Running On Empty

Here's an update on my resolution to run a 5k this year. Well I'm still doing it! I'm taking it slow and am up to running at least a mile 3 days a week or so. So I'm about a third of the way there. I think this is pretty good. The problem is that I'm always exhausted when I finish. I mean I would think that it would become a little easier. Maybe it's the time of day I run, but I do change it up. Maybe it's my schedule, but I'm pretty routine except when it rains and is super cold because I just can't stand it! What's up with that? I'm frustrated but I am more determined than ever to do this.

Last month as part of our health insurance program, Michael and I had our free health screening by county nurses. They check your weight, blood pressure and do some basic blood work to find out about things like cholesterol and triglycerides and such. I have never had that done before. Turns out that my weight is okay(though it would probably be healthier if I lost 15-20 pounds), blood pressure is excellent, good cholesterol is good, but my triglycerides and bad cholesterol is really bad. This really freaked me out.

I know I eat too much. My husband is an AMAZING cook and he is a true Southern gentleman and we eat too many fried and fatty foods. We vowed to eat only one helping at meal times and to start exercising the three times a week she said too. I feel the improvements already but gosh darn it, I've been super cranky!!!! That first dinner time afterwords I snapped at Michael and he asked what was wrong. I threw myself on the bed and burst into tears and said I didn't know. Then all of sudden it came to me and I blurted out, "I"m annoyed because I want to eat!" Am I that spoiled that I turn into a brat when I can only eat one helping?

Darn it cholesterol! At least it keeps me motivated...5k I'm coming to get ya!

You Belong Among The Wildflowers

Spring is sprung here and I couldn't be more happy. I am not a winter person. I don't like my feet and nose always cold, I don't like the dark days and I miss the leaves on trees and sunshine. I even calculated when the midpoint of winter technically is so I know when we are in the back half. It's February 3, the day after Groundhog's Day ironically. I really think this should be the holiday. Or maybe that's why they have it that day. Anyway, I am considering having a celebration next year...I'm calling it A Midwinter's Night Dream. Not very original but you get the point. How we will celebrate I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

Speaking of groundhogs, we have one living on the slope in our front yard. Michael has never seen him but I have three times. He likes to eat grass and I guess I should thank him this year for the early spring. We tried to fetter him out yesterday while were outside grilling and hanging out with a friend, but no luck. We're tossing around names. What do you think?

Anyways, I was reminded of spring on Friday when I was talking to my good friend His Girl Friday. She was gushing about the beautiful wild yellow daffodils in her yard. I have them too I said! We both loved them and I told her to go outside, pick some and put them in a vase on her dining room table and I would do the same. I don't know if she did or not, but I did and they look simply cheerful! Yellow is definitely my favorite color and tulip my favorite flower but daffodils are definitely up there too. Yellow flowers just put you in a good mood no matter what! LOVE!

In honor of the beginning of spring here in Bama (I know it's still miserably winter in other parts of the country and I'm sorry:( ) I am including one of my favorite Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers songs "Wildflowers." It's about being happy and just being free. I do belong among the wildflowers! How about you?

Young Adult Books

Though I am certainly not a young girl anymore, I still love young adult books!!! I read a fabulous one yesterday, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It deals with suicide, teen issues and the way we treat each other in a really interesting way. I don't want to give too much away because I really recommend this book for people to read. Go get it!

It made me think about young adult books in general. I think they are wonderful because many of them deal with really weighty issues in really profound ways while not being to heavy of a book. I read this recent one in one day. But I know it will stick with me. Last year I read another one that dealt with abortion, parental responsibility, identity and societal responsibility. It was called Unwind by Neal Shusterman. That book as well will stay with me forever. Both these books made me cry and feel things in ways I don't think many adult books do.

If I ever could write a book, I think it would be young adult. This genre is often overlooked as a \serious literary area, but it is! Teenage years is a time where you learn so much about yourself and the world, it would be fun to capture it in a novel. Something to think about.

I'm sure both books were really controversial in some schools of readers and critics. In one of my master's classes we talked about ethics and if it was okay for parents to choose what their child read. I have a tendency to think it's okay but I feel a little sad when I see parents stifle their child. I understand not wanting their child to lose their innocence, but I also think these books are great ways to reach out to children and introduce adult themes that make them think. As a parent you have to walk a fine line of what's appropriate and when to expose certain things. It's hard man. I do know that I could have handled this stuff when I was a teenager and I did read some of those controversial books and am better for it today!

