My Heart is Happier :)

I find my heart is just plain happier when I’m in the mountains of North Carolina.  There’s a legend that something special is buried deep below the mountains, causing visitors a feeling that can’t really be described, but can most definitely be felt.  I think it’s a feeling of a content heart.  That combined with the framily is bound to make one of the best Easters ever.  A slideshow to come shortly, but in the meantime a random assortment of ratings from the long weekend in Blowing Rock, NC.

THE PUPS: 8

I must say, I LOVE taking Dakota to the mountains.  He’s so good, that when I don’t have to worry about other dogs around I pretty much leave him off leash the entire time.  And he LOVES it.  Sticks right by me, but clearly loves the comparative freedom.  Plus, he’s up for anything, despite being a bit older.

Murph has also turned out to be quite the mountain dog.  While I still have to keep him on leash almost all the time (his nose is known to lead him far away at quick rates), his endurance is INSANE.  We took him on a six hour hike on Sunday to the highest peak on Grandfather mountain, and he was still pulling on the leash at the bottom.  Pretty impressive

All in all the three pups got along fabulously, minus a little humping, a little whining and some minor growling… overall a huge improvement

SATAN’S BALLS: 9

In the downtime between climbs/hikes, we hung out at our super chill cabin and enjoyed some delicious food.  My favorite had to be Laura’s homemade Satans Balls.  Made out of cake mix and icing, dipped in melted chocolate and then add sprinkles, they were HEAVEN.  Except for the fact that they were small and there were a lot.  Pretty sure I made myself sick off them on Saturday night.  Although that didn’t stop me from eating more for breakfast on Sunday morning…

CALLOWAY PEAK: 9.5

On Sunday Scott, Laura, Mazzi, Paul and I headed out to tackle Grandfather Mountain. After a couple side stops along the way, we finally found the entrance we wanted.  We hiked as a group for awhile, and about 2.5 miles in Laura, Paul and Mazzi headed back while Scott and I went on a search for the summit.

While it ultimately took about 3 1/2 hours to get to the peak, it was TOTALLY worth it.  The highest point on Grandfather Mountain, it provided a 360 view like none I’ve seen in a LONG time.  It was incredible.

-.5 for the snow/ice we encountered at the last steep pitch.  It resulted in several almost-falls, soaking wet/freezing feet (I was wearing my five-fingers) and a soaked/freezing butt (after deciding this was the safest way to descend).  However, we made it safely!

SUNRISE OVER PRICE LAKE: 10

This morning we decided to get up super early and hike to a lake about 2 miles away to check out the sunrise.  While we got a bit lost on the way there, luckily some nice folks on the Blue Ridge Parkway picked us up and brought us there.

Totally worth the early rise, both for the company and for the view.  Don’t get to see this very often…

THE COMPANY’S CLIMBING: 10!

We left Holloway Mountain with a lot to be proud of… Ben’s first time leading trad, Laura and Katie’s first outdoor ascent’s, Scott’s first climb outdoors with us, Liz’s first lead climb in the morning, and Jay, Paul, Mazzi and I looking better than ever.  Not much to complain about here

All in all another fabulous framily vacation.  Stay tuned for the movie- hopefully with audio this time!!!

North Carolina Weekend

While the past few weekends were exciting and full of visitors (first the parents, then DC friends, then the grandparents), it was kinda nice to be visitor-free this weekend.  I got a chance to clean my apartment, keep up with schoolwork, and feel okay taking on another quick job.

Plus, I got to enjoy North Carolina and the first real signs of spring

I started the weekend with a bunch of spring cleaning and schoolwork, but then headed to my very first women’s hockey game here in the Triangle.  I went to support my friend Lauren, and couldn’t help but crack up when I first saw her…

GOALIE GEAR: 6.5

-1: Super expensive

-1: Difficult to wash (I know this from all the stories I’ve heard about lugging it across town to a special laundromat that has machines big enough to fit it.)

-1: Walk like a penguin.

+3: It keeps you safe from the pretty dangerous, fast moving puck.

