Liebster Award

Thanks to my friend Mc, I've got myself a new accolade. She sweetly nominated my blog for the Liebster Award despite my terrible commitment level to blogging as of late. Life's been...well its just been. But anyway, lots to catch you up on! It's on my to do list. As for my homework...

11 factual truths about yours truly:

1. I'm as tenderhearted as they come. Love hard and feel hard.
2. I love love love to travel, but I love love love home, too.
3. My marriage keeps getting sweeter with time. Not every moment, but on the grand scale. You know what I'm talkin' about.
4. I get outdoors to get back to the heart of things. I feel so relaxed on top of a mountain, in the woods, at the river or on a boat on the lake.
5. My first job was at an antique store on main street Walhalla. I hated old stuff back then. I love old stuff, antiques now!
6. I want to buy/learn how to use a letterpress. 
7. Two foods that won't last long in my kitchen when I'm around - Nutella (which I DON'T buy!) and Rosemary Fig & Honey Goat Cheese from the Spinning Spider Creamery that I get from the Greenville Farmer's Market downtown.
8. I treat my pup, Sully like he's family. Ummm...because he is.
9. I played the heck out of some soccer in high school and miss it often.
10. I'm more of a minimalist than I ever thought I'd be.
11. I look at real estate 4-5 x a week, I just love homes.

Now I'm supposed to answer Mc's questions:

1. My favorite cake flavor has got to be my Mimi's chocolate sour cream pound cake with her homemade fudge icing. 
2. My Pandora station is on Matchbox Twenty.
3. My first blog post was near Christmas/New Years in 2010 in the middle of my dietetic internship. I was blogging in hopes that life would get far more interesting because I had plans in place that it would be.
4. My favorite holiday tradition is Christmas Eve with the McCoy bunch.
5. My favorite year in school was 10th grade. Lots of blissful fun with a special big group of friends. And my first kiss with my husband, but we weren't dating and wouldn't until years later. 
6. My favorite recipe? That's tough. I love to cook and try new things. I've made some mean imitation Bang Bang shrimp lately for special occasions. 
7. If I had to disclose a nasty habit it would be that I must have the loudest stomach on the planet. If you hear grumbling in the pew behind you at church, odds are that's me.
8. I have a deep adoration and affection for my grocery store and pharmacy - Publix. Seriously, don't move me too far away from one.
9. I probably couldn't pick just one crazy, adventurous thing to do because that's the kind of stuff I'm always dreaming about and cooking up plans for, but I'd love to summit all 54 of Colorado's 14er's (14,000 ft peaks). One down, only 53 more to go!
10. My first vehicle is my sweet Tacoma TRD that I still drive. I'll cry when it dies! See fact #1.
11. My favorite month is probably September because it means a lot of specialness to me and Mike. And the coming of Fall never hurts my feelings either. But this September has been tough so far, so its hard to like it right now.

And now I'm supposed to pose 11 questions to my nominee:

1. Favorite book of all time and why?
2. What's your dream vacation/trip/adventure?
3. If you could get paid to do anything, what would you do?
4. How are you different from what you've dreamed you would be?
5. When you get nostalgic what do you miss?
6. Name one way you'd be generous if you had the means?
7. What are your three most favorite names?
8. If married, would you do anything different for you wedding and what?
9. What's your best tidbit of life advice?
10. Name a food you couldn't live without?
11. Yeah, go ahead and make me laugh with your most embarrassing moment to wrap things up.

And those that should be pondering some answers:

Living Simply, Loving Deeply

Andrea Atkins

You, my dear, are the only one likely to entertain me :) 

The far corner

Alright, alright. I know. I've been a massively poor blogger. Remember thinking you were seriously busy in college?! Yeah, I giggle at that too! Life's been running at full steam lately, but in the midst we did get to throttle back and enjoy a week of vacation with Mike's family to the Pacific Northwest. Such a treat!

We traveled to downtown Seattle, explored the San Juan Islands, went whale watching, sea kayaked, did some hiking and biking, shopped in the harbor towns, rode lots of ferries including one to the Olympic Peninsula where we played in the tidal pools, hiked through the Hoh Rainforest and Olympic National Park. We crammed it all in because there was a lot to see! Such a neat part of the country, unlike anything we saw on our big trip last year and definitely unlike home. 

