The End Of NaBloPoMo

Today marks the end of November's NaBloPoMo. While there is another one for the month of December, I realize I do not have enough to say to write every day. However, I find this outlet for my creativity important to me, so I will be blogging every other day in December. Guess I'll see ya'll in two weeks....and I think it will be a recipe post!

Prune Cake

As part of my Julie and Julia vs Meg and Ree challenge, I made prune cake last night. Bad news? It took far too many bowls and pots. Good news? It tastes pretty yummy. My next recipe will likely be Maple Scones, I'm looking forward to that one.

3 Years With Joe

Today is our three year wedding anniversary. While we are not celebrating today, or on our nine years of togetherness anniversary, we did have some fun little dates yesterday. We got massages, went to the Museum of Science and Industry and got pizza from our favorite south side pizzeria. It was a low key celebration this year, but that's alright because we have far too many other things going on right now to use the time or money to celebrate in a fancier way. So, Happy Anniversary honey! I love you!

Day Off Line

I had intended to spend the day off line today. Every couple months I take a personal day to just relax and be by myself. Today is the day! However, since I have committed to NaBloPoMo, I did have to post today. So now I am going to go take myself a post-massage nap. See ya'll tomorrow!

Nine Years With Joe

Today is my husbands and my nine year anniversary (of being together, not married). And Monday is our three year wedding anniversary. As is typical with our conflicting schedules, we may not be seeing each today (I woke up briefly when he went to work...not sure that counts) of have much quality time Monday. Thankfully, my boss is super cool, and gave me off tomorrow for us to celebrate. We are doing a low key date this year. We are going to get massages and have dinner together, then probably watch movies.

I love my Joe. He is the best husband ever! I look forward to many many more years with him!

Working Black Friday

I was a little nervous when I found out I was working Black Friday. Thankfully, by the time I got to the mall at 9:30 their wasn't any craziness and I even got a good parking spot! Things did pick up as the afternoon progressed, though. And now, I am going to go rest. My body forgot what standing for eight hours felt like.

10 Things I Am Thankful For

1. My husband
2. My family
3. My friends
4. A warm place to live
5. Good food
6. Having a job (even if its only for the holidays)
7. Warm showers
8. Soft sweaters
9. My smart phone
10. DVR

The Weightloss Struggle Continues

Today I had to go to the store to get pants for tomorrow. If I didn't I was limited to jeans or a dress, none of my nice clothes fit. When I bought my pants I had to go up another size...or two. PLEASE encourage me hold me accountable. I shall begin working out next week (too many family parties and anniversaries this weekend).

Things I Would Like To Be Remembered For

As this blog is a journey about self discovery, I have made some progress as to who I want to be. This thought process lead to a list of things I want to be remembered for:

1. EVERYTHING is better homemade
2. a loyal friend
3. devoted wife
4. the importance of my volunteer work

Well, its not much, but its what I have thus far. I am assuming this list will continue to grow as the self discovery continues.

Election Time Again (NOT a political post)

I have a friend who is a news/political junkie like I am and recently we were talking about the first election we could remember. I remember being in first grade and being so scared that President Bush wasn't going to be reelected. I was scared that our country was going to have a new President. Even at age 7 I had anxiety about it! Now election-time is exciting to me. Going out to cast my vote and then sitting at home all night watching the returns to see if my guy or gal won! I'm already looking forward to next year's Presidential Election!

You Know You Have A Fiesta Problem When....

For those of you who don't know.....I am addicted to my fiestaware. Like, visit the third level of Macy's just to look at the newest color addicted. It makes me happy. All the colors make my kitchen a happy place, which is good, because I love cooking. Anyways, back to the dishes.

This is what my birthday presents from my family looked like:

My parents got me this individual casserole and rectangle baking dish (both in Paprika)

This is holding Blackberry Cobbler, which I am equally addicted to.

And my brother gave me money, which turned into this:

Ramekins in the five newest colors!

I am a happy girl!

International Survivors of Suicide Day

As many of you know, I have been volunteering for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for several years now. In this time I have volunteered to work rest stops for two Overnight walks, I have walked one community walk two years ago, and have walked and help run a community walk this year. Today I volunteered for my first International Survivors of Suicide Day. I only did behind the scenes stuff, but I was grateful to be able to help. I hope to be able to help with this event again next year.

