Tour of Homes

Greta is having a Christmas Tour of Homes. Here is my humble abode in all it's Christmas-y splendor. Actually I only had the time/energy to put up about half our decorations and there are no lights or ornaments on our full size tree...but our little retro tree made it into the tour so enjoy.

Tired and groggy

That's what I am today. Yesterday I left my house at 6:30 am to drive to Mobile (5.5) hours for a 4 hour caroling booking. The booking was great. Beautiful day in Mobile, cute kids everywhere, lots of people who appreciated fine singing from Dickens dressed carolers....
But after singing for four straight hours, we had to get back in the car for another 5.5. The drive home was pretty grueling. I worked the same gig last year and afterward told myself I would never do it again. I reminded myself of that last night as I unlocked my front door at 12:15 with an overwhelming sense of deja-vu.
However I am thankful that our travels were safe, and that I get paid darn god money for sitting in a car and singing some pretty Christmas harmonies. I have no idea how a tiny little tea room in Mobile, AL can afford to book some pretty expensive entertainment, plus pay us for travel and meals (I'm sure they have local singers who could do the job?), but maybe it's a small encouragement that the economy is not in as bad of a slump as we hear....at least not in Mobile anyway.

The week gone by

It's been awhile since my last post. But that is because I've been busy giving thanks, turning 28, visiting with my beloved family, and not eating the nasty blueberry pie I baked from scratch but remains untouched in the fridge. (But I have eaten large amounts of birthday cake and leftover pumpkin pie)...

A Miracle for McKaylee...

That is all I want for Christmas this year.
Check out this St. Judes commercial. My sweet niece is in the last clip. She is walking down the hall wearing a brown skirt/pink sweater.
http://www.tg.stjude.org/celebfriends.html
She is absolutely precious. Please pray that God would heal her of the tumor and give her a happy healthy life.

On second thought...

I don't think Martha has anything to worry about.


Personally, I didn't even think it tasted good. To floury or something. It was fun to learn the process though. I love that the Young Couples group at my church has so many creative opportunities for fellowship. What a blessing!

Brrrr!

Highs in the 40's, lows in the 20's. Mid-November in the Southeast? Global Warming, what??
Yeah.
And also I am going to a "pie and tea social" tomorrow with the ladies in my SS class. How fun! I am supposed to bring a pie plate (don't own one) and a fruit filling (don't like).
Should I invest in a nice pie plate or just get foil, and any rec.s on the fruit filling? The only one I care for is apple and I've had lots of apple pie lately so I'd like something different. Supposedly I'll learn to make lattice top and everything. Look out Martha Stewart.

In lieu of a more interesting post

Did anyone see SNL this weekend? We got in the habit of watching it since all the election skits were so clever and because I personally feel that Kristen Wiig is a comic genious, but Saturday's episode was horrible. Most of the skits were boderline offensive.
Continuing on the subject of television, I would again like to state my fervent recommendation of the AMC series Mad Men. Start with season 1 on DVD and just try to tell me you don't find it fascinating.
I'll just let that challenge hang out there and see if I get any takers.

Almost Friday

Is it just me or have weekends been FLYING by lately? Ever since my return from London/Paris (aka the trip that made my "real" life seem impossibly dull and listless), I feel like I have been living for the weekends, but they are passing by faster than ever. Tomorrow afternoon another one begins. I really want to make this one count if possible. Our only plans are to attend a friend's cookout on Saturday afternoon. If I know my husband, he will also want to go see the new Bond film. (that comes out tomorrow right?). Hopefully we will also get to eat at our fav Indian restaurant too. Well between all that and sunday school/church, it will prob. fly by again.
But writing about it gets me excited and makes me thankful to have weekends to enjoy. Maybe my life isn't so dull and listless after all. It just takes the right perspective ;)
What are you doing this weekend?

"Welcome to my home. No I haven't made BBQ in several weeks, why do you ask?"

I made this for dinner last night. It was very yummy and easy too! The only problem was that the amount of aroma it provided while simmering all day proved to be too much for my little 1950's bungalow.* I woke up about 5 times during the night because the heating vent was blowing essence of barbecue directly in my face.** The smell was so overwhelming it woke me from slumber.
Also today at work I reached over to get my phone out of my purse. As I unzipped the front pouch I was greeted by yet another strong whiff of barbecue. To be fair, I usually keep my purse on a chair near the stove but still!

* I'm pretty sure my house doesn't actually qualify as a true bungalow. But it sounds better :)
** The meat had finished cooking about 7 hours earlier. Crockpot was washed and put away.

