Winter Break

As some of you may know, I was given two weeks off from work while school is closed for winter break. Now that I am currently over halfway through my break, I'll fill everyone up on what I have been doing. The early part of my break consisted of doing a little last-minute Christmas shopping. On Christmas Eve, our immediate family opened gifts. On Christmas Day, my sister and brother-in-law and both of my grandmothers came over and we had a scrumptious meal. It was nice and quiet. Although a bit uneventful, I was happy to visit with everyone and see that they were doing well. A couple years back, I spent Christmas in the Emergency Room after my grandmother dislocated her shoulder (she was chasing after a grocery bag and fell down, of all things), so quiet is good! Haha! 

I haven't spent very much time at home because I have been out and about visiting with my sister and other friends nearby. I am taking advantage of being able to do whatever I want whenever I want and not having to worry about getting up early for work. That being said, I do believe that I have my days and nights mixed up now. I will have to start getting back into my normal routine soon. 

The past couple of days, I have been in a crafty mood. Last night, I helped my mom dye some eggs to give as Christmas gifts (I'm not the only one who procrastinated this year). The process is called Pysanky, which is a traditional craft in Ukraine. It's a little tedious, but fun. Pysanky involves drawing a design on an egg with beeswax, and then dipping it in the dye. The parts of the egg that are underneath the wax are protected from the dye. Once you are finished dying the egg, you melt the wax off with the heat from a candle. My mom likes to put a few coats of polyurethane over the shells to protect them and make them shiny. Once the polyurethane dries, we will be blowing the eggs out, which is something that I haven't learned yet. Below are a couple pictures from last night. 

My mom's original design: A nativity scene.

My original design: a rooster

My rooster after I had completed the dying process. 

After my mom went to bed, I decided to experiment with dying other surfaces other than eggshells. I was curious to see if the dye would stick to a seashell, so I made a Snoopy shell. The dye didn't stick well, but I still think it turned out pretty cool. 

My experimental Snoopy shell. 

 Tonight, I decided try my hand at candy making. I had bought some candy molds at Goodwill awhile back and never gotten around to using them. I made chocolate owl lollipops, and chocolate puppy prints. I also made Oreo balls, since I have been craving them ever since Granny Eyre brought them to our Halloween party. I am planning to take these treats to my sister's New Years Party tomorrow night so that we can have something to snack on. Although I don't want to share, I know how horrible I would feel if I tried to eat them all myself!

That's about all I have for now.  Hopefully, I will make a post soon about my New Years Resolutions

 (that is, if I decide to make any). I hope all is well! 

Until next time, 

Miss Ellaneous

Christmas Past and Christmas Present

Amist all the Holiday festivities, I am going to take time out to write this blog post. It is really strange for me this Holiday season. I am torn between the old and new. So let's take a walk down memory lane for a while.
Christmas Past:
Around the beginning of December my sisters and I would head up to the attic where all the stuff my mother and father wanted to keep hidden from guest would be. Climbing into the attic was always a momentous occasion in the house it only happened four times a three times a year, but I will save that bit for another post. Back inside the attic it was always chilly and dark but we knew our way around to the Christmas section, which basically was half the attic space anyway. It would take at least an hour to haul everything down into the now cramped living room but it was worth it. My favorite part about decorating was separating the Christmas tree sprigs into the different color coded sections and spreading the branches out. First we would decorate the ten foot slender tree full of gold Christmas themed decorations. Then we would move to the dinning room where we would decorate the silver tree which was my favorite. I should mention now that Christmas was my mothers favorite holiday. She loved all the decorating, cooking, gathering it entailed. I remember the first time my dad let me climb on the roof and help him hang Christmas lights. It was exhilarating. I am a bit afraid of heights but once I stopped focusing on the ground and instead on the task at hand of untangling lights it was fun! The best part about Christmas past for me was the food though. We would spend weeks planning menus and looking over my mothers old cook books planning the perfect food items. Shopping was always rough though because a big family means lots and lots of food. One of the foods my sister Faith and I would make every year was Watergate salad and heavenly hash. I hated the heavenly hash because of the cherries but I loved making it every year. Rice krispie treats were exciting to watching the marshmallows bubble up and listening to the crack snap and pop sounds. Meatballs and smokie links were a must and bacon wrapped chicken livers were the worst but my father loved them. Lots and lots of cheese cubes and pickles to munch on along with ham/cheese wraps and veggies for the taking. If you went hungry at Christmas it was your own fault. The best part wasn't the decorating, or the food but rather the company. I loved spending time with my folks, sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews playing games, laughing, talking, and just sitting around. It was nice. I would not trade those Christmas day breakfast's for anything either.