The Blog Post I Didn't Think I'd Ever Write

There were somethings I was planning on never talking about in this blog. The plan was to keep somethings private and not share with the world. Last night changed that.

Last night I was watching Private Practice. It was a two hour special that followed one of the doctors through her struggle with addiction. During the episode a debate between two doctors (neither the addict) occurred comparing and contrasting heart disease and addiction. Basically, they are both diseases, neither of which a person is responsible for contracting. (Note: there are things you can do to treat both these illnesses, and I encourage people to seek that treatment.) As the show continued, I realized how common and acceptable addiction has become. No one is looked down on for admitting they are an addict and have been clean for any amount of time. I have even seen strangers congratulate and encourage people upon learning they have become sober. As I sat in bed watching, it then occurred to me how far behind society is on mental illness.  Physical conditions (ie heart disease) are accepted without the blink of an eye. Addiction issues are becoming main stream and less taboo. Yet mental illness continues to have this huge black stigma cloud hanging over it. The reason? I believe its because people don't understand it. And why is that? Because people do not talk about it much, not the people suffering, the people treating the disorders or the media. The lack of understanding and accurate information on mental illness prevents people from seeking help, keeps people ashamed of their illness and does not provide the support that someone needs (however, if it was a more physical ailment they would have people lined up to help them in a heart beat). Naturally, the fix would be to make mental illness a less taboo topic. I quickly realized that if I wasn't willing to take a step in this direction, I certainly couldn't expect other to do the same. So....

My name is Meg, and I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is not my fault, I did not bring it on myself, my brain chemicals and neurons just do not always work properly. With the proper treatment (which I have) I am able to live a normal and mostly symptom free life. I refuse to feel ashamed for something is not my fault. I am hoping my honesty will be a step forward in destigmatizing of mental illness. If you know anyone suffering from a mental illness I ask you to please not look at them any differently then you would if they had a physical illness. It is not their fault anymore then cancer would be.

Trying To Focus On The Good

Sometimes, well often, unfavorable things happen. Life is complicated like that. More importantly is how we choose to handle it. While I do not always succeed, I try at some point during the struggle to focus on the silver lining or find a lesson in the unhappy situation. Like I said, it doesn't always work, but it makes going through turmoil a lot easier when able to focus the good or a lesson.

10 Things I Don't Know How I Lived Without

In no particular order....

1. DVR
2. poblanos
3. Ball jars
4. Fiestaware
5. a passport
6. pumpkin chip cookies
7. salmon dip
8. freezer bags
9. buttermilk
10. my food processor

Glee

Today is Tuesday. This means its a Glee night. I have a rule in my house about not talking during the show. A little ridiculous considering we have DVR, but the show is important to me. What I love about it is the way it screams equality. Everyone is special, yet no one gets special treatment; geek, gay, smart, jock or not, everyone is given equal time to share their story and be able to stand up for the population they represent. This naturally leads to many stereotypes, but the point of the stories remain: everyone, no matter how different, is treated the same. Here's to hoping equality and acceptance can hit the real world!

My Grandmothers

I have written a lot of fluff pieces the past week. I suppose that is the trouble with blogging everyday for a month...30 different topics worth writing about does not an easy list make. So today I am going to go back to one of the things my mother suggested I write about, relationships in different generations. When I first read this suggestion, I wasn't quite sure where to take it, but then it clicked. I can write about how I am like my grandmothers. It's very interesting the combinations of traits I've acquired from these two equally strong women.

Since my mom suggested this topic, lets begin with my maternal grandmother. The traits of hers that I have acquired: the desire to travel the 50 states, my love for the military, my fierce independence and my love of gardening and entertaining. My Oma has done road trips to every one of the continental states, supported her husband in World War II and is determined to live on her own. She also has a garden that takes up a decent chunk of her yard and used to have parties like no body's business. Its fun to tell her about my container garden, recipes I am trying out or parties I am hosting.

As for my father's mother, we have quite a bit in common as well. She is where I get my crazy strong desire to travel internationally, I definitely have her sense of adventure, love of crafting and her ability to make everyone feel welcome. Since getting my first taste of internationally travel I have been unable to leave my passport at home for more then a handful of years. She'd be proud of that. She searched for adventure, even took flying lessons! It is because of her that I crochet and embroider. And I have the same open door policy in my house that she had. Everyone is welcome.

I always enjoy doing things with my grandmothers. It's always fun to learn new things or discover similarities. I am grateful to have these two strong women as examples.

