What have I learned??

The excitement of the last few days has left me a little off kilter tonight. I want more. I swear I could take a dance class every single night of my life. The time during class feels like 10 minutes.

Some of my friends may not be familiar with the types of dance styles I am working on in my class. (Private lessons, might I add.)

The first class I learned the basic Fox Trot, Waltz and East Coast Swing. My second class I learned the basics of Tango, Rumba and Cha Cha.

Here are the examples of the styles of dance I am attempting:

Fox Trot:



Waltz:




East Coast Swing:



Tango:




Rumba:



Cha Cha:



My dance instructor taught me the basic steps (box steps, back/back/side, side/side/back, etc. etc.

Added a few turns, twists - and laughed the entire time.

It is amazing to be able to actually dance with someone who can 1. lead and 2. know what the hell they are doing.

Girls, let's be honest - few men can do that in America (unless they are trained.)

For someone who danced for years, it's refreshing and an awesome expression of art.

Can you hear that?? The pounds falling off?? And the fun begins..

Opposite of Healthy Living

What you see above are fried green tomatoes. Ever heard of them? They are quite the delicacies in the south. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of tomatoes, so I cannot tell you if these are good or not. However, I am told they are - so - go for it!

In the south, if it can be eaten - it can be fried. Seriously. Everything is fried. (Now you know how I got this girlish figure!) A signature dish for a true southern meal would include: fried chicken, green bean casserole, creamed corn,cornbread or buttermilk biscuits, creamy gravy, potato salad, and then add the following, fried: okra, pickles, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, eggplant.. etc. etc.

Not only do we fry it up, we have to have something to dip it in, right? The answer? Ranch dressing.

I must admit, it is not so much the fried item I crave, as it is the ranch dressing I am going to cover it in.

Once you have consumed all of these heavy foods - then we expect you to indulge into an array of desserts. Banana pudding (sorry Leanne ;-), pound cake, chess cake, peach cobbler.. etc. etc.

Makes me full just writing about it.

Important to know, depending on which state you are in, and which portion of that state, you will find different specialities.

Here is an example of what you might find traveling through the southern states (specifically what is known as the DEEP SOUTH - this is where I live):

Louisiana
Crawfish Étouffée



Jambalaya


Shrimp Alfredeaux


Crawfish Fettuccine


Pompano en Papillote


Red Beans and Rice


Shrimp Creole


Chicken Creole


Trout Meuniere


Sauce Piquante


Stuffed Bell Peppers


Blackened Salmon


Mirliton


Creole Baked Chicken


Shrimp Bisque

Mississippi
Grits with cheese

Crawfish

Flounder

Pizza with french dressing dip

Po Boys

Mississippi Mud Cake

Alabama
Fried Pies


Open faced sandwich made with butter and sugar


Alabama Pound Cake



Hog jowl



Pickled pigs feet



Pickled ham hocks



Blackeyed peas



Peanuts


peanut Butter Pie



Pecan Pie



Peanut Brittle



Cajun Frog Legs

Grilled Catfish with Strawberry Salsa.


Dinner Dogs


Chitterlings



Pork Belly



Smoked Pork Sausages


Granpa John's Traditional Cracklins



Alabama Barbecue Sauce (Mayonnaise as its base rather than tomato sauce, vinegar, or any of the other traditional barbecue sauce bases.)



Grits



Collard greens


Fried green tomatoes



Fried catfish



Fried corn



Sweet Potato Pie



Okra

Bread Puddin'

Cornbread

Greens



Fried Chicken



Squash ( Sauteed, casserole)

Georgia
Fried Chicken

Okra

squash

butterbeans

black eyed peas

Brunswick Stew

Boiled peanuts

Turnip greens

collard greens

muscadine grapes/homemade wines

Grits

Peaches

largemouth bass

vidalia onions

Pecan Pie



Rice


Hot breads or biscuits spread thick with homemade preserves.
 
Ham



Pork


BBQ


Cornbread
 
There you have it! A very small list of traditional foods each state prides itself on.
 
If you are from these states - what would you add? If you are in another state, what are the foods of your state (plus make sure you share which state you live in!)

Top Ten 7pm Cravings.. right now

"Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity." ~Voltaire

It is 7pm, and I just got home from my ballroom dance class. I am starving. BUT, I am too tired to actually fix anything.

Instead of standing in the kitchen and stuffing my face, I thought I would fantasize about my 7pm cravings.

