That is the title of this new Christmasy background. I wanted something Christmas-like that didn't also JUMP out and scare you! One day I really want a fun quilt like this that looks hand sewn and traditional. I guess that style is sometimes classified as "country" or "old-fashioned" but I think that is kind of how you would describe my overall style as well.
I am in the process of prepping my apartment for Christmas but with 13 school days left until break and 25 days until Christmas, I find myself wanting to prepare my heart & mind for Christmas. As I get older, and now have my own job, I really don't make a Christmas list of things that I want - fun things like movies and toys. Now, I ask for help paying a bill or clothes that I can wear for work - you know, boring things.
Thanksgiving is generally like a trial run for how Christmas is going to go in my family. With 2 separate parts of my family to juggle, I find that the planning for the holidays is stressful. I don't want to let anyone down and I don't want to leave anyone out and I don't ever end up with a completely "fair" division of my time. Like the quilt in the background, I want to stitch together my holidays and my families to make a beautiful experience but unfortunately it doesn't always go as planned.
Back to Thanksgiving though... It went really well. I generally struggle to have a civilized conversation for any length of time with my older brother but this trip was so much easier! My mom even made a comment "You two were out there in the living room for hours, having conversations, watching TV, and I didn't hear any yelling or fighting." I KNOW!!! It is like a miracle. I am hoping that this is going to last. As far as juggling my time, I think I did a good job although I did have to weasel out of a few 'commitments' but I just need to stop overbooking myself.
Well, I am sorry for the long post and I am not sure I made a point - except that my dysfunctional family is finding a way (slowly but surely) to coexist and enjoy it. I love quilts - real quilts and would one day love bunches of them for each season to put on my bed! Christmas cards will be sent out by the weekend. That is all...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Things that I am thankful for...
This is in no way meant to be an extensive list but I think its a good start!
1) Books - lots and lots of them. Basically how I spend a lot of my free, quiet time. I like all kinds of books but mainly ficiton - rom/coms. One day I hope to have a "study" or full-on library. Future-husband...be prepared!
2) Fairy tales - book and movie versions. These give me hope that "one day my prince will come" (Snow White) and that friendships can sometimes grow into something more "there's something there that wasn't there before" (Beauty & the Beast) and that some times you just need to relax "Hakunna Matata" - "it means no worries" (Lion King). I think there is a little truth to all of them and I like to think that my life will include some bit of a fairy tale and one of its happily ever afters!
3) Traveling - whether it is a road trip or a trip across an ocean I LOVE IT! As I was growing up my family took cross-country vacations to visit relatives and see the wonderful things America has to offer. I got a bit older and had a great opportunity to fly over the pond to tour the British Isles for a few weeks. I just submitted an application to hopefully travel to Russia - not only as an opportunity to gain more knowledge for the classroom but to also put a few more stamps on my passport and take awesome pictures and do something that no one in my family has done before and expand my travels of the world and because it would be REALLY fun!
4) My Job - although I complain about it a lot I am happy to have a job. I am thankful for the paycheck - however small it is. I am thankful for the 5 AWESOME minutes out of a dreaded 7 hr Monday. I am thankful for many of my coworkers that keep me sane and for those that irritate the mess out of me so I have snother thing to complain about. I am thankful for all of my students even though I don't act like it all the time.
5) My friends - those near and far. I have two close friends here in town that are basically all I have most of the time. They are here when I need them and away when I need alone time. We go to movies, or stay home and watch movies, go to hockey or baseball games, go on spontaneous (and sometimes planned) trips, etc etc. My far away friends - I am still thankful for you even though I don't see your wonderful faces very often, I stay up with your lives via Facebook or Twitter or your blog (when you decide to update it), little things that happen throughout the day remind me of you and brighten my day.
6) My family - even though we don't talk often or at all really. I have lots of family - by blood and by marriage - and although sometimes it is tough to get along or even acknowledge that we are any kind of relation, I am SUPER thankful to have you around - every once in a while :)
7) My God - because He has provided me with all of the above and sooooooo much more! I don't even really know how to elaborate on this one - it just is what it is - and that is something to be truly grateful for!
I think this list is in the opposite direction of importance but I think that is just a build up to make it great! There are lots more things that I am thankful and grateful for but I don't really know that you care.
I hope to always remember the things that I have and always be grateful for them - even when I don't feel like it. Maybe you will be inspired to make a list of your own!
