Coffee Talk {living outside the stacks}

I’d like to welcome you to Coffee Talk. If you’re new here, this is where I share some of the great and not~so~great stuff that I find on the web. Topics range from news stories that leave me scratchin’ my head to DIYs that I think are absolutely clever. And, who knows, there may even be a recipe thrown in here or there just for fun.

Hey! I hope y’all had a happy Thanksgiving. We did. The Hubs and I spent a few days in Mississippi with my parents, my sister, and her kids. And my new brother, Jojo {who is quite ferocious and tiny}. Then we came home and had a small but delicious dinner with our two youngest daughters. Our other kids had life stuff going on, so they were unable to join us. Hopefully, everyone will be free for Christmas. Seriously, when people talk about how hard it is to raise kids, they don’t talk about how incredibly difficult it is to let them live their own lives. The mom in me wanted to pull rank and order them home – you know, call their bosses and be all “Can you please excuse Reka, Symone, and Brandon from work today because their mom needs them at home for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Anyway, the girls had a few requests for dinner: canned cranberry sauce {I don’t care what anyone says, we love that stuff} and baked macaroni and cheese with lobster {my kid swore up and down I’ve made this every  year for at least 2 or 3 years, but I couldn’t remember – anyway, it was delish!}. Sadly, there are no pictures because bad photographer kept her camera in the bag and good wife/mom enjoyed spending time with her family. We had the most delicious turkey ever – prepared by one of my co-workers. Normally, I’m not cool with other folks cooking something so traditional but he has a grilling business so… Yeah, The Hubs and the girls were like put him on notice that he’s got Christmas too.

After the girls left for the dorms, The Hubs and I decided to take a drive to Blakely, Alabama. When we get bored, we like to pick a place on the map and just go.

Squeekerz {living outside the stacks}

Usually, we make a weekend of it and load up the RV, but this was just one of those quick trips {and since we didn’t make the necessary arrangements for Squeekerz  we knew we wouldn’t be staying long. I think I speak for him when I say he cared not a bit whether we were home or not.

Christmas Bear {living outside the stacks}

It was nice, ya know, just driving around, looking at the sights and everything… I did manage to take a few photos throughout the day. You can see the rest of the images on Instagram.

This trip did teach me something that I wish I’d thought of a looooong time ago. When I travel, I usually carry my Nikon D7500 along with either my 35mm or 50mm lens and a zoom lens, and just switch back and forth as needed. Y’all, I have a perfectly good backup Nikon in my camera bag. Why am I not just mounting a lens on each camera and switching cameras instead of taking the time to switch lenses? head desk Seriously, why didn’t I think of this before? It would’ve saved me so much missed photo angst. Now I just have to make sure that I keep both batteries charged. I just love when the lights come on.

Oh, yeah, so the other day, The Hubs was scrolling Instagram and he saw that Pete Souza {President Obama’s personal photographer} has a book out and he asked if I’d purchased it. I said no, I’d thought about it but hadn’t gone through with it. He looked at me like I’d just materialized before his eyes and then shook his head in disappointment and whispered, “I can’t believe you…” Yeah, our family can be a bit dramatic at times. Needless to say, I quickly ordered Souza’s book as well as this one by Amanda Lucidon {Michelle Obama’s personal photographer}. While Souza’s book hasn’t arrived yet, I can say without hesitation that Lucidon’s book is absolutely beautiful. There were points where I had tears in my eyes from the photos as well as the personal narratives. If you can, get it.

Now, it’s your turn… How was your Thanksgiving? Anything have you scratching your head or belly laughing?

Cheers,

Daenel T {Living Outside the Stacks}

 

 

 

 

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