2012 Summer Olympics

I don’t know about you, but I am LOVING the Summer Olympics!! I enjoy the Winter Olympics, but not nearly as much as the Summer Olympics. Probably because, in real life, I love summer way more than I do winter! 

The Opening Ceremony was a little different this time, but I really loved it! It was very British. I thoroughly enjoyed the walk through British History. I loved the humor that it had. I loved the diversity. I loved all of the small details that were thrown in. My absolute two fav parts were the forming of the Olympic rings and Mary Poppins! The sing along at the end wasn’t too shabby either!! 

I am loving coming home every night and watching representatives from our country fight their hardest to win their particular sport in honor of our country. I love to see the emotion that over takes them when they win. I love to see their reactions as our nation’s flag is lifted above the flags from other nations, and our national anthem is played. I love the feeling of pride that I feel every time I see them.

My favs  to watch are all the pool events (swimming, diving, etc), gymnastics, and volleyball. I use to love softball too, but for some reason, they have taken that out of the Olympics. I’m still a little upset about that!! I like indoor volleyball, but beach volleyball is my fav. Coming in at a close second to the favs are rowing and water polo. I’ve also been watching some Fencing during the day online, but it kind of stresses me out. All that beeping gets to me, and I get really worked up when our guys/girls don’t stab them first! 

I love keeping up with the medal count, and feel a little guilty when I hope the other countries fail miserably (especially the Chinese!). I know their athletes are trying to do the same thing that ours are, but I can't help hoping that they mess up so we can succeed!! 

What about y’all? Are you watching? What do you like? 

 

Little Cabin in the Woods

I apologize for the silence here on the ole blog, but life has been CRAZY the past few weeks!! 

Remember me telling you that we were moving...well, it happened. We officially moved into our new place this past Monday. 

This whole move has been quite an adventure. It happened very quickly, and truthfully, the last time that I wrote about moving, we had no idea where we would be living! We knew we needed to rent for a while, but didn't have a place in mind. David actually found our house on a Craigslist Ad. We looked at it on Friday and moved in 10 days later!! Yep, that's the way we roll!!


Although it was quick, I really think that David picked a good one. This little house is literally a cabin in the woods...right beside a river! I am already envisioning fun cookouts at our place and can't wait for fall when all the leaves start changing and we get to see the mountains in their full splendor! 

I'm so glad to be in the house and somewhat settled. I know it will take a little time to get everything in its new place, but it is coming together. I am so ready to not see boxes in the house! I feel like our home has been cluttered with boxes for a couple of months now. If you know me, you know I don't like to live like that. It stresses me out - more than moving!!  


I have to give another shout out to Pinterest for leading me to a blog post  (from Find Joy in the Journey) that was a life saver for moving! This post had everything you need to print in order to make a notebook that will help you keep track of your stuff. It really took the work out of unpacking. I was able to label each box and list its contents in my notebook. When it was time to put away everything, I knew exactly which box to look for thanks to my handy-dandy system! I am SO glad that I took the time to do it! 


I am pretty much done with the kitchen and living room. Our bedroom is set up, but we are still living out of a few suitcases. That and the sunroom are next on my radar. After that, we will work on the guest room/office. David has already started in the yard - cutting the grass, trimming bushes and all that good stuff that needed to be taken care of.

I'll post more pics when I get things more settled.

The last of my 3 Childhood Memories

My brother, Stephen, and I loved to play with fire when we were kids. We were all the time burning things, throwing things into fires, etc. I remember several times that we hid and made small fires. We would also take pieces of paper, light the end on fire, and act like we were smoking. Like President Clinton, though, I never inhaled. 

In addition to fire, we also loved fireworks. It was illegal to shoot fireworks in Georgia, but lucky for us, we lived in Alabama! Some friends of ours had a house out in the country, and we would actually all get together there for firework wars. It was kind of like hide and go seek, but we would shoot each other with Bottle Rockets or Roman Candles (on occasion, something bigger too!).

One day, following one of the “firework holidays”, Stephen and I decided that we would go into the yard and shoot some of the leftover bottle rockets that we had. We grabbed some coke bottles, the fireworks, and some matches and headed outside. We had learned that shooting the Bottle Rocket out of a bottle made it go much farther and burned your skin much less. After a few minutes of shooting them, a cop pulled up. He told us that, although it was legal to shoot fireworks in the state, it was actually not in the city limits, and they had received complaints about us. 

Stephen and I knew exactly who had complained. It was our neighbors, The Hamms (their last name was really Hammonds, but that’s what we always called them). They were an older couple that lived across the street from us. They were nice people, but could get pretty grouchy – like old people do. 

