Traditional Feast

In the south, the traditional New Years Day Feast consists of Black Eyed Peas, Cornbread, Greens and Pork. Each represents something different, but are all considered to bring good luck to the coming year.

Above, are my black eyed peas. That thing floating in the middle is called Hog Jowl. I had a pretty good idea what that was, but I wanted to be sure. Answers.com tells me that this is the cheek of a pig. (I was right!)

Anyway, it's salty and make the beans taste a lot less like dirt. I also added a little garlic to mine.  The beans are supposed to symbolize prosperity in the coming year because when they take on water, they swell.

Next up, Pork Ribs. Supposedly, Pigs root forward when scrounging for food. So, the pork represents forward progress in the coming year. No dwelling on the past!

We also had greens, and I know this picture only shows broccoli, but my camera died before I could get a picture with everything. The Greens are to represent money, and who doesn't need a little extra money? The cornbread was because no true southern meal is complete without cornbread and butter.

It's the first thing I crossed off my list of 100 things and that feels pretty great. I hope this meal brings us plenty of good luck, too! Happy New Year!

Resolute.

This year, I made three Resolutions.

Number 1. Quit smoking.
How long do you think it takes before you have "officially" quit? A month? A year?

Number 2. Join a Gym.
I am looking for something in the Kingston/Harriman area. Nothing too expensive. Ideas?

Number 3. Make my Bucket List.
See previous post.

So that's one down, 2 to go. I haven't smoked all day today, but my house is spotless. I took down my tree, unceremonious again this year, and started my black eyed peas. I may have to start over soon, because the need for nicotine is about to drive me insane!!!!! : )   Also, a gym......hmmmm

What were your resolutions?

One Hundred Things I Wanna Do

As promised, my Life List. Inspired by Maggie Mason, over at Mighty Girl, here is my life list: (in no particular order!)

run in the Race for the Cure / visit Hawaii / take a cooking class / have children / open an animal rescue / live on a farm and produce 75% of my own food / go backpacking through Europe / see the Pyramids / learn to sew / be satisfied with myself / read the Bible / skydive / take a girls only trip with Courtney / have a Margarita in Mexico / become as GREEN as possible / feel physically and emotionally healthy / study world culture / understand politics / swim with dolphins / write a book / find Mark a cuban cigar / take Mark to Jim Morrison's grave / gamble in Vegas / have a white Christmas / visit all 50 states / make a traditional southern New Years Day dinner / build my dream home / make a quilt / go dog sledding / make chocolate chip cookies from scratch / buy Mark a new computer / sleep curled up in front of a fire / see the ball drop in Times Square / wear yellow rainboots and slicker in London / start a food fight / dance naked in the rain / cook a holiday meal for both sides of my family / have a beer and hotdog a baseball game / make homeade wine / go deep sea fishing and eat what I catch / serve on jury duty / make a time capsule for 20 years and include this list / have a wildflower garden like my grandmother's / take dancing lessons / be a zombie extra in a movie / attend a ball / throw a costume party where eeveryone dresses up / have lunch with JK Rowling / go fly fishing / ride horses on the beach / learn sign language / watch the 10 greatest American movies of all time / go to a wine tasting / own a houseboat / learn to change a tire / donate blood / take a second honeymoon / become a vegetarian / have a library with leather bound books / see a fashion show / see all Oscar nominated  films before the Oscars show / Find inner peace /  have a mint julep athe Kentucky Derby while wearing a large hat / break a guiness world record / read the classics / ride with my grandfather to his birth place / make peace with people I need to / meet Heather Armstrong / reach out to my biological family / get my sister to read a book of my own choosing / get a tattoo / banish the need for anxiety medication / volunteer at a homeless shelter / visit Niagra Falls / get 2 comments from people I don't know on my blog / solve a rubics cube / involve and educate my community on recycling / create a kitchen compost / remodel my bathrooms / take photography classes / go to a Titans game / coach something / stop eating fast food / meditate daily / invent something / work with adopted children / see the lighting of the tree in Rockafeller Center / spend Christmas in a tropical place / sleep in a hammock on a warm afternoon / learn to love spiders / pet a tiger cub / get hypnoitized / quit smoking / make an apple pie from scratch / go to Bonaroo / try caviar / see my mother with companionship again / play baseball with fruit / play soccer again / take trip by myself /

Happy Birthday to ... her?

I guess if my blog had a sex, it would be a girl. Anyway, Ellis Island is 1 year old today! I met my goal, keeping up with this blog for an entire year. I'm not done, and hopefully, I will celebrate several more blog birthdays!

2009 has been full of it's ups and downs, and let's face it, what year isn't? I have big plans for 2010, though. I plan to make my first pot of black eyed peas (for good luck, of course!) and I have very nearly completed my Mighty Life List as well, so there will be lots of things to write about from that too. (and I will be posting it soon!) I have a photo project in mind, and several New Year's Resolutions that I intend to stick to- with help from the gracious internet. You see, if I post it here, the thought of you judging me is simply terrifying, so, that should cure any feelings of angst when I really don't want to go to the gym!