Christmas Present:
Tomorrow marks the second Christmas that I have spent away and the first Christmas season that I did not spend with my family of "origin". I am a little down trodden by this because of all the good memories I have associated with this season. I will not let it keep me from making new traditions and memories however. I have spent the past two Christmas with my best friend and her family. It has been a blast. Card games, board games and camaraderie galore. I have learned through the past few years that you can have a family of origin and also a family of choice. I have chosen this wonderful group of fun, loving individuals as part of my family and I do believe they consider me part of their family as well. Today we did something I am not use to we opened Christmas presents. Going around in a circle one at a time each of us would open a gift. It was peaceful watching everyone and seeing the look of happiness as each gift was unwrapped. I should mention my best friends uncle is a funny individual. She and I got the exact same things from him in our bags and her two brothers both got the same thing as each other as well. That is my kind of shopping there :) It was all really nice and I got a beautiful card from the grandmother. The food might not be as exciting as I have had in the past but it is an adventure everyday seeing what is going to be for lunch and supper.

I do want to make mention of the real reason behind Christmas, which is Jesus and His birth. Without that there would be none of this Holidayness. So I ask myself and you who read this to take a minute or two out of your busy holidays and reflect on why we celebrate and who we are really celebrating. If you get a chance also you should check out Luke 2:1-? and Matthew 1:18-?. I hope you all have a merry christmas and joyous new year :)

Lessons From Psalm 23

This is a very familiar psalm for many people, myself included. While reading this piece of passage just a bit ago I realized something I’ve never known before. Shepherd staffs have hooks on them to help pull the sheep back to them. Duh right? Not for me until now. God is always there leading my not so brilliant self around. There are many distractions satan and this world distract me with. From those distractions I sometimes get stuck in some giant holes but God the great shepherd has his staff with the hook on the end pulling me back when I start to wander away. I am so blessed to have God in my life pulling me back from those tight spots. This semester I have learned a lot more about how God, in all His greatness, can still keep pulling me back to Him no matter how far away I get. Something else to take away from this psalm is that no matter how scary life gets, for me that happens a lot, God will always be there for you fighting to keep you.

Christmas is coming!

It seems that every time the TwentySomethings get together, we fail to make a blog post, probably assuming that someone else will make it. This time I shall!! Let the world (well the one other person besides ourselves that actually read this blog...I hope there's one other person) know that we do all still hang out together.

We had our third annual Christmas get-together at Martha S.'s house since she's the only one currently who has a house that isn't also shared by her parents or owned by the college. As always she had the place decorated all cute and Chrismas-y. The plan was to eat snacks, exchange gifts, decorate cookies, and just hang out. All of those things happened. We stuffed our faces too much, received more presents than we deserved, made beautiful cookies, and enjoyed each other's company.

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. Martha S. holds our group picture and The Farmer's Daughter has some better pictures, so I'm expecting some follow-up posts to this.

The collection of Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies.

The group

My ugly Chrismas Sweater Cookies

Preparations to decorate.

Martha S. is starting a new trend with empty picture frames. She's famous, you know, so you better pay attention and follow suit if you want to be in style for home decorating.

The feast! We always say we're gonna have less food.

These adorable reindeer made by Martha S.

The tree and presents.

Work, Work, Work!

This post will probably be a bit short, because I have to get up early in the morning. I have been working almost non-stop recently and it's starting to catch up with me. Also, I had almost completed this blog post and my wonderful computer decided it was going to restart itself and I lost everything I had just written. But anyways, I am still riding the bus and have also started doing some custodial work at the middle & high school. Tonight, I didn't get home until almost 9 pm. Custodial work is hard work. I admit that I have taken janitors for granted until now. Their job is one where nobody really realizes that you are doing it until you don't. It's one where you work long hours behind the scenes to make sure that whatever building you are cleaning looks presentable. They are the ones who make sure you have toilet paper in public restrooms! Haha! I have had to do things that most people would turn their nose up at, like scrubbing toilets and scraping used chewing gum off of the floor. I have spent long hours on my feet, and had to do quite a bit of heavy lifting. To be honest, though, I don't mind it because all of the people I have worked with have been so kind and helpful. The people who you work with on a daily basis really will make or break a job, and I am thankful to be surrounded by smiling faces. This job pays a little more than the bus monitoring job, but I have missed seeing the kids on the bus as much as I was.

