The Football Creed

Who doesn't love mud, sweat, grunts, and grass? Ladies and gentlemen, it's football season.

However, I often question if we're really "ladies" and "gentlemen" about the whole situation.

If every football fan adopted these simple rules, August - January would be the most fun months of the year.

Some may think I'm not a real football fan. I'm ok with that. Let's just be real. Don't hate. Follow these rules:


1. I will not call watching a football game on my couch "cardiovascular exercise." I will not say wings, mexican dip, and celery doused in ranch dressing fit my diet.

2. I will not merely live for game days but enjoy and make the most of every other day of the week.

3. I will not neglect my spouse. I will not neglect my children. I will act like an adult, practice self control, and set a good example of sportsmanship

4. I will not trash talk another team and conveniently forget the blunders of my own favorite team.

5. I will not think yelling suggestions at the TV does anything to help my favorite team win. I will not believe they lose only because they did not listen to my advice.

6. I recognize there is more to live for than football, and I will not let my team's losses make me moody, irritable, or fill me with teen angst for the rest of the of the week.

7. I will not wish physical harm or celebrate an injury on the other team. I will remember the players are real and feel pain just as much as I do.

8. I will work when at the office. I will not merely read stats, predictions, and team news while posting my own expert critiques on Facebook and Twitter.

9. I promise to remember I am not actually on the football team. They are not "my boys." I will not pretend to endure the training or practice those boys experience each week.

10. I realize salvation has nothing to do with the team someone cheers for and will not treat others as if it does.

Now that we're all on the same page, let's scream, cheer, yell. Let's paint our faces and wear our favorite school colors. Let's tailgate and meet new people. Let's build community and positive team spirit.

Let's enjoy some football.

Mushroom Pockets

An Apron

What is a mushroom pocket, you ask? Delicious goodness for dinner.
I got the idea from this dessert recipe. I fully intend on making the actual recipe one day. However, mushrooms did the trick.

- Heat oven to 400
- Thaw pastry sheet as directed
- Saute 1/2 diced onion in EVOO.
- Add 1/2 medium sized bell pepper, diced
- Cook until tender
- Add 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
- Spice with Oregano, Chili Powder, Salt, and Pepper
- Add 1/4 c. graded fontina cheese
- Cut pastry sheets into 6 even pieces
- Create an egg wash of 2 tbsp. water and 1 egg white
- Brush egg wash on edges of pastry
- Spoon mixture onto pastry, fold sides down
- Close pastry with forks and cut slits in the top
- Brush egg wash on the tops
- Cook for about 15 minutes, or until brown

Delicious.

Lets Be Honest

I have a love and hate relationship with glasses. I love how fashionable they are and how you can be geek chic these days. One of my dear friends confessed to wearing fake glasses frequently. I keep trying to convince Tyler he would look amazing in glasses and should immediately buy some. He has not given in quite yet. I love:

and

I have a collection of glasses I wear regularly. They are prescription. I've been wearing glasses since 4th grade. If you could only see the photos at my parents' house, you'd never read this blog again. 

However, I've come to love the style attached to wearing glasses.

But this week I hate them.

Due to being in a relatively new city, being lazy about finding an eye doctor, letting my prescription expire, and wearing my contacts until they turn my eyes red all day long, I am now bound to wearing glasses 24/7 if I want to be able to see. I usually wear contacts and only wear glasses when the mood strikes. Not this week - it's the glasses.

At first, I loved it. But I've found that anything you LOVE to do immediately becomes a chore when it's no longer an option. I've found all the reasons in the world to hate wearing glasses this week.

I hate:

-how my eyes feel tired after 7 hours of wearing them

-how the lenses fog up when I walk outside

-knowing I cannot go running in glasses (I've been putting contacts in only for my run and then removing them)

The list could probably go on, but I don't want to encourage being negative. I want to encourage being content. 

So this is an homage to my favorite glasses and how much of a necessity they've become instead of a fashion statement. I hope I can appreciate you once again.

2nd Grade - Here He Comes!

The morning began at 7:00 a.m. with this facial expression:

Wake Up!

Then we ate:

Granola, Almond Milk, and Fruit for E

Homemade Granola, Yogurt, and Fruit for Me

Ready for School:

Tyler and Ethan in his uniform

One Proud Momma:

The walk to school:

Second Grade Smiles:

An Awful Day with a Relaxing Finish

Friday is supposed to be the best day of the week, hands down. But each moment of the day yesterday did not comply with this standard.

