"This is Why We're Journalists, Not Housewives"

The first thing I heard Tuesday morning was my roommate Coco pulling up the blinds on our window and squealing, "It's snowing!!!!!!!"

Coco is from San Diego. So this was a big deal for her too.

This was intense, hardcore snow, too. None of that "snow for an hour and be gone in the next hour" business. It was covering the cars, the sidewalks, the roofs - everything. It snowed, and it snowed good. And in fact, it was STILL snowing. A lot.

So I headed out with my service project group toward Food and Friends once more, but this time I was joined in the journey by thousands of small, white flakes that apparently didn't want me to go without them. It was cold. So I bundled up in many, many layers of cold, and we arrived at Food and Friends to find some very happy people - they hadn't thought they would get any volunteers because of the snow.

We worked all morning bagging up frozen food for the terminally ill patients. While we worked, we played an intense game of 20 questions, eventually using historical figures instead of just famous people, because then it becomes a much more intelligent game. We had lunch at the same KFC/Taco Bell place, and then headed back to work in the kitchen, where I helped put slices of bread in plastic bags.

At about 3 p.m., we returned to the apartments, where I just kind of hung out and read a bit and chatted with people. ASP was having dinner at their director's house, and Coco was somewhere else, so Karin and I had the apartment to ourselves. We decided this would be an excellent time to try making one of our more adventurous meals - chicken marsala. Everything we needed came in the box except the chicken, butter, oil, and water. Sounded easy enough.

This turned into a grand escapade. We turned on some music really loud and I started the pasta, and everything was going according to plan until we realized that we hadn't defrosted the chicken.

From this point on, I'm just going to ask you to refer to our videos. We had a blast documenting our experiences.

Well, all turned out well. After a visit from some concerned friends who saw smoke coming from the apartment, we finally got the meal completely together. And it was actually delicious. We accidentally put the seasoning on the chicken when we put the flour on, but it didn't seem to have too much of an effect - it was still really good. Karin and I had a lovely meal, just the two of us, with Michael Bublé in the background. We celebrated our first successful cooking experience with a piece of raspberry lemon cake. And then we cleaned the whole kitchen.

For more photos detailing the cooking adventure, please feel free to visit my Facebook page.

Then we watched "What Happens in Vegas" with a large group of WJCers, because ASP was still gone so we could grab the TV. It was fine. Predictable, but fun. Finally I got around to doing my reading for class today, and then we hit the sack.

This morning began with class in which we learned about the first two of the four models of journalism - European and American. We had a short break for lunch (where Karin and I indulged in our leftover chicken marsala) and then had a question and answer time for the rest of our class time this afternoon.

I came back to the apartment and called Lisa. We talked for a little while, and it was nice to hear her voice. Then Karin and I headed out to Target in the pouring rain. Yesterday it snowed, today the snow became ice, which was only emphasized by the rain. Woot.

But we went to Target and got some supplies. We actually knew what we needed this time, so it was a much better trip. Then we went back to Union Station to meet Mark and Zach (WJC), and Jason (ASP) for dinner at Corner Bakery (!!!) and then we saw "Gran Torino" at the theater in Union Station. Very interesting movie. I'm not sure if I liked it necessarily, but it was definitely very interesting. Makes you think.

Now I'm back at the apartment and about to head to bed. I have a chance to sleep early tonight, and I'm gonna take it!