Seaweed tastes yucky November 10, 2008

Ok, so this weekend I went out with some girlfriend’s to one of Rome’s newest restaurants – Ru San’s. What a cool place! Once inside it is easy to forget you are in a small northwest Georgia town. The trendy decor and lighting definitely set a fun mood. The menus (yes, there are more than one) have numbered pages because there are literally hundreds of options. I recommend going with a friend who knows sushi or doing a little research first or you will have no clue where to start. Lucky for me a few of my friends knew what they were doing. So, I decided to be adventurous. I ordered 5 things, just to give it a try (it was tons of food and by bill was still only $13!). So I ended up with a baked California roll, a Special Nigiri, sweet potato tempura, zucchini and, for the grand finale, baby octopus. Yes, for real. I thought, at $2, why not give it a try? It was actually my favorite things of the night. I learned that anything tempura style is basically going to taste like savory funnel cake, so you can’t really go wrong with it. Other than that, I discovered that I do not like seaweed and a lot of sushi has seaweed. Some of their other dishes were great, though. The swordfish was quite tasty. Thanks for the bite, Nichole. The chicken teriyaki was pretty good, too. Kristy shared a bite with me – that is how you know the portions were HUGE! Really, plan on splitting a dinner if you go for a full on meal there. So, it was a fun night, trying new things, but I learned that I am not a sushi fan. And by the way, while my bill was cheap, it certainly did not have to be. There was plenty of pricey stuff to choose from, too.

So, what’s next? I’d love to try tapas. Anyone know a good tapas restaurant nearby?

Green is my favorite color September 6, 2008

This is one of the reasons Gretchen’s idea was so appealing to me. Recently Rome has acquired a fleet of green bicycles that you can rent for $5 per day for $25 for a year of unlimited use. I would put a link to the website with info on it here, but that would require the website listed on the bike brochure to actually have info about the bikes on it. So, the bike program has a few kinks to work out still – like the fact that the Visitor’s Center is listed as renting bikes and actually has them on hand (we saw them there today) but is at this time unable to rent them since they do not have the right forms. But, I digress from the real point of this blog…

So, Hawthorne Suites does indeed have the bikes AND the right forms so Gretchen and I rented a couple today. After a few rounds of the parking lot to get used to them, off to the Forum trail and the new foot bridge we went. I felt like I should be a in a movie with birds signing, lovely music in the background, a bell on my handlebars and a basket of flowers on the front as I road. That is what my mind was saying. All other parts of my body were saying, “Whoa, it has been a looooooong time since you have ridden a bike!” People who were unfortunate enough to be in my path were saying things like, “whoa, who let that girl on a bike and does she know that it has brakes and that the handlebars turn?!?!?” ( I have never been so great on a bike. My sister will gladly share the story of when I hit a parked car on a bike with anyone who asks and some who don’t.)

But, really, the bikes are a really cool deal. A dad and his son rented some at the same time we did and it was cool to see them riding together and having a great time. The area around the new foot bridge is really nice, too, and quite bike friendly. Some other rental places have trail access to Ridge Ferry Park which is really cool and soon Ridge Ferry is supposed to have a rental spot, too. So, if you are looking for a fun way to see Rome, the $5/day bikes are not a bad choice.

And, to the lady with the giraffe print purse, I am sorry. I had just come down off an incline and trying to navigate a turn without losing speed. I apologize for the close call, but you should know your purse was cute!

Why I like watching the Olympics with my roommate August 12, 2008

A few quotes from my roomie as we’ve been watching the Olympics these past few days:

• He didn’t fall off! If you don’t fall off it is not a mistake.
• It’s not that you are just doing a handstand. That is hard enough. You are doing a handstand on poles.
• It’s not that you are just holding yourself up using just your arms. You are holding yourself up on wobbly rings with just your arms.
• Oh, he fell the heck off that mat. That was a bad landing.
• Those Russian divers sure look pasty.
• Why are they taking showers? They just were in the water.
• She did what she had to do to win, which is go fast. Well, she was quoting a commentator on this one.

Other funny things I have heard other people say about the Olympics:

• Is that a man or a woman?
• Men’s synchronized diving is just wrong.

The drought is over July 26, 2008

At least in my yard…

Here’s the after shot… July 20, 2008

This is after they made me wash off in the creek! I went muddin’ for the first time last week. I LOVED driving the Tahoe through the huge mud holes, but the rail buggy was another story. It makes me think of being in the ocean but instead of saltwater waves crashing over you it is cold muddy water. Not really the most pleasant sensation. But, it was a blast! Want to see it in action? Go to XL’s website and look for the video.

A continuation July 17, 2008

Well, last night I did something I have never done before.  You’ll have to come to XL on Sunday night to see the video of it.  (No pressure, Craig).  All I can say is that I DEFINITELY live in Georgia.  Here’s a before shot.  The after will be up on Monday.

