Early Morning Weirdness...And Blog Hop

Hmmm... are you all aware at how much I'm NOT a morning person? Well let me tell you... I'm not. This probably has something to do with the fact that I stay up until I can't keep my eyes open any longer and then crash. But even when I do go to bed "early"... say 10:30, I still can't seem to be motivated to get up. Hmmm... I need to start working on that possibly...............nah. I won't be a college student forever! *grin*

SO... that being said...

I woke up at 5:33 this morning. Yes... 5:33AM! WHOOPEE FOR ME. I'll probably be exhausted later. For some reason, I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. Unusual, eh? However, I think it might have been God... because I was able to chat with a few dear friends from back home... since it was 11:30pm their time. :)

AND NOW... for an update on the book progress. I'm currently at 42,642 words... hoping to reach at least 44,000 by the end of the day. Perhaps it's a good thing that I'm getting an early start!

Oh oh OH...and another one of my textbooks arrived yesterday! It's called "Crossroads - Creative Writing Exercises in Four Genres"..... exciting, huh? I thought so too! :)

Oh yes, and this weeks theme for the blog hop is "Favorite Kid Photos".... but how in the world am I supposed to pick just a few out of ALL the photos of children that I have? Impossible! So, I'm officially changing the title to read "Favorite Photos of My Cousin Maya":

Doesn't she have the cutest little cheesy grin in the world? I think so... but I'm biased. :)

Blog Hop - Breakfast Casserole

Well hello blog hoppers! Today is Tuesday and I was totally thrilled to discover that the theme for today is favorite recipes! Unfortunately, all of my mom's precious recipe books are back at home in the states, but I have made this casserole several times since moving here... and it is DELICIOUS. Breakfast's can get boring after awhile if you eat the same cereal day in and day out (I'm not a cereal fan anyways), so I like to switch it up sometimes. I'm not a huge egg person either, so it was great to find this recipe which focuses on the cheese, ham, and potatoes instead. YUMMY! This is also a wonderful recipe to make the night before you need it. Then, simply take the bowl of mixed ingredients out of the fridge in the morning and place it in the pan to bake. Mornings are hectic enough as it is for us, which is why I always make it the night before. So without further ado... here it is:

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

• 
  
  32 ounce package of frozen hash brown potatoes


• 
  
  8 ounces of diced ham


• 
  
  2 cans of condensed cream of potato soup (if you like mushrooms I enjoy doing one can cream of mushroom and one can cream of potato)


• 
  
  16 ounces of sour cream


• 
  
  2 1/2 cups of sharp Cheddar cheese


• 
  
  1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese


• 
  
  a pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. 
   
   Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.


2. 
   
   In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together except the Parmesan cheese. Once it's adequately mixed, spread all of it in the prepared dish and then sprinkle the leftover Parmesan cheese on top.


3. 
   
   Bake for 1 hour in preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly brown.

Enjoy! And thanks for visiting today!

Mcklinky Blog Hop... Favorite Photo Tuesday!

"Scared Eyes Masking a Timid Heart"

***Hello Friends! I'm currently trying to figure out how to link up to other blogs and participate in stuff like this...and frankly, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing! So bear with me here... I'm trying! This week on Tuesday, 7/7/09, the theme is a "favorite photograph"! I'm excited to try this out because you know how much I LOVE photography! I took this picture when I was in Kenya a few weeks ago. Happy Tuesday to all of you! And if you're here for the first time: welcome welcome WELCOME!I hope you enjoy your visit!***