On the menu for (vegetarian) Easter dinner:

• deviled eggs
• sauteed garlic mushrooms
• roasted asparagus
• cheese grits
• scalloped sweet potatoes (would be vegan but I sprinkled some cheese on top)

The last two were in special Southern Hospitality honor of my dad and step mom who were here for a short visit. We had a wonderful few days of relaxing on the porch, playing card games, driving around town, walking around campus, sampling local cuisine, enjoying a fire in the backyard, and dying eggs for Easter. Here are some of our pride-and-joys:

After a 4.5 month hiatus, it is time to get this blog rolling again. Please forgive the growing pains as everything shifts into its new place. Regenerations can be tough.

In case you were interested, a quick recap since the last post: I ended up quitting nano because I started job shadowing, I began a full-time job in January, and this week marks the much needed spring break week where le husband and I are getting our lives back in order. Can that be done in a week, you might ask? Well, that’s all the time we have, so it better be enough.

But today is for relaxing :)

Good luck to all you nanowrimo-ers out there!

The cotton fields are being harvested now.
A couple of weeks ago we stopped to capture the scene.

Where has October gone?
I feel as though I blinked and missed it all.
(have I been saved from the library?)

Not much new to report. I interviewed for a teaching certification program – the same one that Aaron is currently in. I should hear back in 2-3 weeks.

I don’t think we are doing anything for Halloween, which is a bit disappointing. Didn’t get the motivation to make my costume because I didn’t think I’d be needing it. Haven’t even carved pumpkins yet! I hope to remedy that detail tonight.

I’ve been slowly prepping for my NaNoWriMo novel (much slower than I should be). I wanted to get rough chapters sketched out, but I haven’t even finished polishing off the characters. Only TWO MORE DAYS. Holy shenanigans!

So…I should probably get back to doing that.

Sunday we played a little Settlers of Catan with some MTC-ers after brunch. We then headed to a nearby lake to soak up some sun (our Vitamin D levels are gettin’ much too low), and it gave Aaron a chance to grade papers in a relaxed setting. It felt good to get a sunburn!

Yesterday we headed to Jackson, MS for the Mississippi State Fair. I have to say – it does not even compare to the Great Minnesota Get Together. Read: all fairs are not created equal. Sure, there was a Midway, lots of food stands, a small vendor area, and a clogging stage (well, also a talent show stage and a couple rows of 4H booths). But it was so much smaller, and it didn’t feel as permanent–no real buildings or streets criss-crossing. I didn’t sense a fair culture. The biscuit making booth wasn’t even open! I missed the art and education BUILDINGS of the MN fair. Also, I saw a lot of cowboy boots and, in general, people did seem to dress more nicely at the fair down here. As far as food went, we settled on roasted corn on the cob, sweet potato fries, and these lovely cupcakes. We also walked away with a new jar of local honey! I guess I can’t complain too much – admission and parking were free because it was a weekday, and the kid’s crafts & nature-related displays were awfully cute. There was also a petting zoo, and how can someone really resist fuzzy animals? (even if their tongues are slimy)

Today was even more relaxing. We stayed at home, Aaron made his infamous Bulbasaur cookies (a recipe he invented – it involves pumpkin and nuts, and chocolate if you like), watched some Dr. Who, and got ready for the rest of the week. I also received my copy of Maureen Johnson‘s The Name of the Star, and Aaron’s copy of Mason Jenning‘s Minnesota album came, as well. I love it when things [that aren't junk mail] come in the mail.

Hope your weekend was just as pleasant!

ps/
Thanks to Aaron for the top & bottom photo!

Happy Friday!
This week went by so fast…oh dear.
I need to start paying attention before the whole month is gone.

I took the camera for a stroll today in the yard. The weather was gorgeous, as it has been all week, and I found myself drawn over and over to all of the tiny acorns spotting the ground. It could be because I have gotten pelted by these little fiends multiple times this past week while sitting under the oak tree in a lawn chair. They are very interesting up close and so quintessentially Fall!

