it's like Christmas came early!!!

i thought today would be like any other day on break. . . relaxing, minimally productive, and enjoyable. but today had some surprises in store. today was going to be spectacular and i didn't even know it.first, it started by staying in bed too long. have i mentioned that this is one of my favorite things to do? especially when there is no accompanying guilt and today there was none of that. then j and i got breakfast at the Kolache Factory. Have you ever had a kolache? the first time i tried one i was in birmingham, searching for goodies in our office kitchen. i found these rolls and bit into one only to find a delicious sausage and cheese filled center wrapped inperfect yeast dough. i ran down to my office to tell everyone about this amazing discovery; they already knew. i literally could not believe no one had ever told me about the kolache. so, here they have a whole bakery dedicated to them and that is where i got to enjoy breakfast with the cutest guy on the planet.

then, after some shopping and cleaning while j and his twin (yes, he has a twin, no he is not single) played video games in the basement - we decided to hit up pappy's bbq for a late lunch.

if my kolache experience was a fantastic first date, (or second?) my relationship with bbq is nothing less that a lifetime covenantal commitment based on love and mutual respect. good bbq is one of the things i miss most about the south. slow roasted pork on buttery buns and ribs that make you work for the tender smokey pieces of meat. oh my gosh, i could go back for more right now. pappy's has been featured on the food network and cooking channel, which is what convinced me to give it a chance. it's midwestern though, which kept my expectations low. after eating there all i have to say is this: GO. get all the meats, get all the sides and double up the sweet potato fries. when i was done, my plate looked like this:

sorry, is that gross? who cares?! i need to relive this moment. so we sat there talking about how good it was and how full it was and how the guy on man v. food ate there and then we all knew what had to be done: we had to hit up the crown candy kitchen.

crown candy was also featured on the food network and is known for it's milkshakes and malts and yes, candy. it closed at four, so we had 30 minutes to get there and sit down. we made it, and ordered these:

please note, each of these fills a standard milkshake glass a whopping 3 times. 3 TIMES!!!! no, i didn't finish my silver cup of chocolate banana goodness but the part that could fit in my stomach was incredible. when i was in jr. high and high school my dad and i set out to find the best milkshake in columbia. if crown candy had been in the running it would have owned everywhere else that we went.

then i fell into a food coma. and it was worth it. merry Christmas to me.

the follow up to the 70's-tastic gingham cookbook recipe

surprise everybody! it looks like i care about blogging all of a sudden. it's probably the lack of final exams and really long papers to write.

so, i made the chicken divan, served it with some brown rice (what? we're healthy-ish) and it was pretty good. i didn't even gag when i squeezed out 1/2 cup of mayo and stirred it into the cream of chicken goo (see? that's why we're only healthy-ish). the divan was good, but not as good as the stuff my neighbor brought over when we moved in. so if you are desperately in need of a chicken divan recipe, i'll get hers.

in other news, i've moved on to massive chocolate chip cookies by martha stewart. they look like they're off of a commercial and my husband keeps asking if we have more. for the recipe, click here. oh, except i made a minor change. instead of even reading what kind of chocolate and how much i was supposed to use, i just dumped in a bunch of chocolate chips. there were so many that i couldn't stir them all in and i had to eat a bunch of plain chocolate chips after i made all of the cookies. oh - and one more change. i tried to cook them on wax paper because i was out of parchment paper AND foil. it went well until smoke started pouring out of the oven and our house began to smell like a melting wax castle. we had to open the doors to create a breeze to carry the smoke out. it worked, and the breeze was 11 degrees with a wind chill of -7.

and tonight? sugar cookies with that awesome royal icing. you know, the kind that looks all smooth and fan-say (that's the fancy way to say 'fancy'). they're in the fridge right now, waiting to be baked and iced.

and you know why i'm not a first-class food blogger? i don't have pictures of any of it. sorry!

i've been cooking a lot lately . . .

and tonight, i'm cooking out of this book:

when it comes to family heirlooms, most girls get fancy jewelry, silver, antique dressers or fur coats.* me? i get Cotton Country Cooking and my great grandmother's well seasoned iron skillet. and i. love. that.

food is quite the tradition in our family, and having this well used, written-in copy of staples in southern cooking and entertaining. tonight's recipe? chicken divan. it involves mayo and cream of chicken soup. i can't go wrong, right? i'll let you know how it goes. until then - happy dinner time!

