Archive for November, 2008
November 26, 2008 at 2:13 pm
· Filed under food, friends, random, the office ·Tagged holiday, thankful list, thanksgiving
When I was younger, my cousins and I had a tradition of writing our Thankful Lists each Thanksgiving Day at my grandparents’ house.
It wasn’t a 10-minute activity to keep us occupied from bickering with each other; it was a competition that lasted multiple hours.
We went way beyond the “normal” stuff you hear people say they’re thankful for – family, friends, house, pets, school – and stretched it a little bit a lot. We were thankful for eyeballs and elephants, fingernails and fungus, dirt and desks, seeds and seahorses…and every person we knew. You get the idea. Anything that existed, we made sure to write it down. Because you know, whoever had the longest list was the most thankful. The non-winners had to throw their lists in a fire. Non-thankful failures.
I don’t remember when we stopped writing down our Thankful Lists, but who’s to say we can’t continue? I have a countless number of blessings to be thankful for that I can’t imagine listing them all here right now. However, here are a few positive things:
- (I would be a fool not to include my relationship with God, my family, close friends, comfortable shelter, delicious food, warm bed, and reliable car.)
- My parents became completely debt free years ago. This was one of the main reasons why I was able to graduate from college debt free and not have student loan payments still hanging over my head.
- I live 1.5 miles from work. I know it won’t last forever, but it’s awesome for now.
- Good health. I enjoy being active. I ran my first half marathon earlier this year and am amazed at how I trained my body to endure.
- The Internet. Facebook. Blogs. Email.
- Indoor plumbing. Go to places that don’t have this luxury and you’ll be thankful for it, too.
- The desire and resources to travel. Whether traveling to visit my parents or galavanting around Russia, I love to just go.
- I have a job that I enjoy doing, with people I enjoy working alongside, in a place where I am encouraged to grow and excel.
- I live in America. (cue “I’m Proud to Be an American”)
- My local church body. Inversion.
- Gas is no longer over $4/gallon and Nashvillians aren’t waiting in 2-hour lines to fill up.
If you haven’t already written something of this sort on a blog already, leave a note here! Have a great extended Thanksgiving weekend eating, relaxing, and being with loved ones!
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November 24, 2008 at 12:40 pm
· Filed under food, life, the office
The past few days have been extremely full. I am tired and looking forward to the upcoming long weekend, which I will pack in some much-needed R&R in addition to seeing some more friends and fam.
So let’s see … Thursday/Friday I went on a retreat with members of my division at work (about 100 people). The 24 hours was packed with non-stop games of cornhole (for not having the best aim and coordination, I actually did pretty well!), rounds of team-member trivia, eating lots of quality camp food and junk food, playing new board games, and so much more. Retreats rock!
Thursday night we did a team challenge throughout the whole camp. Each team of about 12 people had to navigate through the dark to different stations and complete various team-building games; it turned out to be a lot of fun even though it was super-cold outside. I opted out of the Capture the Flag game, but ended up talking with some newer team members and playing the card game Mafia until 2:30 a.m. I don’t know when the last time I stayed up that long was! (Man, I’m getting old.) Thankfully I was able to sleep in the next morning before having a big lunch at the famous Loveless Cafe and returning to the office.
This weekend I did some major grocery shopping, ate breakfast at the Pankcake Pantry (no sight of the rich and famous), browsed shops in Green Hills, put up the Christmas tree, ate delicious homemade pizza and dark chocolate truffles, watched football, went to church, celebrated Thanksgiving with one side of the fam, visited my grandmother, met some more of Andy’s fam, and slept a little bit.
Whew. Good times. I’m still recuperating from the wacko sleep schedule.
Just a little over 48 hours until the long weekend.
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November 13, 2008 at 12:35 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged christmas, holidays, shopping
(Now I hesitate to tell you this because you might tell all your friends who tell all their friends and then my peaceful times of shopping will be only memories. I’m trusting you with this.)
A night to myself + traditional church night + rain + mid-November + sales + coupons = peaceful shopping.
For the most part, I enjoy shopping alone. I’m not just talking about clothes shopping, but shopping for groceries and gifts as well. I makes less impulsive buys because I can ask myself 500 times Do I really need this? Is this the best deal? without feeling the need to apologize to someone for taking so long. However, I also enjoy shopping with certain people as a social activity even though I don’t always buy things during our shopping extravaganzas.
Last night I ventured out to Old Navy and Target to look for some gifts before the holiday crazies bombard the stores. I was there after 7:30 p.m. on a rainy Wednesday night. There was hardly anyone in the stores. Yes!
This time of year is also a great time to shop because there are sales and coupons galore and you don’t have to elbow your way through the crowds gathered in every store. Because of this, I’m still trying to keep my goal of having all my Christmas shopping done (except for a couple of online purchases) by Thanksgiving so I can relax indoors by watching Christmas movies and wrapping the presents I got good deals on.
What is your equation for amazing shopping?
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November 12, 2008 at 4:03 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged birthday, family
Today is my mom’s birthday!
Since the big day falls in the middle of a week, she spent it teaching high schoolers about geography, and I unfortunately won’t be able to grace her with my presence. But it is still a good day because she is happy and healthy and had my Granny’s delicious homemade BBQ chicken, twice-baked potatoes and Black Magic Cake (always Mom’s birthday dinner of choice).
Last year I was so excited to give Mom a scrapbook of letters and pictures from friends and family I had collected. I don’t know if I can top that for this year and others to come. Oh well. I am not worried about it (even though you are usually pretty hard to shop for, Mom). Here’s a picture of her from last year’s birthday celebration:
Happy Birthday!
