A Pennsylvanian Thanksgiving

On Wednesday of last week we made a wild dash to rearrange our Thanksgiving plans.  We made a last minute decision to travel to Pennsylvania to visit Jesse's grandfather.  He recently had a stroke at the ripe age of 95.  Jesse had not seen his Grandpa is ~8 years! (Can you believe that?!  Having all my family so close makes this a little unbelievable to me.  But it just hasn't worked out for him to be able to go through the past years.)  This also means that I had never met Grandpa!  So we decided to load up and make the trek northward in case anything happened.
Grandpa was so excited to see Jesse when we got there.  It was too sweet.  He greatly appreciated us coming so far just for him.  Grandpa amazes me.  Until this point he still lived by himself (in a retirement-like home) and got around pretty well.  (Although he made sure we knew that having his driver's license taken away was a very sad day for him.)  Anyway, he has black lung from years of working in the coal mines and clogged up arteries, but he keeps on ticking, and with a good memory too!  He recognized Jesse even waking him up from his rest when we arrived, and asked Jesse about his job and remembered that I was in school.  He was tickled that there will be a Dr. B one day.  He laughed and said, "Boy, we sure have come a long way!"  He slept for most of our visit, but by Saturday he had perked up and talked with us for nearly 45 minutes before we left.  It was a great ending to our trip!
There's not a whole lot to see near Girardville, PA except rows of row houses...

This one was the prettiest:

...but we did pull off and inspect a coal power plant that was located on an old strip mine:

We also went to the nearby town of Centralia, which literally caught on fire back in the 60's from a boot-leg coal mine.  The entire town was burning underground because of all the coal.  It was evacuated, except for the few stubborn people who refused to move and endure the coal fumes and risk of the ground caving in.  There is still underground burning today, and you can see smoke coming up in places. Pretty cool!

One highlight of the trip was our late night outing for hot hamburgers from Tony's.  I've heard about these hamburgers, known as Screamers, since Jesse and I started dating... 9 years ago!  Tony's is a local place that has been serving up hamburgers and hotdogs covered in spicy sauce for many, many years.  I found this online review and loved the guys description:

"Screamers are a legendary hamburger with Tony's hot sauce and onions with a buttered bun, just as described.  They are hot, no question about it.... The other Tony's staple is the Growler, which is a hot dog prepared in the same fashion.... The typical happy meal at Tony's is 2 Screamers chased by a guers Iced Tea or a Chocolate Milk. The milk seem to cool the bite of the hot sauce a little better than the tea.  The place is open from about 8:30 PM til about 2:30 or 3 AM. Despite the name Tony's Lunch, it is not open for lunch.... The sauce cannot be purchased to take home. The recipe is more secret than launch codes."

Obviously a local favorite- people line up down the street for these hot hamburgers, so we had to get one while we were in town.  Since Jesse or his parents were last there, they added marshmallow fluff to the burgers. Now, I know this sounds weird, but it was surprisingly good, and I couldn't have made it through the spiciness without it!

I got to meet more of his dad's side of the family, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with them.  They had a few things unfamiliar dishes in their spread, like Mashed Potato Filling and Jewish Apple Cake. The filling is their version of stuffing, which as most of you know is really called dressing. :)  And the apple cake was incredibly moist! I need to get these recipes and share them with you fellow southerners because we are missing out!

Jesse's great grandfather owned a store front on the front side of their house many years ago, and it has their (our) last name across the front in beautiful stained glass.  So of course, we had to stop and take pictures!

Oh, and we had pizza at another local stop.  It was too delicious not to mention. (We are food people. In case you haven't noticed.)

High Five for Friday!

1.  We tested the effects of some ocular drugs (drops that would either dilate or constrict the pupil) on accommodation (which allows you to change your focus from distance to near objects) in physiology lab this week.  Erika was a trooper with her Pilocarpine, then could barely see to read the lensometer in the following optics lab. :)

2.  A much awaited package arrived at our door this week.  Halo 4.  Much awaited by Jesse, less so by yours truly.

3.  I snagged some AWESOME deals at Hobby Lobby this week on fall decor.  80% off before Thanksgiving has even passed!  I guess the 12 aisles of Christmas stuff they put out in July is not enough room.

4.  I read a post on a blog I recently started following, written by an awesome woman about her journey through this life God has given her and how He has helped their family through hard times- adultery and special needs children.  She's very inspiring and I love her writing.  Her post made me smile, you should read it here.

5.  We started a very eye-opening/encouraging/humbling video in our community group this week on discipleship and sharing Jesus- why we don't and why we should.  We've only made it through 1/3 of it (because it's 3 hours long), but I'm looking forward to the rest.  You can check it out here.

Christmas Card List Printable

From time to time I get really inspired and crafty, and I stir up my inner "graphic designer" and decide to create printable documents for various needs or occasions. Some of you have seen my "work" first hand through a few invitations I've created along the way (including my own wedding invitations).  I would like to start sharing those that could benefit others (making them good enough to share gives me practice at these creations).  I often get ideas from printables I find on Pinterest (see my whole board dedicated to printable things here), but they are not always specific to my needs, so I make my own!

And, since it is time to start thinking of sending all those merry wishes, I thought some of you may like a copy of my latest "printable" - the Christmas Card List!  I decided to make this to house not only addresses, but to check off who I sent one to, and who I received one from.  (Now, this is not to keep tabs on you all who don't send us a Christmas card.  I thought it would be interesting to see who does send one our way, and I can add to our list if we receive an unexpected card.)

(click here to download the PDF)

It is a 4-page document that goes up to #66 because that was what would fit on 4 pages, which I thought was plenty.  If you find that you have more than 66 loved ones you would like to wish a Merry Christmas, please let me know and I can email you a document with additional pages!

Enjoy!

High Five for Friday

Wooo hoooo!  It's Friday!   Some weeks Fridays are worth celebrating more than others, and for me, this week is one of those weeks.  Not because we have any big plans for the weekend, in fact the lack of plans is what has me celebrating.  School overload has occurred this week, and I'm just ready to relax!

1.  This past Saturday we had Thanksgiving with Jesse's side of the family.  I know, it was early, but it was really nice!  Those that cooked didn't have to fight the grocery crowds and we went shopping afterward without chaos.  We all loaded up and went to the Peanut Festival in the evening.  It was my first Peanut Festival and was directed to all the right vendors to get the best food from:  corn dogs from the corn dog man, roasted corn from the roasted corn man, kettle corn from the kettle corn man, and funnel cakes from the local band boosters.  The festival was complete with an exotic petting zoo and a sea lion show which was pretty impressive!

2.  We moved our voter registration not too long after we moved here, and finally got to really vote (in comparison to absentee voting).  Although the election didn't go quite like we hoped, we were still able to express our voice.

3.  More fall food inspiration: squash!  Spaghetti squash and butternut squash!  The spaghetti squash made it onto our plates last night, but I'm not sure yet where the butternut will wind up.  So many wonderful ways to cook it.

4.  On the way back home from our "holiday" weekend we were able to swing by and visit with a few friends along the way:  good ole Chase (and his critters), and the newly weds Jarrod and Jennifer who were even kind enough to prepare a lunch feast for us. :)

5.  Not such a great highlight, but Jesse was able to repair a couple of things on my car after having it serviced, which saved a lot of $$$ and now my dash is no longer flashing at me.  (He's so handy... when he wants to be.)