3 Wishes

There is a blogging site that gives prompts each day for NaBloPoMo, and one of the prompts that intrigued me was three wishes. So here goes:

1. Good health
2. No car/school debt
3. To know what I am meant to do in this world.

Third Time's the Charm

Today I had my cartilage pierced for the third time. The first closed and the second was infected...so I am hoping this one has more longevity. This piercing was extra special because I got it done with my lil sis/ cousin. And then we finished off the day watching musicals and movies. It was the perfect sister day!

My Spiritual Journey

My mom suggested that I use one of my NaBloPoMo days to write about my spiritual journey. Well, God and I are having issues at the moment, but there are somethings I feel confident in:

1. There is a power that created the world, and I call that power God.
2. God reveals himself to different people in different ways. My reasoning behind this is that most religions teach the same lesson...ie the Golden Rule
3. To get to heaven you have to live the best life you know how, and I do think that is different for everybody.
4. If I am going to choose an organized religion, I am sticking with the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America). There are three main reasons for this: they have traditional services, liberal beliefs and they support commitment ceremonies. 

If God and I get on the same page by the end of the month I will post an update. But this is where I am at the moment.

My Mechanic

My mechanic is the best.

He doesn't charge for labor.

And then he takes me out to lunch.

He even does house calls and house work.

Yup. He's the best! :)

Books

Being an English Literature major,  I have a deep love for books. In fact, before Joe and I got married I had insisted he move to a larger apartment, largely because I was planning on bringing my books with me. There are a handful of books that mean a lot to me:

1. Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales- While I have yet to read the entire work, but what I love about this piece of literature is the way that Chaucer was able to write satire about the world in which he lived, while hiding it within his story. He's one smart dude.
2. Anita Diamant's The Red Tent-This is one of the few novels I have reread. Because of the musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, everyone knows the story of the males in the family, but Diamant used her novel to write about what life was like for the women in that era, as seen through the eyes of the boy's sister.
3. Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love-This is a book I am in the middle of rereading now. Normally biographies don't do it for me. However, I found this one inspiring. Partly because she shared her journey on how she put her life back together when it was in pieces, and partly because I am jealous of how she was able to do it. I would love to spend a year abroad nurturing myself to a happy place. Until my next trip to the other hemisphere I will just have to keep rereading this book.
4. These are my guilty pleasure series: Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series. They are a mystery/romance/comedy series and literally makes me laugh out loud. I remember working at the convent and laughing hysterically at my desk. The next book comes out in two weeks!!!!

On my to read list (please feel free to add suggestions):

1. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
2. The full The Canterbury Tales
3. Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave

What Goes Through My Brain During An Average Day

I am supposed to blog everyday. A project that I am very excited about. Problem is, this weather and having minimal plans is not feeding my creativity. I have another post in the works, but my brain is just refusing to form coherent thoughts. I have two places to be this afternoon, so hopefully that will get my brain exercising again. Until then, I will hold this post as is and see what develops as the day continues on.

....and that is how this day started. Thankfully I stumbled upon an idea as I was out running errands.

A nice girl saw I was having a rough day and basically paid for my smoothie. This kind action reminded me of how I like to give just because gifts. I think they mean more then if they are tied to some holiday. I intend to pay forward this sweet girl's kindness.

Her generosity also led me to something I have been meaning to blog about but haven't found a good way to tie it in with other thoughts. I spend a ridiculous amount of time in my car. Consequently, I pass a lot of homeless people on highway on/off ramps. I like to give to them when I have something extra with me. But I don't give money, I give a bottle of water, a can of coke or a granola bar. I want to be helpful and make sure that my help is going to good causes, as opposed to someone pretending to be homeless to make an easy hundred bucks. This reminds me....I need to pack an extra water bottle for tomorrow's adventures.

I guess the purpose of this post ends up being "Pay It Forward." I ask you all to create a sort of kindness and pass along the happiness.

What holds me up when the world is dragging me down?

It appears I will be doing several "Top Ten" lists this month as I navigate my first NaBloPoMo. I'm really excited about how its forcing me to think and get a little creative. Today's list: things that help me hang in there:

1. my husband.
2. my family
3. my friends
4. cooking
5. cooking magazines
6. a good cup of coffee
7. an episode of Glee
8. a hot shower
9. dark chocolate
10. a good nap

Graf Family Traditions

One of my favorite parts of starting a new family with Joe is the holiday traditions we borrow from each other's families and the ones we create on our own. Here are some of our traditions:

Super Bowl- This is our big hosting event of the year. We invite all of our friends over to watch the big game and I spend the day cooking lots of yummy treats.

