sobbee’s blog

C122508_1526_00

Pouding Chomeur is a traditional Canadian dessert enjoyed warm, sometimes 'a la mode' with ice cream.
If you've never had it, it's a cake baked IN caramel-maple sauce.

Makes 12 portions

Ingredients

Cake
1 Egg
1/4 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 ts Vanilla
1 cup Milk
1 ts Baking Powder
1 1/2 cup All purpose flour

Syrup
1 cup Maple syrup
1 cup Brown sugar
1 cup Boiling water
1/4 cup Butter

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Sift flour and baking powder together and put aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar. Add in the egg and the vanilla.
4. Mix in flour and milk a bit at a time.
5. In a saucepan bring water and butter to a boil, reduce heat to medium
6. Add brown sugar and maple syrup and bring back up to a boil constantly stirring.
7. Boil until it slightly reduces while stirring, becomes thicker but not quite a syrup.
8. Let it rest a few minutes while buttering a 9X13 pan .
9. Pour syrup into the pan and then spoon dough gently into the pan as evenly as possible
10. Bake for 45 minutes
11. Let it rest until it stopped bubbling
12. Enjoy!

Notes

Substitute maple syrup for 1 cup of water + 1 cup brown sugar
Don't substitute in table syrup

-> Original Post

I don't really know what to do.

My boyfriend and I are in an LDR at the moment, but I am planning to move to Portland, OR in March to end the distance. However, he came to me tonight and told me that he's considering dropping his engineering degree and joining the Air Force. For my own reasons, I don't really want to be a military girl. I strongly oppose the idea of him joining, and I have since long before we started dating.

He asked me about it tonight, and I can't say anything. I want to tell him, "No way!" but it's his life and his choice. I love him a lot, enough to make it *extremely* difficult to even consider ending the relationship, but I'm against it enough that with anyone else I would. I know the economy is horrible. There are other options, though. I don't know what to do or say to him at all. Our main form of communication is IM, but I'm having a hard time having any kind of conversation at all tonight.

Please, military wives and girlfriends, lend me your wisdom here. Does/did anyone else ever feel like this? Like the world just disappeared out from under them?

->Response

Just wanted to leave a thought here:

quote:

---

Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
~Ratatouille

---

Military life isnt for everyone. But a great military girlfriend/wife can come from any one.

The ladies here aren't any different than anywhere else, no super or magical powers, they aren't crazy (except for the random off days lol but everybody gets those). No one was born ready to be a great military SO. What makes them special, is that everyday they chose to love their man, and keep learning the skills through the life lessons that experience brings to them. And they keep making the decision to move forward, with their SO.

I think you should reflect on your reasons against him joining. If it's based on fear or military-wife stigmas, than clear facts can clear those away. If it's based on being anti-war on every imaginable level, then that's a conflict of interest, that he joins or not since he obviously supports military efforts.

You are more than welcome to ask a thousand questions here, with an open neutral mind and ears. Just be careful on the position you take, I'm sure you realize that "I don't wanna be a military girl" can sound like its a bad thing, you know like "I don't wanna be like "you" Since it is what we are... People could feel attacked and get defensive and even try to convince you it's aaaallll roses and rainbows because it's not like that either.

Of course talk to him about it, ask questions with him to a recruiter if you can. Look at facts online, the real ones. Then ask more questions.

When you are ready to decide, do it honestly. If you decide it's not the commitment you are willing to make it's okay, it doesnt make you any different a person. If you decide to work it out and keep up the relationship, do it with both feet in.

Good luck and we are here for you anytime

----------
Tanya
The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.
-Dr Randy Pausch

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle/random
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

Opening Credits:
It's alright - Seal

Waking Up:
Listen to the wind - Hayley Westenra

First Day At School:
Blue Moon - Michael Buble

Falling In Love:
Don't know why - Norah Jones

Fight Song:
Suavemente - Elvis Crespo <- hahaha Imma kick ur ass.. MERENGUE STYLE

Breaking Up:
Stronger - Britney Spears <- nice pick

Prom:
Wanna be starting something - Michael Jackson ft Akon & Will I. Am

Life:
1812 Overture Tchaikovsky <- V for Vendetta music, interesting

Mental Breakdown:
I'll be home for christmas - NSYNC <-.. yeah no comment

Driving:
Summertime - Kenny Chesney

Flashback:
He's a Pirate (main theme) <- awesome!

Getting back together:
Other side of the world - KT Tunstall <- aw

Losing your virginity:
Hip Hip Chin Chin - Club des Belugas <- hahahahahahaha

Wedding:
Can't help falling in love - Jon Bon Jovi

Birth of Child
Where does it hurt - Alexz Johnson <- oh dear..

Final Battle:
Appuntamento - Ornella Vanoni (Ocean's 12) <- wow not even close :D

Death Scene:
Beautiful Baby - Bing Crosby  <- death by crooner awesome! works with ^^

Funeral Song:
Remember me - Josh Groban (Troy) <- aw

End Credits:
Capoeira do Brasil - Sergio Mendes <- nice pick

Sorry it's wayyyyy overdue :D but here are the pictures from the 233rd Marine Corps Anniversary Ball in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and around town. Enjoy!!!