Here is a top ten, in no particular order, of items I wish would magically surface on my dining room table!

1. Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip with warm blue corn tortillas.

2. Guacamole with chips

3. Lamb Gyro with extra Tatziki sauce (sp)

4. Curly fries with feta dip

5. Roasted chicken

6. Prime Rib with Horseradish sauce

7. Mom's mashed potatoes with her ham gravy

8. Cucumbers soaked in vinegar

9. Sweet & Sour Chicken with fried rice

10. Banana pudding

... hahaaa.. not very heart healthy, but it is simply just that - a craving.

Okay..

It is time to come back to reality - I think I will go for the left over pasta salad and a glass of water.

PS - Tonight dance class was EXCELLENT!

Also - the cat above? That's the begging kitty..

The Blogger's Concierge

Is this my moment??  Could it possibly be? Will I, Shauna Nicole Abdou, get the awesome opportunity of becoming an A-Lister.

I think.. maybe.. just maybe it could happen.

Okay - what am I rambling about? My dear bloggy-friend, Melissa, has teamed up with her partner in crime (or style) and decided to create their OWN blog networking site. How cooooool is that??

Here is the site: http://thebloggersconcierge.com/ Clearly you MUST join up if you have a blog. The more the merrier.

Right now she is asking for people to write about why they should be an A-lister and tell a little about my own blog.

Well - first of all, I hate to be the last to catch on to things. For once, I want to be on the cutting edge. I also noticed, a few of my other friends are joining up (LEANNE) and I must not be left behind by my other excellent writer friends.

Also - because it is waaaaaay cool. (How silly is that?)

Now - my blog?! Welllll.. let's see.

I guess I could tell the potential powers-that-be-that-decide-if-I-am-cool-enough-to-be-an-A-lister that I am a 30-something (more toward the 40 end of things) girl from Georgia. I now live in Birmingham, Alabama - I am married to an egyptian (who recently immigrated to the states.) I tend to blog about these very things (wait - did I say blog, or vent??)

And THAT my friends is what I do - I either share a topic that is near and dear to my heart, then I write about it. OR, I share my latest rant du jour. OR, I do a bit of photo blogging (of trips, or day in the life of.. etc.)

I don't have children, so I am not a mommy blog. I am not an expert in any one "field of interest" - soo.. I guess I hate pigeon holing myself into one genre.

Basically - I write about life. The good, the bad, the ugly. I make lists. I ask for your contributions to that list. I share every detail (that is appropriate.. umm.. this is not one of those blogs.)

In the end - I am always searching. Taking a journey. In the end - my Destination is still Unknown.

Sooo.. how did it go?

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

~Japanese Proverb

I am smiling.

I am back at home.

If you knew me 20 years ago, my one passion was dance. That's what I did. I took lessons several days a week - and honestly, it came naturally.

A few years later (about 5 after my last class), a group of us did a dance at Girl Scout camp. (I worked there) It was a performance for the kids. One of my closest friends, looked back at me and said - "You were really enjoying yourself, weren't you?"

I asked, "Why?"

She said, "I have never seen you smile so much and look sooo happy."

I came home tonight, and looked in the mirror. I don't think I have looked this happy in a long time.

Finally - I am back at home. Yeah, it was awkward.. sure I was nervous.. but I laughed the entire time. Had conversation, danced, it was all good.

Yes.. it was all good. Tomorrow - Cha Cha, Tango, Rumba. Tonight was Foxtrot, Waltz and East Coast Swing. Out of those the Swing had the trickiest foot work.

**smiling ear to ear**

Dancing.. Dancing.. Dancing.. she's a Dancing Machine..

There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good. ~Edwin Denby

This little girl is ME! Guess what she is going to do tonight?? Again? I am enrolling in yet another dance class. As you all know, I started out in ballet. As a matter of fact, the picture above is from my very first dance recital. I was a butterfly in 'Alice in Wonderland.' I just finished the 1st grade.

I LOVE dancing. It is the only form of exercise (outside of swimming) that I truly love. Yes, it is exercise. If you doubt me - take one class - just one, then let's talk.

I have taken years and years of ballet, tap, jazz & modern dance. As an adult, I took an Israeli Folk Dance Class and even 1/2 a year of Flamenco. NOW.. now my friends I am on to ballroom dancing. To be exact - LATIN Ballroom dancing.

