A Limited Amount of Time

Can I go on a rant today please? Since this is my platform- I suppose you really have no choice and the choice is all mine...so therefore, I am ranting. I  have some things I would like to say about limitations.

I want to know why we let people place so many limitations on us, on our lives, and worse, why we put so many on ourselves. I constantly hear people talking about what they can't do, why they can't do it, why it isn't plausible, and what they are NOT capable of. This is not okay. At least not with me... It is too easy to believe people when they say these things to you and too easy to believe yourself when you are filling your head with self-doubt. This results in a society of people who use the word "dream" synonymously with "something that will never actually be achieved". Which is completely heartbreaking. Don't people see the untapped potential in themselves? Don't I see it in me? What a different world we could be if we would actually take the time to work at living out our dreams; making them a reality. For some people this may mean years of planning and for others this may mean to stop all the thinking and planning and just do it! But whatever your dream requires of you, stop ignoring it! Stop putting it on the back burner for "some other time". WAKE UP. This is your shot and you were given it for a reason- so do something with it! Make something of yourself. And I don't mean in the eyes of others where the people who make something of themselves are pro-athletes and movie stars. I mean make something of yourself FOR yourself; no matter how big or small it may seem. It does not matter how others see you, but how you see yourself.
Stop only scratching at the surface of who you want to be and just peel back all the layers.
Stop being afraid of what you might find.
Stop worrying about what it may mean.
Start living. breathing. doing.
Start being you
And for heaven's sake- STOP PUTTING LIMITATIONS ON YOURSELF!

Rant concluded.

"Never mind searching for who you are. Search for the person you aspire to be." -Robert Brault


JORDAN

The Food Quest: Thurman Cafe

Saw It: On the Travel Channel's 101 Chowdown Countdown and Man vs. Food
Known For: the Thurman Burger and the "Thurmanator"
We Went: 2/18/11
We Had: Chicken Cordon Bleu Balls and the Thurmanator
Location: Columbus, OH

The Thurman Cafe is the ultimate hang-out spot apparently. With not a lot of seating and an enormous waiting area, the party is clearly going on while you wait for your table. With the host putting his own money into the jukebox to pick songs and everyone with a beer in their hand, the hour and a half wait didn't seem nearly that long. Now Zach and I had already decided to share the Thurmanator, but were so hungry by the time we were seated we got an appetizer too. Not a good idea in retrospect, but the chicken cordon bleu balls might possibly be a new obsession of mine... Absolutely delicious!

 

Then there was the Thurmanator... The Thurman Cafe had always been known for it's extremely large 3/4 lb. Thurman Burgers, but when Adam Richman from Man vs. Food came to visit them they created a whole new burger in his honor. Cue dramatic music...

Zach and I split this bad baby in half, and while he valiantly conquered his portion- I was waving the white flag in the form of a messy napkin a little over half way in... 

So here is the burger top to bottom: bun, american cheese, mozzarella cheese, ham, carmelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, 12 oz. burger, cheddar cheese, bacon, 12 oz. burger, banana peppers, pickle, tomato, lettuce, mayo, and another bun.
I know, I know you can feel your arteries clogging looking at it. It was actually a very good burger though. Sometimes on giant burgers they just try to put as many ingredients as they can, but it's taste and flavor profile leaves something to be desired. This on the other hand was delicious, and if you ate it in pieces, each item was paired close to something that complimented it excellently! The section of it with the ham, cheeses and onions was my personal favorite part.

Chalk one up for Columbus, Ohio!

JORDAN

Why?

Some of life's greatest questions....

Why doesn’t glue stick to the bottle?
 
Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

 How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, “It’s all right?” Well, it isn’t all right so why don’t we say, “That hurt, you stupid idiot?”

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that’s falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours? 

How come we choose from just two people for President and fifty for Miss America? 

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

Why do people who know the least know it the loudest?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

Why there isn't a shorter word for monosyllabic?

