Tall Tales from a Small Town

These days, it seems my kitchen is always a mess. Dirty dishes piled up in the sink, trash that needs to be taken out, groceries to be put away. And truth be told, it makes me incredibly happy.

Do not get me wrong, I hate the mess, and I hate extra clean up. I am blessed the Hubby is always willing to help clean up in the kitchen. It is the reason behind the mess for which I am so thankful.

I have always loved to cook. I grew up in a family where both parents cooked and we went or ordered out to eat. Going out to eat was a special occasion thing, but there was nothing as comforting and bonding as the family sitting down at our own table for a home cooked meal. I started cooking when I was in high school. Just easy things at first, following simple recipes. As I got older, I began being more adventurous with cooking, plus I paid more attention to how my parents cooked. So, by the time I moved out on my own, I was well equipped to cook up a storm.

The only thing lacking.... someone to eat it. I quickly realized I hated cooking for just one person, and began a lot of poor eating habits that plague me to this day. Every once in a while, I would plan an elaborate dinner party for friends, but for the most part, my life was a table for one.

Then, I met Hubby. And he was pretty excited that he had a girl who could cook. When we were dating, he would come to see me, and I would cook up full meals, including dessert. I was thrilled to be able to cook for him, and he was thrilled to have home cooked meals. When we were engaged and house hunting, it was the kitchen that sold me on our home. It was short on storage space, but had wonderful appliances with which I could create culinary masterpieces.

Lately, I have been extra motivated to cook. It helps keep my diet healthy, and saves us money in the long run. I am sure you can tell I am in cooking mode, given the number of recipes I have posted lately. You can imagine the mess all this cooking has done. Actually, if you look closely in some of the pictures, you can probably see it ;)

I love my messy kitchen (though I also love it clean) because to me, it signifies that I am happy, motivated, and providing healthy meals full of love for my family.

Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

2011-11-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

(I swear to you, I do actually do things besides cook. It is just, lately, I have been in a cooking mood, so I go with it. And when things turn out delicious, I want to share them with all of you!).

This morning, I woke up craving pancakes. I had a few options. I could order take out from a place in town that has awesome pancakes, then lament the calorie and fat content later in the day. I could get pancake stuff from the store, and make a huge mess in our kitchen. Or, I could try the easy, healthy alternative recipe I saw on this blog. I went with option 3.

So, I assembled the ingredients and embarked on yet another cooking adventure.

First, I mashed a banana in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Once the banana was all mashed, I added 2 packs of instant oatmeal. Any kind will do, but I went with Lavish Dark Chocolate Oatmeal. It was already smelling great.

Next I added 3 tbsp of egg white, the equivalent to one large egg.

Finally, 1 tsp each of baking powder and vanilla extract.

I mixed everything up to a nice, well blended chocolaty concoction.

I used olive oil cooking spray in a skillet over medium heat. Once this was nice and hot, I used the 1 tbsp measuring spoon to drop spoonfuls into the skillet. These were going to be small but hearty pancakes, each about the size of a large no bake cookie. It was a little tricky knowing when to flip them, since they did not bubble like traditional pancakes, but with a little testing of the edges you are able to tell when the underside is done, and flip accordingly.

The batch made 2 servings of 4 small pancakes, which was perfect. As I said, they were small, but really hearty. I added 2 tbsp low calorie syrup to mine, and they were sheer perfection.

This one was a little tricky to calculate nutrition and WW points. I am going based on the nutrition information on the label for each individual item, plus the generic info for the banana, and plugging that into a WW Points Plus calculator. The nutrition breakdown, with syrup us:

Calories: 279
Carbs: 61g
Fat: 3g
Protein: 7g
Fiber: 9g

Now if you plug all that into a WW Points Plus calculator, the result you get is 7. Yet the only individual ingredient that has any points is the Oatmeal, with is 4.5 points per packet. So, I guess go with 7 point to err on the side of caution.

Without syrup, it is:

Calories: 229
Carbs: 48g
Fat: 3g
Protein: 7g
Fiber: 9g

Again, plug that into a calculator and you get 6 WW Points Plus. Yet if you only ate the oatmeal, it would be 4.5, and then if you later ate a banana, it would be 0. Again, I guess go with 6 to err on the side of caution.

The possibilities are endless with this really easy recipe. I am thinking, next time, strawberry banana oatmeal pancakes!

Mini Pizzas

2011-11-05T12:45:00.000-04:00

In case you have not caught on, I am in cooking mode big time. I am trying to reduce portion size and fat in my diet. That sometimes means I have to pass on my favorite foods. So, today, I came up with a way to satisfy one of my most common cravings: PIZZA!

I decided to make mini pizzas for lunch today. Since Hubby and I like different toppings, this is a good way for us to both get what we want on pizza, and have it be healthier that if we ordered it from a pizzaria.

First I started with Arnold's Multigrain Sandwich thins. I used Contadina Pizza Squeeze sauce. One serving of pizza sauce is 1/4 cup, which covers three thin halves nicely. I used a pastry brush to spread it around the thins.

Next I added fat free mozzarella cheese. Once again, 1 serving made three mini pizzas. So far so good.

I made three minis for Hubby that had mini pepperonis on them. Since I do not like pepperoni, I used some low fat thinly sliced ham and a few pieces of pineapple for mine.

I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, so that the cheese was melted and the crusts were crisp.

That was it. How easy was that? The possibilities here are endless. And best part was they tasted delicious!

Nutrition info for my ham and pineapple is as follows:
Serving size: 3 mini pizzas
Calories: 250
Carbs: 42g
Fat: 3g
Protein: 19g
Fiber: 9g
WW points plus: 6

For Hubby's pepperoni:
Serving Size: 3 mini pizza
Calories: 295
Carbs: 41g
Fat: 8g
Protein: 19g
Fiber: 9 g
WW points plus: 8

Fall Foliage

2011-11-04T22:44:00.000-04:00

Each year, the local Tourist Bureau sponsors fall foliage tours. This year, the weather did not cooperate for a couple of the tours, but there was one really fun day of touring through the county, with the final destination being the Renshaw Family Farm Pumpkin Fest.

The morning was a little gray and drizzly, but we still got to see some gorgeous fall colors, and lovely sites on some scenic county roads.

I personally loved seeing a lot of the rural areas and animals along the way.

The final stop was Pumpkin Fest. I just love the Renshaw Farm.

They always decorate it so nicely, and the scenery is beautiful. For Pumpkin Fest, they have crafts and decorations for sale, and tons of activities kids. New this year was an animal park. It was probably my favorite part of the entire day.

By the end of the day, my boots were covered in mud, my hair was windblown, and I was exhausted. I would say, that indicates it was a good day indeed.

That awful moment when you learn a lesson the hard way

2011-11-03T21:11:00.000-04:00

I have been a cell phone owner for 12 or 13 years. For the first few, I never really used the cell phone much. So, for about 10 years I have been an avid cell phone user. For the last several year, we have used cell phones exclusively, without having a land line. I use my phone to track appointments, write grocery lists, to track calories, and as my alarm clock. So, my cell phone is pretty much my main way to keep track of life.

As long as I have been an avid, daily cell phone user, I have always talked on the phone while I was in the bathtub. It was a way for me to relax and talk to my mom or my girlfriends. Never, ever, not once, have I ever gotten even a drop of water on my phone. Sometimes, I even use my kindle or tablet to read in the tub. Again, never a problem, because I am super careful.

I guess there is a first time for everything.

The other day, I was taking a bath to de-stress. I had tried to call my mom, and was unable to reach her, so I sat the phone on the edge of the tub (like I have done a million times). At precisely the moment I took my hand away, my cat jumped up and knocked the phone into the bath water.

I just could not move fast enough to prevent it.

I wanted to throw up. And strangle the cat.

Quickly, we removed the cover, tried to dry out the phone as best we could, and put it in a container of brown rice for 24 hours. Miraculously, the phone does seem fully functional. In the time where my phone was drying out, I had to use an old one, which seemed so clunky, so I am glad to have my phone back.

I have completely learned my lesson.

My cat will no longer be allowed in the bathroom.

Review: Coconut Manna

2011-11-02T20:21:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to reduce fat, specifically the bad fats, in my diet lately, and try to find ways to increase fiber without eating things that taste like cardboard, so when I had a chance to try coconut manna, I jumped at it. The packaging says it is a healthy substitute for butter, and can be used as a spread. My mouth watered at the idea of a bit of this, some nutella, and a banana wrapped up in a whole grain wrap. The potential here was exciting for someone who loves coconut like I do.

