Painting, Cooking, Wandering, Melting and Speed Skating

So, first of all, thank you Zombieland for forever making me think about Bill Murray as a zombie. Wow, glad I got that out of the way!

What, might you ask, have I been doing with the past few days? Well, I'm glad you asked!! I have been really enjoying the relaxation of unemployment and had the chance to take back up one of my favorite hobbies--painting! No, I haven't had any real training, but there is just something about painting that puts my mind at ease and just brightens my day. My awesome mom-in-law gave be a great big canvas for christmas, and after looking around and brainstorming ideas since then about what I would like to paint, I came across this one. I love bright colors, abstraction, impressionism and romance. I believe this painting captures all of these moments and rolls em' all into one! Here is a closeup picture and one to put in perspective the size of the canvas. Please let me know what you think!! It's definitely not perfect, but I had a blast doing it!

Other than using my time to paint, I have gotten to explore the world of apple pie making. I was super excited when Target had beautiful huge granny smith apples on sale and I knew it was time for me to bake my first apple pie! Believe me, growing up on an apple orchard and having my grandmother to follow as the best apple pie cook of all time, I have huge shoes to fill. So, what was the first step? Call Mamaw, of course!! After hours and hours of kneading the pie dough and rolling it out to just the right thickness (okay, okay I used Pillsbury store bought, pre-rolled out crust--but even Paula Deen endorses these!), pouring the delicious mixture of apples, sugar, brown sugar, butter, flour, cinnamon and just a dash of nutmeg (this was a Joanna addition) and baking it in the oven for 55 minutes sharp, whala! A beautifully golden apple pie--made even hundreds of miles away from my orchard home. Isn't it amazing how certain things can just transport you back home in an instant even though you are so far away? Apple pie is definitely one of those things for me. And as Campbell's would say, mmm...mmm...good! May or may not have eaten 2 pieces after I took it out of the oven...goodbye to all the good my running did earlier in the day! (So worth it.)

Yesterday, after a quick trip over to the Cedar Falls post office, I got the chance to drive around and explore a little bit more. I think I have finally found my way around this place! Well, er, that is, after yesterday. You see, in NC I feel like if you are getting ready to drive onto a major highway, they at least give you a little bit of notice. That to say, I was driving down main street to snag a couple of pictures (which you can see below) and as I knew, at the end of main you hit the intersection with 1st street. What I didn't know is that 1st street was to my left and to my right (which I figured would just open up a couple more parking opportunities since I couldn't find anything along the street) was highway 218 to Waterloo (Wayter-loo). Perfect. As there is really no good place to turn around until, say, Waterloo (a good 15 minute drive) I just decided to go with the flow and enjoy the drive. Who knows, maybe there was some sign I missed while I was enamored with yet another snowpile, but hey, I wasn't in a hurry and I did get the picture of a REALLY big snowpile in Waterloo while I was there (see below).

So let me explain these pictures. This first one is of the end of main street (1st street would be to the right and highway 218 to the left form the direction I am taking this picture).

Then this one below is a close up of the local theatre sign. I think (since we are on the conversation of starting back up old hobbies, I am actually going to audition for "The Music Man" which is the spring musical they are hosting! I'm sure I will have more stories about that to come in the near future.

This one is of an old iron bridge just across from Main Street. I think these are so neat. I guess the U-turn sign makes sense when all of the snow is gone?

And last but certainly not least, the giant snow pile in Waterloo and a picture of a parking lot just to give you perspective on what all of the parking lots look like here. I literally have to ease out when I am pulling out of anywhere because you cannot see anything that is coming as the snow is piled so high on either side!

Believe it or not, a ton of snow has actually been melting over the past couple of days! I am beginning to be able to see the side of the road on larger highways and even a couple of medians! Amazing. Actually, the only thing it is revealing is the sad sight of the poor decrepid brown grass that has been freezing/suffocating for months now. I wonder how long it takes to become green again? Hmm...

