Luck of the Irish

Happy March All! I know the month is almost over, but I couldn't help but post all about the festivities that have been going on these past few weeks.  The Normal Ordinary in March for my family and me is celebrating St. Patrick's Day of course along with our fellow Irishmen, the kick off to spring birthdays, anticipating spring break, and finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel: Spring time means sunshine! St. Patty's Day is what everyone can come together and recognize about the month of March though so let's start there:

St. Patrick's Day is considered a Roman Catholic "holy day" of feasting and ale-drinking to honor the spread of Christianity, so my dad's family and I usually take advantage of that to the fullest (no pun intended). This year however, I was on Spring Break and missed out on all the feasting, but I do have some fun facts about the holiday to share:

 1. St. Patrick himself wasn't even Irish. He was actually born in Britain, captured, and was a slave in Ireland until he entered into priesthood and made his name known as a missionary advocating for Christianity. 

2. The shamrock was used a symbol to teach the Trinity of Christianity ( The 3 leaved ones obviously).

3. Cabbage and Corn beef is the traditional meal of St. Patty's Day because the Irish in the US were typically part of the lower class, and to celebrate this feasting, beer-drinking holiday, families would splurge on dinner. Corn beef and cabbage were usually all they could afford so that is why it is served as the traditional St. Patty's Day meal all across the United States.

4. Like too many things, the wearing green tradition originated in the United States along with the pinching. It may have started early on, but the story behind both traditions is that by wearing green, you were invisible to Leprechauns which was good because they would pinch anyone they could see. So the pinching is to warn and remind people about the Leprechauns. 

5. One of my favorite Irish signatures is the claddagh ring, which is their representation of love, loyalty and friendship. This isn't a St. Patrick's thing, just an Irish thing. The old tale is that these rings were made and used to signify the important qualities within a marriage. Women who owned claddagh rings prior to their marriage would wear the heart open-faced (the crown side down) indicating that their heart was still open for someone to "capture" in marriage, whereas the women who wore a claddagh and were married would wear the heart in the closed fashion (crown side up) indicating that they had now found love from someone loyal and were bound together though love and friendship. At least that is the story I was told when my grandma gave me her claddagh that I now wear everyday as tradition, so I thought I would pass the story along to anyone reading. 

Okay. Enough of that.

Of course I have a dessert to associate with the month of March: The Most Delicious Apple Crisp I have ever had (and made myself) came off of one of my new favorite recipe blogs (the link will take you there). I am a huge fan of apple crisp, and I cannot wait to reuse this recipe. Some people argue that apple crisp is a fall dessert, but I say if you use Green Granny Smith Apples, it can qualify for spring time too, especially the green-themed month of March! Here are the pictures I took from Lauren Allen's Blog: Tastes Better from Scratch, because I missed my own opportunity to take pictures of the one I made, and I promise it looks just like this! I cut my apple slices a little thinner than she did, but that's just personal preference. The recipe is also on my Pinterest if you want to access it from there, along with a few more festive desserts to make.

Like I also mentioned, March kicks off birthday season! My dad, stepmom, sister, brother, and I all have spring birthdays!! We celebrated my dad and brother's birthday this month, while the other three of us are all April birthdays. My dad is never into making a big deal out of his special day, but he came up for breakfast a few weeks ago and went out to breakfast (our special tradition) and I could't help but get him a mug from our favorite breakfast diner we found up here.  It is also tradition for me to get my brother their specialty root beer for his birthday. If you ever get the chance, check out Triple XXX or Route 66 up in West Lafayette. Both places are owned by the same people, and Triple XXX has actually been featured on Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives, the TV show with Guy Fieri. Amazing breakfast and burgers. And of course, what is a birthday with out a sibling selfie… below is our picture from last year, and the one from this year. Not much change happening… minus our extra facial hair ;)

2014

2015

I also have now been to Disney World and back to conclude my crazy month of March, but that will take a whole separate blog post to share all the good of that trip. I hope your month of March has been as "luck" as mine! Thanks for reading!



T. Hall

Love what you Love

So this Valentine's Day, I was really excited to celebrate for some reason. There was nothing in particular that I was looking forward to other than celebrating the love I have for the people around me at this point in time. Already, 2015 has been filled with more than I ever could have hoped for between my friends and family, and I feel truly blessed because of them.  My one true Valentine (my mom) got to come up and spend the morning with me, and we spent our time as every single girl should on this Hallmark holiday: pampering ourselves, going out to breakfast, drinking Raspberry Mochas, shopping, and laughing about everything humanly possible. For those of you who don't know, my mom and I are polar opposites making us the best of friends. She serves a role as a mother, provider, guider, and dear friend better than anyone I know, and I am so thankful to call her my Valentine once again this year. She is certainly the one I have to thank for starting my Valentine's Day off just right with cookies and a beautiful card. We ended our Mother-Daughter Day with a pic forced upon us by my roommate (which I was thankful for…. after the fact) so of course I had to share:

Isn't she just the cutest?!