The Strangest Things… July 15, 2008

When I surrendered to full time Christian ministry (that is what we call it in Baptist life when you follow God’s call into ministry as a career) ten years ago there were a lot of things I did not know. Exactly what kind of ministry I would be doing and where I would be doing ministry were some of the basic unknowns. I also did not know, however, how weird ministry could be. Here is a list of some of the most unusual things I have done in ministry over the years:

• Deciding how to make a lamp made out of a female mannequin’s torso appropriate for display on stage during a service.
• Buying a bunch of little cakes- one birthday theme, one Bob the Builder theme, etc – for a welcome reception for a new minister when the order was not ready as promised. Cutting the cakes in the kitchen and then serving them helped a lot!
• Writing an email that began “Thank you for joining the XL team, Big Daddy.” :):) I never thought fun nicknames would be a part of church work, but boy was I wrong!
• Coming up with ideas and buying items for “The Wheel of Meat Products”.
• Writing the words “fart machine” during a planning meeting.
• Passing around a stuffed bear while saying nice things about everyone in the room.
• Listening to one guy sing in a gospel quartet at church in the morning and an Ozzy Osbourne song at church that same night.  Go Cliff!
• Tackling my boss on video – my all time fav, by the way!
• Oh, yeah, and throwing a pie in my boss’s face.  That was a good one, too.
• Knowing way too much information about men’s urinals.
• Having a meeting in a men’s room.
• Sneaking into an ER to make a hospital visit – that has been more than once, I am pretty sure.
• Dressing up like a bumble bee, penguin, and a football player.  The hall of VBS shame stops there – I escaped the costume fun this year!

Funny stuff happens in Texas June 19, 2008

I thought I would share some laughs we’ve been having here in the great state.  By the way, today was “I’m Proud to be a Texan” day on the trip.  We started the day at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and also ate beef BBQ just about every way you could get it today – ribs, brisket and sausage.  I love Texas!  So, anyway, here are a few moments from this week:

• “Hey, I just saw Indiana Jones!”, shouted by Will as we were watching a video at the museum today.  I could have sworn it was an early conquistador exploring Texas, but I’ve been wrong before.
• “I wonder how much it costs to replace an authentic tee pee?”, said by my mom as she and I were running to go laugh where Will could not see us as he got in trouble for almost making us find out the answer to that question.
• “No dancing on the tables and no eating on the floor.”, a sign in the restaurant we ate at tonight.  Sorry, Jody, I can’t take you there.
• “A cheetah!” yelled out by Will while we were at a magic show on Monday night.  The magician was making balloon animals (Jason, I was hoping to share this trick with you) and asked what the fastest balloon animal was.  He made a snake (basically), but Will knew the right answer!
• “I really can’t believe it’s not butter!”, exclaimed by Nate at the dinner table one night as he was putting I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter on his corn on the cob.

Sunshine in My Day 3 June 14, 2008

• I made it to Texas with no delays and no problems at all.
• God worked out my way to and from the airport in a very cool way.  Thanks, Teri and Nancy!
• I shopped from 10AM to 6PM today.  I loved every minute of it!
• On the way home from the airport we were talking about when my family drove across country to see me last summer.  Will said, “I thought Georgia was going to make me an old man!”.  We ALL laughed for a long time on that one.
• My dad grilled chicken and sausage for dinner tonight.  Yum!
• Being with my family is one of the best things in the world – and I get to do that for a whole week!
• My almost 88 year old grandmother taught me everything I need to know about shopping (and other stuff, too) and I got to spend the morning with her.  I love my grandmom so much!  I hope I can sow some of the seeds of fun and faith that she has sown in my life.
• I am getting to spend Father’s Day with my dad for the first time in at least 4 or 5 years.
• I am going to church tomorrow and am not in charge of a single thing!
• I held my own in Guitar Hero tonight.  Much better than you would expect, Randy and Erica!
• God was teaching me cool stuff on the airplane.  I have been reading in John 10 and 11 and I saw the story of Lazarus in a whole new light.  More on that will be coming.
• I got satin shorts today and they look awesome!  I feel so snazzy! (I think I just lowered by coolness rating by using the word snazzy.)
• I hand handmade tortillas and yellow cheese last night and no one looked at me funny nor did I have to drive to another city to get them.
• I got to throw a pie at Jarrod on Friday.  Good thing I was heading out of town…someone might want to make sure I still have my job when I get back. :):)
• Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day at West Rome.  Make sure are there.  If you have to miss it (like me ), be sure to check out Jarrod’s message.  It will be online Monday afternoon here.

The water was great May 31, 2008

That is the only positive thing I can say about Antonino’s Italian Grotto in Cartersville. Gretchen and I were in Cartersville today and decided to eat dinner there. Since the Appalachian Grill was packed, we headed to the Grotto because it was nearby. We got an upfront parking space and a table right away at 7PM. We should have know. Here is a list of questions/statements from our waitress that sum up the experience:

• Did you notice anything funny about your coke? (it was completely flat)
• Would you like something else to drink? Maybe alcohol? (alcohol was like a 5 syllable word when she said it like I was 9 and she was asking me if I wanted to play with matches since my parents were gone)
• The good news is if you like flat coke it is free tonight!
• Are you, like, on call and just got a call and you have to go? (when we asked for the check after eating only 2 bites of dinner. we said no)
• Are you full already? (when the on call answer was no)
• Do you have a dog? (she thought we could take the leftovers home to the dog)

We were laughing so hard by the end of the night because it just kept getting worse! The salad was brown and wet, the coke was flat, the Ranch dressing was lumpy and the lasagna tasted like it was made by a famous chef: Boy-ar-dee! The waitress was super nice. She gave us free cheesecake to make up for the bad experience. We didn’t have the heart to tell her it was awful, too, and ended up hiding it in the lasagna so we did not have to explain why we didn’t eat it! Oh, it was SO funny!!!!