Pinterest

I was skeptical at first. I figured Pinterest was just for silly girls planning their future weddings before they were even in a relationship. But, I was wrong (well, not completely wrong). Yes, there are a lot of girls posting inspirations of their idea bridal hairdos and guest favors, but there is a lot more to it than that. For instance, in the past two weeks I have tired four Pinterest recipes.

• Broccoli Casserole
• Kind of a bust. Allen really enjoyed it, but it didn't hold together very well as a casserole. Would have made a better side dish than a main course. Taste wasn't bad though.
• Crockpot Lasagna 
• Delish! This is going to become a go-to recipe for sure! I made it with ground turkey instead of ground beef and it was just as delicious. My favorite part about this recipe is that I didn't have to cook anything beforehand. Just dropped everything in the pot as is and left it alone. 
• Lemon pasta with chicken and spinach
• Delish x2! This is another recipe that might become bi-weekly. I didn't follow direction exactly, but I did basically the same thing. Yum yum yum! 
• Crockpot beef and broccoli 
• Another yummy experiment. Definitely fixed my Chinese food craving (I've been getting that a lot lately). Not sure when I'll make it again, but it was yummy for sure! 

So all in all, 3 out of 4 isn't too bad! 

I'm also finding a lot of art projects I want to do with my kids (my current students - not my future offspring). The parents are going to loooove what their kids come home with! I'm also finding useful things such as how to clean my makeup brushes (because ewww, they do get really gross). I have a ton of crafts and sewing project I've found that I cannot wait to attempt! 

Okay, so I eat my words. Pinterest is not as terrible as I thought it was. 

Winter on the Road

This winter we have done more traveling than I can wrap my head around. I guess we could start back at Thanksgiving to total up the miles...

Thanksgiving in Brevard = 250 round trip (RT)

Mom's surgery (flying) = 900 miles RT

Christmas (Athens/Brevard/Greenville/Edenton/Greenville/Athens) = 1079 RT

Chapel Hill Pratt family dinner = 674 RT

Charlotte Graham performance = 396 RT

That is a grand total of 3299 miles... Wow!

Now to catch you up on the final two adventures.

Chapel Hill Pratt Family Dinner:

Allen's brother Aaron is learning first hand about culinary arts at Il Palio, an Italian restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC. As his Christmas present to the family, he wanted to cook for all of us. Little did we know what was in store. He surprised us with 7 amazing courses.

1. sweet potato jalapeño bisque
2. winter caprese
3. scallops with microgreens, red and golden beets, and blood orange
4. jalapeños rellenas
5. duck with asparagus risotto
6. carnitas pork with carrot gnocchi
7. tiramisu
   ((Special thanks to Amanda for the course titles))

We enjoyed good wine, good food, and great company. It was a wonderful evening!

Charlotte Graham Performance:

My early birthday present from my Mom was a trip to Charlotte to see the Martha Graham Dance Company perform. I studied the Graham technique throughout undergrad and had the chance to perform one of her masterworks during that time as well. Needless to say, Martha Graham is a huge inspiration to me so I jumped at the chance to see her works performed live. 

The show was presented in a non-dancer, user friendly arrangement. Act one walked the audience through her life starting with her beginnings with the Denishawn Company. It gave a glimpse into her 1930's with Lamentation which will bring anyone to tears. Then the audience was in for a real treat. My former professor, Kim Jones, reanimated a lost Graham work called "Imperial Gesture". There is no video of the original dance - only pictures, critic reviews, and personal account interviews. I must admit, I have no idea how one even begins to reanimate a lost dance, but Professor Jones did an amazing job. I am so proud and excited for her. Later in the act, I was able to see my fellow undergrad classmates perform alongside the company in the restaged work "Panorama". Again, I was excited and proud to see them perform so beautifully. But it made me realize just how much I miss dancing, miss being on stage, and miss the dance scene in Charlotte. I had no idea just how spoiled I was. The second act was the entire ballet of Graham's Appalachian Spring. It's one of her most famous works for a reason... beautiful!

I am so thankful that I was able to enjoy this experience. It was an amazing weekend spent with loved ones, yet we failed to take pictures (as usual). Is it too late to add "take more pictures" to my 2013 resolutions list? 

Winter may not be over until mid March, but as of right now, I have no travel plans schedule for the rest of the season. Looking forward to spending time at home over the next few weeks! 

Happy 2013!

Allen and I celebrated our first New Years Eve together. The past two years he has continued a high school tradition of a 'boys only' NYE; however, being that the group of friends is now spred - some to other continents - the tradition ended. So by default, we got to spend the evening together! (I'm not complaining!)

