January 20, 2014 by Stephanie

Armucation: MREs

I have been hearing about MREs for years. It was about time I tried one out, and I figured I would share my experience with all of you.

MRE: Meal Ready to Eat.

These are a general purpose meal that you don’t have to have a kitchen, cook, or a table to have them. It meets every purpose for war. You don’t have to keep it in the fridge; you can throw it in your backpack and not worry about it. And they keep for years…

One might think that they will only use them while in theatre (deployed), but they actually eat them a lot stateside as well depending on the training that they may be going through.

When you open the bag this is an example of what you will find.

Hot Beverage Bag-unless it is super cold and going to make coffee, you don’t usually use this. Overseas there is bottled water every where, and you would just use your “tang” bottle instead. The hot beverage bags are a heavy duty Ziploc bags though and will be used to hold maps and electronics.
Grape beverage base powder-kind of like a Gatorade substitute. Some extra packets will have Crystal Light-like packet, and the blackberry is legit according to Tom.
Banana nut muffin top-pretty good by MRE standards. It is chewy and rubbery, but it will be powder on your clothes.
The bag everything came in-becomes the trash bag at the end
MRE heater and spoon-if done right you can use the heater to heat your side and your entre. The heater is activated with water and you place the meal and heater in the bag. The instructions also say lean against a “rock or something” while you are cooking it. These heaters are not always very reliable. The best way to make a MRE heater do what you want it to do is to put sugar and water in the bag. This works wonders.
Peanut butter-This is gold.
Extra stuff-see picture below
Wheat snack bread-super doughy dense bread
Pears (side item)-The side item will vary depending on the MRE.
Spicy Penne Pasta (entre)-some of them aren’t that bad. Beef stew, cheese tort and beef brisket are Tom’s favorites.

Every MRE comes with an entre and side item. There will be the heater and some extra elements. However, every MRE will differ a little bit. Tom has only ever seen 24 different versions. Case A has it’s own assorted 12 and Case B has its assorted 12. The case is essentially the big box that they come in.

Here are some of the accessory things that come in the pack.

Gum
Sugar
Instant coffee
Matches
Creamer
Moist Towelette
Iodized Salt
Pepper Sauce (some have tabasco sauce)
Toilet paper

They are super high in calories, but if you think about the place they are in, it makes since. In the situations where soldiers are going to need to eat these, the nutritional value is spot on.

MREs replaced the rations that were served in earlier wars. You can learn more about the historical context of MREs here.

There are lot of things that these MREs can be used for besides just eating, which is one thing I didn’t know before Tom started talking about them all the time. Like the matches are used for smoking or to light anything on fire. They aren’t really used for eating the meal.

A soldier may not need to eat everything at once. You may eat the entre and save other things for a snack later if you are on patrol.

MRE swaps also largely occur. With each pack having various accessories, this provides opportunities for soldiers to do tradeseys on any item they are not particularly fond of. The items people fight over: chocolate peanut butter, tropical Skittles, and first strike bars. Just picture elementary school lunch box swaps with adult hungry soldiers.

So how did my experience go with eating one of these ready to eat meals?

These are my pears. This was the only thing that tasted normal.

At first taste, this wheat snack bread isn’t so bad. Then you keep chewing. And keep chewing some more. And maybe just a little more chewing. They are super thick and dense. I ate one bite by itself and then two bites with peanut butter. It tastes like an old pop tart, without any of the good pop tart parts like the filling. Done with that.

My entre was the spice penne pasta. While it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t something I would choose to eat again freely. It has a weird after taste. I guess if I scarfed it down it wouldn’t be bad, but I am a slow eater. Tom chastised me the whole time as I sat and ate my meal at a leisurely pace.

It was really interesting to actually see what these were all about, but I will say it will probably be a pretty dire situation before I choose to eat one again. Also Tom says that he is not very happy about having to eat one over the weekend. He is a pretty rocking husband who loves me and wants to help me with the blog!

Here is a video of Tom eating an MRE, and keep in mind that this is actually a slow pace since I kept talking to him. If the situation calls for it, he can eat it under 4 minutes. There is some profanity at the beginning, but I promise this is a good video. And you actually get to see a “Talks with Tom” live!

I hope you enjoyed this special “Talks with Tom” and my education on MREs!

Have you ever tried an MRE?

January 19, 2014 by Stephanie

Harlem Globetrotters

Fancy tricks, concession stand food, and basketball?

Sign me up.