1) Books - lots and lots of them. Basically how I spend a lot of my free, quiet time. I like all kinds of books but mainly ficiton - rom/coms. One day I hope to have a "study" or full-on library. Future-husband...be prepared!
2) Fairy tales - book and movie versions. These give me hope that "one day my prince will come" (Snow White) and that friendships can sometimes grow into something more "there's something there that wasn't there before" (Beauty & the Beast) and that some times you just need to relax "Hakunna Matata" - "it means no worries" (Lion King). I think there is a little truth to all of them and I like to think that my life will include some bit of a fairy tale and one of its happily ever afters!
3) Traveling - whether it is a road trip or a trip across an ocean I LOVE IT! As I was growing up my family took cross-country vacations to visit relatives and see the wonderful things America has to offer. I got a bit older and had a great opportunity to fly over the pond to tour the British Isles for a few weeks. I just submitted an application to hopefully travel to Russia - not only as an opportunity to gain more knowledge for the classroom but to also put a few more stamps on my passport and take awesome pictures and do something that no one in my family has done before and expand my travels of the world and because it would be REALLY fun!
4) My Job - although I complain about it a lot I am happy to have a job. I am thankful for the paycheck - however small it is. I am thankful for the 5 AWESOME minutes out of a dreaded 7 hr Monday. I am thankful for many of my coworkers that keep me sane and for those that irritate the mess out of me so I have snother thing to complain about. I am thankful for all of my students even though I don't act like it all the time.
5) My friends - those near and far. I have two close friends here in town that are basically all I have most of the time. They are here when I need them and away when I need alone time. We go to movies, or stay home and watch movies, go to hockey or baseball games, go on spontaneous (and sometimes planned) trips, etc etc. My far away friends - I am still thankful for you even though I don't see your wonderful faces very often, I stay up with your lives via Facebook or Twitter or your blog (when you decide to update it), little things that happen throughout the day remind me of you and brighten my day.
6) My family - even though we don't talk often or at all really. I have lots of family - by blood and by marriage - and although sometimes it is tough to get along or even acknowledge that we are any kind of relation, I am SUPER thankful to have you around - every once in a while :)
7) My God - because He has provided me with all of the above and sooooooo much more! I don't even really know how to elaborate on this one - it just is what it is - and that is something to be truly grateful for!
I think this list is in the opposite direction of importance but I think that is just a build up to make it great! There are lots more things that I am thankful and grateful for but I don't really know that you care.
I hope to always remember the things that I have and always be grateful for them - even when I don't feel like it. Maybe you will be inspired to make a list of your own!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Ooooooooo
Check out my updated blog on my vacation below. I taught myself how to include pictures in a post. My hunting pic...AWESOME!
Oh Addison
Well...this isn't a new story but something made me think about it today and make me smile so I thought I'd share.
My niece is 2 and does all kinds of little kid "tricks." One trick is making animal sounds. My dad will say "what sound does a ... make?" And she answers with the sound. Here is what a "conversation" like this sounds like.
D: Addison, what sound does a dog make?
A: rooof rooof
D: What sound does a horse make?
A: naaaaaay naaaaaay
D: What sound does a duck make?
A: Aflac Aflac
NO JOKE!!! That is what she thinks a duck sounds like!!!
HAHAHAHA! I saw an Aflac sign and it made me think of that. Enjoy!
My niece is 2 and does all kinds of little kid "tricks." One trick is making animal sounds. My dad will say "what sound does a ... make?" And she answers with the sound. Here is what a "conversation" like this sounds like.
D: Addison, what sound does a dog make?
A: rooof rooof
D: What sound does a horse make?
A: naaaaaay naaaaaay
D: What sound does a duck make?
A: Aflac Aflac
NO JOKE!!! That is what she thinks a duck sounds like!!!
HAHAHAHA! I saw an Aflac sign and it made me think of that. Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I love the Crock-Pot!
I spend 5 minutes throwing stuff into a pot at 6 in the morning, come home at 5 and presto! Dinner! Such a great invention! I will be eating vegetable soup all week but I think this fall/winter/"we don't really know what season we are in" season is a great time to eat soup!
I would love to claim this recipe but I got it from Betty Crocker. Can't wait to try some more of her great Crock Pot ideas this chilly season.
I'll let you know how it goes!
I would love to claim this recipe but I got it from Betty Crocker. Can't wait to try some more of her great Crock Pot ideas this chilly season.
I'll let you know how it goes!