All of this being said, I do not plan to be a sub bus monitor or janitor for the rest of my life. Many people seem to be worried about me because I do not have a better paying job, or one that uses my degree. I am confident that I will get one eventually, but I have been so busy working that I haven't had time to be on the job search, and you can't usually get a job without applying to it! Haha!  Hopefully, Christmas break will give me some time to relax and recoup and I will be able to get my crap together. 

All of this time working has kept me away from home quite a bit, and I am sure paying for it! I recently bought a wireless dog collar for Callie, which has allowed her to roam free in the yard. She can only go 95 feet away from the house with the collar, or she will get shocked. It only took a couple times being shocked for her to learn her boundaries and there have been no more issues with her leaving the gate to bother the neighbors or chasing the chickens. However, she now has a new favorite pastime, which includes tearing up everything that she can get her little paws on. 

Callie made a mess of my mom's flower pots on the porch.

She also tore up an expensive pair of muck boots

Both my parents got new laptops for the first time on Black Friday and have had their noses stuck in them ever since. So, between working, cleaning up after Callie, and taking care of the household chores virtually by myself, I have had little time to think about much else. At least I can't complain about being bored, right? However, I do really miss my friends and am looking forward to seeing all of you very soon. Many of you have been posting about what you are thankful for, and the thing I would be most thankful for would be free time..if I had any! LOL

Until next time, 

-Miss Ellaneous

These are a few of my favorite things...

Looking down our blog, I realize almost all of us have made lists in our posts lately...I think lists are really easy to read and it makes the post look so organized. So, I'm going to cave to peer pressure and follow the trend. I'm not sure why I have the urge to make this post, but I've been wanting to make a post of some of my favorite things. In a way it's sort of a spin-off on the 'thankful' posts like Martha S. and Captain Something Fun made...because of course, I'm very thankful for my favorite things. Here goes:

1. Fru fru coffee/ espresso drinks (and coffee shops)...as the other Twenty-Somethings know, I love the comfort, low-lighting and of course the specialty drinks of coffee shops. Anyone want to meet up at one sometime soon? :) Also, I recently bought a carton of Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha iced coffee drink at the grocery..it was a splurge, but it's pretty good!

2. Pinterest. I could spend hours on there and still not get enough. I have been getting alot of good gift ideas off of there lately...and ideas for Christmas crafts too!

3. Baking. This is especially a favorite around the holidays. It's so much fun trying new recipes and sharing the goods with other people. Buddy the Elf said "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."...I think the best way to spread Christmas cheer is actually baked goods. ;)

4. Christmas movies (and music)! Oh, I need to get to re-watching my old favorites and remembering to turn on the Christmas music, because they both make me happy!

5. Crafting...I absolutely love being able to make things for myself and the people I care about. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been knitting alot and I find making things to be a great stress-reliever. If you're looking for another reason to start knitting or crocheting, check this out, it's a craft that's good for your health!

6. My family's pets. Speaking of stress-relievers..it's so nice to live with and around so many animals. They're a good excuse to get outside and take a walk, plus they're always around to hug and love on whenever you need it. And...they always greet me with a wagging tail when I come home late and my parents are asleep.

7. Taking Pictures! Since getting a smart-phone I don't take nearly as many high-quality photos as I have in the past. But, high-quality or not, I love taking photos. Right now I'm participating in a December photo challenge and I'm posting a photo everyday to Instagram. Most of the photos have something to do with the Christmas season and I think it's kind of a fun way to get into the spirit of the holidays. Plus, I always love looking back at my old photos.

8. Jason. Last, but certainly not least. I love this boy to death. He isn't a thing, but he is my favorite.

Of course, this is only a few of my favorite things. Time to wrap it up though and get back to being productive! I hope you're all having a lovely start to the Christmas season!

The Farmer's Daughter

What I'm Thankful For

Well, although Thanksgiving has passed, I still want to share a few things I'm thankful for this holiday season.

1.) A wonderful M.D. I have had several not-so-good experiences with doctors in the past. In our for-profit healthcare system, it can be hard to find practitioners that work hard to make clients feel assurance with the care they receive. The M.D. I started seeing in October, Dr. Yin, has ensured that I feel confident in my health. He is thorough. He listens. And is kind too. I truly appreciate him.

2.) Good cookin' Being home for Thanksgiving, I ate and ate and ATE some more. Dressing, gravy, watergate salad, chocolate pie, Butterfinger trifle, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, Oreo trifle, banana pudding, ham, turkey, mac and cheese, millionaire pie, pistachio salad... the list goes on and on. I'm also thankful that I can cook decently because of some of the women who prepared the feasts this Thanksgiving. My grandmothers and great-grandmother taught me so much of what I know about cooking. I have also learned a few things from my mother-in-law over the last seven years.