* also food related, my grandmother did give me a set of crystal salt and pepper cellars with sterling silver mini spoons. they're beautiful, and her message with them was more beautiful "I just wanted your new home to have something that has always been a part of our meals together in my home"

So so thankful

i know, it's been a while since thanksgiving. but i have so much to be thankful for that i still had to do a post about it. (besides, beggars can't be choosers and if you actually look forward to new posts on this site, you qualify as a beggar) we were with Justin's family for the great feast, and it was, truly, a great feast. i held on tight to my purnell roots and took mostly pictures of food (seriously, its like a disorder in our family - at least my brother married a professional photographer who can do it well) and a few pictures of people with food in the background.

First there is the best chocolate bundt cake in the world. i would HIGHLY recommend it. super easy and pretty impressive. oh, and so good that i could probably eat it for every meal.

Marie, justin's grandmother, made almost everything. we ran around drinking wine, taking pictures and stealing bites. she's a great grandmother though because she didn't care that i ate almost a whole can of olives before we even sat down.

Me and my Dr. Quinn bangs. they look better now. oh - and becca (the other twin's wife) and dori (the mother-in-law, who i am so so thankful for).

and dori and all of her boys.

besides all this there was turkey and stuffing and SNOW!! best of all there were people who are thankful for each other. and besides the chocolate cake and olives, that's what thanksgiving is all about, right?

from where i was to where i am. . .

step 1: move to st. Louis, mo.

step 2: become a full time grad student

step 3: get artsy barista job at locally owned coffee shop

step 4: get bangs.

(i apologize for the grainy picture and the expression on my face. i just left it because, well, that's the expression usually on my face these days)

and there you have it - from where I was when i last posted to where I am now.

this will be a fun game:

can you guess what this picture is inspiring in me right now?

ps - this is the girl from 'a fine frenzy' in case you were wondering.

oh! oh! real quick . . .

i would be ENTIRELY remiss if i didn't say a big ol'

happy birthday!!

to the amazing kelley kirker. here's how things would be going if we were celebrating together. . .

there are no words to sum up how i love that girl. so i'll just leave it at that.

the view from here

i know i haven't written much - i've been busy. there has been city to expolore, people to meet, and lots of reading to be read. at last, though, right now, this evening - there is pie crust to be made, an andrew peterson cd to be absorbed, whiskey to be drank (or is it drunk?) and a post to be blogged. honestly - life feels almost as good as i know it is.

the past two weeks have been a blur. school is much more consuming than i expected for both justin and myself. we both spend a lot of time reading. any spare time i've had has been spent looking for a job and attempting to make this apartment my own.

for those of you who know me well, i seriously doubted this school thing at first. now, i can't imagine why. every day i get to go to class and talk about things that matter. my primary responsiblity right now is to come home and read works by these great men of God about the One who truly matters most. already i've had to read the likes of os guinness, sinclair ferguson and lesslie newbigin - i'm talking whole books, people. not to mention articles by guys you won't know but probably should. it's almost not like school (until i hit 11 pm and i've been reading since 3 with only minor breaks - then it's exactly like school). my favorite thing for now has been ferguson's book on the Holy Spirit. it's hundreds of pages on the person of the Holy Spirit and it's so intriguing and genuinely life changing. i challenge you to read about the person of the Holy Spirit and it not rock your world at least a little bit.

besides that there's the job search. after only one week i've gotten to the point of desperation. what does that mean? it means i've started thinking that manual labor jobs don't sound so bad after all. it means that youth ministry doesn't look that good on an application for a high-end cookware store. it means that i've gotten really good at writing down my last three employers and their contact info. it means that i have to rest in God's provision in a way that i only had to talk about before moving here. i'm really thankful for the whole thing.

for now, i'll leave you with this:

" The Spirit's role in Jesus' ministry is now evident, He serves as the heavenly cartographer and divine stratagist who maps out the battle terrain and directs the Warrior-King to the strategic point of conflict. he is Christ's adjutant-general in the holy war which is waged throughout the incarnation." - s.f., The Holy Spirit

just a few minor adjustments

that's right, city of a thousand sights. you know what that means? it's magic code for sprawling metropolis with more interstates than my gps can handle. it means the sheer amount to explore is exhilarating and overwhelming. it also means that it can take up to 45 minutes to get somewhere in the same town. for me - it's an adjustment.

so that's where we are - here in st. louis. so far, i like it. it's not alabama, it's not south carolina, it's not home yet. but, i love our apartment (pics to come soon) and everyone has been almost over the top friendly - even the babies, and there are millions of those here in seminary housing. (by the way, i'm not drinking the water. literally, i'll only drink it if it's been through the brita filter. my scientific brain know it's biologically impossible for this kid thing to be 'in the water' and yet, there are SO many babies). i've already found a running route, two trader joe's and a dozen frozen custard places. there are also a few familiar faces here, even a couple who have known me since before i was a mrs. and that has made this whole thing much easier.

we're adjusting: adjusting to being away from the only home we've know as a married couple, adjusting to not having cable (i watched the wendy williams show today)or a spare bathroom, adjusting to washing all dishes by hand, adjusting to being full time students and not in full time youth ministry. it all just feels really different, a little foreign and like it will be normal soon enough.

fun things - like picture of my vintage oven - coming soon. until then, i'll just be here adjusting.

strong nor'easters

today, i would like to move to maine. or maybe massachusetts. really anywhere that i could live in a cute little new england house with painted shingles. once there we (because you all would come with me) would eat lemon basil pasta with crab that we caught ourselves and sit on the porch drinking wine and wearing light jackets - because in the northeast there isn't a heat index of 105 degrees like there is here. wouldn't that be so lovely?

things found while packing, nights 1 and 2:

yes, we're spending our evenings drinking beer and packing. i hate packing (thus, the beer) but i love finding things that i either a) lost or b) forgot that i lost. Here are my favorites from last night:

-boating license

-marriage license

-electronic bugs

-pictures of me as an awkward jr. higher

Tonight got even more fun:

- multiple wedding gifts still in boxes

-box of 'justin things' (yes, as if i were a cheesy teenager). it included concert tickets, valentines cards, 1st anniversary cards, a corsage, and some other sentimental little tidbits. i laughed at myself. but it's kind of sweet, right?

-mothers day present intended for 2007

-and this shirt from my trip to maine with my family

ahem, i have an announcement

well, this will be old news to some of you - but in less than three weeks the husband and i will be leaving birmingham for the gateway to the west: st. louis. then we will be staying there. honestly, it's that second part - the part where we stay there - that is a little hard for me to take. don't get me wrong, i'm excited, we have big plans for the lou. i'm sure it will love us (justin has a past with the city, so we've got that going for us) and maybe, maybe, i will one day love it. but not like i love birmingham, not like i love the south with its sweltering heat, one snow per winter, and football obsessions. i can't talk about it right now. instead, i'll just leave you with this: the view from the nosebleeds of busch stadium. readers, meet my soon to be home.

someone help me

i need new music in a major way. something upbeat, a little indie, and that invites me to sing along while sitting or driving alone. if it were a little southern it wouldn't hurt.

give me your suggestions, otherwise i'll continue listening to this little gem on repeat (which, sadly, has been my default). what is wrong with me?

a snapshot of my actual summer

well, we got home this past friday from a senior high trip to south carolina, which left me with several bruises and pictures of me on facebook looking like this*:

i'm not sure which is more painful. in an hour we're hitting the road again, this time with a bus full of jr. high kids. where are we going? it's a mystery! no seriously, that's the premise of the trip. they have no idea where we're going. and, in the off chance that one of those 13 year olds takes a break from facebook to look elsewhere on the world wide web for yours truly, i can't tell you where i'm going. here's a huge hint though: tonight i get to hang out with the every extraordinary kelley. i'm about to wet my pants. here's to hoping that this trip leaves me with better souvenirs than my last one!

