Vyvacious

I am at an interesting point in my life. I sit here, about to embark on probably one of the greatest journeys of my life and I’m overcome with so many emotions I don’t even know how to feel. As some of you may have noticed, I depart to Europe very soon (check out my countdown in the left side bar! :)).

In order to further fuel my love for Paris, my friend suggested a few movies to me. I just finished watching Amelie, a wonderfully eclectic love story and I absolutely adore the main character because of her charming quirkiness. I love her different strategies and ways she shows her feelings to the guy she took a liking too. It’s refreshing to experience something other than the typical Americanized cheesy love story.

This post is all over the place, isn’t it? And if you don’t think it is yet, strap yourself in for an interesting ride :). Even though this post takes random direction from time to time, I kind of love it because it reflects exactly how I feel.

I’m so excited to be leaving for a 3 week escapade to France and Spain with one of my good friends (and to meet up with a bunch of other friends once I’m there!!! :D), I can hardly wait. But at the same time, I’m super nervous as it is my first time truly traveling internationally. And mixed into those two understandable but slightly conflicting emotions, I’m feeling exhausted, hopeful, whimsical, paranoid, happy, frustrated, and somehow calm. Just to name a few… :P I know it sounds a little overwhelming, but really, after a 17 hour work day, a crazy few weeks of work/planning, the sad sad end to my Zumba sessions at 24, the need to bake every two seconds even if my schedule doesn’t allow it, and so much more, I think my spectrum of emotions is allowable :)

As I was watching Amelie, I felt in tune with her when she was describing her vivid imagination. Not having others to grow up with for a big portion of my life led me to a whole new world of possibilities I could dream up. Though she was an introvert, my love for people and interaction because I craved it so led me to be the “vyvacious” person I am today :P.

But these days, I’m craving a new kind of adventure. I love traveling (more on that later!) and meeting new people as well as experiencing new things. I’ve always been an odd sort who does love having day to day schedules but the spontaneity of something can just make me feel such a rush. I’m also craving more time to muse by myself when I can freely write, draw, and just plain relax. Those times are EXTREMELY rare but very treasured :)

I’ve had people tell me they can’t imagine me getting stressed out or that they didn’t like me and judged me at first because they couldn’t fathom how someone could be that happy the majority of the time without being fake. It baffles me that they should think that way. It makes me sad for them to have never experienced joy the way I have. It makes me wonder if they’ve ever experienced the kind of pain that seeps everything from your soul and if they’ve ever been blessed with the chance to rebuild themselves brick by brick? And if they have, have they learned from it?

Do they truly, and I mean truly, understand how precious life is? Because if they did, I feel like they would take that extra time to take in the beautiful clouds in the sky, they would help a random stranger, they would appreciate everything life has to offer them… Please don’t think I’m preaching. I just seriously try to squeeze every drop of awesomeness that life has to offer me and coat myself in that shit. Just imagine it…my glistening body coated in…AWESOMENESS. Hell yeah. You know you’re on board for an extra coating of awesomeness, yourself :P

You wanna know a (not so well kept) secret? I take joy in other people’s happiness. You’re welcome. Haha. But seriously, just try it sometime. The next time someone close to you has something amazing happen to them, just imagine if it were you. And imagine how you must be bursting with joy, just emanating from your very being that it’s entirely contagious, the way true happiness should be. Then join in on their happiness. It’s a free, guaranteed awesome ride :)

Now, y’all must be wondering why the hell I decided to babble on for so long when all you really wanted was the recipe for this amazing and simple individual Seasoned Crab Avocado Appetizer ;). Well here it is then without further ado!!

Seasoned Crab Avocado Appetizer
(makes 2 individual servings, or one really delicious NOM in your mouth)

*Note: This is a very tailored recipe so there will be no exact measurements this time. Add/remove flavors and deduce amounts of ingredients as you please. Whatever your heart desires <;;;;;3 :)

Ingredients:

– 1 ripe avocado
– 2 servings of lumped crab meat (about a handful per serving)
– Juice of 1 lemon or lime (preferably freshly squeezed :))

*Note: For the spices, let’s estimate and say 1/8 tsp is “1 part”. Tweak as needed :)

– 2 parts smoked paprika
– 1 part cumin
– 1.5 parts cayenne pepper
– 1 part turmeric
– 1 part (+ some for garnish) freshly ground pepper
– 1/2 part cinnamon

1. Cut the avocado in half and discard the pit.

2. Place all parts of the spices in a small sealable Ziploc bag and shake it all up! Please, please make sure you tightly sealed the bag…we don’t want any disasters! But if you have one, please share. I always love a good story :)

3. Once the spices are mixed well, place the lumped crab meat in a bowl and add half of the lemon or lime juice.

4. Sprinkle the contents of the bowl with some of the spice mixture.

5. Stir gently with a spoon (be careful!) and keep tasting as you add spices and lemon juice until the flavors please you. I’d rather be safe and just add a little at a time.

6. Once you’re happy with the taste, spoon the seasoned crab mixture into the two avocado halves and garnish with freshly ground pepper if you so desire!

7. Serve with a fork or a spoon and enjoy! Bon appétit!! Look! I’m practicing my French! :P

For those who don’t know, I studied Spanish avidly in high school so that one little phrase is really the extent of my knowledge (but it’s one of the best well wishes, don’t cha think? :P). My love for the Spanish language and culture was strong, so much so that it was going to one of my majors in college, until I decided to do a 180 and switch career paths…but that’s a story for another day! By the way, I hope you all didn’t mind my little tangent. In fact, I hope you enjoyed it :D

Until next time!! Ooh, I’ll probably be en route to Paris!! :)

P.S. I posted this from my iPhone to see how my posts will look like when I update y’all from Europe! Eeeeee!!! :D