We went inside, and the cop left. No big deal.

Later on, Stephen decided that he was going to sneak out back and shoot off one more. He came into the living room where Mir, her boyfriend, and I were all watching TV. He told us his plan and went outside – slowly closing the sliding glass door behind him so it wouldn’t make too much noise.

He went outside and got set up while we watched. As soon as he lit it, it flew out of control…right over to the Hamms’ house and blew up over their roof!! Stephen saw what was happening and made a bee line (is that how you spell that?! I don’t think I’ve ever actually written that phrase out before) back to the house…running SMACK INTO THE GLASS DOOR!!!! He hit is so hard that he about knocked himself out! We were all DYING laughing – like near peeing your pants, can’t catch your breath, clapping like a retarded seal laughing!! Stephen slung the door open and sat down with us like nothing had happened so that he wouldn’t get in trouble! 

I really wish that you could have seen the precision with which he closed the door so that my mom would not hear it shut. The fact that he did that and then 10 seconds later ran right into it was CLASSIC!

The Martha

Sad News! Stephen just sent us all this in an email...

This is from today's Ledger-Enquirer. I'm assuming it IS "The Martha".

Easing the pain

My sister, Martha Kobs Hays, passed away July 4, and this is to thank those who took such good care of her when she could no longer care for herself.

Martha had to be put into Fountain City Care and Rehab Center, to my dismay, but all I ever saw were wonderful people who loved those under their care. Although everyone was very conscientious and loving, there was one CNA who had an immediate rapport with Martha. Judy could get her to eat when no one else could, and she was the one the other CNAs depended on when it came to my sister's welfare. The last words my sister spoke were to this woman who took such good care of Martha as if she were her mother. Words fail me as to how much I appreciate what she did.

I also want to thank Dr. Glenn Fussel who for a time was Martha's physician and who recommended Vista Care.I knew nothing about them, but now I can say in all honesty that they were very caring and never missed an appointment with her and they were there the moment they were informed of Martha's passing.

Martha's body was donated to science, and I also want to thank the Anatomy Gifts Registry for their rapid response in taking care of last-minute paperwork.

Cassonya Kobs Douglass
Columbus

I felt that I should pass this on since you now have connections with "The Martha". I had heard rumors that she had died a few years ago, but I guess this proves those wrong.

Who knew she had a sister?! Not me!

I sure am glad that nice people took care of her until the end. Dear Judy must have really been a saint!

I wonder what scientific discoveries will be made using her body?!

Good Ole Martha! Though she is gone, memories of her shall live on forever!!

21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?

When I first think of super powers, the basics come to mind – flying, super strength, invisibility, laser vision, sonic hearing – but when choosing which power I would want to have, I had to make sure I knew all the options available to myself. I didn’t want to short myself just because I couldn’t think of a cooler one. As with most everything now days, I did a Google search of Super Hero Powers. The first link, of course, was to Wikipedia. I don’t always rely on Wikipedia, but with a title of “List of Superhuman Features and Abilities in Fiction,” I thought that it would be an ok source.

I was flabbergasted! Who knew there were so many super powers in fiction works?! I’m so glad that I decided to view my options before picking!! The Wikipedia list had about 115 super powers! That’s way more than the 5 or 6 I could think of off the top of my head.

I won’t lie…some of those powers I didn’t really understand, some of them I didn’t really see the point in, and some of them sounded really awesome! It was hard to look at that list and think about which ONE I would want to have if I could.

I know this may sound crazy, but I did give this some thought. At first, I thought this would be an easy choice, but the more I thought about it, the harder it became. I think when the first X-Men movie came out was the first time that I ever really thought about how some of these super powers can cause heart ache, pain, and alienation. You don’t really think about that when watching Superman or Spiderman.  

In looking over that list, it was so much easier to knock out the ones that I would NOT want to have (and the ones that I didn’t really understand). I would not want to have something like omniscience, immortality or time travel. Although some times I wish I knew what other people were thinking, I’m sure most of the time, I’m glad that I don’t know. After seeing my grandmother out live most of her friends and family, I don’t think that immortality would that great either – think Edward Cullen here (Stop judging me! That’s all Leigh Ann’s fault!) And speaking of movies…can we say Time Traveler’s Wife?! No thank you!

I narrowed the field down and I think I’m going to go with…da da da….

Superhuman Speed.

The description on that one was “The ability to move, run, fly, react, think and sense at speeds much faster than a normal human. Those with this ability also have accelerated brain activity which allows them to process sensory information so fast that everything seems to be moving in slow motion while the user moves at normal speed.”

