*for those of you wondering, the back is still out. The sinuses seem to be somewhat fading, but I've definitely made the back worse after there had been a significant improvement over the last couple of days. I think I've taken about 10 steps backwards, and just hope that future progress is positive!*
Ellen quote that sums me up right now:
"This morning I hopped right out of bed...and by hopped I mean it took 30 minutes, 6 Advil, a pulley system and a handful of sedatives to get me out of bed in a seated position. And I know that you're probably thinking 'Ellen, you shouldn't have to be taking Advil and sedatives together', but the Advil was for me and the sedatives were for Portia; the screaming is killing her...she's tired of hearing me scream."
Sad...but true. Substitute "Lora" for Ellen and "Anthony" for Portia, and you have the partial scenario of me trying to get up off the floor tonight. It was NOT pretty.
anyway, on to the real blogging!
It's been quite a year! Here's a brief look back...
January: New Year's at Anthony's parents house; began "driving Miss Nancy"; Inauguration of President Obama
February: good friend from college visited; sweet Valentine's day; last praise team retreat ever with Randy (although we had no idea)
March: one of my best friends from high school visited this month; 28th birthday
April: Dave Matthews Band concert...uh...I'm sure there were other fun things too. We did join the zoo this month...and I did have one CRAZY day!
May: Anthony and I traveled together for the first time--to see his aunt in Atlanta; started doing some consulting work
June: 10 year high school reunion and reconnection with Dotty; good friend Laura had her baby Israel (and began the many births of summer '09)
July: Camp with youth group + Anthony's family vacation = over 2 weeks apart! Ugh.
August: Laura and sweet baby Izzy spent a few days at my house; went to Texas to a friend's wedding with Anthony and our friend Ben; celebrated a year of dating the most wonderful man :); began working at Catholic Charities temporarily; found out that Randy and LaJuana were moving
September: visited the Jack Daniels distillery; found out about Sam's cancer
October: 2nd annual ghost tour; finally cut my hair to donate (after over a year of growth); went to my very first NFL football game (between my two favorite teams no less!)
November: Thanksgiving with Anthony's family
December: Christmas with Anthony's family; 2 trips to Indiana (one for the Colts game, one for Christmas); got to sing in a friend's Christmas show downtown; also sold jewelry offline for the first time!
Thank goodness for facebook! I became a "fan" of Jack Daniels a few months ago. (ok, I was already a fan, but facebook makes it official, right? ;)
Anyway, they posted a recipe on facebook a couple of weeks ago, and I just HAPPENED to have a friend over a few nights later (right before our 5K!) We decided to try the recipe and I think we were both pleasantly surprised by how much we liked the Jack in it's alternate form!
Now, straight up Jack and Jack and (diet) Coke are going to be the staples...but this one will be a good "go-to" for fall especially!
Almond Frost Jack
1½ oz. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey (I use Gentleman Jack)
½ oz. amaretto
2 oz. cream
1 teaspoon super fine sugar
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass or serve over ice in a rocks glass. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
We do.
More so now than ever :)
It took about an hour and a half to drive there...through beautiful country roads with little teasers all over the place about the distillery.
As we drove through the gate we realized that it was a holiday weekend and CROWDED!
We went inside and signed up for a tour and were told we would be waiting awhile.
So we wandered around and read all the info in the visitors center, before being rescued.
(by the way, this pic of Jack is life-sized. He was 5'2!!)
We had just heard a tour called and commented that the guy who was guiding seemed like a lot of fun. A moment or 4 later, he approached Anthony and I and asked how many of us there were. We told him 2, and he asked if we'd like to go now. Of course, we jumped at the chance! He probably saved us an hour or so of waiting AND he was a lot of fun.
So we boarded the bus, and away we went!
A moment of silence for "that slow sippin' Tennessee whiskey"
Ron, our guide, explained to us that in the past they used to give a free shot of whiskey at the end of the tour. After disappointing us by telling us they no longer do that, he did tell us that we had a unique opportunity...to get a free shot of jack on the rocks. Here's mine:
(it was such a bad joke I HAD to to...)The safe that killed Jack. He got angry and kicked it one morning, resulting in infection and eventually death.
Here Ron gives us the recipe for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey
We weren't allowed to take pictures of the production, but let me tell you. We got to smell the sour mash, and we got to breathe in the whiskey that is nearly done. Amazing!
Enjoying our free...lemonade...at the end of the tour!
Now, Lynchburg, Tennessee is in what's known as a "dry county". Those aren't found where I come from so let me explain: alcohol cannot be bought/sold anywhere in the county. Not in stores, not in restaurants, nowhere. So...the distillery has a bit of a loophole. They can sell commemorative bottles in their gift shop that contains the "product", but see...they're just selling the bottle as a collector's edition. We were thankful for that particular loophole!
We did both buy a commemorative bottle of Jack. There were two to choose from, and we each got a different one so that we could enjoy more. We've decided that this should really be an annual trip so that we can get each year's bottle.
However, to get the licensed merchandise, we had to walk about a half mile to the town square. The general store is what carries all the Jack stuff. Here's a shot of it.
I kind of wish we had ended up with more time to explore the square--it was a typical small town feel and looked fun. But we had to get back for our poker night (which I did VERY well at, by the way) so we hoofed it back to the car after buying our merchandise.
(A got a shot glass, I got a shot glass that says Jack Rocks as well as a mason jar glass and a few other small things)
So there you go! We enjoyed the day immensely, and were both glad we'd made the effort to finally get out there!