The packaging indicated that the oil separates from the coconut, and you must put the container in hot water for five to ten minutes for everything to soften, so that you can stir it all up to a nice smooth consistency. Sound pretty easy right? Wrong. I found after leaving the container in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes, it was still too hard to stir. It took three rounds of hot water bath-vigorous stir cycle to get this to wear I could use it. I tasted it, and was sad that it did not taste nearly as good as I anticipated. It also had a weird gritty texture, and overall I was not crazy about it.

Since clearly this was not going to work as a spread for me, I instead used while cooking mulligatawny soup. I had created a low fat version of the soup without butter, cream, or milk, so the coconut manna helped add a bit of richness to it. However, it is still a bit high in calories to be something I would use daily. I will probably continue using olive oil for much of my cooking, but I do plan on experimenting with the coconut manna when making smoothies, sauces, desserts, and ethnic dishes. It did nicely in my soup.

I am not completely sold on coconut manna, but I am not ready to give up on it either.

I received this product for review as part of the Amazon Vine program.

Out of Town: Fredonia

2011-11-01T10:54:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, when the leaves were just starting to turn, I began my annual lament that our area does not get the vibrant color changes like some areas do. It is my dream to drive to the Adirondaks or Catskills to see the leaves change color, and some year we will. But since both locations are about a 7 hour drive for us, we will have to plan and schedule in advance to get the vacation days. In the mean time, this year we opted for a one day trip to a part of New York a little closer to home: Fredonia.

There is no specific reason we chose to visit Fredonia. We just woke up one morning, and I said, "let's go to New York". Hubby agreed, and we found a pet friendly inn that was within a 4 hour drive for us. We called, and got their last room, packed some clothes and the dogs, and off we headed.

The drive on highways would have been less than 3 hours, but we like to avoid major highways on leisure trips, particularly with the dogs, so we got to see gorgeous sights along the way.

Finally, we got to the inn and it was adorable!

Our room was so charming!

Hubby and I settled in, fed the dogs, and went exploring. We only had a couple of hours of daylight left, so we drove along Lake Erie,

went to Lake Erie State Park,

then watched the sunset in Dunkirk. Finally, we headed to dinner.

After we ate dinner, we headed back to the inn. We had dessert in the inn's restaurant, and I said to Hubby, "this feels like we are on a date", to which he replied "who says we aren't?". It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

The next day we got up and headed out. Our trip to New York was a short one, but enough to satisfy me for another year of leaf peeping.

More pics from our trip and the drive home can be seen here.

Modified Mulligatawny

2011-10-31T17:49:00.000-04:00

When we went to The Harmony Inn for dinner, I had one of the soups as part of my meal. It was so amazingly delicious, the problem was none of the staff could get the name right. Millet Mollie? Chicken Mulligan? Chicken Megan Mullally? At this rate, I knew I would never find a recipe for it, since we had no clue what it was named. On a whim, I asked one of the staff members if the cooks would be willing to share the recipe, and, they did! It was called Chicken Mulligatawy. However, I was sad to see the ingredient list included both milk and heavy cream. I am trying to delete a lot of dairy from my diet, and cows milk and heavy cream would be terrible for me. So, today, I decided to try to replicate the soup in a healthier way.

First off, I put chicken breast tenders on to boil. I know, I know, not the tastiest way to prepare chicken, but it is healthy, and there will be plenty of flavor added on later. While that was boiling, I got busy chopping my other ingredients.

I put about 1/4 cup of chicken broth in a pot, then added each of the following as I chopped them:

Celery

Onion

Granny Smith Apple

D'anjou pear

Eggplant

I added 1/4 tbsp curry powder at this time as well.

Once the chicken was fully cooked, I chopped it up, and added it in the curried mixture. I also added 1/2 cup jasmine rice (I precooked it slightly, having learned my lesson with the stuffed pepper soup).

In order to give the soup a nice creamy texture, I added cream of chicken soup, as well as more chicken broth.

Some more curry, a little salt, and a lot of black pepper, and we are almost done. One last secret ingredient.

This is coconut manna. It is high in fiber, and has good fats in it, plus it adds a bit of creamy richness. I used just a little, 1/2 tbsp. That was all it needed.

I let this cook until bubbly, the reduced to simmer for 45-60 minutes. I cannot wait to have it for dinner.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast tenders, boiled

1 c celery

half a medium yellow onion

1 medium granny smith apple

1 medium green d'anjou pear

2 cups cubed peeled eggplant

2.5 cups fat free chicken broth, divided

1/2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 cup jasmine rice

2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

salt, pepper to taste

1/2 tbsp coconut manna

For those curious here is some nutrition info. These are approximations using an online nutritional calculator.
Serving size: 1.25 cups
Calories: 240
Carbs: 33g
Fat: 4g
Protein: 19g
Fiber: 7 g
WWPlus points: 6

Let me know if any of you try this, and what you think. Should I change any of it?

Explorations: Northern Nightmares

2011-10-31T15:02:00.000-04:00

Each year, Hubby and I try to do something spooky during October. In the past we have gone to Phantom Fright Nights at Kennywood. , and last year we went to the Scarehouse. So we were looking for something new and different to do this year. Boy howdy, did we find it.

While doing some online searching I located an attraction in Butler County called the Northern Nightmares Tour. This trolley tour went all over Zelionople and Harmony, pointing out allegedly haunted sites, and telling local ghost tales. This sounded right up our alley, so, on Saturday afternoon, we headed out.

Since we headed out early, and planned on being gone for a while, we started with dinner at The Harmony Inn. For any local folks reading, if you have not tried this place I really urge you to go. We went last winter for lunch, and we were impressed then. We were doubly impressed with their dinner menu. Really unique menu items, and the food was delicious. Plus, the ambiance is really cool.

The Harmony Inn is a haunted location, and after we ate, the staff let us explore, even allowing us in the attic. It was really spooky.

After we were done with dinner, we headed off to catch the trolley tour. It was a nice, small trolley, and was really comfortable. The spooky tour guide was the executive director of the Strand Theater, and he told us lots of amazing and creepy tales along our 45 minute tour. I do not want to spoil it for you, since I really hope my local readers will go next year, but there were some interesting twists along the way.

Our last tour stop was the Strand Theater. At this point, for most, the tour was over. But for Hubby and I, we still had a bit of excitement. You see, that night, the Strand was showing Night of the Living Dead, which many know was filmed locally in Evans City.

The proceeds went to a group trying to save the Evan's City Cemetary Chapel, which you see in the film. I love horror films, particularly ones filmed locally, and I have visited the Evan's City Cemetery to revel in the movie nostalgia. So, we decided to go to the viewing. Imagine my surprise when we learned the 3 original cast and crew members were there to speak to us. How exciting. Russell Streiner (Johnny), his brother Gary Streiner (a sound engineer on the film) and Ella Mae Smith (an Evans City resident who played a zombie).

It was so amazing to be there to hear them speak, and this moment right here made it totally worth it:

The theater has been restored beautifully, and we loved seeing the movie on the big screen. We got to sit in the balcony, which in and of itself was a really cool experience. Finally, we were ready to head out, but we had one last thing to do. Out admission also gave us a free raffle ticket for a raffle of some movie posters. Guess who won a poster? Hubby!

All in all, the had a magically spooky night, one I am not likely to forget for a long time.

Notice two of the pictures are full of fuzzy orbs. As much as I would love to say this was spectral evidence, it was merely fog and mist. For more pics, go here.

That awkward moment when no one gets your Halloween costume...

2011-10-28T15:12:00.000-04:00

Hubby and I are total nerds, no doubt about it. We watch nerdy shows, we have nerdy hobbies, and we like nerdy activities. Including a few video games. One of our favorite games is called Plants vs. Zombies. It is one of the few games that appeals to both of us.

Last year, I jokingly suggested that we use this game to inspire our Halloween Costumes. But we didn't, we went as Sookie and Bill from True Blood instead. Brilliant costumes, I might add. A bit over the top, but brilliant none the less.

When it came time to plan our costumes from this year, we had some backup costumes, but I really wanted to do the Plants vs. Zombies idea. So, we hunted and hunted for the appropriate clothing for him, and green sweats for me. I made my little flower headband, and even a sun for my sun power (those who play the game know what I mean). Finally, the day of our friends' party came, and we prepared. I did the greatest makeup job I have ever done on Hubby, and what a trooper he was too.

