Anticipating this film

Pop goes the 'Country'

Uncle Pen

Epice Designs Winter Scarves | Fashion Atlanta - DailyCandy

Epice Designs Winter Scarves | Fashion Atlanta - DailyCandy

Signs of the times...and times gone by

"Ebenezer Scrooge: Christmas is a very busy time for us, Mr. Cratchit. People preparing feasts, giving parties, spending the mortgage money on frivolities. One might say that December is the foreclosure season. Harvest time for the money-lenders."
The Muppets Christmas Carol

'A Luxuriously Bumpy Ride'

Seeing Australia was one of the most satisfying movie-going experiences I've had in quite some time...probably in the past three years at least. The word 'epic' comes to mind as you watch the long shots of cattle driven by the "rover" (Jackman). Some actors are hard to shake apart from the selves we know them as in tabloid trash and previous roles they've played, but Kidman and Jackman did not disappoint. In other, very non-technical terms; I bought it, I bought into the life I saw presented on the screen. For almost the 3hr. duration, i was somewhere else, absorbed in the suspension of disbelief.

Not only the stunning visual composition a la Luhrman, and the acting, but the narrative and the issues it takes to task were beautifully treated and challenged in all of their complexity...racism, imperialism, assimilation, gender roles, and war...yes, it's a very full film, but not over ambitious.

Then there is the whole intertextuality woven with the Wizard of Oz...so powerful and moving.

My favorite quote... "i sing you to me"...just watch and you'll see.


Click here for a review from Variety...then go see it for yourself!

Working girl blues. I've got them.

Looking forward to an upcoming vacation...no where exotic...just away. Maybe Winston, VA, or the quiet of my own backyard.

Delaney starts school next Monday, pre-K, that is. I'm nervous for her. Beginnings can be scary...but I have a feeling she will be just fine. This weekend I made her a felt jewelry/accessories set as a "going to school" present. Pretty neat that she will be attending in the same building i went to for kindergarten. Wonder if it smells the same? Wonder if she'll cry on her 1st day into her fingerpaint cherry trees? And if she does, she'll be just fine.

Tift Merritt plays the Opry Plaza before the Show begins.

Eye Spy...Dwight Schrute (below)
So this is what he does in the off-season...

Oh yes, ladies...it's HAL!

This was taken on our trip to Nashville, TN outside
the Grand Ole Opry House.

Greens, Greens, Greens...

I'm so excited to have just harvested my 2nd bag-ful of lettuce. This summer I decided to begin learning more about gardening by planting several things in containers. Banana pepper, radishes (from seed!), romaine lettuce, and, as of today, cilantro!

Mamaw's love of gardening has come down through my mama and passed to LeighAnna and I. I love the connectedness I feel with the land, the dirt, the plants. Our first lettuce picking or "harvest" was while LeighAnna and Luke were here and that was so nice to share with them. She showed me a neat way to dry the lettuce [without a salad spinner] so that the leaves are stored dry and last longer without rotting. I practiced this again today- after picking and rinsing the lettuce, each leaf was laid out on a kitchen towel and then rolled and patted to remove excess water. I thought this would crush the leaves, but to my surprise, the result is lovely fresh lettuce that is not crushed at all.

After this, I bagged up the greens...

...and enjoyed a wonderfully fresh sandwich of ham, munster cheese, mayo, and home-grown lettuce! Crunchy, lovely, and oh so rewarding! Yum!

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS Movie Trailer

Went to see this movie last night with Galen. First experiment with embedding video on here. Hope to right a review sometime tomorrow! Enjoy the preview...

Back to blogging...

It's been some time now since my last update on here, so I thought I would get back in the swing of things. I have been learning some new things by exploring Blogger for a website at work. Really enjoy the capacity to customize so many things and to add video especially. With family overseas, it makes me sorry that I haven't been more regular about posting. LeighAnna and Ben's blog keeps us UTD on their travels and adventures in life abroad and early parenthood with baby Luke. I'm looking forward to more posts from their recent trip(s).

Since I last wrote, LeighAnna and Luke have come for a visit to the states and returned for the remaining (brief) months of their stay in Italy. I can't wait to have them home!

Galen left today after a short visit between race weekends. He's heading for Dover, Delaware tomorrow and will be traveling by plane to the next 5 races...'on the road again'.

Work is going well and I'm finding my way, some days more than others. I think I like working with people in the community and the marketing aspects of my job the most right now. I still have to stop and think sometimes, "wow-I'm not in college or grad school anymore..." Sometimes I get nostalgic about the good ol' days of a semester calendar year, then again I enjoy the no-homework aspects of my day-to-day. Well, its after 5...so I'm off the clock and will be back soon with more to say.