3.) Our new home (and dryer!!) We've been in our townplex (we're always debating on whether it's a townhouse or duplex, so I've settled on this term) for a little over seven months now. The longer we're here, the more I like it. It's roomy enough to accommodate guests for parties and overnight stays. The utilities are CHEAPCHEAP for its size. Plus, we're slowly making it feel homey-er. And yes, we finally purchased a new dryer as the majority of our Christmas for one another. It should be delivered sometime next week and I am soooo EXCITED! No more drying racks. No more single loads per day. I'll be able to all our laundry on Saturday's if I want to. Woohoo!

4.) Online banking Gosh, if Lucas and I didn't have it, I don't hardly know what we'd do. We check our accounts religiously. It makes it soo much easier to keep up with spending. We still have to pay a few bills by check..... nightmare. Good example: Sent a check in the mail to pay my doctor bill over a week and a half ago. It still hasn't came out of our account. It's a pretty big bill and there's nothing we can do but wait and calculate that out every single time we need to know how much expendable money we have. Blargh. So for us this tech-driven feature is a godsend.

Since I have been sitting at the computer off and on for over two hours now... I'm going to stop here. Maybe I'll add to it again soon. Adios.

A Cliche Post

It is Thanksgiving Day and currently i am watching the Macy's Day Parade. i try to watch it every year when i remember to turn it on. For this post i am going to be a little bit cliche and write a list about what i am most thankful for.

1. Friends- especially you all fellow  twenty somethings.

2. My relationship with Jesus- i thank God for this everyday because without him i would be nothing.

3. My bed- it has green sheets and is quiet comfy.

4. My church family- a bunch of people who started out as strangers who are now some of the closest people i have.

5. Berea- My higher education has been an interesting journey to say the least.

6. Food- nuff said.

There are many more things i am thankful for that fit into various categories but these are the ones that stand out most to me in this present moment. A reminder as you are going about your busy days, remember the little things and big that make it possible for you to be where you are at right now. i hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Graduation

I'm currently at school right now, but the students are writing essays. It's going to be a long day considering all of the classes have work days today for various projects. Tomorrow is my last day here. It's a bittersweet feeling; part of me is ready to go and part of me will miss these teenagers. I'm so excited to have some free time, but I'm also worried about feeling purposeless. It will be great the first couple of weeks, but by the time Christmas "break" is over I'll be ready to get back to doing something productive.

Meanwhile, I'm preparing for graduation. People keep asking me if I'm nervous or excited. I'm sure other Tidbits writers can relate. I'm both. It's a big milestone in my life which is exciting to finally reach, but it's also a scary idea to think that now I'm expected to figure out my life. I don't know what to do with my life. I've got ideas, but I don't know how to start acting on these ideas.

A List of Things I'd Like to Do (in no particular order)
1. Learn ASL
2. Read a ton of books.
3. Get closer to God
4. Get closer to my friends
5. Be crafty
6. Sing a solo
7. Open a after-school center
8. Get married (eh maybe)
9. Be an amazing teacher
10. Write a book
11. Own rocking chairs
12. Travel to London again
13. ....It could keep going.

How am I supposed to know where to start first?

Those are my current musings. For now I'm just finishing these last two days here, completing the exit portfolio, and watching Netflix.

-Granny Eyre

Knitting My First Baby Blanket

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been getting back into knitting. I've been knitting since I was 10 or 11, but it hasn't been a steady hobby since that age. I've made scarves mainly and have never gone too far beyond them. So..when my Mom suggested I make a baby blanket for my beau's sister, I was excited to get back into this hobby and make something sweet for my beau's future niece. I went to the shower last weekend and his sister and their family all loved it, which was very rewarding after spending so much time working on it. If you're interested in the pattern for this cute and easy blanket, go here! It's super simple: all knitting and it includes a cute border around the edge. So...here it the blanket!

Making handmade items and using them for yourself is always a nice feeling, but it's even nicer to see someone else being able to use and appreciate something you've made. So, I've also been trying to start making more knitted items (especially with Christmas right around the corner), but I have yet to start on anything else. When I can get some help from the master knitter, my momma, I will be able to start on some new items..which I hope to keep you posted on! :) 

-The Farmer's Daughter

SNOW!

I love the idea of waking up to snow. After hearing about the snow predictions coming I was excited to see the results of the snow slowly piling up this morning. I also got to hear the soft taps of the snow falling on the roof at 5AM when my little pup, Nova, woke me because she wanted to go downstairs. I wasn't excited to be woken up so early, but I was happy to fall back asleep to the calming sound of the snow on the tin while cuddled up under several blankets.