Okay, I'm done with rambling. What do you think?

Cabbage Patch Kids And Coffeemakers

I just got back from my mom's for a week because my brother, his wife and his two kids were visiting. My niece is now 4 years old and my nephew is 15 months. They are adorable! Being around such young children really makes me think about what excited me as a kid and how I couldn't understand how these adults didn't like the things I liked because what I liked is the most awesome thing ever. For example, I remember saying to myself when I was like 8 that I could never see a time when I didn't want a toy for Christmas. Clothes and practical things were boring. Why did my mom get excited when she opened her new coffeemaker? It wasn't a new Cabbage Patch Kid so it wasn't awesome.


Abby and Brady were obsessed with the park. Dothan has this new park that is made for all kids but especially for handicapped children. It is wheelchair accessible and has soft rubber ground so the kids won't get hurt. I have never seen this before and think it's brilliant. You should have seen their faces light up. We went everyday. Abby also got so excited playing with Alli. She couldn't get enough of throwing the ball to her.

Perhaps my favorite part was taking Abby to see Gnomeo and Juliet. I haven't seen a kid movie in the theater in at least a decade and a half so it really took me back. It was a real cute movie, but Abby was even cuter. She was so elated to get some candy and a soda and we had to sit in the front row. My niece is extremely tiny for her age(my nephew, on the other hand, eats more than I do at 29!) so she almost couldn't sit in a chair by herself because she didn't have enough weight. But her face was priceless. I love being an aunt!!!

It was so refreshing having some pure kid time. It makes me think about my own kids someday and what will make them happy. I hope they hold onto those Cabbage Patch Kid days in lieu of coffeemakers and the practicality of adulthood for as long as they can.

On a side note: I finished the second Dragon Tattoo book. It was better than the first and I got the third book. I will take a break from it, but I will eventually read it and do a post on the whole trilogy. Happy reading!

Getting In Touch With My Roots

I am determined to have a garden. I live in the country and I feel that we have plenty of space for it. Actually, Michael started a garden a couple of years ago but let it grow in when I moved around this time last year since we spent so much time getting settled. That made it only slightly easier this weekend when the warm weather prompted us to go outside and get the plot ready for planting.

Gardening is something I have never done. I didn't grow so urban that we didn't have grass or land, but it was mostly asphalt and my parents had 4 kids to look after and 2 full time jobs so it was never something we did. Let me tell you it's hard!!! Michael and I were hoeing, raking and tilling for 6 hours in our 16 x 12 plot!!! We had to get all the roots up from where we had let it grow in. I am still sore today and it's 2 days later!!!

I realize that I love the feeling of digging in dirt and pulling up roots. It's very liberating digging with my hands and getting a stubborn root and yanking it up! I love showing those things who's boss! It was really cute because Alli and Gumbo helped too. They loved laying in the turned over land because it was especially cool.  And they would play by digging. My little black puppy's face was sprinkled with brown dirt. Precious.

Now we are deciding what to plant. We have four rows. We know one will be squash and one will be tomatoes.this summer We are thinking that 2 rows will be sweet corn first this spring and then something else this summer. In the fall we are thinking turnips and cabbage but we have more space. Any suggestions?

Around The World WishList Part 1

It's always been a dream of mine to go out of the country. I did go to Niagara Falls with my family for a couple of hours when I was 7 but I don't count that. I was so excited to get my passport prior to my wedding. I couldn't wait to step foot on Mexico soil during our cruise. Unfortunately because of Hurricane Paula, we never made it to Mexico and were detoured to Key West, Florida. This was a wonderful location that I had never been to before but it was in the United States! I was foiled again in my plans to get out of the country. Michael tells me that I was in International Waters but I still feel it doesn't count.

I have decided that I am going to have a series of blogs on the locations I dream about visiting. They won't be everyday, but they will be periodical and they will be fantastic. I went to bed last night dreaming of exotic locations and I feel this series is especially appropriate because of the cold weather.