Enjoy your Monday :)

JORDAN

Sweet Escape

I need an adventure. Not that that is anything new :) This afternoon Zach and I are leaving to go somewhere for the weekend, though I have no idea where. It's a surprise, and I really love surprises. I think the best part about a surprise is the anticipation. So this will be nice to get away for a bit, and for a short period of time alleviate a little bit of my restlessness. It won't take long at all though before I get antsy again to go somewhere big and DO something big. On the other hand, I also would kind of like to go somewhere and just...be. So if I could choose absolutely anywhere to go and let go for a bit, at this particular moment it would be here:

 This is Shipwrecks Beach in Hawaii. I haven't been to this particular beach, but I have been to Hawaii a few times and right now, I would really like to be there. This place in the picture looks ideal, and while I love big cities, there is absolutely nothing- NOTHING that can replace nature and it's raw beauty. So here is a little paradise for all of us today, while we keep dreaming about the things to come :)

“Travelers, there is no path, paths are made by walking”
JORDAN

Smile On

This song is sappy, cheesy, corny and any other descriptive adjectives you can come up with that mean borderline lame. And I love it. It is kind of like a happy place for me. Granted, I would have probably chosen a different picture selection than some of these, but it is what it is. :) There is so much seriousness and hopelessness out there that it is very easy to get weighed down by life. Once in a while we definitely need to let go of stress and pretend we are five years old again. This song makes me happy, I hope it totally makes your day :)

JORDAN

It's Wine O'Clock Somewhere

I had the opportunity this past weekend to go to a winery with Kori. (This was part of our weekend-long celebration over the fact we have been having Thursday Night Dates for 52 weeks.)

I had never been to a winery before and really enjoyed the experience. We got to do a little tour of the winery; I find the process of making wine to be really fascinating. Then we got to do the tasting- 7 wines plus a bonus wine all for $2, not bad!

With each tasting you chose between a white and a red, so I just chose all whites and Kori chose all reds and we shared. A few of the reds were tolerable and two were actually good, but overall I am just not a huge fan of red wine. So far I stick to whites- Riesling being my go-to choice. I really would like to develop a more refined taste in wine though and be able to understand flavors better, which leads me to the next thing I would like to accomplish: Visit a vineyard.

For some reason I have always been captivated by vineyards. Or I should say, pictures of vineyards since I have never been to one... They just seem peaceful and romantic, and who doesn't need a bit of peace and romance in their lives? :) The fact that the end result of the grapes they are growing is that they are used to produce wine doesn't hurt either.

Napa Valley is definitely a place I would love to be able to visit. While they have an overabundance of wineries and vineyards, I know of a place that tops my list that I consider it a priority to visit: HALL Rutherford. This winery/vineyard combo looks positively amazing!
Italy and France are the two countries that really draw my attention. They are in high competition over holding the title of the world's largest wine producer, which basically just tells me that I obviously need to visit both!

Just another thing to add to the list...and yes I do literally have a list written down.


JORDAN

The Little Things

My daycare children are precious. Today was a wild, crazy Valentine's party day with lots of loud, sugared up children who desperately need to be able to run around outside. Instead of it being one of those headache days though, we had a blast together and they are just about the sweetest Valentines you could ask for. Every time I was out of the classroom today they got deathly silent...if you ever watch children you know silence is a bad, terrifying sign that normally generates a deep fear of "what on earth are they doing out there?" But today it was because every time I would come back into the room they would count to 3 and yell "Happy Valentine's Day Jordan!!" Even though I was expecting it come the 17th time it never lost it's appeal and it definitely made my day :)

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. Love someone today in a big way, and then tomorrow- do it again. Because who needs just a day of the year to remind you to do that?

JORDAN

I'm Replacing my Cats

Our two cats (Dixie and Cotton) are pretty sweet and adorable, but I found a new pet I want. A koala bear. Until this morning I never even gave much thought to koalas, but now...now I must have one :) There is a story to these pictures. A koala bear got hit by a car (in Australia I am assuming) and the driver took her to the vet. She died, but they found twin koalas in her pouch. Apparently twin koalas are a rarity and these ones were extremely premature. Look at how absolutely precious they are...they have so much expression in their faces and for some reason I really love their noses.
*Spoiler alert for the end of the story- they both lived :)

I mean really, who can resist that?
Koalas: Yet another reason that I would love to visit Australia :)

JORDAN

Not Exactly a Chick Flick

My taste in movies is, I suppose, a bit different than your typical girl's. My favorite movies include some combination of war/battle scenes, fantasy, and are typically set back in time. Tonight my husband and I are going to go see The Eagle, a movie that is being released today. A movie that looks to be right up my alley! In the spirit of this kind of movie I am creating a list of my top five all-time favorite movies...

1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (I am going to count all three as one, because otherwise they would just take up spaces 1, 2, and 3). These are absolutely hands down my go-to movies for...anything. I literally pop at least one of them in at least once or twice a week. AT LEAST. This doesn't mean I sit and watch the entire thing always, and I will start them at random points, strangely they are almost company. When I am home alone I fall asleep with these on. When I am eating by myself (or even sometimes with Zach) I put one in. When I am writing or planning a menu for the week or researching travel you can be assured that one of the LOTR movies is right there with me. I honestly have them pretty much memorized. I know, I know- sad, right? But I can't help it. They are the ultimate combination of everything that I love in a movie, so therefore, I am in love.

