Jennifer Shirk's Blog, page 37

A to Z Blog challenge: R is for...

Oooh...we're so close to finishing this challenge I can taste it!



R is for: RWA!


RWA is the Romance Writers of America. As one of the largest writers associations, Romance Writers of America leverages its influence and credibility to advocate for improving business conditions in the romance publishing industry. Also, RWA promotes the romance genre through outreach programs for librarians and booksellers.

I've been a member since 2005. My membership was actually a Christmas gift given to me by my hubby. I had wanted to join before that but was afraid of investing the money in a membership I wouldn't use or had no business having. But the hubby surprised me and thought it was something I should have if I really wanted to be a writer. It was the first time that I really felt he had taken my interest in writing seriously and he wanted to me to grow and do well with it. What a sweetie. *sniff sniff*

The RWA has been good to me. It's given me lots of resources and writing information and I've met wonderful writing friends through it too.

Although I do belong to my local state chapter and have attended conferences before, this year I'll be attending my first National Conference in NYC this summer. WOO-HOO! I'll actually get to see Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Meg Cabot (among my other writing idols) up close and in person and just... absorb it all.

I JUST registered so I'm very excited!

What about you? Do you belong to any writing organizations?
Do you belong to the RWA? Are you going to Nationals too ?

A to Z Blogging challenge: Q is for...

Hey, all! I went on a little day trip with the family yesterday, but I'm back now and feeling refreshed. (Bought a new dress too!) Bonus!

Anyhew...back to the challenge:

Q is for: Quail egg!

(Yes, you read right.)

I've eaten quail egg.

Raw quail egg.To clarify, it was a quail egg broken on top of a piece of sushi and eaten all together. So it's not like I just cracked a quail egg in my mouth or something. I mean, sheesh! I have some standards!

But what I'm trying to say is that I enjoy trying different kinds of food. Some might even say I have an adventurous tongue. Hmm...that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean. To prove my point further, here are some other funky things I've eaten:


Snails ** Escargot, really. But snails are snails no matter what you call them. And they're yummy drenched in all that butter and garlic.

Frog Legs **Tastes like chicken. Really!

Raw octopus** It kind of goes with the whole sushi thing, but this was kind of weird because it was so tough to chew.

Ostrich **When I saw this on the menu at a local restaurant, I had to order it. Or more accurately, I had to have my hubby order it so I could try it. It's been a while, but I don't think it tasted like chicken. Isn't that a surprise?

Buffalo** Hey, when in Montana...

Caviar** I had the cheap stuff and the $$ stuff in all its salty goodness.

Oxtail** Just had this when I was in the Bahamas a few days ago. Tasted like veal mixed with gelatin.

Rabbit** Sorry Bugs Bunny.

Alligator** Now this DID taste like chicken!

Foie Gras** Do you actually know what this is? It's the liver of a duck or goose that's been overly fattened up. Is that the correct phrase? Oh well. Gross, yes. But delicious.

Gefilte Fish** Maybe this isn't interesting if you're Jewish, but since I'm not, I found it very interesting-but only somewhat tasty. Maybe I had a bad batch or something.

Cow Brains** Yes. Cow brains. And I'm ashamed to say, I had it more than once in my life and nobody even held a gun to my head. My mom made this a few times when I was growing up. Kind of strange to see a brain soaking in your kitchen sink when you come home from school, but I think you have to in order to devein it properly.


Okay. I'll shut up now since most of you haven't had breakfast yet. :)



Do you like to try new foods? Eat anything funky lately?

A to Z blog Challenge: P is for...

I could not wait until this letter came up in the alphabet!

Yay! The day has arrived!

P is for: P90x!!

In case you haven't heard (how could you not? I talk about it constantly) I am now a P90x grad and I actually have restarted the program from the beginning. That's right.
I'm BRINGING IT (a P90x term). :-)

Do you even know what P90x is?
Have you seen the infomercials on it on Saturday mornings? I'm telling you P90x is one EXTREME home workout regimen. But oh so good!

Believe me, I am not one of those hardcore workout people. In fact, I am--er, was a bit of a cream puff. (a cute cream puff, though) Before p90x, I occasionally did spin classes. I ran (the most I've ran ever is about 4 miles) and I sometimes went to the gym and took aerobic classes. Just cardio stuff a few times a week. But I was interested in more...body transformation. So when the hubby ordered the DVDs for himself, I knew I was going to be talked into doing it too.
But I'm so glad!