Happiness

If you haven't seen Mad Men on AMC, I highly recommend giving it a try. The show had been recommended to us by several trusted sources, so we decided to start with season 1 on DVD. Last night we popped in disc 1 and were so engrossed that we watched all 3 episodes on the disc in one sitting.
There is a moment in the first episode that really struck a chord with me though - it's when the main character is making an ad pitch to a tobacco company telling them how to overcome the latest stigma that cigarettes are deadly (the show is set in the early 60's). He says this to the tobacco execs:
"Advertising is about one thing: happiness."

That is a profound truth. And I am so susceptible to trying to buy my happiness based on slick advertising and pretty pictures. I pour over magazines and websites trying to find that perfect item, food, clothing, beauty remedy. Once I think I've found it I set all my hopes upon it, salivating for the moment when it will be mine and bring me that happiness I so desire. It NEVER does. But instead of allowing that fact to sink in, I search for something else to distract myself in pursuit of.

The character in Mad Men goes on to describe happiness as "the smell of a new car, freedom from fear, a Billboard on the side of the road that screams with the reassurance that whatever you're doing is ok. You are ok."

Am I alone in feeling like I've been duped by the advertising machine of our consumer culture? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

An exciting discovery

If you, like me are a nut for all things fall themed and you drink "fake" creamer in your coffee (international delight, coffee mate etc.), then you probably have tried the Pumpkin Spice flavored creamer. I am a fan.
HOWEVER I can't seem to find it in my local stores. All they have is boring stuff like hazelnut and french vanilla. yawn.
This morning I was craving a pumpkiny spicy cup of coffee but all I had in the fridge was 2% milk and personally, if I'm not using "fake" creamer than I'm at least using half&half....
Anyway, I discovered a great replacement for the pumpkin spice creamer and I know you're ready for me to stop rambling so here it is:

1. grate about 1/4 teaspoon of whole nutmeg into your freshly ground coffee before you brew it
2. Pour coffee, add milk, then top with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon
3. Add splenda or sugar to taste....but you probably want to get it moderately sweet to counteract the nutmeg and cinnamon.

It's really good! Even with 2% milk. I think I may even prefer it to the fake stuff.

Joining the fun...

I too would like to join the crowd of conservative bloggers noting (admirably) some positive aspects of the latest president elect. While we may not have voted for him or love some of his policies, we can still hope for the best from his presidency because after all, success for him is success for our country and I can't think of many things less patriotic than wanting him to fail.
But the point I want to ruminate on is seeing all of this through the eyes of my students. The school I teach at on Wednesday is mostly black. I absolutely adore my students at this particular school. They are bright, creative, sweet-natured, kind to each other...just charming 10 and 11 year old girls whom I care for and want to see them succeed in life. (Granted, I am only their after school drama teacher and will probably never see many of them again after this school year, but for now I am enjoying being able to be a part of their lives). The hope and encouragement I saw in the eyes of my girls on Wednesday as they proudly showed me their "Obama is the 44th president" buttons and T-shirts was something I wasn't prepared for. For the first time I saw this election through the eyes of young african-american kids who NEED to know they have just as much potential as all the other (any given nationality) kids. They were so inspired. They now know that whatever they decide they want to do in this world, if they work hard, study, apply themselves, etc. they CAN do it. That is what I grew up believeing and I'm glad that now my sweet drama students can whole-heartedly believe the same thing.
So there's a plus ;).

Voted!

Today was one of those days that was a challenge from the moment I opened my eyes. At 5:20 when the alarm went off I wished I could just turn over and ignore the day. I've been in the habit of going to the gym with Dustin so we were up bright and early. The first moment of joy was when we pulled into the gym at 6 and nobody was there to open up. We waited in the car with all the other early risers in their respective cars and waited...waited...
At about 6:20 we decided to give up and I was going to drop D off at his office and head home to shower, but the second moment of joy happened and the car wouldn't start. Making a long story short, I was able to borrow the car of Dustin's boss (thank you Blake!!) so I could actually show up for work at the job I despise. D was left with the car to figure out what the heck was wrong and hopefully get it fixed. Making ANOTHER long story short, my battery was dead (car is only 1.5 years old) and we did manage to get the car back by 4 pm.
Bringing me to my point...VOTING! I was so afraid that all these car mishaps would keep us from getting to the polls by 4 we could wait in the 3 hour line and then make it home by a somewhat reasonable hour.
The good news is, despite reports I heard from co-workers about people waiting for over 4 hours in some parts of Atlanta, our poll was line free! We walked right in, voted, and were out all in about ten minutes! It made me aware of how important it is to me to exercise my right to support the candidate I believe in. I am thankful that I was able to cast a vote for him (and her ;)) because despite all the hype surrounding this election, I think it is important to give support to what you believe in, even if you know your vote may not make a big difference.
I'm watching the results now, and it's still to early to call anything. But I think it's really cool that the experience of supporting a candidate and voting for them is a privilege that all Americans share. I'm glad I got to vote, and I'm glad I live in America. No matter who wins...

