Pomp and Circumstance a Year Later

I can't help but feel like and think about my Meme when I say this, but man time sure does fly by fast.

This weekend I made the trip up to good ol' Columbia to attend Jason's graduation and honors ceremonies. The weekend was full with lots of family, pictures, and pomp and circumstance... and overall it was great. While I sat there waiting to hear his name called I couldn't help but think how it seemed like yesterday I was in his shoes, or cap and gown, sitting on the court of Mizzou Arena waiting to hear my name and cross that stage. I hate how time goes by so fast.

The combination of remembering my graduation and picking up an old hobby of scrapbooking really got me thinking the past week. What have I done with my time in the past year? Besides finding a job and moving to a new city, which are huge undoubtedly, I felt like I've wasted my time. A conversation I had with Jason's grandma and mom this weekend kinda changed that notion. They talked about how they remember being my age and now all of a sudden they're older, and they don't know where the time in between went. Jason's grandma made a good point in noting when we look over a period of time we think about the day-to-day stuff that's usually nothing more than mundane... making us feel like we've done nothing fun with our days. I can agree with that.

So to prove to myself the past year hasn't been a waste I've compiled a list to share with you. It includes meaningful and great things I've done, seen, or just plain lived-through in the last 12 months...

• Enjoyed time with my family on a Caribbean cruise
• Swam with stingrays
  
• Experienced Mizzou win the Cotton Bowl in Dallas
• Saw the Tigers beat kU to become #1 in the nation
• Lived on my own
• Realized time is precious and how much I need to cherish moments
  
• Realized how much my family and friends mean to me
  
• Celebrated a two-year anniversary with Jason
• Became a grown up
• Did some soul searching (and it continues)
• Went to Mardis Gras in St. Louis
• Lived through a tornado, a couple floods, an ice storm, hail and snow
  
• Attended a presidential candidate's rally
  
• Hugged Chase Daniel
• Met the Soup Nazi
• Got beaked by Fred Bird for the 1st time
• Grew as a producer (this also continues)
• Got sick after my birthday for the 2nd consecutive year (hey it means I had a good time)
• To go along with the previous one: got 2nd place in a beer pong tourney
  
• Drank my first beer at a Cards game

So, obviously some of these are more important and serious than others, but this is just what I could think of off the top of my head. I'm going to start making a list of things I would like to accomplish in the next year; once I have enough I'll share that list, too.

"Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -Ferris Bueller

Wrapping up Sweeps

In case you can't tell by all the doomsday journalism in the world... it's SWEEPS TIME! Woo! Anyway, hard-hitting journalism doesn't have to stay in the newsroom. Today, I'm bringing it to my blog.

I decided to look into fast food restaurants. I wasn't looking to see who was breaking health codes or which place serves up lemon slices with the most fecal matter, no I chose to take the high road and put my body on the line to determine which fast food joint has the best chicken wrap.

I did a similar study a few months back when I noticed a lot of places were adding $1 double cheeseburgers. In that experiment I tried the $1 delectables from McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. The juicy red-head came out on top, followed by flame-broiled Burger King, then McDonalds.

When I grab a quick bite to eat I usually don't get burgers, though. I go for the chicken wraps. So when I found out Wendy's came out with one I knew it was time to do another taste test.

This one included McDonald's, Wendy's, Sonic, and KFC. Over the past week I sampled the cuisines and hot off the fryer my ranking is now ready...


4th Place: Sonic
I'll admit I didn't get the Junior wrap, which is probably most comparable to the other ones. I was confused and got the regular wrap, which was okay at best. The only thing that impressed me was that it had a tomato slice.

3rd Place: McDonald's
It's pretty standard. I've gotten this many times and the quality and presentation isn't always consistent.

Now here's where it gets difficult...
2nd Place: KFC
I really liked their wrap. It was very meaty and had a good spice to it. They advertise them as toasted, but really it just came off as a stale tortilla with grill marks.

1st Place: Wendy's
There's one big reason why Wendy's earned the top spot... they have a spicy chicken wrap, and their spicy chicken sandwich is my favorite meal of all fast food places. If it came down to the original wrap verse the KFC wrap I would probably go with KFC. But I like the fact Wendy's has many choices. And they also use a chicken breast sliced in half so there's more meat.

Well there you have it folks. My attempt to get you to remember me for next year's Blogaronis. Juuuuust kidding. :)