That sounds pretty good to me. How many times have you wished that you had more time to get things done or wish that you could get somewhere super fast? How many times do you think of how you should have reacted much later than you needed to?

Yeah, I think that would be a good one. What do you think?

hmm...what would I do with this super power first?! Well, I think the most responsible thing at this time would be to pack my house - super fast. I am working on it, but definitely not super fast! I could use some superhuman speed!

Roasted Okra

You know me and trying new things - especially things that I find on Pinterest. Well, here's another...

Roasted Okra

Don't knock it until you try it - seriously!

I felt like I needed a little something extra to go with dinner last night. Last week a sweet friend of mine let me pick her garden while they were away for the weekend. One of the things I was able to get was okra. I love okra, but the main way that I love it is fried.

I love fried okra. My waist line does not.

I saw this recipe a while back on Pinterest, pinned it, and thought "Hmmm...maybe". I mean, it boasted tasting like fried okra, but isn't actually fried. I was skeptical.

I've had a lot of things that boast tasting like the real, not so good for you food. Some are good; some are not.

The recipe is to wash your okra, cut off the top (I cut the point off too - just because I felt like it), toss the okra in olive oil, salt and pepper, spread okra on a baking sheet, and bake @ 425 for 10-15 minutes. It sounded easy enough.

Let me tell you now...it was GOOD!!! This recipe is definitely a keeper. The okra came out crispy and, surprisingly enough, really did taste like fried okra.

Do us all a favor...if you like okra, try it!!


I would also like to take another minute to brag about the rest of our dinner. Not because it was anything amazing, but because of the fact that David ate and enjoyed it.

When David and I first got married, he was a total meat and potatoes guy. Well, not just potatoes...any kind of starch/carb really - corn, mac n cheese, rice, pasta, bread, etc. He never wanted to try anything new and was perfectly content eating the same thing over and over. That may sound good to you, but I need variety in my life. I like adventure - not just in life, but in my mouth as well!!

There seriously was a time that I fixed chicken and broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo, and he questioned me on what else we were having. When I informed it that was all, he asked me to make some mashed potatoes to go with it. Seriously?! Mashed Potatoes and Fettuccine Alfredo?! Yes, that really happened!

I have taken it on a personal mission to introduce him to new foods (some times honestly and some times not so honestly J). I'm always sneaking little things in on him. He's kind of like a kid when it comes to eating. If you tell him what it is, he makes up his mind before trying it that he isn't going to like it. If you lie hide the truth or disguise it, he'll try it and usually like it...then you can tell him what it is. J
I have been very proud of myself - and him - because I have succeeded on many occasions and there are many new foods that he likes. Some of the ones I can think of off the top of my head are...wheat pasta (had to lie about that one at first, but he caught on and now doesn't know the difference), eggplant Parmesan, zucchini tots, tomatoes (I know, I know, but he didn't like them when we first got married), brown rice, and sushi (that one is probably my favorite thing that he likes now. I never in a MILLION years would have thought that he would like it!)

Last night's dinner was another *woo-hoo* moment for me! I fixed chicken, spinach and goat cheese quesadillas!!! I fix all kinds of quesadillas but this was the first time I had used goat cheese in one of his. I *heart* goat cheese. When I saw a recipe for spinach and goat cheese quesadillas (yes, of course on Pinterest), I knew that I wanted to try it. Once I fixed one for myself and knew I loved it (as if I wasn't going to!), I figured it was time to try it out on David. Surprisingly enough, he really liked it - and even asked for more!

So, our dinner last night consisted of the quesadillas, okra, and sliced tomatoes. It was a BIG score for me and I am very proud!! J

Happy Birthday to my BLOG!!!

It is hard to believe that I have been blogging for a whole year!! Part of me feels like I’ve been doing it for so much longer and the other part definitely feels like I just got started.

When I first started, I had no idea where this adventure would take me, and looking back, I would have never imagined writing all the stuff that I have written. Truthfully, I didn’t think I’d have anything to write about, but I should have known better. My life is crazy, my family is crazy, my friends are crazy, and I do some crazy stuff…all stuff worth writing about!

I must say, I am pretty proud of myself for sticking to it. I really didn’t want to be one of those people that starts a blog and then never posts anything. I definitely haven’t written as much as I wanted to some times, but I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent.

I’m hoping that this here blog has been fun for you. I can’t say that it’s been inspiring or touching, but I do hope it has been fun.

Here’s to another year of crazy stories and revelations…after all, I’m only on #20 of The List. I have 10 more to go!!

I’m always up for ideas, so if you have something you would like to know or something you want to hear about, let me know!!! I love taking requests! J