The Look of Lincoln Home

Since all of our staff here at the Lincoln Home is getting fired, I am now the official webmaster for the park. I have had web experience, and I helped create the website for Natchez National Historical Park, so it's not a totally crazy thing--but our other web guy Matt was awesome. So I can't take credit for the awesomeness of the website, although I have added a few little things to enhance the image of the Lincoln Home. If you'd like to check it out, you can visit the Lincoln Home website at: http://www.nps.gov/liho/index.htm. Thanks to Matt, it is one of the coolest NPS websites I've ever seen.

On a more important note, December is birthday month! Happy Birthday today to Sidney, and Happy Birthday on Sunday to Mom and Mary Lincoln!!! December is truly a month of happy celebrations. I hope Mom had a wonderful birthday and that Sidney has a great day today.

Ice is Not Nice

Even though it is not yet officially winter according to the calendar, I think most people across the country would contend that winter has officially arrived. It is SO COLD outside!! My drive to work this morning was the worst ever. It was snowing a little when I left the house, but it didn't seem too bad on the roads. I left a little earlier than usual and drove a little slower than usual just in case there was ice on the roads. You couldn't see any ice, but I figured that since it had been snowing through the night and it was below freezing, chances were good that ice could have formed. Everything was good until I was driving up the hill past Oak Ridge Cemetery. I was driving in the left lane when I saw the guy in a Ford Explorer next to me hit a patch of black ice. He started to spin out and then slammed on his breaks--which caused him to spin 180 degrees. I immediately started tapping on my breaks--because I could feel that there was ice under my car too--but there were cars behind the Explorer in the right lane, so I couldn't swerve out of the way. He started to slide head-on towards me, and I knew I was going to get hit. At that point I totally freaked out and basically gave up driving so I could brace myself for impact. The only way I can explain what happened next is that someone was watching out for me and took over driving at that point. One moment the Explorer is coming right at me, then I felt my car swerve, and the next minute I was untouched and safely past the Explorer. The Explorer guy hit the median, and it looked like he was going to flip over, but he just bounced up onto the median and stopped. It was totally crazy and I was shaking for the next 30 minutes. That was one close call, and I am grateful to have gotten to work unscathed.

When I arrived at work, an Illinois State Policeman was there for our monthly safety meeting. The topic of the meeting was . . . defensive driving. :-) Someone asked the policeman what to do about black ice. He said, "Well, the first thing is, don't panic." Ooops! That's the first thing I did.

Julmarknad

Hooray for a three-day weekend! Since I am transitioning to my new work schedule (Tuesday-Saturday), I got an extra day off this weekend--which was especially helpful because Greg and I were able to get a lot done at the condo. We still have a lot left to do, but we're making good progress. The place will look awesome when we're done.

Over the long weekend I was also able to go on a fun outing with my friend Crystal (a fellow ranger). One day she and I discovered that we both have Swedish ancestors (mine is Great-Grandpa Gustave Fredrickson). So, in celebration of our Swedish heritage, we took a trip up to Bishop Hill, Illinois, which was founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 1840s. My last trip to Bishop Hill was with my friend Linda when I was her intern at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. That was a rather sad trip because we were going up there to help the people at the Bishop Hill State Historic Site prepare to close (due to budget cuts). But the site was reopened earlier this year, and life has returned to Bishop Hill. Crystal and I went there for Julmarknad--the annual Christmas Market. It was so much fun! All of the shops were decorated for Christmas, and we had some amazing Swedish meatballs (and pie!) at the cutest restaurant: The Red Oak.

There were also some traditional Swedish Christmas characters running around town. Our favorite was the Julbock or "Yule Goat." He was so funny. We learned that the Julbock runs around bringing presents to kids. He was walking around Bishop Hill ringing a bell and making sheep noises. He also liked to hide behind trees and jump out to startle unsuspecting visitors. He was followed around by two little "tomtes." A tomte is a little elderly man who has a long beard and also brings Christmas presents to kids. The Bishop Hill tomtes, however, were little kids with fake beards. They were really funny too. Crystal and I had a great time celebrating both our Swedish heritage and the Christmas season!

