'Twas the Week of Thanksgiving...

...And all through the apartment
Movement was happening.
Farah was packing to leave for Boston on Tuesday
And Ashley was painting her nails in anticipation of her mini vacation.

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.  ~W.J. Cameron

Ashley had a CPA test on Wednesday
But was taking a long study break.
Her suitcase, laid out on the floor,
Was filled to the brim of activity.

Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.  ~Robert Caspar Lintner

As she stared at it and wondered how it would fit....
She snapped her fingers and said, "No Fear!"
"That's what Black Friday is for!"
And all of the sudden items were being thrown
Out of the suitcase and being strung all over the floor.


Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness, universal to all ages and all faiths.  At whatever straws we must grasp, there is always a time for gratitude and new beginnings.  ~J. Robert Moskin

As she stepped back from her mess, she realized,
"Oh no! I have no time to clean."
But no worries did she still have after realizing
That her mother would not be there to see the awful mess.

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.  ~Theodore Roosevelt

Sitting down at her computer, her mind began to wonder:
What ever would she chose to be thankful for:

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say "thank you?"  ~William A. Ward

Would it be for a great roommate?
Would it be for a fantastic job that she loves?
How about a family who was always there for her?
The plentiful amount of books on her shelf?
The steady paycheck in her wallet?
The friends who lived far far away?
The friends who lived close close by?
God giving her a unique personality?

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.  ~W.T. Purkiser

Perhaps, instead, she thought, I should find
Someone else to help out this season.
After donating the money
To buy a Turkey dinner for a less fortunate family,
She smiled and leaned back in her chair.

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!


Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who I cannot spend this holiday with! 

Trashy Tuesday

Most people have turned a certain day of the week into a type of post. While I don't have that many of things to blog about on a weekly basis, I will turn this day of the week (for one time only) into a clique: Trashy Tuesdays. Although I may have to tell you, its not what you expect. This trashy Tuesday includes photos from my camera phone. Now, if you're feeling a bit scared at this point, you should. Many of you have posed or sent me photos of random things that you thought would entertain me. For those of you that I haven't gotten anything from, I happen to know that you all take photos on your phone only to forget about them. Therefore, this post includes treasures from my phone that have been forgotten about by many of you. Enjoy my Trashy Tuesday with me :)

The white blur...so many good stories and passengers (snake anyone?)

Sometimes cousins steal your phone and you discover the millions of photos they took only several months later.

I'm not quite sure how many photos end up on my phone such as this one. I think I'll stick with the answer that they took it themselves?

Hey Mister, pretty sure you're not 21...just saying

My father is never going to allow me to drive his precious Florida vehicle ever again.

Oh hey there Aunt Trish, nice crabs :)

My work space. Isn't it pretty?

He normally looks like this. No worries

Moving = the devil.

Trashy fake tattoos at a Rihanna concert? It happened. Get over it.

Coffee shots for the Keurig. Yes please.

Washington International Horse Show...not your standard rodeo.

Keystone Cowboy....I miss your ways.

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. There are no other words.

Chloe sleeping? No so surprised here.

Cut your hair. And where's your shirt?

Starbucks sells ice coffee blend. Whatever happened to adding ice cubes to your mug?

That's all folks.

Video Blog?

Mennonite Recipes

This morning I woke up to a nice cool breeze and thought, "Wouldn't homemade chili and cinnamon rolls be amazing?" Now I know that many of you are thinking, how do those two go together but for those of you that enjoyed the delights in grade/middle school of Fern's cinnamon rolls, you know what I'm talking about!

The chili - sure, I've made that plenty of times before and it is actually a great recipe. As for the cinnamon rolls, those would be a little more difficult to find a recipe for. See here's the thing, the summer my grandma died in Kansas, one of my cousins put all of her recipes on a CD or computer or somewhere. Notice how I said "somewhere". I'm sure I have a copy somewhere but of course on the day that I wanted that recipe, there's absolutely no way I was going to find that recipe. Therefore I went on to do what any other normal person would do...I called my mother hoping that she had the recipe. I must interject at this point that I did have a copy of her cinnamon roll bread recipe but not the actual frosting. And for any of you smart ones out there, frosting is the make or break ingredient in a recipe such as this one.

