it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

It's official! The turkey has been carved and Santa Claus came to visit us! Christmas time is here and I am ready!

give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving to you! I am stuffed to the rafters with t-giving day food and enjoying the company of family. Today we got to go to Lover's Oak. It's this ridiculously huge oak tree that was apparently here even back when our constitution was signed. So we took some pictures in that old tree (whilst enjoying the warm Georgia weather).
And we love our friends RK and Sam. Yesterday we got to hang out at my aunt & uncle's new home. It's fancy.
I am thankful today (and always) for so many things. Like having so many good friends out there, a great family a great husband and a great God. AND for my new dining room chairs that my Auntie Lo gave me today. YESSS!

georgia, on my mind

There are a lot of people in the great state of Georgia whom I love... many of which (although unfortunately not all of which) are in a little southern town named Brunswick. Tomorrow we will head out on our 12 hour drive to spend our Thanksgiving in GA. I am very excited. First of all because of the ones I love and miss, and secondly and only slightly less importantly because of the 60+ degree weather that awaits me! Oh, sweet relief from this cold! For now, I've got to go pack- see you in Georgia!

seven just isn't enough...

So apparently I have been blog-tagged. Didn't know that was real-- but it happened to me! So I will comply, even though my tagger was skeptical of me! (Just because I don't respond to chain emails that promise something good will happen to me if I send it to 20 people... doesn't mean I can't handle a blog-tag).

So, "tag you're it" in this case means, I am to list seven of the quirkiest things that make me who I am. (Just seven... hence the title of this blog). And it has been fun to read the quirks of others in this game of cat and mouse. So here you have it, my quirks, according to me...

1. I clean my bathroom every night. It is the only way to have a truly clean bathroom, in my anal retentive opinion. I do a deeper clean of the floor and shower only once weekly, but I clean the sink, mirror and toilet each night. I don't know how I got this way but it makes for a squeaky clean bathroom each morning!

2. I don't eat french fry ends. But only one of the ends. I think it started when I was a kid, I didn't like to eat the end I touch. I hide them somewhere on my plate, hoping no one will notice. When I went to Germany years ago, the fast food places gave you a mini two-prong fork to eat fries with. THAT was the best thing ever, no touching of fry ends!

3. When the milk is down to half a gallon, I assume it has gone bad. Because my husband is normal, I don't throw it away at this point, but I always get really nervous about drinking it. When the milk is as low as a half gallon I pour it into my cereal bowl first and sniff it to make sure it isn't sour, and then I add the cereal. It's not that it's even close to the expiration date, it just makes me really nervous.

4. I am a syndicated sitcom junkie. I like keeping up with The Office, but other than that I don't really follow TV shows. However, I sure do get my fill of sitcom re-runs. Some afternoons I catch Home Improvement, and in the evenings I flip between King of Queens, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond. Lame comedy and an easy-to-follow plot, count me in!

5. I kind of hate meat. I will eat very white chicken, and even white meat turkey sometimes, but I don't even really love that in large amounts. I am not a member of PETA (although I do buy my meat antibiotic free and my eggs from free-range chickens) but, I just don't, like it. Especially if it is meat on a bone- no thank you. I think it feels weird, looks weird, and tastes weird.

6. I fill awkward silence with a little thing I like to call, verbal vomit. I just like to communicate with people, and when I am thrown in a group with unfamiliar people that don't share my love for talking, I just keep talking, and talking, and talking, and... well you get the picture. I don't mean to be annoying (even though I am) but I just don't know how to act when there is silence amongst a group.

7. I chew ice, if ice is available. If ice is in my drink, I will eat it. I will be freezing, but I will keep eating it, until it's all gone, and then I get more. I love chewing ice- I know a lot of people do it, so maybe you can relate and not judge me too harshly for the other 6 weirdo quirks I have.

So there you have it! And now I guess it is my turn to tag...because I am curious to know your quirks- and please don't feel badly about totally ignoring my tag (especially if you are a busy mom)! But, Jess, Meg and cottage girl, tag you're it!

spring cleaning... in fall

Today I cleaned out my hotmail mailbox. And it was the best "cleaning" I have done in a long time. I decided today was the day...finally... because I opened a work-related email today that I realized I should have responded to like a week ago. How rude (of me). I am embarassed (yet slightly impressed) to admit to you that I had 1,932 emails stacked up in my inbox. And 444 of those were unread. I kid you not. Now that is ridiculous.

