Unsolved Mystery

February 11th, 2009. 4:30 pm. No flowers. 5:30 pm. Flowers on the doorstep. No note.

I live in a house with 4 other girls, all beautiful and eligible. So tell me who thinks it's a good idea to leave a gorgeous orchid on the door step with no mention who they are for and even who they are from. Does this make sense?!

My roommates concluded they had to be for me since it was my birthday and yet I have absolutely NO clue who they are from! We sat down and brainstormed all options and I do mean all options, even straight out asking possible conspirators... to no avail. A bunch of people came over that night for cake and no one asked or claimed them! AHHHH!!!

This has been driving me crazy and I am desperate to know who they are from. We have decided that they are local as there was no delivery information or even advertisement for where they could have originated. Plus we heard no knock on the door when they were left, I just happened to check for the mail when I came home and found this sitting on the door step instead.

It truly is an unsolved mystery and I cannot live with that. Any and all suggestions/ideas are wanted, we can do this together! HELP! :)

Isn't it gorgeous though? I mean this wasn't cheap...someone deserves some credit!

Another Year Older...and Wiser too?

I turned 27 today. Most of you texted, called and facebooked me (ya I'm pretty sure that is now a word- "Facebooked" ). Birthdays are such a great time to just step back and realize how blessed we truly are. I'm so grateful for the love and support I have in my life. It truly is a gift.

With that all said, getting older is not easy. Yes I know I'm not "old", but hey I ain't gettin any younger, that's for sure. My knees are cracking and my back is aching. Not good signs. Or maybe I just need to take better care of myself.. that is possible.

It's funny though because I do honestly feel a year older. I'm not quite sure I'm all the wiser though. This year has definitely been one of growth. As a 26 year old, I backpacked Europe, moved to D.C., quit teaching, endured uenmployment for 3 months, and started a whole new career in accreditation. Those are pretty big things for me.

All in all, I won't soon forget 26, but I'm sure 27 got's some big moments for me too, and I'm pretty positive they'll involve many of you who are reading this.

Thank you for the love and thank you for the birthday wishes. I am who I am because of most of you. Here's to each day and making it count!

Soaking it up

I live in Washington D.C. Well alright, not completely true, I live in Northern Virginia. And this is what I get to do on Saturday night with friends, roam around the Jefferson Memorial and take in the skyline. How gorgeous is this?!

We've had some unusually warm weather and so I am enjoying it, since I despise being cold-which is what I've been since about October. Last night was beautiful though and so we ventured out and enjoyed our proximity to the nation's capital. I'm not sure I'll ever get use to living this close to it all, but I'll definitely do my best to make the most of it. And to be honest, I did not take these pictures, but they were taken with MY camera. My friend Jay has a magic touch and set these shots up and I am forever grateful. They are amazing.

(This is my roommate Kim and I in front of the Jefferson Memorial. I adore her.)


Besides roaming around presidents' memorials, I've been busy with work and attempting to stay on top of all the new material I am learning every day. Really though, it has been great so far. I love the people I work with and am slowly figuring out the accreditation process. And I have to share a proud moment with you all, if I may take a moment and brag on myself... on my own blog. Haha.

Today, we had a big Commission Meeting, where all the Commissioners for the Agency (there are 13 of them) are in town and make all the final decisions regarding our schools and visits. So yes I unfortunately had to work on Sunday, but luckily I did have a shining moment.

We were sitting there in the General Session and they are going through the Agenda rather quickly and I'm seated behind another Specialist I've been observing and she is next to a Commissioner. Well, they made a decision about a school and voted and moved on and as I was looking at my copy of the Agenda and notes, I saw a discrespency and really just had a question about it. Well I lean over to my colleague and point it out and she agrees with my point and then leans over to the Commissioner. He checks it and then brings it to the attention of the entire Commission. By this point, I'm just sitting back in my corner observing. Well the Commission acknowledges the error and thanks Jim (that's the Commissioner who brought it up) for pointing it out and he goes "Oh no, that wasn't me, Miranda caught it".

The entire room turns to me and is startled-in a nice way, I mean I am the new girl-and everyone starts to congratulate me and then they all begin to applaud! My cheeks began to burn and I'm pretty sure I was a deep shade of crimson, and so I just smiled and laughed it off! Even later, during lunch, my boss and a few Commissioners came up and praised me on my catch. Hahaha.

It really was just a lucky catch, but hey I'll take it! Except now they may think I'm some kind of Wiz Kid, when really I'm still trying to sort it all out. But hey, I'll take the praise when it comes... I mean as a teacher, those moments were rare, so I'm a tad bit proud of myself, if I do say so :).

Too much of a good thing?

I tend to eat things I like, over and over and over again... I get on "kicks", my roommates can attest to a Little Debbie Fudge Brownie obsession that lasted well, the whole of my unemployment (3 months). Or maybe my addiction to Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough which I just haven't been able to quit since early childhood. Then there's my love of McDonald's or mashed potatoes or Dr. Pepper and Orange Juice (not together). So yes, I get in phases where I tend to eat the same things and I've just discovered something that is delicious and that is actually somewhat healthy! I know, check me out!

On top of being healthy, my new food crush is something I can cook myself! Which just so happens to help in one of my Resolutions of learning to cook more. I know, I know, I'm quite amazing, eating healthy and cooking....hahaha, if you didn't notice my usual food cravings are not exactly "light eating".

