Good Thoughts

While driving to Barnes & Noble today, I started thinking of all my favorite "moments." You see, throughout my life I have moments that have just burned themselves into my brain and every so often I'll just find myself going back to them. And the thoughts I am talking about are the best ones. The thoughts that bring me back to the happiest moments, even if most of those moments were only an hour or so here and there. So, for your reading enjoyment, here is an unordered list of my favorite thoughts..

1.) Star-Gazing
Laying up on the hill on a clear August night watching for shooting stars. The cool damp grass, a comfy blanket and just all those stars. You forget how clear they are when you live in an urban area. It's just so peaceful and relaxing. You look up at all those stars and the fireflies and the smell of lingering bonfire or cookout. You appreciate everything you have. In that moment, that specific point in time, no matter how shitty things are, everything is perfect. You have your health, your family, the grass and the stars. I miss that.

2.) Crisp Late-October Hiking
My neighbors back home own hundreds of acres of forests and fields. My favorite time to look back on is being up on the trails, the dirt paths between fields. Usually a deer or two lingering in the field, all twitchy knowing that hunting season is on its heels. The air is cold and crisp. A nice 40-some degree day. Cold enough for a sweater, jeans, boots and maybe a scarf. No need for a jacket. Nose and cheeks red from the cold. Acorns or a hawk feather in my pocket. The smell of dying leaves and earth and the bright reds and oranges on the trees. *sigh*

3.) Top of Chimney Tops
This one is one specific moment. Hiking with Jenna up to Chimney Tops in the Smokies. We hiked 2 miles up the mountain in snow and ice. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees by the top. After making it to the very very top, with miles upon miles of mountains on all sides.. just looking out over all of God's creation. And my muscles were sore and tired but wonderful. Jenna shared her cheese bread (which at the end of a hike is a delicacy finer than any fare at a fancy establishment). It was a fantastic day. The last day of 2005 spent with one of my best friends at the top of a mountain with plenty of great conversation when our breath was caught up enough to allow it.

4.) Early Dismissal/Snow Days
I'm not sure if this one is a particular day or combined days from my childhood. Either way I think of it and it makes me all nostalgic and happy. An early dismissal from school with snow falling, a foot or more of impending blizzard-type goodness. We get home and my mom has a pot of homemade chicken soup on the stove with homemade bread still warm from the oven and homemade sugar cookies either already baked or in the making. With enough snow on the ground Morgan and I gear up (which means wearing at least 5 pairs of pants simultaneously) grabbing the sleds and going out to sled down the hill. And Shevis (my old dog) would chase us all the way down. And we'd trudge back up the hill to the very top (when my mom wasn't looking) and sled down as fast as possible, slamming into the fireplace, deck or house only to go back up and do it again. And then, once we're frozen with snow in our hair and cheeks and nose red and stinging we go inside, tracking snow everywhere and enjoy cookies and hot chocolate. If I ever have children, I'll HAVE to move back to an area with snow. That's not even a question.

5.) Old Orchard Beach, ME
Every summer my family goes up to Old Orchard Beach in Maine for some family vay-cay. I'd always find myself something good to read. I would love just laying on the beach, engrossed in a good book. The hot sand and the sun. The smell of the pages. And once I became too hot, into the frigid Atlantic I'd go and swim until my skin was a bluish tint and feeling started to fade (I like my water cold). Once I was good and frozen I'd take all my stuff back up to the pool and warm up in the pool water only to find myself a beach chair and read some more until I was dry. Then later in the evening I'd play Rummy with my grandmother, my hair and skin caked with a nice layer of chlorine and salt water and just feeling good from being in the sun (despite my inevitible sunburns).

6.) Africa
I went on a missionary trip to Africa when I was 15. I was on a team of teenagers that helped build an orphanage for AIDS orphans. ANYWAY I always remember one day in particular, I was walking back from the worksite (I forget why, but I was by myself). It was just so beautiful. You could see HUGE mountains along the horizon, bigger than any mountains I've seen over in the states. They were all faded purple along the blue sky background.. not a cloud to be found. The sun was a deep red, you could look right at it due to all the dust in the air, it was Malawi's dry season. And all around the path were charred fields. Not an ounce of green. Just huge Baobob trees and dry fields with the smell of smoke in the air. (The locals burn the fields every year and collect the mice that run out and sell them cooked on a stick). That walk though, was just breathtaking and humbling. The smell of the smoke and the warm dry air. I had my boots on and my hair hadn't been washed in at least a month and my skirt was dirty from working with dust dried to the sweat on my skin, in my nose, my hair. It may sound gross, but that was one of the happiest moments of my life. That very point was the closest I've ever been with God and the strongest I had ever been spiritually. I just bring back the memory of that walk and I am so happy and thankful.

So kids, there are lots more little memories (morgan camping out in my room and us staying up all night talking, building forts in the woods, some memories more on a personal note, etc.) but the ones listed above are my favorites. If you read them all, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I do!

