not A merica, THE MERICA

Happy day-before-the-Forth-of-July! I want to take a moment to reflect on the glorious country that I call home. This blog is dedicated to the men and women who love this place enough to put it all on the line, and for that I am forever grateful. We so often take our freedom and liberties for granted, so I encourage everyone to revere this great nation and all that she stands for. Never forget the history this soil holds and all that it has overcome, and all that it continues to promise.

Two of my favorite quotes about life are about as equivalent to being American as it gets: “If you want to be happy, be” and “If you don’t like where you are, move” perfectly explain the majority of human problems as well as the solution. We are lucky enough to live in one country with 50 very different states- if you don’t like one, you’re sure to find one that you do. Though I have visited less than half of the states (so far), I still have an endless amount of respect and appreciation for each one for the depth and character they add to our “melting pot.” Here’s a list of the 50 things I personally love about our 50 states, even the one’s I haven’t been to yet…

Alabama- Football. And one smokin’ hot guy with manners! (aka, Alex)

Alaska- Deadliest Catch, dog mushing, and Mt. McKinley making the tallest point in the biggest state

Arizona- Grand Canyon

Arkansas- the LAKE

California- the pursuit of happiness and self always seem to be welcomed out there…and they have the huge trees in the Sequoia National Park

Colorado- Hiking, skiing, and the first place I ever saw a wild prairie dog

Connecticut- strangely entertaining hunting locations and nice homes

Delaware- the first of the great states, Fishers popcorn, and the lady bug being the state bug…

Florida- Disney World—so magical!

Georgia- Peaches, golf, and peanut festivals. It can keep the gnats, though.

Hawaii- Beaches everywhere…that’s a dead give away.

Idaho- Potato chips, hot springs, and the Nez Perce legends…they should have kept the Appaloosas…

Illinois- Chicago, the greatest rival to the Cards,…and the home of some of my best friends from college.

Indiana- Purdue. Agriculture forever.

Iowa- the crookedest street in the world, Snake Alley

Kansas- can’t say much because I was raised to hate a Jayhawk, but thank goodness for farm country

Kentucky- One word: Bourbon.

Louisiana- Cajun food and Swamp People

Maine- Lobster

Maryland- I read once that their Mcdonald’s offer crab rolls…

Massachusetts- Smarty pants schools that beat Asian math and science scores everytime.

Michigan- Detroit and vehicles- thanks, yall.

Minnesota- MALL OF AMERICA

Mississippi- Blues music, laid back lifestyles, Mugshots cheeseburgers, and Hail to Dear Ole State!

Missouri- The Bootheel and me, obviously. Although I should also mention the Sikeston rodeo, Lamberts, and the Cardinals.

Montana- the Horse Whisperer and the largest buffalo herd thanks to Ted Turner

Nebraska- corn, corn, corn, and the College World Series

Nevada- Sin City, baby

New Hampshire- first of the 13 colonies to declare independence from England- that’s FREE!

New Jersey- Jersey Shore and all of its awful, raunchy entertainment.

New Mexico- Hot Air Balloon Festival

New York- Sex and the City and the Freedom Tower, all 1776 feet of it

North Carolina- Nicholas Sparks and his fabulous romance novels

North Dakota- Cowboy Country, baby

Ohio- “Cleveland ROCKS!” oh, and so does Clark Gable…

Oklahoma- Oklahoma City, Still Water, Calf Fry, Corona Cartel, I could go on for days about this place…

Oregon- Carousel Horses and their ever-surprising football jerseys

Pennsylvania- HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE

Rhode Island- home to the oldest operating tavern in the country, the White Horse Tavern, which opened in 1673

South Carolina- Hilton Head

South Dakota- the fact that this is referred to as the “Bad Lands” is just awesome…

Tennessee- itty bitty Paris spared my liquor habits in college and Nashville because, duh.

Texas- the “don’t tread on me” state of mind rules in the long horn state- and I love it!

Utah- Rainbow Bridge, the largest natural land bridge

Vermont- BEN AND JERRY’S ICE CREAMMMMM

Virginia- Gettysburg and the Pentagon, demonstrating the best defense for hundreds of years and counting…

Washington- I don’t remember much about Washington because I was young when we visited, but I did enjoy picking wild strawberries out of people’s front yards…and eating them.