St. Patrick's Day- Every year I make crock pot Corned Beef and Cabbage and Irish Soda Bread. Last year we shared the meal with a couple of friends. Seeing as there is always an abundance of food, I would like to continue sharing that meal with friends or family. Also, last year all four of us learned the joy of Potato Leek soup.

Easter- In an attempt to fairly split our time between families, we have decided to spend each Easter in Wisconsin with my Mom's family. We don't always get to see everyone we want to, but we try our best.

Memorial Day- My Opa, German for Grandpa, was a World War II vet. Every year my mom, and me if I'm lucky, go to his army reunion. Every Memorial Day, we all go up to the cemetery where he is at for a beautiful service hosted by the cemetery.

Fourth of July- My brother usually hosts a BBQ on the Fourth. So we go over and hang with him and his friends.

Birthdays Day-This is a new tradition my mother and I have started this year. Seeing as all our birthdays are within four months, and we have five people, all with very unique schedules, we have decided to do one big celebration! Our first one is next Sunday.

Election Day: One thing my Dad always felt very strong about was voting. He has voted in every election since I can remember and has instilled the same passion into me. So no matter how cruddy I feel, I make it out the the  polls and cast my vote every year. For the last presidential election I had a Returns Viewing Party for my fellow political buffs. I hope to do the same again next year.

Thanksgiving- This holiday we spend with Joe's side of the family. Often we meet with his mother's family and we have a nice dinner with them and then go to his Grandpa's house for desserts.

Anniversaries (yes, plural)- Our dating and wedding anniversaries are two days apart. Since there is a significant amount of time between the years (6 years!) we like to have a big celebration for both. We aren't really big on Sweetest or Valentine's Day, so we make this our big date night or weekend getaway of the year.

Sunday after Thanksgiving-This is the day I am usually able to convince Joe its time to get our Christmas tree. Since our first Christmas together we have been getting real trees...a first for me! If I ignore the needles on my floor, its definitely a tradition I love adopting! And, if I'm real lucky, I can even get Joe to bring up all the Christmas decorations from our storage unit! When we decorate we have adopted the German tradition of hiding a pickle ornament in our tree. Traditionally, when a child finds it they get a piece of candy. Since we are childless, one of us usually just hides it from the other.

St. Nicholas Day-This is a tradition we are taking from my parent's. During the night of December 5th and 6th St. Nick comes and fills our stockings. Even the kitties have one!
Baking Day- This is one of my favorite traditions! My lil sis/cousin comes over and we destroy my kitchen making baked goods for friends and family! Its an all day event with lots of delicious out comes!

Christmas Eve- Usually we both work Christmas Eve, but as I am without a job, I will have the day to get ready for our nighttime festivities. On Christmas Eve we drive up to Wisconsin and spend the night going to church with my Mom's side of the family.
Christmas Day- Christmas Day is a busy one for us. Usually in the morning/early afternoon we head out to Joe's mom's house and spend some time with his side of the family. Then in the late afternoon/evening we go to my aunt's house and celebrate with my dad's side of the family. THEN, my parents and brother come to our place for dessert and a family Christmas.

New Year's Eve- Every New Year's Eve our dear friends host a party, so we always spend the night with them, eating, playing games and welcoming the New Year.

Those are our current traditions, I am sure we will be developing more as the years go on.

My Need to Travel

When Joe first met me he did not understand my need to travel. He didn't see the point in spending so much money in such a short amount of time. What was the point really? This came as a shock to me because I LOVE traveling and seeing new places and making new memories. I remember being in Disney World and riding Splash Mountain, being assaulted by a goat in Texas, discovering the joy of raspberry chocolate chip ice cream in Ohio, seeing the inside of the FBI in DC and seeing a favorite gymnast practice for the Olympics in Colorado. All of these are important memories, and I intend to keep adding to the list....preferably without any more goats, that just wasn't necessary.