+3.5: It’s HILARIOUS.  I loved watching the goals try and move around on the ice with all this stuff on.  Maybe you have to see it…

DECEPTIVE RED MAN: 2

So it’s hard to tell from this picture, but Lauren’s team was lucky enough to sport NC State’s old uniforms.  So they rocked the white, black and red colors.  The other team, was blue.  That is, most of them.  There was one guy on the team (yup, they were playing an all guys team) who showed up in a red, white and black uniform.  RIDICULOUS.  How are they going to let you get on the ice and play with the opposite teams’ colors, in a sport where everyone’s vision is severely impaired by giant masks???  This should definitely be against the rules.

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt with 2 points, only hoping that he’s so poor this was literally the only outfit he could get donated.  Still don’t think it’s legit.

On the way to Wake Forest after the game I spotted this rooftop carrier…

WEIRD OLD-SCHOOL ROOFTOP CARRIER: 8

I’ve never seen anything like it, so I couldn’t resist taking a picture.  It has character, that’s for sure.  And the folks driving were young, so I picture this being a rooftop carrier passed through the family, having traveled all over the country 6 times.  For that, I love it.

-1: Pretty bulky, I can imagine making it difficult to store.

-1: It looks pretty heavy… would make me worry about the roof on a car that appears as old as the carrier.

NORTH CAROLINA SKIES: 10

Yes, I know I’ve rated this before.  And no, I don’t care.  Because I love North Carolina and our skies are the best in the world.

VALENTINE’S DAY: 7.5

Finally made it to Wake Forest where we decided to head back to Raleigh to see ‘Valentine’s Day’.  I’ve wanted to see this since, well, Valentine’s Day, and was happy that I finally made time.  It was exactly what I wanted

A bunch of celebrities participating in a bunch of different stories, Love Actually style, that always left you guessing what was going to happen next.  Plus, Ashton was the lead and he was so good in the role.  I just genuinely love that guy for seeming to be such a good person.

RUNNING WITH MURPH: 9

This earns a 9 almost entirely because of this:

The run part is good, and I’m actually enjoying it more recently (still -1 for knee pain), but the best part is when we get home and Murphy collapses and sleeps the day away.  LOVE. IT.

Sunday I hit up the wall in the morning, finished up some schoolwork in the afternoon, and headed to our framily dinner that night at Laura & Snook’s new place.

The birthday celebrating, framily time, singing and overall atmosphere were all great (per usual), however my favorite…

SNUGGLING WITH PRESTON: 10

I love cuddling with Murph (and Kota), but he’s a pretty stubborn, independent little guy, and doesn’t always go along with mandatory cuddle time.  Preston, however, was sleepy and just nuzzled right in.  I could move him around without worrying he would jump off my lap, and I must say it was the perfect cuddle session.

And now, a great start to the week, Molly and Jason are getting married!!!  After following them through all the drama of The Bachelor, two seasons ago, I’m SO excited to watch this big event!  Expect an update with full ratings tomorrow

Until then, just living for the tens!

Breakfast for Framily Dinner!

With the parents in town for the weekend, it was the perfect time for a big framily dinner   The theme= breakfast for dinner!

BREAKFAST FOR FAMILY DINNER: 9

As always, the company was perfect.  Laura, Snooky, Ben and Scott were the regulars, add in Taki, an old friend of Scott’s and a new friend of ours, Morgan, a friend from the climbing wall, Claudia, an old friend but new addition to the framily, and the parents, and you’ve got a great group

Taki and Scott preparing some goods.

Having a little fun with Dakota.

Dakota sporting one of my mom's homemade hats.

Scott, pretty excited about something.

Laura and Taki enjoying some good food.

Taki and me

Now let’s add in some incredible breakfast treats…

Whole wheat pancakes, with chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Claudia, baking away.

Claudia's DELICIOUS scones.

Snooky's Chicago-style eggs (burnt on the bottom with pepper)

Ben lighting his banana's foster on fire.

My plate full of deliciousness

-1: I was really hoping to play some euchre

Other than that a perfect night!  And an overall great weekend with the parents

Cleaning Projects and Cafeteria Food

CLEANING PROJECT: 8

This weekend I tackled and sort of finished up my aggressive room cleaning project.  After waiting to unpack, my suitcase did it for me, and exploded all over my floor

So I used this as a reason to completely clean out my larger-than-necessary closet.

Finished product:

And ended up with all this to give away!

-1: no matter how much I thoroughly clean things, it always seems like there’s another project waiting for me when I’m ‘done’ (my desk, filing cabinet, porch, etc.).  I never seem to have time to do all at once, therefore never feel completely good about the status of my apt/life.