I did my own makeup, and then, we put on the rest of the costumes. I thought we looked amazing.

Here we are with our counterparts from the game. Hubby is spot on I think.

So, we get to the party, and..... crickets crickets crickets. No one understood our costumes. Not. A. Single. Person.

People thought I was a flower, he was a weirdo with a bucket on his head. No one got the cultural reference at all.

The closest guess we got was "pushing up daisies". Wah wah waaaaaaah.

Maybe we should have done something a little more current events themed. Like this guy, who came as Occupy Wall Street.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

2011-10-27T05:52:00.001-04:00

I have been really lax lately with my blogging, and there are a few reasons. First of all, I set the crazy goal to read and review 200 books this year over on my book blog. Nuts right? I just finished reading book 150, and have been busting my butt to make sure I meet this goal. So, that is keeping me pretty busy. Also, well, I have just sort of lost heart with my blog. I feel like I have nothing new to say, and have strayed from my original intentions a bit. So, I am not sure what the future will hold for this blog, and I may not be posting here as often.

But to make up for my absence, I come bearing a gift. It is the recipe for what is now my favorite soup ever! I made it Sunday, and we just finished it last night!

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup.

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
2 large green peppers
1 small onion
1 large can (28 or 30 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 large can (28 or 30 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup rice
2 1/4 cups water
4 tbsp brown sugar
salt, pepper, parsley flakes

1. Brown the ground turkey in skillet. I browned mine with 2 cloves of garlic and some pepper, just to give it some flavor.

2. While meat is cooking, chop up green peppers and onion, and put in large soup pot. I used a dutch oven.

3. When meat is completely browned, drain and add to soup pot with peppers and onions.

4. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.

5. Add 1 cup rice. I used brown rice, and it ended up still being slightly hard when soup was cooked, so you may either want to use a minute rice, or just pre-cook the rice for just a few minutes.

6. Add 2 1/4 cups water.

7. Add 4 tbsp. brown sugar.

8. Add salt, pepper, and parsley to your taste. I use very little salt, and it was fine.

9. Stir pot and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 1 hour on stovetop.

There you go! Easy, delicious, and healthy! We made a packed of instant potatoes (the ones that are 80 calories a serving) and ate the soup with a scoop of mashed potatoes in it. It was so delicious, and made a TON. Seriously, last night was the 4th meal we got from it!

You can easily adjust this recipe to your taste (more meat, more peppers, etc). You could garnish with cheese, or a little sour cream, whatever you prefer. It was so delicious, I am sad to see it gone!

How time flies

2011-10-04T07:02:00.000-04:00

So, can you believe Sunday was my second wedding anniversary? I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone!

Unfortunately, the weather was not very nice this past weekend, so our original plans to go to a fall festival got scrapped. Instead we went to dinner in Pittsburgh on Saturday, and Sunday we just stayed in the house.

I was so excited to give Hubby his gift, I got him an HP Netbook (thanks again Rhonda!). He loved it, he was so excited all he could say was "oh my goodness, it's a THING", it was so cute.

He had given me the big part of my gift early, which was a Keurig. I am already completely in love with it! But on Sunday, he also gave me some coffee for it, Glee Karaoke Revolution II, the movie Bridesmaids, a Jonathon Coulton t shirt, and more importantly, 2 boxes of Count Chocula cereal. Considering I have been trying since February to get this (even tried ordering online), I was SO excited over this. I just love how he knows what special things to do to make me feel so loved.

Who knew 6 years ago, when I first was befriended by him, that he would end up bringing me so much happiness?

Wicked Games

2011-09-29T08:05:00.001-04:00

I have never been much of a gamer. Sure, there was the time Hubby and I both, unknowingly, bought each other Nintendo DSs for Valentine's Day, and yes, I bought him a Wii as a wedding gift, then went through about 2 months post wedding where I played Super Smash Brothers like it was my job, and, yeah, ok, a good hidden picture game has been know to steal whole days of my time, but in general, not a gamer. I never got into playing games online unless really bored, I with the exception of aforementioned hidden picture games, I never play pc games.

So, when cell phones started coming equipped with the ability to buy and play games, my initial reaction was, meh. Most of the games on most of the phones I have had never got played. But now that I have both a phone and a tablet where I can download a boatload of free games, a new addiction has blossomed: coin pusher games.

Remember going to Chuck E. Cheese, or Dave & Busters, and seeing those games where the tokens were covering a platform, with a pusher behind them? You shot more tokens in, hoping the pusher would push a boatload of tokens and/or prizes into the bin for you to scoop up. Biggest waste of time ever, right? Well, what if a) the tokens were free and b) they regenerated over time, both while playing and while away from the game... sounds like a pretty sweet deal right? EXACTLY! I found a game like this in the Andriod app store, and it hit the gambling area of my brain in just the right way so that I got hooked. I was obsessed with getting more prizes and clearing more levels (levels are determined by the number of coins you win). And before I knew it, I had 4 different games on my phone, and the same 4 on my tablet, so that, at all times, I am earning coins to play 8 games. What the heck is WRONG with me???

I am sure in time, this will fizzle out, as all my game play does, but in the mean time, I am putting up with lots of merciless teasing from Hubby about how stooooooooopid these games are. I pointed out, last night, that he did not make this much fun of me before, not even when I played Farmville and woke up at 4 am to harvest my crops (oh yes, I did, but that did not last long). He said, at least in Farmville you had choices to make. I explained that these games have choices too, like choosing whether to collect the prizes or sell them for more coins. He said, yeah, or the choice to not play at all.

I promptly told him my choice was to not listen to anymore of his crap.

Do you remember ... life without cable tv?

2011-09-25T21:25:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up, we lived in a semi rural area, on a county road. Houses were spaced pretty far apart, and you rarely saw much of your neighbors. This was the 80's, and cable was not available where we lived (we did not get it until I was in high school). We would get 3 channels most days, on really good days we would pick up PBS and FOX out of Pittsburgh, but usually it was CBS, NBC, and a very fuzzy ABC, which was also out of Pittsburgh.

Because of our limited channel selection, and the sparse offerings of kid friendly programming in those days, I grew up watching a lot of PBS, which is where I first really learned anything about Pittsburgh. To me, as a kid, Pittsburgh was a gritty and exotic town. I can remember a few of the commercials we would see on WTAE, the Pittsburgh affiliate of ABC. The one that sticks the most in my mind was for Century III Chevrolet. Anyone who grew up near Pittsburgh and ever watched a Pittsburgh based channel knows the ridiculously catchy jingle:

I remember the first time I actually drove past this dealership as an adult. I was so disappointed, it was not nearly as exotic as I pictured it in childhood.

I remember other Pittsburgh commercials, or even the Pittsburgh news. This was the closest "big city" for us growing up. School field trips included the Pittsburgh Zoo and Kennywood Park. But the best impression I got of this city I would later call home was from tv. I am glad we did not have cable when I was a kid, and I instead got bitten by the Burgh Bug courtesy of WTAE. I think it was this early exposure to the Steel City that steered me toward moving to Pennsylvania. And although I no longer live in the actual city of Pittsburgh, I will forever be a Pittsburgher at heart.

Did you have cable as a kid? What do you remember from tv during your childhood, and what impact do you think it had on you?

In the Big City: Changed for Good

2011-09-19T08:27:00.000-04:00

For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of musical theater. And as long as I have been a fan, I have always rooted for the musical underdog. I longed to be Eponine in Les Mis ,or to be Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde, and to always choose the Phantom over Raoul. So it makes perfect sense to me that I root for Elphaba in Wicked. The surprising part was how utterly and completely I fell in love with her...

Yesterday, I had the supreme pleasure of seeing Wicked on tour at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. We ordered these tickets about 10 months ago, and when we did, it felt like September would never arrive. I spent the months between ticket purchase and show date reading Gregory Maguire's book, reading several of L. Frank Baum's original Oz books, and pretty much memorizing the original Broadway cast recording, as it has been playing in my car's cd player since about April. I had never been so excited to see a show in all my life.

My mom and sister were taking a bus tour from Ohio, and I was meeting them at the theater. I arrived nearly two hours early. Excited much? Once we they got there I could not wait to take my seat. These were, by far, the best seats I have ever had to a show, and well worth the money.