Speaking of Fall, isn’t it great? I can’t wait to check some more things off of our 2011 Fall Bucket List. Tomorrow Aaron has class on campus, and then we get to celebrate a four-day long weekend for his school’s Fall break. Huzzah! We hope to get out on a hike, at least, and maybe check out the MS State Fair before it closes. You can bet I’ll be bringing around the camera, whatever we do :)

Hope you are enjoying the season as much as I am. Happy weekend!

ps/
You can see all the autumn photos I have taken
thus far over at my Autumn in Mississippi set on Flickr. 

The best month is finally here! I found this on tumblr the other day and am making it our official fall intention list. Just reading it makes me so excited :)

It is officially fall, and while the leaves haven’t quite started changing colors, the overwhelming heat of summer has mostly passed, sending nice cool breezes in its stead. Tonight is homecoming at the high school, and I cannot wait to see that parade :)

Hope you enjoy this picture of our fruiting Magnolia tree out front,
and make the best of this weekend!

We did some chillaxin’ around the home: grilling veggie-burgers, sitting on the faux-porch, attending the high school football game, and receiving much-needed knot-busting shoulder massages from Aaron’s Mom. And we also hit up some tourist spots: the local famous steak house, a campus tour by Aaron around the university, and Graceland of course!

I like Elvis and all, but I’ve never been fanatical about him. I found it really interesting, then, to head over to the Graceland complex, which is complete with approximately 150 gift shops. This picture was taken just inside the door of his mansion. I love the peacock stained glass windows! Elvis definitely had a signature style, some of which I could get along with (big kitchen, pops of color, indoor fountains), and others that I could do without (ahem: the carpet in the jungle room). 

That small-town MS kid sure had a lot of trophies! Aaron and I were trying to figure out if one could actually play those gold records on the wall, and after doing extensive random research on the internet, it looks like those awards are random vinyl records dipped in metallic paint. You can play them with a special tip, but they don’t match the award they are representing. Huh.

It was touching to see the flowers and memorials by fans displayed around the yard. I found myself wondering why it is that we raise some so high as to worship any and every thing they touched, the ground they walked on, and the words with which they left us.

I also got to wondering about gravestones and what happens to the physical self after one passes. Coffin? Cremation? Raised stone, sculpture, plaque? Sometimes it can seem a bit pointless to immortalize a life in such a shrunken way, on the face of a tombstone, especially for a person that Great History probably will leave behind. I suppose, though, that any trace is better than no trace at all, and even the smallest trace can be tracked.

And as for ending on a high note, Elvis’ Pink Cadillac was pretty sweet. My favorite in the car museum was Priscilla’s Mercedes 280 SL Roadster. Not that I am really into cars. At all. Overall, the whole thing was a lot better than I was expecting (yay for not setting the bar too high!). That night we ate at a little Italian place in Memphis and then came home for some wine & peach pie to celebrate Aaron’s parent’s 30th wedding anniversary. The girls also played the guys in cribbage, and I think we’ll have to have a rematch come December, as we left the night tied 1-1.

It was wonderful to see some family in our new environment! I am really looking forward to going to MN for the holidays and getting to spend some time with everyone. Catching up with Aaron’s parents made the distance between MN and MS a bit more real, more expansive. We were able to show them around, though, to see how well off we are and the great people we get to spend time with down here.

Life is good :)

This means finding spaces for little trinkets like Pokemon, elephants, and miscellaneous rocks…and I have to say, it is a lot harder to fill up a house to the “comfy” level than a one bedroom apartment. It feels weird to want to collect things–furniture, art, etc–when we are still planning on packing up in a few years & heading overseas for two years to serve in the Peace Corps.

But that’s one of my problems, thinking too far ahead in the future. I don’t have to feel bad about acquiring more plants (my first cactus! And an orchid!) or an end table to refinish (we hit up the thrift stores). We can get things now and give them away later. Time to live the best I can in the present and not worry about what will happen 2, 3, 5 years down the road.

Need more of trying to Be Here Now every day.