Catch Up

HI Everyone,

Its been way too long since I last updated this thing. Its hard to figure out what to write about when my life is just so normal. I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear about me washing clothes anymore than I want to relive it through my writing.
I've also realized that I take far too few pictures! When I do think of something to write I don't have any pictures to help me tell the story. Aarrgh!!! I know this thing is a work in progress.
Here are a few tidbits of things that have gone on in my life since we last talked and a couple of things to come.....
1. I was summoned to jury duty! I don't have to serve on a jury though. Unlike my friends who were called on the same day I was summoned by the wrong county. I don't reside there so I don't qualify. Funny thing is is that I actually wanted to serve. However, what little I did have to do was very interesting and informative. Hopefully I will be called again someday and be able to participate.

2. I love my job!!! I've been back there for about a month now after a two year hiatus. I'm trying to figure out ways to be of more help in the office. Like any job, multi-tasking is key and I'm learning how to refocus my skills. My old job was in a kitchen and multi-tasking was a different bear but I do feel like I'm beginning to move more smoothly in this position now. I'm surprised at how well I'm doing on the phone. Normally I'm terrified of talking to people I don't know. I would like say my co-workers are some of the best people I know and a delight to work with. It just goes to prove that the personalities you work with make or break the job.
I will be purchasing things for my desk soon!!! I'm SOOO excited!!

3. In the last few days I've taken up scrapbooking again. This is also very exciting!! For painful reasons I've avoided it for the past year. I began to work on a scrapbook in the fall of last year as a gift to my Aunt. A gift because it was to be filled with pictures of my cousin, Riki, who died in a car wreck in October of 2007. In the beginning pictures were something I needed to look at and then it became much too painful. I've now decided that I will inch myself back into the process.
I completed my first page two nights ago. Its title was "Going Bananas". The pictures were of my younger brother and sister as 1 and 2 year olds sharing a banana in the living room floor. Very, very sweet! I have been wanting to make a page with these pictures for a long time but never felt like I had the perfect accents for the page. Well, I finally found some really cute stickers of monkeys and bananas at the scrapbook store a few days ago and went to town. The page turned out very simple but its cute. I might add to it later but it will work for now. I've got to get the creative waters stirring before I can do the pretty pages again. I'm already forming my next page in my mind! Eventually I will get back to my Aunt's gift but I want to enjoy scrapbooking again before I delve into the hard stuff.

4. My family and I will be going to my grandparent's lake house this weekend!! We will say goodbye to the summer in fashion. Our time will be filled with riding in the boat, swimming, visiting with my 21 year-old brother, eating Mamaw's yummy food, and being lazy!! We've looked forward to this for a while now. This weekend will be so nice!!

NOTE: Please pray we find the hamster before this weekend comes. Cuddles, otherwise known as The Houdini Hamster, has been missing for a few days now. He is your classic escape artist and has found many ways to free himself from his cage and ball. This is not good for a family with several cats or a little sister who wants her pet back!!

I will leave you with a photo of some pretty flowers. I took the picture about a month ago in someone's back yard. Enjoy!!!

Have a great day!!
-Danielle

A little about me and one of my goals

For a geography assignment in school one year my mother told me to pick out a country that I would want to study. I picked Scotland. Braveheart was a new movie at the time and I had quickly been swept up by the story, the music, and the beautiful scenery. I dove into my studies. I still have a notebook I made with every fact I could find about the country and its history. At one time I could tell you what the average summer and winter temperatures are there. The passion for Scotland and the desire to learn more about it have never left me and it has grown with age. I have continued to buy books pertaining to not only to Scottish history but to Irish and British history as well (I know the story of William Wallace backwards and forwards-thanks Mel Gibson). I also love Celtic Music (I still watch the Lord of the Dance performance on tape) and I think I prefer British television over American.

While in my college geography class I was given the assignment of researching a culture and giving a presentation. Of course I had to pick somewhere in Scotland but I wanted it to be unique so I started searching. While reading up on crofting (something similar to sharecropping) and the islands off the country's coast I ran across a part of Scotland I had never heard of before. The Outer and Inner Hebrides, a group of islands off of Scotland's northwest coast. Many of the people on these islands still lived the crofter's way of life. In some cases towns still shut down on Sundays and Gaelic was still a language many spoke. There are several Hebride islands. I chose the largest one, the Isle of Harris as my presentation topic and got an "A". Needless to say I found an interest within an interest and I have been fascinated by the Gaelic languages ever since.