2. 300. A great movie. The graphics are unusual, and I really like that for being so different. This movie also has some really great lines in it! (And I always love a good movie quote)

3. Gladiator. Russell Crowe. Joaquin Phoenix. Enough said.

4. Troy. I have always really loved and been fascinated by Greek mythology, and the story of Troy is no exception. Plus Achilles is one of the most fantastic warriors of all time.

5. The Harry Potter movies. All of them. This doesn't quite follow suit with the previous movies, but it does have the complete fantasy aspect, battle scenes on a different level, and feels like it has been set back in time even though it really isn't. Now don't knock the Harry Potter movies til you have tried them. I always thought they were "kids" movies and probably not worth my time, but in one long weekend Zach and I decided to sit down and watch all of them in order, and they are fabulous! I mean really well done- and they only get better as they go on. I also read the books and J.K. Rowlings is really a captivating author. These are another set of movies that I can watch over and over and play them constantly. No judgment :)

As a side note, Titanic is also one of my favorite movies of all time (it just didn't really fit on this list). I have mentioned before that I have an affinity for really long movies because you get (and by you I mean me) so drawn into it that it becomes a whole experience!

So tonight I am hoping that The Eagle will be one of those movies that just takes me away, puts me in a different time, and has some epic battle scenes!

P.S. I also have an obsession with horror movies. I know, I have the strangest movie taste ever right?

JORDAN

There's More than One Way to Walk a Dog...

Today I am feeling kind of cooped up and unproductive and I guess just a little bit lazy, but not THIS lazy...

What do you think? Genius or Slacker?
Well that's all you're getting out of me for today (told you, unproductive)

JORDAN

True Beauty

A saying I really find truth in is "Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."- Confucius.
Today I conducted a kind of social experiment of sorts with my computer. I googled the word "beauty" and searched for images.

This was the very first image that came up, and I was absolutely thrilled! This! This is beauty! Look at this young girl- this is a picture of African beauty and I am drawn to it. So often beauty is described in such shallow, close-minded terms. Hence the sixth picture that came up...

 Not that this woman isn't beautiful, but there is so much more to it than meets the eye. And not just with people but in many aspects of life. For example, last year when we traveled to the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean, the way these people lived was far different than what we are used to seeing.

This home was what a lot of them were like, better than many in fact. Lot's of houses with no doors, appliances on the porch, pretty run-down. I really like this picture actually and do think it's beautiful. I have shared my trip with a lot of people and someone commented on this "Oh yuck. Was it really trashy on the island?" I had to think about this- if by trashy you mean tons of animals running loose, graffiti all over everything, crumbling walls and broken bottles, dirty alleys with junky cars, then yes. I suppose it was "trashy" but you know what? I thought these things were beautiful. I thought their culture was beautiful. Who in the world am I to go over there and judge the way they live and believe that I could show them so much better just because I am from America? Who's to say they wouldn't judge the way I live?! Because guess what? These people seemed happy. We were around the locals a lot and they just had such an air of  community and happiness around them, and that- that is beautiful.

I continued scrolling down the images I got for beauty and most of them were scantily clad, gorgeous women or make-up products and things to beautify yourself with and the occasional picture of scenery thrown in. How much more beautiful could we make the world if we changed our perception of beauty, and started seeing- really SEEING- the true beauty in things. Here are some things I think are beautiful...

This is my own picture

I want to find beauty in things that may at first appear to be "ugly" or a "disaster." I want to have eyes that are opened to things that many never take the time to notice.
What is beautiful to you?

JORDAN

On the Banks of the Colorado

Someone was asking me the other day about the best meal I had ever eaten, and it really got me thinking. I love food (good food) and I don't take it for granted (or I try not to), so to say something is the best holds a lot of weight with me. There have been many dishes from places that I would say I absolutely love and that I would definitely get again, but that doesn't make them the BEST. Best is like- WOW. Best is a term I really am not even that fond of because it implies I can only pick one, and if you know me, picking just one ultimate food seems downright unfair. Honestly I don't even think I would/could pick one best food, but best meal- I have decided- is something I can pick. June 15, 2009: Best. Meal. Ever. Zach and I were on vacation in Colorado, and on this particular day we visited Glenwood Springs. I had researched it thoroughly and read about this restaurant called Rivers that I decided we would be fools not to visit. Problem was, when it came time for dinner we could not find this place anywhere. And Glenwood Springs is not a big place. At all. There is no reason it should have been that difficult but the restaurant was nowhere to be found. We stopped looking for Rivers and started looking for a visitors center. When we finally found one, inside of some bank, there were no real people- just a computer. Which didn't work. On the brink of giving up (soooo glad we didn't!) we asked someone at a gas station who gave us crazy directions that led a little ways out of town. If we had not been following instructions, there is no way we would have stumbled upon this place, but when we did...my oh my. Before I even touch the food aspect, lets just take a look at location.