*most of you know me in real life, which means the utter awkwardness of this picture will not shock or surprise you at all. why did i put this here, on my blog? no idea. i guess i feel the need to prove to you all that i'm so secure that i can take it. either that, or it's just the sad truth that this is my life and i want to share it with you as honestly as possible.

summer list

well, here i am again - weeks and weeks after my last post. it's almost as if life doesn't sit around and wait for me to blog before going on and on. then, like with an old friend, it gets awkward that we (me and my readers) haven't visited in a while. so when one of us does call it just seems like too big of a time commitment to answer the phone and catch up. but. that's why me and many of my friends have this deal: when i call, i don't HAVE to hear about the last 4 unknown months of your life, just the funny story that happened today will suffice. and it's ok if our first conversation in tens of weeks is only 15 minutes long. so here is my 15 minutes.

it is full force summer, and by orangette's inspiration, i would like to actually write down my summer list.

iced coffee from o'henrys.

days by the pool with chatty teenagers and the catagories game

doodles

peaches

the lake

youth trips

going to sleep to crickets and cicadas

heat lightening

grills

smell of sunscreen

sundresses

my grandmama's house

the beach

sweet tea

getting used to sweating

yes, these are the things that i expect from summer. so far, she's checked a lot off. there are probably more - so i'm giving myself permission to update the list as i see fit.

also - i'm considering making this my header: thoughts?

those eyes! those ears!

This isn't the biggest or most fun thing to happen recently, it's just the cutest.

today i get to babysit this for a few hours:

quick re-cap

back in my college days we would often do a re-cap at the end of a long but fun night of partying it up. it usually involved me and becca calling each other as we went to sleep in the wee hours of the morning and talking about the various events of the evening. this is going to be like a really quick version of that - except via blog, and you probably weren't there for the real thing:

- purnell vacay 2010! hilton head island, boogie boarding (surfing for sam), cookbook reading, seafood cooking, cabana lounging, free margarita drinking. i love my family.

- sam purnell staying with us for a couple days. we mostly watched x-files, courtesy of netflix.

- the summer has started. i've already been out of town for more than half of the days in june. thanks to a staff retreat and a mission trip. this is the insanity of our summer schedule, and every year it is a harsh reality. i find myself thinking "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" as we power through june and july with nary time for a breath.

-said staff retreat full of great food, fun with our colleagues that we love so much, and paul's poison ivy face. we frolicked in meadows and took hikes to ponds full of giant tadpoles. we cooked smores in the chimney remnant of the 'old homestead' and played nerts (until my constant losing led to waves of hilarious self-deprication. what? it's how i deal, and i'm funny while i deal with it).

-mission trip to Palmer Home in Hernando, Mississippi. We keep having too many kids sign up for retreats, so there were 60 of us in one house. mayhem. but really fun mayhem. i think the highlight of the trip for me was our nightly jaunts to velevet cream, a local drive up burger and ice cream place. OH and memphis - the famous rendevous restaurant wasn't ready for this girl who could (and did) shamelessly finish off a full rack of ribs. by myself. get off my back - i really like ribs.

- oh, and we're moving to st. louis in august. more on that later.

that's all the time i have. i'll be back later. thanks for reading!

-

old mcdonald had a farm . . .

yesterday was a jam-packed day. we (the huensches, the steakleys, the littens) had 3 parties. 3! we kicked it off with a farm party and it's the only one I have pictures of. there was 4 wheel-ing, fishing, pig chasing, pig eating, baby goat and chicken holding, and lots of quality time with people we love in our church family. but since a picture is worth a thousand words. . .

me and one of the baby chickens. so. cute. i want chickens. and fresh eggs. and some chickens that stay babies forever.

kala and fish number 1 - i think she caught five in all, and only fished for 10 minutes.

sara and heidi with the baby goat. i'm pretty sure sara and i are both looking into getting one of these for our next pets. unless i find i sheep, i think i would like a sheep.

i don't know this guy - but he was the kid who caught the greased pig. that's said pig being put on his shoulders.

the best part though? seeing a huge part of our church family just enjoying being together. In the words of Mr. John Denver, "thank God I'm a country boy" (or girl).

