It's Raining it's Pouring

     Last night at my high school football game it was pouring rain, and I loved it! We saw lightning in the distance, and I was losing my voice with my senior friends as we all belted out cheers for our team. It was such a great night as we shared umbrellas and blankets over our heads out in the bleachers. There were complaints from people as it downpoured, but I loved it :) Afterwards we all went for frozen yogurt and then headed to a friend's house, but I was exhausted by the end of the night from the long week. I can tell I am going to love this school year :)

with a few buddies in the bleachers at the game

the rain was about to come down hard

I fell in Love

Yes, it is true. I have fallen in love. I saw this recipe on a blog (http://www.bakerella.com/pillow-cookies/), and it sounded interesting, so I had to try it out! I made it and found I was in heaven. I like to call them brookies, because you make a brownie inside of a chocolate chip cookie. I made a few changes to the recipe from the scource I had found it at, but here it is:



Brookies:
1 package brownie mix
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. bag miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

My own honey pecan mixture to add:
1/3 cup pecans, completely crushed (you can do this by pouring the pecans into a freezer ziplock, and then using a rolling pin to crush the pecans). Once rolled it should be powdery. Then add a tablespoon of melted butter with a couple of drops of honey, and mix the mixture together.
Make brownies according to package and let cool. Cut about ten 1 inch squares. Enjoy the remaining brownies. (I used a pan about 8 X 8)

For the chocolate chip cookie dough, beat butter with a mixer until creamy.
Add brown sugar and beat until smooth. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl and stir together with a wire whisk. Add flour to butter mixture and beat until combined. Then beat in the pecan mixture for a more buttery, sweet taste. Stir in mini chips. Let dough chill covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use a measuring cup to scoop batter by the 1/2 cup. Since it’s chilled, you may need to pack it with a spoon. Then use the spoon to remove the dough from the cup and place it on parchment paper. Work quickly so the dough remains chilled or either prepare one cookie at a time so the rest of the dough remains cold.

After the dough is on the parchment paper, make an indention and place a 1 inch square brownie in the center. Press the brownie down gently and work the remaining dough around the brownie. You can use your hands to shape the dough into a ball.

During this step, I found it easier to use a piece of parchment paper as a work surface since the dough can get sticky and then I used another piece of parchment paper for the baking sheet. If your dough gets too soft, you can chill the rolled dough balls for a few minutes right before baking.

Prepare six cookies at a time using a large baking sheet (15 X 20) and bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. (If you wish, you can cook longer, but I have found it better if you leave them out once they are a bit doughy because they harden up.) Return the remaining dough to the refrigerator until time to bake the second batch.

Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes about ten cookies using a little less than a 1/2 cup of dough for each cookie.

If your cookies start to get too brown before they are done baking, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil over top for the last few minutes.

All credits except for the pecan mixture go to http://www.bakerella.com/pillow-cookies/ since I pulled it directly from the site and Southern Living 2009

When I look at this picture

(I just exchanged a high 5 with the guy next to me, so that's probably why his hand is a blur. Don't worry it's nothing inappropriate.)

When this picture was taken, I recieved an award for being the student of the trimester. They choose one boy and one girl from each grade who have stood out for academic, social, athletic, etc reasons. It was a great honor to recieve this acknoledgment, but the ribbons and plaque were not exactly what mattered to me. It was what was behind it that did, making this moment special for me. Here is why...