I hope everyone else was also pleased to wake up to the winter...I mean fall..wonderland. My mother was off from school of course, so we took a walk in the woods this afternoon (one of our favorite snow-day activities). The dogs really enjoy running in the snow, eating it, and playing together in it. The llamas seemed to be shivering, they shouldn't have been cold though with their thick fleeces. Chester, the bunny, was sitting in the snow, unaffected by the cold. And you know I enjoyed it... Well, I just wanted to make this short post (between studying) and share some photos from my snow day. What did you get into today?

-The Farmer's Daugther

Respect

Today I was given an arm band, think yellow livestrong for this. (Quick side note for those of you who do not know, I really like arm bands. They give me an opportunity to connect with others I believe.) The giver told me to think about myself when I looked down and saw the band looped around my arm. I kind of thought the giver was a little strange for giving me the band and I honestly did not think I would put it on, but I told her thank you and pocketed the band anyway. The band has written on it one simple word, RESPECT. There first thing that comes to my mind when seeing or hearing that word is that Aretha Franklin song here, you know the one I’m talking about. Google will pop up about 221,000,000 hits if you search the word respect. That is huge! How does one word have that much information? This post has a point but to see the point you have to try and follow along with me. So here it goes.  How often on any given day are you given a chance to show respect to a stranger, a close friend, a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a teacher, a student, a co-worker, an employee, a child, yourself? The list could go on and on. From my own experiences with respect, I tend to give people around me a lot of it. I believe that everyone deserves respect. It is not something to be earned like a medal or an award. You deserve respect and that’s what you’ll get from me. You can however lose respect. It takes a very talented person to lose respect in my book and only a couple of people are in that book. My biggest challenge is respecting myself, the person God created. So today and everyday hence forth I am going face this challenge head on and respect the person God created me to be and all the other people, places, and things God created. I challenge you to do the same. You may mess up and fail but keep on trying. RESPECT!

Gerund Phrases

I'm stealing this idea from Martha S. I like the format, and life is so busy that I rarely have time to write creative thoughts, which is why I haven't posted recently.

Thinking... these are all gerund phrases. :) You know, -ing words.

Feeling... a bit overwhelmed with the idea that very soon I will graduate

Watching... Gilmore Girls! Currently Captain Something Fun and I have been working our way through this series. It's funny and I wish I lived the life of Rory Gilmore.

Excited... about graduating and having free time to read and be crafty and write.

Missing... childhood when I had very few worries.

Reading... Macbeth at this very moment. I'm taking a short break from writing an exam over Acts I and II in order to write this blog. For fun I'm reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves which is a fun take on punctuation. It's hilarious! I also have several other books started. I have yet to finish a book this semester

Wondering... what I'm supposed to do with my future.

Working... on substitute teacher applications. It's a lot of work...paperwork that is.

Stressed... I've felt this word a lot this semester, but I'm not feeling it so much right now. I'm so close to being finished.

Proud... of my seniors who have been working so hard lately.

Wanting... so many things I don't really need.

Loving... life.

Thanking... God for life.

Okay. Back to the exam writing.

Granny Eyre

Another Random Update

Not much real exciting has been happening around here lately, which is one of the main reasons why I haven't been posting on the blog very often. Since graduation, I hardly ever get on my laptop, which makes it more difficult to stay in touch with everything that is going on. Now that I am finished making excuses, here are a few random comments about my life right now: 

1. I went to a few of the Homecoming activities this past weekend and decided that it feels weird to be back on campus. I didn't know many of the faces that I saw, and the ones I did recognize would make a little small talk and then walk away without saying anything. It was awkward, and I felt out of place. I realize now that some people are not meant to stay in your life forever and to be very grateful for those who are. As my dad always says, "If you have one true friend, then you have more than your share". I am lucky to have a great group of girls that I can call my true friends.
2. A lady mistook Tim to be my dad yesterday. He was talking to her about how he was so far away from home because he came to visit me. She said, "Your daugher?". He was like, "Actually, she's my girlfriend". I could tell that the lady was mortified, but I felt a little insulted because she told him that I looked like I was about 13 years old! I guess it isn't a bad thing to look young, but I feel like nobody takes me seriously, because a) I'm female and b) I look younger than I actually am.  It's starting to drive me nuts. And yes, there is about an 8 year age difference between us, but still...he is nowhere near old enough to be my dad! (end rant). 
3. I really like the format that Martha S. used in her most recent blog post. I'm thinking about doing something similar to that soon...especially since it is that time of year when everyone stops to reflect on what they are most thankful for. 

