One Heartbeat

I'm in Florida visiting my in-laws. Its been a week of incredible weather, good food, great company. I expected, at the end of this trip, to be signing onto my newly found blog, and telling you all about the thrilling time I had down here... instead I'm captured with an entirely different moment.

I woke up on Monday morning at about 8:45, wide awake. Now most of you know me enough to know that I'm never wide awake before about 11 am, but for some reason, I was up, and wanting to check my Facebook. I almost wish I hadn't. If only I had turned over and closed my eyes, maybe this would have just turned out to be a dream. If only.... As I'm sure all of you know, as many of you are living it with me, my beloved Alma Mater, the heart of many beautiful memories, the place I would love to bring my someday children back to, has been struck with a horrid blow. During homeroom on Monday, Chardon High School came under attack by a student who had no business even being there. A student who was waiting for his bus to take him to an alternative school, who lived a hard life, came from a broken home, perhaps dealt with bullies in every aspect of his life, though perhaps not, decided that he deserved something else... So he brought a gun to this peaceful little school and killed... Three lives that hadn't even begun are now gone, hundreds of others are forever changed, and my little town will never be quite the same.

I'm sitting here, thousands of miles away from this tragedy, days after the event, with tears running down my face. The cliche of "I never thought it could happen here" couldn't be more true. Its like a terrorist in Pleasantville... this is the town where we leave keys in the car, where your door is always open, and neighbors really do come over to borrow a cup of sugar. The weekly police blotter has news feeds like "Man calls police because neighbor's sheep were loose and eating his petunias" not "student goes on deadly rampage and kills three"..... unbelievable... I want to convince myself its a lie, but CNN and Fox keeps reminding me that it is horribly and terribly true...

Amidst all of this, I have never been more homesick. I desperately love this place. I would send my children there gladly, and I pray that somehow the students, who will once again fill the halls with laughter, will be able to refind that sense of innocence and peace you should have in high school, though I fear it will not come for years yet.... I have witnessed incredibly displays of love and compassion. My coworkers, back in Missouri, have thrown their arms open to me, sharing their disbelief, my friends all over the country have been a wall of support for one another as we all wish to go home when we cannot. But more than anything my beautiful town has shown the world how wonderful it is. Prayers, love, support, these are the things that the world is witnessing. Through this horrible event, love is the primary focus. The schools in surrounding communities have banded together, wearing red, sending pictures of camaraderie and love to this town. "You are not alone in this, we will help carry you, we'll be your heartbeat if yours falters" they seem to say. One heartbeat... one of love. It is a loud battle cry from the Hilltoppers. We will not be destroyed by this. We will band together, and the Lord will use this for good to bring many to Him. Praised be His name.... The students will be able to go back into the school on Thursday to simply be there and process. On Friday classes will resume, and the first victim will be laid to rest... please join with me in praying for these children....One town, one great community, One Heartbeat....

Yum...

Similar to my blog situation, I ignored pinterest for a long time. Though this was more because I didn't understand it. I had gone to the site and browsed before, but it just didn't seem like it had any worth... man was I wrong. For the past few weeks now I have been pinning recipes like mad. I also have actually been making those recipes, and wow the things I've discovered! I love baking, always have. Its a dream of mine to one day open an old fashioned soda shoppe with candy, baked goods, and perhaps some casual food (kinda like Presti's in Little Italy, but cuter). However, I often am grasping for inspiration. Sometimes seasons or special occasions will spur on my desire to make something new, but usually its simply finding a great new recipe. Thank you pinterest for trying to destroy my attempts at losing ten pounds before our cruise in March.... so far I'm winning the battle, but these recipes...

A few weeks ago I made a decadent Lemon Blueberry cake for small group, tomorrow I'm making my first attempt at a crock pot dessert, but today... oh today... dinner was a wonderful chicken and dumplings and caramelized carrots. The chicken and dumplings were a super easy crock pot recipe, very yummy.

The real kicker, however was the bread... the pain in my side, super sticky, oh so worth it bread.... When I first pinned this bread it was for Ryan (the hubby). He loves cinnamon bread, and this one was one of the better recipes I had seen in a while. Pumpkin cinnamon pull apart bread... delicious. Now my first attempt was not nearly as pretty as the blog I got the recipe from ( Sunny Side Up in San Diego: Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread) but I'm willing to bet it tasted better than her loaf did, if only because I ran for an hour before eating it.... Yum...

Now I just need to figure out how to miniaturize it for my Old Fashioned Soda Shoppe...

And it begins...

Thats right ladies and gentlemen, or in this case empty mass of internet... I am joining the blog world... When I first stumbled upon blogs, after living in some world without internet for awhile, I decided that they were fun to read, entertaining, but certainly not for me. Who would want to read about my lame, boring, simple life? No one! After all, I'm not interesting, witty, anything that you must be to be a great blogger... And so I would return to my list of blogs to read and think vaguely of the things I would say if it were my blog. Then I woke up. I realized most of the blogs I read were from lame, boring, simple life people... and I loved them! So here I am... for the past few weeks I have fought the urge to blog, but slowly but surely, the glorious world of social connection has broken me down, and I decided to give it a shot....

So... my introduction to me and my blog. I am a twenty something, married, no kids, animal loving, travel bug, who loves to bake, garden, and fix up our 'first old house'. I love writing, and will probably be long winded... I apologize... I also will be boring at times, helpful on occasion, and hopefully, at least once, you will find this chunk of internet entertaining...

What's in a name... My current blog name, and I say current because I'm sure this whole page will change with experience, is me in a nutshell. Gypsy spirit - my travel lust... I hate staying in one place. I want to explore, see the world, experience new cultures! Luckily my husband gets to travel quite a bit for work, and I try to tag along whenever possible... Pioneer stock - My mom always said that Whitley women (her maiden name) are made from tougher stuff than most. We're pioneer stock, our ancestors traveled this country and touched its outer limits before the land was tamed. We have held onto that bloodline. We're spunky, stubborn as they come, strong, like to get things done, and yes, love to expand the horizon and see what's beyond that mountain. Of course this is all while wearing a dress and being as feminine as possible... What will I blog about? Generally, my life, specifically, things that I bake, places I travel, and the crazy world of weird people and interactions I live in. Welcome to my adventure!