First up is....the Amalfi Coast in Italy. When I think of Italy I think of great wine and pasta, pizza and decadent chocolate desserts. Of course I want to go there. But the Amalfi Coast is special. There was this great restaurant named after it in Charlotte and the owner was so nice. He sat with us one day while we were enjoying our antipasti and gazing at the photos of the place on the wall and told us about the great culture and beauty. I fell in love. I vowed it was a place I wanted to visit. www.amalficoast.com

 Located on the western side of the country, what I find so picturesque about the place is the roughed terrain and how the white villas sit right on the coast as well as the side of the mountains. I can only imagine the views from one of those villas. Also, the water I have seen in pictures is the bluest I have ever seen so close to land. Just thinking about it makes me relaxed. I'll leave it at that for now, I'm going to go warm up on this cold Saturday morning thinking about my dream location. Ciao!

Twindom

I have a twin sister. We are not identical or fraternal, but half-identical. Not going into too much biology, but instead of having one egg, fertilized by one sperm and then a split like in identical twins, and unlike two separate eggs and separate sperm like in fraternal, our situation occurred that one egg split and then was fertilized by two separate sperm. Basically, we share the share DNA from our mother but different from our father, as opposed to both or neither as in the other cases.

I have never really thought about the schematics until recently when I read this book Identical Strangers written by twins that were separated and adopted by different families unknowingly and were reunited later in life in their thirties.

I couldn't imagine what my life would be like without Aileen, or what it would be like meeting her for the first time at age 35. We are so different yet so similar. She is quite honestly the only person in this world that I feel I can be completely blunt with. I don't know why this is, but it is. I don't understand some of her choices and sometimes I wonder if we would ever be friends if we weren't sisters, but at the same time I have these urges to be with her sometimes and I have this overwhelming sense of missing her. I can't explain it.

It was interesting to read about these women noticing their similiarities and differences and grappling with the huge idea of identity and nature vs. nuture while trying to find their birth mother. It makes me feel lucky to have spent my whole life with Aileen.

Many people have asked me what it's like to be a twin. I usually tell them I don't know what life would be like not being one. But if I am in the mood to talk about it more, I usually tell them it's both a blessing and a curse. I don't enjoy always being compared to her both physically and emotionally and I didn't like having to share things sometimes, especially as a young child (i.e. birthday presents, milestones in our lives). But I have cherished the fact that I always had someone to talk to at night before going to sleep, someone to eat lunch with on the first day of school in a new city, and someone to play with when my friends couldn't come over.

But what struck me as the biggest blessing after reading about how these twins missed out on their childhood together, is that Aileen was there with me through all of it. She is the person's whose life is closest to my experiences. She is the only one who can commiserate with me the time I had a 105 temperature and didn't tell my parents because I wanted to swim, the time we petted what was most likely a rabid racoon at my grandfather's house in Florida, how it felt to be on my own for the first time in North Carolina and many other events. On my wedding day, my sister wept behind me as my maid of honor as I said my vows. I asked her later what made her cry.  She said it was because she realized all the emotions I went throught to get there and how much I wanted this to happen in my life ever since I was a little girl. It made me cry at how grateful I was to have her beside me.

And though we are so different in so many ways in that I can't explain away through simply just genetics or environment, I believe it is because we grew up together and share some of the same genes that we will always share something in common...we will always love each other intensely forever.

Mary B., Queen of Bama

I'm reading this book right now, Interred With Their Bones, by Jennifer Lee Carrell. It's like a Shakespearan Da Vinci Code. I like these books where they use history and literature to solve puzzles and go on an adventure. In this book they are trying to find an original copy of the play The History of Cardenio which was attributed to Shakespeare and a man named John Fletcher in 1613. It is considered a lost play. I had no idea this play even existed before. I'm halfway through so we'll see what happens.

Reading this book just makes think about this period in the world. I think if I had a time machine I would definitely visit Elizabethan England. Queen Elizabeth I was a sassy lady. First of all her dad, Henry VIII, wanted a son to rule but he got his daughter, who ruled until 1603. She didn't need a husband, she was an original sista doing it for herself. There are some who even believe she  wrote Shakespeare's plays. Plus she has auburn hair, pale skin and dark eyes. Hello, that describes me! :)

I don't know if I could have ruled an entire country, but it would be interesting to see her in person. I bet she was a bad ass. Just a hunch. :)

Coffee And Chicken Coop To Go Please...