New Adventures
I took a trip down south to Georgia this past weekend and it was A-MA-ZING! Laura and I spent about 24 hrs in Savannah and then drove a little further south to meet up with some of her family who have adopted me - which makes me super excited! Get ready people!
Savannah...
Got in mid-afternoon on Thursday and had a late lunch. We were both really tired and really full from lunch so we checked into the hotel - a Hilton - and took a little rest. No sleeping just relaxing - tv, internet, books, etc. Then at 8:30 we decided to go to dinner. The place we picked was closed - Veteran's Day I guess - so we went wandering. The wandering led us to River Street in the car. And now the interesting part comes...
As I was about to turn left on a side street, a car pulled up - IN MY LANE GOING THE WRONG WAY - so I had to do an evasive maneuver and ended up crossing two lanes of wrong way traffic, onto rail road tracks, and into the correct direction. At the time I really thought I had lost my mind but then drove past that road again and saw that the other person really was an idiot and so I felt justified in the breaking of traffic laws. Out-of-state tags probably wouldn't've been much help with a police encounter but luckily it didn't come to that so...moving on.
Get to River Street, walk around and NONE of the restaurants are open for dinner. "Kitchen just closed down. Sorry." Ok, let's just try and get drinks - we think. Oh look sketchy bar #482 on this road. OK...slight exaggeration but the point is, it is 9ish on a Thursday night in Savannah and there is no where to get dinner and all of the bars are empty or have those creepy people that look like regulars who started at 5.
Friday - yeah for taking a day off from school - we pack up, head out to cute cafe for quiche breakfast, and mosey around town for the day. Stop and buy ridiculous amounts of candy at the giant candy store and get a palmetto flower from a local. Head out about 3 and onto the next portion of the trip!
Hortense/Nahunta...
Oh, yeah...doesn't it already sound exciting? You bet! I get to see my adopted family...the Andersons! Friday we stayed with Elizabeth and Layton with Emma and baby Brooks. By the next morning, Emma was thinking we had moved in and were going to stay forever. I wish Emma! We stayed up until 1am talking with Layton and Elizabeth about everything and nothing and it was AWESOME!
Ok I tell you we stayed up until 1ish to then tell you we woke up at 4:45...to go HUNTING!! This was my first hunting trip ever in my life and I was dragging at the early morning hour until Layton arrived at the door with our camouflage clothing and then I got SUPER-AMPED and ready.to.go!
Jimmy, Layton's dad, came over to take us out hunting and Laura and I got our own guide and teacher of all things hunting! Jimmy was my guide and he told me all kinds of great information to help out and build my hunting skills - unfortunately I was sleep-deprived and really cold most of the time so my brain was malfunctioning and forgot those riveting tidbits :)
When my feet began to get numb, we decided to go on a "hunt"/trek through the forest to find us a deer. I am not sure how long we were hiking but it was A-WHILE. No deer were sighted but it was fun and I got more of those great tidbits. We decided to call it a morning and went back to the house. As we were sitting down to eat our second breakfast I looked out the window and saw two deer running through the side yard. Of course, when we come in the deer come out. I really wanted to shoot that shotgun...real bad!
Hunting round 2: squirrels are my target with a 22 caliber rifle in hand. I am feeling lucky about this hunt because I remember seeing lots of squirrels out on my first trip out so I knew I would get something. Guess what I got? Another hour trek through the woods, this time looking for squirrels. Seeing a couple but not getting any! Lame-o! Even though I didn't kill anything, I got to go hunting, and experience I don't know will be repeated anytime in the near future so it was a great time!
Dinner time...We go to eat dinner and I am EXHAUSTED...if I wasn't concerned about what people would think of me, I would have fallen face first into my plate asleep! But I held out for a few more hours until I finally go to bed - this night at Jimmy and Charlene's. Laura says that she is going to set her alarm for 9:30 in the morning and I am like, "really, why so early?" Her response is "well that's 12 hours from now so I think we'll be ok." I didn't know it was that early but I definitely took advantage of that 12 hours! It was great!
Sunday, we wake up, have a breakfast of toast and deer sausage, and then go out to see how a tree stand works-just to wrap up our first lesson in all-things hunting. Its a fairly ingenious apparatus but looks a little scary, not for me on this trip.
It was sad, as always, to say "adios" to the Anderson clan but we made sure to make "in the future" plans to go fishing! I guess I can count on them to help my outdoorsy skills!
Anyway...this a a very short (even if you doubt it) nutshell look at my weekend vacay. More info can be found on Laura's blog . Sorry no super long conclusion to make an extremely intelligent point but it is what it is!