I have always wanted to go to the Harlem Globetrotters. Every since I was little, I would watch the commercials in awe wishing I had those basketball skills. Inevitably though, every time they came to a city near me I would have something going on that one night they were in town.

But not this year!

We were also able to score a discount on tickets, so it was a fairly cheap date night!

It was pretty fun. They do play an actual game just with some twists and special point rules. They will break every so often to interact with the fans and do a comedy sketch of sorts with the refs. And of course it was fun to see what they could do with a basketball.

This would be a great family outing with kids. Although Tom did say, “I wonder how many TV screens and windows were broken in Clarksville with kids trying to be like Special K?” So you might want to watch out for child imitators. (Or grown ups for that matter)

This has been on my bucket list for years, so I am glad I was able to scratch this off!

In other news, I have joined the Instagram bandwagon, so if you are interested in lots of boxer pictures, check me out there.

Also I am now doing blog button swaps, so if you want to swap buttons let me know! I am not able to post the html on my side bar for an easy grab, so just email me if you want to swap. Or if you know how to make the html code stick on WordPress without turning into the picture I would love that advice too!

Moving up in the blog world one step at a time…

January 17, 2014 by Stephanie

Friday Filter- TV Winter Premiere Reviews

They’re back! These are all shows that I did not review in the fall and just started in the past couple weeks.

abc.com

The Bachelor

Has anyone else been watching Juan-uary? I am loving this season so far. There have been two episodes so far, and the drama has already begun. There has been drunkenness, nudity, gimmicks, and ridiculousness. Juan Pablo is proabably one of my favorite bachelors though. He is so real, quirky, and super funny. I really admire how much he makes his daughter a priority in all his decisions. I am a hopeless romantic, so deep down I really want to have all these engagements work. However the realist in me knows that most do not. It can’t be easy falling in love in a group on these fantasy dream dates and then try to step back into the real world. I always wonder how many are actually going on the show to find love instead of the 15 minutes of fame. Tom thinks the show is stupid and gives false expecatations to women everywhere, but he still watches it with me so we can guess what dramatic thing will happen next. It is our guilty pleasure. I also really enjoy the added specials on Sunday nights too. It gives more details to the show, which obviously keep me more invested. I am really excited to watch Catherine and Sean’s wedding and then touching base with all the couples who have gotten married or are still together. Trista and Ryan are celebrating 10 years this year, and they were the first season I watched! So obviously I feel like I had something to do with their love story success.

abc.com

The Assets

This show is brilliant so far. We have watched two episodes of this ABC mini-series. It is about CIA intelligence officers during the Cold War era who are trying to save “assets” from being killed. The first show laid out that there is a traitor in Sandy’s office, and she has vowed to find out who this person is. It shows how she has to live a double life herself with the secrets of the CIA and going home to a doting husband and kids who don’t appreciate mom’s work. I don’t know much about the Cold War since most of the classes I took focused on early America and up to WWII. Tom’s history knowledge picks up right where I left off. So it has been really interesting to talk about the historical context of the show. It is a smart show but it does have some dark moments about what spies put on the line and how quickly some one can turn if offered the right price.

abcfamily.com

Switched at Birth

This is just one of those teeny bop shows that I adore watching. Initially I started watching because one of the main characters debuted as Luke’s daughter on Gilmore Girls. I was intrigued at what she had grown up into. And come to find out that the show is based in Kansas City, so obviously I had to keep watching to see how they butcher my city, which they do on a pretty regular basis. I will forgive them though because they say it is Kansas, so they can just continue with the bad rep. For your education though, most of Kansas City is in MISSOURI. They show some of the skylines in the show which is really fun to point out (to myself). All in all, it is not a bad show. It is about two girls who were switched at birth at the hospital and did not know until they were in high school. The two families are from very different backgrounds: very affluent family with one and a single mother raising the other. One of the girls happens to be deaf as well, so you get to see exposure to that culture. I am not real familiar with sign language, but from some research I have done there are mixed reviews on how the show portrays the Deaf community. On the one hand, the show has hired several Deaf actors and started a conversation, but on the other hand what I gather from some critics is that some of the sign is not an accurate portrayal of the way of the real world. As with most TV shows, I think Hollywood does take some creative liberties with most cultures. I do feel that the show is innovative by at least talking about the experience that Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals have, but I would agree that the show would benefit from integrating more Deaf individuals into the behind the scenes process to make it more accurate. Even if they do not portray it perfectly, as someone who is hearing abled, I feel that it encourages folks to learn more about these individuals, what we unknowingly/knowingly do as hearing abled to halt progress, the significance of sign language, and the beautiful Deaf culture that has been created. I am interested to see where they continue to go with the show as the girls are in their final stretch of their senior year. They also don’t portray the military very accurately either in the show as one of the main characters is enlisted. So maybe they just need a panel of experts all around on their writing team (Kansas City, Deaf, Military…). I am also nervous that they are headed in a pour direction with alcohol and sex becoming more common on the show. However, I think it isn’t as dramatized as other teeny shows have made it. It just wasn’t a direction I was hoping for. I am still intrigued by the concept and am invested in the storyline. And unlike some other ABCFamily shows, the cast can actually act. This is a show that I would recommend if you were wanting a light drama with a different plot line than most mainstream shows.