Love him...

Back from the dead

Last night I went to blogspot to cancel this blog. It has been almost a year since my last post and I've been very reluctant to write anything for fear it would be misunderstood, or read by someone I don't know who would judge me. Why do I care so much what random strangers think of me?
In the end, I just couldn't cancel and instead decided to spruce up my template, and get back on (in?) the blogosphere! I want to have this connection with my blogging friends, some of whom are linked here and others who aren't. I also love having an outlet for expression. This time around however, I am gonna try my hardest to just be "me" in written form. No constant editing to make sure my words sound eloquent, re-typing stories 6 times to acheive the desired dramatic effect, spending hours agonizing about which photo to add to the post so people I don't even know can see me from the most flattering angle.
Nope, just my stream of consciousness, read by probably only 1 or 2 people, with maybe a few pictures thrown in every now and then to make it slightly more interesting. Hopefully it will include good recipes, good stories, and good communication with my loved ones in the form of commentary and linkage.
I'm going to leave the old stuff up just because I don't feel like messing with it right now, but if you do go back and read it, just know to expect more authenticity in future posts :-)
Here's to a new day!

A Public letter to A.

I really enjoyed writing my little "letter" to Greta yesterday so I decided to make it a series.
I will now describe another great friendship that has enriched my life. I won't mention her by name since she doesn't blog. Although she lurks on this blog quite often so I think she should start one herself. I mean, she has nothing else going on in her life...
I digress.
This special someone came into my life during my first year as a music major at Samford. A fellow performer/singer we had a few academic connections but little else to link us together. EXCEPT for a certain propensity for....umm....zaniness. Basically she is crazy with a capital C and I love every bit of it. During the next few years she kept me constantly entertained in study sessions, rehearsals, classes with a frightening teacher we called "the remlin", double dates, etc. Through all of this we developed a close and even sisterly bond. Having seen A. through some very tough situations, I can now say I respect and admire her more than I ever have before. Watching her come out on the other side of a situation that could have had terrible effects with her spirit intact is inspirational to me. She is a humble, persevering example of God's grace at work and I am SO GLAD I have been able to see it play out in her life.
So here's to you Canadian Rebel! May your bulletin boards of endless information continue to serve you well in all your future endeavors. I can't wait to see you soon!

My apologies to any readers who are a little confused by this post. It's basically for only one or two people to understand.

A Public Letter to G.

Since I started this blog mainly to keep in touch with 1-3 people and I have done a spectacularly poor job of keeping in touch with those friends lately, I thought I would take a moment to blog about how much I miss my friend Greta.
She is one of the few people who seem to understand my weird quirks and not be daunted by them. She is one of the best listeners I know and is not afraid to let you know if she disagrees with something. But the way she disagrees is so lacking in any kind of offensive attitude that it is totally disarming and it helps you to really consider her point of view. Those are a few of the reasons that our friendship is so unique.
When we moved to Atlanta, leaving behind such a loyal and caring friend was one of the hardest parts. Since we've lived here some external things have changed (she is now a mommy!) but overall, our friendship has not. I just hate that we see each other so little and I hate how although B'ham and Atl are not that far apart, we hardly get any face time. I guess we can't avoid sometimes having to move away from friends that you love, but I just wanted to "publicly" say (cause who knows who the heck will end up reading this!) that I miss you G and I wish I got to see ya more!!

Ok, ok!

SORRY that I have been a little neglectful of this poor blog. I had a humbling experience recently through which I learned that if I'm going to post something, I better make sure I don't mind who reads it (or set the whole blog to private). Since then I have been a little wary....not to mention busy AND un-inspired. But enough complaints.
Apparently there is a breakout of the flu here in Atlanta. This is not good, and I have to admit I'm a little worried since neither D or I get flu shots and he is sitting next to me at this very moment coughing and sniffling. I guess we'll wait and see.
I think it's probably pretty obvious since I'm musing on the (supposed) Atlanta Flu Epidemic, that I am fairly low on material. [Thinking and waiting for something to come to me.....]
I have ants in one kitchen cabinet. How weird is that? They are not even in the cabinets with the food. And they are really only on one shelf. There is no sugar or food anywhere near it. Such a nuisance. I had to spray the shelf with black flag and all the contents are all over the counter. Sounds like a good reason not to cook dinner.
mmm leftover lentil curry.
Poor Dustin.

