“It’s America!”

Anybody know that song, It’s America by Rodney Atkins? If you don’t, click the link and enjoy as you read! It might have been the theme song for my July 4th holiday….

So much has happened I don’t even know where to start, so I’ll try to sum it up quickly! Last week was wildly busy, with two official “Mondays” and “Fridays” at work. It just felt weird… I’m sure many of you can relate. Even though I only had Wednesday off, I managed to fill the week with all sorts of classic American events.

*** Disclaimer: Despite the events discussed in this post, I promise I DO go to work on a regular and full-time basis.

• Monday – I kicked off the week with a night downtown with a few friends, new and old. The evening started by me joining a new friend from church (blessing!) for dinner. Then Amy and I headed downtown to join the guys! The Cleveland Orchestra performed in the beautiful square downtown, right in front of Tower City. I forgot how much I truly love listening to a good orchestra; they were phenomenal. After the concert, there were fireworks from the top of the Huntington building across the square. We were fortunate enough to have a spot right in between the two buildings featuring attractions, so we were happily deafened by the fireworks overhead! According to the news the next day, there were over 40,000 people gathered in the square that night. Wow.
  

  Tower City, lit up for the 4th of July

  

  Hanging out downtown with Amy! Yes, it’s blurry.

• Tuesday – David Wagner was back in town! I raced back to Ohio City (just across the city from downtown) after work and we checked out the ever-popular Great Lakes Brewery. After giving that our stamp of approval, we walked around downtown and took a stroll through the brand new casino downtown. For all you fellow people-watchers out there, I’d highly recommend just going to observe 🙂
• Wednesday: Happy Independence Day! – SUCH a great day! I spent nearly 8 hrs at Fairport Harbor beach with two good friends, Zach and Justin. We were ridiculously proud of ourselves for planning such a great picnic/day out at the beach. Sadly, our pride was wounded when we realized we didn’t actually know how to use a charcoal grill. Thankfully, a random woman was annoyed by our ineptitude and started it for us… success? Anyway, we were perfectly lazy all day and enjoyed the sun! By late evening, a storm rolled in, giving us a good excuse to forego the fireworks (we were exhausted by then). Instead, we watched lightening on one side of my apartment, a few fireworks on the other, and ran around with sparklers like we were five again.
  

  BEACH DAY!
  I win. So much more tan than the others 🙂

• Thursday – I came home from work and died, exhausted.
• Friday– My very first Indians game! Sadly, it was a lousy game and the Indians played horribly. It was also 90 degrees and humid. BUT, the fireworks at the end were spectacular, and I got a strange sense of pride in seeing my company’s name lit up in the center of the show (The Indians play at Progressive Field). I also got the grand Cleveland experience of taking the Fatty Wagon shuttle from the Brewery across the river. Made for… an interesting ride back, to say the least!
  

  Go tribe!!!

• Saturday – I learned how to paint a wall. I’m pleased to say my dining room wall is now a beautiful Mango Mania orange! However, I think Samantha SanGregory has finally met her match. I like to think I’m fairly creative and good at picking up on such things…. but this was a flat-out stressful experience. Thankfully, it turned out great in the end (after some close calls)! Just need to do a few touch-ups, and it’ll be good. I’d show you a picture.. but, my camera battery died and I’m feeling too tired and lazy right now to fix that problem. Later!

So that was my first holiday week in the new city! Crazy and exhausting, but so very good. I’m beyond thankful to have friends in town this summer. Don’t know what I’ll do in a month when everyone leaves!

I’m beyond excited for this coming weekend, too. On Friday I’ll be jumping on a plane and heading to Virginia Beach for a dear friend’s wedding. But best of all, I’ll get to see my WHOLE family in one place for the first time in 6 months!

What to say, what to say… you tell me!

I apologize for being so absent from my blog lately. Between the holidays and the new job, I’ve hardly had time to think! But I hereby promise to bring you a new post soon… I have several ideas that have been tumbling through my mind. Unfortunately, it’ll be a crazy busy week since I’m working overtime all week so I can fly out to VA Beach this Friday! Since I can’t decide what to write about, and I might only have time for one post this week, I need your help. Plus, I’d love to simply gain feedback on what you enjoy reading on my blog (or blogs in general!).

So… go!

Getting back in the Flo of things…

Sorry, corny Progressive joke. I couldn’t help myself!

My first day was great, and I’m so happy to be back working for this company. I truly love Progressive Insurance and I feel so at home here. Obviously, the first few days are always rather tedious and overwhelming… I’m exhausted already.