That trimester at school was one of the hardest I had been through during my high school years. Most people I don't think realized the challenges I faced during that trimester. I even doubt the people who gave the award knew exactly what had happened to me. That trimester was supposed to be glorious when it first began. Why? It was a time that every Cystic Fibrosis patient who has a G-tube would shout for joy at when they would hear from the GI doctor "You can get your G-tube out! It will not take that long to heal up. If it does not close up within a week, call us up, but it shouldn't take longer than a week." I was vulnerable enough to believe this.
     I had my G-Tube taken out, and let me tell you it was very weird and exciting at first to just feel a guaze over the whole in my stomach. But a week went by, and it was not closed. Week after week had passed, and I continued telling myself it would close up and the disgusting gunk coming out of it would stop. But it didn't.
    I called up my doctor, and said I needed to have it closed up during spring break. They said it would only take a couple of days to heal. Again, I was very naiive to believe that it would only take 2 days to recover! And that they just had to simply stitch it up! Therefore I went in for surgery, and I was surprised to hear they would sew up each layer where the G-tube was. After the surgery, I was surprised to be in so much pain. I couldn't do anything that required my abdominals, such as eating, drinking, sitting up, laying down, laughing, walking, and worst of all, coughing. I couldn't cough at all, which was a nightmare for having Cystic Fibrosis. My doctors insisted I could, but it was literally impossible. And whenever I let out a laugh for something that was funny or a cough, no matter how small they were, I was in so much pain my stomach would tighten up immensely to the point where I could not stop bawling and I about blacked out. And lung infections increased, since my body was literally not capable of coughing. I had to fast for 3 days, and I had lost a lot of weight because after then I still had to watch what I ate.
     While all this took place, I was horrified to find out I could not attend school for 2 weeks. I was running to be a senior class officer, and I was not able to do anything. (Now this just shows how stubborn I can be!!!)...I was desperate, so I was making posters at home while still going through the pain. I had my dad take them to the school while I was on the phone with him early in the morning as he taped them up on the school walls. People wondered why I was not at school during the elections, and hardly any knew I had had a surgery. I sent out text messages asking for support the night before elections, but that was all I could do.
     After the elections, we had to show up at the school to find out who would move on to the next round. (Yes, I continued to be very very stubborn for some reason. Maybe it was because I had to have so much Loritab to decrease the pain.) So I came to the meeting, hobbling with my body tilting over because I had no abdominal strength to hold myself up. I made sure I took Loritab before I came just in case any of my friends would make me laugh for some reason while seeing them. I showed up at the meeting, but was too late as everyone just started to walk off and not even say hi to me. Many were friends of mine, and I was really wondering what I did wrong! I just had a surgery for crying out loud! I looked at the list of kids who made it through, and my name was not on there.
     And it just keeps getting better...
The next week, I was able to easily get over not winning the elections. I was glad the pressure was over with. But then there was an event that came up that most students would not stop talking about about...Prom. I was still at home, and started hearing of girls who were being asked. And I do have many friends, so it was really hard hearing about. I had never been asked to a dance, and I dreamed of being asked and going to Prom once I was healed from the surgery. I finally came to school, and almost every girl had been asked. I really was happy for them, and told them I was, but I was sad at the same time. Again, I had no choice but to let it go and move on, and just catch up with the mountain of homework I had to do.
     Then, a miracle for me. I swear, this was my Cinderella moment. The day of prom, I knew I had to let it go, but it was still difficult. I could not stop thinking about how much I had missed out on because of my stomach surgery. My wonderful mom had heard about this group of girls who weren't asked to prom going with a group of special needs kids from our school. She talked to the lady in charge, and she was able to have me go! I literally found out I was going an hour before the group activity before prom! I put on my sister's pretty blue-green dress she wore for hers, and it barely fit, and was picked up by the lady in charge of this group. There were girls I knew in the group, and I was easily able to get along with everyone in the group. The special needs kids were adorable. I had so much fun watching over them and dancing with them. It was a great night! Although I did not see a prince charming, lose a glass slipper, have to worry about hurrying home by midnight, it was a very memorable moment and a huge tender mercy from God for all that I had been through.
     So, to sum it up and talk about why this picture has to do with it...You can very much now see why this was a very difficult trimester for me. At the awards assembly, they were going to announce the students of the trimester, like they always do. First they went through all of the other awards, and then came to the student of the trimester awards. They first announced the boy and girl sophomores, and when they came to my grade I was completely surprised when my name was called. I know it's not that big of a deal, but as I walked down to pick up the award in front of the whole school, I remembered everything I had been through that trimester. Just like how hardly anyone in the school had realized my trials through my CF, surgery, and other high school moments, I realized everyone has those times. Life may appear perfect for someone, when deep down inside it is completely opposite. It is good to be nice because everyone is fighting some sort of battle. We must also realize those tender mercies in our lives and be grateful for everything we have. I was grateful to be back on my feet, and to walk again, laugh, dance, run...only because I knew what it felt like to not be able to just for those 2 weeks.

Summertime

Summertime? I think so! But there is only one month left, so it is important to make the most of it! I have been getting ready for the new school year while being in the student council, so things have been as busy as ever! But here are some moments I won't forget...

After one of the first major rainstorms, we looked outside and saw this gorgeous rainbow

and this was literally what we saw at the other side of the street! Can you say cool?!

I also attended girls camp. It was great at first, but then we had, that's right, snow and hail! Our tent was literally frozen in. It was miserable for everyone to sleep inside freezing tents, but we learned that it could not stop us from continuing on and trying to be happy.

I also attended another camp for school right after girls camp. It was a great load of fun!

Those were only a few great times this summer :) I also have been running in cross country, but sprained my ankle and have been waiting for it to heal. I am excited to go to California pretty soon, and my best friend and I are counting down to a John Mayer concert with Owl City. I feel very blessed for not needing a hospital tune up this summer. It is worth it to take those vitamins, medications, treatments, and spend time exercising! And last but not least, it's important to have fun!