So, one last funny story before I leave you with a picture of one of the gorgeous Iowa sunsets we get to witness everyday from our balcony (there has to be some good things about the land being so flat right??). Graham and I were handed a $25 gift certificate by Graham's boss yesterday to Old Chicago Pizza (love his job sometimes) for dinner last night. After about a 45 minute wait, we finally got seated--apparently in the most committed Apollo Ohno fan section. Thank goodness, Olympic speed skating was on. As semifinal after semifinal continued on and Ohno continued to advance (and our fan friends kept drinking the $2.50 Long Island Ice Tea special) the cheering kept getting more and more intense. For those of you that were watching, I believe it was in Semifinal 2 when we got a little worried about Ohno because he was in 3rd place with about 2 or 3 laps to go. To our surprise the "yard sale" (this term was specifially used for Kristi and J.B.) in front of Ohno lost his footing and went off to ram into the wall. The fans erupted in glorious applause and just as the noise started to die down the man behind us (who must have originally been from somewhere in backwoods Saluda, NC) gave a good hearty, "Hell, yeah!!" I think I may have spit out my drink I was laughing so hard. I mean, come on, you know you are somewhere that supports cold sports when someone issues a "Hell yeah" about Speed Skating.

Enjoy the Sunset :)

Things I'm Learning...IA Style

1. There are indeed Bald Eagles here! How amazing is that?? I was just driving to Target a couple of days ago and as I looked up there was an eagle above my car just soaring as majestically as you would imagine. I thought for sure I was imagining things, but after asking the locals, it's true! They do live here! Seeing as I have only seen a handful in my lifetime (mostly at Dollywood) this was a pretty amazing thing to witness!

2. There is no explaining how the snow disappears off of the roads. Whether they salt the heck out of it everyday (when I never see salt trucks) or plow it when I'm not looking, no matter what the roads are clear. On Friday night, Graham and I went to see the Panthers (UNI not Carolina-ha!) whoop up on Old Dominion and when I went over there it had probably been snowing lightly for a couple of hours and we had about 2 inches of snow on the ground. So, as I park my car (driving over about a 5 inch high lump of snow that has been stagnant for quite some time just to get into my parking spot) I realize there is a pretty good chance at the end of this game I will not be able to get my car out. Well, at the end of the game, we had about another 3 or so inches of fresh snow and after brushing it all off of my car spun out only a couple of times before releasing my car from the spot. Everything was covered at this point. Cars, trees, roads, driveways, etc. and if we were in NC this would have been a pretty significant snow--let's just say school would have been out for at least 3 days. Well, to my utter amazement when we woke up on Saturday morning to head over to Village Inn (kind of like Denny's) for breakfast, all of the snow was "melted" off of the roads! The miraculous thing is the temperature was only about 19 or so at this point and literally has not gotten over freezing since we have been here. How the snow "melts" is amazing to me.

3. I will never get the pronunciation of Waterloo correct. As I'm sure most of you know, Midwesterners say there a's differently. You know Sarah Palin? Yeah. That's what it's like. Well, as of course all true Iowans would do, Graham and I have been practicing our "a" sounds.

Here, you practice:

Instead of pronouncing your a's like "ah", change the pronunciation to "ay" in all words and you've got it.

Ex: Waterloo. This one is a toughie because although it seems to be one word, in all reality it is more like two. Wayter-loo. There is an ever so slight pause between the wayter (water) and loo that cracks me up (at least inside) every time I hear people say it here. Hilarious.

Another example: Target. NC Pronunciation: Tahrgit. IA pronunciation: Tayrgit. Or even "Bag". NC: Bahg. IA: Bayg. Awesome.