My dear old audit professor, Harry, will be proud to know that I’ll be doing internal audit work (SOX testing) in addition to my responsibilities in Claims Control. Guess it’ll be good to put those audit skills to work before they completely rust out! But my first set of deadlines for SOX is due in just 3 weeks, so I need to learn that process ASAP and get moving on it. Meanwhile, my manager gave me some light reading… two binders full of claims processes and procedures… and a [long] list of department-specific acronyms and terms to memorize. 6 pages! I’m seriously considering making flashcards tonight. And finally, one of my co-workers stopped by my desk at the end of the day with my first two projects. Between orientation and setting up my computer and accounts today, I didn’t get much done, so I dragged my reading and notes home with me. Think I might work a bit more tonight….

Well, I have laundry and dishes calling me, groceries to get, and flashcards to make…. Thanks for all of your love, prayer, and texts today! It was a wonderful first day back.

Here’s a few random tidbits from my day as a departing gift! Enjoy 🙂

• I got to have lunch at Cheesecake Factory with my work mentor and friend, Lindsay. So glad to see her again!
• Progressive is turning 75 this year! To celebrate, I get two free tickets to an Indians game, and can purchase up to 8 more at a huge discount. Win. Also, each ticket comes with a $10 food voucher. Bigger win.
• The parking lot at my office is nice and big. Not so tricky to get a spot, like it is at the main campuses.
• I only got lost in my office about 3-4 times this afternoon. FACT: Every cube looks just the same… it’s so confusing.
• Despite getting lost, I DID find my favorite room in the building… the workroom. Endless source of every kind of office supply imaginable; the OCD organizer’s dream!
• Henry, my proudly Asian-Canadian co-worker, excitedly inducted me to his coffee club. For just $5.40, I can now drink unlimited coffee in the office for the next 4 months. (Oh, but I MUST always give the used coffee grounds to… Jon? I think?… the eco-friendly, must-recycle-everything accountant). Hallelujah! What a good accounting group!
• ANDDDDDD…. this time around, I get a company laptop. I’m so happy about this! Plus, I also have an 18″ monitor on my desk so I can get a little dual-monitor action going when I so choose.
• ***One more thing. For history’s sake, PGR stock as of my start date on June 25, 2012: $20.39

YAY PGR!

I met a princess.

“Hi, my name’s McKenna. I’m a princess.”

Her tiny hand grasped mine and gave it a surprisingly firm handshake. She couldn’t have been more than 4 years old, with wild blond waves tumbling around her shoulders and a perfectly winsome smile. Just as quickly as she appeared, interrupting my introduction to her parents, she danced off and continued to twirl in circles around me.

Although I met many people at church today, McKenna was my favorite. I was still musing about her sincere and confident claim to royalty this evening as I ran through my neighborhood when I passed another princess. This one was a gorgeous little Chinese girl, also decked out in pink and also about 4 years old.  She was playing in the grass by my apartment complex, and cheerfully greeted her subjects (including me) as we passed.

Now, of course I know that I didn’t really meet any princesses today, but I can’t stop thinking about them. Our chance meetings were even more significant to me today in light of this morning’s service at Parkside Church. Here’s a brief summary of the service:

What is it… why do we all have such a fascination with fairy tales? Let’s face it. I’d love it if a beaver could fix me a steaming cup of tea; I would love to have beavers come for a visit… We long for a perfect, ideal world where good triumphs over evil. That’s not crazy! We’re going to the underlying gravity of our longings. Sin left us “once foolish, disobedient.. slaves to various passions and pleasures… BUT when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).

Perhaps fairy tales aren’t real. But God has gloriously saved us with an alien righteousness that we cannot possess on our own. God also longs to redeem the world, and He will. His good will triumph! So tell God your longings and dreams… tell Him you’re sorry for turning your back on Him. Ask Him to fulfill all those things that you cannot attain. Live heaven-minded, live as though you are already in the kingdom, and live in awe of the grace and mercy of our Holy God.

As adults, we like to dismiss foolishness and childish dreams. I’ll be honest, my first thought when I met Princess McKenna tonight was somewhere along the lines of  “Let me know how that works out for you!” But as I was running tonight, I started to put all of the pieces together, and I realized that I admired McKenna’s beautifully simple trust in her self-proclaimed identity.

The truth is, I’m a princess too. I’ve been gloriously rescued from my depravity by the “goodness and lovingkindness of God”, and I’m the daughter of the King. Like McKenna, I don’t have a tiara on my head, much less own any real diamonds or pearls. Accounting is my day job, but it’s really just an interim position! I’m a “princess in training,” preparing for the rest of eternity, and I should live unashamed of my identity. In fact, I’m living in the greatest, real-life fairy tale to ever exist! Why do I act as if the Gospel doesn’t matter? Why would I hide this amazing gift from the world?

