Time for a Change

Lately I have been feeling a little restless...

I have started to settle into my new home, new job, new life and now all of the newness and excitement has worn off.  Don't get me wrong, I am somewhat grateful for some time to relax but the ADD is starting to creep back in and I am ready for a project or two or three or twelve.

First on the list is the one project RJ is dreading the most and keeps somehow dissuading me from doing, PAINTING! Hooray! I want to paint the entire inside of our house.  Right now every single, solitary wall is a color that was probably white at some point and it is driving me crazy.  I can decorate all I want but it is never going to look finished, in my opinion, until there is something that doesn't say "rental" all over my walls.

I spend basically all of my free time obessively looking at home decorating websites trying to imagine the perfect color pallette for our home.  I know I want a bright kitchen and right now I am leaning towards a bright but soft blue, a warm neutral for the den, and the bedrooms are up in the air.  All input welcomed and accepted.

Second,  I want comfy furniture for our back patio so that it is actually usable.  We have a table and chairs that are on our front porch so for the back I want lounge ish stuff so that we can entertain and hang out, once it cools down enough to be able to breath.  Something like this would be nice with some bright throw pillows.



Problem is, all the patio stuff I have found costs a million bazillion dollars so I have yet to purchase anything. I don't necessarily want fancy new stuff, just something that I can make my own with some paint and new cushions, however, no one currently wants to part with anything close on Craigslist or in their yard sales. Jerks.

Third, as always I want to cut my hair off.  As all of you well know I go through this at least once a year where I get tired of my hair and want something new. Currently I am searching a salon here in Memphis so until then I am going crazy with deep conditioning treatments to try and keep the split ends at bay.  I am thinking I want something shoulder grazing and layered. Oh, and I want her life. and wardrobe.

So that's my plan for the upcoming week(s). No big deal.

What did you have for dinner...?

Let's start with a disclaimer, I am a big fan a fruits, vegetables and generally most things healthy.

I'm a big advocate of salads and local fresh produce and homemade healthy meals, but tonight we went CRAZY. Literally.

I had peaches(more on those later) for breakfast and a Lean Cuisine for lunch, but all day I was craving something greasy and fatty and horrible for my body. I fought the urges UNTIL around 2:30 when the Wholly Guacamole facebook page informed me that today, July 21st, is National Junk Food Day.

So, when 4:30 rolled around and my trusty chauffeur RJ picked me up(car and pot hole had a disagreement) I told him I wanted to make a tour of restaurants.  Boneless wings, cheese fries, pizza, nachos, BBQ, mac and cheese, chicken fingers, donuts, milkshakes, fried pies, and brownie sundaes was my honest to God list.

We decided to start with Outback. I'm getting, slash that, got cheese fries. They were heavenly.

And...too much for my tummy to handle.  After 1/4 of the way through I was done and full.

We didn't go to O'Charley's, or Krispy Kreme, or anywhere but Kroger for supplies. Not antacids, or tums,or Sprite.  We couldn't throw in the towel that easily.  We bought Twinkies, Oatmeal Cream Pies, and Double Stuft Oreos, got in the car, took an hour or two break and then we

FRIED ALL OF IT.

You Can Too!  The recipe is simple:

Deep Fried Fun

1 cup baking mix, like Bisquick

1 cup water

1 Tablespoon vinegar

1 Teaspoon salt

Anything delicious you can think of, snack cakes, candy bars, cookies, you name it!

Powdered sugar for sprinkling.

Chill your items while you mix the batter ingredients together and heat the oil.

Heat oil to around 375 degrees, or insert a wooden spoon handle first to the bottom of your pan and wait until bubbles rise around the base.

Dip your selected items and fry 1.5 minutes per side until golden brown

Lay out to drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with powered sugar.

So amazing, so sinful, but also so a once a year kind of thing!



Finding Purpose Without Planning

It seems like my whole life I have been following a plan that I laid out for myself :

1. Go to college and graduate on time with a degree that showed that I lived up to my potential, not took the easy road.
2. Find a job and join the work force to prove that I am actually using the degrees I worked to earn.
3. Make everyone else happy and don't let anyone down.

And I accomplished these, but all with the sinking feeling that I was not on the right path, that I was going through the motions but without purpose.  I have worked two jobs that sounded OK, and paid me well, made me miserable day in and day out.  I worked for people who didn't care about me, not as an employee and certainly not as a person.

