How drivers in Charlotte make me feel...

I found this comic on a blog and really had to post it (so I take absolutely no credit for the drawings)...but I had to use them because they depict my feelings when I'm driving.  Now, I understand that each area seems to have it's share of bad drivers...but I've found that the mix between extremely rural and urban people create an interesting array of drivers that bring out the road rage in me.

Our Apartment (finally!)

So I finally got around to taking pictures of our apartment(appropriately called the Biltmore)...I know, I know, we've been here since March and still no pics!   Ta-da!!  Anyway, I apologize for the delay, but you have to understand, I just could not take pictures of a messy, empty place.  And yes, I mopped what bit of floor I had for this camera shoot :)  And speaking of shoot, this is also the first debut of our new parakeet _______.  We haven't figured out a name for him (Taylor insists on calling him Tyson, but I refuse to name our bird after cooked chicken).  So if you have any spectacular name ideas, please, for my sake, send them my way.  Alright..hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Okay I'm going to say ahead-of-time that I realize the walls are horribly dull and plain and if I had my way, I would paint every single one of them!  This goes especially for the bathroom...

View into the bathroom (laundry doors on inside left).  And yes, I know the cabinet leans.

I would've painted the bathroom a sea-green/blue color...

Aargh!  The whiteness!!

Teehee :)

My apron I made a long while ago that I seem to never wear :(  This, besides some little pillows, has been my only sewing project...

The picture of the living room from the front door area.  This room also acts as our guest room :)

That little spot on the couch is where all the blogging magic happens!!  That's also my spot on the couch.

Yay Halloween!!!  All thanks to my wonderful Bama and World Market :)  When Christmas rolls around, I will replace the pumpkin with a small plant to decorate, and the orange candle with a red one...yum.

Our little outside table (thanks Mom and Roger!!)

Taylors jalapeño plants... 

And my lack of tomato plants that Taylor cut down to make room for his jalapeños.  Grr

Our new parakeet!!!!  

He is such a good bird.  He also happens to have a slight form of bird OCD: if he poops somewhere on the cage, he will walk over to it and pick each piece off till he's satisfied with the cleaning job.

Now it just so happens that our lease is up in December and we will be moving...two floors down to a slightly larger apartment (with an office that will also act as our guest room)!!  Yay!  New pictures to come in December...or whenever I get around to it :)

Love is limitless

Limitation (as defined by M-W Online Dictionary) n

1. an act or instance of limiting
2. the quality or state of being limited
3. restraint

"Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals." S&H 13

I was forwarded this email which really blows this definition of limitation as we know it out of the water.  Normally I would write back to the original sender and then keep forwarding the email to my entire contact box....but since I have a blog, now I can show these pictures for all to see!

Polar Bear: "I come in peace"

Norbert Rosing's pictures of a wild polar bear coming upon his tethered sled dogs in Canada's Hudson Bay

The photographer was sure he was going to see the end of his dogs when the polar bear wandered in.

It's hard to believe the polar bear only wanted a hug and a friend.

The polar bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs.  Talk about limitless Love!!

At 120 degrees in Australia, it was so hot for one week that koalas were asking people for water.  It has never been seen before.

One went to a house to try to hide from the heat and get a bit of shade and here's what happened when the owner gave him something to drink:

Hallelujah!

Thank you YouTube!

I have found rediscovered this video on YouTube that makes me cry, and will continue to make me cry (in a good way!) for as long as I can remember it.  Now, to those who are more sensitive to bodily functions (i.e. flatus...passing gas), DO NOT view this video.  No, I take that back...you probably should view this video because it sheds a new light on the comical side of flatulence.  And it's even funnier because the "gas" is inserted at exactly the right moments during this preacher's session sermon (which is in itself ridiculous).  Now, I'm not sure if the first video is the original, but I've found that it lacks the realistic farting noise that the second video mimics quite well.  Of course, that's just my opinion and I still think that they're both hysterically funny in their own right.

Farting Preacher 1 

Farting Preacher 2 

clipaday.com

Where's the Beef?