When the curtain went up, and the Time Dragon flapped his wings, I was instantly mesmerized.

The show we saw had the understudies for both Glinda and Elphaba performing, but you would never in a million years know it. The actress who portrayed Glinda was genius, her comic timing was fantastic. That is probably the thing that surprised me most about the show, since I was familiar with the story and the music already. I never anticipated how funny it was. And the writing for the show is so smart. Biting wit, subtle foreshadowing, and poignant truths are all revealed in both the lyrics and the dialog of the show.

Elphaba is the one who really steals the show, and this performance was no exception. I tingled as she took the stage, and wept as she sang of defying gravity. She is a symbol for all who have ever felt alienated. She is so different, with her green skin, her magic abilities, and her strong opinions. She is different, and in her difference she is beautiful, tho her differences are what also make her feared.

The story is a brilliant blend of a love story, the story of the power of friendship, and an eye opening lesson on how we view good and evil, often myopically. The story works allegorically in several ways, when viewing public opinion of leaders, as well as the disenfranchisement of various minority groups. This show contains more than music and laughter, it contains life lessons.

When I was little, I was in love with The Wizard of Oz, and wanted to be Dorothy. Every year for Halloween, I begged to be Dorothy. I even had a little dog that looked like Toto, but since she was a girl we named her Muffin. I was certain I was Judy Garland reincarnated. As a girl I wanted to be Dorothy, but now, I deeply, desperately, want to be Elphaba.

I promise you two things:

This will not be the last time I see Wicked.

and

If you go see Wicked, you will be changed for good.

Big cooking day

2011-09-16T10:26:00.000-04:00

In the past, I have approached cooking by deciding either that day, or the previous night, what we should have for dinner, making sure I have what I need, and then just cooking. Even with lots of leftovers, it means I am usually cooking 4 days a week. And while I love cooking, since I started working again, I have found I do not always feel like cooking, I do not always remember to take meat out in the mornings to thaw, and we have been getting take out more.

I know lots of women try to approach cooking for efficiently, cooking once a week for the whole week and freezing the meals, or premaking meal starters that can easily be turned into one of several dishes with little work. But the other day, I found this blog that talked about making whole crock pot ready meals and freezing them. I decided to give it a whirl last night.

Hubby picked me right after work and went to the store with me. In less than 30 minutes, we got the ingredients for 2 sets of 4 different meals: BBQ chicken and veggies, goulash, chicken curry (all 3 from that same blog) and beef stew (my own recipe). We went home and I got to work.

Each recipe gets seperated into 2 one gallon freezer bags, so I decided to do that up front. I lined up my bags, all 8, and through all the recipes, distributing the veggies one by one as I chopped. It was a little tricky keeping the recipes straight, and dividing the total recipe in half to get the right amount in each bag, but it really was so efficient to do it this way. It took, including a break for me to eat, slightly less than 3 hours. Each bag will last for 2-3 meals. And each serving is less than $2 in cost (I had to estimate because I got other groceries and non food items at the store as well), probably closer to $1.50 per serving. The meals are healthy, hearty, chock full of veggies, and sitting in my freezer as we speak. (yes, the time on that clock was right, I finished just before 9 pm).

Now all I will need to do is grab a bag, thaw it for 30 minutes, and dump into the crock pot before work. This might be my new favorite thing. I am a little nervous about the recipes from the blog, they are pretty different from anything I have ever made, but since I was using that bloggers model, I thought it best to use her recipes too. If this works out, I will do some different recipes next time.

My only complaint was the chicken. I tend to use breasts or tenders, which are more expensive. These recipes called for legs and thighs. I left the skins on the legs, and used just legs for the bbq chicken. I used the thighs for the curry, but I had to deskin and debone them, I could not stand the sight of the skin on those thighs, and all that fat, ick. It may detract a little from the flavor, but it was a sacrifice I wanted to make to reduce the fat. I was exhausted by the time I was done, but I think it will all be worth it in the long run.

In the Big City: Code Monkeys and Mesopotamians

2011-09-15T08:21:00.000-04:00

Remember how, for our anniversary, Hubby got tickets for us to see Lady Gaga? He is not what I would call a fan, but he went, and enjoyed it, for me. Well, last night, I got to return the favor, and have a blast in the process.

Hubby has been a fan of the band They Might Be Giants since he was a teenager, and he has been to see them twice in the past. When we found out that they would be playing in Pittsburgh around the time of his birthday. When we later learned the opening act was Jonathon Coulton, whom we both adore, it clinched our decision to go.

When we arrived at the theater, our first visit at the Byham, I was struck at the beauty of the place. After taking in all the old, weathered beauty, I noticed the odd conglomeration of people in attendance. The crown was pretty much a 70-30 split of techie nerds and hipsters, and parents with small kids. Kids, why? Well, They Might Be Giants made several kids albums, so parents will bring kids to see them. Note to those parents, this is not a kids' show. Kids' shows are at 1 pm on a Saturday, not 8 pm on a Wednesday. Also, kids' shows do not contain F bombs. A little look at Jonathon Coulton's lyrics for Hubby's favorite song, First of May, would tell you that tickets for your 5 and 7 year olds for this show would be a bad idea. But I digress. (Note, JoCo did not play this song last night, thank goodness).

We were so stoked for JoCo, as Hubby calls him, as the opening act. And he was nothing short of amazing. He sang a good mix of older songs and songs from his new CD. His voice, at times, as a beautiful purity about it which one can overlook due to the hilarious and ridiculous nature of his lyrics. He has a simplicity, a childlike quality that makes his music so enjoyable, he was really a joy to watch. I was sad when his set was over.

Now, this is the point where I admit I know exactly 3 songs that They Might Be Giants have put out over their nearly 30 year career. Thank goodness they played all 3 last night, as well as many other great songs. I was amazed that a group of nearly middle aged men could bop around the stage for 90 minutes and have such a blast. It was so clear that they were having fun, and it made me have fun as well. They really pulled the audience into the music, and speaking as someone who was not a diehard fan, this was one of the best performances I have seen in a long time. The music is bouncy, and you just have to move.

The only complaint I have is the quality of the sound on both acts. I am not sure if it was the acoustics of the theater, or the settings of the mics, but the vocals were really drowned out by the instruments. It was if there was too much music layered on top of each other. It made the vocals sound really muffled.

Otherwise, we had a wonderful evening, and I plan on the next time we see them knowing way more than 3 songs. Oh, and if you are wondering about why I titled the blog this way, Code Monkey is a Joco song, and Mesopotamians is a song by TMBG.

Do you remember ..... your dating horror stories?

2011-09-13T22:23:00.000-04:00

I sometimes forget how awful dating was, now that Hubby rescued me and swept me away to the land of marital bliss. Back when I first started blogging on myspace, I used to regularly blog about my dating disasters, but since meeting Hubby, I have blocked out the horror of my past life of singlehood.

Today, while cleaning out my email, I was confronted with the evidence of what was probably the creepiest dating situation I ever encountered, which is saying a lot, because I met a boatload of creepers. But this, well, this story takes the cake.

It happened back in 2007, just before Hubby and I started dating. I was working in a corporate environment, but it was pretty lax in terms of atmosphere. I was in a newly formed department, and most of the other people were, like me, transfers from other departments. We only had a few outside hires, and it was often difficult for them to come into a department full of people who had know each other for a long time. We had one girl we hired, I will call her Z, who had a harder time fitting in. I tried to take her under my wing, since she and another new hire were not even able to sit with the rest of the department for the first few month. We talked a lot over IM, and I helped her learn the ropes. I guess she was pretty grateful, because before long, she told me she wanted to fix me up with her friend, Rich.

Rich sent Z and email, and she forwarded it to me. It was all about how Z had told him about how awesome I was and he wanted to get to know me. Since I was doing lots of online dating, this didn't seem too odd to me (yet),so I emailed back. We exchanged a few emails, and I noticed that he wrote in a way that, well, it sounded like how a woman would talk, not how a man would talk. One email included an emoticon rose. Cheesy, but, still, no real warning signals. Every day Z would want to talk about Rich, and how things were going. So, Z and I started spending more time together at work, since she was serving as a go between. I started to feel a little weird about it.

