Life in Denim and Flip Flops

I put up my first Christmas tree today. Ok, not my first tree. It's my first real-size Christmas tree I've put up by myself. I've got an interesting collection of ornaments. Most of which have stories and significance. I thought I'd tell a few of them here. :) It's not a Christmas tree without a pickle ornament. It's a German tradition to hide a glass pickle ornament on the tree for the kids to find. Mine's not hidden very well, but it was the first ornament I put on the tree. I don't know if you had these, but not only did we have these little teddy bear ornaments, but we also had this awesome quilted advent calendar wall hanging . I've got 2 bears on my tree. They're handmade stuffed little ornaments that my sister and I insist must show up on our trees somewhere. This one is a Becky and Mandy original. I hate to think how many of these we made over the years. This one I inherited from my grandparents. Those are the little six-sided plasti...

And in case you forgot what it looked like before...with the same flower for contrast.

I read an article in the past few weeks about how a really high percentage of blog posts are basically apologies for not posting in a while. Of course I've both forgotten the stat and lost the original article. Sadly this is just a preface to another one of those posts. I'm not sure what happened. I was doing so well posting 3 times a week, and then it just fell apart. Not really work or personal life related, just got lazy and didn't really have anything super exciting to post. And once I'm out of the habit, I'm screwed. My goal is to get back on track this next week. And now that I've posted this, I've got witnesses. So thanks for being my accountability buddy. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Tomorrow is Spirit Day as we come to the conclusion of Homecoming week. So clearly I'll be dressing up. The board of trustees will be here so nothing too crazy. This year's homecoming shirt and brown cords. And some accessories. Oh right I don't have any blue accessories. I went to Hobby Lobby to find some blue flowers for my hair. I ended up with both flowers and jewelry pieces and this crazy blue beaded flower arrangement accessory. After an hour of playing with it, I ended up with earrings, a bracelet, and a necklace. I'm sort of surprised with how well they turned out. :) Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2

Ok, I'm making it official. I'm doing the new-food-a-week challenge. Last week parsnips , this week red lentils. I'm thinking that I'll do one of Aarti's preparations . They look pretty similar and use the same technique of adding hot spiced oil to the lentils after they're cooked. Ironically Amy is also cooking red lentils this week, using her friend's recipe . I also bought orzo pasta while I was at my favorite store, Calico Bean Market . I went in for some durum flour and came out with orzo, red lentils, and some munchies. I love it so much. It's got all the spices and herbs I need for my recipes at ridiculously low prices. I mean I bought sesame seeds, chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, corn chips w/ flax seeds, plus the orzo and lentils for about $11. How ridiculous is that? Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions for next week. What new food should I make??

This is what I made for lunch today. Chicken marinated in black bean and garlic sauce, parsnip puree and homemade applesauce from earlier in the week. Unlike last time, I pulled out the blender today to get a super smooth texture on the parsnips. The marinade was from a jar, but oh so good. Yay for the organic (or hippie as my boss says) section of the grocery store! These are my contribution to the family reunion tomorrow. They're Italian semolina rolls. Semolina flour is the only real difference in the dough, but it taste just a bit sweet. I haven't made biscuits yet but I think they turned out well. The sesame seeds really make it. :)

You may know that I watch a lot of food-related television. Now in the past, I'd watch because it was fun to see how things were put together and see how something can be transformed from boring vegetable to delish sidedish. But in the past 2 years or so, I've really started applying what I saw on those shows to what I do at home. I've picked up a lot when I wasn't even trying. And now I'm learning that some things I assumed would be difficult really aren't. I can handle spices and fresh ginger and baking my own bread, who knew? Where's this all going, and where the hell are the parsnips, you're asking? Well, it starts in the grocery store last week. There have been a few things I've been looking for recently and have been unable to find. One of which is celery root necessary for a salad I'd made. Suddenly after looking for a few weeks, it shows up in the organic section. While I was back there, I noticed the parsnips sitting next to it. If you...