So, just go. Whenever you have some free time. Wave to the whales for us, feed Popeye in Friday Harbor, visit the original Starbucks and get you some fresh clam chowder and halibut fish and chips at the Pike's Place Market :)

Thanks Bonnie and Lloyd - y'all are always too good to us!

Anddddd as it always goes...back to the grind! The day after we got back I started my new job as one of the outpatient RD's at the Life Center with Greenville Hospital System! Love love love it so far, think its going to be a really great fit! 

Man, August is ripe. R.I.P.E. Can't hardly believe it. Here's to juggling two jobs, settling into a new routine, rounding out the summer, kicking off Fall (my favorite!) and Clemson football season, plenty of visits to Meryl's new home in Athens, visiting NYC to celebrate our 3 year anniversary and see my favorite yankee get hitched in September, seeing my very own childhood baby spice get married a few weekends later, standing proudly by my sister's side in October as she marries a sweet thang of her own and finally, shower celebrations and the anticipated arrival of Baby M - the first little bundle of our best friends in November!

Deeeeeeep breath :)

Utterly useless confessions

I'm hoping everyone has their own set of quirks. Those little ingrained things about you that you barely even notice anymore. Maybe even your husband used to tease you about them right after you were married, but now knows they're here to stay so, like you, barely even notices them anymore, too. Fine art of picking your battles, people.

Anyway, for whatever reason I've noticed my own quirks here lately and I thought I'd lightheartedly share. Many of them are directly related to my OCD tendencies, but some are just...well, quirky.

Snack on these in celebration of your very own! Or your husband's, or your children's or parent's or best friend's or whoever's :)

• I eat my fries by size. Smallest to largest and in ascending order of the quality of fry per my personal preference. My closest friends know this about me and pay me no attention. Sometimes I can fly under the radar while out with new friends, but I do it every time, without fail, without thinking about it. But let's be real, I try and stay away from fries anyway. 
• Nearly 97.4% of the time I leave my house looking exactly how I want it to look when I get home. That percentage because sometimes I'm running late and things like laundry, dishes, etc fall on my morning hour, but you can usually hold me to this one. And don't even ask Mike about us leaving for vacation...my list gets long and tedious, but I so love getting to come back all relaxed with as little as possible to do around the house!
• Picture frames are assigned a resting spot AND an angle. I notice.
• I actually have a spot in mind for everything. Down to my bobby pins. Most of the time its a major pain, but mighty nice when your husband needs to know where something is and doesn't feel like even beginning his search...just "Kayla, where's blah blah blah?" Insert direct longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates as my response here. 
• I HATE sticky! Hate probably isn't strong enough. I'm paralyzed by sticky, completely and utterly preoccupied with removing whatever it is from wherever it is on me until that job is done. Yes, I know, motherhood is going to rock this part of my world to the core. 
• I will search long and hard for the ankle length of dress pants if they're available and always try them on. JUST in case I can free myself from the hassle of getting the regular ones hemmed. Saddest part is, I can usually wear them with at least flats, if not my medium heels. Let's hear it for a disproportional figure. 
• I wear a lot of chapstick and feel kinda lost when I leave the house without it. Thanks, Mom :)
• I still wear my retainer nearly every single night. I'm 25. I'll probably keep going until its denture time because I don't want my teeth to budge.
• If I'm in the country, I'd rather take the long way home. 
• I don't have any use for book covers. I actually prefer paperback to hardback, but if I get hardback the first thing I do is throw away the book cover. My friend Lindsay would die! I hope she knows I wouldn't throw her's away :) 
• I am not crazy about board games, like at all. I like interactive games and card games, but don't take it personally if I turn you down for some Settlers. 
• I'm nostalgic and sentimental and keep a lot of useless, tiny things. 
• I pick up a lot of Mike's little sayings. And he's a guy. Its kinda weird. Hopefully I'm company conscious.
• I always whip my wipe my phone off after using it. Ladies, let's be real...guess where I wipe it? I know you do it too!
• Back to the part about me having a place for nearly everything...well, if I think of something throughout the day and can't locate it subconsciously in my head then I will turn things upside down search for it when I get home whether I need it tomorrow or 3 months from now or never or what.