Rich sent me pictures, and asked for my number so he could call or text me. I provided the number, and.... nothing. No calls, no texts. Nothing. So I asked for his number, which he provided, but it dumped into a generic "you have reached 123-456-7890" recording. Hmmm, suspicious. So, like any overly cautious single woman, I decided to google "Rich". He had a ridiculous last name, and when you google his name, there are no results on the entire internet. None. In fact, his last name alone appears no where. Not one entry. On the whole internet.

Ok, so according to the internet, this guy pretty much does not exist. No one with his last name has any address anywhere in the world. So, at this point, I am pretty sure this is bogus, but not sure of the details.

I asked Z why "Rich" never called me and she says he accidentally ran over his phone and destroyed it (which had just happened to someone we worked with, how convenient). But she insists I will hear from him, and sure enough, the next day, I got flowers delivered at work from "Rich". Z was all up in my business, asking how I liked them and stuff. It was getting pretty creepy. And no actual voice contact with "Rich". He mentioned where he worked, and to make sure I was not totally nuts, I called the general number for that place, and no surprise, no "Rich" was employed there. Clearly, this dude did not exist.

The final straw came when Z was IMing me one day, and I noticed she consistently misspelled the same words that "Rich" did. And these were not common misspellings. One was misspelling "freak" as "friek" (oh the irony). Finally, I pulled Z aside, and confronted her with my suspicions that "Rich" did not really exist. She had no explanation and just kept saying how I was so nice, she wanted me to find someone nice to be with.

Um, what? What would have happened had I agreed to go out with "Rich". Would she have showed up instead? How did this ever seem like a good idea?

Needless to say, working with her after this was awkward.

And today, I found all the emails. I was laughing so hard reading them, my favorite quote from "Rich" is this"

"I hate to say it, but more often than not, I'd like to stay in, sipping on one of my exquisite wine of the month bottles, and watch one of my favorite movies. There's nothing more comforting after a day of pounding the pavement, attempting to pay the bills than to come home and wrap yourself up in a world where let's face it 95% the guy gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after."

How did I not know immediately that this was FAKE?

So, do YOU have any dating horror stories?

Rereading the World War Z book before the movie comes out

2011-09-12T17:20:00.000-04:00

Guest post written by Brent Holloway

I bought and read the World War Z so long ago when it first came out, but now that they're finally making a movie of it, I was thinking about rereading it again. So that's exactly what I'm doing. i had forgotten just how much of a quick read it was. It's funny how you can have read a book before and despite that, you can't put it down when you're reading it again.

That got me wondering more about how by the book the movie will be. I've been looking up info about the movie filming with my wireless internet. Some of the things that I've read said that they aren't really sticking to the book that much, but I think that it's like that for a lot of books they make into movies.

Who knows. I might even read the World War Z zombie book another time before I go and see the movie. It seems like it's going to be a while anyway until it comes out. I'm not sure how much longer I can wait!

Tiffany Trivia: Odd Hobby

2011-09-10T18:33:00.000-04:00

There are most certainly some odd things about me. I am clumsier than any one person should be. I have no clue what my natural hair color is. And yes, I dip my Wendy's french fries into a chocolate frosty. But one of the oddest things about me is a hobby I had as a child. I used to love to make confetti.

As a kid I would sit for hours, yes, hours, cutting up confetti. I had large garbage bags full of confetti stashed in my bedroom. No paper object was safe. Every Wish Book, grocery ad, wallpaper sample, and spare piece of construction paper would be sacrificed to my ever growing stash. And while I admittedly did find cutting confetti rather soothing (though I did not enjoy the blisters the scissors caused on my thumb), I was doing this for a far more important reason.

It was going to make me rich.

You see, at our high school football games, every time we scored a touchdown, everyone threw confetti. So, as a kid I came up with the million dollar idea that I would sell bags of confetti for a quarter at the football games and make a killing.

Except, I never followed through. I just kept cutting and cutting to make more and more and more confetti, until eventually my mom threw it away. I would say that all that time had been wasted, but at least it was a few hours that I was not getting hurt being clumsy.

So did you, or do you, have any hobbies that might be considered odd?

Do you remember .... class rings?

2011-09-09T21:14:00.000-04:00

Now that school is back in session, I find myself reminiscing about my high school days, particularly when talking to my mom and sister about my nephew. He is a junior in high school, and I remember my junior year being my favorite year, it was the one that was the most fun, and the least stress.

My nephew starting dating a really nice girl, from a good family, recently. After the kids meeting each other's families, they decided to make it official that they were "going steady". I love that they are using this term, I find it sweet and old fashioned. He even gave her his class ring. But she gave it back because she was scared to wear it, since it was too big for her petite little fingers. My sister helped her come up with a solution the next time the girl came to the house to visit my nephew. She showed her how we used to deal with this issue- yarn.

When I was in high school, both the boys I dated (one my freshman year, one my junior year) gave me their class rings, and of course both of them were too big. My mom and sister taught me how to wrap the ring with lengths of yarn until it made it a more secure fit. I remember how I would get so excited to buy yarn in our school colors to wrap it for football season. My mom said that she did the same thing in high school, and you made sure to wrap it in new yarn if you were going somewhere special like a party or a dance. This is what ALL the girls my age did. You look through our yearbooks and you see girls with these huge boys' rings on, with yarn all around the band. It was the thing to do.

I wonder, do girls still do this? Do they wear boys' high school rings still? Or is this something that has fallen by the wayside? Same with lettermen jackets, or football jerseys. Do boys still let their girlfriends wear these? I remember being so proud wearing my high school boyfriend's football jersey and class ring, letting everyone know I was his girl. Do kids even rely on these social cues anymore? Or is changing their facebook relationship status the new class ring?

Did you ever wear your boyfriend's ring in high school? Or, if there are any male readers who want to share, did you wear your girl's ring on a chain around your neck? Or was my high school more old fashioned than most?

Act Your Age? No Thanks!

2011-09-07T20:48:00.000-04:00

Act your age. Probably something we have all been told at some point in our lives. And at times, that command is completely appropriate. It drives me nuts how so many people, mostly women, refuse to act like adults. I see countless acts of bitter, immature women all the time. Women act this way mostly toward other women, out of jealousy and a sense of competition. I often want to tell these women to act their age.

But there are times when it is good to not act your age.

Today, I had an opportunity to spend some time with some "senior citizens". It struck me how much people with the label of "senior citizen" decide to act, well, like old folks. You know what I mean, they wear old people clothes, and engage in exclusively old folks activities. I just don't get it. Then I realized, I don't get it because none of the older role models I have in my family act this way.

I will start with my parents. I often forget that because my parents are of retirement age, they are technically considered "seniors". This label is a load of poppycock when it comes to Mom and Dad. Not only do they both look incredibly young, they act it. My mom always has her hair and nails looking nice, usually way nicer than mine, and she wears stylish clothes. Same with my dad, even though his hair has been grey since he was in his 30s, he has never dressed like an old man. And they do not act old either. They are constantly busy with their grandkids, active in their church, and my dad even works 2 part time jobs.

The same can be said for my aunts and uncles. None of them act old. Even my grandmother, until the time she passed away in her 90s, never acted old. She traveled, stayed busy, and lived in her home, no retirement center for her. Heck, this is a woman who got a speeding ticket in her 80s! Sure, she had broken a hip, but the first time she did it polka dancing with her great grandson.

I love that despite the fact that these people are my elders, they refuse to be elderly. I hope that when I am old enough to retire, I am still as youthful and active as they all have been.

Thanks for the reminder that it's ok to not act my age once in a while!

Twitter Fights, aka Getting TweetSlapped

2011-09-05T23:01:00.000-04:00

Cartoon by Hubby

I am a professed social media fan. I may be a little slow to catch on the new forms of social media (hello G+) and some I stay away from due to their potential to be a total time suck (Pinterest anyone?), but one thing I have come to love, after years of professing to hate it, is Twitter. I love that I can get info faster on my cell phone's twitter app than the media news outlets. When an earthquake was recently felt in Pittsburgh, Hubby called me to check in, and when I told him I knew nothing about it, he simply said, check your Twitter.

Twitter is, for me, a great way to sound off when frustrated, to make connections with people worldwide, and to promote my blog posts. All in 140 characters or less. I adore it, which is why I am annoyed to see what may be the dumbest thing ever- Twitter Fights.

