Decade Dance #5

#5. Traveling the Country & the World. I love to travel. I am a tourist. However, I always have 2 goals when traveling: 1. spend as little money as possible & 2. see the city/country from the local persepctive. In the last 10 years I have been so blessed to see the following:

+NYC+ I hadn't been north of the Mason Dixon line since my family moved to Charlotte in the summer of '93. It was great to return to New York in 2005 & see how much the city has changed. I've always seen my self as a bit of a city girl.

+Germany+Austria+Switzerland. In the spring of 2007 I had the chance to chaperone a trip for the chorus at Ashbrook High School. We toured through Germany, Austria, & Switzerland as the kids sang in churches around Bavaria.

+Aruba+ Family Vacation is perhaps my single favorite week out of each year. Every summer my family vacations with my dad's brother and his family. They are some of my favorite people in the whole wide world. In the summer of 2007 we invaded the island.

+Southern California+ I love SoCal. I've been 2 times in the last few years. The first trip was with Kendra in the spring of '08. We stayed in San Diego and also ventured up to the LA area since my brother had just moved there. The second time I went was with my family on vacation. This time we stayed in Orange County & I had the most fun discovering new parts of Cali, especially Malibu. Here are a few things I recommend: La Jolla beach; Balboa Park; Seaport Village; getting your first tattoo; Driving the PCH; In-n-Out burgers; Malibu & point dume; Santa Monica. If it wasn't so far away & so expensive, I think I would move to San Diego

+Chicago+ I've also been to Chicago 2 times in the last few years. My cousin Elizabeth lives there, so it makes for a perfect excuse to visit the windy city. I love Chicago in the summer time. I'm not so sure about the winter though - sub zero temps are the only reason I haven't considered moving to Chicago. My most recent trip was with Michael, who had never been to Chicago before.

+Boston+ Kendra & I spent a week in Boston. I love Boston. While there, UNC won the 2009 National Championship. I love Tyler Hansbrough. Please forgive me stream of conciousness. You can see the blog on Boston starting here (#2, #3, #4, #5, #6)
+Folly Beach+Charleston+ We have created an annual girls beach trip to Folly Beach & Charleston over Labor Day weekend. Charleston is one of my favorite southern cities & Folly Beach is the perfect beach town.

+Dominican Republic+ This was the location for our honeymoon. We stayed at an all inclusive resort (which I highly recommend). We never left the resort!

Decade Dance #8-#6

I spent five years of my life in Chapel Hill. I would not trade a single one of those minutes for anything in the world. I realize that a lot of what shaped my experience at UNC was the people I met & shared my life with while I was there. However, there is something about the University its self that holds a piece of my heart. Everytime I step foot on campus, I get butterflies in my stomach. The best thing I can compare it to is when you see a long lost friend - its overwhelming. It is truely the southern piece of heaven. Appropriately, the next 3 events in my coundown all occurred while attended UNC.

#8. Sticking around for a 5th year to get my Masters of Arts in Teaching. Graduating from Carolina was bittersweet. It is the moment every college student waits for...

...Buts let me tell you kids. STAY IN COLLEGE AS LONG AS YOU CAN! College is NOT, I repeat, NOT the real world. I am so glad that I stayed for a 5th year.

#7. Coaching at Chapel Hill YMCA. This was the start of my coaching career. The kids there literally changed my life. I really learned what it meant to pour myself into a group of kids, invest in them, teach them, grow with them & love them. These kids are forever impressed on my heart. I am also so greatful to have worked with John King in my 2 years at the CHYSC. He taught me so much about coaching, but was also an amazing friend to me.

#6. Winning the 2005 NCAA National Championship. College Basketball is my favorite sport to watch. This was a year of redemption for the Heels, who just a few years earlier went 8-20. Welcome home 'ol Roy Williams; welcome home. We will celebrate with bonfires on Franklin St. & perhaps a tasty honey biscuit from Time-out.

Decade Dance #10-#9

'*Cheers*' Tomorrow, January 31st, 2010 will be the end of another decade! I remember bringing in the year 2000 (or Y2K as we lovingly referred to it) and now here we are 10 years later. It is amazing to me how quickly life moves, especially when I started to think of all of the things that have happened in those 10 years. Here are entries #10-9 of the top events in my life of the last decade

#10.Graduating from Vance High School (supposedly the "smoke free class of 2000")...

...and upon graduating from that fine institution....

