Nifty gifties

Here are a couple pictures of the chest my dad made for me. Isn't is beautiful?? I've already put some of my graduation stuff in there. It's all cedar, so it will be great for storing stuff that I want to last a long time. He also made me a wooden pen, and the clip part is the medical staff and serpent. It's pretty sweet.


This came in the mail from Evelyn. I think it's super cool, now I just need to place to put it.


There's a place headquartered here called Penzeys Spices, and they have little shops where you can buy their spices. It's the best store ever, if you love spices, which I do. They're all alphabetized, and you can browse them and smell all the different varieties of paprika, or oregano, or whatever. And they're all pretty cheap. You can even buy them in bulk, even cheaper. I'm making my own spice rub and putting it in cute jars I got at Ikea as Christmas gifts for my aunts and cousins in PA. In case you're wondering what spices, here is the recipe, courtesy of my mentor, Martha Stewart.

Makes 1 1/4 cups (enough to season 5 to 10 pounds of meat, poultry, or seafood)

• 1/3 cup coarse salt
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (optional)

And I keep forgetting to post this, but my cyber-friend Caitlyn showed me this site called Freerice. You answer vocabulary questions, and for every one you get right, the United Nations will donate 20 grains of rice to help stop world hunger. Learn new words and feed hungry mouths!