Last night, by feed got flooded by two Burgh Tweeps fighting. Tweep A had tweeted something and a bit later Tweet B said something remarkable similar. It was a Pittsburgh joke about Jeff Reed, one that I am sure at least 100 other Burgh based Tweeps probably tweeted about, as it was not exactly a sophisticated joke. But Tweep A got bent out of shape, and ranted and name called. And Tweep B totally fed into it, instigating more and more. In the end, they both ended up looking like, pardon my language, douchebags.

To be clear, these people were not fighting over hate speech, political ideas, radical thoughts, and anything that was contributing to the betterment of mankind. No, these guys were fighting over a joke. A dumb joke about Jeff Reed assaulting a Sheetz towel dispenser that stopped being funny about 10 minutes after the incident happened in 2009. This was the single dumbest waste of time ever.

Why do people feel the need to engage in this behavior? What point does it serve? Anyone can be brave when sitting behind their laptop or smartphone screen. And really, who cares if someone allegedly stole your tweet. It is TWITTER, these things are not gaining entry in the Library of Congress. I guess this falls in the same category as trolling, acting out in ridiculous ways on Twitter. And I see so much of it. I see people blatantly attacking others on Twitter, completely unprovoked. I just cannot fathom how much someone's life must suck if picking fights on Twitter is the only way they can feel good about their pitiful existence.

Women of Faith Weekend

2011-09-03T18:43:00.000-04:00

Many of you readers know that I also have a book review blog. When I started that blog out, it was mainly for myself, and the challenge of analyzing books I owned and loved. Quickly, I became connected to several Christian publishers that allowed me to review their books, and began also submitting the reviews to the Christian Review of Books. I review non-religious books most of the time, and now work with many talented independent authors and publishers, both Christian and secular.

Recently, the very first publisher I signed up with, Thomas Nelson, presented book bloggers with the opportunity to attend a Women of Faith conference in their area, with the agreement that in exchange for the complimentary tickets, the bloggers would post blogs both before and after the conference, as well as add a button to the blog to help spread the word of the conference. Knowing I would more than likely not get chosen, on a whim I decided to apply for one of the blogger positions. Much to my surprise, I received word some time ago that I was chosen, and today, I received my tickets in the mail. I am so excited to attend this conference!

There are day sessions on Friday, which I will miss, but I will be attending the Friday evening sessions, as well as the sessions on Saturday. I am really looking forward to this little weekend event! Keep your eyes open next month for the post conference recap!

Tiffany Trivia: What Creeps Me Out

2011-09-02T07:22:00.000-04:00

Since it seems like not many people are reading my blog these days, I have decided to stray just slightly from my standard posts, and just post a little more about myself once in a while. This series is aptly called Tiffany Trivia.

Most people have something, or things, that really creep them out. Mice, snakes, spiders, horses. Those are some of the standard ones. Whether a lifelong fear, or in Hubby's case with horses, due to some unfortunate event, everyone has something that just weirds them out.

I have several. And they are all odd.

For the longest time, it was that stuuuuuuuuupid dancing baby from Ally McBeal. And I think anyone who did not find that at least a little creepy is lying to themselves.

But the thing that creeps me out worst of all now are these 5 pointed metal stars that everyone and their brother have hanging on their homes.

These things are all the rage in the country and primitive decorating set, but I just find the repugnant. I have no reasoning for this, I generally like stars, but these are just, ick. We even refer to them as "creepy stars". I do not know why, and hope none of my readers (all 4 of you) who may have these will take offense. They just give me the willies.

Another think I find creepy are these plantars made from kid's pants. It looks like someone bisected a child and hot and threw geraniums on top of it. Gross.

Along the same lines, those creepy little corner kids dolls. They used to be all the rage a few years ago. For me, the source of unparalleled nightmares.

Thank goodness this fad seems to have ended.

Oh goodness, imagine if a house had all three of these things. It would be like a scarehouse for me.

And do not even get me started on those creeptastic Spitting Image puppets.

Picture Source.

The Genesis "Land of Confusion" video makes me shudder.

Is there anything weird like this that creeps any of you out?

Will the real Tiffany please stand up?

2011-08-26T08:08:00.001-04:00

I have always been pretty fortunate to have a unique name. Not crazy out there unique, like Apple or Pilot, but still, in the midwest, Tiffany was not a common name as I was growing up. And my maiden name is very unique. Pretty much anyone with that name is someone to whom I am related. And in my hometown, it was a name everyone knew, because two of my cousins were professional baseball players. So, no one ever questioned that I was, well, me.

When I got married, I thought my married name was pretty unique. I had never heard it before I met Hubby. So, when someone told us that they saw in the newspaper where someone with my name had bought property in another town nearby, for a split second I thought I had been a victim of identity theft. My heart dropped. We tried to find the listing, but never did, so I let it go. Later, I received a piece of mail from a local politician. He has his aids find stories about local families in his constituency, and sends them the news clippings. So, I opened the mail, and there was a picture of a girl whose mother was listed, and the mother's name was my name. Clearly, this was a mistake, right?

I did a little searching, and found out that a woman with my same name lives in a town near me, and this mail was clearly intended for her. So, I contacted her, got her address, and sent it to her. Since then, we have come in contact with several people that know her, and when I tell them my name, the always mention her. It is kind of a running joke. Turns out Hubby's last name is fairly common in our county.

So, no one actually stole my identity. But others are not nearly so lucky. The FTC estimates that 9 million people suffer identity theft each year. There are a lot of things we can do to help safeguard our personal information. One such thing we can do in terms of identity theft protection is to use some sort of service, like Identity Hawk, to determine where your information is vulnerable, and to put safeguards in place.

I am amazed that in such a small area, someone has my same exact name. I am sure this happens a lot in bigger cities, or with names like Joe Smith, or Mary Jones. And in 20 years, when today's babies are all grown up, there will be lots of Jacob Johnson and Isabella Williams mix ups I am sure.

Do you remember.... "the talk"?

2011-08-22T22:53:00.000-04:00

Every child, at some point, has to learn the facts of life, the birds and the bees, sex education, whatever you want to call it. And at some point, every parent has to have "the talk" with their child. Well, usually, that is. I kind of beat my parents to the punch.

I was what you would call a precocious child, and (I am sure this will come as no surprise) an avid reader. I would almost always spend whatever money I had on books.While I was not allowed to go to the mall alone, my parents would take me into the Waldenbooks and let me browse by myself. So, when I needed a little information about where babies came from, what better way than to seek out a book and read it for myself.

Within minutes of entering the bookstore, I located a book, complete with anatomically correct cartoons, that explained the knitty gritty of getting busy. I read as much as I could, as quickly as I could, to insure my parents did not see what I was doing. I stored all that info away for later use. And by later, I mean dinner that night, where I, in my 7 year old glory, informed my parents that babies were made by having sex, and having sex was like jumping rope, in that you could not do it all day because you would get too tired. I had no shame.

That would change a few years later. I was an early bloomer, and completely self conscious that I had to wear bras, real bras, not training bras, by 5th grade. This was the grade in which the boys and girls were separated for 2 days, and educated on puberty. I decided to tell the nurse in charge of the educational program that my mom did not allow me to participate, so, I got to go work on art projects while everyone went through day one of learning about their blossoming womanhood. The school must have checked with my mom, though, because they found out my story was bogus, and the second day I was submitted to pure torture, which concluded by the nurse giving us all packs of tampons.

My poor parents, I must have had the scratching their heads over the years. Do any of you have funny stories of either giving, or getting, "the talk"?

Out of Town: Punxsutawney

2011-08-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

On weekends, Hubby and I love to take little local trips to different places, and just check out different off the beaten path things. So it came as no surprise to him that one recent Saturday, I suggested we go to Punxsatawney. This sleepy little town in Jefferson County PA is most famously know for being the home of Punxsatawney Phil, the groundhog used for prediction on Groundhog Day.

The groundhog is this town's cash cow, and man oh man, groundhogs are everywhere.

As I have mentioned in the past, we absolutely adore public art installations, like the Erie frogs, and the Garret County MD Bear Trail, so, it made perfect sense to us to try to find all the public art groundhog statues in Punxy.

We bit off more than we could chew.

There are 32 statues in all, and we found about 20 of them. Not bad for only being there for about 3 hours.

We also stopped to see Phil and Phillis, the resident groundhogs.

Of course, being that this is groundhog central, this is where some of the scenes for the movie Groundhog Day were shot. We did not research any specific locations (and did not make it to Gobblers Knob, the most famous location in town), but we did get to see a giant groundhog that was created specifically for the movie. It is like a vertical billboard.

