Some of the best Christmas traditions are the ones that just happen by accident. Painting ornaments is probably one of our most favorite things to do for the holidays and it began many years ago by accident. I’ve posted the details several times here over the years so these are the $.97 ornaments that started …
Tuscaloosa
This year at our school, we have been challenged to do more things together as a faculty. These social events are meant to bring us together outside of the school walls and be real people with each other. Often, we get boxed into these little categories of teacher-hood and we decided to try to branch …
We are taking it back to the old school this week. For my birthday this year, I bought concert tickets for some of the best bands of my school and college days. Tonight, we rocked it out with Styx and REO Speedwagon. We parked in the Rosen Harwood building lot because the RiverWalk is right …
The past couple of days, life has been very hectic. On Saturday, we spent the day in Jasper trying to get my mother-in-law’s house ready to sell. It’s a time of transition for her to downsize and us kids are doing the literal and metaphorical heavy lifting of this transition. We were up early, ate …
Since we did not travel this summer and with the heat already setting in, we have managed to break our 3-movies-a-year habit. We have already seen 3 movies this year and it’s only June. We both love to watch movies, but with my dependency on Closed Captioning at home and his restless watching mode, we …
photo credit If you were in town for Memorial Day, I hope you had a chance to visit one of the 5 food trucks. The Food Network was in town filming a segment for their wildly popular show, The Great Food Truck Race. This season, the focus is on the Deep South. They pulled …
No favorites today. This is a reflection post on the last day of school and start of summer for us. Just like the first day of teacher training in August, my friends I teach with in Kindergarten met up at City Café for the last day of school breakfast. Whenever we have these days that …
Today was BRUTAL. I had no snacks in my Subaru. NONE. I was starving since I had to skip lunch and then left my lunch at work. It’s a good thing I have friends who give me pre-packaged bacon for my birthday. I have been noticing the Thursday night events at Tea Town Alabama. Since …
What a FAST day! We traveled to see my mother in law for her birthday. Her birthday is the day after mine. And no, Stephen has never gotten them confused. First stop was lunch after church. We tried the Shrimp Basket in Tuscaloosa. I wanted somehting simple that was gluten-free. That counted out ANYTHING within …
I love that the Tuscaloosa River Market is open year-round. Alabama has a fantastic growing season and there is always fresh produce available. And while I do love fresh produce in season, the main reason I am thankful for year-round market is because of this. Meat and eggs. I get most of my meat from …
It’s time for another year of making ornaments at All Fired Up pottery in Tuscaloosa. This tradition dates back to our first Christmas after we got married. We had no money to buy the fancy Hallmark ornaments. We painted cheap wooden ones. Times are different and we look forward to painting these. People think I …
This year we joined one of our local farms for a CSA box each week. Community-Supported Agriculture is a partnership between farms and buyers and it’s a fantastic way to “know thy farmer”. I know where my food is grown and how it’s grown. I do not have to find a sticker to find the …
This year marked the return of Christmas Afloat in Tuscaloosa. This is a boat parade down the Black Warrior River. Teams decorate boats and participate in a river parade. This annual event came to a screeching halt in 2011 after the April tornadoes destroyed the marina, thereby destroying most of the boats that participated each …
First of all….check out #42. Keith Holcombe. I’m going to pull the old aunt card and say “I remember when he was THIS little and I watched him grow up”. Now he’s all tall and big and kicking people’s asses on Alabama football turf. I’ve mentioned him a few times. His parents are close family …
Lately, I’ll take anything but the heat and humidity. Fall rain is pretty close to perfection. I took these on the Riverwalk path in Tuscaloosa. After a gorgeous 4 miles, I ran some errands and came home to make this. Our local grocery store sells pork steaks. These are boneless cross sections of a Boston …
4 years ago, it was the Game of the Century. We were ranked #1 and #2 in the BCS, the decider of who played in bowl games and national championships. ESPN Gameday was in Tuscaloosa. Verne and Gary were announcing for CBS. Tshirts were flying everywhere in anticipation. It was a lot of hype. We …
It usually happens at least once a season, but this year, ESPN Gameday is in Tuscaloosa early. They came out for the “rematch” of Ole Miss and Alabama. I got up early and headed to the Quad to see what was shaking this morning. So much truth in this sign. Gary and Verne….no thanks. I …
Before I get to football, let me tell you about my morning. I didn’t sleep well last night and certainly didn’t have much planned for today. I felt horrible and the only thing I needed to do was drive into town and get my medicine. It wasn’t available late Friday after I went to the …
I have survived the first 2 full weeks of school and I fully expected to sleep in this morning. But 6:00 am came around and I was wide awake and did not want to waste a single minute trying to go back to sleep. I had my running shoes ready and my lists for shopping …
A few days ago, I had the privilege of attending a Paleo baking class at our local bakery, Mary’s Cakes and Pastries in Northport. I have been a huge fan of Mary’s bakery because she makes gluten-free treats. I have been looking for gluten-free for over 2 years and Mary has hit it out of …