West Virginia- 75 percent of this state is forest…because “mountaineers are always free”

Wisconsin- CHEESE

Wyoming- rodeos, frizz-free hair, and Yellow Stone.

And if you’re not singing “50 Nifty United States” yet………..I bet you are now….

“…each individual state contributes a quality that is great…”

But the greatest of all is knowing that no matter what state you’re in, you’re an American. And if you don’t like it, “man we’ll light up your world like the 4^th of July. Brought to your courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.”

Here’s a list of a few more great things about ‘Merica:

1. We have the best “away colors”- camo

2. Back to back World War Champs

3. On a scale of one to America, how free do you feel right now?

4. No more prohibition means we can get “star spangled hammered” or “red, white, and boozed” anytime we want.

5. Flags a wavin’, guns a blazin’

6. Merica needed a nice vacation home, so she bought Hawaii.

Ok I’ll stop now. But on a serious note, always remember those that serve so we can call our home the Land of the Free. They sacrifice everything” not because they hate what’s in front of them, but because they love what’s behind them.” (quote from a friend that is currently serving for us)

I hope everyone has a fantastic 4^th filled with family, friends, BBQ, fireworks, and a body of water celebrating our heritage. Let’s put politics and differences aside for one day and revel in the complexities that keep us aware and give everyone a voice, and more importantly, a chance. This is our home, let’s be thankful.

“This Lady may have stumbled, but she never fell…From the sound up in Long Island out to San Francisco Bay, and ev’ry thing that’s in between them is our home. And we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves, but you outside people best leave us alone. Cause we’ll all stick together and you can take that to the bank. That’s the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks. You just go and lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steeler fan and I think you’re gonna finally understand.”- Charlie Daniels Band

Merica.

Love always,

Addie

“…meals are memorials that teach us how to move, history moves in us as we raise our voices and then our glasses to pour a little our for those who poured our everything for us, we pour ourselves our for them, so they can eat again.” –Jake Adam York, excerpt from his poem, “Grace”

land-locked

Well my theme-of-the-days were a good idea…but obviously didn’t last long. I like making plans but I’ve never been big on limits and restrictions. So this is me, breaking my own rules. Some things will never change.

You know what is not a good idea? Milk in a to-go cup that’s not ready to go. I’m perpetually running frantic in the mornings because I sleep until the very last minute, completely disregarding the notion that an extra three minutes are not, in fact, going to help me feel more rested when I rise. And unlike most non-morning people, I love breakfast. And milk. Meaning that I typically take mine in the car.  Cups with lids are great, but considering that I have a limited number of cups with lids that actually fit my cup holder (one to be exact), they don’t get washed as frequently as I need them, leaving me with lid-less cups or to-go-cups-that-aren’t-ready-to-go. I’ve spent several mornings wiping milk out of my console after a surprise pot hole encounter, but the worst to-go milk experience left my lap covered in a sticky, smelly film all day until I couldn’t take anymore and finally left work to go home and change clothes. Moral of the story: invest in lids and wet wipes if your love for milk is greater than the potential risk.

I used to believe tornadoes to be a threat only to Midwesterners- like a club which grudgingly invited land-locked states only, leaving the coast-lined states to combat hurricanes. I thought it was an either-or, never both. That is, until I moved out of the Southern Midwest into the Northern South (please don’t tell any locals that I used the word Northern as an adjective for this area—it was a directional reference only). Anyways, I can now say that from where I live, I experience hurricane weather during Isaac and tornado weather last week when Noxubee (a neighboring county) was hit. Guess that’s just one of the lovely things about growing up in a small town in the corner of a land-lock (excluding the river): you live in a bubble- a bubble that feeds and functions on local media sensationalism and agenda pushing, grocery store happenings, and high school sports. Thus, weather patterns outside my bubble were irrelevant to me. Can’t lie, I loved my bubble, but I’m learning so much more since leaving.

I finally found frames that weren’t too formal/boring to don my college diplomas. Now they’re just a cute/funky reminder of the huge debt I’ll be paying off for a while. Ask me if it was worth it…yeah, it was. “If you didn’t LOVE college, you did it wrong.”

I’ve decided to treat people like marshmallows. Just go with me for a minute….they come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. But each one brings something new to the table. Tiny ones add fluff to hot chocolate, big ones are good for adhesion and ooze in smores, and different flavors and colors are the zest to our taste buds and eyes. Some are hard and wrinkly, but they make for great chewing. Some are turned into cream, making them great for dipping. All the marshmallows are different, but each one offers something new. Together, we never have boring marshmallow days. Remember that when you meet someone that’s not exactly like you. You may not see eye to eye, but together you’d probably garnish a sweet potato very well…or something like that.

