Friends and Black Bean Brownies.

My first blog. This is epic. Here it goes:

These past few days(wednesday night until now) have been really great. After working for three straight weeks, I finally got two days off... in a row! With a last minute decision made, I packed up and drove for four hours after work Wednesday to where I grew up. It had been months since I last visited and was so nice to see all of my friends that I miss so much. 

Wednesday night, I spent the night with my best friend Amanda. And though she had to study for a while, it was great just to be around her. She is crazy and funny and I miss just having her around.

Thursday, I spent much of the day with Amanda and my other best (and long time) friend Blakeley. Amanda had other priorities for that afternoon/night so Blakeley and I got to catch up and hang out, which is what I really needed. Blakeley and I are so much alike, which is why she is probably one of the few people who truly understands me. We are just completely comfortable with each other and do not have to constantly be doing something.

Later that night, we went to watch my brother's church softball game (they won! :D) and got to see my old church family. Whenever I do get to visit, I don't often get to see most of these people so I was extremely excited. My old church home (Christian Heritage) is one of the main things I miss about living in South Carolina. I have yet to come across a church that could even TRY to take its place.

After hanging out at the softball fields and playing ninja, a few of us went to see Clash of the Titans 3D. (My review of the movie will come later...) Then Paige spent the night with me! :)

Friday, I woke up around 12 (the sleep was very much needed!) and lazed around for a while. Then Blakeley, Paige, Cody and I decided to go to Moe's for lunch. (You will come to know that I LOVE Moe's!) We ate and chatted about old times. Recounting my childhood was very refreshing. I have lived in Tennessee now for about 2 and a half years and listening to my friends' stories of their memories together is a bit depressing since I can not contribute; I can only listen. Don't get me wrong, I love to hear their funny stories, but I just miss being able to do that with my childhood friends.

After a few hours of recollection, I invited Blakeley back to my house since Paige and Cody went with some of their friends to the river. We got to hang out for a few more hours and talk before I had to leave to come back home. Oh, how I miss having her around.

When I got back to town, my sister and two friends (who are home from college for the weekend) immediately invited me to Emily's house to bake brownies. These were not your regular brownies. They are "good for you" brownies. So we followed the recipe. Some of the ingredients included BLACK BEANS and SOUR CREAM... different, but intriguing so I was interested in trying it. So we got all of the ingredients together like we were supposed to and waited 30 for the brownies to bake. Meanwhile, we got to chill outside and talk.

Brownies are done; Moment of truth... We each get a brownie and notice on the bottom that you can see every black bean that we put in it. It looks like... DOG FOOD. We try it and immediately spit it out because it tastes just like you think it would: black beans and chocolate with a mushy texture. Having questions as to why it ended up like this, we check the recipe and instructions. We added all of the ingredients right but skipped over one little detail... FOOD PROCESSOR. We used a standard mixer instead. Apparently, they are NOT the same thing. 

My advice to you: read directions carefully or you will end up with a lump of chocolatey black beans in the trash.

At least we had fun, though. xD

With all of that being said, I have to say that I absolutely LOVE all of the people I have in my life. They encourage me, inspire me, and most of all, love me for who I am and I could not ask for better friends.

I have to give credit where credit is due: Thank you Emily for encouraging me to start a blog. I hope this sparks the creativity and knack for writing freely and openly as I hope it does. You're amazing. And I love you. :)