Gingerich Reunion, Country Style

Today, I had brunch with the lovely Gingerich sisters, Emily and Hannah. My lack of wheels allowed me to be entirely dependent on them. I wonder if this is what life will be like when I am older and cannot drive or walk. Back to the matter at hand... So Emily and Hannah arrived in their cute little Honda right here in Kidron to pick me up at approximately 10:30 am and we departed on our way to Wooster, OH on the NEW US ROUTE 30, which was the much anticipated ride. However, as this route is fairly new and uncharted by both sisters, we had to get on and off several times to end up at the correct destination. No worries, it was a fun little trip. After a quick gas stop, we arrived at Bob Evans, a hometown favorite, to have our lunch. I decided to go all the way and get their big Homestead Breakfast which came with 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, home fries, two biscuits, and sausage gravy. Yummy delicious! It took a while to finish as you can see below:

I thought it necessary to show off Emily's amazing new hair style. Look at the bounce in that wave. She loves her wavy auburn hair :)

After brunch they drove me home and dropped me off with the fam with whom I am sitting now, with not much to do.

Christmas Bells are ringing, Christmas Bells are singing, on TV @ Saks.

Christmas with the TAYLOR CLAN. A joyous, loud, stressful fun annual tradition. I flew to Ohio on the last AA flight from ORD to Cleveland on Christmas Eve night and arrived in Kidron, Ohio (population 1000, maybe) at around 1:30 am Christmas morning. After rushing off to bed I was rudely awakened by my cell phone alarm, which was an unfamiliar chant to me as I had never used it before. I mustered the strength to get ready for Church and failed to have breakfast:(. We went to Sonnenburg Mennonite, My aunt and uncle's church and suprisingly everyone from our extended Taylor family in the area was there. We took up two large Church pews, in the back of course. The service was interesting. We sang hymns, but not many good ones, and they were all accompanied by musical aid, so sadly there was no awesome 4 part harmony. After Church, my immediate family gathered to have lunch and open presents. Lunch was amazing! We had Belizean rice and beans, white rice, stewed beans, ham, turkey, stuffing, and gravy. It was great. Check out the food photo here:

So we continued on to open gifts. The joyous tradition of ripping off nicely wrapped paper to uncover something that you have been eagerly awaiting. Ahh.. the commercialization of Christmas. oops.. I mean the Holiday Season. Here I am thrilled over something holidayish!


One of the highlight gifts this year was a Furby that my 3 year old niece received from her parents or possibly Santa. "Me Furby, you friend" "aaahhhhhhhhhh" (in a friendly mechanical voice)

A few hours after our immediate family gathering, the entire clan got together in the garage (the only space large enough to hold all of us) to have a delicious dinner and exchange gifts as well as get gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. This year for the gift exchange we had to buy a gift for someone of the same gender as ourselves that begins with the letter of our name. I bought a daily calendar with quotes from the "Duh Awards". My lucky cousin Scott was the one who received it. I happened to receive another gift that began with a "D"... a devotional...yay! The gift from my Grandparents was pretty cool. A old fashioned desk clock that chimes. I am actually quite excited about this one and can't wait to try it out. They also gave me the batteries to use it. JACKPOT. Check it out below.

Merry Christmakwanzikah and a happy...

How we gonna pay, how we gonna pay, how we gonna pay...last yeaaaaars rent? rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent rent... and so on. On a more serious holiday note, the big day has come and gone with no major problems or stressful situations. Gifts were fairly decent and exciting.. That's all!

"Love is a Force of Nature"

Today, Philip and I went to see Brokeback Mountain at one of the two cinemas showing it in Chicago. This weekend is the opening in Chicago and many other cities, but the film will not be released everywhere until sometime in January. With its limited release in 75 theaters it still was # 8 for the entire weekend and had the highest number of visitors per cinema, averaging 34,000 which was the highest for any movie in 2005. The film was a cinematic masterpiece. The film portrayed the cowboys as cowboys from the rugged sheep herding to their lives and struggles at home. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal played out their parts amazingly as did Michelle Williams. The film was happy, exciting, and sad. I definitely recommend that everyone who loves movies should see it. Not only is the message beautiful, but the acting and film are as well. Go watch it now.

Suggestions...

My Taylor side of the family gets together every Christmas in the small town of Kidron, OH. Our family now around 27 strong has a fun little gift exchange. This year we are to buy a gift that starts with the first letter of our name for someone of our gender. So I need to buy a cheap gift for a guy that starts with D and is under ten dollars. I have been struggling to come up with an idea for a gift. Any Ideas?

Baby Jesus WAS in the house tonight...

