A Too-Short, Long Weekend

This Thanksgiving was wonderful. Not only did I get to see family that I rarely see, but I spent time with friends that may as well be family.

I've alluded to Friendsgiving in the past few posts, and this one did not disappoint. It was my second year to be invited, and the food and company is always top notch.We gorged, played a fun candle game, and talked until the cows came home.

Love these girls!

On Wednesday, my grandparents arrived in Abilene, followed quickly by my older brother and then my mom's brother and his family. The house was full, and not just because my cousins all stand above 6'2''. Then my mom's sister and her husband came bearing delicious BBQ from Smitty's Market in Lockhart, TX, which is conveniently on the way from their house in Victoria. We ate heartily, and I knew it was going to be a weekend of full tummies. (Spoiler: I wasn't wrong.)

Thanksgiving Thursday, we woke to a beautiful, warm day... and a sick grandfather :(. While he recovered in bed (and recover he did), we went off to the country club for our Thanksgiving dinner, sorry he wasn't with us. My mom decided that she wasn't going to cook this year because, let's be real, there were 16 of us and the women always end up in the kitchen all day. That dog won't hunt anymore. The country club did an okay job, though their desserts were a bit disappointing.

We spent the rest of the day in front of football or outside enjoying the nice weather. Friday, I had to work at the store, but got to spend the morning with everyone before my uncle and cousins left for their lease to hunt. Then we were joined by my mom's other brother, his wife and daughter.

On Saturday, my uncle wanted to go buy a gun, obvs, so we went out to Dyess because the PX (is that the correct term? I get so confused.) was having a special on them. #thisistexas. I'm always amazed when I go out to that base. It's a world so unfamiliar and fascinating to me: a community of its own dedicated to the people that serve our country. Old jets and planes line the main entry road, and my dad could literally name all of them, about 20 or so, and tell you what they were used for. It was impressive. His and my brother's knowledge of airplanes surpasses everything I could probably ever know about anything else in the world, and I have no idea where all the information came from. So I just kind of sit back in awe.

After the gun-buying, and another afternoon of football, we went downtown to Fat Boss's to watch, yup, more football. A few glasses of wine and some fried goods always goes down smooth when family is around, and I loved spending time with them.

My Sunday was spent recovering from the long weekend of food and wine. I felt like a fat cat after a big meal, perfectly content to just lie on the couch and doze, and happy to think about the previous few days where nothing but family and fellowship was forefront on my mind. When is the next get-together?

Nothing better.

I'm serious, you guys. And you always gotta check out the binocs while you're there.

Can you imagine cooking for this many people? Naw.
Also, my babiest little cousin Jake--who is currently a foot taller than I am--got cut off :(

A San Antonio Wedding and a Visit to the Country

The bride walked down the aisle with her father, and I had forgotten a kleenex. Weddings are always emotional for me and, well, for a lot of people. Something bubbles up when I am surrounded by love and the promise of commitment, and the emotion escapes through my eyes. I felt better when I realized I wasn't the only person in my row with tears in my eyes.

I drove to San Antonio Thursday to attend the wedding of a good friend from DC. I hadn't been to SA in at least five years, and even longer than that since I'd been to the River Walk, which is where most of the weekend's festivities took place. What a lovely area of town! Despite temps in the 90s, it was nice to lounge by the pool at the Omni La Masion, meander down the river, and enjoy time with good friends.

Beth and me at the Bridal Luncheon. Trying to beat the heat with our fans!

The bride was sweet to let me get ready with them on Saturday even though I wasn't a bridesmaid, and I loved having some extra special time with my DC ladies, whom I see so rarely these days. *sad face*

The wedding was at the San Fernando Cathedral. It was a beautiful, well-lit church near the river and provided the perfect backdrop for Olivia and Josh to say their vows. Between the ceremony and the reception (a time referred to as the Catholic Gap since Catholic weddings are usually so early in the day), we guests took a bus tour of downtown San Antonio. The bride and groom graciously provided the buses with beer while we toured. So we sipped the cold beverages and I gave a debatably-terrible recreation of the Battle of the Alamo to two non-Texan friends.

I can create the story for you, for a small fee.

Eventually we arrived at the McNay Museum for the reception. Y'all, this reception was amazing. The food was incredible, the toasts were sweet and thoughtful, and the band was spot-on. Olivia has been talking about their wedding band, Blind Date, for months, so my expectations were pretty high. This Austin-based band exceeded them all, and I danced the night away to incredible music in the air.

Awesome couple!

Miss these ladies! 

And my former roomie!!

Mmmmmm.

The next day, I got up and made a necessary run to Whataburger with my buddy Beth. Because #texas.












I decided to spend Sunday night a few miles outside Bandera, TX at my Aunt Jenn's house. I hadn't been to their house in forever, so I took advantage of being so close to spend time with her, my uncle, and their three great kids. We went to dinner at a Bandera staple, the OST Restaurant, and then Jenn and I chatted underneath the stars for hours until bedtime. The next morning, in true country-living fashion, we baked buttermilk pies.