A random picture of the chickens. 

In other news, I have acquired a new pet. Max is a registered Nigerian Pygmy Goat who was given to me as a gift by Tim! Who else's boyfriend gives them a goat as a present? Yeah, I know...everyone is jealous now, because a pet goat is what every girl wants haha...but in all seriousness, I love that little guy and am sad that my parents won't let me keep him here so that I can spoil him with treats all the time! He will come running up to me when I am outside and he lets me brush him. He is almost exactly like a dog, except for trying to eat my clothing and hair! 

My new pet, Max.

Ever since I was a child, I have wanted a paddle boat. My parents never would get one because they said that they were too expensive. Of course, we would finally be given one by the time that I am almost too old to enjoy it and when cold weather is approaching. However, that didn't stop me from taking it for a test run in the pond. My dad gave it a new paint job and I think it looks great. 

I think I'm gonna go for now, because that is all of the random updates that I can think about at the moment. I have been wanting to do some more baking, so maybe my next post will be about a pumpkin pie, or some Oreo balls (I haven't stopped thinking about then since Granny Eyre brought them to the Halloween party). 

Until next time, 

-Miss Ellaneous

Trial & Error, & Random

The Trial & Error

We had some very ripe bananas at the house this morning so I decided to make some pancakes that I'd seen on Pinterest with only three ingredients...egg, banana and some cinnamon. The "recipe" I followed didn't come with any instruction, so I just mixed 1 banana, 1 egg, & some cinnamon together and put it in the skillet. It may have been cook-error, but I wasn't very pleased with their consistency. The flavor wasn't bad, I just kept thinking about how they reminded me of scrambled eggs with banana and cinnamon in them. I just wanted to share this recent Pinterest semi-fail to say, if I were you, I wouldn't try making pancakes without flour.

I'm really excited...I've been making a baby blanket for my beau's sister. The baby shower is next weekend so I've been working extra hard on getting it done and this morning I basically finished knitting the rows, I just haven't bound off the stitches yet. This has been somewhat of a trial-and-error project because I've never knit a baby blanket before and I wasn't sure if I was going to have enough yarn to finish. Luckily enough, I do! I'll post pictures of the finished product soon! 

Other Events

1. This weekend...I grabbed a really good deal at Meyer's. I'm putting this out there in case anyone else is interested. Meyer's in Lexington had their raspberries on sale for 2/$1 for their 6 oz. cartons...which is a steal! I'm not sure, but I think other Meyer's may be having the same sale. Needless to say, I bought several packages and next on my list of things to do today is freeze most of those berries. 

I paid $3.50 for $27 worth of raspberries

2. The beau, Captain Something Fun, Granny Eyre and I played Rook before going to the Homecoming Block Party on Friday. It's always nice to play some Rook. 

 3. The fall colors are slowly fading, but my beau got this photo of Nova and I before all the leaves were gone! 

4. We got a cute photo yesterday with the new bunny. Just wanted to share it :) 

Well that's all she wrote, folks,

The Farmer's Daughter

-ing

I'm stealing this idea from a blog I recently started following. I thought it was a nice approach to a post. Also, I apologize in advance for any grammatical or punctuation errors. I am not proofreading this before I post. My bed and PJs are calling my name. Anyways, here goes! Enjoy.

Thinking... about how thankful I am to have such a wonderful mommy, as I just finished conversing with her on the telly. I am appreciative of our long talks with one another and the positive example she has set for me.

Feeling... pretty worn out. Today is Friday. A day where one typically takes the night off to relax and spend time with others. Today, I have had the pleasure of being very involved with a paper the majority of the day. When I haven't been slaving over my keyboard, I have been thinking about how I must return to it. Blargh.

Watching... my husband freak out because his cellular device may have Lollipop 5.0, the newest version of Android. Plus, he was linked in an ars technica article because he his device happened to be one of the first it got pushed to. He's definitely feeling like a kid in a candy store. See what I did there?

Excited... for the holidays! Although I think I've already expressed this in a previous post, I can't wait to spend time with family and friends this holiday season. I am blessed to have the close knit network that I do but I haven't got to spend nearly enough time with some of my nearest and dearest family members.

Missing... the warm weather already. Although I am ecstatic about almost everything from November to January (including the snow!), the cold weather + the torturous wind makes it hard to get out of my super cozy, heated blanket bed. Bring on the hot chocolate and [simulated*] fires.