I really like have an obsession with Asian foods, primarily those that contain curry...drool.  Anyway, I found this recipe for an easy curry dinner that is delicious!  Taylor isn't too fond of it, but that's okay because it just means more for me!  It's called "beef with onions & broccoli", although you can substitute any meat you feel in the mood for--I usually get chicken because it's a little cheaper and I can use leftovers to make soup or something.  I've added my own commentary in parenthesis ( ) for other important and flavorful information.

ingredients
(serves 4)

• 2tbsp veg or peanut oil (peanut oil will give you more flavor)
• 2tbsp Thai green curry paste (you can also use red or yellow depending on your taste or picky eaters in the family...)
• 2 x 6-oz/175g sirloin steaks, sliced thinly (chicken will also work nicely)
• 1 onion, sliced thinly
• 6 scallions, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped finely

**side note about the difference between scallions and shallots...they are not the same thing it turns out...scallions are little green onions with stalks and shallots are, well, shallots.  Ask your grocer**

• 8 oz/225g head broccoli, cut into florets
• 14 fl oz/400 ml/ 1 3/4 cups coconut milk (I use light coco milk--all the flavor, half the calories!)
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, chopped corsely (it took me a while to find these--they are usually in the higher end grocery stores in the Asian food section...my apologies to Food Lion, Bi-Lo, and Wal-Mart)
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (YUCK!  I leave this out because cilantro makes me want to vomit...however, you can use it in the recipe if you want.)
• few Thai basil leaves
• **My Additions** : Baby corn, Bamboo Shoots, 1 tsp Curry Powder

A few of the ingredients

method

1. Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the curry paste for 1-2 minutes (more like 2 if you ask me).  Add the meat, in batches if necessary, and stir-fry until starting to brown.
2. Add the onions, scallions, and shallots, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes (mmm I would say about 3-4 minutes so the onions aren't crunchy anymore.)  
3. Add the broccoli, and **my additions** ingredients and stir-fry for 2-3 mintues.
4. Pour in the coconut milk, add the lime leaves, and bring to a boil.  Let simmer gently for 8-10 minutes, until the meat is tender.  Stir in cilantro (yuck) and basil and serve immediately (I serve over Basmati rice because nothing fills your tummy like rice).

Granted this looks nothing like the picture in the book...I think because I'm using a red curry instead of a green curry...BUT it is soo soo good!

TA-DA!!

To frame..or not to frame? That is my question.

I recently (and by recently I mean around August 19) bought this print in a store.  Beautiful bird print that was about 1/100th of the price of the original done on wood.  I'm pretty sure the actual print size is an 8x8 but it's on a foam backing that is about the size of a sheet of paper.  Now, I cannot decide whether I should frame my mini work of art or leave it be.  And if I were to frame it, should I cut it down to size and what color should the frame be??  So many questions!  Ahh!  Please help me!

Old Salem!!

So Taylor and I decided on taking a mini "vacation" to Old Salem, NC for the weekend.  We don't really get much time together since our schedules are so different, so it was so nice to get away for a little while.  Now, I realize that Old Salem isn't really the most popular tourist destination, but I went there for a school trip when I was little living in Raleigh and have the best memories...mostly of hot cider and fresh ginger cookies.  And it is fall...so why not a cute little Moravian town with hot cider and ginger cookies?

Well, we got off to a late start Friday afternoon and figured we would just book a hotel once we got to Winston-Salem...not knowing that this was parents weekend for 1. Highpoint University, 2. UNC Greensboro, 3. Wake Forest...you get the idea.  Every single hotel and cute B&B was booked in town!!!  Taylor to the rescue!  He found this hotel on the outskirts of town with a total of 2 rooms available for the night!  (There was apparently a Thomas the Tank Engine show or something so the hotel was packed full of people kids).  It was located on a vineyard, but because it was so late, we couldn't enjoy the scenery :(  

Our hotel room: they hooked us up on the 4th floor so we wouldn't have kids running above us :)

Our view out of the hotel room in the morning.  The vineyard mansion is in the upper right corner.

We drove to Old Salem around 10 that morning only because I wanted as much time in the day as possible to walk around and be a tourist.  Well, Old Salem is not as big as I remember...and we were only there till 2 (after visiting every building and lunch)!  I would just like to take this opportunity right now to say that the weather was amazing PERFECT.  No humidity, 75, and sunny...pure bliss.  