Happy Mother's Day!

just a quick little note to let the world wide web know that this woman:

is the greatest mom ever. she is much to be thanked (or perhaps blamed) for my intense love of food. she is a fantastic cook - whether it's the best shrimp and grits you've ever put in your mouth or a late night snack invented out of the odds and ends found in our kitchen and pantry. her talents do not end there, however. she can also plan an entire wedding from out of state, find you almost exactly what you want for half of what you were willing to spend or make 25 guests feel just as welcome as the 2 she thought were coming over. we did that to her. a lot. that's my mom. and i am so proud of her.

I also have to recognize this woman:

(isn't she so foxy? she would die if she knew i put this on the internet). this is jean brown, my grandmother, with my late grandfather. seriously - how gorgeous are they? going back to the food issue, i guess it all started with her. and i just got a little piece of early inheritance in the form of her cast iron skillet. it's now been used in 3 kitchens (it was her mom's) to add love and perfectly browned bottoms to countless pieces of cornbread and ham. i thank her for my rich southern heritage, my DAR membership and the occasional ability to get whatever i want from strangers. (" so, what are my chances. . . " i use that one a lot). one time grandmama needed a ride home from the atlanta airport because she lives on a farm about 45 minutes away. you know who drove her home? the pilot. only jean brown. my mom will try to make you think she didn't get these genes, but she did. as did i. they just seem to get a little diluted with each generation. anyway - i have so much to be thankful for in my grandmama. she's a go getter, and will do anything to see her kids, grandkids and great grandkids. she's lived through the depression, gone to college when it was not the easiest thing to do and taught JUNIOR HIGH for, like 30 something years. you can now find her scooting around her little south georgia town in her candy apple red caddy. can't nobody hold her down. she cracks me up.

but i'm not done! there is no way i could NOT mention my newest mom:

Dori!! she's my mother-in-law and i could not be luckier. she has made me feel so welcome in their family, and she never lets me go hungry (are you catching the theme here?). she has such a well defined sense of style and she is FUN. and the boys she brought up? let's just say she raised them right. she trained them to open doors, send flowers, shop for hours (which i should appreciate way more than i do - i'm not a shopper) and best of all - wash dishes. sigh. i really couldn't have it any better.

i love you all and truly hope you have had the wonderful mother's day that you deserve!!

just call me snow white

If someone asks me what i'm up to these days, i just say i'm hanging out and rescuing animals. sunday it was the ferret, wednesday it was a bird. no joke. two animal rescues in one week. here's what happened:

as i left the office wednesday i heard one of our high school kids yelling "no way. no way. huh uh." from his car. so i went over and he yelled (because he was pretty worked up). "there's a BIRD in my CAR. i left the sunroof open!" and sure enough, there was a pretty good sized bird in the back of his SUV. he is not a frequent animal rescuer, so he didn't know what to do. honestly, it took me almost a whole minute to realize that we could just open the back of his car. so he unlocked it, and of course, asked "mom" to do it. and i DID it. and the bird flipped out and but eventually realized that we had released it from captivity and flew away. we patted ourselves on the back, and as i walked away, i heard another "no way!!" i went back to the car and laughed so hard, because there on the arm rest was a big ol' pile of bird poop. guess that bird was pretty scared. and that high schooler has some cleaning to do.

a weekend full of adventures

this weekend was fantastic. I got to start it riiiigghtt on thursday night at a birmingham barrons game. for those not familiar with "thirsty thursdays" i'll give a brief explanation. you pay $7 to get into a minor league baseball game and then only $1 for every adult beverage you get. mix in a few really fun friends (even a couple out-of-towners) and you've got yourself a rockin thursday night.

then friday i went to the lake with 20 junior high girls. if you know me well, you know that i love this. tubing, swimming, playing games and eating when we're not hungry at ALL - this is a jr high lake trip. i love it. i got super bronzed. oh wait, no, i slathered on the spf 50 and by 5 pm looked like i had just stayed inside.