*********screaming for joy************

My class is at 6pm and it is one hour. Woo Hoo! The first two classes are private. Then, on Friday night there is a social dance. *cringe* Definitely will be nerve wracking, being the new kid (again) and having to dance with people who are really good. But I figure, once I get the hang of this - how much fun it is going to be on Friday nights when they have their social dances??!!! I have a new hobby! My understanding is, they have different themes on Social Nights, and people actually come in costume. So I will be learning ALL social dances, but personally, I am signing up for the Latin ones. (I like to shake my hips! LOL)

I even noticed there is a Latin Cardio class. Hmmmm...

Wish me luck! I will let you know how it goes!!

What makes you come alive?

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

See these two? These two make me come alive. Above you see my niece, Autumn and my husband - the egyptian. I love these two creatures with all of my heart.

As I sat pondering "what makes me come alive," the first thing that came to mind is love. Pure and simple - LOVE. This is a word, 5 years ago, you would never have heard come from my mouth. NEVER. I spat on this word. (Is that a word - spat? Past tense of spit? ;-) ) Anyway.. you get the idea. I was jaded, I was cynical (more so than I am now), I figured "toughen up Nicole - it's just a fairy tale."

This is to say PERFECT love is a fairy tale. Because I don't believe in perfection. But I do believe in true love. With all of it's stumbling blocks, and laughs, and flaws, and fights.. I say fights - because anyone with an ounce of passion and concern could not escape love without fighting for it's existence. I fight/argue because I care. If I did not care - I would not fight. That's how you can tell how much you mean to me.. if I get upset over something, it's because I care. If I act nonchalant, it simply does not matter to me. Which in essence - does not make me come alive.

I thought I would make a list of items/people/places/etc. that make me come alive. In the end.. that's all I ever wanted was to feel passion and to truly live.

Nicole's List of Passions:

1. My love for God. For the believers, you can understand. For the non-believers, do not think of me as silly - it is such a major part of who I am. Don't worry - I am not a finger pointing freak. I am just a spiritual person. Good and bad.

2. My Husband - the egyptian. I love his fire, I love his smile, I love his zest for travel, I love the way he can make me feel when he chooses to show his love, I love him for the man he will one day be.

3. My niece (and family.) In the end, they are who made me. My sister (the only person in this world with the similar genetic make up) created another human being. Something I am unable to do. So in turn, 1/2 of that child has the genetic make up of me. As close as I will ever get to off spring.

4. My exhange students. Pennapa, Camille, Carole, Chiara, Patrick, Roslin, Jackie, Elena, Matt, Maria, Ilaria, Felipe, Kimhouy, and Mina. Each one spent numerous months if not a year living with me. These were my unofficial children and it was a great pleasure sharing my life with them. I love each and everyone.

5. Writing. I never claimed to be the best writer. Never once. I know I have so many typos, and I fail to spell check, and I write conversationally versus other (I can't help it - I was a broadcasting major) - but it is a passion of mine. It makes me come alive. I have no problem pounding out ideas. I could sit here and type all day long and never lose a beat.

6. Photography. I love visual stories. Capturing images. I like to tell stories through pictures/video - etc. I need to tell a story. I like to share concepts and ideas. If this was taken away from me - I think I would shrivel up and die.

7. Fighting for human rights. I am a STRONG believer that everyone has the right to form an opinion, express that opinion, and decide for himself what he or she would like to do with his life or how to live it. It is not any one person's place to tell another how to live their life, or what their perception of that life should be. I will stand up for those who may not be able to stand up for themselves. I will educate others, spread the truth, and insist we let others live in peace.

8.I am a big believer in animal rights.

9. Travel. Experience. It is so important to step outside of our comfort zones. To see other countries, cities, cultures, other realities. How can you form a truly educated opinion if you do not allow yourself the opportunity to be challenged?

10. Finally - I am passionate about literacy. I spend a huge chunk of my day just reading and writing. I have a personal written journal, a prayer journal, this online journal, and I am always reading about 3 books at a time (one fiction - one inspirational - one  about some new thing I am trying to learn  - like now, I am trying to understand container gardening.) I have several magazine subscriptions that I read cover to cover: American Prospect, Psychology Today, National Geographic Travelor, Bloomberg's Business Week, Scientific American, Real Simple.

What ten things (or share at least the top 5 ) things that make you come alive??!!

Ode to my Dad - Jackie (Jack) Emerson Thurston

"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. "

~Clarence Budington Kelland

This is a picture of my father in southeast Asia. I love this picture. It reminds me to keep that adventurous spirit. To travel. To be brave. To enjoy life.