I won't lie. The first week I was sore and in bed by 7 pm every night. LOL (Sad, but true) But then as the weeks progressed it did get easier (sort of...) and I found I could do more and more of the workout. It became (and still is) a bit of love hate relationship.
I hate it, but I love it. (Tony Horton says this himself in the Ab Ripper workout)

The whole idea of the workout is "muscle confusion". So one day, you're working the arms until they fall off with push-ups and chin-ups and the next day you're working the legs with plyometric jumping exercises, and so forth. There's a kempo kick-boxing day and even a yoga day (THE hardest by far and longest clocking in at 90 minutes). But most of the workout tapes are about an hour. You do need a chin-up bar and free weights, which we did invest in, but we figured it's for health reasons so why not?

I've honestly never looked better, which is why I decided to repeat the 13 week workout. I am this close-- ll --to buying a bikini this summer. Yes, you read right.

Whether I have the nerve to wear it is another story. LOL

Have you heard of p90x? Do you know anyone who has done it? And more importantly, are you swimsuit ready?

A to Z Blog Challenge: O is for...

Good morning! This week is spring break week for the kiddo so that's always...fun.

No, kidding. It is fun. :)

Anyhew, speaking of fun, let's get to the letter O.

O is for:

Olivia Newton John!

(Again, seriously)

I completely LOVED Olivia Newton John when I was young. I even belonged to her fan club.

I owned NINE of her albums (most of them were country).

Hers was my very first concert I ever went to (with my dad). He was also a fan. It was the 1980 Physical Tour. I saw it in Philadelphia.

When Grease came out in the movies, I saw it three times that opening weekend. Once with my parents, once with my one older brother, and another with my other older brother. :-) I was only 7 or 8, so I actually question my parents allowing me to see this movie, but a lot the actual story went right over my innocent little head. I just loved the music!

I gave myself bangs and asked for a perm because I wanted to look just like Sandy. (My hair ended up looking more like Gilda Radner's.)

It's funny because I thought she had the best voice evah, and now when I listen to her, I think, "Meh." Still good, but I wonder why I was so gaga. :)

Remember her other movies, Xanadu (another album I owned) and Two of a Kind? I saw both them at least three times too. Like a said, I was a complete ONJ geek (until high school, anyway).

(She still looks great for her age too!)

Were you a member of any fan clubs growing up? What was the first concert you ever went to?

A to Z Blog Challenge: N is for...

Happy Sunday, all!

Today is the hubby's birthday so this post is going to be quick!

N is for: New Jersey! (seriously)

Few people know that New Jersey is actually called the "garden state" for a real reason and has some of THE best beaches in the country. (And where I happen to be from)

So here's some cool facts for you:

**New Jersey has the highest population density in the U.S. An average 1,030 people per sq. mi., which is 13 times the national average.

**Picturesque Cape May holds the distinction of being the oldest seashore resort in the United States and one of the most unique.

**New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the diner capital of the world. (Hubby actually told me this fact when were dating which I thought was interesting)

**North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world with seven major shopping malls in a 25 sq. mile radius (woo-hoo)

**The light bulb, phonograph (record player), motion picture projector were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park laboratory (you're welcome)

**New Jersey is the only state in the nation which offers child abuse prevention workshops to every public school.

**The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick, in 1869. Rutgers College played Princeton. Rutgers won (my alma mater)

**Famous people from NJ: Jon Bon Jovi, Judy Blume, Jack Nicholson, Frank Sinatra, Meryl Streep, Jon Stewart, and Kelly Ripa (to name a few)

Do you live in the U.S? What state are you from?

A to Z Blog Challenge: M is for...

Hey, all! It's Friday, so I thought I'd do light and fluffy.

Okay, lighter and fluffier than I normally do.

So, M is for: Movies!

My hubby surfs. My kiddo surfs (the white water, but still...) We live in a beach resort. Thus, we are all excited to see the new Bethany Hamilton movie: Soul Surfer.

'Soul Surfer' is the true story of competitive teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, inspiring millions worldwide through her sheer determination and unwavering faith

.

The trailer for it is here: Soul Surfer: The Bethany Hamilton Movie Trailer.

(CAUTION: the trailer made me tear up)

Another movie I'm excited to see is the new Jane Eyre. You may not know this but Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorite books. Evah. But I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of remakes--especially remakes of classics. So I originally had NO interest in seeing this movie. But yesterday I read an awesome review in my local paper that has totally swayed me. I'm not made of wood, people!

Here's the trailer. See if you can resist.

What about you? Are you looking forward to seeing any new movies?

A to Z Blog Challenge: L is for...

Almost halfway done this blog challenge! (But who's counting, right?) :-)

Anyhew, today's blog is brought to you by the letter L.

L is for: Links!!

I thought it would be fun to share some links that I've recently saved to my computer this past week so you all can take a little peek into my life.

You know, not to scare anyone, just for fun. :-) So here goes.