I'm having trouble getting pictures to post on the blog today...so check back soon!

Easter Blessings!

Easter came early this year, and it was welcome as ever. I had a wonderful extra-long weekend with Good Friday off from work and a 'personal day' on Monday. Thursday evening was beautiful and as I was driving home, the sun struck the meadows behind Mamaw's house in such a wonderful way that I found myself, parking, grabbing my camera as quick as I could and scooting out for some shots of the cattle, the barns, and all things scenic in between.

Galen came for a nice visit and we enjoyed the weekend together. We had a very special Easter Sunday service and I was glad to be a part of the church choir this year singing a solo in the cantata. Didn't make it to the sunrise service at Hangingdog, but was very blessed by the Sunday school message and our church service. Mama and Mamaw wore beautiful orchid corsages that matched their Easter dresses. Sunday dinner at Grandma Allen's was a filling and fun time to catch up with everybody. Delaney was extra exuberant for the special day and loved the egg hunt by the creekside. Next year she will have her very own hunting companion with baby Luke coming home stateside! We are all looking forward to that! By then too, baby Morgan will perhaps be toddling around and ready for some fun with her cousins.

Monday morning was snowy and snuggly...a great way to start the week. By noon the roads were passable and all thought that the snow had gone its way for the season. So we headed toward Davis Creek and on to Tellico. Some trails were closed (needfully) but the main road is still passable. It was a great day to take a lazy drive with basically no fellow travelers on the mountain trails and the surprise return of snow as we made our return home. The pictures we took beautifully capture the remaining chill of winter and the promise of spring.

Weekend in the Smokies!

Last weekend (1.18-1.21), Galen and I took a great trip to visit the Wear's Valley/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg areas of TN. We had such a great time! We rented a very nice cabin @ The Preserve in Wear's Valley; somewhat of a distance from the hub-bub of the city and all...Wear's Valley is considered to be somewhat like Townsend, TN, "the quiet side of the Smokies." It was MLK Jr. weekend and lots of people had taken advantage of a 3-day weekend. Despite threat of 4" of snow and wintery mix, we ventured on over the mountains Friday after work. Disappointingly, we ended up with no snow but we did get to enjoy the bite of wintery temperatures, so at least it "felt" seasonal. While we were there we explored downtown Sevierville, took in a movie there on Friday night; on Saturday we busted Gatlinburg wide open, visiting the Ripley's aquarium, the Pigeon Forge "mall", had a great dinner at a cozy (American) Italian restaurant on the parkway, toured the Ripley's Museum, a few typical novelty stores, and finished the night off like the 2 young kids that we are...at the ARCADE! Haha! It was so fun to come out on the street and see no traffic filling the road as is most often the case...a vacant road is rare indeed in Gatlinburg...but we shut it down! They leave the Christmas lights up through the end of February, so I got some really great pics of the street lights...especially from the bridge. Sunday we awoke to a power outage...so what were we to do...but head for Bob Evans for a warm breakfast and hope for the best. From there we shopped around the Christmas shoppe next door and then toured the Floyd Garrett Classic Car Museum in Sevierville! We had such a great time and took some really fun (and beautiful) photos. Hope you enjoy them!

Until next time...

First Blog Day!

Hello everyone! Here we are in the middle of January 2008, and I thought it would be a nice time to start a 'blog' of my own. A little place on the web where, you, my friends and family, can stop by and see what I may have been up to lately or perhaps what is on my mind. Photos will also be a staple of the site and hopefully even some video quite soon!

Tomorrow I will have been with the NC Cooperative Extension in Cherokee County, NC for 3 months. It has been an exciting and interesting window on the post-graduate "world of work." Each day brings new and diverse opportunities for me to be a part of Extension's mission, which is to provide the resources and research-based information to the general population of North Carolinians through non-formal educational opportunities.

One of my greatest phobias about work prior to beginning with Extension was the fear of being stuck in an office and having a monotonous schedule. There are days of desk work with Extension, but so far I have found that I will get to enjoy the spice of variety in my time here. One day I'm helping with nutrition and fitness programs at the Senior Center and the next I'm in the great outdoors getting to learn about measuring the "fall" of a stream to determine its fitness for a hydro-electric power system in rural Graham county, or even doing a Gingerbread workshop with youth in the Texana community!

I'm really enjoying the marketing component of my job, too. I work on updating our website, crafting informational publications, display boards, and in the near future, there is talk of perhaps some radio psa's. God has blessed me in so many ways, many of which I probably haven't taken notice of just yet. I am thankful for the opportunity to return to the place and people that raised me, taught me, inspired me, and loved me all along the way...and getting to make a difference in their lives and in our community is a reward in itself.