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 :)