Heads Up...

Emma's hiring. We've got open positions across the board, but what I'm really posting about is the designer position. We've been growing, and fast. Emma's becoming a big gal and we're looking for another designer to help keep up the pace.

If anyone is looking for a design job and is savvy in Photoshop and has strong HTML skills, send in your stuff! Emma's a kick-ass company. We're laid back and know how to have a good time (beer on Fridays and Guitar Hero at the independent theater) but we also work hard. We don't have time to train someone so we're really on the lookout for someone who's got skills and is ready to jump right in (and an awesome personality and sense of humor are key as well).

SO tell your friends! And you can apply here. And if I know you, give me a heads up that you're applying and I'll let my Design Director know.

P.S. if you apply, MAKE SURE you have a working site with examples of work, or a Coroflot or AIGA page with work or even send in a PDF and WRITE A COVER LETTER. You'd be surprised at how many designers apply with none of these things.

Phenomenal.

Travis. By far, hands down one of my all-time favorite bands. I'd say even a smidge more favorite than radiohead. I've been a fan of Travis since my junior year of high school (Fall of 1999 to be precise). Travis' tour dates in the states have been very few.. years since the last tour. With the release of their latest album a few months ago (which is most fabulous by the way) they decided to come back to the states and I was all over tickets like a dog on a soggy tennis ball. Luckily, my friend Jenn is just as excited about Travis as I am and we both bought tickets to the show in Atlanta which was this past weekend. WHAT a Sunday!! Let me tell ya..

Jenn and I made all sorts of plans to meet at her parents' house in Chattanooga for some dinner then head out to Atlanta early to get a good spot for the show (doors opened at 7). Well, we left early enough, around 1-ish in the afternoon. At 3:45 (EST) we hit traffic, right before Chattanooga. Turns out there was an accident and about 20 miles ahead of the accident there was a sinkhole. We sat in traffic, in a dead stand still for over 2 hours. We thought for sure we wouldn't make the show, we were angry, sad, depressed.. of ALL the shows, why Travis? Who knows when they'll be back? With their last show dates being in Mexico City and Japan, we were crushed. We had decided if the trafic didn't move by 7 we'd have to go home. (Chattanooga's about 2 hours from Atlanta, and with the show starting at 8, we were quite down-trodden). But to our surprise and sheer glee, the traffic started moving around 6:40 only to hit traffic from the sinkhole. Needless to say, I rode up on the burm, got off on the next exit and we high-tailed it to Atlanta.

We made it to the show 20 minutes before Travis went onstage. I about pissed myself with excitement. (Jenn was equally ecstatic). I have to say, the Travis show was the best concert I've ever been to. The crowd ranged from 20s to 40s age-range and everyone knew the words to every song (including myself). It was fantastic. Travis themselves seemed pretty surprised at the level of fandom. They were shocked the crowd knew the words to so many songs, especially the new stuff.. and the cheering.. we (the crowd) screamed so loud at some points it was hard for them to continue. I really don't think they expected the reaction. They even said they plan on coming back within the year. My heart melted. I love them.

Here's the thing with Travis. You either love them or don't know them. The lyrics sink in and they just hit you. Granted, a good bit of the music is mellow, so I was half expecting a boring show.. BUT the parts of the song where you feel the angriest or saddest or happiest upon listening, they REALLY put all of that feeling into the performance. It was spectacular beyond words. Truly. They played songs from ALL of their albums: Good Feeling, The Man Who, Invisible Band, 12 Memories and their newest, The Boy With No Name. I was (and still am) on cloud 9. It way exceeded my expectations and from their reactions, we exceeded their expectations.

I CAN'T WAIT for the next show. I'm swooning just thinking about it. But next time, we're going to go a day early. Traffic be damned!

p.s. I found out "Flowers in the Window" -The Invisible Band, is about his wife being pregnant. I think that makes the song 10 times more beautiful than it already is.

There's a Fiesta in my mouth and I LOVE it!

I've been on a cooking binge lately. Last time I was at the store I bought all sorts of ingredient-type stuff.. lots of spices, canned beans, tomatoes, pesto.. all sorts of stuff! Tonight I decided to try my hand at an impromptu Mexican dish.

This is seriously one of the most delicious dishes I've had when it comes to Mexican fare. I even like it better than pretty much anything I've had at a restaurant. It's SUPER easy and very healthy. And a big bonus, it doesn't take long to cook at all. If you own a pan and a stove you can make this dish. I had it over rice with sour cream on top, but you could use it as fajita filling or whatever. Here's how it goes:

My Random Fiesta Sensation:
1 green bell pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes and chilies.. check the ingredients, get some with lots of seasonings in it (I bought the hot kind on accident, but I think it wound up tasting better for it)
1/2 a can of black beans that had been hanging out in my fridge for probably longer than they should
1 chicken breast (you don't even really need to use this, to be honest, it's good with or without.. you can substitute any other meat too)

I put a little olive oil in a pan and started warming it up on med/high (closer to med) heat. I dumped in my chopped up bell pepper and chicken (which I had also cut up) and then the black beans. Stir that a little and cook until the meat is getting near done.. not dark but not pink. Dump in the can of tomatoes and chilies, reduce heat and simmer awhile. I let it simmer while I cooked up some instant brown rice, so about 10 minutes? Maybe less. I didn't want it soupy so I let it simmer a bit.. it's really up to you how long you cook it.