I worked NYE but arrive home to a delicious dinner. Allen made Apple Chicken - one of his specialties. It includes chicken, applesauce, apple slices, and mushrooms. We paired it with some leftover collards from Christmas. Yum! We then venture out into the madness to retrieve champagne, juice, guacamole, and a movie. Over the next 4 hours we watched our electronic fireplace (a la macbook pro), ate the entire container of guac, watched the movie, laughed at Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper, and enjoyed a midnight toast. We could even see some fireworks from our front balcony.

A terrible quality picture of our spread... Fireplace on the left, chips and guac in the middle, movie on the TV

Orange, pineapple, apple juice mixed with Cooks champagne. Yum!

New Years kiss! 

2012 has brought many changes in both of our lives... undergraduate graduations, moving to Georgia,  several new jobs, and graduate studies to name a few. I'm not sure what 2013 has in store, but fingers crossed that it is full of love, happiness and laughter.

I hope that you all have a wonderful 2013 filled with everything you could ask for.

Our Christmas Tree

Allen and I got our first Christmas Tree together. Growing up in Greenville, there were popup, side of the road, tree sellers. We searched, and searched, and searched but couldn't find one. So we ended up at Wal-Mart. Yes I know, Wal-Mart sucks. I will be the first person to tell you that. But that's where it came from.  In spite of that, I think it turned out great :)

He wanted this one

So we got it

And then we decorated it

And a daytime shot of the tree

And this was before I wrapped all the presents... I may have gone a little overboard this year.

Paige Visits!

Allen was busy all weekend preparing for finals so Paige and I had a girls weekend. Here are the highlights:

Doughnuts for her birthday...

...or were they for the neighborhood cat?

Delicious dinner at Taqueria del Sol

Footie pajamas 

Death by present wrapping

We also went shopping, stayed up late, and ate entirely too much "snow crunch"...  I love my best friend! 

The Final Thanks

22- Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday. Perhaps it has something to do with the socially acceptable act of stuffing your face, but mostly I think I like it so much because every sits down and enjoys time together. 

23- Small towns. Did a bit of Black Friday shopping around downtown Brevard. Shop local! 

24- Candles. Today we picked up a 'pine' scented candle. Yum! 

25- Productive Days. I love when I can get up, head to the gym, then work on my to-do list. Grad school application is done. Just waiting on two more references to come in. 

26- Secret Santa. We are playing at work and I received my secret person today. So excited for the presents I have planned!

27- The essentials. I am so thankful to have a warm roof over our heads, clean water, and nourishing food. Sometimes it is easy to overlook those things. 

28- Dance Education. Since it was my last day at Athens Academy I did a huge review class. I cannot believe how much these kids have learned and grown over just eight weeks. I wish I could continue to see what else they are capable of, but I know I am in the right place at Little Prodigies. PS: I'm also thankful for haircuts.

29- My best friend. We had a good heart to heart tonight, but even when we don't talk she is still the best. 

30- Allen. He keeps me grounded, happy, and hopeful. I'm a lucky girl.


I have a lot to be thankful for. 

More Thanks...

See earlier posts about my 30 days of Thanks.




12- My job(s). Each one bring me joy in different ways and I am so grateful for all three. Even though I  have small daily frustrations, there are many people that don't get to have those frustrations. Life could be worse.

13- My new job! So excited to be working full time with Little Prodigies. Love the center, love the other workers, love my boss.

14- My gym. I just started a new gym membership and everyone that signs up during the month of November receives a free session of personal training. So today I got my butt kicked. Maybe it will keep me in gear. 

15- Hand washing and hand sanitizer. One of the crawlers came down with pink eye and it has started to spred. Thanks to that, my hands are now terribly dry from all the hand washing I did. But I would rather need lotion on my hands than ointment on my eyes. 

16- Naps. I love when the kids nap. I love when I can nap. Today I got a great one-hour L-couch nap in before going out with Allen and friends. 

17- Football. I love that it entertains my boyfriend. I love the tailgating. I love the spirit and community. Today I went to my first UGA football game and totally loved it. GO DAWGS! 

18- The Atlanta airport Cell Phone Lot. While waiting for my wonderful cousin and her fiance to arrive, Allen and I spent our time in ATL cell phone lot which has a perfect view of the planes arriving and taking off. What a great idea! 

19- Nature. The four of us (Marisa, Paul, Allen, me) visited the State Botanical Gardens today. Beautiful! Can't wait to go back in the Spring and Summer. 

20- Laughter. We celebrated a close family friend's birthday with a wonderful catered dinner. Lots of laughter fileld the table. It's important to laugh. 

21- Open Hearts and Families. As many of you know, I am with the Pratt's this Thanksgiving. Although it is very hard to be away from my own family, they are making me feel like part of their family. I made rice crispy treats, brownies, and am in charge of the green bean casserole tomorrow. Pressure is on! I hope I don't mess up!