I've never really considered myself a country gal. But I haven't thought of myself as urban either. I'm somewhere in between...possibly a suburbanite but I still don't think that fits either. When Michael and I started to think about buying a house(we still are but hey, you can't beat a free house) I said we would live in the suburbs with a nice big fenced in yard. Michael wanted something more rural. I didn't know if I could do it.

Now that I am here and we live so rurally there are still some annoying things about it but there are some wonderful qualities as well. There's beautiful scenery and lots of space for our dogs to play and run around and lots of privacy. It's nice to get up in the morning and have my breakfast and look out on the rolling hills. Country living can be very charming!

Lately I have been fantasizing about maybe having both. Have a rural house that is close enough to a city(less than an hour) where we can have nice shopping and entertainment and cool restaurants. That would be my ideal.

I was reminded of this when I was watching this new show on the Cooking Channel called Extra Virgin with actress Debi Mazar and her Tuscan husband Gabriele Corcos. She is a New York gal with a husband that cooks rustic Italian food like spinach, goat cheese gnocchi(yum!). They live in Los Angeles but have a quaint little house and two little girls who help them cook in the kitchen. The last episode they bought chickens so Gabriele could have fresh eggs to cook with. They set up a coop in the backyard in Los Angeles! Michael has always said he wanted some chickens someday and I am starting to fantasize about it. I can have chickens and a lovely garden and fields for Alli and Gumbo to run in and still be close enough to Starbucks. Why not? If Debi and Gabriele can do it, so can I!

The Story Of The Five Balls And Other Habits Of A Housewife

I have been thinking about routine and how I have finally settled into one here in my new life in rural Alabama as a housewife. It's not that I planned it this way. I have been trying to find a job for a while. It's just that we live so far away from everything it's hard.

But I have discovered that I am now a stereotypical housewife. I do the dishes everyday. I do laundry everyday. I even make my husband breakfast and send him off with a kiss everyday. And I have been reading a bodice-ripper romance! It's usually not my sort of thing but I remembered this author as popular when I worked at the library in North Carolina and asked my mom to order me her first book to try it out through her paperback swap and I had no idea her first book was so Harlequin-esque. But I felt obligated to read it since she ordered it and had it shipped to me. I'm kind of embarrassed by the low brow selection but I shouldn't judge, it's actually not that bad and it's something to read.

Anyways, I was talking to my mom this morning and she was talking about how now that she is retired it would be very difficult for her to go back to work because of how she has created her own routine. It got me thinking...if I got a job who would do the dishes? Who would do the laundry? Would I have time to read anymore? I got panicky. How did I do all those things when I was fully employed for so long?

I guess I did all those things but not as routinely as I do now. Life is constantly a juggling act. I recently read James Patterson's book Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. In it the narrator tells a tale called The Story of the Five Balls. Basically we are all juggling balls representing work, family, health, friends and integrity. You try so hard to keep them all in the air until you realize one day that work is a rubber ball and the other balls are made of glass. If you drop the work ball it will bounce back. The others will be changed forever if you drop them, even shattered. It is only when you truly understand the lesson of the five balls that you will have the balance in your life.

It was comforting for me to know that my routine allows me to juggle those all important 4 balls. And even though I've dropped my work ball right now, I can(and will!) bounce back.

Baker's Banana Bread

I was named after my great-grandmother. That's my mother's mother's mother. I'm Mary Welby, my mom and grandmother are Janet Welby and my great-grandmother was Mary Welby Baker. I hear that I am so much like her and I like to believe it. My mom likes to tell me about the summer she spent with her in her house in Florida toward the end of her life. There were lots of grandkids and my mom felt blessed to have some time with her after my mom had spent time abroad in South America. I like to imagine what their time together was like.

I never met her. But my mom did find a picture of her with my great-grandfather Orville(it seems to me that all men at the turn of the century were named Orville..now, not so much) on their wedding day. She gave it to me at one of my bridal showers. It's on my bookshelf, I look at from time to time. She seemed like an awesome lady and I think I did resemble her for sure.

Anyway, since I am getting in the recipe mood since naturally now I am a housewife and I am nesting, I asked my mother for her banana bread recipe. Man it is serious good stuff!!!! It was so good when I was growing up that I would eat a piece and then lick my fingers when I was done. THAT'S GOOD!!!

