Sorry I'm not sorry....

So being that it is officially October I have a confession

and I will go ahead and start by saying Sorry I'm not sorry but.

I hate pumpkin flavored everything!!!

So no I am serious, no pumpkin lattes, or pumpkin muffins or pumpkin pies!

I don't know what it is about it but I just don't enjoy it.

However there are many other things I like about pumpkins...

roasting seeds, carving, pumpkin patches

but nope there is no pumpkin in the food here at the Tucker House

But no worries.. wait till Christmas and I will be all over Starbucks when their White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha's return :)

Stuffed Peppers for two :)

Being newlyweds its hard to find alot of recipes that are for two.

However lately I have seen lots of recipes about stuffed peppers and it sounded like a great way to make a low calorie vegetarian meal for two :)

Sorry I didn't get the pretty presentation plates we ate. We were so hungry that we chowed down then I thought dang it--- no pretty blog pic!

Stuffed Peppers --adapted

**If you want to make this a full meal, add some ground Italian sausage to the mixture and bake**

2 red bell pepper ( any color will due but I picked these cause they made the meal pretty)

1/4 cup of feta cheese

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/8 teaspoon of pepper

1/4 teaspoon of olive oil

1.5 cups of a dark leafy green ( I used spinach but you could use arugula, or a 50/50 salad mix)

1/2 cup of orzo

Tomato sauce of your choice ( i used a basic tomato and basil sauce)

1. Cook the orzo until done

2. Add feta cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and your greens to the orzo

3. Cut peppers in half and clean out the insides then add your mixture evenly to each pepper-- top with a little extra feta

4. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes

5. Plate about 1/4 of a cup of sauce at the bottom of your bowl, place pepper on top and enjoy!

Pray for the USA

With the election coming soon we all want what is best for our country

but with all the lies and schemes in politics how do we know what is true or what is false

Its easy to start criticising the opposition but instead we should take that time to pray as a country for a promising future

I am so glad I found Tony Evan's 40 Days to pray for the USA

All you have to do is subscribe and you will receive and email every day with a scripture passage, guided reflection and a prayer.

It is so uplifting that people all over our country are praying for the Lord's will.

So sign up and help our country because every prayer counts.

How you know your an adult

So how do you know your an adult?

Getting Married?

Getting your first Apartment?

Graduating College? 

Having a budget?

Paying Bills?

Getting your first real job?

Your bedtime become 9pm?

Making your first adult purchase like a mattress and you get excited ?

Nope cause I have done them all and none have made me feel like more of an adult than this...

Getting my own health insurance!

After I started as a teacher I decided to take their health insurance since it was included and after filling out the paper work and getting all my health, eye and dental cards I had to call my parents to cancel my insurance. 

Wow! that is how I felt. I felt as if I officially cut all ties from being my parents child to now just being my parents adult daughter.

So cheers to the weekend and to the adult Brianna Tucker having a little less than adult fun and relaxation with some adult beverages :)

Please please do as I say..

So this has been a long week.

Common Core transition is kicking my butt and now instead of having two preps I will have 3.

Hello AIG Math starting Monday!

So I right now I just need a good laugh and I turn to my favorite episode of Big Bang Theory!

Please Please do as I say and if you have never seen this episode or this show you must watch this clip

Youll thanks me!

Bazinga! Have a great Thursday!

The pyrex that was....

You would think after one disaster I would learn my lesson in the kitchen but no...

This time my bake ware failed me

Andrew wanted me to "spice up the chicken" and not just bake it so I whipped up this lovely recipe for garlic Parmesan chicken.. It smelled delicious! Too bad this disaster happened

I took the chicken out of the oven and placed it on the stove so I could finish the mashed potatoes. Apparently I forgot to turn the burner off so I finish the potatoes, plate our dinner of garlic Parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes and roasted okra and Kaboom!

This Pyrex breaks into 100 pieces and all into the plates I am carrying for dinner. Frantically I scream cause I got scared and then we sent the dogs in our room and shut the door. The glass was so hot as we tried to clean it up it kept shattering. 

So we left it to cool and went out to get Mexican and margs cause we sure needed a beverage after that fiasco!

Moral of the story. Don't put your Pyrex on a hot burner!

Time to get serious

I usually use this blog as a way to express myself and I vowed since the incident that I am about to talk about to always focus on the positive. But I have been doing a lot of reflecting about something that has helped shape me into the positive person I am today.

So here it is..

I have suffered from depression and still struggle with high anxiety

It was one of the hardest and most humbling things I have had to deal with in my short 23 years of living. Two years ago at about this time in my Junior Fall Semester I withdrew from College. It was the hardest thing I have ever done.

Here's what happened. I was noticing my anxiety was hitting an all time high and I knew I needed to try and get it into check. I was about to start my Junior year, I was getting an apartment, it was about to be the most important part of my college career so I went and met with my doctor. She prescribe me some anti-anxiety medication. ( For those of you who know anything about this medication its also the same meds used for depression) I was warned that this was a side affect and to let her know if I notice change in my behavior

So I was feeling good. I noticed alot of my anxiety was gone. 

Now I know what you thinking alot of people have anxiety but mine is real bad. I have a huge security issue and fear of being hurt/sick. I have spent nights getting up and checking the doors dozens of times cause I am just not 100% sure. I have also broken down numerous times to where I can't breath and can't calm myself down. 

Then all of a sudden I took a turn for the worst. The medicine's side affects took their toll. I was really active in my sorority in college, numerous organizations and loved being social and it was like a switch and I was suddenly skipping all my classes, sleeping 15+ hours a day, not showing up to any sorority events and not leaving my house. 

Eventually Andrew noticed an told me I needed to go talk to a counselor or he was taking the first step and calling my parents. I told him I hated him and if he didn't leave me alone "He would be single"( Yes those were my exact words) Praise God that he only wanted (and still does) whats best for me and picked me up screaming and crying and drug me to my advisor and from there I went to the school psychologist.

After talking for a few weeks and figuring out what was going on, I realized I wasn't myself. I was depressed. 

Calling my parents that night was the hardest thing I have ever done. I felt like a failure. My parents have beaten so many odds and I felt like I let them down. But being the most amazing parents they are, they came up the next day, packed up my apartment and took me home. Not a word about it, had my room ready for me and my favorite dinner and their only concern was to make me whole again. 

Looking back now I am so incredibly blessed by God to have been given such a wonderful support system. At first I was embarrassed and I cried for days. When I told people I left school I said I was "got sick" and missed to many classes. I wasn't ready to face the truth. I thought only crazy people had counseling so I couldn't tell people I left school because I was depressed. 

Now I am still struggling with my anxiety and have found more natural ways to deal with it. A diet high in Vitamin B reduces stress and anxiety in women, and there are many other natural things you can change in your diet. I have learned so much and hope one day I can help someone through this struggle as all those around me helped and continue to help me everyday through mine.

But because of it I am stronger and so blessed.