DailyFeats for Dummies

As one of my most visited websites, yet one of the least known websites among my close friends, I thought I’d share with you a little bit about a website called www.dailyfeats.com.

The basic idea of the website is to give its users points for doing daily activities.  Once a user has earned enough points, they can obtain rewards.  Rewards range from coupons to restaurants and stores in your hometown, gift-cards to stores (Starbucks, Barnes and Noble to name a few), or make a donation to a charity of your choice. 

Sounds great right?  And I bet you’re wondering what sort of ‘daily activites’ you have to do in order to earn points, right?  Well, you earn points for doing simple things like, making your bed, doing your dishes, going to college classes, eating fruits and veggies, working out, walking the dog, cleaning the bathroom, doing laundry, running errands, and so much more.  Basically, all of those annoying tasks that you hate doing; you now have incentives to do them!  You can also earn points for doing things like relaxing, holding the door for someone, and calling up old friends.  There are so many ways to earn points, it’s almost impossible not to earn any points each day. 

The site also has other features to help you earn extra points, like challenges.  By participating in challenges, if you complete a certain series of feats within a certain time period you are awarded an extra amount of points.  The site is constantly being updated, and new features are constantly being added, so there are bound to be more ways of earning points coming up in the near future.

I highly recommend that you check this site out!  Although it may take you some time to earn the points in order to get the rewards that you want, it may help you out if you have any sort of motivation issues like I’ve been having lately.  And even if you’re not, sign up for it, just to know you’re working towards getting some pretty sweet rewards!

*I am in no way being paid or rewarded to speak about or advertise www.dailyfeats.com  All comments and opinions are my own.

Must Watch YouTube Videos

I absolutely love YouTube, and as a college student, I spend way to much time on it looking for new videos and watching videos.  Here are some of my most watched videos.  If I’m having a bad day, am bored, or just need a good laugh, these are some of my go-to videos.  These videos are in no particular order, and are only some of my favorite videos.

1.    Charlie Bit Me: While many find this video to be annoying, I still find it to be hilarious. 

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE4FJL2IDEs

2.    Ethan Laughing: Because who doesn’t find laughing babies adorable?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgMMQDFGE3k

     

3.    HP Premiere Speeches: Even my friends who don’t obsess over Harry Potter cried over these speeches.  And the fact that I was there to hear these in person made this even more special for me (yes, I was in Trafalgar Square for the HP7 Part2 Premiere).  No matter how many times I watch this, I still bawl my eyes out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKXuOj9d5o8

4.    Scarlet Takes a Tumble: I can’t believe it took me so long to discover this.  I do feel bad for laughing as hard as hard as I do… but…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIwTYL1fwJk

5.    You’re Worth It: An amazing song by Luke Conard.  The first time I heard this song, I couldn’t help but grin like a fool.  I’ve been a huge Luke Conard fan for a long time, but this is by far my favorite song that he’s written.  I don’t know how anyone can hate this song. (And there’s a behind the scenes video that’s hilarious!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AgafY_keoc

6.    Sofia Grace: To be honest, I was never a fan of this song, until I hear Sophia Grace sing it.  Now, I see it differently.  This little girl has so much talent and is so adorable, all I can say is, if she had sung the song from the beginning, I would have loved it from the beginning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7hTAp6KrGY

7.    Star Wars According to a 3 Year Old: Yes, I’m a girl, and I love Star Wars.  Call me crazy, but I just love it.  And this video is absolutely adorable.  And for anyone who knows the series, it’s frighteningly accurate.  And to make this video even more freaky, that little girls looks a lot like I did when I was 3 years old. (!!!!)

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBM854BTGL0

To All of my Readers...

I just want to take a few minutes to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time out of their day to read this blog and to give a big WELCOME! to any new readers that I have acquired since I have started this project!  Your support has been fantastic so far and such an encouragement for me!  As I said when I started the blog, I've tried blogging before and failed, but seeing that people were coming to to the site to read every day is what has kept me going this time.