The town is so quaint and cool, we stopped in a used bookstore and got some books, and did a little window shopping as well. We will certainly be going back to see more of Punxy and to find the rest of the statues.

To see the rest of my pictures from Punxy, click here.

Tiffany's Soapbox: The Glee Project

2011-08-16T22:18:00.000-04:00

So, remember when I said I was kind of over Glee. Turns out I was wrong. And you know how I say I don't like reality tv? Well, wrong there too. So put those two things together, and you get something I surprisingly care about more than most tv shows: The Glee Project.

This is a reality tv competition where contenders battle it out for a spot on the next season of Glee. I am not going to recap the whole season or all the ins and outs, if you want that, you will have to look elsewhere. What I am going to do is say that I really hope Lindsay Pearce is not the winner. Now before I get all kinds of hate mail from the Pearcling fans, let me explain. It is not because I dislike her (though I am rooting for Damian), and it is not because she comes across poorly in the show (there is an unlikely possibility that is due to editing). I am basing this completely on what I see her tweeting.

Sure, she is all rainbows and smiles to her fans and those who worship at the throne of her musical theater greatness (the girl is talented, no question, and does have an amazing life story). But to her detractors, those who favor the other contenders, she is rude, argumentative, and behaves more like a 12 or 13 year old than a 19 or 20 year old.

Despite the fact that these tween and teen tweeps dislike her, they often love Glee, so she is serving to alienate a chunk of a very fickle demographic. I get that she wants to defend herself, but signing the tweets "later hater" is not something you are apt to see any other Glee cast member do. I would imagine they are groomed in the ways of PR, and taught to take the high road.

So, my point is, I really hope that Linsday did not win, both for her sake and the sake of Glee's ratings. Because if she DID win, and no one is helping to groom this young starlet in the ways to wisely use social media to build and support a fan base as oppose to alienate it, if they are allowing a Glee cast member to act this way, well, I predict she will act out in other ways as well, and it will affect the quality of the show.

Perhaps I am reading too much into what I see here, but I honestly feel bad that no one is helping her, teaching her to pick her battles, and not battle in a way that can last forever in the form of a screen shot.

I do not dislike her, as I do not know her personally. I simply dislike where I think this could lead. She is, in essence, a kid, and I think she needs direction if she wants a long lasting professional career. I think it is sad when virtual fighting becomes the norm. But let's face it, show biz is tough, so she better get a thick skin and learn to ignore this stuff. Otherwise, she will become the Rashard Mendenhall of Glee.

Later haters.

What Would You Have Done: Overheard

2011-08-15T08:24:00.000-04:00

I live in town. This means our yard is the size of a postage stamp, and our neighbors are all in close proximity. On all four sides. Even our neighbor's neighbors are close enough for us to hear and see. Normally, this is never an issue. Most people in our little section of town are family people, so it is pretty quiet. But the other day, I stumbled into an uncomfortable situation.

I had taken my dogs outside to play and do their business. It was a lovely evening, so I sat outside with them. That was when I overheard something uncomfortable. One of the couples in the neighborhood were having a disagreement of sorts regarding some home improvements. Now, let me specify here, they were not fighting. There was no hitting, not even any yelling. There were no curse words being used. Just a loud conversational speaking tone serving up plenty of snark and sarcasm. But it was clearly being done loud enough for anyone to hear. Things like "Oh no, please, drag it on longer. There is nothing I would rather do than wait another month for this painting to be finished.". Stuff like that. Then the female came to her car to get something, and she clearly saw that I was out in my yard. I just sat there looking kind of stupid.

I felt so darn uncomfortable. Should I have gone in and allowed them the privacy to have their conversation? Should I have stayed out to watch my dogs? Is it my fault for not ignoring it or making the dogs come inside? Was it their fault for having a private disagreement is a somewhat public arena? This sort of thing always makes me so uncomfortable. Write me a comment and tell me what you have done.

Going Rogue?

2011-08-11T12:42:00.000-04:00

Any regular reader of this blog, or any of my friends and family members know that I am notorious for chancing my hair. Often..Very often. Sometimes the changes are subtle, like my last round of highlights, and some are drastic, like chopping off 6 inches of hair the day after my wedding (and dyeing it dark brown from bleached blond a few weeks later). My brother in law says I change my hair more than anyone he knows. What can I say, it keeps life interesting.

Sometimes, it keeps life a little too interesting. Last week, I was feeling bored with my hair, so I bought some dye. Now, remember, I had bleached blond highlights. Well, I was in a rush, and did not pay much attention to the color name on the box I chose, I only knew I liked the color. Apparently, I chose a cool color, which is a no no when putting color over bleach. I rushed home, colored my hair, and when I washed and dried it, I was dismayed to find that while the base color was a gorgeous chestnut, my blond highlights were now silver.

In a nutshell, I looked like Rogue from X Men


Picture Source

Since I have no mutant powers or energy stealing abilities, and there is no way this body is ever going to look good in a latex superhero suit, I decided this was probably not the best look for me. I posted a Facebook status about it, and one of my friends told me how to fix it.

You can bet your sweet patootie I was up at 7 am the next day to go to Walmart and find a lovely shade of brown hair dye labeled as a warm color. It is a bit darker than I originally wanted, but what the heck, fall is on its way.

Never a dull moment for me, I am telling you. Next time, I know to check the shade.

It Made My Day: My Friend Roseanna

2011-08-05T11:30:00.000-04:00

Today, I got the nicest surprise when I checked my Facebook. I saw that my friend Roseanna White had tagged me in a post. When I went to see the post, I was surprised to see that she had written the nicest blog post about me as part of her "My Friend Fridays" series on her blog.

Roseanna talks about how we became friends online, so I will encourage you to go read her post here. But what she does not mention, most likely because she does not know, is what a huge inspiration she has been to me, as a wife, and a Christian, and hopefully one day an author.

Roseanna has always encouraged me, and has really helped shape my voice as a blogger and a reviewer. She gives me great advice, and I am very blessed to have met her online. I look forward to the day when we will get to meet in real life.

So thank you, Roseanna, for the lovely post, but most importantly the blessing of your friendship. It certainly made my day!

Review: Puroast Low Acid Coffee

2011-08-04T07:57:00.000-04:00

I was never much of a coffee drinker in college, and it was only when I moved out on my own, in graduate school, that I started to enjoy a good cup of coffee. When I got my first real full time job, I would easily drink a pot of coffee every day. However, as someone with a lot of gastrointestinal issues, coffee is a huge dietary sin. The caffeine and acid could do me, and spur stomach aches that would last for days. When I was officially diagnosed with acid reflux, my doctor told me to cut all caffeine out of my diet, cold turkey, until things were under control.

Now that I have learned how to control my gastro issues, I am once again worshipping at the shrine of the coffee bean. Since I began working again, I make a small pot daily. But I quickly find myself feeling icky from drinking coffee. So when I learned about Puroast Low Acid Coffee, I was thrilled. It caters to people who have acid issues but love coffee. I was thrilled to get to try it.

My first impression was WOAH, this coffee is strong. I am not a huge fan of french roast coffee, I tend to like a milder blend. Once I got over the initial taste, and adjusted my milk and Splenda accordingly, I started to really enjoy this coffee. While it was fresh and hot, it was pretty delicious.

The problem with this coffee is when I returned to the pot for a second cup. This was probably within 20-30 minutes of brewing, and the heating unit was still on. But the coffee did not taste fresh at all; it almost tasted as if I had reheated coffee from yesterday. It actually tasted more acidic that my normal coffee does. So, I had to throw the rest of the pot out. Because of this, I just cannot tell if this coffee really does allow someone with acid issues to enjoy a pot of coffee.

Perhaps it was the french roast blend; another blend may have better results. I would certainly try another flavor, because as I said, the initial cup was fantastic. If this could be purchased as a resealable container, I may be more likely to purchase it, and make only a cup or two at a time, so as not to waste it. I am not ready to give up on this product just yet.

I received this product for review as part of the Amazon Vine Program. If you thought this review was useful, please got to my Amazon Profile and vote it helpful!

Cartoons By Hubby: I Been Sleep

2011-08-02T22:09:00.000-04:00

Dammit Chloe, I been sleep!