Cruisin' part 2

Click here (and here) to see a few pictures from Dustin's cruise (which he went on without me...). Notice the red track suits. They told people they were a traveling international ping pong team.

So far, no good...

Yeah, so the picture thing is not going so well....
I did get Dustin to tell me how to get the pics from the camera to the computer, but I have yet to lug the camera out of wherever it is stored (I don't even know!) and take it with me somewhere that I may have a photo opp.

Ok, how about this: here is an internet picture of what our camera looks like -











See? it's kind of bulky...not ideal for slipping in your purse.
All right, I won't make any more excuses. Maybe you'll get a pic of something in the next few months. So much for New Years resolutions.
Here's a rundown of our weekend:
Dustin came down with a nasty head cold on Friday morning. However we had already made plans with friends for a movie outing so he and john could see Cloverfield. Happily, I followed my hunch that Cloverfield would probably not be the most enjoyable cinematic experience(since the whole film is shot on a camcorder!) and made plans with john's wife to simultaneously see Juno (which by the way is a very cute movie, even if it does portray pre-marital sex as something to cheer for).
Well to make a long story short, when Julie and I walked out of the theatre, John and Dustin were waiting for us as their movie had ended earlier. Dustin was a lovely shade of gray and was sitting with his head in his hands. Apparently the combo of sinus infection and 2 hours of running with camcorder do not go well together, and the movie had induced an episode of motion sickness for poor Dusty. (10 dollars well spent, huh?)
We then enjoyed a grueling ride home from the theatre where I was convinced each and every curve or bump was going to cause Dustin to vomit all over the seats of J&J's car. He never did but my nerve's were shot by the time we got home.
Fell into bed, slept restlessly because of sickness, and awoke on Saturday to drive to B'ham to see Dustin's family. Good times were had by all except poor Dustin who was still feeling miserable from the cold.
Cut to the ride home at 7pm. Dustin suddenly finds himself motion sick again. Repeat of aforementioned nervousness at every curve bump etc., only this time for 2 hours (I really need to get over my throw- up phobia, wouldn't you say?)
Sunday was actually a lot better and even restful and we are now both feeling ready for another week :)
I have yet to experience any symptoms of the cold.
Tonight I am making Greta's Chicken Purses to end this post on a completely random note.
Happy Monday!

Winter Wonderland

It snowed in the ATL this weekend. It was glorious....a full day of snowfall which produced a very nice accumulation on the ground. Unfortunatley I missed it. All of it :(
We were in Florida helping my mom move. That experience will live in infamy and is another post for another day, HOWEVER, I was pretty sad I missed out on what may prove to be the only snowfall in my hometown this year.
The good news is when we got home last night there was still snow on the ground and even a family (two parents, three kids, plus dog and cat - can you tell we don't get snow that often?) of snowmen in our neighbor's yard. My dog was loving every minute of it. She's part chow which is an arctic breed so she actually likes the cold.
The point I am trying to get to is this: I want to post pictures of it on my blog! I want to display a picture of my crazy dog shoving her face into the snow and acting so excited you would've thought the white stuff was actually cocaine instead of frozen H2O. I want to put up a picture of the pretty little scene of our street all blanketed in white looking like a postcard. Heck, I'd probably even put up a picture of the snowman family just for kicks. Well, the problem is I am camera impaired. We do own a very nice Sony digital camera and I have a camera phone, but I just never think to take a picture of something while its actually happening. Plus I have no idea how to upload anything from my phone or our camera onto the computer. The second problem could be remedied easily enough with a tutorial from Dustin, but how do I get myself to take the pics at the right moment instead of letting it pass me by and wishing I had a picture later on? Perhaps I will make this my New Years resolution. To try and be mindful of any and every photo opportunity that comes my way...and then to actually take a picture...and THEN to post them on my blog.
Yes! that's it.
All right you heard it here first. Now hold me accountable ok? At least one picture a week.
Happy MLK Day everyone!