They have roughly 30 chickens and get at least 10 eggs a day! 

Beautiful morning in the Hill Country.

Dogs on the porch.

Homemade crust is the way to go!

Beautiful...and delicious

I drove the few hours back to Abilene yesterday afternoon listening to an audio tape I bought on the way down. Spending time with friends and family is about all I could ask for out of a weekend, and this one ranks pretty high on my list of favorites. Driving north on Highway 83, I watched a Texas sunset alter the landscape to my left and change the sky from bright blue to pink and orange. I'm pretty sure I smiled the whole way home.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

On Packing, Post-Paris, and Grandparents

I leave for Paris on Sunday and my suitcase is empty. In fact, it's still under my bed, and it is probably lonely since I haven't used it in a while. I feel a little unprepared at this point, yet eager to get on that plane again, to see the City of Light again.

My parents and I are going to Carmel pretty much the second I get home at the end of July, and I just registered for a Travel Writing Conference in San Francisco for the week after our stay in Carmel! I've never been to San Francisco, so I'm excited to see it and get some great advice and tips for my writing during the four-day conference. And let's be honest, I'll use any excuse to stay in the cool, 65-degree weather of Northern California while West Texas temps hover around 100 in the middle of August.

This week, I've been preparing for the approaching whirlwind in my life by doing what I do best, eating and visiting my grandparents in Marble Falls. My grandmother took me to all the thrift shops within a 10-mile radius, and she used my visit as reason enough to try out some Pinterest dessert recipes. I didn't complain. Between meals of burgers, creme brulee, grilled cheese and thai food, I enjoyed my time with them, as I always do, and am glad I got to see them before I leave. Here are a few pics from my trip down to Hill Country.

Wine ice cream on the back porch? Don't mind if I do.

Creme brulee for breakfast? Don't mind if I do.

Checking out wine on a Wednesday morning? Don't mind if I do. Granny didn't mind either.

Also, three dogs. Who apparently don't like the camera.

Have a great weekend!

Easter

On Saturday, after a half day of work and a trip to Sonic, I headed out of Abilene and down to my grandparents' house in Marble Falls. I love driving down to Marble by myself, especially when I've got good music on the radio, a large Diet Dr Pepper in the cup holder, and the prospect of a fun weekend with family ahead of me.

Usually around this time in the Hill Country, there are thousands, millions, of bluebonnets dotting the side of highways. You know its spring in Texas when ten or 15 cars are lined up in a lush field of bluebonnets to take photos of their kids or grandkids. We used to do that too, but I remember a particularly awful time in a field of bluebonnets when I stepped in an anthill and didn't know it until I had ants crawling up my tennis shoes and jeans. My skin crawls right now just writing about it. 

But I digress. Unfortunately this year, there weren't many bluebonnets because we've been so light on rain. So I got to exercise my imagination and pretend like there were blue fields that stretched to the horizon, among the red Indian paintbrushes and a white flower I had never seen before. 

This is what I had in mind... (Source)

I got to Marble around 6:15, and the weekend was already in full swing. My grandmother, mom and aunts were in the kitchen cooking a very ambitious meal of Mexican food, and the men were sitting around drinking and talking. I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down to chat, happy to finally relax after a long day.

Literally the cutest basket of eggs I've ever seen.

After a delicious meal of Pinterest-inspired food (my granny is obsessed with the Pinty..), we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the cool evening. I hadn't seen some of my cousins in a while, and it was good to catch up. 

While I always love going to church on Easter Sunday, we gave it up to spend more time with my brother who drove in from Corpus and had to get back early to study. After another delicious home-cooked lunch of ham, hash brown casserole, broccoli, and rolls, it was time for him to depart. 

Easter, also known as the day Dad learned to photobomb.

We followed shortly after, and this time I had company on the way back: ol' mama bear. Three hours was plenty of time to rehash the short weekend, talk about upcoming plans and things we want to do, and sip on another Sonic drink.

We got back and ordered a pizza (my diet starts tomorrow..) and watched a little TV. All in all, a lovely weekend with family, laughs and love.

I hope your Easter was great!

Goodbye, Part 2

It's a tough thing to say goodbye, especially to someone who I've literally known all my life. I called this post "Part 2" because this feels like an actual extension of my last "Goodbye" post, where I said goodbye to my grandfather about 13 months ago. My grandmother passed away on Saturday morning, but I don't think she ever really learned to live without him. Her heart was broken, and it never mended until she was in Heaven, when she saw him again.

The way I like to remember her: In a huge hat at Pebble Beach, surrounded by us. (And yes, that's me on the right.) 

So I've been watching family come and go, food and flowers being brought over by friends, and wondering how Abilene is going to go on without Patty Taliaferro. Everyone has been so sweet and kind, remembering stories of my grandmother and her antics -- of which she had plenty -- and I will miss her. She was always looking for her next adventure, and besides wearing huge hats, her favorite thing was to travel. I think I get that from her, and I thank her for teaching me to appreciate the value that travel and learning about other cultures can bring to a life.