then last night, oh last night. that was the unexpected adventure. i was home alone for the evening (thus experimenting with kale - that's for a later post), until about 9 pm when j practically bursts down the door in excitement, yelling "wife man - the ferret, i saw the ferret!!" he started digging through our trash for a flyer we had received friday about a lost ferret (yes, we both looked at the flyer, laughed, and flippently said 'that ferret is long gone'). i quickly grabbed an empty laundry basket and we ran down to the bottom floor where j had allegedly seen this missing ferret. yep, there it was - poking its little head out of a storage closet. we quickly devised a plan: i would stay with the ferret, keep it in the vicinity, while j ran to find another flyer. there i was alone with the ferret ( on the phone with sara - because i couldn't think of anyone more likely to keep a lost pet flyer) for at least 7 minutes. we bonded, he sniffed, i patted. and by the time j got back, having already called the ferret - losers, me and yoki were fast friends. the distraught couple showed up about 5 minutes later to find us playing with a ferret in a laundry basket and were so grateful that the guy offered us the shirt off of his back. we politely declined and said that the satisfaction of seeing yoki returned was the only necessary reward. just kidding. we didn't say that. somehow we didn't get a single picture, but this is pretty accurate:

if you ask me. . .

these are the things that you should be looking into and at these days. you can thank me in the comments section.

Mumford and Sons. get their cd. i apologize in advance for the profanity, but despite the occasional cuss, the entire album is quite redemptive. and if you ask me, that matters.

The Price of Privilege by Madeline Levine. If you have kids, work with kids, hang out with teenagers, or grew up in an affluent or success driven family, you should read it. It's easy to get through, and very informative.

David Gray in concert. SO STINKIN GOOD. seriously, it was incredible. if you get the chance to go listen to him play - take it. you won't regret it. justin and i went to see him at the ryman (for justin's birthday) and it was the best birthday present i ever got him.

because i'm so scholarly

oh gracious, there is just SO much. i shall have to take it one piece at a time. The first piece? Thanks to holly (of a little seed, a little water blog) I wasted precious time on the internet finding this fabulous item:

it's a stamp! and i can put it in all my books! it's a cute, sweet way to say "don't steal my stuff." (anyone pick up the spoony luv reference? anyone? anyone?). all of a sudden i'm convinced that everyone needs a book stamp (or embosser if you're really fancy like my husband) that perfectly reflects their personality. btw, my choice between this one and a tree was difficult, but the fonts in this one total prevailed. you can find tons of fun book stamps on etsy.

happy birthday?

this is a book - like a coffee table book - that justin's dad sent him for his birthday. at least, i think that's why he sent it. it is exactly what it looks like. a book full of carrot-top kids. i will say that again: it is a book full of carrot-top kids. kids with red hair from every state. it is so weird, it is hilarious and particularly at home on this huge-A coffee table in this cozy little home of redheads.

i hope this isn't supposed to be a hint

ps - sorry it's sideways. i just tried, like, 4 ways to get it turned the right way, and even though it looks normal in EVERY OTHER application and location, every time it uploads it here, it's sideways. just turn your head to the side.

it's come to this.

obviously i've gotten SUPER serious about working out. why else would i be drinking this? i'll tell you why. because i always crave chocolate milk after i work out, and the guy at the desk convinced me that this would be really good for my muscles. with any luck, i'll be buff like my dad in no time.

last night we went to see Over the Rhine at Workplay and it was spectacular. it was so good that i kind of wanted to join the people behind us chanting "OTR forever!!!!" thanks to a really crowded workplay we shared a table with my new friend Sarah. in fact, it was a conversation i had with Sarah (between musical acts of course - we're not rude) that inspired my next list:

the person i wish i was. . .

- listens to NPR and understands, nay, enjoys it.

- is entirely comfortable going to a concert alone.

- enjoys records (like vinyl) more that recorded reality shows.

- reads, then uses what she has read to have intellectually stimulating conversation

- has her own pilates mat and attends regular classes

- cares less about her clothes and more about people

- siezes the day each morning with coffee, alone time and a run, bright and early, instead of clinging to her bed for as many minutes as possible.