HAPPY HUNTING!
Savannah...
Got in mid-afternoon on Thursday and had a late lunch. We were both really tired and really full from lunch so we checked into the hotel - a Hilton - and took a little rest. No sleeping just relaxing - tv, internet, books, etc. Then at 8:30 we decided to go to dinner. The place we picked was closed - Veteran's Day I guess - so we went wandering. The wandering led us to River Street in the car. And now the interesting part comes...
As I was about to turn left on a side street, a car pulled up - IN MY LANE GOING THE WRONG WAY - so I had to do an evasive maneuver and ended up crossing two lanes of wrong way traffic, onto rail road tracks, and into the correct direction. At the time I really thought I had lost my mind but then drove past that road again and saw that the other person really was an idiot and so I felt justified in the breaking of traffic laws. Out-of-state tags probably wouldn't've been much help with a police encounter but luckily it didn't come to that so...moving on.
Get to River Street, walk around and NONE of the restaurants are open for dinner. "Kitchen just closed down. Sorry." Ok, let's just try and get drinks - we think. Oh look sketchy bar #482 on this road. OK...slight exaggeration but the point is, it is 9ish on a Thursday night in Savannah and there is no where to get dinner and all of the bars are empty or have those creepy people that look like regulars who started at 5.
Friday - yeah for taking a day off from school - we pack up, head out to cute cafe for quiche breakfast, and mosey around town for the day. Stop and buy ridiculous amounts of candy at the giant candy store and get a palmetto flower from a local. Head out about 3 and onto the next portion of the trip!
Hortense/Nahunta...
Oh, yeah...doesn't it already sound exciting? You bet! I get to see my adopted family...the Andersons! Friday we stayed with Elizabeth and Layton with Emma and baby Brooks. By the next morning, Emma was thinking we had moved in and were going to stay forever. I wish Emma! We stayed up until 1am talking with Layton and Elizabeth about everything and nothing and it was AWESOME!
Ok I tell you we stayed up until 1ish to then tell you we woke up at 4:45...to go HUNTING!! This was my first hunting trip ever in my life and I was dragging at the early morning hour until Layton arrived at the door with our camouflage clothing and then I got SUPER-AMPED and ready.to.go!
Jimmy, Layton's dad, came over to take us out hunting and Laura and I got our own guide and teacher of all things hunting! Jimmy was my guide and he told me all kinds of great information to help out and build my hunting skills - unfortunately I was sleep-deprived and really cold most of the time so my brain was malfunctioning and forgot those riveting tidbits :)
When my feet began to get numb, we decided to go on a "hunt"/trek through the forest to find us a deer. I am not sure how long we were hiking but it was A-WHILE. No deer were sighted but it was fun and I got more of those great tidbits. We decided to call it a morning and went back to the house. As we were sitting down to eat our second breakfast I looked out the window and saw two deer running through the side yard. Of course, when we come in the deer come out. I really wanted to shoot that shotgun...real bad!
Hunting round 2: squirrels are my target with a 22 caliber rifle in hand. I am feeling lucky about this hunt because I remember seeing lots of squirrels out on my first trip out so I knew I would get something. Guess what I got? Another hour trek through the woods, this time looking for squirrels. Seeing a couple but not getting any! Lame-o! Even though I didn't kill anything, I got to go hunting, and experience I don't know will be repeated anytime in the near future so it was a great time!
Dinner time...We go to eat dinner and I am EXHAUSTED...if I wasn't concerned about what people would think of me, I would have fallen face first into my plate asleep! But I held out for a few more hours until I finally go to bed - this night at Jimmy and Charlene's. Laura says that she is going to set her alarm for 9:30 in the morning and I am like, "really, why so early?" Her response is "well that's 12 hours from now so I think we'll be ok." I didn't know it was that early but I definitely took advantage of that 12 hours! It was great!
Sunday, we wake up, have a breakfast of toast and deer sausage, and then go out to see how a tree stand works-just to wrap up our first lesson in all-things hunting. Its a fairly ingenious apparatus but looks a little scary, not for me on this trip.
It was sad, as always, to say "adios" to the Anderson clan but we made sure to make "in the future" plans to go fishing! I guess I can count on them to help my outdoorsy skills!
Anyway...this a a very short (even if you doubt it) nutshell look at my weekend vacay. More info can be found on Laura's blog . Sorry no super long conclusion to make an extremely intelligent point but it is what it is!
HAPPY HUNTING!
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