I've used clickers in the classroom for a while, but this morning our educational media person introduced me to Poll Everywhere . At first I thought it looked pretty cool, but wondered about what happens when students don't have cell phones on them. (Yes, highly unlikely I know...but still.) And then I realized that you can set it up for computer inputs as well. Most of the teaching I do using clickers usually happens in a computer lab, so that solves that problem. We use Turning Point clickers, which I like, but the software leaves something to be desired and is sometimes a bit of a pain. I like that this looks pretty simple and you can embed the poll/results in your powerpoint and have them update live. So I guess this is part of the test run. What do you think? Make your own poll voting question with Poll Everywhere

It's been a while since I've told you what I'm reading. Like most other YA readers I finished up The Hunger Games trilogy. I also read Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel. I really liked it. It has a bit of a different flavor and writing style than the Mortal Instruments trilogy. I'm excited to see what's next for Tessa. And in case you've read it and are wondering, I'm Team Jem. (Not what I would have expected.) I read Friend Is Not A Verb, Audrey Wait!, and Wild Roses in the mean time as well. I liked all three a lot. It was my first experience reading any of those authors which is sometimes a challenge for me. But seriously, I've really got to get better at updating Goodreads so I remember what all these books were about! I've just started my newest purchase, Zombies vs. Unicorns. I love it so far. The 2 shorts stories I have read were good, but the running commentary by the editors between the stories have made a great addition to the coll...

I adore the farmer's market. I love the fresh produce and the smell of baked goods. And oh my God the cheese! That's what the Dubuque one is missing. Where are the cheese stands? Walking around the square with my parents this morning was great. It was colder than we expected with the wind whipping around, but that didn't stop us. It was a very fall day. Cool, blustery, but cozy with family. I love actually recognizing so much of the produce. And now after watching so much Food Network I feel like I actually know how to prepare some of it. Just a great fall Saturday morning. :) Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

So you may remember I went to Memphis with a class a while ago. At the time I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting to get out if it. Even after I got back I wasn't totally convinced that it had been worth the stress and effort. I mean I had fun and enjoyed the sights but what was the real result? I think now I know. I've seen the class twice since we got back. What a difference! The students were really engaged. Not that they weren't last year, but there seemed to be more buy in. Students actually engaged with the digital archives and were genuinely excited about showing what they had found. And the second one was just as good. I'm seeing way more of the students outside of class. :) I'm so glad it's turned out well. Yay! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

It's been a super crazy week at work. Book sale, teaching classes, and desperately attempting to get enough sleep to function (or substituting caffeine). Sadly there was much caffeine substitution. But it's Friday night and I'm still kickin' so that's a good sign. Tonight I'm babysitting 2 little boys and an iPad. So clearly it is my civic duty to test out the iPad while I listen to the boys giggle while supposedly asleep in the next room. So without further adieu, the things I loved this week. Ok, so using a bulleted list on the iPad is going to be way too much work as I would have to hand code it (using a keyboard split up into 3 sections: letters, numbers and frequent symbols, and lesser used symbols) and I'll be honest I'm just not that dedicated to them to go through that. ;) I mean the apostrophes are a pain enough. Though with time I'm sure I could get used to it. Or find a browser or app that supports the compose mode on blogger. By now I...

Let me start by saying if you're going to visit Memphis, I'd recommend the Springhill Suites as a great place to stay. I adored the room (freaking huge), the bed was super comfy (I rarely sleep well away from home), and the staff (especially at the front desk) were the best around. But that's not what I wanted to blog about. What I really loved were the renovations they were doing. Walking into the front lobby was like walking into my dream color scheme. If I were on David Bromstad 's Color Splash and needed a place to go for color inspiration (Amy...you may be the only one reading who knows what I mean), this would be the place!! Here are some photos of the furniture. I took the pics with the camera on my phone on a sunny day, so the colors look washed out. That's a lime green and pale blue striped couch, with pillows of the same colors. And the chair is similar colors with a bit of brown for a punch. I was in love at first sight. And then I realized that the...

