Delicious autumn

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot

Today my delicious autumn involved pumpkin biscotti and homemade chai. Yesterday I got a craving for anything pumpkin so I looked up about eight or so recipes and bought a few cans at the grocery story, so that's how the pumpkin biscotti came about. And my sister made this chai sometime ago and said it was delicious and now I may be hooked.

Geek Out

My day so far:
Woke up at 5:30!
There was a Living Social Deal for yoga (just as my latest pass was about to expire) Hooray. Deals are pretty much the only way I can afford to do yoga here in TX since classes are $12 a piece...far cry from good old Yoga Oasis.
Yoga class was cancelled this morning, which is discovered upon driving to the studio. boo. Thankfully there is a class before our Gospel Community this evening, so I'll be getting my stretch on there.
It's cool enough to wear a cardigan and scarf.
I had a free drink coupon at Starbucks so I'm enjoying loads of caffeine in my pumpkin spice latte (and loads of calories!)

Currently:
I recently joined ONS (Oncology Nursing Society...where Oncology Nurses Connect)! I'm pretty excited as my membership gives me free online access to a couple nursing journals. I'm about to get my research on.

My upcoming day:
A new local restaurant, Belly's Cafe, or lunch. Apparently they have delicious food, so of course I can't wait.
Small Group (aka Gospel Community) tonight!
And I just discovered there is a new season of parks and Rec on Netflicks, so I'll probably go ahead and waste sometime watching that this afternoon.

The Happy Dual Personality

Dinner is in the oven. It's rosemary chicken legs with roasted veggies. I had planned on making it just for Seth and I and now it's going to be for dinner with some of our friends. This is our fourth meal with friends this weekend. The extroverted me is so happy right now.

I also have had some time with Jesus, some gym time, gotten a few errands done, and some meals just for my husband and me. The introverted me is pretty content as well.

source

P.S. in the midst of writing this I set off the fire alarm. A little smoke never hurt anyone right?
P.P.S. Seth and I set up our tent today in the backyard (that's the picture). our first trip with it is in 2 weeks and we didn't want to look like idiots when we set it up. Aren't you proud, Trisha?

Mary and Friends: Books, Again.

I recently heard, on NPR or something, that when P. L. Travlers was taken to the premier of Mary Poppins the movie, she came out and stated, "all of the animation has to go." Needless to say it was a little late for that in the process, but that story gave me the inkling to read the books. Let me preface my review by saying that Mary Poppins was my favorite movie until I was twelve (then it was Cool Runnings). I loved that crazy nanny. That is why I never thought I would hate the books. Why you ask? Mary Poppins is mean. Seriously, she is narcissistic (at least once a chapter Mary stops and stares at herself in the shop windows). She pretends the crazy adventures she goes on with Jane and George are just ludicrous when the kids try to reminisce and she does not take the kids in the painting adventure with the chimney sweep. WHY DO THE KIDS STILL LIKE HER? I can't lie, I didn't even finish Mary Poppins Comes Back (the second book) because I would rather not continue to tarnish my view of the loveable nanny.



Thankfully this book was better. I never read the original Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, but I did see the movies. Confession: I own them. I picked up this book at the recommendation of a friend, which follows the four best friends as grown ups in their late twenties. It starts off rather grim, but of course ends much much better. I may have even cried while reading the book. Well done, Brashares, well done.

On another note, I made potato crust quiche this morning for breakfast with friends. Definitely increased my love of quiche by like 40% since I (not so) secretly hate the pastry crust.

Late Night Ramblings

Disclaimer: this post really doesn't go anywhere, so unless you feel like wasting 6 minutes, don't read this.

I do realized it's 9:57 am. But I just got off a 13 hour shift, went to the gym and ate some Trix.

I also just worked 3 nights in a row, that's like working full time in 3 days. super awesome. and by super awesome I mean I'm pretty tired right now. I had some...errr...challenging patients. I also had some patients that started challenging and ended up being pretty cool, and some that started pretty cool and by the end of 3 days were just not that cool anymore. Its just the nature of the job I suppose. One thing I have realized I appreciate is the variety of my job. My nights are never, ever the same, particularly because I constantly have different people I'm dealing with. That is one bonus. Also, chances are if I have had one patient for a couple nights in a row they won't be back the next time I work. Most of the time, that is great.

On another note, my to do list is forever long and includes things like "showering" and "wash floors" and "make something delicious to eat" so I'd better get on that. Right after I sleep away most of my day

BBQ Pizza

This is the view from our backyard patio.
This is our 'lil smokey.
And this! is grilled pizza. YUMCheck it here for recipe.

Love and Joy: Another Book Post

I'm taking a break from prepping for our grilled pizza party tonight. I should be swiffering so our guests don't judge me for the crumbs all over, instead I'm doing this. (p.s. our friends won't really judge us, at least I hope they won't....)

Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith

I happened to see this book for sale on Amazon when I was perusing for books to get with my gift card. (By the way, I got 7 books for $25.00 from a gift card. AWESOME). It's by Betty Smith the author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It is the story of a newly married couple in their first year of marriage in the 1920s. I felt the story was trite, but the writing is excellent and I ended up being drawn into the story. There is something in me that desires for the simplicity of their lives (i.e. they live in a boarding house and don't even own a blanket of their own). We're so bogged down in having lots of stuff and my list of stuff I want still grows. Alas, that's another issue in itself

The Love List by the Parrots

I may be slightly behind on my goal of reading 12 nonfiction books for the year (NOTE: I had the hardest time distinguishing between fiction and nonfiction probably until college. Honestly, it seems so backward to me that the "non" means it's true...) Anyways, I "borrowed" (read: stole) this book from my parents when we were home last. It was already on my "to read" list because I want to consistently be working on improving my marriage and I love lists. It fulfilled both of those. Les and Leslie outline 2 things you can do each day/week/month/year to improve your marriage, all of which are pretty basic, but great to review. I put it on my husband's "to read" list so we can work on these things together.

Next up: Marry Poppins and Love Wins