4. My cute brown Nine West winter boots just don't cut it in the snow here. I decided that since we were sitting in a box for the basketball game on Friday I would at least attempt to dress up somewhat. This means I was going to try and wear a different pair of shoes besides my uggs which have been AMAZING here. I think I will buy another pair before next winter so I can have options. Anyway, I decided to wear my suede (i.e. they don't look too good when they get wet) Nine West boots which barely have a heel because they are pretty much my go-to dress boots. I walk downstairs and what's the first thing I do when my boots hit the snow? Slide all the way down the sidewalk Jerry Maguire style. Great... After looking around to see if anyone has seen be I continue to ice skate to my car and literally slide one foot in front of the other from across the street, up a hill and into the arena where UNI plays. I felt amazingly coordinated.

5. You know the fake snow we can sprinkle around our houses at Christmas, etc.? That is what the snow looks like here. It is so dry, light and fluffy. I love it! It always looks too beautiful when it falls to be real.

6. This may or may not be the most surprising thing I have learned in the past few days. Our apartment officially may be the nicest apartment complex in Cedar Falls. When we first came, I've got to be honest. I wasn't super excited about the pink tile and carpet up the side of the kitchen island (not to mention the front of our kitchen drawer which is just sitting on our counter until someone comes to fix it). But hey, everything has some quirks right? Graham and I went around Cedar Falls looking at some apartments, townhouses, etc. for rent and the more we looked the more we realized how "lucky" we were to have gotten our apartment! Ha! So, as of right now, I think we are considering just staying in this apartment at least until next July. Too funny. We are, however, getting there as far as decorating, getting organized/settled, and so on and so forth. I really hope I can get some pictures up soon!!

7. Hairstyles are totally different in NC and in IA. The girls in college here take advantage of the poof way more and I think they all own bump-its. No joke. They at least all own a can of heavy duty hair spray because poofy (in the back) is definitely "in" here. And they look super cute doing it! Also, Graham is the only one here with the frat swoop I've seen so far and I'm loving it.

Well that's all for now! Looks like it is just going to be another cold week in paradise...supposed to only get up to about 10 degrees on Wednesday. So while y'all are enjoying the warm blasts down South, think of us as you cruise with your windows down and send some warmth this way!

As Promised

I have started my long awaited and dreamed of pursuit of blogging. Please note that my name on here is Iowa.Gurl. Who ever said that the spelling of girl as gurl went out of style in middle school? I'm boycotting. Anyway, as I am now an unemployed US Citizen once again, I hope I have time to keep this up. (At least for a little while...) Oh where to begin, where to begin. God really must have a sense of humor. As Graham and I departed on Saturday AM (way too early in my opinion), after spending the evening with our wonderful friends packing and in Chapel Hill, we said goodbye to the nice, temperate climate of North Carolina. Right...the ground was already covered in 2 inches of fresh snow! You'd think if we were getting ready to move to the arctic, the icy temperatures would hold off for a couple more days, but whatever. As we traveled from state to state on Saturday, I realized that every single state had this white fluffy substance on the ground. NC isn't the only state that has been overly blessed this year. We continued from NC to Virginia to West Virginia...let me pause here for a second. West Virginia.

As I am sure most of you suspect, West Virginia (from the 4 or 5 hours I have spent there) must be one of the worst states in the union. I mean, come on. Other than the unbelievable mountains we were driving through (okay, it isn't all bad--John Denver had it right), the landscape consisted of giant smokestacks, electric plants, awful architecture and an abundance of tolls. Yes, tolls. Everytime you get mad at North Carolina for raising gas tax, just remember it could be worse. Once we were on the highway in West Virginia, not only did we hit one but THREE more toll booths along the way. Being the amazingly prepared human being that I am, I realize as I am pulling up to the toll booth that I clearly am not carrying any cash. Hoping that the toll would only be a quarter or something o that nature (because this is all I had) I pull up after Graham (pulling all of our belongings in a beautifully yellow Penske truck) to find that the toll is $2. Two dollars! Just to drive on a road. Well, justifying this with the fact that I am sure we will not hit any more of these fees, I whip out my credit card in perfect spoiled southern child fashion. After the nice boy in the toll booth explained, "We don't take no cards here," I finally begged my way through claiming ignorance into passing the barrier without paying the fine. Being satisfied with my begging skills, I drive on by, only to get a call by an elated Graham not even 5 seconds later. I hear on the other end, "It was $6.50 for me to get this thing through the toll!" After calming Graham down and explaining that at least we didn't have to pay for my car, we relax and are relieved that there wouldn't be any more booths. Well three booths (Graham paying for me each time at $8.50 total) and $32 later, we finally exit West Virginia--thank goodness.