What a whirlwind so far! After a long drive Thursday, we finally made it to our stop in Missouri after 11pm. That night pretty much just involved crashing. And an early wake up call (we left before 8). Today started with an early drive and a first stop at the Civil Rights Museum. What an experience. The 30 min video you start with is really moving. Then after following your way through history you find yourself at the balcony where MLK died. Just intense. After that we did lunch on Beale Street. Ok about half of us did. Half the group ate at Rendezvous Barbeque. I had chicken and waffles at Miss Polly's. So yummy! Then it was off to Sun Records. What a cool little museum/tour. I got to stand in the same room where Johnny Cash, Elvis Pressley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and B.B. King recorded albums. And it's still a functioning recording studio. Who knew? After checking in at our gorgeous hotel, we did dinner as a large group at Superior Barbeque. Oh man were those dry rubbe...

I figured if I was planning on blogging from the road duringmy trip I ought to test this out before I leave. :) It's going to be a long day of driving tomorrow. I'm realizing now that I haven't spent that nuch time in a car with other people in a while. I've done a 3 hour trip with Gretchen recently, but some how I think 8 plua hours with a bunch of college students is a totally different ballgame. Wish me luck! Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

If you've seen me or been following me online this week, you'll know that I had designated this weekend as "Indian food weekend." Ever since I watched Aarti Sequeria win The Next Food Network Star, I have been stoked to try some of her recipes. I've been DVRing all the episodes. I've learned from Melissa D'Arabian's show that DVR helps because I can use both the print recipe and the video to help me pull off the recipe. Especially when it involves skills or techniques I haven't done before. So early in the week I looked through her collection of recipes for a few that seemed up my alley. I ended up with the Sloppy Bombay Joes , Apple-Lime-Peanut Slaw , and the Ugly Duckling Salad . All were listed as easy, and I'd seen them made. Now I should preface this with the fact that I'm not well versed in Indian cuisine. I've had some before, but sadly it was most recently in Belfast over a year ago. I was excited to try some Indian flavors ...

I'm making Indian food tomorrow. I've been super excited watching Aarti Party on Food Network. Tomorrow's the day. I'm making 3 different dishes. I'm hoping to take pics of final products so I can post them tomorrow. Originally I was thinking today, but after spending a few hours scoring at the tournament, I was exhausted so I opted to head to my grandma's house to hang out with some of my immediate and extended family for a little while instead. Now I'm gonna head to bed and sleep in to recover from my long week at work :)

Sorry about the lack of a good TILT blog yesterday. Honestly I was planning to blog yesterday. That is until my phone decided to go heywire. After attempts to fix it Wednesday night, I figured it was time to buy a new one since I was due for a 2-year upgrade in less than a month anyway. So I did. Quickly became addicted and...well that's why you didn't get a post yesterday. Sorry. I'm only really thinking about the work week. If I did a TILT for the whole week since last Thursday it would be a mile long. I'm reserving the weekend as a wholly separate thing. If you want to know what I did Saturday, I've blogged about it already. But I don't want to go back and blog about the rest of it. It would be like tainting it with this week. :( I'm mental. I know. Onto the Things I love: my phone--After asking for advice and suggestions about phones, I ended up with the LG Ally. It's a smart phone (my first!) with both a touch screen and slide out QWERTY keyboa...

Spurred in part by Aarti's numerous flowers, my new hair coloring (a month ago), and my desire to accessorize, I found I had this desire to wear a flower in my hair. Amy and I scoured etsy for some cute ones. We found some beautiful ones that were way out of my price range, and the ones that were...I could easily make for less. So...I did. Somehow they've become a bit of a signature of mine. A coworker asked me last week where the flower was. "Wherever Becky is, there's a flower." So I'm embracing it, and this last weekend I added to the collection because Amy wanted to make some of her own. Here's the one I wore today. (With my messy 'sleep on wet hair treatment' curls!) This is the red flower ring I made. The bud was too small for a hair clip, and it totally matched my outfit today. (See sweater in the photo above.) And now for Christina, a sampling of the rest of my collection. The smaller sunflower in this next pic is probably one of my f...