And just for fun, this is currently our feel good song. Tom loves all things Ke$ha. Seriously, he knows all her lyrics, ALL of them. Any pop song that has my husband singing, I am for. So naturally, we are all about this newest dance jam. And a partnership with Pitbull just makes it all that better! Judge away, but I love this song (not so much the video). The tune is just so catchy! I have also gotten the dogs excited about this song. We dance away in the kitchen every afternoon when I get home! And it’s the kind of dance that you only do when you are alone-or for me just whenever. I let the music move me.

Have a wonderful weekend!

January 16, 2014 by Stephanie

Professional Development on a Part-Timer’s Wage

Recently, I have been bumped down to even more of a part time status at work. Who knew that you could be part time at being part time? Well you can.

Naturally, my professional ego took a hit (again) when the news came out, so I started researching/thinking of ways to stay relevant in my career so I can ensure that I am able to stay up to date on Student Affairs things once the next job search starts (not that it has really ended, but I digress).

Granted I am learning a lot of things at work for the little time that I am there, but I know that I need to be ready for other functional areas and campus climates.

Plus as a part timer, I get absolutely no professional development funds.

Coming from Iowa State where I received $2,000 for professional development just for myself on top of all the things that the department and university provided at no cost to me, having nada was a bit hard to swallow. I was super spoiled there, but it also made me very aware of how important it is to stay in touch with the field outside of my job description.

When I graduated with my Master’s, I thought the world was so open to me. I never thought that almost 4 years later I would be where I am now.

A bright-eyed Master’s grad who has no idea what is about to unfold.

Funny thing is, the world is still wide open for me, it has just taken a few humbling experiences for me to catch on to that.

I have been collecting little tidbits here and there for the past 8 months of how I can still get quality professional development but do it on the dirt cheap. AKA FREE.

So here is my journey to find professional development on a part-time wage.

My part-time-professional-go-to guide so to speak.

–>Organizational memberships

In my field, it is fairly common to be a member of one of the large professional organizations, your functional area organization, and then regional organizations. Here are the breakdown of how numbers work for someone who is paying out of their own pocket.

NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators)

As an individual, it would cost me $75 to join.
Conference registration-$400-500 (not including transportation, hotel, and food)

ACPA (American College Personnel Association)

As an individual, it would cost me $93 to join.
Conference registration-$450-900 (not including transportation, hotel, and food)

AHEAD (Association on Higher Education And Disability)

As an individual, it would cost me $245 to join.

These are just the big guys. It does get cheaper the smaller the organization. I am sure you get the picture though that memberships cost money. Memberships do award you benefits and access to various things, but right now I am not sure it is worth shelling out my own small paychecks for. Some of these fees may not seem like a big deal, but any amount of dollars can make a huge difference for someone who is only getting 20 hours a week. So no dice on memberships.

Since memberships and conferences were obviously not going to work for me, I went on the search for webinars, websites, and online journals.

–>Webinars were quickly was scratched off my list because of cost again. I am looking for free here people!

ACPA webinars cost anywhere from $299-499
StudentAffairs.com webinars-$98
INSIDE HIGHER ED-$125
AHEAD webinars-$189
I will just make suggestions for department wide ones and leave it at that. These are a great idea if you can get a group to watch and split the bill though.

–>Websites

This should be a no-brainer. Most websites are free to access, although some do require membership log-ins to gain more information, but you can get by without.
My only struggle with websites are that it can get overwhelming really quickly with all the additional links and resources that you can click through. I personally get side tracked easily. I have found that I have to go searching for a purpose otherwise I get lost in time and get stressed out by what I don’t know. I mean is there a dead end on the internet?
Here are some starting points for websites:

The obvious

A little more digging

Every functional area is going to have a website so just Google search it.