Hoping to continue her legacy, I am still training for my next adventure. With less than 2 weeks to go until we leave for Kili, it's crunch time. My plan is to be at the gym every spare moment I have.

Life just keeps moving, doesn't it? And I must be sure not to miss one single moment.

Resolute.

I'll never forget 2013. One year ago, I was still working for a Congressman, was significantly less acquainted with Paris and my writing abilities, was without any dreams of Kilimanjaro or Africa, and not very happy about life in general.

It has been quite a ride, but I'm ready to put this year in the books. It's amazing what life throws at you, and I'm ready for whatever ringers I'll be put through in 2014. Here are a few of my (hopefully) attainable resolutions for the new year:

1. Summit Kilimanjaro.

2. Not die on Kilimanjaro (equally as important as number 1).

3. Spend more time journaling and dedicate more time to writing. I've let it fall by the wayside these past few months, and I'm not happy about it. 

4. Keep up the exercise routine I learned while training for Kili. 

5. Figure out what career path I want to take next. Or at least narrow it down to an industry.

6. Appreciate how amazing life is, even though I am perpetually uncertain of what my future will be. 

I still feel like somewhat of a wanderer during this mid-twenties sabbatical. But while I'm unsure of many things, I learned so much about myself this year. I guess you could say I'm continuing to "find myself," but I've never really liked that phrase. It implies that at some point you are finished exploring and growing, and I don't believe we ever are. It's all about the journey, and mine is just beginning.

Have a Happy New Year!!!!

A Thrill of Hope

My favorite view. And Santa came!

I always love Christmas. If you couldn't tell that from my recent (first!) published article, I'm happy to reiterate. The music, the movies, the fire, the tree, the food, the family...all come together to make my favorite holiday. This year, we traveled to South Lake to be with my mom's family last weekend, and were back in time for a Taliaferro Christmas on Wednesday morning.

My favorite gift was definitely my Anthropologie house shoes, which I pretty much haven't taken off since yesterday morning. My other favorite gift was being able to sit around the fireplace with my parents and my brothers and talk and laugh and drink white cranberry mimosas (white cranberry juice, Prosecco and frozen cranberries!)

Christmas Eve shenans.

While presents and christmas carols flow throughout the season, I try my best to remember the reason for the season, and give thanks for Jesus' birth and his coming to Earth. My faith has been tested this year in many ways, but I continuously hold on to it, gathering strength from it when I'm at my weakest. For that I'm grateful.

Now I'm off to run three miles with my brother as I pick up my training for Kilimanjaro. Stay tuned the next couple of weeks for my updates on buying gear, training, planning my 2-day layover in London, training, and more training.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!!

Memorial Day and Quantico

This week, my parents and I went up to Quantico, VA to watch my baby brother graduate from the Basic School, the US Marine Corps' six month training program for all Marine officers. I cannot express how proud I am of the Johnson, and can't wait to watch his journey as he goes through flight training, and then his next steps as a Marine.

Yay bubsy!!

Good-lookin' family, if you ask me. 

I envy him in many ways, but especially because he has known since he was about 10 years old what he's wanted to do with his life. What an incredible gift! Lately, I've been struggling with what and how I want to go through life, where to live and what career path I want to take, contemplating each decision and scaling how happy it will make me. My brother (and so many other military members) feels called to serve something greater than himself, and each step brings him closer to fulfilling the path that God has set out for him.

I whole-heartedly admire and appreciate everything our troops do for us. Just one 60 Minutes segment about our guys and gals in the Middle East and I'm a basket case of emotions. I cannot fathom that way of life, and I'm thankful that some Americans would sacrifice so much for our freedom.

I hope you had an amazing Memorial Day weekend, and remember every day what a blessing it is to live in this country.

...Or the sweetness of the grass in Tennessee

This past weekend, I decided very last-minute to go to Knoxville, TN for my cousin's wedding. I had only been to Tennessee once in college to visit a friend at Sewanee. As per usual, I was excited to go to a place I had never been before.

Knoxville is really cool. A college town in every sense of the phrase (the other UT makes Knoxville its home), it has an eclectic downtown area, the beautiful Tennessee river running right through it, and gorgeous greenery that we would only dare to dream of in West Texas.

Most of the time was spent with family, which is always fun, but we did get to explore the city a little bit. The rehearsal dinner was at Calhoun's on the river, evidently sort of an institutional BBQ place, and it was phenomenal. The rest of the weekend was spent traipsing around, succeeding in finding other amazing places to eat (and drink).

Plus, who doesn't love a wedding? Especially when the venue is beautiful, the food is delicious, the band is rockin', and the couple is visibly in love.

All in all, a great weekend, and I'd go back in a heartbeat.

My dad and I loved all the dogs they had...

...which was seven. SEVEN DOGS. I was in Heaven.

Lunch at the Tin Roof, which was less of a lunch place and more of a dive bar. Oh well.

After dancing up a storm at the reception.

Sending them off with some sparkle.