Today has been fabulous food day. First we went to yum! Kitchen and Bakery . Amy had the grilled cheese, which looked totally delish; she confirms this. I got the Apple Walnut salad. The maple vinaigrette dressing was delectable. I wanted to lick the plate, or buy a bottle and put a straw in it. Gross I know, but trust me, exactly what you'd think too! Then the shopping began. We hit two kid's book stores: Wild Rumpus and Red Balloon Bookshop . And apparently I'm still in spendy mode. (Sort of a dangerous place for me to be.) I ended up with 5 new young adult books. Because clearly I need more books to read. (I've got Clockwork Angel sitting at my apartment waiting for me to save it from it's Amazon box too.) In case you're wondering what I bought (because you know you are), I'll list them below. Audrey, Wait! ---by Robin Benway Life after genius ---by M. Ann Jacoby Friend is not a verb ---by Daniel Ehrenhaft Love is the higher law ---by David Levith...

I am now the proud owner of an autographed copy of "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks." Amy is the bestest. I'll post a picture later when I'm not too lazy to get up off the couch to grab my camera. Yep. It's one of those days. Too tired to move. I think it's the 5 hours in a car and the 3 classes I taught today. However, the promise of a weekend with Amy (and Gretchen...on Sunday) makes it all worth it!!!

I love quotes. Movie quotes, book quotes, funny quotes, inspirational quotes. Doesn't matter. My friend and I used to publish a weekly newsletter in college that we spiced up with famous quotes. Most weeks we spent more time digging through her quotations dictionary looking for the perfect quote to complement our writing than we did on the writing itself. Then there were those weeks where we found the perfect quote first, and then wrote stuff to fit it. I can only begin to imagine how much fun we could have had if Quotables had been around back then! My BEDA buddy Nicola introduced me. And boy was it love at first site (pun, as always, intended)! It's a fun, super easy to use quote database. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I couldn't just Google them. Well, I could. But it wouldn't be nearly as fun. And I can submit my own favorite quotes and love ones I find, and collect them and share them. It's like a social network for quotes!! How can it be bad? (A...

...and I just got home 10 minutes ago. I did not think I would stay at the festival that long. Nor did I think I'd be going out afterwards. And I really didn't think I'd hit a second bar. And that is how the 8 month streak of posting 3 times a week has ended. I'm late by 3 hours, but I think, just for tonight, I will give myself a reprieve. I've been up since 7am, which for those of you still counting is 20 hours straight. Coming off a heinously long week, 20 hours is a mountain. A mountain I survived and dare I say conquered. And with that, I should take my leave and head to bed.

Ok, so Mockingjay showed up today. It was sitting by my door when I got home. I was torn. I hadn't quite finished The Hunger Games on audio yet. I'd originally downloaded it when I thought my copy wouldn't show up til Aug 31, and I would have time to listen to it and read Catching Fire. However, now that I have Mockingjay in my posession I really want to read it. But I think I've decided to be good and follow through on the original plan. I finished Hunger Games tonight, and started Catching Fire. I know that I could probably just pick up Mockingjay and be ok, but I've only read the others once, and I'd forgotten quite a few details of Hunger Games. I think in the end I'll be glad I reread them both, but until then I may have to put Mockingjay back in the box and put it away until I can tear through the rest of Catching Fire! Because right now it is sitting on the arm of my couch staring at me. I never should have opened that box!!

I have spent approx 20 hours of the week so far in meetings. The week has dragged on and yet at the same time I look back and feel like I didn't accomplish as much as I hoped. But I'm getting there. faculty- I love the library staff, but sometimes I forget how much I can enjoy the faculty. After 2 years I'm finally feeling like I know a good majority of them well enough to walk up to them and have a conversation. The conversations, jokes, note passing, bakery samples, and playing 'problem child' made the 20 hours of meetings palatable. Also.. sometimes I forget how much fun they are. I spent quite a bit of Wednesday evening laughing during the faculty picnic. faculty meetings- I love faculty meetings. No, that's a lie. I love the results of faculty meetings. I love hanging w/ faculty peeps. And I love that this year the new format has been productive for us.  The librarians did some presentations and we've been rolling in the new class sessions since then...

