By Trina, December 13th, 2009 | 139 views | 2 comments
I’m a person who loves coffee. Brewing it, smelling it, drinking it—I love everything about coffee. Another thing I love is seeing a company with a great cause. That’s why I’m suggesting you head over to Jumpy Monkey Coffee’s website and purchase a gift for the coffee lover in your life.
First thing, I love their coffees. They have amazing fresh roasted coffees that come in amazing flavors and varying roasts. My personal favorite is the Cinnamon Sticky Bun flavored coffee. Go to their online shopping page and browse the flavors. Most 12 oz bags are $8.00.
Second thing, I love their cause. Jumpy Monkey employs people with disabilities. Here’s what their About Us page says:
In June of 2003, Jumpy Monkey was acquired by Opportunities Unlimited in Sioux City, Iowa. Opportunities Unlimited (”OU”) is a rehabilitation facility that provides services to individuals that have sustained a traumatic brain injury, taking them back into the main-stream of life.
Successful rehab rates throughout the ten year history of OU, have risen to points as high as fifty percent. OU is an organization that truly lives its mission statement of “Maximizing Personal Potential Through Dignified and Purposeful Living.” One of the many key factors in the rehabilitation process is our vocational services where clients are able to again become a part of the work force and earn a paycheck.
Jumpy Monkey coffee roasting has become one of the key contracts serviced through the OU vocational area. In summation, with your purchase of Jumpy Monkey products, not only are you receiving a high quality, high value product, but you are also assisting in the employment of people with disabilities. Come pay us a visit, we would love to show you what we have to offer.
Not surprisingly, the coffee is roasted in my homeland of Northwest Iowa and employs some amazing Iowans.
Some of my happiest childhood memories were during the holiday season in my hometown of Ida Grove, Iowa. There were weeks of festive cookies, a real Christmas tree decorated to perfection, visits with loved ones, white blankets of snow and evenings spent opening advent calendars and Christmas cards. My mother would decorate the entire house so beautifully that holiday parties were an absolute must. On Christmas Eve, we would watch Christmas Vacation, eat Rueben sandwiches for dinner and attend the evening service at St Paul Lutheran Church to sing classic hymns in a candlelit sanctuary. To me, the holidays were truly magical and those family traditions made it so.
However, families naturally evolve: babies are born, loved ones pass on, folks marry in and people move away. My family is no exception. I live in Dallas, my brother’s family lives in Florida and the majority of my relatives are back in the Midwest. Unfortunately, a mega-trip to Iowa is not feasible every December and my family understands.
Over the last two years, this complicated geographic situation has given me the idea to come up with some of my own holiday traditions. I’m not sure what the final catalyst was—if it was the fact I’m becoming more and more like my mother every day OR if it was that my apartment seemed to lack the magic of my home in Iowa—but whatever it was, I’m glad it happened. Here are some of the holiday traditions I’m beginning:
Christmas Tree – to me, there is something seriously lacking in my home during the month of December if a Christmas tree is not present.
Last year, I went to Wal-Mart and procured a 6’ pre-lit artificial tree for approximately $25. To dress it, I bought a silver tree skirt, blue balls, gold balls and silver balls (all purchased at a discount store, for example Garden Ridge).
I have also purchased a few ornaments of my own throughout my adventures. Seeing these on my tree reminds where I’ve all been and how I’ve changed over the past few years. One of my favorites is a little lobster ornament from Rhode Island.
My Christmas Tree
Decorations – I come from a home where no room is spared from holiday décor, so naturally I had to put some things out…
I used the leftover gold and silver balls from the tree and put them around the apartment. Right now, I have some ornaments in the center of the dining room table. Last year, I scattered some around picture frames on my bookcase.
NOTE: Men do not seem to understand the need to have Christmas balls on the table or anywhere else besides the tree. I am not good at articulating my reasoning for this, but I’ve stayed adamant that they are indeed necessary.
Last year, I also purchased a garland (cheaply at a discount store) to string over the fireplace I had at my old apartment. This year I have put it over an archway in my current place. I really love how festive garlands make the apartment look.
Movies – When I was a kid, I LOVED the Christmas movies they used to show on TV. Frosty and Rudolph were two of my favorites. As an adult my tastes have changed a bit, and here are my favorites:
Christmas Vacation (it’s amazing how funny it as an adult, because I actually understand the jokes)
Music – There is something about Christmas music that really puts me in the holiday spirit. I don’t have any CDs of my own, so I put together this play list on GrooveShark:
Ogling at Christmas Lights – there are some unbelievable homes in the DFW metroplex, and seeing them all lit up is incredibly impressive. I get annoying excited by driving around and seeing how creative people can be.