Why am I so disgustingly unorganized in this area of my life, you might ask? Well for one, this is my only email address so everything comes to my trusty emailtara@hotmail.com. Everything. And you know, if you buy something once online you get daily emails from that company. So, it has just gotten really hard to sort through the "junk" and the emails people actually are sending me that they may like me to read and respond to (like that work-related email that was a week old...) Not to mention, I don't delete anything. I don't know why, but I figure, someone took time to type up that email to me and I am going to keep it (kind of like how people keep cards I guess, but that is way more normal). But it has just become overwhelming, hence the reason I have let 444 emails go unread.

So today was the day. Now, I have 14 emails in my inbox and zero are unread. Let me tell you, I found a lot hiding in those1,932 emails. Many of them were the junk from, Pottery Barn, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (man they won't leave me alone, not that I don't want to continue to help the bay, but seriously), um, J. Crew (like I can ever afford them), Restoration Hardware (no idea how), Bed Bath & Beyond... stuff like that. Then there were like 15 pending friend requests for Facebook (which I tend to abandon more than my email even, so sorry if you were one of those 15 friends...), I had financial aid information from college, oh, an invite to my cousin's baby shower whose son is now over 2 years old, and catering contracts from our wedding. All stored up in my little inbox. Now, I commend hotmail for being able to hold so much... and yet I still had ample space! Amazing. But it was just time to part with all that virtual mail.

But it felt good, you know? I deleted it all. Every last one- oh, except for those 14 I told you are still in there. But a major improvement. And a really lame way to spend a Saturday afternoon...

learning to knit

This weekend my sweet friend was patient enough to teach me and two other craft-seeking friends how to knit. It took us all about 2 1/2 hours to get to the point where we "understood" how to do it. Whether or not any of us were able to knit well, is another story. I don't know exactly why I want to learn to knit. My aunt is a fabulous crochet-er and I have lovely scarves and blankets that she has been kind enough to give me (and I am looking to try and convince you to make me another blanket this winter, Carolyn). But Anyway, I guess I just kind of wanted a hobby. I don't really have any. No, really, I don't. When asked what it is I like to do, I find it hard to come up with an answer. I like being with people. Is that a hobby? I don't think so. Not to mention, Christmas is coming and it would be nice to knit a scarf for someone, perhaps. The thing is, I am not so sure this knitting thing is easy... or fun. I have watched people knit, and it looks so lovely, such a simple fluid motion. And let me tell you, my fingers are sore and my scarf is very short after my four hours of work yesterday. This "scarf" in my picture is just practice though, I am hoping better yarn will help. And, it did get easier as I practiced. I am even thinking that it will soon be enjoyable (maybe).

And then, I will have a hobby...

"What do you like to do in your spare time, do you have any hobbies?"

"I like to be with people. And knit. I love to knit."

a voice for the voiceless.

I like to post about things like friends, family, Christmas, flowers, finding a cure for breast cancer... you know, those kinds of things.
And I don't wanna talk politics. But I watched this woman's testimony and sobbed as I thought about the upcoming election, as I thought about God's great gift of life. Abortion, not to mention the thought of lifting the ban on partial birth abortion, makes my heart hurt. So, anyway, I just really felt compelled to encourage you to watch this 10 minute clip if you have the time. This woman survived an abortion.

here's to you, tom.

Happy November! Somehow, October is gone and now, it is November 1st. And this is where my sickness begins.

You see, I hate the first three to four months of the year because it is cold. Bitter cold with no purpose (because down by the bay, we are normally teased with a few snow flurries, rarely a good school-closing snow, in my opinion). Then comes the beauty of spring and summer. Warm weather, living trees & flowers, I will even take the frizzy hair in exchange for the warm sunshine. And, camp. Then September and October are so wonderful- I love to watch the leaves change, eat way too many apples, wear sweaters without a coat, and all things autumnal.

And then, there is this terrible waiting period I like to call, November. Because again, I have a sickness... I am slightly obsessed with Christmas, and this month is just in my way of the Christmas spirit! I love Christmas, I love that it is a season which constantly reminds me of my Savior's birth. I love the joy that many feel, and how that lends good reason to share with them the Joy of Christ! And yes, I also Love the tree, the lights, the busy malls, the reindeer, the snowmen... I listen to mostly only Christmas music (yes, really) and watch every Christmas movie I know. But, I also respect the Christmas season, and I refuse to celebrate before the day after Thanksgiving (black Friday, as it were).

And so, this is November, my waiting period. And this November, I will try to give Tom, the turkey of course, his due respect. This is his month (although, Tom the turkey may not like how this month ends for him). So here's to you Tom, you big ugly bird. I can't wait to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thank you, Pilgrims & American Indians.

And thank you for the day after Thanksgiving (aka Christmastime).