Yay, Sarah is just a few minutes away from Dubuque. I haven't seen her in 2 years! I'm so excited she's coming to play for the weekend. Thus I won't be around here or twitter much til Monday :) Here's the last time I saw her at Katie's wedding. Here's a classic pic of the two of us hanging out at then-Congressman Leach's house.

If you haven't read them, go find parts one , two , three , and four before you read this :) When she first moved out to the city to join Jaime, she'd insisted they find a little park to call their own. Growing up, her backyard had backed up into a quiet neighborhood park. She had thought of it as her little place. Not like Terabithia or anything but just somewhere she could go to be herself. Her mom would pack picnics and Beth would tromp out to the biggest tree in the park and sit in the shade on her little blanket and play outside for hours. She read aloud to herself, told herself stories from all sorts of imagined worlds, but mostly she sat on the swings and sang to herself. Looking back she knew this was probably not normal. there was always some sort of narrative or soundtrack running through her head. She just had to let it out. Jaime had been the first person who wasn't a realative that she let into that little world. In high school they'd spent hours at ...

Wow. I haven't done a things I love Thursday post in almost a month. Time to revive that one. I've had lots of things to love this week. students coming back- I dread the first week of class because I am so behind and not ready to start my teaching/instruction sessions, but I love that the students are coming back. It's been a bit of a slow trickle so far this month, but this week a bigger rush of my "library buddies" are back. It's fun to see them each stop by the office to say hi, check in, and tell me about their summer. Yay for my office not feeling so quiet anymore! long email chains- I love email, but I'm usually much more of a chat person. This week however there are at least 7 email chains of 6 or more messages in my inbox, ranging from other faculty, coworkers, colleagues, grad school friends, and college buddies. Sometimes I forget how much fun email tag can be. I'm all for instant gratification, but sometimes the messages are worth the wa...

I've been hanging with the family this weekend. Manda and I came home to celebrate my parents' anniversary a month early. (I'll be babysitting my cousins' kids while they attend a wedding that weekend.) We decided to catalog and organize our parents' home library. So far we've gotten a good chunk of it done, about 400 books. We've got another 100 or so upstairs, and then the bookcase downstairs. It's been a lot of fun. Mom and I also rummage saled this morning. I found so many cute clothes. I'm convinced Janesville is the mecca of garage sales. I bought mostly clothes, but I did find a few other things...a series of books, a picture frame, and a Christmas tree. For dinner, we went to a new Japanese hibachi grill place. We love the one in Rockford so we were hoping this would be comparable. I was thrilled! The scallops I had just melted in my mouth. I don't think I've had scallops better than this before. So yummy! Everyone else's food...

I promise I'm not actually neglecting this blog. It's been a busy week of news, meetings, happenings, and infomerical skits. I've been a little distracted to say the least. Plus it has been super hot here. I don't know about you, but when it's hot enough to warrant a heat advisory overnight, I have very little motivation to do anything but lay motionless on the couch. :) So for all of you dealing with the oppressive heat this week, I thought I would share a little piece I wrote last week about a freezing ice-covered morning from the winter of 2008 in Madison. Enjoy. jitters getting ready. questioning the outfit, already vetted twice with her roommate the night before. a glance out the window confirms her worst fears. ice. no snow justice. she's a wisconsin girl with a damaged sense of winter driving. one incident in a ditch miles from home stays with her. she's secretly hoping the car won't start, but the promise to and of the boys eggs her on. they ...

If you haven't read them, go find parts one , two , and three before you read this :) "Ladies and gentlemen, on your left, we have the street corner where Queen Victoria's youngest son met his second wife." "Cole, he didn't have a second wife." "And on your left, the bridge destroyed in the filming for the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series." "It was that bridge, and that was CGI, you goof!" Beth started to realize she'd finally found a job that would put to use all those random facts she'd learned as a kid. She'd been a voracious reader as a kid and rarely forgot what she read. She wasn't a prodigy or anything. Though Jaime had loved to call her that when the three of them played trivia at the local bar. Jaime was good for all the science-y things as Beth called them. The med school had to be good for something Cole joked. Beth covered pop culture, history, and literature. Cole covered, well..., ...

