Leap Year Meditation by Seth Godin

Once in four years, just once, perhaps we could:

Forgive, forget, relax, care, stand out, speak up, contribute, embrace, create, make a ruckus, give credit, skip, smile, speak truth and refuse to compromise--more than we usually do. Pick just one or two and start there.

Hey, it's just one day.

Careful, though, it might become a habit.

-Seth Godin

Happy leap day!  I hope you all get a visit from leap day William.  ;]

Recently...Eating and Travel

Wow, it sure has been a while!  I haven't been around the casa much, so I haven't taken much time to write on here.  I've been a little more intentional about keeping up with the teaching blog, but I don't want this one to fall by the wayside.  It is so great to be able to look back and remember what was going on my life at random times.  But anyways...

Like I said, I haven't been at my house much.  Mr. Biz and I have been all over the world (ok, maybe just the southeast) doing all sorts of fun things.  Don't be jealous.  ;]

 

We went to Birmingham to visit some of our best friends and for Mr. Biz to run the Mercedes-Benz half-marathon (I was only a spectator/cheerleader).  On Saturday we hung out with two of my besties, Clint & Brynn, and then that evening we spent some time with Biz's best friend Jonathan and his girlfriend.  The next morning we left around 6:20 for the marathon and I did my best not to freeze to death (a large non-fat mocha from McD's helped that cause).   He did a great job on the marathon; I love cheering him across the finish line.  Then we had a much deserved brunch at Another Broken Egg Cafe.  Deeeeelicious!  There is a location in Atlanta, so I'm sure we'll visit there again soon!  We both highly recommend it.

The next weekend was an EPIC four day weekend.  Yes, you read that correctly: we had Friday and Monday off of school.  We decided that we needed to live it up while we had time away from work.  Mainly, we decided to go to Steak and Shake at 2:00AM for their happy hour milkshakes.  Did you know that their happy hour is from 2-4AM and PM?  Well, now you do!  We figured what better way to stay young than to go out when all of those crazy college kids are out.  Actually, we were surprised that there were so many people there...come to find out, the bar next door closes at 2, so everyone migrates to Steak and Shake for some milkshakes and burgers.  That also explains the inebriated state of many of the patrons.  We overheard some very interesting conversations.  All in all, it was quite the experience and a fun, atypical thing for us to do.

That Sunday Mr. Biz ran the Locomotive Half-Marathon in Kennesaw, so we took the opportunity to go check out Big Pie in the Sky.  Adam (our favorite TV personality of Man v. Food fame) did the carnivore challenge there and the pizza looked amazing.  We decided to go with our favorite and try their version of a white pizza.  INSANELY GOOD.  There were huge chunks of garlic all over it.  I don't think the picture does it much justice, but we got their smallest size which was still 16" across.  And our plates were pizza trays.  Epic.  If you have a reason to go to Kennesaw you should definitely check it out.

If you can't tell, our goal in life is to become real foodies...which is why we try to find unique and fun places to eat in each city we visit.  Just last night we learned about some places in Athens that we are going to visit.  Over the past couple weeks we also enjoyed some sinful cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and got some really good Thai food from a place near Mr. Biz's work.  I never realized how fun it was to try out new places all the time!

This is a very long post, and if you made it to the end, props to you!  I'll probably keep updating ya'll on the places we eat at, and there is a "Good Eats" page currently being edited.  I'll let ya'll know when it goes live.

Happy Sunday!

Pancakes, Winter, Broken Hearts, and New Tunes

Hey, all!

I feel like I've been abandoning my little blog over the past couple of weeks.  I've just been concentrating on getting my new blog up and running.  Good news: I'm up to six followers!  Haha, doesn't sound like much, but I'm pumped.  :]

A few random thoughts for this Saturday morning...

On Thursday Mr. Biz and I made whole wheat banana pancakes and they turned out pretty well, if I do say so!  We didn't have nutmeg and we added a bit more milk (about 3/4 cup).  When it says the mix will be dry, that's really true!  We were both a bit flummoxed because we're used to runny pancake mix.  In the end it all turned out, though.  We enjoyed our pancakes with fake-sausage (aka "soysage"), random berries (of the straw, blue, black, and rasp varieties), and butter/maple syrup (only on mine).  Quite a yummy dinner!

Source: How Sweet Treats

The temperatures this past week have hovered around in the 60's and I AM LOVING IT.  I have never been much of a fan of winter (it's dark and way too cold), so this mild beginning to February has been awesome.  February is normally such a dreary month.  Here's to hoping this year is different.  I think we deserve this little taste of spring, since our spring all too quickly becomes a scorching hot summer.

Have you ever prayed for God to break your heart about something?  I have prayed that before and last night God answered my prayer.  I work with some of the sweetest kiddos around, but I know what most of their futures are.  They live in a very poor area with a lot of gang activity and such, so while they are innocents for now, they won't be for long.  My heart just aches for these children.  My goal as a teacher is to show them so much love and acceptance with the hope that one day they will make choices that will keep them on the right track. 

One last thought: I am currently listening to the album Kaleidoscope Heart by Sara Bareilles.  This next week I am going to delve into some new music on my computer: Elton John, Frank Sinatra, the Gin Blossoms, Harry Connick Jr., and possibly some Jack Johnson (in honor of my college roommate, SJ).  New music is the best!

Happy Saturday, everyone!  :]

Song of the Week

My pick this week comes to us via one of the best TV shows ever. 

COMMUNITY.
Notably, the episode "Paradigms of Human Memory," aka the flashback episode.  They do an Annie/Jeff montage with this song...and then take it to new, creepy/awesome heights at the end.  But I won't tell you about that part...you'll just have to watch.  :]

Obviously, the song has been stuck in my head all week.  Sara Bareilles has an insane voice and mean piano skills.  Anyone who knows me well can tell you that, as a rule, I don't like female vocalists.  So the fact that I purchased her album, Kaleidoscope Heart, shows that she really is fantastic. 

Without any further ado, enjoy my pick for Song of the Week: Gravity (do yourself a favor and watch her super cool video, too).

Artist: Sara Bareilles
Song: Gravity