ANYWAY. I put that stuff over rice, with a little sour cream on top and a cold Yuengling = wonderfully delicious!!

In other cooking (read: baking) news.. I'm on a pie kick. I made an apple pie (100% from scratch, crust and all) on Saturday and brought in the leftovers to work yesterday (I just couldn't eat the whole thing myself). Needless to say it was a big hit! I'm thinking next I want to bake a raspberry pie. Or maybe blueberry. My mom and dad are visiting this weekend and my mom's bringing me down a small pie plate (I only have a big one), a bread pan, muffin tins and cake pans. I am VERY excited about this!! You can bet your bottom the flour will be flying in my kitchen. Yay!

A Few Random Points

1. If you have a stomach ache (or any kind of heartburn, indigestion, etc.) mix 1/2 tsp. baking soda in about 6 oz. of water and drink it. It tastes a bit like Alka Seltzer, not too yummy, but boy does it work! Great stuff and totally natural!

2. I am going to make an apple pie this weekend. If it turns out well (I haven't baked an apple pie since I was about 13 or 14, but as I recall, it was mighty tasty) I may start making pies for church or whoever just wants pie. I also plan on starting and finishing my "All in the Family" Dio-Rama. (Jenna, I may be late on the deadline. sorry.)

3. I just filled out the forms to transfer all of my credit card balances on to one. This will pretty much max out that card by all but $100. BUT I'll be able to focus on one payment instead of 3 and one set of montly interest fees as opposed to 3. I'm hoping to get the balance down by half within the next year or so.

4. I hate running in humidity. I've discovered it's not the heat, in fact, the mornings are fairly mild. It's the humidity that kicks my ass. I think I'll stick mostly to hiking and walking for the rest of the summer.

5. I REALLY like sleeping 8 hours a night. Once the remnants of too-much-sleep-guilt (leftover from college days) wears off, I have to say, it's pretty great!

6. My favorite places in Nashville are as follows (not in order, cause they're all are too different to rate):

• The Nashville Public Library


• Radnor Lake


• The Belcourt


• The Basement

7. I haven't physically spoken the ever popular Southern contraction: "Yall" Although it has cropped up numerous times in personal internal dialogue. I have a sinking feeling it's only a matter of time before "You guys" turns into "You all" which I feel may then morph into "Y'all." Scary, I know.

That's about it. Hope everyone is enjoying their summers!! Peace out.

I Heart Emma

Check out pictures of last week's Guitar Hero event. Have I mentioned how much I love working at Emma?

And here is our "Virtual Booth" that we presented for an online conference. TOO funny!

The woes of an introvert.

I'll probably delete this later. I'm just ranting to myself. about myself.

argh. I went to a party tonight. Very fun. Met lots of new people, some good conversation, some good laughs. Overall a good time. Problem is, it only took me about 2 or so hours to finally open up and talk to people. And as per usual, I got the "you look like you're not having fun. Aren't you having fun?" comment. ARGH. I really REALLY need to work on my social skills. I make myself so mad sometimes. I have such a hard time just opening up and talking to people I don't know or don't know well. I don't know why. It's like something just holds me back. I tell myself, in my head, to just walk up to people and start a conversation (really, that mental dialogue really does occur), but something just holds me back. Maybe it's fear? Of what, I'm not fully sure. But there's a definitely mental fence there. With barbed wire.

Why can't I just be that girl that can go up to anyone anywhere and just start a conversation??? Honestly. And I wouldn't normally consider myself shy, but really, I guess when I get down to it I am. I mean, I've got tons of friends, I am fully capable of holding conversations, cracking jokes.. but it's always with people I'm close to. Why can't I just break this damn shell and be that way with everyone??

I mean, I don't intentionally try to look like I'm not having fun. I am fully ok with not saying a word and in reality am having a great time. Unfortunately, this is not perceived as 'having fun.' I'm just tired of being told I look like I'm not having fun. I don't like being the 'No fun' girl. I DO have fun. Honestly. I do. Why can't I just convey that? I try to remember to smile (I sometimes forget to do that). And I laugh at people's jokes and make attempts to join conversation. I don't know. I just can't quite grasp the whole being social and outgoing bit.

Anyway. That's enough of me complaining about my inadequacies. It's just something I need to stop whining about and just work on. **sigh** I'm so frustrated with myself.

Yeah. I'll be deleting this tomorrow I'm sure.