Anyhow, my newest food craze is a recipe I found in Taste of Home's "Everyday Light Meals" (which I totally picked up at the Library), Skinny Tortilla Soup and it's so good! For those of you food connoisseurs, I'm going to post the recipe, so try it out. I highly recommend it; I just made it for the second time in 7 days and devoured it!

Skinny Tortilla Soup
Prep/Total Time: 30 min

1 can (16 oz) fat free-refried beans
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 cups frozen corn
3/4 cup chunky salsa
3/4 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup water
2 cups (8oz) shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese, divided
28 baked tortilla chips, divided (any tortilla chips will do!)

In a large saucepan, combine the first seven ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add 1 cup cheese; cook and stir over low heat until melted.
Crumble half of the tortilla chips into soup bowls. Ladle soup over chips. Top each serving with two crumbled chips; sprinkle with remaining cheese. YIELD: 7 servings (or 2 Miranda servings ;) ).

It's even more delectable in the freezing cold weather we've been having, but I'm sure it's just as tasty in warmer climates. Let me know what you think! I may just have to go and finish those leftovers now...

First day of the rest of my life

I couldn't sleep last night. Tossed and turned, anxious I would sleep through my alarm. Sat straight up at 5:30am certain I had missed it. When I realized I still had a while to sleep, I laid back down and tried to relax, by 6am I was out of bed and working out downstairs. Ya, you read that right-working out...which really only consists of doing "8 Minute Abs" (Seriously, try it sometime, it's a killer!), some lunges and free weights. But hey it got the heart rate going and I was pumped for my new job!

My new job as mentioned before is as an Accreditation Specialist for NACCAS, which is basically an accrediting agency for cosmetology schools. It is a pretty fancy title(which I will get a business card for!!) and basically consists of reviewing applications from schools in the process of accreditation and conducting visits either evaluating schools based on our standards of cosmetology or consulting them on how to apply for accreditation. And for those of you who are like "What the heck is Accreditation?"- it is the process of meeting a national standard, of ensuring educational integrity in schools of higher learning. In this case, we are making sure Cosmetology schools offer their students the quality programs they are paying for. Make sense? Hey, it was just my first day, so I'm still trying to get it too! :)

Anyhow, so yes my first day was today and luckily I had a partner in crime whose first day was also today. She and I were able to bounce ideas off each other, study the standards together and just share our concerns. Everyone was really friendly though and basically this whole week will consist of training, which will entail reading and learning all the standards, rules and what not that goes with accreditation.

We learned also that we'll be traveling to the Agency's workshop in Vegas the end of February, as well as another trip to Cleveland to witness how a school visit goes. Once I'm familiar with the process and comfortable with the information, I'll be traveling all over the country to different schools about 2 weeks a month! Which you all know is perfect for me! I love to travel and am eager to see every nook and cranny of our country!

All in all it was a steady first day and I honestly don't feel too overwhelmed, like any new job there is lots to learn and it will just take time and I've got plenty of that. I'm just so grateful to be here, for this really is just a great fit for me. I'll keep everyone posted on the progress of it all, for now I gotta figure out what to wear tomorrow!

Celebrate!

I finally got a new job, as I mentioned in my first post, and since I've been unemployed for 3 LONG months, some friends and I went out to celebrate! We ate at this rustic little place in Old Town Alexandria which was having a deal for 4 courses, so you know I had to go with that! The food was delicious and didn't disappoint. As you can tell from the photo, the place was called "Geranio" and was mostly Italian. And ya I took pictures of the food, which was a habit I picked up in Europe... it's not like I haven't seen fancy food before, but hey it is really pretty!

This second picture of food was a bit delayed. Ya, so after devouring my first 2 courses, I was still so famished that I had to jump all over this course before I realized I hadn't taken a picture yet, which explains why it's not so pretty. This would be Pork Loins with polenta (I believe that's what it was) and spinach. I know most of you are looking at this food and thinking "Really? Miranda eating this?"; I have been a rather picky eater but I'm branching out and trying new things! It is a whole new year!

Inauguration Day 1.20.09

Though I didn't vote for him, I couldn't very well stay away from history. Plus I figured this would be the only time I'd witness a Presidential Inauguration and so I was one of the 1.8 million on the National Mall when Barack Obama was sworn in.

Since I live only 4 miles outside of the city, in Northern Virginia, a few friends and I walked in instead of waiting in the endless lines for the Metro. It was a very frigid day, though thankfully there was no rain or snow to deal with. I most definitely would have stayed home had that been the case.

Once we got into the city, it was clear there were tons of people everywhere. We arrived in the Mall around 9:30 and began maneuvering the crowd, attempting to find a good enough spot to see one of the many Jumbotrons-there was no way we could get anywhere near the Capital, especially since word leaked out that those with tickets couldn't even get in. We passed the Bike Valet, ya the only time I've seen more bikes would have been in Amsterdam this summer and there were still hundreds everywhere. We decided on the lawn in front of the Washington Monument, and just stood on our toes to see the TV.

All in all it was a freezing cold day, but I'm glad I went. There was a palpable excitement in the air, comparable to a rock concert (not sure if that's fitting for a President..haha) and people were really happy, minus some disrespect to our departing president. Witnessing democracy in action was a powerful thing and made me proud to be an American and grateful for this country. I just hope the things that make us great will be preserved and we won't forget what brought us here.