My mom wrote me an e-mail with the recipe and mentioned to me that it was Mary Welby's recipe. It makes me happy that I loved it like she loved it. Michael was sure that he would not think it was the best ever because he knows what's best but he agreed that it was finger-lickin' good. Gumbo even gave his approval...it was on the counter and he jumped up and licked what was remaining, though Michael and I had no more after that:)

It's neat how you can have a connection to people you have never met through stories and food and traditions. I definitely feel I know her a little better. Maybe if I am blessed to have a daughter she will get the recipe. In honor of the tradition, I'm going to pass it along right now. Let me know what you think!

BANANA BREAD

(this recipe is not to be taken strictly and can be with whatever is handy)

INGREDIENTS

½ cup shortening, 1 stick margarine or 1 stick butter

1 cup sugar (brown, white or raw)

2 eggs

5 bananas (extremely ripe) mashed

2 cups flour (sifted) (bleached or unbleached)

1 tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Baking soda

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla

2/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)  pecans, walnuts, almonds or whatever kind

2 quart loaf pan

METHOD

You need two mixing bowls.  The smaller should be used for preparing the dry ingredients and the larger one for assembling the batter.  First, in the larger bowl let the shortening, butter or margarine get soft naturally.  Do not microwave.  When soft add the sugar and cream well.  Add the eggs and beat. Add the mashed bananas and mix. Add vanilla.  In the other bowl combine the flour that has been sifted, the salt, and the baking soda.  Mix dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir thoroughly. Add nuts. Place the mixture in the loaf pan and bake in a 300 to 325 degree oven for at least one hour.  Use a clean toothpick in the center of the loaf to determine how long to bake.  Toothpick should come out clean and not with dough on it.  It is important to use a lower temperature and longer cook time if you want a moist loaf.  I usually had to bake it longer than one hour but ovens vary so check it.  Take the loaf from the oven and set it out to cool.  You need to leave it for at least one hour.  Remove from loaf pan and keep in refrigerator till serving.  It slices better if it is left for one day before cutting but it can be served the same day. 

It's Not Good Or Bad...Just Different

This picture just cracks me up

Marion, Alabama. This is where I live. I never dreamed to even drive through this part of Alabama let alone live here. It is small. It is rural in a state that isn't that populated. To put it in perspective for all my North Carolina friends. The entire county has about 5,000 less people than the city of Lincolnton. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with myself here. I think some of the people here think I am an alien. Here are some interesting things that I have seen here:

1. There are numerous locations around town where there is a stoplight AND a stop sign in an intersection. It is very confusing and I don't know if I should stop or go. Why do they have both???!!!
2. There are numerous signs for the 3 or 4 restaurants we have that say "best in town!" such as "best margaritas" or "best burger." There isn't much competition!
3. At the lone grocery store I can't get ANY type of seafood yet I can choose from move than 20 brands of barbecue sauce(I counted) and there is an endless supply of pig's feet.
4. There is a town square and there are shops on it but I have never seen a single person go in or out of them. I wonder how they survive.

 It's just funny to me how places are different. We went to a fundraiser for the board I joined this past weekend and I introduced Michael to one of the board members. She suggested that next weekend we go to the Wild Turkey Federation banquet so we can meet some more young people. I don't know if I will have anything in common with those people...just a wild guess :)

Puppy Love

I love my new puppy. She is my first puppy ever since we didn't have pets when I was a child. Alli is the cutest thing and is learning so quickly. We originally thought we were getting a yellow female lab, but the first time I laid eyes on my little bit I couldn't imagine another dog being ours. I truly think she could have no other owners but me and Michael. She does definitely drive me crazy doing her puppy things, but I would like to dedicate this post to the sweet, sugar little girl that she is!!!! Here is a top 10 things I love about our Alli:

1. Her ears. i love touching and kissing them. I just shout: "Ears, ears, EARS!!!"
2. The way she does flips when I am getting her food ready. It makes me laugh EVERY TIME!!!
3. When she comes over and lays under our feet when she is tired.
4. The little noises she makes when she is dreaming.
5. Watching her and Gumbo play. They are all paws and ears and it is so CUTE!!!
6. Gumbo and Alli sleeping together on Gumbo's bed...which they are doing RIGHT NOW!!
7. Seeing her fetch and try to grab the toy when Gumbo is fetching.
8. The way she looks like a drowned rat when she swim fetches. Still adorable!
9. Her pre-bark. The actual bark is loud but the noise she makes when she is working her way up to it is way cute.
10. Our nicknames for her. Doda Bug, Bug, Little Bit, Smoked Allibit with a nice roumelade sauce and of course The Littlest Shrimp Boat Captain with her brother Big Brown Tugboat (Gumbo).