It really started with my laziness on Thursday. It was Ethan's birthday so I shouldn't have to do any work, right? Well no, obviously. He was still on summer break but I took a momentary break from school as well. No harm done until the moment in the day when I realized I still had no one to watch him while I taught the next day. Panic Mode. I was very grateful to our friend, Jeremy, who stepped up and volunteered to have Ethan hang out with him for the morning. And Tyler lovingly took Ethan to work with him for a 2nd time this week.

So the morning wasn't too bad. I managed to get lunches made, packed, and Ethan dropped off in time to make it to class. However, I realized that in all my birthday celebration and cake making, I had forgotten to respond to my students' emails about rough drafts of their papers. So I did what I had to do:  admit I was wrong to my college freshmen, apologize, and promise to get to their emails on Saturday(sigh).

But things weren't over at CP: I didn't have enough planned for the class period. Those guys worked through my 2.5 hours of work in 1.5 hours. Another failed attempt on my part.

Yesterday was also the first day I taught at Greyfriar's Classical Academy. I was really excited/nervous and got there on time only to realize I had forgotten to print my syllabus and schedule for the students. Failed again. Thankfully, Mr. McGowan, my amazing boss and the Headmaster, printed them for me during class and dropped them off before we finished our intro class. I like my 10th graders. They're lively and funny. I have 9 boys and 2 girls. Let me repeat, 9 BOYS and 2 girls.

I walked out of class to realize I had locked the keys in my car [Insert scream].

Thankfully, a lovely friend, Chris Vaughn, called AAA for me and sat with me while we waited. I even got a Snickers and bottle of water. It makes me so sick how quickly the AAA people can break into the car - less than a minute - and all of the time I spent waiting. But Chris and I had good conversation. It was an encouraging moment in the midst of a hectic beast of a day.

I took Ethan to Columbia to meet his dad after all the craziness. We left late, of course, after the keys-in-car incident, and there was an accident on I-77. Traffic was not merciful, but I finally made it back home by 8 p.m.

Tyler, showing his sympathy and mercy towards his beaten-down wife, bought me a bottle of this wine from Trader Joe's. It was nice to relax, take a walk, have a glass of wine, and watch Tyler and his brother grill dinner for me at the end of the day.

I finally got my school work done today. The weekend will be a welcome rest.

Nashville - The Finale - The Farmer's Market

Family Photo at Farmer's Market

One of my Favorite places in Nashville was the farmer's market. It really was just a large food court, with a flea market and farmer's market located on the sides. I really loved it. We ended up eating at the food court twice and enjoying the walk through bicentennial park as well. When we got to bicentennial park, we met the cutest kitty. We would have given her a home (I'm sure LuLu would have loved sharing attention), but we had a 6 hour car ride, and our hotel didn't allow animals. We all were sad to leave her.

Shoe-String Tag

Kitteh

Up

It wouldn't have been a park experience without a tree climb. Ethan is a professional climber. It also wouldn't be a trip without Tyler taking some pictures with his artistic eye. I'm wearing my new headband from one of the Nashville Boot stores. Hooray for my hair being long enough for such a feat.


Bicentennial Park also had an amphitheater, which we explored. Ethan loves Uncle Jonathan!

When we got to the Farmer's Market, we found amazing restaurants and this cute cupcake place. The Sweet Stash was far from a disappointment. I'm thankful I don't eat lunch there everyday because I would need a cupcake after every meal. We all know that would be too much sugar and calories on my hips.

Ethan and Uncle Jonathan

Photo of Me by Tyler

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake

A Great Cupcake Place

Jamaicaway

My Goat Lunch

After seeing Jamaicaway on Food Network, we decided to eat there. My father-in-law is a huge Guy Fieri fan, and Guy visited Jamaicaway on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The owner, Ouida Bradshaw, said she didn't even know who Guy Fieri was until he walked in the door. She's definitely looking for authentic flavor and not fame.

I decided if I was going to eat meat, I would go big or go home, so I tried the curry goat. Yes, I ate goat. And it was good. I was really nervous it would make my stomach hurt, but it really didn't. I also got the cheesy mashed potatoes, plantains, and a johnny cake. All of it was delicious. The plantains were my favorite.

The farmer's market had a homey feel to it. Ethan found a cowboy hat, we ate good food, and enjoyed some unique Nashville times.

Ethan Turns Eight.

My doodle is 8 this morning, and I'm grateful for all of the happiness, pain, joy, tears, sleepless nights, hopes, worries, bike rides, wishes, plans, celebrations, time outs, friends, moves, dance parties, picnics, smoothies, delights, curiosities, tractor rides, wonders, discipline, and amazement of the last eight years.