That being said, I want you to know that I have so many ideas about what I would like to share with all of you about my own life experiences and things that I have encountered recently.  But, as much as I am excited about those ideas, I would also like to be writing about things that you, my fabulous readers, would like to be hearing about.  So please! Leave me comments!  Tell me what it is that YOU like about my posts and my blog!  What do you want to read about?  Movies?  Music?  TV shows?  Books?  Websites?  More recipes?  More about Charlie?  As far as I'm concerned, anything and everything is fair game on this blog (within reason!).  Let me know what it is that YOU want to read about and I will do my best to get started on your wishlist!

Thanks for Reading!

 Allison 

Chicken Lo Mein

For dinner tonight, I decided to make Chicken lo Mein.  However, I didn't make everything myself.  Basically, I used a frozen lo mein mix (from HANOVER foods!) and made the chicken myself.  

To make the chicken, I put olive oil in a pan, along with the chicken and salt and pepper.  

 Although I was a little unsure about how it would turn out, it actually ended up being really good.  The sauce in the bagged mix made up for the lack of strong flavor in my chicken.  And, on the brightside, I have plenty leftover for a dinner one night this upcoming week.

*This blog post was taken from a previous blog that I attempted titled “Shenanigans in the Kitchen.”  All content is my own original work and is owned by me.  To see the original blog posting, go to http://shenanigansinthekitchen.blogspot.com/

My First Poem

I have never been one for poetry.  In school, I hated it, and in many ways I still do.  But by some unlucky twist of fate, this semester I find myself taking a poetry writing class.  Well, in my own attempt to grow and put myself "out there," I have decided to post my first "real" poem on my blog.  And by real poem I mean one that didn't start with roses are red, violets are blue...

White

A look out the window is all that you need,

The flakes are falling! Let’s go!

You hurry about in an effort to dress,

pulling on mittens and hats and a cozy scarf too.

You pull out your hot pink sled,

and drag it up the hill,

then hop on and enjoy the ride,

the elements whipping your face as you make your descent.

When you tire of trekking up of the hill you lie down,

and gaze up at the falling wonders,

each flake unique in it’s own way,

just like all people on earth.

Trudging inside and frozen to the bone,

there it is on the table,

a mug of hot chocolate,

just waiting for you.

Waffles: College Style

Sometimes a little sugar is the best thing on a lazy weekend morning.  Regular Waffle plus a small amount of butter and covered in sprinkles.  YUM!  This is one of the things we've gotten at the waffle bar at one of the dining halls on campus, and we attempted to recreate it.

*This blog post was taken from a previous blog that I attempted titled “Shenanigans in the Kitchen.”  All content is my own original work and is owned by me.  To see the original blog posting, go to http://shenanigansinthekitchen.blogspot.com/

True Grit

Now that spring semester is in session, I am enjoying one of the many perks of being an English major – reading books that I would never in a million  years choose to read on my own.  In this particular case, True Grit, by Charles Portis.  

Yes, this is the book based off the latest movie, which also happened to be a remake of an older movie.  And no, I hadn’t seen either the new movie or the old movie, because to be blunt, that type of movie does not interest me in the slightest.  However, for my Advanced Fiction Writing class, I was required to read it.  It still seems a bit strange to me that this book was an assignment for a writing class, but that’s not important.

At first, the book was a challenge.  Having no knowledge of the plot other than what I’d seen in the movie trailers on t.v. I had no expectations for the book.  So having little motivation and no interest in reading didn’t help matters.  The writing was slow, and the meat of the story didn’t really begin until 100 pages into the book.  The characters seemed dry at times, although now looking back at certain lines they do read funnier the second time around.  Perhaps this is a book that needs two reads to be considered a decent piece of literature?

The book remained dry and I felt as if I had to force myself to read it – something that I have not felt in a very long time.  Normally when I read, I can eventually get into the story to the point where I’m interested enough that it’s not tortuous to continue reading, even if I did not originally choose to read the book.  With this book, I did not experience that until page 178 out of 224.  Once I got to that point, I couldn’t put the book down, and I flew through the ending.  But getting to that point was painful and took entirely way too long.