There's more, of that I'm sure. I'm a real piece of work. But hopefully you can laugh at/resonate with some of those and crack a smile at some of your own. I'm sure we've all got 'em! I guess Dr. Seuss had it right - there's no one alive who is more youer than you :)

The rumors are true.

So, its officially official. Mike and I are in the first baby steps of starting our very own organic blueberry farm! Lots of prayer, thought and daydreaming has gone into the pot and we've excitedly reached the decision to just go for it. Just dive right in. All the farmers we've talked to say that's the only way to figure it out. Just start dabblin'!

So far we've gotten the go ahead from Mike's parents to utilize their land for free. Biggest blessing of them all - no matter how good this endeavor turns out. Like with so much in life, we just don't what we would do without them! 

We began by getting our soil mapped and tested by the Oconee Ag extension which found our pH levels to be a bit high for blueberries (our specialty/fruit of choice) - we're at 6 and need to be at least down to 5.3-5.5. 

From there we did some calling around and turns out we were gifted 500# of sulfur from Tiger-Sul in Atmore, Alabama which we're using it to treat out soil in order to bring our pH level down. Mike's spent time on the tractor (don't pity him, he loves it!) and incorporated the sulfur into the one acre tract we picked out of the pasture in which to.get.down.to.biznus. 

After gobs of research, we've put in our plant order this week. 600 total. We've selected a variety to lengthen our harvesting season. Bee-tee-dubs, aren't you glad we don't use scientific names for everything, especially food?! Mmmmmm Vaccinium ashei :) Orrrrr rabbiteye blueberries: Climax, Premier, Brightwell, Tifblue and Powderblue. And then some southern highbush: O'neal and Legacy. So that'll carry us through early to late season with plenty of blue fingers and bug bites!

Next step is more tractor time for Mike this weekend - forming our rows, adding soil amendments...have I lost you yet?! Then special mulch to kick our organic matter in high gear.

Our drip irrigation plans are already underway, our existing well adequate enough to handle our hydration needs. According to plans, that will be installed and our bushes planted in the fall! We'll work towards our organic certification and sweat it out on Saturday's at local farmer's markets :)

Right now we're brainstorming for a farm name...a fun one! We welcome your suggestions!

Want in on some blue fingers and bug bites? :) 

The bottom line.

Nevermind the breathy voice. Solid reminder regardless :)

Us against the world...

You've all heard the argument. Glass half empty? Or is it half full? Pessimists vs optimists all tied into realists vs. idealists. Well, I'm not ashamed to proclaim - I'm definitely an idealist. Quite proudly, although not 100% of the time. But I'm most myself when I'm seeing life through that side of the lens. And let me tell you why!

I would suppose that realists would argue that they see things as they really are. Time better spent in "the real world" than in lala-land, right? In my short span of years I've seen plenty of realists in action. The people in your workplace, my workplace that operate with a bad attitude and not one I even blame them for adopting. After years and years of simply knowing too well how it goes - over and over again witnessing that most often people slack off, that some people just don't value the job that they do, that the people that do value a higher standard quickly get worn back down into not caring because of the overwhelming drain it is to pick up the slack of the ones that never do. I get it. I really do. And a real view on those issues can certainly keep you from wearing yourself out trying to change things you just can't. Or probably can't. Or whatever. I hear ya - loud and clear. So sad that after an embarrassingly short time in the workforce so far, I get this and battle with it often. 

And not just in the workplace, either. The two, in opposition, can even creep into other areas of life. You know what I'm talking about. Clemson's not going to finish this season strong because, well...they never do. We'll never be able to take that trip, achieve those dreams because of X, Y and Z. No use in battling out the issue that's important to you, fires you up because the good guys rarely win. 

Now, I don't want to go any further without being honest. I have a deep appreciation for realism. I've been told over and over again that I have a knack for discernment and there's so much of that rooted in what I have learned to be real. Intuitively thinking things through, basing judgement off of such. I find myself practicing this all the time, and that kind of realism can hang around.