(I bet you love seeing these pictures up here, don’t you?) 
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November 7, 2008 at 3:40 pm
· Filed under weather ·Tagged fall, leaves, season
And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late [November]
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and was to come
You are autumn
- Nicole Nordeman, “Every Season”
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November 6, 2008 at 3:14 pm
· Filed under food ·Tagged cook, food, recipes
Isn’t that salad pretty?! I put it together recently for a dinner party I went to with a couple of friends.
Pizza is one of my favorite foods. I made this one earlier in the week with a homemade crust.
Here are some other yummy things I’ve cooked recently that you might want to try out yourself:
- Apple Muffins – forget the boxed mixes. These muffins actually have real apple pieces mixed in.
- Breakfast Strata – it took a little while to make but was totally worth it. I’ve been eating on it all week (and made it with egg beaters so it’s a little healthier).
- Prosciutto Panini – takes you to Italy with one bite.
- Dijon-Baked Chicken – Amazing! Love it!
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November 6, 2008 at 8:52 am
· Filed under friends, music, random
Yesterday Peter Jenkins, author of the NYT best-selling book A Walk Across America, came to share some of his story with the company. Loved it! I can’t believe I haven’t read this book and the other ones he’s written. I will definitely add them to my list to read very soon, as I love to travel, meet people, and hear their stories. Jenkins is a fabulous storyteller; I think I could listen to him for hours. It was such an honor to have him visit us.
I am on a mission to finish all of my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. You can bet that the day after Thanksgiving I will be sleeping in and enjoying a lazy day indoors away from all you crazy people in long lines at the stores. (However, if I gave you a list and gave you a small waiting-in-line fee, would you get some stuff for me?)
I love how pastors incorporate object lessons or unforgettable visuals into sermons. Last Sunday there was a 10-minute gap of quietness between the sermon intro video and when the pastor verbally began teaching. Hundreds of people in the service I was a part of started getting restless; we even broke out in chanting and one person went behind the stage looking for the pastor! I noticed people in behind-the-scenes roles not flip out. Ok, so this is planned. How can I connect the dots? I thought. Well, the whole point of the message was that when Christians don’t use their spiritual gifts, everyone suffers. It’s probably something you’ve heard a million times, but I highly recommend watching or listening to the message.
Over the weekend, MA and I went to see Sara Bareilles in concert at the Ryman. You know… “I’m not gonna write you a love song, cuz you asked for it, cuz you need one…” That girl. The show was even better because she had two fun openers – LA-based chick folk-rockers Raining Jane and Louisiana singer/songwriter native Marc Broussard. We had 8th-row seats but were right by the stage because of the semi-circular layout of the wooden pews. We sat beside a Puerto Rican named Mariena. She almost flipped out when I told her my name, as I was the first person she had ever met who shared her name. Here’s a pic she took of me & MA (still don’t have the ones she took during the concert):
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November 4, 2008 at 4:50 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged election, vote
Well, the big Election Day is upon us.
I voted last Tuesday. This was my second presidential election held where I was old enough to exercise my right to vote. Though none of the candidates are perfect and my voice is one among millions, I still get excited about standing in line and participating in this great right Americans are given – even more so for American women, as it has only been 88 years since the right was extended to us.
Thank you, Tennessee, for allowing early voting … that is, as long as our votes are tabulated correctly.
Parts of the whole political world interest me – and they should interest us all because we’re all affected. Apathetic attitudes annoy me to no end. I am all about people doing their research and voting for a candidate whose positions they agree with. Don’t just vote for someone because the candidate is deemed cool, charismatic, or of the same race or gender as you.
Tonight I am going about my Tuesday night trying not to sit in front of the TV with my heart beating a million miles an hour. I’ve voted and there’s nothing else I can tangibly do to affect the outcome of this election.
Here are a couple of quick election/voting-related reads I have enjoyed recently (note: neither have to do with a particular candidate, but provide true inspiration and hope):
Whoever is announced our president-elect later tonight, we should lean on the promise that God is still in control of it all and is “doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habbakuk 1:5b).
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November 3, 2008 at 1:20 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
I like costume parties. I like chocolate candy. I like fall weather. I like seeing little kids so happy. So naturally I would like Halloween.
I am happy to announce that Halloween ‘08 in my world did not disappoint!
I decided a few weeks ago to dress as Gov. Sarah Palin. (I know, I know, it was one of the most popular costumes this year, but might I add that I decided on this costume at least a month or two ago.) There ended up being 3 other Sarahs at the party I went to on Friday evening, but no worries – we all had fun! However, my team at work voted my costume the best on our team, thus allowing me to take home the grand prize of $50! Minus the Palin button and candy I bought, I netted $45 this Halloween. Fabulous!
We ended the work day by having the Lampo kids come around to our desks trick-or-treating. I think I saw about 10 princesses, and one or two kids tried to grab all of the Tootsie Roll Pops I was handing out. To say they were all cute and funny once again this year would be an understatement.
I was also very impressed with my friends costumes this year. Some noteworthy ones include 2 A-Teams, iPhone, the Red Sea, the Joker, Amy Winehouse, Lucille Ball, Al Borland (Home Improvement), and Richard Simmons and crew. I ended the night by having a conversation with the Joker and Daria (from that old MTV cartoon) and walking out with a black-eyed pea – how many times in your life can you say that?
French Lemons community group:
I already have a great idea for a costume next year. Only 362 days left to go!
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It wasn’t a 10-minute activity to keep us occupied from bickering with each other; it was a competition that lasted multiple hours.