May not look like much here, but wait for your view from the back of the restaurant...

Ah yes, I do believe anything would taste better here ;)
Now for those of you who care nothing for lengthy food descriptions...feel free to tune out here. You know the expression "melts in your mouth"? Heard it applied to meat before? I had and thought it was not possible. Guess what? IT IS. I ordered a New York Steak at Rivers and was in heaven for the next 22 bites. This steak was a god among steaks, an absolute meat miracle. Think I am exaggerating? Well chances are you aren't going to eat at Rivers anytime soon so my opinion stands :) This steak cut like butter and the flavor was impeccable. The side of piped wasabi mashed potatoes made for a really great combination with just the right amount of heat to it. Not to mention the presentation was flawless all the way down to the onion carved into a flower.

Zach had the elk which he also really enjoyed (though it didn't hold a candle to my steak)

Finally we ended this meal with a caramel fried cheesecake served with real vanilla bean ice cream. Yes, there is an absolute difference in REAL ice cream- in the texture, the flavor, all of it.

Again, really nice presentation.

So, like I said... Best. Meal. Ever.


JORDAN

The Food Quest: Albano's Pizzeria

To read an introduction to the Food Quest, go here!

Saw It: On the Travel Channel's 101 Chowdown Countdown
Known For: The "pizza puff"
We Went: 11/21/10
We Had: Zach- pizza puff with cheese, sausage, spinach, bacon, and green peppers
              Jordan- pizza puff with cheese, broccoli, green peppers, and mushrooms

Each of us getting a pizza puff was completely and totally unnecessary. We had absolutely no idea just HOW BIG a pizza puff was going to be. I definitely did not expect something the literal size of a football, maybe even a little larger... It is basically a 12 inch pizza folded in half with all of the ingredients stuffed inside of it and then they deep fry it. Sound disgusting? It kind of is. Sound dangerous to your health? It DEFINITELY is. But still, worth a one time experience. To be honest, this is the first place on our Food Quest that I would not go back to. Zach would, he absolutely loved it, but for me it was a bit much. The puff was overwhelming and I barely ate any of it; each puff takes over half an hour to make; you bring home enough to feed an army but it really doesn't reheat that well... It was a unique thing to do, but the quality of the food versus all the cons I just listed really doesn't make it worth a repeat visit.

My pizza puff after I valiantly attacked it and couldn't eat another bite. Not a lot of progress...

P.S. Slow's Bar-B-Q is still my favorite of our food quest adventures!

JORDAN

Home Sweet...Home?

I live in a very average one-story house, and we love it! For right now it is perfect for us and has an ideal amount of space, not to mention is the perfect place to run my business. That's not to say that I don't love a good, completely out-there house though. I found some completely crazy looking homes that, while I may not want to live there, would be so awesome to visit! The people who designed these definitely have the whole thinking-out-of-the-box concept down....

This is called an "ensculptic" house and is located in Minnestrista, Minnesota

The interior of the ensculptic house- it is on the market for $237,000...if you are interested :)

The ensculptic house is, get this, constructed entirely from polyurethane insulation foam. A foam house?!

A little secret to this home...I have ALWAYS loved it. It's located in Denver, CO- a place I have been going since I was a baby. This home is set high up in the mountains and it is visible from the interstate. Ever since I saw this at four years old, I have been so intrigued by this house. It's currently on the market for $3,800,000 so you know, not too much...HA! It is named "Sculptured House" and was built back in the 60's.

 What a view this place must have...

I mean, seriously? Hope they have blinds....

I don't know if this place is actually real, but how amazing looking. I think I would like to be able to call this home haha, but what a pain to get your mail!

This house may be my favorite...and not just because it is located in Switzerland. This is an underground house, and a website I found describes it best: "The most striking thing about this stone house is the majestic Alpine view through a wide, elliptical opening in the hillside, revealing spacious outdoor entertaining areas that lead to the home’s main entrance. Another entrance from a nearby barn leads residents and guests through an underground pathway, providing an alternate entryway into the home. The circular opening in the mountainside allows for lots of windows, which flood interiors with natural light while framing the stunning mountain views."

 

 JORDAN