My camera is being pooey, but I do have some phone pictures to share....

Alli with her new red collar!

Alli and Gumbo enjoying their bones together

Alli with her new friend Nellie who is 7 weeks older

She falls asleep on the chair leg a lot

I can't resist...Our Littlest Shrimp Boat Captain the day we brought her home!

Cold Weather And A Cold Case Mystery

bI don't understand it. I spent a good portion of my youth in upstate New York. I shoveled feet and feet of snow and sat in my parents car for 30 minutes to warm it up and carried my shoes in a plastic bag to school so I could walk to school in my boots. I should be used to the cold!

But I moved to south, south Alabama as a teenager and now I can't stand cold weather. Most of my friends live north of me and are experiencing it worse than us, but it is still darn cold here. So cold that I refuse to do things I normally do to avoid it. I will do my running this afternoon because I refuse to be outside in that weather. Yesterday Alli was resistent to her walk and I thought, "I don't want to be out here either" so we went back inside. This is precisely the reason I despise winter. You get sick, your nose runs, your feet are frozen...yuck.

One good thing about winter though is that it is the perfect reason to stay inside with a book. One of the things I want to use this blog for is to record the books I read during the year. I just finished The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I have been reccommended this book by lots of people, most notably my mom and my friends Penny and Alice. Everyone was reading it at the library when I worked there. I wanted to see what the fuss was about...

It was actually a pretty good book. It is definitely not my favorite but it did keep me guessing and reading. What was interesting to me was that the big reveal was about 100 pages from the end. It caught me by surprise which was cool because usually you know that when you get close to the end you'll get the answers. But this way you are kind shocked like the characters. But also after that I just wanted to the book to over with. So it's good and bad. Yesterday, they revealed some pics of Lisbeth Salander from the American version of the film that comes out in December. Rooney Mara is playing her, and I must say she does look the part:

I have put the Swedish version on my Netflix and will probably see the film when it comes out and will probably read the sequels someday. It is definitely something I would suggest, especially if you like mysteries and thrillers. Stay warm everyone!

How I Met Yo Momma!!!

TMichael and I don't have similar tastes in our lives. I like cheeseburgers and he like hamburgers. He likes the movie 300, I like sappy romantic comedies that involve a down on her luck heroine who gets it all! The differences are endless :0) One thing we do agree on is the AWESOMENSS that is the How I Met Your Mother. We used to watch it on Lifetime every evening as we cooked dinner, but we have since started Netflixing it so we can see the entire series. We are about to start Season 4...

Not only do we agree that this show is....wait for it....LEGENDARY, but we also agree on our favorite character....Marshall. Marshall is the guy we all know. He's fun to be around (hello did you see his dance on Ecstasy episode?), is fiercely loyal to his friends, a little goofy (he sings what he does..."I'm payin' my bills...") and he knows the girl he wants and sticks with her through thick and thin ("I have a list of the people I have slept with...it's called my marriage certificate!") Plus I tend to think he's like the man I married :) (Marshall wants to protect the environment, he married a redhead and he is a hopeless romantic, but don't tell Michael I told you that!)

We also agree on our favorite episode so far. It's Season 2's "Showdown", the one where Barney goes on The Price Is Right and wins everything because he knows all the prices for it all (wrong, wrong, wrong!). He also thinks Bob Barker is his dad. Hilarious!

So anyway. If you haven't seen this major awesome show (*Salute* Major Awesome!), you should absolutely suit up and watch. I will make a slap bet with you that you will become addicted too!

A Pretty Little Girl With A Bow In Her Hair

This song makes me cry everytime I hear it. It is so beautiful and emotional. I may be a sap but I don't care...