But in just about all other circumstances I've come across so far, I like myself, am more true to myself when I'm true to my idealism. And liking and being true to yourself is important, right? It may be ideal, but I say yes ;) 

A Clemson game is much more fun when you can find yourself full of excitement and anticipation of those dear tigers leaving it all on the field at Death Valley. Win or lose, isn't it more fun to believe they can win?! And isn't it healthy to chase after dreams?! No matter what happens, you're motivating yourself and likely inspiring others along the way. If you're up for it, you could uphold that standard in the workplace that you can be counted on, that your intentions are solid and that you value the job at hand. Not everyone is going to join you, but standards are never raised unless someone is elevating to meet them. Why not be that someone?! And why not fight with no abandon over something you feel strongly about?! Sadly, few may join you in the stance and the outcome may be just what the realists expected - the bad guys win. But you stood, and you can feel good about that. 

I hear people say "I've lost faith in blah blah blah." The justice system. Our country. Humanity. Losing faith is tough. Faith is a driving force - the most powerful there is. To believe in something, to be confident in it and trust in it on no basis of proof. To lose faith means that you once had it. My guess is that the process of losing faith comes when you're experiences, however understandable, lead you to a decreased confidence, trust and, finally, belief in something. That's as real as it gets. This is how it was, this is what happened and now this is just how it is. 

But what standard is held to these entities. But perhaps an ideal one?! Most of us would like for the guilty to be punished, for victims to be honored through justice served. For our country to represent the people, evolve with our growth and operate on moral principles in all its dealings. Most would agree it would be certainly ideal that no one on earth goes without food, water, shelter, love and care.

I would venture to say even some realists hold these ideals, believe in them, wish to seem them and even renew faith in them. But those that can't appreciate a thin slice of idealism can have the mediocrity that awaits them. They may be more grounded in reality, better equipped to deal with the world, as it truly happens around them. They may be less likely to fail and deal better when things go wrong because they expect as much. And sad but true, the world can nurture such expectation.

But me, what I can say that some can't? Next time, and the time after that, and the time after that...I can believe that the good guys could just maybe win. That standards can be raised. That humanitarian needs can be met. 

And because I can believe I can act accordingly, propped up on my faith in my ideals. 

Happy list swoonery

Don't worry, you don't have to look for my picture on a milk carton - I'm very much here, life's just been a bit crazy lately! Regardless, a blog update has been requested (much appreciated accountability, Mc!) and I'm wracking my brain for some inspiration. Funny how you get in the humdrum and feel like you have to dig deep for such, but a good solid Sunday can always put things back into a healthy perspective. 

So, with that I'm obliged to share a bit of my very own "happy list" - an idea I took away from a very special inseparable friend I was privileged to have. Ever since this has been a sweet tradition I've kept up with on and off for years. Thank you, Susan! My happy list grounds me when life is up in the air and you are forever on it!

A few recents, in no particular order...

1. Trying out new recipes
2. Throw pillows
3. Lazy lake weekends at the Martin's
4. Greenville date nights with the Andersons 
5. Special wedding stuff with Shellee
6. Chill, Keowee boat rides with the McDonalds
7. St. Christopher Piesporter
8. Growing excitement for baby M :)
9. Shellee's new family - Lovin' on Tyson and the kiddos
10. Afternoons spent loafin' with Mom
11. Shootin' the breeze for hours with Dad on his porch
12. Luna Rosa and Chicora Alley
13. Tailgates with Karen at OW
14. Daydreamin' 
15. Grace Church - love when Matt brings the heat!
16. Following missions blogs
17. Browsing houseplans
18. Greek yogurt with a drizzle of local honey
19. Watching Mike fly fish
20. Sully right after his bath
21. Sully anytime, but just especially forcing him to cuddle right after his bath
22. New clothes, which doesn't happen often
23. Planning vacations, especially ones that last > 1 week :)
24. Going back through our pictures and Ben's videos from our trip last year
25. When Mike does the dishes - its the simple things
26. The fact that Katie is back in Greenville
27. The fact that B is now in Greenville
28. Days spent on the Chattooga River
29. Mike's sweet, unexpected gestures


And finally...
30. Blueberries! Lots and lots of blueberries.

And I hope you love them, too because Mike and I are about 99% certain we're going to be taking a well-thought out stab at starting an organic blueberry farm! More details to come soon...its quite the process so we'll have plenty of time to chat things over :)