domesticity and such things

after aproximately one week in our new lifestyle, life at "the go" we are happily cooking dinner.  making the three roomies of "the go" both domestic and desirable.  as you can see in the following pictures, that my roomate Beth, also known as "beef" is quite the cook.  she does not get her nick name from only her good looks-- no, instead, it is because she is a fabulous chef.  beef. she is the new chicken. 

first let me show you around the kitchen. please make yourself at home.

muffins!

Muffins we made, blueberry.  Also a snickerdoodle candle that smells like cookies just came out of the oven! beef's birthday present to me!

also, hartress brought nice bottles of some sort from home.  good decoration from hobby lobby, along with the biggest twinkle lights known to man, one of which i accidentally broke while hanging by the mantle.  oops!

beef making the chicken.  caption entitled "i have never touched raw meat before."

my pasta pot, entitled "a watched pot never boils...or does it?"

finished product! crunchy noodle salad, pasta & parmesan cheese, and chicken

fin.

And that's all she ate, folks.  more blogging from the grand ole "go" soon enough!

SNOW day

today was a snow day, which never to rarely happens in the sunny south.  i took some pictures in honor of allthatjoyful hart, because she is not around to enjoy the snow and i thought she would appreciate it espeically because of a song she loaned to me. "The Last Snowfall" by Vienna Teng--a beautiful song!

If this were the last snowfall

No more halos on evergreen
If this were the last glimpse of winter
What would these eyes see?

If this were the last slow curling
Of your fingers in my palm
If this were the last I felt you breathing
How would I carry on?


This is not the last snowfall
Not our last embrace
But if I were that kind of grateful
What would I try to say?

i hope that i never grow too old for snowflakes.

Snow day means no school.
Snow day means being lazy and not regretting it.
Snow day means all bets are off.
Snow day means a holiday, a break, a miracle.
Snow day means snowballs and hot chocolate.
Snow day means soup galore.
Snow day means too much sibling time.
Snow day means fireplaces.
Snow day means pictures in the snow.
Snow angels.
Snowball fights.
Snow day means being a kid.

im not gonna write you a love song

but i will write you a letter.

writing letters is a lost art that is well, under-rated. I sent thank you notes yesterday to my fiance's family, because they were unduely sweet to me this christmas. and i felt like i owed them some thanks. i gave them home made spice tea, in a spice-tea family set. they were cute jars i found at HOBBY LOBBY, which is my version of heaven. (Dicks sporting gooods is my opposite idea of fun...) at any rate, i owed them some thanks. i put them in the mail two days ago, which means most likely they will get them in the mail today. am i a bad person for being extremely excited about this?? knowing that they will open their mailbox and find a letter from me, well, that is just something worth waking up for.

here is a good thought from a book that i just finished, *The Shack* by WM Paul Young. there were many good thoughts in this book and i did enjoy it! the thing about fiction is, that it is true without having happened. as the author points out in the afterword, something can be TRUE without being true. hmm think about it!

"...if anything matters then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomoplished and nothing will ever be the same again." pg 235

love from your dedicated letter writer.

Wonderful Christmas

This is my cup of coffee that I have every morning after my run. That may seem counterproductive to you but it is oh so worth it to me. Whip cream and chocolate atop black-as-sin coffee that only my mother can brew. It is Community, but when I say black I mean black.

This is Colleen at the Christmas Eve Dinner table. Notice the paper snowflakes on the window, made by my other sister Amy. Notice Colleen's beautiful curly hair, the hair I wish I had but do not have but that's okay. The menu? Our traditional: popcorn chicken, oreo pie, spinach dip, hawaiian sweet bread, Christmas cookies and cringle cake. Oh ya, notice the palm tree in the corner. My dad wishes we lived on the beach.

A button bouquet--made by me for Crafty Christmas. A tradition we started this year. Only made presents for friend gifts. I thought this turned out quite nicely. Kind of dr. Seuss mixed with Martha Stewart. Perfect for my quirky and cute Elena friend!