*Truth: Hubs and I often play an app on our TV that looks, pops, and crackles like a fireplace fire.

Reading... lots of articles and notes about occupation, forearm and hand anatomy notes, blogs, and recipes!

Wondering... why I haven't went to bed yet. My eyes are sooo heavy. Also, what my work schedule for December is going to be. It may be my first time working on the holidays which I have mixed feelings about.

Working... on being less anxious and more relaxed, worrying less, getting plenty of rest, my Christmas shopping list (yes, I've purchased a few things already), and a dreadful life narrative paper.

Stressed... Let's not use that word. Being positive and opportunistic is an approach I'm trying to implement in my life.

Proud... of my sister for being able to manage everything on her plate this semester and remain sane. There are several more things but my brain is trying to shut down on me. Forgive it. Oh, of myself for making this post. Major accomplishment. Plus, two in a row. Beat that.

Wanting... a brand new car! It's much more exciting if you read it in the voice of Bob Barker by the way. And I'm only kidding. Who can afford that? Seriously. What I'm really wanting is warmth, rest, then several days to cook lots and lots of food! I have so many recipes waiting for me and no time to make them. Sigh.

Loving... Oh goodness. Throwing out the L-word. 1.) My husband for being such great support and letting me unload so many feels these past few weeks. It's been rough folks and he has truly been here to help pull me through. 2.) Sweet potatoes. I have been eating the heck out of them. 3.) Our mailman. He has been bringing so many exciting packages and notes our way recently. 4.) The Hypnotic candle we purchased at the Berea soap shop. It's almost burnt out-hint, hint!

Thanking... you all for finding creative ways for us to keep in touch and have a little fun. There's rarely a dull moment. That's for sure.

Enjoy your weekend! Goodnight.

Anticipation

To take a break from my homework, I decided to post a bit about recent happenings and future happenings that I'm excited about.

Recent Happenings

After a recent bout with tendonitis, I am finally starting to heal up. Thank goodness! My leg hasn't been swelling up nearly as frequently or been nearly as tender and painful as it was. It's scary how even an injury as minor as mine is can dramatically impact the day so extensively. At first, I had no choice but to be practically sedentary for about a week. Then, I had to take frequent breaks so my leg wouldn't swell up and become painful. Needless to say, the experience was humbling and made me grateful for the health I have been blessed with.

Going off of that, our trip to New Orleans began only three days after my urgentcare visit. Honestly, although I enjoyed it, I spent most of trip lagging behind the hubs and sis attempting to keep up with them with my bum leg. I had to miss out on a few adventures because I physically couldn't participate. Again, the whole experience was eye opening. Despite my setbacks, I got to go to the cathedral again, ride the streetcars, see the riverfront, go to the World War II museum, enjoy some scrumptious food and live music. NOLA is a city to see y'all.

I've also been cooking up a storm lately. I've made chili, from scratch biscuits, an apple pumpkin pudding, cookies, gumbo-laya, and others. It's been my main source of me time and stress relief since I haven't been able to do much physical activity.

Future Happenings

Goodness, there are lots of things coming up that I'm excited about (anticipating -- hence the blog title) so I'm just going to make a quick list so I don't have to do so much writing and y'all don't have to do so much reading.

1.) Halloween parties galore - Carnival for school, trick or treat at work, and party on the farm!

2.) Check-up - Seeing the doc this Thursday with hopes to set my mind at ease about my health.

3.) Thanksgiving - The way it is working out with work and school, we get to go home for SIX days. I am super happy to spend some QT with our families.

4.) There's only a little over 6 weeks left in the semester! It has zipped by but I'm ready for this one to be over. It has been a drag.

Excited to see everyone on Saturday! Adios.

Soloing

So I know it's been entirely too long since I made a blog post. No excuses other than exhaustion. I spend almost all of of my time outside of school working on school stuff. It's getting intense.

I'm currently smack dab in the middle of my solo week(s). They failed to tell me before this semester began that "solo week" actually means ten days or two weeks in the school world. For me, it's stretched over three weeks because of crazy scheduling issues. I began the two days before fall break, taught the three days after our two day fall break, and then have all of this week to teach.

It's been interesting since I've switched coordinating teachers in the middle of that. The first teacher left (this was planned if you remember) and after some crazy mess with hiring there is now a full time sub listed as my coordinating teacher (well as soon as he gets his paperwork complete). I was very nervous about this change, but it's been pretty good. He gives me different advice than my first teacher, but it's still solid advice. It lets me see that no one teacher has it all figured out and takes some of the pressure off of me.