This past Saturday, my church held a women's brunch and our topic was on prayer. The women's ministry asked me to speak (AGAIN!) and I used this link to find some good information to use in my talk.

My neighbor's church was raising money for a missionary trip so I bought a Samaritan card. I saved this link to find out more about it and how in the world I can use it.

A writer friend told me about Romance University, so I saved this link and really liked the info I saw there.

My hubby's b-day is coming up. So I actually saved this link on a snore-reduction pillow and almost ordered one for him. But I thought better of it. (I bought something else instead) :-)

So that's my life this past week summed up in links. :)

What about you? Save any weird links recently you'd like to share?

A to Z Blog Challenge: K is for...

Maybe this word goes along with the whole exercise kick I've been on but I'm loving this vegetable right now, so I have to share.

So K is for: Kale!

(I know. You're probably thinking, "For real, Jennifer?" Yes, for real.) LOL

Did you know that Kale is the mother of all vegetables? That Kale is the "queen of greens"? That Kale is a nutritional powerhouse? And that Kale is one of THE healthiest vegetables on the planet?

Well, it is. So there.

Which is why I have been eating so much of lately. That, and the fact that I think it's so tasty. :-) In fact, I've been craving it a lot. (And no I'm not pregnant). But I have been on a kale kick lately. My friend even gave me a great soup recipe that I've been having almost daily for lunch. The best part of this recipe is that there are no real measurements. You just kind of dump everything together. Bonus!

Vegetable Soup with Kale:

Saute in a soup pan, one small white onion, lots of garlic, a few sticks of celery chopped, a few sticks of carrots chopped, and a few sticks of parsnips chopped in a small amount of olive oil.

Once veggies are softened and garlic browned, add a quart of organic chicken broth and 4 cups of water to the mix. Add one can diced tomatoes with juice. Add one head of fresh cauliflower (cut up) Add one head of kale (cut in small pieces) Let all come to boil. Then cover and lower heat and simmer until all veggies are tender.

Voila! You can add some salt, if you want. And I add LOTS of fresh pepper. I LOVE this soup. I eat it a lot. And it's sooooooooooooo good for you too!

Try it!

Have you ever tried kale? Did you know how healthy it is for you?

A to Z blogging challenge: J is for...

J is a popular letter in my family. All three of us have names beginning with J.

Thus, J is for: Jennifer!

When I was born Jennifer was THE top name on every baby name list.
And because of that I hated it.

My neighbor was named Jennifer. During my school years, I was one of three (maybe four) Jennifers in each class. Always. It made it kind of difficult to set us apart. So I was known as "tall" Jennifer.

Ugh. Even less original.

I wanted a nickname but I definitely wasn't a Jenny. So people usually just called me "Jen".
But I didn't like Jen any better. So when I was in college and around people who didn't know me as Jen or Jenny--I went back to the full name in an attempt to be original again because a lot of Jennifers never really went with the full name. It's stuck ever since. And then I finally liked my name! (It only took thirty years) LOL

When my daughter was born, I decided to give her a J name too, but one that was a little more unique, so she wouldn't go through what I went through in school. In fact, she is the only one in her ENTIRE school with her name. She's kind of like "Madonna" or "Cher" that way. LOL But she still complains and wants a name more common name.

So you see, you never can win. :-)

What about you? Do you like your name? Is it very common or is it unique? Do you like your full name or nickname better?

A to Z Blogging Challenge: I is for...

Hey, all!

Today's word is for my favorite TV show.

Did you guess?

I is for Idol! (American Idol)

I started watching Idol about halfway through season two. But I wasn't always such a fan. When it was first aired, I refused to watch. I saw the previews and thought, "Wow, what a dumb idea for a show."

Oh well. What do I know? LOL

I finally decided to tune in just to see what the hub-bub was all about. Then that was it. I was HOOKED. So when season Three rolled around, I had to watch it from the very beginning all the way through and have never stopped since. Season Four is when I decided to go completely nuts and I actually started voting. PS. I totally rooted for Carrie Underwood from day one.

This year I actually almost stopped watching. I figured Simon and some of the other judges had left, so maybe I should get out on a high note too. But I'm so glad I didn't! This year has to be THE most talented year ever. The singing has been amazing! It gives me goose bumps to see the beginnings of so many careers.

Now, I was worried about the show when Simon left. I always appreciated what he had to say (when he wasn't being rude) but this year's judges really are giving the show such a positive spin that you can't help but feel good yourself. And that's what I'm really loving about the show. It's a kindlier, gentler American Idol this year, which makes it much more fun to watch.

What about you? Do you watch American Idol? What do you think about the new judges? (Are you surprised Pia was voted off)