Grace Turns 23

film photo from Thailand

Holy cow, Grace is 23!  23!  This age has thrown me for a loop and it's hard to wrap my head around if I'm totally honest. When I was 23 I got married, owned a home, and worked full-time while Bryce was in law school!  We were such adults.  And while I wouldn't change our path, I'm so glad that Grace has this time to experiment, grow, take risks and figure some things out without the burden of such responsibilities.  Grace has had such amazing life experiences already in her 23 years and I can hardly wait to see what unfolds next for her.  

1.  She's brave.  She chooses to do things that have wonderful potential upsides but also require a lot of hard things- going overseas for all 4 years of college or moving to a new town for a 6 month internship.  I admire her tenacity on this and her willingness to take risks for opportunities.  

2.  Whereas she can be more uncertain and uncomfortable in social situations, she is very confident in her work and her abilities in whatever job she is in.  This current internship with G&G does not really have the opportunity to turn into a permanent position (they are clear on that at the onset of the job, they do hire interns but not until a position opens up which can be years!) but it will be the first job where her employer doesn't try fairly hard to get her to come back to work after her summer/internship/job is over.

3.  She is so tender hearted. I don't think this is something she actually allows that many people to see and understand about her but she feels things in big ways.

4.  She loves to travel and experience new things.  She's been like this for as long as I can remember, our Adventuring Grace!  She's been to all 50 states, and 15 countries!

5.  She seems to pick up a few close friends in every stage of her life.  She's not a big group kind of girl and would rather hang with one or two close friends.  She's still best friends with Kathleen from middle school, from high school she has Karis and Caroline and, of course, her beloved St Andrews roommates, Emma and Stella.

6.  She has very expensive taste.  Bryce and I can't wait to watch how she navigates this on her humanities degree salary :).

7.  She's kind.  She thinks of other people and always tries to do the right thing.  This is what we are most proud of.  

8.  Her favorite flowers are hydrangeas, she loves Dilly Beans, her wardrobe staple is a cashmere crewneck sweater from J. Crew or a wool crewneck from Benneton, oysters are her love language, she adores her cat, and she's carried a vintage silver cigarette case as her wallet for years.  

9.  She collects pencils from everywhere she travels.

10.  She is a lover of the library!  She is a card carrying advocate of libraries and goes to them on the regular.  

Valentine's Treats

Bryce and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day very enthusiastically.  We don't usually exchange gifts, or even cards, but we've always made a nice dinner, and we did so again this year.  Bryce made Lobster Mac and Cheese and I made a chocolate tart for dessert.  While we may not exchange gifts ourselves, I almost always give the children love gifts of some type.  

This year, I sent both children thumbprint cookies made with our rose jam.  The idea is to make the indentation look like a heart but honestly, these were the only two that did!  The rest looked like a normal thumbprint.  You win some, you lose some!

Many, many years ago, I had a chocolate cherry bread that was so good I still think about it.  This year, I finally tried my hand at making a chocolate cherry sourdough bread.  It was truly a labor of love!  I made it twice, the first time to get a sense of what I was doing, and sent the second two loaves to the children.  And finally, a friend stopped by and snapped this Valentine's picture of Bryce and I!

What I'm Doing

Those who know me know that I've been ever so disappointed in the election results.  I've always considered myself a moderate, I've voted for republicans and I've voted for democrats.   I vote for whom I think is most qualified and whose ideas I like the most.  Do I ever like all of them?  No, of course not.  Do I think our government could use some reform?  Absolutely.   Is it obvious that people in our country feel left out and left behind?  Yes, clearly.  

But this, this absolute support of racism, of the loss of ethics and morals, the outright bullying and nastiness, and the stopping of aid and support of the most vulnerable among us is the least Christian and the least humane thing I've witnessed in my lifetime within our government.  This distrust of science and research and the confirming of politicians who are roundly unqualified is frightening as I believe it's made us more unsafe on all fronts.  And I haven't even mentioned the reversals of environmental acts that will negatively impact our children for decades to come.  However, it's not a surprise, this dismantling of things, we were told exactly what would be done and since we live in a democracy, I recognize that my candidate lost to the majority of those who voted (though we certainly did not elect Elon Musk) and therefore I will learn to live with it over the next four years.  However, I have felt the need to do something if only as an example to my children to stand up for those who have less, to fight for what you believe in and to treat others as the Bible has asked us to, and because I believe our character, and how we treat others, starts at home. So here's what I'm doing and planning on doing.

1.  Calling my representatives.  I've used the app 5calls to call with a script but I've also just called to state my opinion on nominations, Musk having access to the treasury, etc.   

2.  Get more involved in my own community.  I've begun volunteering every week at our local food bank.

3.  I've joined the ACLU and will continue to give money to those organizations that support diversity and the vulnerable.

4.  I'm trying to limit my news consumption while also staying informed. Knowledge is power!  Also, I really don't want to read a bunch of analysis, opinions or random people making blanket statements that are full of misinformation.   Instead, I want to look to history and facts.  I've read a lot of Heather Cox Richardson and Sharon McHanon.   Both of these have been fairly straightforward with facts while also ringing some alarm bells about our government.  Also, in regards to our health, drjessicaknurick is full of fact based information.

I'm always open to other suggestions!

Fly Eagles, Fly!

Having attended the University of Georgia, Bryce and I have always been big fans of the Georgia Bulldogs, and college football in general.  We've never really followed NFL football as we just don't find it that interesting.  However, having now lived here for almost 20 years, we have some fondness for the Eagles, mostly because so many of our friends are big fans and it's hard not to catch the excitement of those around us.  So naturally, we were rooting for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl and they sure didn't disappoint!  

I think it's also very fun how my Mom, who was born, raised and lived in the south most of her life, has become a big Eagles fan.  It 's especially funny because Eagles fans have a reputation as being a bit much and fairly rude but my Mom is the exact opposite!

We watched with friends and had Philly cheesesteaks that Gretchen made and wings from everyone's favorite wing joint.  It was a lot of fun.  I made whoopie pies that are my go to football dessert because they are so good and so cute!  As a side note, whoopie pies were invented in Pennsylvania so it was extra appropriate!  

 

Favorite Things #63

After we finished renovating the kitchen, I kept an eye out for what I wanted to go over the stove for a long time.   During Thanksgiving and Christmas I have favorite platters that I like to display (we put in a groove for plates) but during the rest of the year, I really, really wanted an oil painting of vegetables, as a nod to our garden.   

I spotted what I was looking for in photos I saw of the English kitchen cabinetry company, Devol.  In doing some research, I discovered the artist, Wendy Prather Burwell, but her work was hard to come by as it sold fairly quickly at her gallery showings and she wasn't cranking out the art.  So the search continued... until one day while at a friends house I spotted what looked like Wendy's work!  Turns out, they are friends in real life!  She put me in direct contact with Wendy and from there I was able to purchase a piece that she had in the works.

I love that it's a radish, I've done several posts about radishes being our first harvest, and I love the colors in the piece.  I know it's a bit dicey putting a fine piece of art over a stove that gets used on the daily but we try to remember to run the exhaust fan and also I'm a believer in using and displaying what you love.  I suppose it can always be cleaned by a professional.