Random

Pepnet (This provides resources for people working with the deaf or hard of hearing population, but the information is invaluable for all professionals! I love clicking though resources, and I learn something new every time I am on the site.)
Student Affairs History Project (this is just really interesting to me)
I Google searched “student affairs professional development.” With this search, dozens of university divisions of student affairs websites popped up. After clicking through several sites, you can find A LOT of good stuff. I found presentations, articles, general knowledge. Also it was interesting to look into random schools and see how their divisions were organized and who did development on a division level. Fascinating. Mind expanded!

–> Journals, Newsletters, and List serves (oh my)

Upon digging into websites, I continued to find articles, which spawned into a whole category of its own. I have listed only free resources I use currently, but there are tons out there with paid subscriptions as well:

Chronicle
The Mentor: an Academic Advising Journal (email subscription)
Conflict Management in Higher Education-It is no longer being updated, but there are lots of articles you can open and read. And let’s be honest, some things are always relevant, and even if they aren’t it is nice to get historical context on some things.
Disability.gov-(email subscription)
Military.com-(email subscription) At first glance, this may be personal seeing as I am a military wife. However, most of the topics are relevant to college students, and I increasingly am seeing how military students are not talked about much on the college scene (another topic for another day).
Student Affairs on Campus (online articles)
Journal of Student Affairs at New York University (online issues)
I don’t use each of these every day, or even every week, but I try to really challenge myself to open something new every so often. Having a variety of websites to peruse allows me to see different views and issues. With some being emailed directly to my inbox, I can see highlights and click from my email account on topics that I find intriguing.

–>Other ideas I have had over the past 6 months

Youtube

Stay with me on this one. With social media growing at an alarming rate, pretty much anything is searchable. Including presentations y’all! Bring the conference to me! Boom! You can search topics, student affairs presentations, trainings, etc. If you are willing to sift through search results you can find some pretty sweet gems in there! This takes some patience, because I sure did find some doozies. But in the name of free, it is worth it.

Facebook groups

There are a vast variety of groups to join. I have a few that I follow that range from running to specific job areas. Each provide articles and a chance to connect with professionals across the world. My favorite right now as far as professional development goes is “Professional Development for the Student Affairs Professional.” They are constantly sharing articles, research, apps, relevant questions, etc. This has been easier for me because it is a quick format instead of clicking through links and tabs on websites or doing my own random searches all the time. Twitter would be able to provide similar benefits, I am just not familiar with that platform.

Books

I have a tub of professional books that I have collected over the years and have never read, which I am embarrassed to say. I have added this to my goals (30 for 30) to take advantage of these things I have already purchased. Also I am really excited to be connecting with Ellen on this goal as my accountability partner to actually make this happen.

Blogs

This one should seem obvious since I am a blogger. Some are just for giggles and are a place to relate and some are more prolific and make me ponder the meaning of my work. Blogs are a great place to see personal views across the field. I have a link on my sidebar to a large list of blogs in Student Affairs-The SA Directory. It is nicely organized in several ways so you can search a topic/area/person, whatever your heart desires. I like bloggers because it makes the profession seem more real and heartfelt to hear the personal stories.

Old conference schedules

In my online research, I kept coming across old conference schedules. I would find myself reading through a schedule from 5 years ago to see what topics were covered. This doesn’t give you a lot of meat, however, it is a great place to start if you are wanting to get fresh ideas or want to see what people have done. It has become a springboard for me to search topics and people (yep I look to see if people are “repeat offenders” with publications or presentations). Also, this gives you ammo when looking up things on Youtube. Sometimes you can even get the presentation material if you are lucky! (Can you tell that I am a Learner yet?)

Say yes to opportunities

While I may not have money for professional development, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been to any. I have jumped on free seminars here on campus and in my department. I am capitalizing on opportunities that are paid for me. I either find these by word a mouth or watching the daily APSU newsletter.

I did a presentation at a Wounded Warrior Conference
Seen a few webinars with the department
Attended a Women’s Leadership Series here at APSU
Attended a Retirement Funds Seminar here at APSU
Also connecting with the community I believe counts as an opporuntity-volunteering as POC (point of contact) for Tom’s Unit and working with the shelter are providing me different perspectives of interacting with people and constituents-oh and organizational structure.

–>Podcasts and Radio

My absolute favorite free professional development that I have found are podcasts and radio! Why I didn’t invest in this arena before now I have no idea! These are amazing. I love the ability to listen to people talk while I am working or doing other things. That’s what I call multi-tasking!

