When I was in college, writing was a dream that seemed attainable. I already did it every day--academic papers kept me sharp and well-read, and my creative writing minor had me pumping out quality personal essays on a regular basis. And then there was the feedback--the constructive criticism that made me better every time. I never knew what I was going to "do with my life" (sometimes I still don't), but I knew that I would always write.

This might sound ridiculous, but this blog doesn't always feel like a place where I write. I don't like that. It feels like I'm not being true to myself in some way. I love sharing my life with you guys, but I want 2014 to be the year I start writing more things I'm proud of--things that feel more like complete pieces than blog posts. And I want to start getting better again, because when I sit down to a blank Word document, I realize just how rusty I've gotten.

Back in 2011, I vowed to write a piece of creative nonfiction every week. It was obviously an ambitious goal, or else I would have done it. But I would like to try again.

These posts will be labeled "Old Friend from Far Away" (because the writing prompts are all taken from the book--get it here), and I'm not sure how I'm going to go about them. I once made a list that I think was easy to follow, so I'll go ahead and do that again. I've spoken with a few people who would like to follow the prompts and write along, and I'd love that.

• 02/17: What's been on your mind? What have you carried and gnawed over? (OFFA, 154)
• 02/24: Tell about periods when you haven't read. What were you doing? Where and when do you read best? (OFFA, 160)
• 03/03: Often we are pulled between two places...Tell us about them. Give us the pull, the conflict, the desire. (OFFA, 204)
• 03/17: Write about your mother's jewelry. Write about her shoes. (OFFA, 153)
• 03/24: What is your anchor, what you trust and know and can come home to over and over in your writing? (OFFA, 238)
• 03/31: What is the third thing? There is you and there is writing. But you can't write about writing. It's ingrown. You and writing must gaze out at a third thing. Of course, a fourth, a fifth will appear, but for now the two of you look out together. What is there in this world? (OFFA, 42)
• 04/07: A lunch you loved. (OFFA, 209)
• 04/14: A memory of a Popsicle. (OFFA, 209)
• 04/21: A memory of sunscreen. (OFFA, 209)
• 06/23: A self-portrait in third person. (OFFA, 214)

Thanks for reading. Thanks for writing.

I love cooking, and I love tortilla soup, but I don't always love going to the grocery store for a big list of things specific to just one recipe. While my brother was visiting, we vowed to make a big pot of it, and somehow made it work mostly with ingredients I already had in my kitchen.

Full disclosure: some cumin, chili powder, a habanero pepper, and paprika would have been nice. Feel free to add some of that to yours if you make it. But this was flavorful and perfect for a cold evening spent at home watching the Olympics, which is exactly how we did it.

  

Ingredients

One onion, chopped

About three chicken breasts + one or two thighs

One and a half tablespoons of marinara sauce

Two 32 ounce cartons of chicken broth
Half a tablespoon of crushed red pepper

Avocado, tomato, lettuce, cilantro, and lime as toppings

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, cook the chicken in a bit of olive oil. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from pot and let cool. Add chopped onions to pot.

2. Saute onions and add marinara sauce. Once those two ingredients are combined, add the chicken broth.

3. Once chicken has cooled enough to handle, pull the meat apart (like pulled pork or..chicken).

3. Get the soup to a boil and add the chicken and red pepper. Add salt and pepper.

4. Serve in bowls and top with chopped tomato and lettuce, sliced avocado, cilantro, and a wedge of lime.

Sean's four and a half days here have flown by so incredibly fast--I can't believe he's heading back to Virginia this afternoon. I thought I took a bunch of photos, but they're mostly of food, which I guess is to be expected. We also went snowshoeing, explored Minnehaha falls, and watched the Olympics and Parks and Rec like it was going out of style. Rob and Sean are such good friends and it's the most wonderful thing in the world to see.

It's been a great long weekend, and now I'm so anxious to get back to Virginia in March to spend a week at home before my DC bachelorette weekend with all of my best girlfriends! But before that happens, we have another brother visit this coming weekend--Rob's brother, Sam is coming in on Thursday night! So I'll most likely have another weekend recap again next Monday. Until then, here's a look at the past few days around here with Sean.

 

    

How was your weekend?