From West Virginia we entered into Kentucky and then, finally, Indiana, where I knew Indianapolis, our first pit stop, couldn't be much further. We reached our wonderful Marriott Courtyard at around 8:15 PM after 11 hours of traveling. Since we had chosen to just snack on the goodies my my Mommy, Mamaw and wonderful friend Kristi had put to gether for us, we were starving. To our luck, there was a Texas Roadhouse just across the street! Already being in the North and still being able to order southern food was easing the pain of the move at least a little. I must admit, though, that the next time I ever claim some of the people in Hendersonville, NC as being redneck, I will always think back to this Texas Roadhouse experience in Indianapolis, Indiana where I haver never seen so many in one place. Taylor, you would have had a hay day looking and blogging about the people in this place. I mean, at least every other person was wearing a graphic hooded sweatshirt with some sort of jacket on top with hiking boots and light jeans. Bless.

The next morning, we were excited and anxious to get to Iowa. Very excited that we would have my parents familiar faces to meet us there, we traveled another 8 hours through Indiana, Illinois and finally Iowa until we finally reached Cedar Falls! I know now why people have made so many corn jokes and references over the past couple of weeks. Once we got into Illinois, the flatness of the snowy land was amazing and you could tell every sure inch of it was covered in the frozen remains of what once were corn stalks. Although very cliche, this was also one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. I will definitely be making it a point to travel through this whenever the corn is green and waving in the wind--I'm sure it is a beautiful sight!

Once in Cedar Falls, we explored the area and found our apartment--in all it's glory. Yes, the carpet up the side of the kitchen island and the gorgeous pepto bismol pink tile does in fact exist, but I think my favorite feature of our new home are the Ashley Forest style cabinets. Hookers, I know you can appreciate my glee. Now that we have moved everything in (thanks to mom and dad, 18 degree weather and snow all day Monday) I am actually growing quite fond of our warm little home. I hope to put up some after pictures soon!

Mom and I actually got to attend our first University of Northern Iowa Panthers basketball game (whoare ironically ranked higher than UNC this year) and had a blast! I really love the atmosphere...but could do without all of the purple. For those of you who do not know, the colors of UNI are purple and gold--which reminds me a whole lot of my Apple Valley Middle School days. Unfortunately, my wardrobe only consists of one purple sweater so I will have to go out and by a scarf or something pronto.

Graham seems to be LOVING his job so far which is such an encouragement! We got to go out to dinner with his boss Chris and his wife, Rachel, at Old Chicago Pizza here on Wednesday night and they seem really great! I am sure they will be such a blessing to Graham and I during our time here. Tonight, UNI is playing Old Dominion, which should be a really great game and Graham and I get to hang out together with some of his sponsors in the suite for the game. Can't wait! I also found out we get to travel with the team to St. Louis in a couple of weeks to see them play in the conference tournament. The last time I passed through there I was barely old enough to walk, so I am excited to see that arch again!

Prayer Requests:

Please pray that Graham and I will be able to connect to this community quickly and find some friends! We are going to visit a church here on sunday (not sure which one yet) so pray we can find a home church family! Also, the lease to our gorgeous (ha) apartment ends in July so we are apartment shopping for that move--pray that we can find a great place to live for the rest of our time here because after July I am sure not going to be in the mood to move again for a while!

Until next time...