:: housekeeping ::
The Best. Week. Ever. Recipe Swap deadline has passed. The extension has passed. Even the grace period has passed. To be fair to those who sent in their recipes and to me, who still cannot see straight after editing 132 pages of words, it’s over. Folks have their swap partners and the book is finito. BUT, all is not lost. If you missed out on contributing but would still like a copy of the goodness, I have a deal for you: donate $15 to a local food charity in honor of Thanksgiving and I shall send you a (PDF) copy of the book. Fair? Fair, I say. For you swappers, you will receive your (PDF) copy once your partner has received their magnet and oven mitt. Super fun, folks… this book is going to Rock. Your. Kitchen.
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I have been fortunate in my short life to have travelled… a lot. Being born into a military family, I learned to pack young and sit longer. I started in Texas, then on to Germany, then Kentucky. Germany followed (again), and we finished in Texas. During and after college, I continued on my own… to North Carolina, Ireland, Spain, and California.
I have seen London, Paris, and Rome at sunset. I have watched my father work Checkpoint Charlie in times of Cold War tension. I have wandered the back streets of Prague and I have spent money from before the Euro dominated. I have camped in Yellowstone, climbed mountains in Switzerland, and skied nearly every slope of the Zugspitz. I have eaten in the markets of Costa Rica, rafted rivers in Colorado, and prayed in the smallest of French Latin churches. I have rocked climbed on the Appalachian Trail and the in desert of Joshua Tree by a full moon. I have stood where Julius Caesar fell, and I have danced where Sinatra once sang.
I am a gypsy. I am a backseat rider, always willing to navigate or eat in questionable places. I am not afraid of language or diversity. I am grateful for the chances I have had to explore and watch and wander. I know not everyone is born into a travelling family… or even has a personal desire to leave the county. But, I was born into the idea of change. That change can be good as long as you yourself remain strong. For me, it is in the moving that I became stable. It was in the journey that I found home.
I am thankful for adventure.
…onward
November 9th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Travel and adventure what more can you want…but a great family. Oh you have that as well.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:46 am
love that picture of you, GORGEOUS!
I like that you have lived a life of adventure and travel because it led to us meeting!!
so excited about the recipe. I will be working on getting my magnet and oven mitt to Jo very shortly!
November 9th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
what a cool post…. and I can’t wait to get my recipe book!!!!! I’m having a hard time finding the “right” mitten and magnet…do they match? do they represent TN? do they match my partner’s kitchen???? oh the drama….. I need to just make the purchase and move on……
November 9th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I too am thankful for your adventure. Because of it I have been blessed to meet you. and YOU have changed my life. For the better of course!!!
November 9th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Yeah. That picture. It should be the next cover of the Sundance catalog.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
awesome post!! I too, am a gypsy and love it!
November 9th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
I was not born into a gypsy family, but I have a gypsy spirit and married into a gypsy family. I’m ALWAYS ready to go somewhere and will go at the first sign of an opportunity, so I can truly appreciate this post!
November 11th, 2009 at 11:33 am
love this post, you little wanderer. it’s so cool that you have been so many places and seen so many things, no wonder you are so contemplative.
November 11th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
count me in! i want a copy of the cookbook for sure! we usually donate to the local food pantry around the holidays – but more importantly we try to do it at other times of year (like in the summer) when they are totally depleted.
i will email you our new address!!!!
yippeeeeee!
and i’m glad you wandered to california when we did!
November 11th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
It’s a pdf file! Super easy!
November 12th, 2009 at 10:50 am
okay.
i am donating 15 bones.
will you send me the recipe book from heaven?
pah-lease?
p.s. i had a club foot as a child. take that! and presto chango, i am perfection.
November 16th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Hey doll–so you know, I received my spiffy oven mitt and magnet/notepad (SUPER EXTRA SPECIAL HANDY!), so send Claire her recipe book ASAP!