-1: still have to steam-clean the carpets after the hambone incident.  Will be working on that this afternoon.

THIS WEEK’S FRAMILY DINNER: 10!

The theme tonight was ‘Cafeteria Lunch’.  Didn’t make for the healthiest options, but was certainly entertaining.  To be found were a mix of the following:

• Sloppy joes (some with beef, some with turkey)
• Tater tots
• Curly fries
• Canned corn
• Applesauce
• Baked apples
• Mac and Cheese
• Ice Cream sandwiches
• Drumstick ice cream desserts

Along with the good food was 14 awesome framily members and three puppies.  Glenn hosted for the first time which was awesome for two reasons.  Actually, I can think of three.

1) His house is adorable.  Very homey and cute.

2) We got to meet some of his friends from the neighborhood who were not only awesome, but also brought along some pretty incredible dogs (one of which has convinced me I want a Golden).

3) It meant Sarah joined us.  Glenn’s wife has come to several framily dinners, but is very busy and important as a college professor so often have to miss them.  That being said, she’s AWESOME and it’s always great when she gets to join

PLUS, since Laura and Snooky are moving soon they brought along some goodies for everyone to pick over!

And per usual, a group hug before everyone left…

I can’t wait to host soon, as I FINALLY got some dessert plates!  Well on my way to adulthood I’d say

Framily Thanksgiving!

While technically I hosted Thanksgiving last year, my mom was in town so a lot of the burden was taken on by her (basically, I did some of the cooking but didn’t quite tackle the turkey).  So, I decided that it was important, in my ongoing quest to become a ‘real’ adult, to give it another try.  So a couple weeks ago I announced to the framily that I would be hosting a Framily Thanksgiving, the Sunday before actual Thanksgiving.

THE TURKEY: 8

Luckily, I remembered to buy the turkey in time so it could defrost, and only had to use cold water to finish it off for about an hour on Sunday.  Following a lot of advice received from seasoned experts, I removed the giblets, washed it out, buttered it up and popped it in the oven.

5 hours later, out came a pretty beautiful turkey (if I do say so myself).  Overall I’d rate it an 8.  Lots of leftovers (mostly dark meat too, which is my fave), pretty moist and tasty, and timed perfectly.

-1 for the stuffing (despite everyone’s offers of homemade recipes, I decided to go with the box stuff).  Pretty tasty, but I couldn’t manage to find enough holes in the turkey to actually fit most of it.

-1 for the neck.  The directions clearly instruct you to remove the neck after the giblets, but if you don’t know a whole lot about the anatomy of a turkey, how the heck am I supposed to figure out what the neck is?  Scott found it as he was carving and was a bit confused.  Oops…  Always make new mistakes   I’ll be sure to get it out next time.

THE SPREAD: 9!

We sure do know how to pull out all the stops when it comes to framily dinners.  The spread last night included (but is not limited to), mini-queche appetizers, cheese, Krab and tuna dips, hummus, crackers of all kinds, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, a gravy mix (onion, mushroom and turkey gravy), stuffing, turkey, fresh vegetable soup and some delicious $.50 rolls from Kroger. For dessert we had incredible pumpkin brownie type treats, as well as homemade pumpkin cake from Laura.  Perfect amounts of everything to create that stuffed, miserable Thanksgiving feeling.

-1 because there was nothing with sweet potato in it- my all time favorite fall food!

THE COMPANY: 10!  Not only was the whole framily in attendance, but we also had some new guests.  Katie and Liz were awesome additions, plus the famous Will Bradley.  I’ve been working for him for a couple months now, and in addition to the work I’ve developed a new friend who I’ve been trying to convince to join us for some time now.  Despite my reminder call 5-minutes before dinner, he still found his way over to join us, which was enjoyed by everyone!

AFTER DINNER EUCHRE: 7

It should be a surprise to no one that dinner was followed by some incredible euchre.  And by incredible, I mean mediocre, ultimately non-victorious euchre.  Snooky and I kicked some butt during game 1, but unfortunately lost our lead there.  However, two folks “learned” how to play (hopefully providing us with more players in the future), and the deal was only stolen from my team once (and it wasn’t even from me!).