My mother did track down the frosting recipe from my aunt Dorothy's cookbook but then came the problem, the real reason for this post: Mennonite measuring methods. I'm not sure at what point in my life I realized that the words, "just pour enough milk in until it turns the right color or consistency" was not the normal way to learn how to cook.

I remember attempting to learn how to make potato cakes using leftover mashed potatoes last summer with my mom. She told me to add milk to the mashed potatoes for a more runnier consistency until it looked right. I just stared at her and thought, "WHAT?" This process was not the first time I had seen it occur in my life and I knew it wouldn't be the last. As I have now proved myself right today, it happened again. This is the recipe my mother gave me to follow:

3/4 cup cream

1/2 stick oleo

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

Boil for 3 minutes, remove and slightly cool.

ADD POWDERED SUGAR UNTIL CONSISTENCY IS CORRECT.

Notice the letters in all caps and imagine me trying to measure this in my head! For a person who works in a number crunching world where even one penny is a problem that I need to explore, this concept of just guessing and checking on recipes blows me away.

Moral of the story: if you are attempting to learn how to cook....don't ask anyone with Mennonite heritage flowing through their bloodstream. You are in for pain and no gain.

As for recipe, I have yet to find the complete cinnamon roll recipe. I can't even use the copy that I have for the bread part as my grandmother's handwriting is impossible to read. So with that being said, I drew the conclusion around 7:30 PM tonight that there will be no homemade chili and cinnamon rolls in my future.

Home is Where the Heart Is

Family. People have all sorts. I have some in Kansas and some in Pennsylvania. At some points, one has to realize that each family has its own quirks but you love each of them individually for those specific characteristics. Spending time with my Pennsylvania family has taught me many things over the years. Whether its to how to pronounce the term "sausage" or how to eat sauerkraut with mashed potatoes (which is disgusting by the way), they have a lot to teach me. Atdinnertonight with Farah, we were talking about being homesick and what exactly it means.

Over all, the whole conversation made me think about how I have family of all sorts and sizes in many different places. Many of you reading this belong to that family whether or not you realize it. As I have been into sayings lately, "Home is where the Heart is" describes how I feel writing this. As I sit here just having gotten done skyping with Darren, I am slowly coming to the realization that my friends are my family. I have expanded the level of participants of the years living away from my immediate family to fulfill the actions of my family. Therefore, I now have a Kansas, Pennsylvania, EMU, JMU, and Washington DC family. The next level of questions that arise are: where exactly does your family come from and have you expanded your circle lately?

Ramblings of an old house

The old saying goes something along the lines of, "Home is where the heart is". Yet growing up, I never really understood that saying. I mean, you think that you do until your childhood home goes up on the chopping block. Looking back, there are so many memories I have with people from all different groups. Memories that won't go away simply because my childhood home will be getting a new family. But in case I do ever lose my complete memory, I will share a few and invite you to share some as well at the end. This post is slightly depressed as I have thought what share but it needs to be done for myself. While I am not a great writer, I do have a strong voice and writing has always allowed me to put my thoughts into a coherent path. (If you really know me, you would know that having a conversation in person with me can go all over the place.) Therefore, this post is about closure of a period of my life that I will always cherish.

Growing up, living so close to all of my neighborhood friends, that's a rarity that many children never know. I was very blessed to live in a location that became known as the central meeting place later on down the road. I suppose that much of this comes from the fact that I made many of the plans for my friends and I, but I didn't mind that. Having parents that went to sleep and pretended not to care that kids were running up and down the stairs at all periods of the day/night was also a large bonus. :)

It also didn't matter what school, church, or family you came from. The house did not judge and allowed everyone to pass through. It supported us when heartbreak happened. It loved us when we did naughty things before our time. And it knew that in the future, everyone would need one steady thing in fall back on, a central meeting place. 