My father is a quiet man. He is a man of few words. What I can tell you about him is that he loves to smoke a good pipe, he enjoys the written word, he enjoys the peacefulness of the outdoors, and he has an impeccable handwriting.

My father worked really long, hard hours when I was growing up. Too many. Still too many. But the quality time we spent with him was either talking, playing or laughing.  He would read books to my sister and I. He would play his records on the stereo. He would fiddle with his black powder rifles. He would piddle in the yard. That was my dad. Hard working. Quiet. Peaceful.

My father is actually very intelligent. He was valedictorian of his high school. He went on to college to study engineering, but left in order to join the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He traveled all over the place: Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines. He lived over there for several years. He came back and finished his college degree in Sociology.

Later he met a hot little blond southern belle - married - and began a family. In turn, he needed a job that paid the bills - so he began working for a milk company. He worked for Borden Dairy for over 20 years. Later he retired from there and went on to work at another Dairy company - and that is where he is today.

I often thought he could have done something else. He is entirely too smart - but I believe in my heart of hearts, he must find some sort of peace in it. Why else would he stay in the same job for so many years? It always concerns me on how hard he works now - his health is deteriorating, and I want his golden years to be spent in peace and happiness...

On to Father's Day memories...

One of my favorite memories involves one Saturday afternoon my dad (which I called daddy or daddy jack) took my sister and I to the park at a local college. He purchased happy meals from Mickey D's or a bucket of chicken (I can't remember which!) and paper kites. Luckily it was a very windy day - and we were taught how to fly a kite. Very exciting!!

I have many fond memories of my father. He was from Indiana, and all of his family decided to stay in the Midwest. My father came to Georgia by way of Robins Air Force Base. That's where he met my mother. (At a party!) We would spend a few summers up in Indiana. What do I remember? Corn fields, bad mitten, and people picking on me for my southern accent. ;-)

This Father's Day I wanted to share some of my memories of my dad. Most are good. Unfortunately my mother had to wear the hat of disciplinarian, so it is always easier to pick on her. ;-) Since dad worked all the time, my memories are a little different.

I am blessed beyond belief to have such strong men as role models in my life. My father is a good man. My mother's father was a good man. My father's father was a good man. I have since wanted only good, strong, intelligent men in my life. I am thoroughly impressed by a man who openly loves his wife, stands by his family and supports them completely, and has strong morals. There is nothing more valuable than that. I often feel sorry for my friends that come from broken homes. Not in a "oh you pitiful thing" way. Because I can assure you, you don't know what is missing if you never knew it.

I often joke and say I am a serial monogamer. I don't date around. I think it is because I came from a strong family background. You can imagine how devastating it was to divorce my first husband. (A VERY smart idea.. but hard one to make.) I hold very high standards for the men in my life - be it an intimate relationship or friendship. The major relationships in my life, unfortunately, did not have strong father figures. None of them had this powerful force to help shape them as men. (except for one.) I often think that explains so much in how a boy develops into a man. It is amazing to see how each one of them truly looked up to my father. In some ways, he was that role model so many did not have. (Yet, I doubt my father even realized it.)

To all of the fathers out there reading this today - remember you are shaping your son's reality. Your actions are teaching your boys how to treat women, how to provide for a family and how to inspire and lead others around you. If you have a daughter, you are showing her what a true, good solid man is. You are teaching her what is acceptable and not acceptable behavior from her husband.

I only hope that each of my family friends have a wonderful father's day. Moms get a lot of attention - while dear, ol' dad sits back in the shadows working hard, and trying to provide. Let's celebrate DAD today!

I will do so by sharing some of my favorite pics of my father and I! Enjoy!

Well - we will start with a more recent pic - here is my father with my mom!

I had to share this one - this is one of my dad and my niece having a tea party.... and let's just say, it's not his first trip to a tea party!! (You'll see soon!)

Being a Lady

For lack of something better on television, I am watching Legally Blonde on TBS.

With all of the pink Elle Woods wears, it made me think about what does it mean to be girlie? I think girlie is one thing - but what about Lady Like?

I like the idea of being "lady-like." Am I good at it? Hmmm..

If you asked me to describe what it means to be a lady and what would that look like, I would describe it with the following pictures.

I visualize - lace gloves, french twist, a string of pearls, a black pencil skirt, tea parties, garden parties, white bedding, simple diamond ear rings.. just see for yourself! In the comment section - tell me what you would add!