- can articulate why certain moments are so funny

- is patient enough to find awesome crap in thrift stores.

let's be honest, that's a short list but its all i have time for. because the person i really am is late for tutoring.

the curse of the pale-skins

This is the sun. Yesterday he decided to return to Birmingham. I was so happy to see him that i spent all day outside. Now, my legs feel like fire. I wish my melanin would get with the program.

for the past 5 days, i've been sick. not quite go-to-the-dr-and-get-a-note kind of sick, more the just i-feel-bad-enough-to-be-whiney-and-annoying-in-public sick. i have a cough that seemed to really annoy the girl in front of me at sound of music. and my head consistently feels like its about to explode. so i've been taking drugs, whining to my husband and attempting to rest. when i do have an appetite i seem to be craving really fresh things, like this gem of a recipe from smitten kitchen. it is DE-LISH-US. Even Justin took a few bites then got himself a plate. it combines some of my old favorites: fresh green beans, arugula, corn - with my new favorite: pearled barley. SO GOOD i tell you. fresh, healthy and full of goodness. it was perfect for this sunny tease of a day.

sigh. even HE can't bat 1000

last night my husband helped clean out a closing book store. this morning he was cleaning out boxes and boxes of cheesy Christian books that the owner donated to the church. then this conversation happened:

husband: hey, who is that south carolina author who wrote all those books?

me: pat conroy?

husband: yeah. would you have wanted some signed copies of those books?

me: YES!!

husband: sorry i didn't get those for you.

sigh. seriously? he's not from the s.c. he just doesn't know.

how come i never. . . .

1. cook low fat appetizers for girl parties? i'm sure that somewhere out there is a GOOD appetizer that doesn't include a whole block of cream cheese or a cup of mayo.

2. use the tiny little video camera that i own to record how funny me and my friends are?

3. eat the greek yogurt i continue to buy because i think it's cool? maybe the better question is: why do i keep buying it?

4. take my two pint glasses of change to the bank to get that cizash. they are just taking up space.

5. write whole posts on how awesome my husband is? (um, because that would be cheesy and sappy, and i'm not that into it. still, he is that awesome.)

Well, that's it for now. Signing off:

Emily

China Baby

To the glory of God, our church has developed a heart for orphans all around the world. yes, i know it's trendy, but its still good. as one who is generally resistant to bandwagons i have learned that some things can be trendy AND good at the same time (see mens v necks as women's shirts, slap bracelets, justin timberlake and serve-yourself-yogurt bars). so all that to say, we've had several international adoptions in our church within the past few years, and i LOVE it. why? because foreign babies are often cuter than american babies and i can be a little inappropriate and call this little one "the china baby."

oh yeah, and what brought all this up? our friend danny just sent me an email to ask if chinese babies were invited to our party.

is it too late to become rebellious?

sometimes when i watch movies about people that rebel against powers that be in order to pursue the greater good it makes me want to be more rebellious. yesterday i did a little bit of sticking it to the man myself. i think harry potter would be proud. that's right - i
a. snuck into a sold out movie
b. carried in contraband candy and (are you ready for this) . . . a salad.

and yes, every time someone in an official red vest walked in i quickly stashed my salad and tried to look nonchalant. maybe being rebellious takes some practice.

Dear Girl Scouts,

i keep hearing rumors that it's girls scout cookie time. please come to my door and save me the trouble of combing every wal-mart parking lot within 20 miles.

save us both the trouble.

my new mission

so, those of you who are lucky enough to hang out with me and the husband man have noticed that im starting to get puppy fever. if you're not familiar with puppy fever it's a lot like baby fever - minus the baby, plus a puppy. i want a dog. and i want it bad. the husband man is ever practical and has pointed out that we live in a two bedroom apartment, work more than full time jobs and (the kicker) we're gone half the summer. not a great life for a dog. i don't care. it's like i'm blinded by a desire to have a furry little friend who adores me. i think i'm starting to wear justin down, because today sent me an email and told me we could get this dog:

See more funny videos and Funny Videos at Today's Big Thing.

i laughed til my eyes watered. . .

This is just a friendly reminder that once you put something on the internet. . . it's out there. For people like me to find.

resourcefulness

Well, my office window doesn't have curtains or blinds, and about 3:20 the sun shines directly over the trees, through the glass and into my eyes. Luckily Sara, my office-mate, loaned me these. I feel like a rock star.

just a typical day at the office. . .