Of course, there are people who stick out in my mind with memories specifically: 

Curtis - you just came in, plopped down on the chair, and promptly fell asleep

Casey - I cannot even imagine how many cases of oreos my mother had to buy for us when we were in Chemistry

Leslie - Laying in my bed so many times and hearing you say, "My brain is boiling"

Brit - Our relationship changed after high school and for that I am so grateful but I'm not going to lie, most of my memories see you and Travis together. (Sorry Ally!)

Family - Growing up living in a place and having all of you less than 5 miles from me led to a family supportive base that hardly anyone else I know of has. When I was younger and knew that every Friday morning would lead to breakfast at the Kitchen with the whole family!

Josh (brother) - arguing with one another about stupid things and never getting along until our later years

Dad - The one time the junior high came over and you almost blew yourself up with fireworks

Bryant - Several summers ago we had a rave in the back by the pond...thinking about that reminds me of you and your dance moves. Speaking of sweet dance moves:

Darren and Josh - we could always count on your moving abilities

Brent - you always putting me down with some sarcastic comment

Cassi - Dr.Pepper, Frog Prince, no need to go on

There are so many other people that spent hours and hours with me at my house, please don't be offended if I left you out, its just that people who don't know you probably don't care to read about my specific memories :)

To say the least, my house was always there for all of us. And now, a new family is going to get the opportunity to build brand new memories. Its hard for me to be happy for them when it makes me so sad but just as that house loved me, it also deserves to be loved. My parents showed it some deserving love by updating it through the years and it now is gorgeous but don't you ever think that I'll forget that ugly brown carpet that I had in my room forever. 

Throughout this post are also some photos from the more recent happenings at the house. As you can see, different people are highlighted in each of them to show that everyone had a great time. 

Well such as I said in this title, I have rambled on enough. What I do want to make sure to say now though, is that I truly appreciate you all growing up with my and sharing these memories. I was and am still so blessed!

Coffee

Have you ever stopped to think about how much you love coffee? I mean, for everyone that one word means something different. For most people it is a means of a way to start the day off. For others it represents sitting with a good friend and catching up. And then there are those people who pretend to like coffee to look cool (when in reality there is 3/4 creamer in that mug). So, what does coffee mean to me?

1. Coffee often represents a bright spot in my day. There are some mornings where I stumble to the kitchen only to realize that my coffee maker isn't warmed up and it will be another five minutes before it can be injected into my system. It is at this point that I slump to the floor and let out a few pity wails.

2. Coffee means a fall day to celebrate. At this point you're wondering how it represents fall? Well, fall is when Starbucks comes out with their pumpkin spice latte. I have grown to enjoy coffee black but there are some mornings when a good latte is just plain needed. Plus a sip of that whipped cream on top is always enough to make me curl my mouth into a lopsided smile.

3. I'm not sure if it was Kansas or the lack of activities, but coffee used to mean a good conversation. As I have grown older, many other things have replaced cup of coffee but it is always to fall back on like a great friend. And when I go Kansas, meeting up with friends at a coffeeshop is a nice break from the East Coast.

4. Then there are days such as the last few weeks where coffee represents a straight up IV for me. Busy season is amongst all of us Governmental auditors as their busy season ends 9/30. Yesterday I worked 10.5 hours without a lunch break and had about three coffee breaks. A can of soda just does not give my body the same boast.

5. Last night Farah and I went to the Cheesecake Factory to enjoy some orange chicken and pumpkin spice cheesecake. For those of you who live in Kansas....hahahaahahaha, I have one less than 10 minutes from my apartment (call it perks of living in DC). We enjoyed our cheesecake slices with a cup of coffee. After a couple of sips, we realized that we get coffee for dessert almost everytime we go out somewhere. And after that realization came the one where we realized that we are turning into old people. Rushing around like crazy fools, dinner comes for us at 9:00 most evenings, if that early. Yes, I do love it because it keeps me busy. My social life stems around my co-workers currently and considering that we are all working together and at the same crazy hours, life isn't too dull right now.

As always, I will end this post with the urging of you all to come visit me. Especially with fall arriving, it is quite beautiful here. And I attend random festivals every weekend. I would love some company for one of those festivals :)

Loves.

P.S. Go buy yourself a pumpkin spice latte right now because let's face it, every since I brought it up you've been craving one.