To my baby, Ellis Island, you have helped me to grow in so many ways. I'm greatful we hooked up. : )

Here are a few of my favorite posts from the past year:

Mark, The Oscars, Ryan turns 1, Estrogen, 9, jewel

To those of you who have read and/or kept up with my blog, thank you for caring!

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010!

Love,

Heather

a man and his jewel

This Christmas Eve will mark 67 years that my grandfather proposed to my grandmother. He told me the story today, and it's something I wanted to both share and remember:

As told by my grandfather; his fierce, blue eyes alight with joy:

" I was 21, and stationed in Edmonton, South Carolina. Our chief basically told us to get lost for the weekend. He didn't care what we did, or where we went, we were just told to be back on Sunday night, and to check in. I wanted to see your Grandmother. I took a bus from South Carolina. It was so crowded on the bus, I had to stand the whole way home. My brother picked me up at the bus station, and drove me home. I took the car down to Harriman, and parked it slanted across there from the municipal building. I was going to suprise your grandmother, so I parked a little way down the road. I had no intention of proposing to her, I just missed her, and thought about her often. As I headed down the road, I passed a little shop with jewelry in it. I had some time to kill, waiting on Grandmother to get off work, so I popped in, mostly just to get out of the cold. I started looking around and I saw a ring, I automatically thought of her, my sweet jewel, Irene. I asked the shopkeeper how much that ring was. He told me 50 dollars, which was a lot of money back then, you know. I looked in my wallet and found that I had exactly that amount. I bought the ring, and headed down to the five and dime, where grandmother worked. I watched her through the window, cleaning and straightening up. So sweet and happy, my jewel. When she got off work, I suprised her- she was both happy and shocked to see me! When we got in the car, I took her hand and slipped that ring on. The next day, my dad and my brother drove me back to South Carolina. They had to pool their gas stamps to get me there and get back home, but we all made it. I was late getting back, but I slipped in and went straight to bed. No one ever said anything to me!"

My heart is melting. This may be the sweetest story I've ever heard, and the fact that it happend to two people I love so dearly, is simply magical. I love you both...

Love,
Heather

the illusive snow day

In our neck of the woods, snow doesn't fall very often. In fact, when it does, we usually get a pretty dusting and we're all happy estatic. Last Friday, Courtney came down to stay the night. The next morning we were headed to Crossville to stay the night at her parents house. That night, as we watched the weather, Todd Howell told us there was a good chance we might see snow the next morning. There were a few choruses of "yeah, right" and "please! they'll salt the roads and we won't get anything!" Courtney and I stayed up late chatting and even looked outside before we headed to bed. No nothing.

The next morning I woke up before anyone else in the house. I mention this, because it's RARE. I'm always the last in bed and the last to rise, but for some reason, I woke up. I laid there in the quiet that is so rare in our house these days, just soaking it in. After a few minutes, I decided I was going to roll over and drift back to sleep. When I rolled over, the light coming in through the window looked funny. Wrong. Muffled. Thinking I was going to out of my mind for even checking, I slid quietly out of bed and peeked out the window.  Here is what I saw:

Smiling to myself, and taking it in quietly, I stood there a few minutes. Truly feeling like a kid who didn't have to go to school because it had snowed!

I crawled back in bed and woke Mark up. "Honey, it SNOWED!" I whispered excitedly. "What?" Mark asked me sleepily, rolling over and looking at me like I was insane. (Told you, it's rare for me to be up that early- especially before he is!) "It Snowed! Look!" I peeled back the curtains for him to see. He checked it out and with one of those sleepy smiles, He said, "MMmmm. I'm so glad I don't have to get out of bed yet."

I laughed a little, and we talked for a few minutes. Then we snuggled back in and went back to sleep. A little while later, Courtney runs in like a kid on Christmas morning, "Get up! Get Up!! It snowed!!!"

Laughing, we all ended up getting out and seeing the snow. The dogs got a chance to play, Ryan held some for the first time ever and by the time the excitement wore off, it was starting to melt.

The view from our back porch was spectacular, even if it was just a dusting.

I'm thankful for the snow, because it made me feel like a kid again.

the plague

Technically, we all had something different, but SERIOUSLY. How can we all be sick at the same time? Happenstance?  Maybe. Convienient? Prehaps. Fun? Not really. It started with Jackson feeling (and sounding) extremely snotty and very croupy. Then, I had some sort of sinus infection. Mark laid out of work because of a nasty cough and a snotty nose. Then, Holly had some sort of stomach bug. We decided to send Ryan to Grammy's house as a precaution, because who wants a baby with ALL OF THAT NONSENSE?

We're all feeling better now, so it's time to break out the lysol and bleach.

Hopefully, this will be the end of the plague at Casa de Ellis.