I'm really glad I posted a lot early on this week. I'm currently sitting at Panera with a coffee using their wireless since I'm having internet issues at home again. Of course it's a different issue than I've seen before. The wireless router seems to be working fine, but the modem is only giving me one flashing light. I'll probably try and tackle it for real tomorrow afternoon. So in the mean time, I sort of cheated on my no fast food/Panera plan. :(  Just a coffee and a bagel. That's mostly the internet issue. Not knowing where other than here and my fave coffee shop have internet sort of limited my options. I figured since tomorrow's Sunday and it is part of my routine that 2 days in a row seemed a little odd, so I ended up here. Though it does feel a little like cheating on my indie coffee shop. ;) I figure I should also find some time to write today before I head out to the wedding reception. I'm not sure when I'll get home tonight, so writ...

inspired by my sunday morning coffee shop visit: she walked into the coffee shop, heels in one hand, a few dollar bills and a crumpled piece of paper in the other.short black dress, a-line with a tie to the back. medium brown curls half way down her back. she was new. not one of the regulars. she stood a moment at the counter waiting for the barista to return from the back room. at first she escaped the group's notice, but soon many of the rest of the coffee shop patrons were glancing her way. attemtping not to stare, but curious to figure out her story. from the back she looked about 19, maybe 20. the "young professional" behind the laptop thought she looked a little odd in the setting. she looked a bit like she was headed to a meeting though sunday seemed a little odd for that. maybe that's why she was carrying the shoes. the older couple awaiting their friends thought she might be headed to party. it was a nice afternoon for a gradation party they murmured ...

Or..what I've now decided I will shorten as 15MDA. Autumn sent me an email with a link to Laurie Halse Anderson's blog . Her post today outlines the idea of doing a different kind of writing challenge for August. Instead of blogging everyday, she's challenged her readers to write for 15 minutes a day. I really like this idea. For a month in college, I did a similar project. I was in an advance writing class that required us to write for a specific amount of time each day. We started out with 15 minutest to start, and by the end of the month, we were up to 3 hours a day. At the beginning of the month, I thought it would kill me, but the gradual increase helped a lot! I'm hoping that this project will prove just as easy to conquer. I probably won't post what I write every day, but every time I post, I'll update you on how long I wrote and when I wrote, and what I was working on. That's a promise. Now...I just need you to help me keep to it!!

You can find parts one and two here, or by clicking the short story link at the bottom of this post. Jaime had gone away to college at his dad's alma mater in state. Beth headed five hours west to a small private college in the middle of nowhere Iowa. They never once questioned that it was the right thing to do. And unlike every other pre-college couple she knew, they made it. No wavering, no fights, no awkward jealousies. Beth knew she was the anomaly; the one unlike the others. Everyone had expected there to be issues with Cole and Jaime, but Beth knew better. Jaime loved and trusted her and contrary to all the rumors, there was never anything between her and Cole. Though the way she acted when he left didn't do much to quell those rumors. They were inseparable by the end of freshman year, so when Cole decided to spend a semester abroad in London senior year, Beth was a bit heartbroken. She knew it was an amazing opportunity, and something he would remember forever, but a...

At the beginning of the year, I set a resolution to blog 3 times a week. I set resolutions every year but I rarely keep up with them beyond March. But here it is July 31 and I've managed to stay true to it. I think part of it is knowing it's public. Not that any of you out there are going to call me out on it, but I think just the simple fact there is someone else out there expecting it really does help. Another thing I've managed to do since January is not buy any bread at the grocery store. I laughed when I got the bread cookbook for Christmas and it said it would change your life. I mean I didn't buy bread every week at the grocery store, but I also didn't eat a lot of bread because it would go bad before I could finish it. Now I eat bread all the time and bake it all myself. I've done some experimenting with the recipes I liked and can make a bunch of loaves I really like. Just ask my coworkers, they've gotten the good end of that deal too :) One thi...