My game face:

Paul’s game face:

Jay and Scott ‘learning’ how to play euchre…

PAUL’S PHOTO SHOOT: 8

At one point the two dogs started cuddling and Jay reached for my camera.  I looked around to try and find it, and spotted Paul on the couch, pouting his lips, and posing for self-portraits 12-year-old girl style.  Apparently he forgot how dangerous it is to play around with the iPhone of someone who has a blog.  Results of the photo shoot: 8.  Poses 1 and 2 are awfully similar, and there’s no blue steel, but overall pretty entertaining.

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART: 9!

Snooky and I have long been in love with Total Eclipse of the Heart, by Bonnie Tyler.  We talk about it, we sing it, we theorize about the meaning of the video, and we seriously know how to rock out to it.  So when it came on the stereo last night you could say we were a bit excited.  This moment would have been a 10 were it not for my laryngitis, seriously preventing my best performance.  However, loving the photos Jay snapped.  Especially Paul’s face in the second one (click on it to enlarge for an even better view).  I’m a bit curious about what’s going on in the third…

Overall an incredible night.  So much so, I’d like to offer to cook the family turkey on Thursday.  Considering I am experienced and all…  until then, just living for the tens

Framily Vacation to the Mountains

What started as a trip out west (western North Carolina that is) for a climbing comp, quickly became a framily birthday celebration when Laura suggested renting a cabin and bringing the whole framily.  I’d say the vacation really began Thursday night with some Bub’s karaoke…

REDISCOVERING THE RATING CARDS: 10!  When Rate Your World first began, I made my very own, color coded, rating cards that were conveniently clipped on a ring for easy transport.  Almost all my ratings involved them, and the colors prevented any sort of skewing of ratings later.  I whipped out an old purse on Thursday night, and what did I find inside but the original rating cards.  THANK GOD!  I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them until I rediscovered them.

SUMMER NIGHTS: 8.  While Snooky rated Paul and my duet a 10 (both for performance and vocals), I had to average that out to get an 8 (cause let’s be honest, Paul didn’t hit the high note at the end and I didn’t hit a lot of notes).  But I will say, we knew almost all the words by heart so there was little use of the monitor and a whole lot of stage presence.  Well done us.

The next day we all packed up the cars and headed up to Black Mountain, an old favorite of mine from high school days of Youth & Government and the Conference on National Affairs, and one of Laura and Snooky’s favorite places.  We lucked out with a pretty incredible cabin.

OUR LOG CABIN: 9.  Set up with three bedrooms (two with big beds and one with bunk beds), a sweet kitchen with everything you need to cook/eat, a beautiful living room, game room downstairs (with foosball and air hockey), a hot tub and outdoor fire pit.  It is virtually brand new, beautiful and very ‘log cabiny’.  I’d say we lucked out.

-.5 for the hardwood floors.  It’s only .5 because I actually award .5 for the entertainment of chasing Murphy and watching him slide everywhere.  However, when Dakota got worked up by a dog he saw out the window, he started to rush down the stairs, quickly slipped (they were hardwood after all), and slid the entire way down the stairs, then faceplanted right into the wall.  I was super worried, and he looked scared out of his mind, but eventually got up and walked away with little damage (we found half of a toenail later which couldn’t have felt too good).  I tried to keep him on the rug in the living room the rest of the time.

LAURA’S PINK SNUGGIE: 7.  Warm and cozy, and pink, however I just can’t get over the fact that they’re basically just backwards robes.

LAURA’S PINK SNUGGIE ON JAY: 10.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

MY SICKNESS: 2

Doesn’t it always seem that the body allows you to get sick at the time when it knows you can most afford it?  I don’t find myself sick very often, but sure enough I woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat.  This quickly turned into a really sore throat, some serious stabbing headaches, and a fever.  Not ideal considering I’ve been looking forward to this vacation for awhile, but I did have some homemade soup, a hot tub, a snuggie and a comfy bed to help me heal.  Woke up the next day feeling 10 times better.

HOT TUB: 9.

I must say, while hot tubs sound good in theory, they’re INCREDIBLE in actuality.  Everything I imagined was true, and it was brilliant to arrive Friday night only to immediately all jump in the tub.  The next day after the comp, while suffering from some pretty serious headaches, it felt even better.  Right on the large porch of the cabin, it almost fit everyone (minus 1 since it was only a 4 seater technically, but we managed to get 6 in), and you could even see some stars.  If we were there in the winter and could play snow games like when I was a kid (who can jump out and run around the house the most times, or lay in the snow the longest) it might have been even more fun   There’s always next time!

