sugar, roll up small balls (your preference on how big you want your balls) and roll your balls in the powdered sugar. Get a good coating! 

8) Place on a baking sheet that you’ve sprayed with some nonstick cooking spray (or if you are lazy like me just throw some aluminum foil on the baking sheet and then spray with cooking spray, it makes cleanup so much easier!)

9) Bake for about 10 minutes or until the tops begin to crack. Let cool. Then enjoy and bask in your glory for you now have a delicious fudgy chocolate cookie. Just do not inhale when eating these cookies! The powdered sugar will cause you to choke and who wants powdered sugar in their lungs? 

My good friend Jennifer decided to pay me a visit at the end of my assignment in Baltimore. She pretends she likes me, but I know she only came to see me so we could go see Washington D.C. I joke, she really wanted to ride in the car 18 hours back to Mississippi. 

Washington D.C. was really amazing and I am glad that we went. Just spending one day (we spent 2.5) left me with a sense of national pride. If I can give you a tip for Washing D.C. it would be this: Do not drive! Just take the metro anywhere you want to go. You’ll thank me later. 

We got to Washington D.C. after a short drive from Baltimore. We had a reservation at the Crystal City Marriott, which is actually in Arlington, VA. I ended up getting a really good deal for $89 a night for three nights. The Marriott had access to the underground mall of Crystal City which also has a metro station (score!).  Wasting no time, we headed out to see a monument or two. We too the metro to Arlington Cemetery first, but that was a FAIL! During the winter months the cemetery closes at 5pm and we arrived about 440pm. Not to be defeated, we hopped back on the metro and headed to the National Mall. 

The National Mall

Lincoln Memorial: This memorial is far bigger than I thought it was. I did not realize the size of this thing. It should definitely be a stop on your monument tour. The front steps also provide a great location to take a picture or ten of the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool. 

Today was the day that I joined a gym, again. Hopefully this time I can stick with it and not let my wallet be the only thing getting thinner. Let’s face it every time I have had a gym membership, that is what has occurred. Time to get down to business (to defeat the Huns!), I think that it’s more a mind set for me. I think that I will have to tackle the gym and my fitness like I’m attacking my finances: set goals with time limits, set steps to achieve said goals, and have something to show me how far I am from obtaining the said goal. This is seriously going to require daily motivation or divine intervention, one of the two. 

I joined Anytime Fitness, not my first rodeo with them, but this one has something that I have honestly never laid eyes upon, Fitness On Demand. Basically you enter the area, select what you want to do from a generic P90x to spin class, and it pops up on this big movie screen and you get to work. Just what I need! Maybe this will finally allow me to tackle a step class. I cannot do step. I get so confused by the mirrors. She says left and I go right, a tip of the hat to the people who can keep up with that class because I ain’t one of em. 

In other news, it’s the big marriage debate going on today and tomorrow. The Supreme Court is in session over Prop 8 and DOMA. Here’s what I think: If I can’t get married to who I want I shouldn’t have to pay the taxes that I pay. I’m basically being treated as a second class citizen without the rights afforded to my heterosexual Americans. My taxes are used for the exact same purpose theirs is, to pad politicians wallets and pay for people too lazy to get out and work and get a job. I believe that if I’m not afforded the same rights as a heterosexual American my tax bracket should be lowered quite a bit. Just saying. I just have a feeling that the Supreme Court will hear these cases out and, hopefully, will rule in the LGBT communities favor. Here’s to hoping! 

The Gates Foundation is putting up $100,000 to the best proposition to re-invent the condom. They are apparently hoping to create a more pleasurable condom to bridge that gap where men don’t want to use them because they are no fun. I would love to see the submissions they get. (Source: NPR)