Tonight Philip, Greta, Vanny, and I went to Ross' Church, Broadway United Methodist Church, for "The 2005 Broadway Christmas Celebration" of which Ross was singing in the choir. We arrived 15 minutes early to an almost packed house of church attenders and friends of the performers. The church body is quite interesting and special as it is made up of a diverse group of people reflecting the neighborhood where it is located, East Lakeview. The prelude holiday music led us into the entrance of the choir, all decked out in Christmas Red tops and Black pants and there was Ross, right in the middle with his brand new Merino Wool Red Sweater with Argyle down the sleeves. He may have been one of the trendier dressers in the crowd. The music begins with Alleluliahs and Alleluliahs. The choir was really into it singing as loud as they could. One woman on the side closest to us could barely control herself as she sang and moved to the rhythm. The crowd got into it more and more with louder applauds after each song and some standing ovations. There was even a readers theatrical performance (interesting!) and a good liturgical dance, however their blue outfits clashed somewhat with the excellent red of the choir. Nevermind, their performance was good. The only real negative aspect was that the church was quite warm, and we all know that I don't really love the heat. Afterwards we chatted and snacked with Jordan and Marco and Marco's mom and then Phil, Ross, Vanny, Greta and I walked home and stopped at Starbucks on the way to keep ourselves warm. Such a good holiday evening!

Wrapping Paper

Wrapping gifts might just be one of the most exciting parts of Holiday time... well it depends on your wrapping abilities. Do not fear, if you are not highly qualified in the gift wrapping ability there is hope. I was once the person with the gifts with overlapping paper and crooked ends, but after a few easy steps and many wrapping sessions at the Barn, I have mastered (in my terms) gift wrapping. So, choosing wrapping paper is very exciting also. The Container Store has an amazing array of wrapping paper to choose from which I became accustomed to last Holiday Season and have been waiting to buy more paper since the rolls debuted in their store this year. This past Saturday, Phil and I were at Target looking for Christmas gifts and he spotted the paper and suggested that we get it there. I jumped at the opportunity to talk up the Container Store's paper supply and say that we had to get it from there. After a small argument we moved on and did not buy any paper at Target. So, this coming Wednesday we will go to the Container Store and buy some great Holiday Paper much to my excitement.

The holidays are here.. or near

I bought my airline ticket to go to Ohio for the Taylor family Christmas gathering tonight! I've given in to the higher powers at work and "agreed" to work Christmas eve :(, which means that I will be on the last flight at 9:39 pm from O'Hare to Cleveland. Hopefully nothing goes wrong and the weather is good, or I might miss Christmas (well, in Ohio that is). Interestingly enough, I am flying out on American Airlines and returning on United. Expedia.com's best deal... Now that my Holiday plans are set, I must begin buying all those Christmas gifts for friends and family. May the Holidays begin!

recipecreation

I created a new recipe today for lunch and thought I'd share it for all those who are brave enough to try it.

Cook enough spaghetti noodles for one person broken in three sections.
After draining, add 2 tablespoons of butter and mix in over very low heat with noodles and two small beef bouillon cubes. Add 1/4 cup of milk or coconut milk (my favorite) and stir in 2 tablespoons of goat cheese. Make sure everything is is dissolved and stirred properly. Your end product should be lightly coated noodles with no excess liquid. Eat Hot.

It was so yummy!

84 degrees

I am sitting in my apartment watching Channel 5 news and the ridiculously cheesy Chicago advertisements while baking away. A few more hours and I'll be roasted perfectly for a 5 course meal. We have Radiant heating that comes through the floor..."free" heat in Chicago is great...Heat rises, that's right from the floor to the ceiling where the apartment above ours has heat in the floor also. It is HOT. Today it was in the upper 50's outside, but nobody adjusted our heat, so we are being baked as if it was 30 degrees outside. I love winter, I love the cold (well only really when it's snowing), but I hate the heat. Well, atleast I'm not Bailey with a full coat of fur.

Thanksgiving Weekend Passing

So, the big old day of Turkey and fillings has passed, with no major issues to worry about. This was Philip and my first Thanksgiving Dinner together, so I wanted to have a grand feast. We made a 12lb Fresh Baked Turkey seasoned with sage and apple, Chestnut and Cranberry Stuffing made with fresh baked chestnuts, Cranberry and Persimmon relish, Mashed Potatoes, Diced Yams in Maple Syrup, Butternut Squash Soup garnished with chestnuts, Corn Casserole, and Creme Brulie made by Josh and Jason. Our fun little group was made up of Greta, Philip, myself, Alison, Vanny, Jason and Josh. We dined, wined, desserted and wined a little more. The turkey knocked me out very rapidly and everyone seemed a bit tired. It was a great grown-up Thanksgiving Dinner. Every year must be top the prior, so we will have to plan early to make it a success.