There are many Gaelic languages. Welsh (from Wales) is a language that you have probably heard of. Irish gaelic, Scots gaelic, Manx, Breton, and Cornish are others. They are spoken predominately in remote area of the United Kingdom but are also spoken in places such as Nova Scotia and France. I would like to learn Welsh and Irish but Scots is my passion.

I haven't learned much yet. I'm remind myself of a child who is just learning to speak and can tell you how to say bacon or milk or sugar (why are they all food items?)..... but one day I hope to somehow be fluent. I want to learn the language, fly to Scotland, and start a conversation with a Scots speaker. That would be the peak of success to me!

I'm currently trying to decide on a textbook curriculum with audio to invest in but in the meantime I have found a wealth of internet aids. If anyone is ever going to learn how to say any gaelic word they need audio because it just doesn't read the way it pronounces. The letters "bh" together make a "v" sound, etc. The BBC is a great source for information! All of my favorite sites are BBC sites. Here are a couple if you get curious and what to see what the heck it is I am doing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/foghlam/airsplaoid/index.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/

So now you know I'm weird and have interests that I share with absolutely no one else I know! Maybe I'll blog about something that makes more sense next time. One can only hope.

Squash salad recipe that is perfect for summer

Hey Everyone,

I want to share a recipe I made up with everyone. My family has a beautiful garden this year with tons and tons of yellow squash in it. My step-father had sauteed it as much as he could stand and said he wished he knew of another way to prepare it. While I fixed dinner one night last week I came up with this recipe. Its very simple and fresh and you can add it as a side to your summer meals. I hope you enjoy!


3 yellow squash, sliced & cut into medium thick, bite-sized pieces (chunks)
1 or 2 green bell peppers, diced or cut into strips
1 onion, diced or cut into strips
Zesty Italian dressing
salt & pepper, to taste
1 or 2 dashes of garlic powder
a little red pepper flakes or Cajun seasoning for heat (optional)

Toss the veggies together in a large mixing bowl. Pour enough dressing to coat or maybe a little more over the veggies and add remaining ingredients to taste. Mix together thoroughly. Cover bowl and leave in refrigerator for about 30 min. to an hour to marinate veggies. Serve.

The dish will become a little soggy on the second day but its still good. It will continue down this path of sogginess so you will want to toss the leftovers eventually.

Please feel free to change this recipe in any way you see fit. I think it could work well with other vegetables also (cucumbers, add cherry tomatoes, etc.). Make it your own and enjoy. I'm just excited that I came up with a great side dish after being out of a professional kitchen for a month! Its not restaurant fare but it sure can work for your familia. Salad Girl showed herself again! Maybe I'll come up with a few more good recipes or find some good ones and pass them on in the future.

-Danielle

Have you ever had those moments?

I have had a lot of forgetful moments lately. Of course I've always had moments, just like anyone, but I have come across a few of those moments lately that have made me laugh.
Several weeks ago I was enjoying myself on the beaches of Destin, Florida. Like a nut I went out into the water with my sunglasses on my head. Every time a wave came by I had to grab them so the ocean couldn't claim them. These sunglasses were a Dollar Tree purchase so if I lost them it wouldn't break my heart but I didn't want to. I became so used to doing this that when my glasses were actually on my face I forgot and found my self clutching my head to save them and then searching the water for the lost glasses all while looking through the very same brown, tinted shades. Thankfully, I was in the water by myself when this happened so I was saved the initial embarrassment of people watching me.
I found myself in another such moment today. My mother and I had received coupons for free film processing at our local drug store. I made it a race to be ready to leave before she was. I had everything together! Purse on my shoulder, shoes on, standing by the door with coupon in hand. At this moment my mother had the composure of mind to ask me if I had my film. No, I didn't. How could I forget that? That was the one and only reason for the entire trip!!
My mother laughed at me for several minutes and even asked if she could write about this on her blog. At least I gave her a good laugh, right? Well, in effort to beat her at the blogging game (since I wasn't able to beat her in being ready to leave the house) I'm blogging about it first. Hah!!!

Beginning...

Hello to Everyone,

My name is Danielle. I'm starting this blog just so that I can practice writing creatively. I read so many people's blog, speeches, etc. and am always blown away by how eloquently they can put their thoughts into words. It seems to take an enormous amount of effort for me to do the same and I would like it all to come more fluidly.
I will most likely not be very diligent in posting things on here but as time moves on I will post pictures and hopefully become better at writing and everything else creative in my life.

Have a wonderful day,
Danielle