I would experience nothing more or less in my life if I could go back.

Ethan has always been God's perfect plan for my life, and he is a joy to love, mother, and grow with daily.

I love you, sweet Ethan. Happy Birthday!

Ethan - 2-years-old - 2006

August 23, 2012 - 8 Years Old

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Scallop Squash

The squash

Until recently, I didn't even know a scallop squash existed. This was another of my farmer's market mystery vegetable buys. Once again, Tyler wasn't sure exactly what it was. But I searched online and found this website, here, with recipes for scallop squash. However, most of them had meat as an ingredient. This doesn't fly in our family, so I made up my own recipe. I found the squash were easy to work with and Tyler and I both loved the end result, especially the filling.

Cut and Cleaned Out

Prep the Squash
- Cut off the tops - horizontally
- Scoop out the insides and seeds
(these can be thrown away, composted, or cooked into spaghetti sauce or some other food)

The Filling

 Make the Stuffing 

 - Sautee 1/2 c. chopped onion in EVOO over medium heat

 - When onion is translucent, add 2 c. chopped fresh spinach until wilted

 - Season with Salt and Pepper

 - Take off heat

 - Add 1/4 c. goat cheese

 - Add 1 tbsp. raw sliced almonds

 - Mix together

 - Preheat the oven to 350

 - Stuff the squash with the spinach filling

 - Cook covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes

 - Take off the foil, and cook for 15 minutes

Finished Product - Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Squash

Let's Be Honest

Sometimes I like to hide from people.

Tyler and I go to a gathering, often with friends we already know, and he immediately makes his rounds, enjoys conversation, laughs, and communicates with others. Very often when I'm ready to leave, it will take us at least twenty minutes to exit because he has to tell everyone "It was great talking with you. See you later!" This is admirable of him. I respect this.

But I have such a hard time asserting myself. So we're at the gathering mentioned above, and Tyler has gone off into conversation and community. Meanwhile, I've found a corner with an open seat. I usually attempt to sit with one person I know. I sit with the one person and enjoy my drink, food, and some conversation with that one person. It may end up being two or three people by the end of the 2-hour period. It's rarely more than that.

I know it's just because I'm introverted and Tyler is extroverted. But sometimes, when we're out and about, I feel as though I'm rude or exclusive because I don't lean down the table and holler at the girl, already in the middle of a conversation, about what she's wearing or how well she played the guitar at church last week.

I'd rather just hide in my bubble of comfort and enjoy the few people around me. Maybe this is considered hiding. Maybe it's considered getting to know one person more deeply than I knew them before. Maybe it's just as admirable to give all my time and attention to one person rather than a couple minutes to every single person at the event. Or as many as humanly possible.

Both types of people are necessary at a big event. Extroverts make everyone feel welcome. Introverts connect deeply with another person.

I just need to make sure my motivation isn't to hide from other people. I need to make sure I don't leave without telling at least one person "bye." If my motivation really is to make a few lasting connections, I shouldn't feel guilty because I'm not extroverted.

But when I want to hide, I should stay home. End of story.

Some Nashville City Shots

Shelby Street Bridge

Broadway & 2nd

The Peanut Shop - The Arcade
We bought praline pecans here.
The bag broke. They spilled.
Ethan was the only one to try one.
Disappointment.

Cheekwood Plantation:
Art Museum, Home, and Botanical Garden

The Arcade
A hoppin' lunch place

Union Station Hotel - 4 Stars

The nicest hotel in Nashville.

We walked in the lobby.

It was beautiful.

Then we left.

Wall.
Country Music Hall of Fame.

I couldn't help but include this cutie.
Cow-Boy Superhero.

Nashville Part 2 of ?

Awesome Mug

Front Door 

We went to the Bang Bang Candy Company, next door to Antique Archeology, for some yummy home made marshmallows and peanut butter fudge. The candy was delicious and the service was even better. They gave us lots of local recommendations for food and fun. Too bad it was our last full day in Nashville.

The Marathon Motor Works building is part of a rejuvenation project in the Southeast part of town. Antique Archeology is also located in this building (store for American Pickers). It was a great experience.

Ready for His Marshmallow

Marshmallows and Peanut Butter Fudge

Marathon Motor Building - Home of Antique Archeology

Marathon Logo = Amazing

Another part of the trip was to visit the Parthenon. I had no clue of it's existence before we arrived on the scene. But it was neat, complete with a 42' statue of Athena. No big deal. We wandered around, looked through the museum and read all about the real Parthenon.

Parthenon - Nashville

42' Athena

Athena's Shield

Tyler in motion

Ceiling