Tomorrow.. rather, in just a few hours!! (AHH)… I start my full-time work at Progressive. I’m so excited to do what I love for a company I love. Thanks to McKenna, however, I’m even more excited to reclaim my royalty and live to further God’s kingdom here on earth… yes, even as I crunch numbers and complete fraud analysis.

Blessings come in so many wonderful shapes and sizes… thank God for the wisdom and insight of a child!

10 Minute Sweet Potato Chips

With the warmer weather lately, I sure haven’t felt like cooking or baking very much. I love my gas stove/oven, but it unfortunately throws off so much heat that my tiny kitchen becomes unbearably hot within minutes of firing it up.

So this week, I delved into finding some solutions to these sluggish summer days!

Today I got a little creative with a sweet potato that I really needed to use up. The result was a delicious side-dish that took just ten minutes, start to finish. (I must credit my sister, Angela, for giving me this idea after she made something similar with regular potatoes.)

All you need is a microwave-safe plate and the following ingredients:

• Sweet potato
• Olive oil
• Salt

Wash the potato and remove the skin (if you so choose. Probably would be good with skin, too!) Using a very sharp butcher knife or a food processor, slice the potato into very thin slices.

Gently toss the potato  slices in olive oil, making sure they are all well-coated. (Do not drench them with oil; keep it fairly light and evenly distributed.) One Tbsp. will probably be plenty. Arrange the slices on a microwave safe plate, making sure they don’t overlap.Salt generously.

Microwave on high for 4 minutes, then turn each chip over and microwave for another 3-4 minutes. (Microwave time may vary by microwave cook temp. Adjust as necessary.) Don’t panic… your chips will have shrunk considerably!

Keep an eye on the chips to make sure they don’t burn. When they are just starting to brown and dry out, they are done. Remove from the microwave and immediately transfer the chips to a cool, dry plate/surface. Any remaining moisture will quickly disappear and the chips will become crispy as they cool.

Enjoy! Now, granted, this is not the way to make large batches of chips. For that, you’ll want to use your oven. However, this is a great way to beat the heat and enjoy fresh chips! I’m not sure how well they keep because I frankly ate them all within five minutes. (Actually, I ate the first plateful before I remembered to take a picture. Oops. At least I still had more to make.) If you allow them to cool thoroughly, you should be able to store them in a tight-sealed container.

Let me know if you give this a try and how it goes. Happy summer!

We went to the zoo!

I’ve been to many a zoo/game park in my life, but today I got to experience the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for the very first time with my Uncle Albert and 8-yr.old cousin, Mitchell. Perfect summer excursion, but of course we did pick the very first truly hot day of summer to go! It was 94 degrees out… so we chugged water throughout the day and tried to spend as much time as possible at the inside exhibits. Sadly, that meant missing the giraffes, bears, lions, and zebras (among some other zoo classics), but I will gladly wait to see those creatures on a cooler day of the year!

There’s something magical about zoos. No matter how old one gets, the animals are always fascinating! Today was even more fun because I was with my cousin, who is very curious and fascinated by all things science-y and and animal-related. Nothing like a child’s perspective! I felt like a kid again… until I attempted to go down a big tube slide and got slightly stuck. Fail. Guess I’ve permanently outgrown that aspect of childhood.

Best of all, though, I was reminded again how awesome God’s creation is. Today, I enjoyed a very different collection of blessings… here are a few photo highlights!

Meerkat! One of my favorites.

There was a diabetic primate. We had a special bond… she also had to do daily finger pricks and insulin shots. I was strangely excited about this…

I also love Dory fish. And I found Nemo, but he kept hiding in the anemone….

Trying out kangaroo ears with Mitchell

Apparently it’s just not cool to have to take a picture with your much older cousin……

…. it’s far more fun to star in your own dramatic shots, like being eaten by a snake. Oh well, I tried.

Deep Breath.

Whew.

What a whirlwind the last 2 1/2 weeks have been! I expected that my 3 week interim before work started would be so quiet and relaxing and boring… hardly. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I was surprised to find so many familiar faces in the Cleveland area! This past weekend was no exception. My oldest sister, Erin, came to visit me Friday-Sunday, and we had a wonderful time relaxing as sisters together! Our time together was filled with relaxing by the pool, exploring Ohio City, watching movies, attending Parkside, and eating far too much wonderful food. Which personally, I loved. It was only slightly embarrassing when an elderly woman at Aladdin’s Eatery observed me photographing my food and called over to me, “Oh, you’re like my daughter. You must be a foodie!” Yep, guilty.