All these things made a wonderful Christmas. I wish I had gotten a picture of the Crafty Christmas present I recieved from Laura. It is a Christmas memory book for Kurt and I! I can't wait to use it next Christmas!! I also was so blessed and had an ornament shower thrown for me by Hart and Beth at the DG house. I can't wait for Christmas 2010. But Christmas 2009 was so special. If only I had gotten a post Christmas morning picture at my house. Can we say wrappng paper EVERYWHERE?

i might use it someday...

an old mirror
(the glass would be very cute broken and used on a canvas. i have seen it done a couple times!)
glass beads from a broken necklace
(i might want to put that necklace back together someday! or maybe super glue those beads somewhere handy...canvases, bows on christmas presents, wired picture frames?)
"notes" from the 11th grade
(11th grade was my favorite year of hs and you just never know when you might want to reread some of those, some of the funniest things are said while passing notes in class)
a card from my grandfather, attached to flowers that have long since gone to flower-heaven
(his handwriting makes me happy)
a scarf someone knit me a long time ago. it is fraying
(they worked really hard on knitting it. and i might be able to turn it into a "bow tie" scarf.
http://ny-image0.etsy.com//il_fullxfull.107283424.jpg check it out!
a fourth of july scrunchie
(everyone needs quality fourth of july gear at least once a year, and someitmes twice a year!)
friendship bracelet string
(its a fun activity for lecture classes that require little to no attention. too bad i have none of those. i do have the string though!)
a collection of ballerina bears
(could you throw out ballerina bears? what if i someday have a girl child who desperately wants ballerina bears? what if their stuffed pink little shoes are worth happy smiles someday? plus, my mom gave them to me-and here they still sit. after many years...okay i admit, they are not useful...just sentimental.)
countless practically empty perfume bottles
(good smells remind me of good times, some of these smells and memories are very specific. if i get rid of the scent, the memory might be gone too.)

there you have it. confessions of a true, self diagnosed, wouldntchangefortheworld pack-rat. actually i prefer the term memory&meaning conscious.

in with the old out with the new

Needless to say, I have never been a huge fan of change. Now I know how necessary it is. I know that nothing can ever "stay the same..." Just the same, I love things that are as for sure as death and taxes. Now, since that sounds a little morbid-please let me redeem myself! I am coming to this dislove of change not for the first time.

It happens to me each year, around exams, and I am invariably moving out of a room and into another. Being the nester that I am, this move always happens and then I am left studying in a very anti-cozy room. Here I am again, (see some things never change) trying to make the most of my empty room. So, why not nest a little on my blog space? How about I go through some of my favorite things--and we will both feel a little more at home. In no particular order.


1. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"-Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis makes me cry, but it is very beautiful and never fails to bring back good Christmas memories.

2. While we are on the oldies kick, how about his video clip? I think it epitomizes that phrase, that I find to be true of so many of my loved ones: "you can't live with them and you can't live without them." But I really can't live without them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb-G07i35eE

3. Caramel popcorn, and any popcorn for that matter. I think there are four basic food groups: coffee, popcorn, bagels, and cream cheese. I love them all, but coffee-above all else.


4. The smell of a cinammon candle at Christmas time, burning leaves in the fall, spring rain hitting the pavement and summer camp smells and twinkle lights all year round.


5. Aveeno Stress-Free Body Wash
Even Though it doesn't make your stress disappear, it smells very clean and puts me in a good mood.
6. Rocking Chairs



7. Reading in bed. Right now my favorite books is On Agate Hill by Lee Smith, which I would recommend to romance readers, Civil War readers, Southern readers, and mystery readers.

8. Online Plate Shopping. My favorite reaction to my plate shopping is Kurt being very concerned that he will not be able to fit enough food on small "girl plates." These are definitely girl plates-but I really love them.




love to all- and more to come. maybe you feel a little more at home!
emily

pictures from a grove-worthy weekend!

This past weekend was the hallowed Ole Miss v LSU game and I had a wonderful time! It was the last game of my senior year--where has the time gone? Please tell me! Good memories spent in that stadium, some better than others. I could stand to forget a few games, but win or lose--you have to love those rebels. I put the captions below the pictures, so don't get confused.

Me and the fiance at the game. He was happy the rebels won-I was happy he was happy. good night!

Hart, Emily and Laura at the game


at the tent enjoying mrs. kathy's food