These are just some of the things I have begun doing to create my own holiday traditions. No matter what your background, I’d love to hear how you have begun your own holiday traditions. Please share!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year again, and I’ve compiled my (shameless) annual wishlist. Unlike my childhood years where I flagged pages in the JCPenny Christmas catalog, this year I used the internet to provide links for reference and easy purchasing. Thank goodness for online shopping!
I wanted to share my list on Trina Left Iowa just in case any of my readers were thinking of buying me a gift or need gift ideas for a fellow twenty-something female. I found that Target.com had some great tools and lists for different personality types – my favorite lists for females were Corporate Diva and Urban Gourmet.
By Trina, November 25th, 2009 | 193 views | 2 comments
This Thanksgiving I will not be returning to my hometown in Iowa, and it is the first year I have been unable to make the trip home. Surprisingly, I am okay with this reality. Why? Although they will never replace my real family, I have developed a secondary family in the last few years, and I’m excited to celebrate this stomach-stretching holiday with them.
By Trina, November 23rd, 2009 | 223 views | 2 comments
Over the last 4 months, I’ve had an excessive amount of change happen in almost every facet of my life: work—I’ve switched positions from a travelling consultant to a stationary office worker, location—I stay in Dallas every week now (I actually feel like I live here now), financially—being local means I drive more and need to buy groceries so suddenly bills are going up, love life—Irish BF has moved to Dallas changing our ridiculously long distance relationship to a suddenly very short distance relationship, physical size—I’ve been expanding… All this drastic change has resulted in many things, but one in particular has bothered me to no end: severe neglect of my darling blog.
Courtesy of my beloved NPR, thisis a great animated video on how the flu invades your body and spreads. NPR’s Robert Krulwich and medical animator David Bolinsky are your visual guides in this viral journey. Once you get past the amazingness of it, you will wonder how we aren’t all dead by now.
Ah yes, it’s autumn yet again and that pumpkin-shaped hole in my heart has been filled. That’s right, the leaves are changing, the air is cooler, drunk people in burnt-orange shirts are wandering around Uptown Dallas on Saturday afternoons and Starbucks has their pumpkin-flavoring out. I LOVE this glorious time of year, and I want to sing these affections from my balcony.
For the last 3 falls, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing autumn in 3 very different states: Iowa, Rhode Island and Dallas. Each one has offered up something delightful in this already wonderful time of year, and I’m going to share my favorites from each with you…
Yesterday I received an eye-catching email from my former sorority, Delta Delta Delta (aka TriDelta), with the subject line: Friends Don’t Let Friends Fat Talk. Upon reading the content and checking out the website, I felt compelled to post something on my blog, because I may be one of the guiltiest women out there when it comes to this.
What is fat talk? The site defines it as:
Fat Talk describes all of the statements made in everyday conversation that reinforce the thin ideal and contribute to women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies. Examples of Fat Talk include: “I’m so fat,” “Do I look fat in this?”, “I need to lose 10 pounds” and “She’s too fat to be wearing that swimsuit.” Statements that are considered Fat Talk don’t necessarily have to be negative; they can seem positive yet reinforce the need to be thin — “You look great! Have you lost weight?”
I am terrible when it comes to fat talk… Like the majority of women, I have body image issues and frequently buy a one-way ticket to negative town. When I start the down negativity spiral, it really does have an effect on everything in my life. The other morning my pants were really tight, I got down on myself and it ruined my morning—I know I’m not alone on this kind of morning.
The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least with finding my groove in the new role at work and having my on-and-off-again long-distance Irish boyfriend move to Dallas, and I have found myself going a bit nuts… My zero-to-frustrated time is minimal, I’ve burst into tears twice and an early morning runner in my hose turned into an over-the-top dramatic event (there were witnesses too…). I may be a bit feisty, but this is too much even for me…something is out of wack.
In the past, I have written about the need to treat yourself for sanity’s sake and created a list of “treats” I give myself. In noticing my recent ridiculous and totally out of balance behavior, I realized that this list needs to be updated. What’s the additional sanity-saving treat? Blogging, of course.
The following is a post from one of my favorite people I have met since moving to Texas. Joel is a great guy who is definitely going to great places. He recently accepted a position working in China, and I’ve asked him to contribute to Trina Left Iowa with his experiences. He is another Midwesterner [...]