Have you heard about the NRA 500 that’s been established in the wake of Congressional consideration for stiffer laws on firearms? Oh Texas, how I admire you sometimes. That’s all I’ll say about that…

My lineage consists of women that cook well, and women that cook well-done.  My momma jokes that she likes a lot of her food a little on the burned side because that’s how her granny fixed things. Consequently, she occasionally overcooks things on purpose. (The difference in overcooking and burning is that burning is accidental.) I burn and overcook, but I’m learning. I overcook popcorn because that’s how my granny cooks it and I prefer it that way. In the past I’ve always burned anything I attempted to fry, typically leaving little to none of the fried coating which aparently dissolves off under too high heats. Last week  I attempted to fry Alex’s trophy turkey breast and instead opted for medium heat. And guess what…I didn’t overcook or burn it! I fried some turkey, yall! And it was damn good. Breaking the curse one meal at a time…

Apparently there’s a new black market for knock off prom dresses. They’re cheaply made and fall apart easily. Kinda makes the old saying “off like a prom dress” take on a whole new meaning…watch out!

That’s all the awkwardness I can fit into this blog.

Until next time, rock on- from inside or outside of that bubble. Just take a lid if you decide to leave.

Love always,

Addie

“Some choose to accept the limitations of a small town to become part of a community- and it’s not even a hard descision.”

Plain old covers and Walls

You know what I’ve been thinking lately? It really is hard to judge a book by its cover. Some of the best books ever written have dated, simple, solid color covers binding them together. How are we supposed to judge that when there’s not even a picture to depict something that has to do with the plot? Or what about the books that have subtle “symbols” on the cover that you can’t quite understand until after you’ve read the book? Or the one’s whose cover doesn’t at all match what you envisioned in your head while reading the book? Maybe that’s just how society is evolving. Used to, people didn’t need a certain color or picture on the front of a book to convince them to read it. They read out of sheer enjoyment and curiosity. Not that people don’t still do that, but more and more I think we find ourselves literally judging what we want off of reviews from other people’s opinions or simply by the outward appearance that someone else created in their mind. How do you possibly deem that a self-made decision? Two people can look at the exact same object and see two totally different things. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take other people’s word into consideration, but we do need to start weaning ourselves from the attitudes that are being fed to us by today’s society.

Ok, that intro led me to the meat of my discussion for today: don’t judge a book, don’t judge a person. There’s an old saying that we’ve all heard, “don’t judge another person until you have walked in their shoes.” As I was sitting in the McDonald’s drive-thru last night at 2:00 am, I never realized that to be more true. For example, do you think that the man working the window dreamed of growing up to work the McDonald’s night shift? Probably not. (I can’t honestly say that it would be a bad job, because I’m sure that it can be very entertaining at times to meet all the “forth-mealers” in their nightly endeavors, and if the man truly loves his job, who am I to say he doesn’t? The man could have been a road kill clean-up staff member for all I care, as long as that’s what truly makes him happy.) But the drive-thru window man didn’t look happy at all. Tiredness had overtaken him and he honestly looked a little sad, which initially could have been mistaken for rudeness, and also really put a damper on my Happy Meal.

Some people have tough lives. I don’t know why I was blessed enough to be dealt a good hand (Lord knows I don’t deserve it), but it always makes me think twice about those who didn’t quite get the “luck of the draw.” Some people are able to overcome their struggles and humble themselves, while others never even try to fight the battle because they feel like they have lost before they ever get started.

So when you run into a person that’s mean, dirty, quite, or simply working a job that you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself, remember, you don ‘t know where they’ve been and what they’ve had to endure. Battles and triumphs make us stronger, but they can also cause walls to be put up. When you judge a person without knowing or taking into consideration their story, you are not taking advantage of a life lesson. We can all learn something from each other.

Next time you’re out, take a moment to “people watch.” You’d be amazed at what you can gain from actually getting a glimpse inside someone’s life instead of taking one quick glance and shutting them out.

What have you learned from your neighbors today?

Love always,

Addie

“Your neighbor’s vision is as true for him as your own vision is true for you.” -Miguel de Unamuno