i really loved amy's post this week. so i'm stealing the idea. things i learned thursday even at the age of 26, swinging on a swing set is fun. i got to the concert early tonight and figured i really ought to explore more of the park. i wandered further into the park than i had before and found a completely empty playground. the summer i spent in madison i used to go swing once every 2 or so at a cute little (underused) park. just a few minutes on a swing and a lot of problems seem less important or not so dire. even after spending an average of 150 hours standing in front of a class for the last 2 years. i still get nervous. we're planning a skit of an over-the-top informercial for orientation. in it, i will be playing the role of the student. and mostly i'm nervous to get up in front of students and play a role. i'm really starting to realize i'm jsut being myself when i teach. here's to hoping i can muster the courage to pull it off as over dramatic...

I can't tell you the last time I saw 2 movies in the theatres in one week. And not only that, but 2 movies I would be willing to see again in theatres. :) I saw Inception this weekend in Omaha with my friends. What a movie!! It's one where seeing it with a crowd of people at a theatre makes it a completely different experience. And one totally worth doing. It's not one of those movies where you can just show up and turn off your brain. You must engage and follow along, but the story is deserving of that attention. The amazing cast (Leo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotilliard) make the characters so real in what could easily have become a movie lost in it's own mystery. Go see it. The hype you've heard isn't hype, it's deserved praise. As for Despicable Me , I don't think I've laughed that hard at an animated movie since Up. Cute, hilarious, heartwarming, and just plain fun. The youngest girl is destined to become the new ...

I've got all sorts of things to love this week! euchre night- Last Saturday a bunch of us got together and played euchre and ate vegetarian food. Tres fun. Homemade pizza, salad, spicy cheese bread, brownies, and kolatches. There was some euchre playing, and those of us off the table played cribbage. Well I taught cribbage to those who didn't know. :) new Sunday routines- Last weekend I spent an hour at my fave independent coffee shop in Dubuque. Ok, my favorite that is open on Sundays. I've got 2 faves I flip back and forth between. Anyway, one hour writing at the coffee shop and an hour out at the park on the Mississippi. I was so productive and enjoyed it so much, I decided to do it again this weekend. I was rewarded with a familiar face behind the counter. I learned Saturday night (at euchre night) that I happened to know the son of the owners and that he was covering for his brother Sunday morning. I'll miss it this weekend thanks to something further down the l...

This has been a long time in the editing sorry. But here's day 2. Hope you enjoy! It involves tour buses, commentary, museums, and tired travelers. :)

If you missed part 1, you can find it here. untitled summer project #1 (cont.): Sometimes it was hard to believe they'd been friends for 8 years. Beth couldn't extract Cole from her life if she tried anymore. That's what made their current fight ? disagreement ? problem ? issue ? "Yeah, issue ," Beth thought, so disconcerting. Avoiding her at work was one thing, but brushing her off was another. Despite working together, they really didn't really see each other much during the day. Part of the occupational hazard of being tour guides. His parents hated the idea of their son not using his college degree to follow in the family business. They just couldn't see that Cole wasn't interested in being an accountant. "But why major in it then?" she'd asked. "Because it gives them hope that someday maybe I'll come to my senses and join them in their boring humdrum lives. Well that and I can put off telling them the truth for another...

Despite the ridiculous heat I've been baking up a storm. I made lemon and apple kolatches (separate, not together) and I baked up a batch of spicy cheese bread. I haven't made the bread quite like this before, so we'll see how it turns out. I feel like maybe I should taste test it before I take it to Euchre and Vegetarian food night. :) All I've got left for the food is to mix up the salad before I head out. It's one of my favorite salads. I don't really have a name for it, but it's got mandarin oranges, craisins, green onions, and salad mix. Usually I top it with candied almonds, but knowing someone's got a nut allergy, I'm going to swap them out for rice noodles. I do love cooking. I think it's time for me to find a few more new recipes to try out. :)