The last two days have been equally good and again filled with familiar faces, random expeditions, and more baking adventures. Some went well…. others… not as well. Nothing flopped per se, but I’m learning to bake with almond flour and it’s not always easy. Almond flour has a unique way of tasting dry yet creating very wet, heavy dough/batter. Anyone out there have experience with almond flour? If so, what are your tips and brand recommendations? I’ve been using Bob’s Red Mill, and even though it’s finely ground, it just sops up liquid like a sponge!

Anyway, back to the adventures. Despite the forecasted 95 degree weather tomorrow, I plan to head to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo with my uncle and much younger cousin, Mitchell. Should be fun… no one ever really outgrows the zoo, right? Plus, this zoo apparently has an exciting Rainforest section. I think half the fun will simply be having a very curious kid along!

And then the rest of this week…. ahh. That’s where I want and NEED to take a deep breath. I officially start my first full-time, big-girl job at 8:30 a.m. next Monday morning. I love people, but I’m actually getting exhausted from all of the entertaining I’ve been doing lately! I’m really looking forward to establishing a schedule and digging in. While I’m not nervous about starting work, I am starting to feel nostalgic and intimidated by the fact that this next phase of life has no end date. Everything else to this point has had a definite time frame. Now, I’m launching into a very big world of unknowns… good grief, the party’s over! From here on out, it’s work. Goodness.

So I’d appreciate prayer over the next few days. Pray I’d be able to settle and really be able to jump in to work with a positive attitude and trust in God. Pray that I would be unashamed of the Gospel and confident as the young woman that God has made me to be. Pray that I can quickly adapt to a new schedule! (I have to be gently coaxed into becoming an early-morning person.)

Thanks all… for those of you back home, I miss you! Let me know how YOU are doing and how I can pray for you!

Sami

Black-bean brownies

Brownies.

My all-time favorite dessert… more than any other cookie, cake, or pie. Yet it’s one thing I decided to kiss goodbye last year post-diagnosis because a typical brownie is loaded with nearly 40 carbs for just 1/16th of a pan! I did treat myself to one  a few months ago, and I could hardly eat it because it was so rich and sugary. Apparently I can’t even tolerate such things anymore, which is a good thing!

Even though I’ve pretty much “gotten over” brownies, I’ve still been on a hunt for a good substitute. I kept hearing about recipes that replaced flour with black beans, but I was incredibly skeptical. My cravings finally lured me into searching for a good black-bean-brownie recipe, and today I gave it a whirl.

Conclusion? Best diabetic dessert so far! Plus, they ring up at only 10 carbs apiece. Black beans for the win!

Here’s my recipe: I tweaked one I found online slightly to cut back on the sugar, which led to some other changes as well.

Black Bean Brownies (low-carb):

• 1 (15.5 oz) can of black beans
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Stevia*
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• pinch of salt
• pinch of baking soda*
• 3 Tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. instant coffee (optional)
• 1/2 c. chocolate chips
  

*these are my little changes…. because I used mostly Stevia, I added some baking soda and decreased my oven temp just slightly. It’s best to make those adjustments when you bake with Stevia. If you want to make this with all sugar, go ahead! Eliminate the baking soda and turn your oven up to 350.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees* and lightly spray an 8×8 baking pan.

Combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips in a blender and process until smooth and well-mixed. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for at least 30 minutes; brownies should be set up/dry on top and pulling away from the edge of the pan slightly.

These are really best and more fudge-y once they’ve cooled, so I’d recommend letting them sit! They will be very moist and dense.

I happen to love cinnamon, so I decided to sprinkle mine with just a bit before I ate them. It was delicious! Adds a wonderful twist to the dark chocolate-y flavor. Enjoy!

And in conclusion, I’d like to briefly thank EVERYONE for your love and prayers last night! The night went so much better than I could have imagined, and I’m now happily back on a pump. As much as I sometimes get annoyed with being attached to a pump 24/7, I was surprised to find myself missing it last night. I’m so accustomed to that little guy being my constant companion that I felt strange without it! Today was a MUCH better day… and I was again reminded that ultimately, God alone sustains me.  All-in-all, just another day in the life of a diabetic…

Reliving the nightmare

Some days are really more ugly than beautiful… today would be one of those. All-in-all, I’ve simply been restless today! I did get in a 4 mile run, and later I ended up walking nearly 5 miles (results of stir-crazy-ness). The walk was wonderful… my mind felt cleared and settled, I was enjoying the beautiful evening and thanking God for all of the little things. Because frankly, the rest of the day hadn’t been so hot! I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease (hypothyroidism) last May 13, exactly 13 months ago. Today, I started to really struggle with the stress of two auto-immune diseases all over again. This was my day..

