On the Radar

What's better than a Friday with a half-day of work and lots of exciting things heading my way in the coming weeks? Here are the things I am looking forward to that are making me a very happy girl:

1) Heading to Bloomington this weekend to spend some great, quality time with my best friend

2) Our Cinco de Mayo party (or I should say fiesta!) that we are throwing next week

3) Taking my mama to Indy for a girl's night for Mother's Day

4) Going skydiving with Zach, Leah, and Grant

5) Going to the lakes Memorial Day weekend

6) And of course, vacation with my incredible husband!!!

Have a great Friday!!!

JORDAN

Daydream Believer

Everyone has those go to places that their mind runs away to when they are day-dreaming. My location is definitely St. Maarten. The picture up above was taken at Calmos Cafe- just one of the many amazing places we ate for dinner on that trip. St. Maarten is the gourmet capital of the Caribbean (right up Zach and I's alley) and the food is made doubly splendid when you have such a beautiful view while you eat. With as crazy busy as life has been lately my mind goes on vacation to the Caribbean more and more... Thankfully in just THIRTY-EIGHT short days Zach and I will be on our "vacation 2011" and I will have plenty of new memories and places to visit in my mind when it is a somewhat dreary day in Indiana :)

P.S. A banana, some whole grain crackers (just a few) and a teaspoon of almond butter make a fabulously healthy and energizing afternoon snack!!

JORDAN

Morning Dew and Ursula Le Guin

I have never been a morning person, and I am not a fan of getting up at 6:30 every day. I must say that if there is one thing about this time of day that redeems itself though, it is the peacefulness. This is going to sound very specific, but when it is a day like today: not quite cold but still slightly cool, not totally light but you can see light in the sky, with barely a car driving by and all of the birds chirping- this is my favorite way to start the morning. Sometimes I like to go outside and just stand for even only ten seconds just to breathe in the fresh, unspoiled morning air and feel alive. Then I sit in front of a window most of the morning waiting for parents to arrive with their children, so the way it sounds and looks outside has a definite effect on me and my day, and despite the forecasted rain, today is starting off very nicely :)

On another note entirely, there is a website you can go to and type in a bit of whatever you want and it will analyze your writing style and tell you which writer you emulate. (Click here for the website if you want to try this yourself) I used a piece from an older blog post (A Limited Amount of Time). The writer it chose for me was Ursula K. Le Guin- someone I had never heard of (and props to you if you have!) so I researched her and was quite pleased with what I found. She wrote a whole collection of fantasy novels called the "Earthsea" novels. Anyone who knows me knows that I love the fantasy genre (The Lord of the Rings series being my absolute favorite films and books) and so I am pleased to apparently be resembling an author who dwells on the fantastical.
Here are a few of her fantasy novels from 1968 all the way to 2001 (though all with new covers I believe). What a large writing span.

 

 I do believe I will have to get my hands on these and see if I truly do emulate Ms. Le Guin!

JORDAN

It's that Time of Year...

Coming just around the corner, Farmer's Markets!!!

I am positively stoked for the warmer weather just around the corner that brings with it Saturday Farmer's Markets. Last year I got turned onto farmer's markets pretty late in the season and only was able to catch the last few. This year I plan on hitting them up as soon as they make their debut! We have had winter markets once a month indoors and I went to one of these, but with mostly meats and baked goods it just didn't compare to the beautiful abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables of the summer market. I absolutely love being able to support my community by buying locally instead of lining the pockets of a major corporation, not to mention how beautiful and fresh the produce is. If those aren't reason enough, the amount of money that I save makes it well worth it. Produce just tastes better when it's fresh off the farm rather than shipped to stores all over America. I am already dreaming up recipes to include all the delicious flavors of summer...

JORDAN

Something Borrowed

Some days I have no words. Well actually that isn't quite true, I ALWAYS have words- just not always words that are worth sharing on here. So today since my naptime is busy working out and cooking fire island ziti for Italian Pasta Day (which is what Wednesday has turned into for my lovely friend Leah and I) I am going to leave you with someone elses words.
This may be borrowed, but it doesn't make the advice any less worthwhile:

“Look at you. You’re young. And you’re scared. Why are you so scared? Stop being paralyzed. Stop swallowing your words. Stop caring what other people think. Wear what you want. Say what you want. Listen to the music you want to listen to. Play it loud as anything and dance to it. Go out for a drive at midnight and forget that you have work the next day. Stop waiting for Friday. Live now. Do it now. Take risks. Tell secrets. This life is yours. When are you going to realize that you can do whatever you want?”

Don't know who said this, I happened upon it on stumbleupon.com but it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I absolutely love it.

JORDAN