After my first trip to Europe my need (I do consider it a need, its definitely more then a want) to travel increased tenfold. Seeing things that we will never have in the US because of its infancy. Seeing new cultures, trying different food....you should have seen my face when I found out I was eating duck for the first time. Because my first trip to Europe was with my extended family, I got to experience all these new and wonderful things with my parents, brother, aunts, uncle and cousins. When I had the opportunity to spend a college Spring Break in London, it was an absolute no brainer. I can't really explain why, but England has always felt like a second home to me. I go there and I feel at peace, like everything is right in my world. To get to spend another week there was amazing, and its also where I cultivated friendships with some of my closest friends.

So as Joe and I are trying to figure out the how, when and where of the trips we want, I can't help but be reminded of my grandmothers, both of whom like to travel; one in the US and the other the world. After taking a few trips together Joe is warming up to the idea of travel. He is starting to look forward to our trips and get excited about them with me. It makes me so happy to be able to share one of my greatest passions with him. Last week he even mentioned how some of his favorite times with me is when we travel and see something new together.

My Cousins

My cousins are amazing. They are a never ending source of entertainment and support and I love them. I thought all of you should know.Today I stood with some of them to honor the life of a local teen. I am leaving this entry short in memory of that teen and in honor of my cousins. I love you all. (And my aunt!!!)

Why I Am Doing NaBloPoMo

As I am currently unemployed, I search many different avenues for things to occupy my time. I have been doing a lot of volunteer work, I am challenging myself to make everything...even the Prune Cake...from The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, I have designed a book cover for a friend, participated in a flash mob, race and two road trips. One of these days I plan on cleaning and catching up on scrapbooking. But in the mean time, I find myself wanting to be creative, something to exercise my brain daily as I try to decide what I want my next step to be. So while I have two friends participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I have discovered that it is also NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). Needing to feed the creativity, another friend and I, have decided to use NaBloPoMo as our inspiration to feed our creative sides.

So yes, that means everyday this month I will be posting something new. I can't make promises on quality, seeing as I must post something new every day. But I am willing to promise it to be an interesting collection of thoughts.

See ya'll tomorrow!

Rules I Live By

As I spend time figuring out the type of person I want to become, I realize that there is a set of rules I live by. And since I have committed to blogging everyday, I decided that this was a topic I would discuss.

1. Treat others the right way, regardless of how they treat you.
2. Do not use words like "gay" or "retarded" to put someone down.
3. Respect different opinions. Just because something is right for me does not mean it is right for everyone.
4. Stand up for what you believe is right, even if everyone else won't.
5. Shared joy is a double joy, shared sorrow is half a sorrow.
6. Celebrate a LOT. It will help you find joy when it is no where to be found.
7. Sing in the car. Loudly.
8. You must indulge yourself every so often.
9. Try to have some alone time everyday.
10. Find a way to make your life fulfilling, whether it be through work, family or volunteering.

Canada 2011

I met some amazing people when I studied abroad in college. We spent an amazing nine days together in London, where we did a literary tour ---have I mentioned how amazing the British Library is?. In the four years since we have had many failed attempts to travel together again. Illness, money and time all stood in our way. This year,  however, we decided enough was enough and our passports were lonely and in desperate need of a new stamp. Money still being tight, we decided a road trip was our best bet.. So Friday morning we left Park Ridge at 6am (as in A.M., as in still dark, as in I may again be developing a caffeine addiction) to head towards the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We spent the first day of Beth's first road trip driving for ten hours. We were lucky, the drive was bearable and we had several highway changes so we were never stuck doing the same thing for too long. When we finally arrived we spent our first night of vacation going out to dinner....raspberry margaritas anyone?....and seeing the falls lit up after dark. It was beautiful!

We then went back to our hotel to relax and indulge in an amazing chocolate cake!

The next day we got up and went to the Butterfly Conservatory. There were so many beautiful butterflies roaming around their green house. It was gorgeous and made for lots of beautiful pictures.

When we finished at the Conservatory, after a long search for that butterfly in the picture (it was a sneaky guy and hard to photograph) we walked around the botanic gardens that played host to the Conservatory.
 That afternoon brought us back to the Falls. We did the Journey Behind the Falls which brings people through tunnels to view the falls from inside the waterfall.

We concluded our day with a ride on the Sky Wheel to see the Falls from above!

It was a wonderful vacation, and a very relaxing girl's weekend. We concluded a trip with a morning massage before our ten hour car ride home. I had a wonderful time and was thrilled to share this experience with my girlfriends. Here's to hoping we get another chance to travel together again!