LAURA’S BIRTHDAY CAKE: 7.

You can hardly go wrong with a funfetti cake topped with funfetti icing, however my decorations were somehow wrecked along the way.  The taste was delish (I’m not biased at all), but I wish the appearance were a little more beautiful.  However the ‘Birthday’ on the cake led to a pretty interesting singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ later that day…

REUNION WITH THE BLUE RIDGE CONFERENCE CENTER: 8

When I was in high school I was involved with a pretty awesome program called Youth & Government.  Similiar to Model UN, but simulating state governments instead, we convened once a year at the state capitol for a conference with students from all over Pennsylvania.  At the state conference, you then had an opportunity to apply to attend the National conference, where each state sends a select delegation.  That conference is called the Conference on National Affairs, and is held at an incredible conference center in the mountains of North Carolina.  I attended CONA my junior and senior years, and found it to be a truly incredible, life-changing experience for me as I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.  In fact, when I applied to Teach For America, a large reason I chose the Eastern North Carolina region was due to my fond memories of North Carolina at that conference.

So when I realized the conference center was about 10 minutes from where we were staying, I had to check it out.  The framily headed over on Sunday morning before rolling out, and I’m so glad I got a chance to see it again.  While not quite the same as while I was there before, the view was still beautiful, and it was great to share it with important people in my life.

The famous green rocking chairs.

MAGGIE THE MAGNET: 9.

During our stay in Asheville we happened to discover the strongest little magnet of all time, under Jay’s chair at the Woolworth’s diner counter.  Way too much fun was had with a magnet… that is until Jay started cutting her off from the camera (-1).

Where we found Maggie…

Jay using Maggie to hold his keys…

Maggie at Lee Hall…

Getting creative with Maggie…

Maggie slowing it down a little…

From there we hit the road home, stopping at Cracker Barrel for a delicious dinner on the way.

DINNER AT CRACKER BARREL: 9.

While never the healthiest option, there’s something about the incredible rocking chairs, the oversized meals, and the plethora of comfort foods that keep you coming back.  I enjoyed grilled chicken with mac ‘n cheese, mashed potatoes and corn.  Exactly what I was hoping for!

After we arrived back home, we ate some of the delicious leftovers (we came back with a cooler of food remaining) and enjoyed the Amazing Race as we began backwards planning our application video.  Stay tuned for the team of Laura and Janice taking on the race…

Until then, just living for the tens

My Happy Wagons

It is so nice to be home.

I’ve had a great time traveling, and it’s definitely taught me one big thing.  I wasn’t entirely sure before I left if I was still living in NC because it was the easy choice after having been here for the corps, or if it was because this is the best place for me.  One thing I’ve learned is that I LOVE North Carolina.  And more importantly, the incredible people here.  That being said, on to the happy wagons

I know I’ve talked before about the incredible book ‘Stargirl’ by Jerry Spinelli, but yet another treasure found there is Stargirl’s ‘happy wagon’.  It’s a small toy wagon she fills with pebbles, removing them for times she feels unhappy or upset, and adding pebbles when she’s happy.  It’s a constant gauge of her current happiness.  I have LOVED this idea as a great way to evaluate your life, and what needs to change to fill your ‘happy wagon’.  So, I’ve been on the hunt for a happy wagon for quite some time now, but surprisingly they’re rather hard to find.  But finally the day has come.  I found two antique wagons on eBay that are perfect, and they’ve just arrived.

SO, as of this evening several things added to the filling of my happy wagon.

The framily came over for our first dinner in a while, and I must say my heart genuinely smiled tonight more than it has in a long time.  These people are just good people, end of story. The theme was tomatoes, and we ended up having a delicious potluck.

Homemade, and store bought, salsa, fresh tomato and mozzerella, gizpacho (?), pasta with veggies, and a fabulous tomato soup cake.  That’s right, Lauren even found a way to sneak tomatoes into her dessert dish.  I’m loving it

Flowers from Paul and back-to-school gifts from Snook put it over the top, and overall this was the best welcome home night ever.  Not to mention it was proceeded by the classic Sunday morning climb and visit to Weaver Street.

Overall it was definitely a 9 night.  -1 because Laura couldn’t be with us   WE MISS YOU!