Despite the pain that I felt for the majority of the novel, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ending.  Whether that was from relief that it was finally over, I cannot say.

Charlie's First Bath

A few days ago, I woke up like any other morning and rolled over to an unpleasant sight… and smell.  My adorable little dog, Charlie, had decided to poop in his crate at some point in the night.  Not only did he relieve himself in multiple ways if you catch my drift, he then proceeded to roll around in the mess and get covered in it.  And believe me, I can only wish I was making this story up.

Once I got over the stench that now filled my previously clean room, I stooped down and attempted to clean up as much of the mess as I could without gagging or vomiting myself.  And let me tell you- I cannot even begin to describe how nauseating the sights and smells were.

After I had taken Charlie outside to do his morning business and fed him and had cleaned him up as best as I could manage with the little supplies I had available to me, it became clear that I would have to tackle another hurdle I had yet to face in pet ownership – the bath.  

One eventful trip to PetSmart later, I was ready for battle.  I have to admit, Charlie was so cute in the car and in the store that it was hard to be mad at him for making a disgusting mess at that point.  Anyway, I filled the bathtub with a couple of inches of warm water, placed him in the tub, and waited for him to try to escape.  Which, thankfully, didn’t happen. 

Thinking I got lucky, I began to take a large plastic cup and pour the warm water over his body, which he seemed to enjoy.  At first he, splashed around playfully.  Until I got to his head.  I tried my best not to pour the water into his eyes, but he was not happy about having water on his head.  And that’s when the escape attempt happened.  However, his break for freedom was shortlived, as he quickly slipped (not much, and he didn’t get hurt!) and realized there was no way he was going to be able to jump out of the tub.  For the rest of the bath he was calm, and relaxed a lot more when I began massaging him more with the doggie shampoo.

I think I enjoyed the bath experience a bit too much because I couldn’t stop taking pictures of him.  And I couldn’t help but notice how much more of a rat he looked like once he was all wet.  But I think he still looked adorable.  So now I (thankfully) have a nice clean and poop-free dog!

Chicken Rice Skillet

The Recipe:

1 tablesoon vegetable oil

1 ¼ lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups water

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 bag (1 lb) frozen broccoli, red peppers, onions and mushrooms (or other combination), thawed, drained

2 cups uncooked instant rice

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken in oil 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center.

      2. Add water and butter, heat to boiling.  Stir in vegetables, rice, salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with cheese; remove from heat.

      3. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes or until water is absorbed.

I wanted to try something relatively simple.  When I came across the recipe for the Chicken-Rice skillet, it looked simple enough.  Not to mention that it is filled with veggies and chicken, so it’s also reasonably healthy.  However, this particular recipe required me to overcome one of my big disgusts: raw chicken.  I don’t know what it is, but I hate the look and feel of raw meats.  But, in my own attempt to ‘grow,’ I decided to tempt fate and handle the raw meat.

Overall, the experience of cleaning and cutting the chicken was not as bad as I had thought it would be.  I put on some music (Britney Spears Femme Fatale) and jammed out while I handled the meats.  Although it wasn’t as bad as I had thought, I was glad when it was over.  Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with any ‘extra’ chicken parts still attached, but I’m sure it will eventually happen. 

The recipe was just as simple as I had thought it would be.  The entire thing took about 20 minutes to make, but I’m also a very slow cook.  The one thing that I was concerned about was the chicken being cooked through and the veggies being cooked.  However, chicken and veggies came out fine, probably from it being in the covered pan for 5 minutes.  Another thing that was different, was the type of rice I used.  While I used the instant rice, the brand that I had gotten came in a small bag in which the rice was cooked in.  So, the water in the pan was not completely absorbed because the rice was cooked in a different pot.  

In general, I would say this recipe was a success.  The food itself was not the best meal I’ve ever had, and probably could have used a bit more flavor, considering my experience level, it was pretty good.  

*This blog post was taken from a previous blog that I attempted titled “Shenanigans in the Kitchen.”  All content is my own original work and is owned by me.  To see the original blog posting, go to http://shenanigansinthekitchen.blogspot.com/