Winter Break

I have been so lazy when it comes to blogging!!! And, admittedly, a lot of other things... But I'm back! I have so been enjoying these last couple weeks of relaxing and reveling in my lack of classes (and responsibility :) But it's time to get back in the game! I've been reading A LOT and adding more decor to our lovely 5th weel and I have one embroidery project I'm working on but I am so open to more ideas of ways to productively fill my time! So far I've been thinking I should: crochet/knit something impressive and useful, brush up on my french and read every book currently in our trailer (there's probably 50, but I can dream right?). I also have a quilting project that I started last summer but then quickly gave up on as soon as classes started. I've also been cooking like a mad woman. I got two amazing cookbooks from my mom and my grandmother-in-law and have been having so much fun trying new recipes! My current cooking goal is to become an Indian food connoisseur :)

So other than all that, we moved about a week ago to Cape Girardeau, MO. A town in SE MO that actually has a mall! And a Target! And a Barnes and Noble! I usually don't go so crazy for chain type stores (except Target, I love Target), but they are so hard to find out here and there definitely aren't any local counterparts that I could shop at instead. And even better than those, there's a health food store here too! And though it's crazy expensive, I was grateful because I was a few days away from running out of nutritional yeast, not to mention I was able to stock up on dairy free ice cream :)

And I have one more exciting thing to share: I am no longer a caffeine addict!!! After the two possibly worst days of my life (a pounding headache like I've never experienced, nausea and vomitting), I have freed myself of the bonds of coffee! And now that I know what the withdrawal symptoms are like I doubt I'll ever get addicted again. So what am I drinking instead of my morning brew?

This stuff is wonderful. I've been drinking the hot maté, but this is just unbeatable (probably because of all the sugar...). I first drank it at the good ol' Human Bean back in Red Bluff and have loved it ever since. It has this sweet but bitter tast to it, and it's prepared like chai tea concentrate, so it's also super creamy when made with almond or soy milk. It's made from a certain leaf (yerba maybe? but I'm not really sure) and technically has caffeine but it's supposedly non-addictive and doesn't give you that jittery feeling. I love the ritual of my morning coffee and watching the news or reading and this takes the place of coffee wonderfully :)

We're supposed to be moving to Mount Vernon, MO on Monday so I'll keep you posted on our gypsy life!!