NPR is my go to radio. I listened to this while in undergrad for some political science and history courses, but I am not sure why I ever stopped. (Maybe it was my interview to be accepted into student teaching that scarred my NPR experience-I still see that professor in my nightmares.) NPR obviously covers a wide range of topics so you can pick and choose what you want to listen to. I think a worldly view is helpful when reaching out in the university realm.
You can find podcasts on most major professional websites. Some are free and some are not, but I have had a plethora of freebies to keep me busy.
As far as podcasts go, I have to say my favorite is from Life Work Balances. Each week a new interview is uploaded about various people across the field. This one PhD student (Conor) reaches out in different formats to find people to interview. Some he already knew, others recommended to him, and others who contact him. The topics range so widely, but ultimately we are all connected by the college student and striving for balance in this world. It has been really interesting and rejuvenating to hear each person’s story and context. As you know I love stories, so this is probably why this is my all-time favorite. Besides the personal stories, I have learned about various universities, programs and research focuses through these interviews. I learn best through personal connections, so this has been really meaningful for me to listen to these each week.

These are specific resources for Student Affairs and Higher Ed, however, I think the idea can go across professions. It does take some patience and diligence to find some of these things. If you keep at it, you can find a myriad of free resources out there to challenge your thinking and keep your mind fresh. It has been really encouraging to read through/listen to these resources. Being able to still connect freely has given me hope in my part time woes. I want to forever be a “student” in the profession and be able to evolve no matter what my circumstances may be.

As I reflect though, I have had great experiences since I started my Student Affairs journey and have been blessed with so many opportunities to challenge me professionally and personally. Some of my favorite learning moments have been at conferences that cost me several hundred dollars, and then others that I have done in the comfort of my own home in my pajamas have been just as worthwhile. You just have to be willing to say, “I still want to learn,” but also know your means in order to do so. Even though I can’t afford a lot of the “mainstream” professional development, I can still rock out some good stuff on my own. You have to have the gumption to make your own path sometimes, and with the way that technology is moving, you really can do so much for free. Thank you internet inventors for making this gal a little smarter!

Please note that these are all my opinions. I was not contacted by any group or affiliation to write about them. I got all links and prices directly from organization websites. I just wanted to share resources that have helped me in my Student Affairs journey and make professional development more accessible. My intention was to show that you can still obtain relevant and awesome professional development without shelling out any cash.

So there you have it. My effort to remain a professional as a part-time lackey.

Do you have other free ideas that I should be looking at?

January 15, 2014 by Stephanie

Homemade Bath Salts

Another homemade gift item. I made these for my step-mom and my aunt.

This one began as an attempt to make these bath bombs, but it turned out to just be salts.

Here is our story. I adjusted the directions to what we did, so if you want the “bomb” part, you need to follow her recipe.

Ingredients:

3 c cornstarch
3 c baking soda
4-5 c lavender epsom salt
1 c lemon juice
blue and red food coloring
muffin tins

Directions:

Combine all ingredients (except food coloring) in a bowl and mix
Add several drops of food coloring to get desired coloring
Press firmly into a muffin tins
Let dry several hours or overnight

Supplies were all purchased at Walmart.

Perfect and ready to be set.

So here is where we went wrong. I scoured several of these bath bomb recipes, and many said you could substitute lemon juice for citric acid. Well my pea brain didn’t translate that lemon juice is a liquid whereas the citric acid is a solid. So that liquid made a dramatic difference on the mold and how it stuck things together. For future reference, if you do substitute lemon juice, dramatically cut the amount. We added more of the dry ingredients to compensate. I estimated how much we put in there since we kind of guessed to make the consistency stick. (And I was in slight panic mode at this point, so I wasn’t thinking clearly about the documenting the measurements…)

Even after sitting for more than 24 hours, the molds did not stay as a mold.

They were like mush.

Sooo, we decided to just keep them as mush and put them in the jars as salts. I will prevail!

I added a scoop to each one so the recipients can easily get enough out for a relaxing bath.

This “recipe” made two of these large jars as salts.

Things to know if you attempt these:

1. Make sure you know what you are doing when you make substitutions.

2. Use silicone molds. Fortunately for this part, we could scoop them out with a spoon, but if they had hardened I am not sure they would have come out as nicely.

3. You will make a big mess and your kitchen will be overwhelmed with the smell of lavender. (Maybe the mess is just me…)

4. You should probably use someone else’s recipe. Just saying.

I will say that these do work though, so if you want bath salts, have at this recipe!

I hope you enjoyed another round of Pinterest vs. Stephanie.