It's also been an interesting few days since I know the students and the classroom routines more thoroughly than he. It's been a bit stressful since all the planning was on me. He has provided some material.

Enough school talk. What else have I done? I did start watching Gilmore Girls. It's entertaining. ;) I wish my mom and I had that sort of relationship, but then again I kind of like the relationship I have with my mom. So far it's just a happy, funny show that I use to break up my study/planning sessions.

One month and three weeks until graduation. Very little idea what I'm doing after that day, but I'll Scarlett O'Hara that thought. By the way, you are coming to my graduation, correct? December 7.

Mom's Birthday...and all the food!

As most of you know, my mother had a birthday yesterday! I had a bunch of fun fixing her a birthday dinner and an edible gift. My beau and I decided to fix the dinner...we had a sweet, garlicky chicken, green beans from the garden, baked apples from our apple tree, and kale salad with blueberries and strawberries (kale from the garden, blueberries from our bushes, and strawberries from a friend's garden!) And because it was a birthday, and you can't forget dessert, we made a chocolate pie with homemade whipped cream. It was all REALLY good. My beau and I aren't really used to fixing dinner, but it turned out to be quite tasty, and we were proud. Just thinking about the yummy food makes me mouth water. I thought I'd share the pictures and recipes from some of the dishes we made since it all tasted so delicious. You can find the pie recipe here...this recipe was fairly easy and it tasted very good! You can find the chicken recipe here. I would recommend the chicken recipe for it's simplicity and for the ability to alter it slightly to your taste with added herbs or spices that you like.

As for Mom's gift..I had seen a recipe on Pinterest about making homemade turtles. Since this is probably her favorite candy, I decided to try to make them for her birthday. They were fairly simple to put together and turned out really tasty. The only issue I had was with the caramel rolling over the pecans and then sticking to the wax paper (and then causing the turtles to stick together once they were in the container together). I'm not sure how to avoid this, except maybe to make a thicker layer of pecans on the bottom and not use as much caramel on each one. Even with this problem, I would recommend the turtle recipe.

Mom actually made the salad, she also put roasted almonds in it...SO good!

The baked apples were good..but I think we can do better next time!

I had to sample her turtles...and they are yummy!

That's all for now!
The Farmer's Daughter

Identity Mishaps

A requirement, as you all know, the college makes it mandatory (technically) for all students to attend seven convocations a semester. Well as of today I now have two under my belt, such an accomplishment I know. I have survived seven semesters of going to forty nine convocations, fifty one if I start counting this semester. Something I should add here is that I love hats and they are somewhat of a comfort object for me. Without my hat on in crowded places, such as Phelps Stokes during convocations, I get really anxious and unfocused. There is a “responsibility” at convocations that states * Respect for the presenters includes an appearance of attentiveness, including upright posture and forward gaze. Caps, hoods, headphones, earbuds, or any other obstructions to listening or to others’ vision should not be worn. The head over convocations sends an audience rights and responsibility paper out at the beginning of every year. It has been a struggle every semester being told that I need to take my hat off. Something I find interesting though is when I wear sock caps in the colder months they do not tell me to remove my hat. What distinguishes a ball cap for a sock cap, I’ve been asking myself for four years now. Today I got brave or stupid, depends on the perspective you take I guess. Instead of waiting to be told to take my cap off I stopped the head honcho himself and told him my dilemma involving crowds, hats, and anxiety. He looked at me with genuine compassion and said if I let you wear your hat though others might ask why they can’t wear theirs. I see the dilemma here but I wasn’t about to give up. After a minute of eye locked silence he spoke, “Just keep your hat on and if a convocation usher tells you to take it off tell them I approved it.”  Yes! Finally some understanding justice. I thanked him greatly expecting him to move on down the aisle. Nope he then preceded to say, “As a freshman this is something you can work through and maybe you won’t need to wear your hat later on down the road, you are a freshman right?” I kind of panicked at this question, what if he wouldn’t let me wear my hat if I said I was a senior because by then I should be use to the crowds and noise. So in my panicked state mumbled and shook my head yes. As if things could not get any more frightening for me, he asked what my name was. In my not so sound mind I said the first name I could think of that sounded legit, Taylor. Smooth right, how do you even get the name Taylor from Amanda? So now there is officially a freshman from Western Kentucky named Taylor who is thinking about majoring in Child and Family Studies wandering around campus somewhere. Oops! I have no justification for why I lied, it just kind of happened. I feel super guilty about it and tomorrow I plan to go to the man himself and turn myself in, my real self that is.