Not sure how its gonna work.. just didnt know how or where else to put it

Please comment!!!!

This is the first round of dress search for the Marine Corps Anniversary Ball.. I tried on 17 dresses today, it's crazy and tiring lol.. I'm absolutely in love with the purple scrunch trumpet dress... I'm accepting donations!! (oh and LOTS of referrals for clients, which is better than donations lol costs you NOTHING!).

Again Comment on the dresses please! (and not the faces = im tired and sick)

Hi dear followers! I'm not sure who you are lol.. Although some people mentioned following the [roommate saga] series of bloggeries. So the update for you guys is that she's leaving in a few weeks and I gotta get a new roommate.. YAY *eye roll* well at least temporarily, until I can take over that room.

Business is getting better, new bonuses are in effect so yay! more money for the people lol. Very close to being able to have things together enough to be able to take a lil trip to slightly warmer weather.. 12 degrees here, 31 deg there atm. No idea what to wear while I'm there either.. And finding the perfect dress for the ball is a little crazy as time is slipping away and Ottawa's just not the greatest places for fancy shopping for a [petite].. Keeping my fingers crossed for a perfect dress.. And watching Gossip Girl and their super gorgeous clothes isnt helping lol..I always hear the"XOXO, Gossip Girl" voice from the sneaky bloggeries of Manahattan's elite..

XOXO
Vox Girl

*Edit*
Here is the original Post on the LYC thread from the poor guy :
Hello all, first time poster here.

Do you think it is totally unreasonable to ask for pics from your SO when you have been 1600 miles away for 4 months, and still have 32 months left? Seeing her helps me a lot. But now I dread asking for a pic, because she always says "I look like sh*t" or some lame crap. Today was the last straw as far as pics go. I wired her some money so she could buy some new clothes. And she would not send me pics of her in them! ****ing outrageous!

Things lately are going downward and it sucks because we have something so special. But talking 4-5 times a day, plus texts, our conversations are starting to slow down... a lot. And something always has one of us bothered or angry. Some days it is just us missing each other, or like today, I am angry about the pics. It is always something now it seems.

Advice? This is my first LDR but not hers. She is a trustworthy girl, so thankfully trust is never an issue on either end. But it is a lot of other little things that are getting to us.

Thanks.

My response:

mmm I'd say 70% self esteem.. 30% (at the bare minimum) laziness.. And I will congratulate you on telling her you appreciate her any chance you get. ~side note~ complimenting sincerity check: you tell her these things because you truly feel she's beautiful, because you want her to feel different about herself or because you want pictures of her?

I mean.. did she (used to) do anything that was at all special when you guys would go on a date? Brush/style her hair? Put lipstick on? Although I'm not talking about a full face of make up and fully styled hair.. Just looking for signs that she does care how she looks when you see her. It's the 'mating process' thing to do because dating opinion matters lol. Us girls want to look our best when boys look at us, even if they still love us just rolling out of bed..

If she didnt dress up to make herself feel pretty when you two started dating and she does hate how she looks to the point of absolutely hiding from all potential cameras lens.. It might be a no win situation. She'll only change her opinion of herself when she decides to, and you can't do that for her nor give her her own self confidence. She can fake confidence until she builds her own but that's a different subject..

If she did put effort in for you before and not now.. She might of gotten comfortable with the fact that "Hey I'm off the market, and he wont see me for a while so i don't put work into looking shiny and new"... (you add that to negative self esteem and that's a pretty bad place to be.. Because, she should want to put on something she knows she looks good in just for the fact that it FEELS GOOD to know she looks good in it, that another human being sees it or not.) So she needs to go back to the 'special' and the 'excitement' of dating..

So a loop hole type suggestion for you, maybe, and it might take gradual steps to get there so be patient a little bit longer.

First get her to take pictures of the clothes she got, by putting them on the bed or on hangers (I thought it incredibly rude not to show or tell someone what it is you got with their money, unless is a surprise.. that they will SEE at one point, anyway imo), and show them to you.

Second get her (as smoothly as possible) to go to the mall to try on outfits she loves and to take pics with her cell AND that she doesnt need to show you the pictures ever. By seeing herself in things she likes, it'll be positive reinforcements for her.

Third (and 1B) have dates together. You should both dress up for it, even if you don't see each other and do something online together. (Stream movies online, use Stumble, plan a fantasy trip, play games, have similar take out food). Pick a reason, even a silly one works like its 224th day on the countdown until you can have a short visit together, why? because its one day better than 225. And because you both decided to make it special and decided to be enthusiastic about it.

Fourth, get her to do things for herself like manicures (it's like 10-15 bucks and its fun not that she NEEDS a manicure), or go get a deep conditioner treatment (yay scalp massage) for her hair at the salon (around the same price).. Pampering goes a long way :)

And fifth remember that if you do ask her to take a picture on-the-spot for you, it is totally possible to have caught her at a bad time because yes you do have to be in a picture mood to at least not to have that fake look of enthusiasm that truly isnt attractive

If it's an absolute no-go from this situation or no improvements at all, I'd say she's not that into you, she should care that you WANT to see her, new clothes/pjs/gym clothes whatever it is because you are looking at her and not some other chicks' pictures..