After she left, I spent most of the weekend with my true love, Greyhouse Coffee and Supply Co., and all the beautiful people who work with me there. Then, I got to run and spend the evening laughing with my roommates, drinking my favorite wine, and eating my mom's famous sugar cookies. Even though I am the only one of my roommates not in a serious relationship, they sure made me feel special regardless of their plans along with a few of my other closest friends. To keep the spirit alive, my roommates and I are even having a Roomie Valentine's Day dinner this week with one of these yummy, festive desserts! Check out my Pinterest Valentine's Day Board for more links and ideas to steal to keep the love alive! https://www.pinterest.com/taylorhall/valentines/

I am one lucky girl with so many things to celebrate this Valentine's Day, and now I am sending it to all of you. Here are some cheesy e-cards and such to make my Valentine's post complete ;)

Sorry, I had to put one nerdy one in there

                                                      

True Love 

             


Thanks for reading,

T. Hall

Here's to you, Big Guy.

So I finally have decided to write another blog post! I haven't blogged in a good four months, so I would say it's about time I do something. I was going to wait until Friday to make this my "Friday Favorites", but nah. I'm up and I feel like doing this today, so today it is.

In honor of my Papa's birthday in 10 days, I am writing this post for him. Like I said, this was originally a post for my Friday Favorites link up, so sticking with the favorites theme here (even though it's Tuesday), my Papa is my favorite fighter, my number one man, IU's biggest basketball fan, and he is the one who taught me the most about loving the Lord and dedicating my life to the greatest purpose of all: Loving like he does. He is my biggest role model, and my rock. My memories with him are some of my greatest memories to date, and these are our favorite things to do together!

 1. Getting ice cream from Frazier's

It may not look like much, but this is one of the greatest ice cream places in the WORLD! I think he is the one who makes it so special though. He really knew the key to my heart even at a young age, and this place was it. Every chance we got, we went to Frazier's when I was growing up, and it's probably the reason for my sugar addiction to this day.

 2. Watching our sports together

We may not have the same taste in teams, but my Papa was the one who taught me how to be a dedicated fan no matter what. Through the good, the bad, and the ugly, my Papa has remained loyal to his Indiana Hoosiers. He wasn't thrilled about my transfer to the dark side (Purdue University), but he promised that he would love me anyway as long as I never made him wear anything to support Purdue sports. When he gets on his sports rolls, I know that's when he is the happiest, and they are some of my favorite conversations to have with him.

3. Our love of singing 

 You may not know it, but this big guy has the best voice in all of Indiana. Some of my favorite memories of him are singing the Cubbies baseball song and "Back Home Again in Indiana" all the time. We were probably way too entertained by those two songs for our own good.

4. Playing Cards and Eating Cake 

We don't do this much anymore (the playing cards part, anyway), but as a family, my Papa would alway orchestrate a huge game of 10 Down while we ate dessert. It's played with Rook cards, and this was the only game we could really get him fired up about. When I was little, and let's face it, even now, I always want to be on his team even if it isn't a team game because he is simply the best and I just can't be against him. We always have our game faces on and our plates ready to take on each challenge as a team. Together, we are unbeatable no matter what we are accomplishing. He's my number one fan, and I am his. I could not have been blessed with a better partner in crime.

 

The Little Things

For those of you that know me, you know it's the little things that make my world go round. I think that is why fall is my favorite season; trees are changing, new decorations are out, the weather drops just enough to bring in a new wardrobe, and traditions start back up like pumpkin carving and Thanksgiving planning. When fall season kicks off, all these little changes start to occur making this time of year so perfect. Each change is something normally ordinary, and yet gets more unique and extraordinary as years pass.

My normal ordinary way to kick off fall season has always been special, but this year it's even more special because it's my last fall in college (kind of).  Now that I put that into words, this season seems pretty bitter-sweet in a natural-growing-up kind of way, but we are embracing it to the fullest.  I have started this fall season once again alongside my favorite people (with our pumpkin spice lattes of course), and we have gone to things like barn dances,
 football tailgates, breakfast club, Starry Night, we've baked anything and everything with pumpkin puree, and had way too much fun doing it all. This year, we even had a "Bring Your Own Pumpkin Spice Latte" craft night, which in my mind has now become a Fall "Must-Do" tradition whether my friends are aware of it or not.  School seems to be really busy around this time too, but I think that is why these little fall traditions I have with my closest friends are ones I will always hold near and dear to my heart. No matter how busy we are, fall always brings out the best in us, and we find little things to do that make this season so perfect.

