Roots

#1: Try 100 new recipes.
I tried two new recipes this week, both involving curry powder! One of the ladies at work had a chicken salad sandwich for lunch the other day. It was the kind with grapes and apples (my favorite), and it made me want to try making it myself. I found a recipe for it, but the only difference between this one and the one my co-worker had was that this recipe had curry powder. It sounded a little strange at first, but it got really good reviews on Allrecipes, so I gave it a try. And it was awesome! That curry powder made a huge difference. It's a good thing I listened to my inner Indian. :-p Then later in the week, I made mulligatawny soup, which was also really good. I didn't realize it at the time, but the word "mulligatawny" is from the Tamil for "pepper water," and Tamil is my parents' native language. How 'bout that?

#46: Be a tourist in my hometown.
Speaking of my parents, they came to visit us this weekend!

This picture was taken in front of Churchill Downs on Saturday. We also visited the Muhammad Ali Center, drove by Cave Hill Cemetery (where Colonel Sanders is buried), and showed Mom and Dad around the campus at Southern. For dinner that night, we took them to Shalimar, an Indian restaurant we really love. It was such a great day! We had so much fun doing touristy things with them!

#18: Straighten up the guest room.

On Friday, we finally made the last push to tidy up the guest room so Mom and Dad would have somewhere to sleep...! Here, I think the results speak for themselves:

Before...

and after!

Huge difference, right? Now it's actually neat enough to use! I am soooo excited to get in there and start using it more often. It's so peaceful...perfect for blogging. ;-)

Pressing On

#18: Straighten up the guest room.
Tom mentioned the other day that he hadn't been able to get much work done lately. I knew at least part of it was because he had been trying to work in the living room, usually while I'm zoned out in front of the TV. Our guest room, however, would be the perfect place to get stuff done; it's quiet, cozy, and well-lit. Unfortunately, right now it's also a huge mess; lately, I've been referring to it as the "dumping ground" for anything we're not using. Honestly, I had pretty much given up on keeping it neat, thinking that we're moving in August anyway and we can just start fresh in our new place. But that would be such a waste! It's a great room; when we first moved in and got it set up, we used to love spending time in there. Besides, we're paying rent for an apartment with two bedrooms, so not using the guest room would be like throwing money out the window (provided you can actually get to the window). So I've started to get it back in order. Hopefully we'll have a good workspace soon!

#41: Turn off the radio and pray in the car.
I did this Monday morning on the way to work, and it definitely will not be the last time. It's amazing how this one thing affected the rest of the day. I love that I can talk to God anytime I want; He always speaks such peace to my heart, and He knew that was exactly what I needed that morning because I woke up in a really weird mood.