• First of all, I get a shipment of insulin pump supplies every three months. Last night, the box came…. without the majority of the supplies I desperately need. I spent a while on the phone today trying to straighten out the mix-up, and was left HOPING that my much-needed supplies would arrive before I got desperate.
• Meanwhile, I’ve been battling some weird symptoms reminiscent to the ones I had last year prior to being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. So… after some more phone calls, it’s back to the doctor for yet another round of blood work. Hopefully things will settle down again soon; I’m really hoping that the stress and challenges of graduating and moving are the culprits behind this new bout of oddities.
• Later on this afternoon, I had trouble with my insulin pump port. While attempting to put in a new port, the crazy thing “misfired” and left me with an extra wound and a valuable set of supplies that had to be trashed. Not good, especially considering I’m already in a shortage.

I was feeling much better towards the end of my walk, until I realized my pump alarm was going off in a way I’d never heard before. Long story short, after messing with it a while, I deemed it frozen and unreliable. I called Medtronic immediately, who also agreed that I can no longer use my (formerly) trusty Mini-med.

My new pump is being shipped to me overnight, so until then I will make do with some syringes and all-night monitoring. Should be… not fun. Okay, I’ll be honest, I’m not at all happy about this! It’s really weird to be disconnected from my pump… you kinda get used to that crazy little thing. Now it’s just sitting next to me and chirping obnoxiously.

Well. Here goes a long night… God is good, and I AM thankful that UPS makes it possible for packages to almost magically appear in the blink of an eye. Or.. at least, I hope it’s that fast.

Fire alarms at 8 a.m.

That’s right, at 8:15 this morning I was rudely awakened to the obnoxious sound of a very loud buzzer going off in my apartment. Now, I don’t do well with waking up in general. But being awakened by the terrifying thought that I’m about to be burnt to a crisp in bed really doesn’t set well with me.

About the time I tumbled out of my bed to the floor, the alarm had stopped…. and with a sinking heart, I realized that the obnoxious foreign sound was actually my doorbell. For about 5 seconds I was even more disgruntled as I surveyed the dilemma standing before me. Actually, I was the dilemma. What girl in her right mind opens the front door to a stranger less than 30 seconds after waking up? Somehow my half-awake mind navigated my feet to the intercom as I hurriedly tried to make myself look and sound conscious. Turns out, my wake-up call was the UPS delivery man bringing me the kitchen cart/cabinet I’d ordered several days ago. By this point, my poor mind was really in overdrive as I tried to process everything that had just happened…

1. “Who the heck delivers packages at 8 in  the morning???“
2. “Yesssss!!! My package!”
3. “This is not at all a pretty sight. He has to bring this huge box into my apartment, and I’m hardly dressed for the occasion.”
4. “Do I have enough time to use the restroom before he gets back with the box? Sure I do… oh shoot, my apartment door is wide open. Okay, scratch that…”

Anyway, by 8:20 I was wide awake and happily eyeing a box so large and heavy I could barely move it from the wall where Mr. UPS had left it.  Although it was a rough way to wake-up, I was already counting my blessings from the day! For one thing, I was awake earlier than normal with a whole fresh day ahead of me. And I had a PACKAGE! And I had an assembly project to fill my quiet day. And I’d finally be able to finish unpacking my kitchen. So many gifts, and I’d only been awake for a few minutes!

Half-awake but happy!

It took me a good 1 1/2 hrs to get it put together, but I’m so pleased with my new kitchen cart! It’s perfect for the space I have in my kitchen, and I now have a spice drawer, coffee/tea shelf, and a storage space for my formerly homeless pots and pans.

Meanwhile, I’ve been getting crafty with the little resources available to me right now. I was very thankful to inherit lots of decorations and house-y stuff from my older sister, but some of it simply doesn’t match my decor. Take, for example, the bright green lampshade in my all blue-and-brown bedroom. Between some scrap fabric and my handy-dandy glue-gun, I concocted a free upgrade for the otherwise perfect lamp.

Yes, I’ll be very glad to start work on June 25. But until then, I’m still enjoying these quiet days filled with spontaneous adventures and creativity! I got to spend another afternoon reading BusinessWeek by my pool, and I also got to catch up with my former housemate, Liz Petek. Again, another CU friend that ended up in close proximity!

Nope, still not bored or lonely Mom & Dad. Thanks for the prayers, from them as well as many others!