Look how cute all of the houses are!!!  I would love to live in something like this :)

I would just like to say that the people of Old Salem drive fantastic automobiles!  And if you can't tell, it's an Outback.

Ye Olde Towne Gunsmith
Yes, he was literally making a rifle...how awesome!

Two handmade rifles

Taylor looks so excited about the rifles...so much more fun to come!  Haha

This is the Inn that George Washington stayed at at some point in time...he could've sat in one of those chairs!  Probably not, but it's nice to think about it :)

Apparently there is a story to these beds: (men and women would not sleep together with other men and women) A man would come to the inn and ask for a bed.  If he paid enough, he might get lucky and be able to sleep in the single room by the innkeeper.  If he couldn't afford that option, he would pay for a bed...however, he might wake up in the morning to another (or several) man/men sleeping in the same bed!  

This is where pigs were slaughtered, dried, and salted :( (I'm pretty sure that the dark stains on the wood is blood) In the other parts of the cellar, wine was made and stored as well as extra food and supplies for the winter.  

I don't think I can express enough how wonderfully warm and delicious this part of the inn was...(obviously in the kitchen now).  Behind me there were rows of stringed hot peppers hanging on the wall.  Spices and edible plants lined the tables.  Oh, did I mention the fresh made bread that was also sitting on the tables.  No wonder the inn keepers room was beside the kitchen!  Smart people.

Waiting (patiently!) to get some Moravian grub (i.e. homemade French Onion soup and iced cider).  It was sooooo good!

Yay food!

I don't think Beck's is Moravian.  But he was happy :)

Printing Press...I don't think I would like to have this job.

We sat in a choir room for a bit.  This woman explained why boys and girls were kept separate in choirs.  Everybody woman/girl has a ribbon that denotes her status (child, teenager, young single woman, young married woman, married woman, widow).  Apparently, your choir was essentially your family.  You grew up with them and you were even buried with them (not your spouse or biological family).  Anyway, this woman had a white ribbon that tied her bonnet (widow) and she played the organ for us.  In the back there is a wooden handle which is actually a pump; in the "olden" days, a strong lad would pump air to the organ when it was being played.  It was exhausting to think about.  

There were lots of little rooms like this (I call them "craft" rooms): yarn/wool dying, spinning, pottery, leather making, shoe making, wood working, etc. The silversmith was my favorite (see pic below).  He was in the process of making spoons (but the picture is of pre-made "stuff", my favorite being the cookie cutters!).  I can't imagine having to be in those rooms in the middle of summer next to a fire doing manual labor all day!  

Photo op during the absolutely beautiful day..sorry I couldn't resist!

Mush mush :)

Now this was where they were making fresh sweets (i.e. cakes, pastries, cinnamon swirls as seen in the picture).  I wanted to reach over the rope and grab a roll.  Ahh!  It was so tempting!  We didn't get any swirls or rolls or whatever, but we did get some Moravian ginger, maple, and pumpkin spice cookies :)  

Ye Olde Apothecary
This was one of the neatest places that we went to.  There was only one doctor in town (his wife was one of the two midwives).  This room was totally devoted to medicine with all sorts of jars and plants and mixes (etc.).  He would usually run to someones house if they needed help and there was no anesthesia (well, they did have opium but I think that was for after the surgery).  Speaking of surgeries, the person in need was either held down on the floor or a chair by his friends and family and the doctor was to preform the surgery as quickly as possible since there was no anesthesia.  This included broken bones, amputations, eye removal (we had a picture of that..gross).  

For example, this lovely device was applied to a persons head (like after a concussion).  The family would hold the poor lad down and the doctor would screw this thing through the skin and the skull CAREFULLY to release pressure.  They would have to be extra careful so not to remove part of the brain with the skull.  Other uses: screw holes in heads to release "demon spirits".  Some women with ppd or bi-polar disorders were treated...Oh how far we've come.

Well, that's it for our trip!  We did stop by the graveyard which was pretty neat.  The gravestones are all flat and level because in Moravian society, everybody is equal (I liked that part).  Hope you liked some of our pictures from Old Salem :)  I know...I'm an old fart.