This is also reminds me of a concert I went with my sister when I first moved to North Carolina when the Chicks played with the Indigo Girls and Ben Folds. Aileen wanted to see Ben and I wanted to see the Chicks. It was rainy and at Verizon so it was outside and we were late because we got off work late but we bought ponchos at the amphitheatre and we sat out there in the cold and rain and watched them perform and at popcorn and laughed and it was FANTASTIC. I love my sister and that is one of my fond memories with her...

The Dixie Chicks just rock. I need to see them in concert again :)

Resolutions

I can't believe it's 2011. That year just seems so futuristic to me. On New Year's Eve we were driving to a friend's house and all of a sudden I exclaimed to Michael..."In Back To The Future: Part II they go to the future and there is hovering skateboards and flying cars and junk and that was supposed to be 2015. That's only 4 years from now!!" I saw that movie when it came out on Thanksgiving Day 1989 with my cousins and aunts and uncles in Ohio when were visiting them. There were so many people in the theater my aunt had to keep my 2-year-old cousin Matt in her lap...I remember stuff like that...but I digress...back then it always seemed so far away...that future. It's mindboggling to realize that future is now. Makes me stand back and reflect for sure.

I usually don't do that though. I mean I make resolutions in the sense that I think of something I would like to do but secretly know I won't and say that. I never even attempt to make that resolution happen. Not this year, however. Maybe it was all that future/past reflection that got me going. I don't know, but I do know that it REALLY got me going on resolutions. I have several that I am attempting.

My biggest perhaps is my couch to 5k program. I have said for a long time that I really want to run a 5k, but I haven't really gotten that dream off to a good start. This week started the beginning of my goal to make it. Yes, sometime in the spring you will see (or hear about since most of my friends don't live near me) me running a 5k. Yes I want to lose the weight I've gainned, but mostly I want to do it because I've always wanted to and get healthier. Here's the web site I'm using:

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

We'll see how I do!! It's been good so far. Another resolution is to organize our house. Our house is old and has a lot of character and most importantly is rent-free but on the downside has only 2 closets in the whole place. It's been a challenge combining all our stuff. But we plan to tackle that this weekend. I will let you know the progress later. Till next time!

Muffins and Magical Realism

I made some delicious strawberry cheesecake muffins last night. Yes they were from a mix, but gosh they were really good. I've discovered that I really enjoy baking, especially since Michael likes to cook. It's convenient--he makes the meals and I make desserts. I've started a file on my computer for recipes for things. The maintenance man at Michael's work's wife gave him a whole bag full of recipes when we got married. She's been saving them for years. I've been going through it, setting aside the ones I think look good. I haven't put them in yet and I haven't tried any but I'm sure I will blog about them when I do try them. I have a feeling Peanut Butter Pie will be in my future....

I also finished a book last night by Sarah Addison Allen. She is a North Carolina author who lives in Asheville and writes magicl realism books. I read her first book, Garden Spells, for my old book club. I thought it was fantastic and immediately read her second book, The Sugar Queen. The Girl Who Chased The Moon, is her third and the one I just finished.  I like certain authors but I can usually pick out my favorite of their books. With her books, it's hard for me. I think that says something. She has a new book, The Peach Keeper, coming out March 22. I definitely can't wait!

Her books are light and fun and beautiful. Yes, beautiful. I can't describe it properly but her words to me just paints a picture that is so pretty. She always uses female characters, and there is always at least one character who bakes and cooks (this inspires me to bake as well). I also really enjoy the magical touches like giants, apple trees that allow you to glimpse your future, wallpaper that changes on its own, a girl who attracts books and finds them everywhere and many others. Plus it is set in North Carolina and reminds me of where I used to live. It just makes me happy!! I recommend them to anyone!! www.sarahaddisonallen.com

First Post!!!

Hi everyone! This is my first post of my new blog. Everyone seems to have one of these and I never thought I could dedicate the time to this but since I am unemployed and kind of secluded in a rural area I decided this would be a perfect time to start this.

A little bit about me...I got married in October to my husband Michael and now live in Marion, Alabama. I got my master's in Library Science in August and have been looking for a job in the field. We have an 11-week-old female black lab named Alli and we have a 6-year-old brown Chesepeake retriever male named Gumbo. I'm sure I will talk about them a lot here on this thing.

This blog will be a place for me to talk about what's going on in my life. The things I am enjoying and the things I am not. Hopefully, you'll enjoy what I have to say and let me know!! And so begins my new saga!!! Talk to you soon!