The Backstory: One of my secrets is that I love trashy television shows, despite how damaging I think they can be on our culture and particularly young girls' views of themselves. Things like Bridezillas, Bad Girls Club, and America's Next Top Model, where you have a mix of prim and proper English and colloquialisms and slang being spoken by girls from different walks of life. Usually, as the shows get trashier, the grammar gets worse and the slang increases. The other night, I was watching a Bad Girls Club marathon, in preparation for the new season starting. During one particular episode, Hubby sat on the couch next to me to cuddle, and witnessed a scene which left him confused. In the scene, 6 of the girls in the house were drinking and laughing, being a bit loud and generally causing a boozy ruckus. The 7th girl, who had been in bed, got up and flipped out on the others, throwing punches and screaming things like "I been sleep. When I be sleep, you need to respect that I be sleep. You so rude, I BEEN SLEEP". Notice she never said we is, was, or had been asleep, the proper adverb form, but instead says she simply is or was or had been sleep, which is a noun.

Hubby kept asking me "how can she be sleep?". I went on to explain that this is a common slang way of saying that one had been asleep. He said he had never heard this before, and I replied that clearly, he was not watching enough trashy television, as I was quite familiar with the saying, no matter how much it made my ears bleed to hear it.

Today, he sent me a text message that said "Hey.... I be sleep". Then, I commissioned a cartoon depicting this. He surpassed even my greatest expectations.

(for those not in the know, Chloe is our youngest dachshund puppy, who likes to squeak all hours of the night and wake him up. I miraculously sleep through it 99% of the time)

Out of Town: Sights of Deep Creek, Maryland

2011-08-02T08:21:00.000-04:00

Earlier this summer, Hubby and I traveled to Deep Creek for the wedding festivities of our very good friends. While we were there, we took some time to do some really cool things, like the Garrett County Bear Trail. But we also took the time to see some really gorgeous sites.

First off, we stayed at the Wisp resort, just like last time, and this time we took advantage of some of the things the resort had to offer. We actually rode a chair lift up the side of the mountain, which gave us an absolutely breathtaking view of Deep Creek Lake. Even though I am scared of heights, I really enjoyed out little ride. After all, how often do you get a chance to do something like this?

In addition to the Bear Trail, Garrett County also has a Barn Quilt Trail.

Barn Quilts are these gorgeous quilts, based of of actual existing quilts, painted in barns, to help showcase Appalachian heritage and culture. We did not get to see all of the barns, but we did get to see a few, and they are breathtaking.

We also got to visit a petting zoo, quite unexpectedly. One of the shops in the area, Schoolhouse Earth, has a petting zoo full of rescued animals. They were so adorable!

This just goes to show you, there is always something new to do and find when you are on vacation, even if its a place you have been before. I can't wait until the next time we visit Deep Creek, to find even more treasures!

To see some more of my Deep Creek pictures, click here.

Explorations: Clarks' Landing

2011-07-30T23:08:00.001-04:00

One of the hardest things about not being a native to my town is not knowing all the awesome things that used to be here before I moved here. Which is why I am so excited that Clarks' Landing has opened in Kittanning. Everyone talks about this great restaurant the used to be in town, called Clarks. Family restaurant, great prices, good food, whats not to love? Well, it shut down last year, before I ever got to try it. So, when I learned that it would be reopening at a new location, with a slightly new name, I was super excited to try it out.

Today, I got the chance.

The first thing we noticed as we walked up was the adorable outdoor seating. I love the bright colored umbrellas, and the nice view of our town.

We walk inside, and we are greeted by a bright, friendly interior. Everything is shiny and new! I liked the look of the place, very warm and inviting.

Similarly, the staff were all friendly and helpful.

When we got the menu, I was flabbergasted.

There were so many different things to choose from. The menu is so extensive, there is no way someone, even the pickiest of eaters, could not find something to suit their palate. Everything sounded so delicious. Hubby settled on a burger, and I ordered my favorite, a buffalo chicken salad. A restaurant's whole reputation, in my opinion, can be won or lost on their buffalo chicken salad. When the salad came, I took a deep breath, and prepared to make my determination.

Verdict? Absolutely the best buffalo chicken salad I have had in months, possibly ever. I have tried them from so many different places in town, and I am telling you, this one was hands down the best in town. I ate every bite of it.

Hubby also opted for a piece of pie, which looked delicious, but I was too stuffed to even taste it. He was very happy with it though.

We got a copy of their carry out menu (many more buffalo chicken salads in my future I predict), and I can guarantee we will be back.

Clarks' Landing reopened in the midst of a site that is being redeveloped as Kit-Han-Ne Village. The plans look gorgeous, and I really hope some more businesses move in, I think it will be great for our town.

How to Save a Life

2011-07-28T19:53:00.000-04:00

This week, I had an opportunity, as part of my new job, to be trained in CPR, and learn how to use an automated external dibifillator, or AED. I hope to goodness I never have to use these skills, but I am thankful I have them.

I have been trained in CPR before, once as part of a CPR/First Aid class in college, and once as part of previous employment training. I have not held certification in over 10 years (wow, I am old.). One of the things I loved about the training I had this week was how "home town" it was. The training was held in a local fire station, and pretty much everyone in the class knew everyone else, except me, I only knew my coworkers. They talked about things going on in their towns, babies being born, the upcoming fair, it was all so personal.

And because it was so personal, I think everyone took the class really seriously. Because if we had to use these skills, it most likely would not be on a stranger. It would be on a friend, a neighbor, or a loved one. When we got to infant CPR, the instructor talked so frankly about how scary it is to use these skills on a baby, and how upset we would probably get if ever we were in that situation.

Because many of the people in the class were part of the medical and emergency community, I feel like I learned things about CPR that I never knew, like why it is so important to make sure the compressions are deep enough, and why you wait for the chest to completely recoil. I feel so prepared to use these skills, I just pray I never need to.

It makes me so thankful for the emergency services here in my town, and everywhere.

Word Filled Wednesday: Fruits

2011-07-27T07:34:00.000-04:00

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Fruits are evident in my life. Not the "apples and oranges" kind of fruits, the "goodness and kindness" kinds of fruits mentioned in the passage from Galatians. These kinds of fruits nourish my soul the way the other kind nourish my body.

These fruits are not always easy for me to see. I am not the most patient or disciplined of people. I get anxious a lot. But when I take a moment to reflect, and trust in God, these fruits become more evident. However, I must do my fair share of the work.

My job is a perfect example. The opportunity for a job that was perfectly suited for me arose when I least expected it. God was clearly opening a window for me to experience fruits of the spirit. But I had to do my share. I had to apply, and be patient, and work hard at showing why I was the perfect one for the job. So I worked, and now am reaping the fruits.

For some people, seeing these fruits seems effortless. I will never be one of those people. I have to work really hard at discipline, in order to see the fruits of self control. I have to work at being kind when I lose my patience. But the work worth it, to see the fruits, and be so filled with joy, the way I am now.

I will work as hard as I need to, in order to be nourished by these fruits.

Out of Town: Garrett County Bear Trail

2011-07-26T14:30:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned, we recently returned to Deep Creek for our friends' wedding. However, it also served as a little mini holiday for us, so we spent some time just the two of us as well as with the wedding revelers. We went with no real set plans, and stumbled upon the coolest thing ever.

Our first night there, at the Wisp, we saw this cool, brightly painted wooden bear. We later came to find out, there was a whole trail of bears, 20 in all, throughout the county. You got this passport, and each business sponsoring a bear would stamp your passport for you. At the end, you had the passport verified and were entered to win some cool prizes. Given that we just did a geotrail this summer, and we completed a search for the Erie frogs earlier this month, this was right up our alley. Challenge accepted!

We spent parts of the next two days finding the bears. It was a little tricky being from out of town, we backtracked quite a bit. But in the end we found all the bears. We had one left to get, and we decided to hit it up on Sunday, after we checked out. Much to our dismay, the business that fostered the bear was closed when we got there.

I called the Discovery Center, who sponsored the Bear Trail, and the worker said if we brought her a picture, we would accept that. So, in the end, we did finish the trail, and got to enter to win the prizes.

The coolest thing is that these bears will be auctioned off in November, and all proceeds go toward the creation of a Forest Canopy Walkway, which will be gorgeous. I would love to buy one of these bears, and I think Hubby would too. He really took a shine to a couple of them, Barnella Quiltbeary and Vinny V.

To see more all my pictures from the Bear Trail, click here.

Do you remember ....... sun tea?

2011-07-25T07:24:00.000-04:00