525,600 minutes

So many minutes? Whatever for? Well, I don't know. Actually I know very little about this movie that is getting so much hype in the media and with people everywhere. Rent is opening Nationwide on Wednesday November 23rd and I have tickets for it already. Thanks to Movietickets.com and Ross' Movie Watcher membership, I bought tickets today for the show because I am sure that it will sell out. I've been listening to the soundtrack from the musical because Philip informs me that to be able to truly appreciate the movie, I must be familiar with the songs beforehand. Nevertheless, it will be an exciting evening to kick of the Thanksgiving and holiday season.

full day's work

Today was my day off, so I woke up late and made blueberry filled crepes for breakfast. yum yum. Then, Ross and I decided to make the journey to Aurora... out in the far far far western suburbs. After nearly an hour in the car, we arrive at the "Premium Outlet Mall". The idea of origin for this trip was because Ross received a coupon for the Polo Ralph Lauren Factory store so we went there and looked around a bit. We hit up many stores and I bought a sweater from Banana, a scarf from the Gap, and some cool candle beads from the Farberware store! We dined in the totally 'awesome' foodcourt; Japanese was my choice again, and we wondered around a little more. After leaving the mall, we went to Costco in Naperville where I bought a 12 pound Bird for Thanksgiving, then on to Meijer for more groceries, and finally Target where Ross bought a 6ft faux tree for $16.99. I know, crazy isn't it? So 5 hrs later, we decided to head home just in time to get stuck in rush hour traffic on I-88 and I-290. I don't know how people do that every day!

Winter is near

It is snowy outside, 25 degrees, and a wind chill of 13! Oh joyous winter is near. So, wearing three thick layers this morning to work was not fashionably acceptable, but this is Chicago baby and it gets mighty cold. This little taste of winter weather is a great welcome as we finish our Holiday 2 floorset and prepare to be visited by the big wigs tomorrow. Tonight is also my last night of class, which is great. Time for food, drinks, and hopefully just a little discussion. Soon it will be time to relax!

10 hours

3:30 am :beep, beep, beep, beep... snooze... beep, beep, beep, beep. shower, too early for breakfast, 4:30 kim picks me up, 4:45 Starbucks box of Jo to Go. Bad employee takes forever.. 5:00 am @ work. 10 and a half hrs later i get to go home. This was the longest and most tiring day of my life. Floor Set is killing me softly.
I held back this evening from buying a new coat. Baby, its cold outside, but my wool will have to do for now :( Sonoma had some great buys: Butternut Squash puree to make some yummy Tgiving soup. Another paper accomplished tonight. goodbye.

bedtime

yes, it is.. bedtime. 10:29 pm, early indeed, but not for me. i got up at 4 frickin 30 this morning to be at work at 6 am for the wonderful tabletop floorset at the barn, which was my former department before I moved to the more gloriously decorated HA. i just proof read and edited my 25 pg paper that is due on wednesday and have two more 5 pagers to go sometime this week and I have to get up at 3:30 am tomorrow to be at work at 5 for floorset. What's with these crazy hours. Tired I am. gotta go to bed...

12:43 pm

Many hours I've slaved away at this massive paper. Now I have 20 pages. Now I must proof read it and rewrite some parts. Now I must go to bed...

Accomplished?

Nothing much has been sadly. I am still on pg 8 out of 25 on my final paper. Writer's block? No, probably laziness:) I miss those days when you could totally BS your way through school. Why am I in grad school? It is cold here today, infact so cold that I had to wear my winter coat this morning on the walk to the train. I'm starting to remember why I hate winter. I need a new coat. Yes I do. Maybe Tasara could pick up a really cool British one for me and send it down to Chicago? Probably not.... later...

last class...

Tonight was my official last class of Feminist Theories although we are meeting next week to eat together and have final discussion. So as I'm relieved about that I remember that I have to turn in my 20-25 pg paper on this coming Wednesday. I have 7 pages so far.. so at least I've begun, unlike some of my classmates. I also have 2 smaller papers due for my independent study class that I constantly forget about:( So much work to do and I just want to go to sleep. In other news, sadness as Philip must return to Goshen this weekend for 3 weeks to do his senior seminar. We are happy to be able to spend Thanksgiving together, but it will be different not having him so close in Chicago:(

Leaves a fallin'

As I sat at the bus stop at 51st and Lake Park for an extraordinarily long time waiting for the #6 Jackson Park Express bus, I became aware of the odd weather around me. I remember earlier when the channel 5 newsman warned me not to go walking tonight because of thunderstorms and that I might get struck by lighting. Odd, indeed. So as the winds blew up slowly and then subsided, the clouds moved around, and the sky lit up and roared, I wondered indeed if channel 5 was correct, that on this erie night something odd might happen. As I sat alone for quite awhile I looked into the sky and saw, what I now believe to be the moon, a vague light disappear. Suddenly images from "Wars of the World" came into my mind. As I sat alone, I quickly called Phil to take my mind off of my absurdity and share it with him. Finally the bus came. 35 minutes later as I walked from the red line stop to my home, I noticed the leaves falling left and right as they had been windstruck earlier in the evening. I noticed that Fall is indeed here and that sadly it will be frigid soon.