I didn't start my journey to Memphis to find my purpose, I packed my bags for love and along the way found more to love than I ever imagined possible. My purpose is a cluster of light pink buildings in downtown Memphis that in this short 2 months have showed me that there is more than going through the motions.

I work for ALSAC St. Jude. I work to raise funds so that children will one day be able to lead full, healthy, and happy lives.  I go to work everyday for HER.

Our CEO challenged us to pick a patient and work for them. When we are tired or frustrated to remember we are not fighting nearly as hard as they are. We don't work to pad a corporate bank account, we work because it takes $1.7 million/day to operate this hospital so that kids like Emma get the chance to keep fighting. I now have a drive to do my very best work, put forth the effort it takes to make anything I do a success all because I know that this is what I was meant to do.

I always thought St. Jude was a great charity when I would see it on TV, but I never knew how truly inspiring and amazing it is.  I took a huge leap of faith and ended up right where I belong.

Take a minute to read what can happen when you stop following your own plan and let Someone Greater direct your path.

Danny's Story

Weekend Visitors!

So Saturday morning brought our very first house guests...MY SISTERS!

I was so happy to see them and to try to show them around Memphis.  We all know I am not too great with directions, so TRY we did.

Saturday after they changed out of their traveling clothes we loaded back into the car to head to see my new office, grab some lunch at a Memphis favorite, and then see what else I could stumble upon on the way.

As my life goes, none of the plan actually worked out.  The gate to St. Jude that I normally go through was closed and I didn't know how to get to the others.  The line for Gus' Fried Chicken was wrapped around the buliding and Jess and Al's rumbling tummy's, which were on Eastern time, could not stand to wait. So, after a brief,  arm crossing, foot stomping pout, I put on my Polly Anna tour guide smile and attempted to navigate to an alternative.

We ended up parking downtown and set out on foot to see what we could find.  1st bonus, we happened to park right next to the Gibson guitar factory and museum, of course I totally meant to do that... We wandered to Beale street in search of some kind of local deliciousness.  We walked up and down and then around and back down probably walking 24 miles in the same 5 block area before deciding on Huey's.  It was absolutely fantastic.  Believe me and if you go, get the sweet potato fries.  They are amazing. Not kidding, TRY THEM!

Then we headed to a place called Wet Willie's for some refreshing frozen cocktails.  I had the Pink Flamingo, a mix of strawbery and pina colada.  Al had the Easter Egg, which she kept saying tasted like fruit rollup, and Jess had a fresh fruit strawberry daiquiri.  Dear Chattanooga, I am sorry to report this is better than The Big Chill. 

Next, we took our drinks and started walking to the world famous Peabody Hotel to see the march of the ducks.  We got there 30 minutes early, but due to the heat and the holiday weekend, the lobby surrounding the fountain was packed with children and their fanny pack clad parents.  We took the stairs and got a pretty good viewing spot from the balcony to wait for the march to begin. 

For those not familiar with the ducks, they march from their rooftop home down a red carpet into the lobby and swim around a giant fountain for the amusement of the guests twice a day.  They are super cute and very well trained. For Rikki, they only work in this environment and then are released into a sanctuary to live out the remainder of their little ducky lives, so don't worry.

That night after a brief shower and change we went to grab some yummy dinner with RJ's parents at Central BBQ and then called it a night for some much needed rest.

Sunday we crossed our fingers, prayed for some luck and headed to Tunica to visit the casinos.  No one did too well.  Alex and RJ lost all their money, Jessica faired a little better and I broke even.  But, hey we got some free drinks and an afternoon worth of entertainment.

That night we headed back to Beale street where we drank the famous Diver out of a bucket from Silky O'Sullivan's, had jello shots out of giant plastic syringes, and somehow managed to get into some VIP third floor dance club. We all had an absolute blast!

So that was my looooooong weekend.  I recovered by falling asleep somewhere around 8:00 last night and completely missed all the fireworks.

Oh well, I've got plenty of sparklers for tonight! Happy belated birthday America?

Everyone else is doing it...

Since I have never been one to really resist peer pressure, I figured I would join the world of blogging to keep everyone in the loop on my adventures here in Memphis. 

First, let me say that I am doing this under slight protest.  My thoughts were that if I didn't give in it would force you all to come visit, however, no one seems to be in the road trip frame of mind.

So, here's to  Memphis and learning that life goes on, whether it's according to my plan or not.