Alright, enough with the my tribute.

Other traditions that define my fall season are the start to fantasy football, lazy Sundays start happening more often, long socks and blankets are constantly out, s'mores become a food group, Starbucks becomes an accessory to all of my outfits, romance is everywhere (more on that later), and most importantly, fall fashion is back! Sweaters, boots, vests, flannels, scarves!!! It's just too much, and defines my September through November all too well. As I mentioned, I also love the decor that comes out during this time of year. Last year, I made a wreath to welcome the spirit of fall, and I must admit, I was just as excited to get it back out this season as I was last. Hobby Lobby has the best pieces to make a seasonal wreath like this one, and I encourage all of you to make one for your home!

Unfortunately, this past BYOPSL craft night I didn't get to create anything, but I did get to bake! I made the house smell like fall with Pumpkin White Chocolate Snickerdoodles, and I will most definitely be baking these again before the season is over. For those of you who might make these at home, don't add extra pumpkin and make sure you bake them the full 10-12 minutes or they won't set up. Even though the half baked warm dough was delicious, that is my recommendation. Also, don't add more white chocolate chips to the top unless you want an overwhelming white chocolate taste. I wasn't complaining about that part, but when I make them again, I will for sure tone down on the white chocolate and add more cinnamon and sugar instead. This season I also made  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins which were my all-time favorite! These pumpkin treats really got me in the mood for fall, and I can't wait to make more!

     
















Like I keep saying, it's all about the little things. These are the little things that I include in my fall season to make it so special.  Most of the fun comes from the people I do all these things with, but nonetheless, normal ordinary things I plan to do throughout time.

That is just enough distraction for me for one day. I hope you all can take something away from my little, normal ordinary things and add them to your fall "to-do's".

Thanks for reading,

T. Hall

The love for baking is a magical thing. This recipe is one of my favorites. Today, I am particularly bored, so I decided to bake cookies of course.. especially because I have a few people to thank. What thank you is better than cookies? None.  Today's batches are Nutella Crinkle Cookies and they to die for! Just in case you need photo evidence..

Check out "Playing with Flour" for more delicious treats like these!

This looks too perfect on a rainy day like today.

The Ordinary Summer

So, this summer I was dreading coming home. Absolutely dreading it. Now I am looking through my pictures from the past three months, and I'm thinking about how much I needed my family, my normalcy, to rejuvenate for this upcoming school year. I have wanted to post for a long time, but I didn't know what to write about because a.) I have been working at the optometry office everyday for the past three months, and let's face it, that's only exciting to me; b.) I have been taking a physics class, again only exciting to me; and c.) I was hanging with my friends or my family during any free times I had.

Then I thought about it. That stuff is the normal ordinary stuff I initially wanted to blog about, even if it isn't the most entertaining.

So here it- my summer. My closest friend from high school and I joined a bible study with my church, I climbed up to a building's rooftop for the first time which was probably semi-illegal, watched a civil war reenactment at Connor Prairie,  I did a detox cleanse thing to better my body, I worked both in school and at my internship, I wired my own lamp (which blew up less than 24 hours after I plugged it in at my new apartment), did my typical other crafts to make my room the way I wanted it, and just let myself grow as much as possible in the process.  That's what this time in life is for right? To be twenty-one and confused... or maybe curious about where life is headed is a better description. Yeah. I like curious better than confused to describe where I am at.

Here's what all the sudden made me realize why this summer was so important. I moved into my new apartment with my three other roommates and was thrown all kind of big-girl-world type problems that we had to fix... and to be honest, I really wasn't sure if I was ready for this grown-up life to start happening (or patient enough either). I always pictured myself as an adult and wanted that control over all of my decisions, problem solving, and wanted to learn how to do real life. Now that it's here and happening, I am kind of shocked by it. This past summer allowed me to feel more like a "kid" at least one more time, which I am a lot more grateful for than I was when the summer started. I filled my time by crafting, cooking (trying to anyway), playing games with my siblings, celebrating birthdays, eating lots of ice cream, taking mini vacations to DC (what?!), watching lots of baseball, visiting my grandparents and reliving my childhood… that is what summers are for and that is what I found it to be once again. I got to be the intern. The baby. A student. At school I obviously am a student too, but I have to be much more serious about it. I also have to worry about bills, books, and budgets when I am here. Don't get my wrong, I love being at school. It's that grown-up feeling I have coming back here that I am having trouble dealing with. It's fun for me to look at back on these pictures, even though I should have taken more, and feel more bliss than freedom. They may not be anything fancy or crazy, but they expose the life I made during my three months at home. My Ordinary Summer.