Friday thoughts

Fridays are so great. I love the feeling of the coming weekend. There are very few things that can put me in a bad mood on Friday.
That being said, here are a couple things that have been putting me in a good mood on other days of the week too...
PASTE's music sampler - If you're not familiar with the magazine PASTE, I would highly recommend it (ok, I should probably admit that the editor in chief of the mag is a friend of ours). It's basically a running commentary on music and movies...the best part about it is that each issue comes with a CD that has 15 or so newly released songs by a wide variety of artists. My favorite on this months CD is Fine Line by Little Big Town.
PG Tips Tea - It is my new morning beverage of choice. This is mainly because I discovered that I like tea with milk and sugar. I spent a couple years forcing unsweetened green tea down my throat as I drove to work because I was convinced it was healthy. The problem is it kind of tastes like boiled dirt and grass clippings. To be fair, I was drinking pretty cheap green tea bags so it probably tastes better if you buy it imported in loose form or something. In any case I went through a coffee phase this summer but always got a bad case of the jitters around 11am. Then I stumbled into Teavana, a really expensive tea store in the mall and an aggressive sales person convinced me I needed a teapot to brew loose tea leaves or my life would remain incomplete. I bought the pot, but grew tired of the flavored matte tea that I got to brew in it. That's when I discovered PG Tips. It's a pretty basic black tea imported from the UK. It's good with nothing added, but since they drink their tea with milk "across the pond" I decided to give it a try. It's delicious! Add a dash of Splenda and it's heavenly. Now my drive to work is so much tastier...and it's just enough caffeine to give me a boost but not enough to make me twitch. I still like coffee with the hubby on weekends, but I'm really glad I discovered tea to brighten my weekday mornings.

In other news, Kelly has a really funny YouTube clip of an American Idol audition posted today. I really don't like American Idol, but since Kelly said it was funny I watched it...and I was laughing out loud. The best part is the arm swing as he heads into the 2nd verse. I recommend viewing :)
Happy Friday!

If you're so inclined...

I know a few people who could really use some prayer. I've been thinking of them and praying for them throughout each day and since they are on my mind, I thought I would share:

1. My niece, McKaylee, was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. She's doing okay right now, but her mom, Jess (my SIL), is facing the challenge of nursing her back to health (she had a pretty serious operation to drain the fluid off her brain that was caused by the tumor) and watching her closely for any signs that something is developmentally wrong until her next brain scan in a couple months. Such a heavy load! McKaylee is a little angel baby. So cute and sweet, I still can't really wrap my mind around what is happening to her.

2. Someone I am very close to who will remain unnamed is going through a tough period of waiting. She is pretty unsure about what the future holds and is ready for a change in her life but feels stuck and unable to make any changes. Pray for her boyfriend too because he is dealing with some financial stress which is also affecting my friends life. It's just one of those icky situations where something needs to give.

3. My husbands grandmother goes in for surgery next week on an ovarian cancer tumor the size of an orange! She scared and nervous and afraid to hope for the best, so please pray for her too.
Thanks!
Please let me know how I can pray for you...

Input

According to the best seller Strength Finder 2.0 which my husband purchased for me because I got jealous after he read it as a work assignment, my strongest personality attribute is "Input"(basically this means I like to take in facts, words, ideas, and experiences and file them away in my mind). A little bit of a shocker since I've spent the past four years chasing a performing career (which my heart was never really into). I expected at least one of my top five attributes or "strengths" to be something along the lines of entertainment or communication or something remotely extroverted...nope. Here they are in ranking order:
Input
Responsibility
Consistency
Discipline
Empathy
Don't I sound like the most boring person!?
I'm still mulling it over, but it is at least good to get a fresh perspective on what I am best suited for in life/work.
I welcome your feedback.
I'd also recommend getting the book (when you buy it you get a code that you use to take the "strength finder" test online). Then we can compare strengths! :)

Welcome back!

I am back on blogger after a year long hiatus! My old blog was pretty lame so I think this one may suffer the same fate, but at least Greta and I will be in touch ;)
A lot has happened in the past year. We moved to Atlanta, well more specifically Decatur, GA. I really do love it here. It has been a great city for us. There is so much to do and experience. Just today we went to Piedmont Park and walked around midtown and I was reminded of why I love this city - it's funky and diverse and charming and southern all at the same time. Plus theres lots of people....makes for a frustrating commute time but also a lot of "life"going on. I've always been a fan of big cities so I'm happy here. Our actual address is Decatur which is sort of a annex city to Atlanta. It is right outside of midtown but it has it's own incorporation so it is not technically Atlanta.
Anyway Decatur is a wonderful place to live for people like us: young families (currently ours only includes us and the pets) active, like to eat out and shop, interested in culture, etc.
Ok, enough about Decatur.
Here's a picture of us and Jersey, our "first child". Next time I'll have more interesting stuff to say. I hope...