#9. Attending THE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This was honestly some of the best years of my life. I met some amazing people who have changed me forever. There are so many memories: St. George Island, Urban Missions in Dallas, Club la Vela, Apple Chill, UNC-Swim Club, the return of Roy, Ashley Forest, the "hot" room, Halloweens on Franklin, camping on the quad, skiing at snowshoe, nice jugs, the Hannukah bush. In the words of Charles Kuralt,

"What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls or the crisp October nights. Our loyalty is not to the memories of what William Richardson Davie did 200 years ago . . . No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be The University of the People. Two hundred years to the day since the founding of the First State University, we can read again the words on its seal--"light and liberty"-- and say the The University of North Carolina has lived by those two short noble words and say that in all of the American story there is no other place like this."

mmmmmm::Chili::mmmmmmmmm

For the first time in like a bajillion years Charlotte saw snow on Christmas day (even if it did come late in the eventing, it still counts). As expected, in true southern fashion, the city shut down. I decided it was a perfect day for chili & ran out to the grocery store to make a delicious meal for my friends & family. I was one of 5 people on the completely clear roads. Anyway, all that to say, here's my chili recipe (please forgive the lack of measuring, I'm not a big fan of it & tend to cook to taste).

1. marinate 1.5 lbs stew meat in:

+12 oz any beer

+garlic powder

+cumin

+chili powder

+salt

+pepper

+hot sauce (I prefer Frank's) - a few dashes

+1 Tbsp olive oil

2. Allow stew meat to marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes

3. In a large sauce pan add 1/2 chopped yellow onion & saute for about 3 minutes in 1 tbsp of butter

4. Add stew beef (WHITHOUT the liquid marinade - set aside the marinade, do NOT discard) to the onions. Brown on both sides (3 minutes per side)

5. Throw the following (and I mean throw, there's nothing fancy about it) in the sauce pan:

+liquid marinade

+1 can vegitarian chili beans

+1 can pinto beans (w/ liquid)

+1 can corn (remove 1/2 the liquid)

+1 can rotelle tomatos

6. Season to taste with chili powder, garlic powder, salt & black pepper

7. Bring to a simmer over low heat & allow to cook for at least one hour

8. Serve with your favorite toppings (cornbread, corn chips, shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, etc

Enjoy! Drae Speller told me it was the best chili he ever ate. I'll take his word for it.

Holly Daze

PW's green bean casserole
Christmas Decorations!

Mamma Klebe's sweet potatoe pie

First Christmas tree

Fry Up Another One!

Let me tell you about one of the best days of my entire life, that I was able to spend with some of my most favorite people in the whole entire world.

#1 We drove up to Chapel Hill with Kendra & Blake, walked around campus, reminisced, and then met Buffy & Steevvhh for lunch on Franklin St. That alone would have been an amazing day, but wait.... there's more!

#2 We went to the North Carolina State Fair. I haven't been there in about 4 years, and I remembered why it was so amazing. We met Lindsay & Kristen there, and had the most amazing adventures! First Michael & Blake bonded over a trashy romance novel (which were free by the way)....

(and Lindsay enjoyed collecting fair paraphernalia)

#3 We ate LOTS of fried food: oreos, peanut butter & banana sandwich, mac & cheese, reeses, cheesecake......... ouch my arteries hurt.

#4 I finally got to see a potbelly pig race! Although I must say the guy that ran the show talked way too much. I think my favorite part was watching the ducks race. (I think Kristen has a rather large crush on the announcer - one day, KK, one day)

#5 Just in case you aren't convinced of the amazing nature of the NC State fair, these next few shots should make you a believer. Until next year....

An Indian in my Cupboard!

For the 3rd year now (I think that makes it tradition) Kendra, Kristie & I went down to Folly Beach, SC over Labor Day weekend. This year Michelle joined us (and we lost Buffy). As always it was an amazing trip. However, the weekend was marked by the invasion of ..... Roaches ..... ew. The first one was found in the kitchen cabinet as Michelle was going to grab a glass. *side note: Michelle has a legit phobia of bugs, poor girl overcame some serious fears that weekend* Back to the story at hand.... since our first friend was found in the cupboard, we referred to him as "AnIndian," naturally. Now if you are wondering how to pronounce it, just say "an Indian" really fast. And if you are wondering where the name came from, you obviously are illiterate (and I mean that in the most loving way).

Here is a little video recaping our wonderful weekend, AnIndian and all...