The Office... and the end of an era

It happens tonight: the last episode of The Office on NBC. I'll be honest- I did not understand the mockumentary style and awkward humor at first.

But, arriving in Missouri in the fall of 2007 having left friends and family behind in NC, I was happy to be invited to any social function outside the walls of Ol' Mizzou.

Claire, Jonathon and Ashley included me in Brinner (breakfast for dinner) and my first episode of The Office. And, I still didn't get why people thought this show was funny. But, there were breakfast meats and new friendships, so I kept going. For Mexican Stack-up and Beckmeyer Italian night. And birthday celebrations. Until I couldn't imagine not going.

Eventually, Ashley finished her degree and moved on- the unfortunate casualty of higher education friendships. And along the way Heidi joined the fray. And I fell in love with Jim and averted my eyes at Meredith and shook my head at Creed ... And of course, cringed at Michael.

I knew it would be bad when Steve Carell left the show, but you don't quit on your friends. So I continued to show up despite Kathy Bates and the unsavory Sabre episodes everyone wishes they could forget.

Even when my time came to complete a degree and relocate, another Office crew found me. Michaella opened her home every Thursday for a west coast viewing of Oscar, Angela, Phyllis and the Nard-dog. Life in Oregon wasn't ALL new, because those same old friends showed up weekly - albeit one hour later.

So tonight I bid goodbye to an unlikely favorite show and say thanks for the memories and more importantly, thanks for a comfortable reason to sit alongside new people on Thursday night and love the lovably unlovable normalcy of the folks in The Office.

Are you a fan? What's your favorite Office moment?

Wordless Wednesday 5-15-13

Yup, it's "red velvet 3 component model cake"... Just like mom used to make

Wordless Wednesday 5-8-13

Wordless Wednesday: 5-1-2013

Books books books

My friend Michaella and I hit up the Eugene book sale held by Friends of the Library. the event was held at the fairgrounds in Lane Country. The proceeds go to support public library services.

There were crowds and tables to sort through. I went with a list and that helped me control myself.

But I think I totally scored. I have already read "The Color of Water", "The Alchemist" and "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," but I would love to hear your thoughts on the rest of these. Read any of them? Liked them?

Happiness Is...

I saw a blog post on the Living Proof Ministries page and knew I needed to do this...

Happiness is sweet tea.
Happiness is a job where you make a difference.
Happiness is momma calling everyone to the table for dinner.
Happiness is new office supplies.
Happiness is sitting by the water.
Happiness is spending time with all my siblings with their kids.. and the peace that comes afterwards.
Happiness is warm salty fries and ice cold beer.
Happiness is a handwritten card in the mail.
Happiness is pajamas on a Friday evening.
Happiness is driving with the windows down and the radio up.
Happiness is a phone call from a friend.
Happiness is a sunset.
Happiness is a lack of financial stress.
Happiness is a warm bed on a cold morning.
Happiness is coffee you didn't have to make yourself.
Happiness is blooming flowers.
Happiness is receiving an unexpected gift or thank you.
Happiness is watching a live bluegrass performance.
Happiness is immersing yourself in a good book.
Happiness is knowing I did absolutely nothing to deserve my salvation and received it anyway.
Happiness is going to bed without an alarm clock.
Happiness is a child giggling.

Your turn. Happiness is....

Emily Turning Five

 I received a voice mail from my brother while I was sitting in an ANOVA course at the University of Missouri.. It was April 29, 2008.

Emily Ann Lambert had arrived. 19.5 inches long. 7lbs 9oz.

She was born while my brother was stationed at Fort Drum in New York State so even if I had not been in graduate school, I still would not have been there for her birth. I didn't meet Miss Emily until she was a month old. I have never been around for her birthday. That is just the nature of the academic calendar.

I was around to watch her baptism and am proud that she is being raised in a church community.

She has grown into a young child with determination and a mind of her own.

She knows what she wants - even when that is daddy's police shoes. Seriously - just ask her. She will tell you. Lots of personality.

She is the older sister - but not by much. (She will be turning 5 while Katie is 3.5 years old and Kinsley just turned 2 in February).

She loves Hello Kitty. And has my mom buying anything with Hello Kitty on it. I think her grandma loves her more than anyone!

She thinks any red shirt is"Pawpaw's shirt" (because my dad loves NCSU so much). I think it is rubbing off.

She has my heart.

Where does the time go?

Happy 5th birthday Emily Ann!

Region 1 in Pendleton

I spent April 17-20 in Pendleton, Oregon. This was the host site for the Region I Conference of the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE). The Region I area is made up of 11 Western States: WY, UT, MT, AK, HI, WA, OR, CA, AZ, NV, and ID.

Don't know where Pendleton is: Umatilla County, OR.

And Pendleton is a very western town - home to the only remaining rodeos on grass - The Pendleton Round-up. We did a Calcutta style auction of the Blue Mountain Community College Rodeo Team and then had a skills competition competing by state. Oregon came in 3rd and 4th but I contend there was cheating by some other states.

We had lots of committee meetings, professional development and planning sessions. I didn't take any photos of that part. Someone did arrange a group photo of the Oregon crowd - on a hill, looking into the wind and rain at the wind farm. We all look great *sarcasm*. Oregon has some of the best people!

This is an interior shot of Hamley's - where a lot of my "networking' took place during this conference. If we had a spot like this in Corvallis, I would be just a tiny bit happier.

The area we were in is known for being dry. They get 6-12 inches a rain per year. They received 1/2 inch of rain on the day we took tours of the agriculture in the area. I was there for 1/12th of their annual rainfall. And I was hoping to get out of the Valley for a while to dry out. Oh well.

I had never seen much of the agriculture in this area - except from the Interstate or a local high school campus. The Hermiston area is famous for watermelons and we saw one of the largest mint farms in the country out the rainy school bus windows. We saw dryland wheat and a lot of CRP land that is too rocky or too steep to farm.

We toured Lorenzen's feedlot. It might be the end of the line, but what a view.

We saw a wind farm operating 652 wind turbines. It was loud... but again - what a view. You could see into Washington State and Idaho.

This was the view from the hotel on one of the days we were stuck inside in sessions.
The Blue Mountains are gorgeous.

Wordless Wednesday 4-24-13

I used to have tulips in the side yard. Apparently now I have deer.

At least the ones in the (fenced) back yard are safe.

Happy Wednesday!

Why I "find time" to blog

I made my first attempt at blogging when I moved to Oregon as a way to make a record of my adventures.

The pace of starting the Assistant Professor job is, well, hectic, but I was communicating with my family in a format that was not continent upon us both being awake in the same time zone. It was joyous. It is going to be an amazing "journal" to flip through years down the road when the memories from this time in my life have faded.

But, then it happened...the naysayers.

The "oh, it is so cute that you have time to blog" or "you must not be as busy as the rest of us" or "I would love to just write for fun, but I have to write for work."

And suddenly I  found myself doing perfectly "bloggable" things, but I just couldn't make time to write them up and hit publish. It doesn't make the experiences less because I didn't write about them.

However, I have learned that blogging is a creative outlet for me.

The process of sitting down to compose a post.
The polishing of the writing.
The joy of actually getting someone to comment!
The fun of chatting about the posts with friends.