Tennessee and Turkey

Well, I have quite a bit to catch up on! It has been very busy here with trips, holidays, and house buying. It is true--Greg and I are now officially home owners! Yesterday afternoon we closed on our cute condo. We even went and bought paint and scheduled the carpet guy to come measure for carpet tomorrow, so things are under way. It will take a bit of work to get the condo into tip-top shape, but it will look great when we are finished. Last night when we dropped the paint off at the condo, we were walking around and couldn't believe that it is actually ours! It's a little scary--but very exciting--to take the house-buying plunge. So that is the latest news, but here is some catch-up on the fun holiday week we had:

On Friday, November 20, Greg and I got all packed for our fun Tennessee/Utah Thanksgiving trip. Greg took the dogs to the doggy hotel in Petersburg, but Lily was going to be staying at our house by herself (with Greg's boss coming over to check on her). I felt bad that Lily was going to be home alone, so I got her a pirate ship. She absolutely loves it. It was funny to watch her with it that night. She liked pulling it onto its side using the little pirate hat toy, then she would drag the entire ship around the house. It seems to have kept her entertained during the time we were gone, and she still loves to run in and out of it. Tonight she even pulled the dogs' snowman toy aboard. So Lily and the dogs did great while we were gone.

On Saturday, November 21, Greg and I took off to meet Sarah, Joel, and Eliza in Tennessee. We decided that Tennessee is a good middle point between Illinois and South Carolina, and the Agates discovered a cool Civil War town near Nashville, so we wanted to check it out. On our way, before meeting the Agates in Franklin, Tennessee, Greg and I stopped at a cool Civil War fort in Nashville. As you can see, the fort is literally located in downtown Nashville.

Nashville was the first Confederate state capitol to fall into Union hands (1861). After capturing Nashville, Union troops built Fort Negley to secure the city and provide a stronghold from which to coordinate military operations in the area. It was a really cool place to visit.

Then we went down to Franklin and met Sarah, Joel, and Eliza at the beautiful Carnton Plantation. It was so fun to see them! Carnton was used as a hospital during the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, when Confederate troops were trying to make their way up to take back Nashville. The bestselling book Widow of the South is based on Carnton and the lady of the house, Carrie McGavock, who took it upon herself to see that 1,481 hastily-buried soldiers be re-buried on Carnton property. Meticulous records were kept, and Carnton currently claims the largest privately-owned Confederate cemetery in the country. While Sarah, Joel, and Eliza explored the cemetery, Greg and I went on a tour of the house (the Agates had seen the home before). It was a very interesting tour, and it was so neat to be at the home at the same time of the year and during the same time of day as when the battle took place. At this Thanksgiving time of year, it made me especially grateful for all of the men and women on both sides--north and south--who sacrificed their means, their homes, and their lives to make America a more free and unified nation.

The next morning we went out exploring in Franklin. Eliza loved checking out cemeteries and hiking up to the lookout point from which Confederate generals scoped out the field of battle. She loved being with "Uncle Greggy." That evening we watch the Real Salt Lake soccer team win the MLS championship--becoming the first professional sports team from Utah to win a championship!

On Monday we went to the Carter House in Franklin. It was such a neat place. There weren't very many homes in Franklin at the time of the battle, and the Carter House got caught right in the middle of everything. The Carter's son Todd (a Confederate soldier) was shot near his home and was brought back to the house where he died the next day. The Carter family had to hide with some of their neighbors in the basement of the home during the battle. It is hard to imagine how terrible that must have been.

Eliza is quite the Civil War history buff. She loved posing for pictures out in front of one of the Carter's outbuildings. She is so cute and sweet. It was very fun to see the Agates. We were sad when we had to leave on Monday afternoon, but we were grateful for the time we had to spend with them. The Agates headed back to South Carolina, and Greg and I took off for St. Louis.

On the way up to St. Louis, we stopped to see Superman in Metropolis, Illinois. He is very large. Once we got up to St. Louis we checked into the Crowne Plaza St. Louis Airport hotel which was awesome! We got a sweet deal on the room, and we even got to park there for free while we were in Utah. Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool and the waterfall/river that went through the lobby of the hotel. It was a great place to stay.

Early on Tuesday, November 24, we took the shuttle to the airport and flew to Utah. It was so fun to be home!!! Mom picked us up at the airport, and we had a delicious brunch at one of our favorite restaurants: Left Fork Grill. We went up to BYU to visit Dad that afternoon and enjoyed some delicious BYU Creamery ice cream. That evening some of our favorite friends, Emily and Nick, came over for a pizza party. I thought that I had a great idea: for dessert we would eat Greg's and my anniversary wedding cake (since we were in Illinois for our anniversary, and the cake was in Mom and Dad's freezer). The cake looked good, smelled good, and the frosting even tasted good, but . . . when we bit into the cake, it was horrible! It tasted exactly like Chloraseptic throat spray. So much for my good idea. But luckily Mom and Dad had some tasty ice cream as a backup, and thankfully we discovered that the cake tasted terrible before Emily and Nick had a chance to try it :-) Despite the cake disaster, we had a great evening playing games and catching up on everything. On Wednesday Greg and I ran a few errands and baked some pies with Mom, then we all (including Dad and Rich) were able to go visit Grandpa Taylor and Grandma Cathy. It was wonderful to see them! Then we went and had a delicious dinner at our favorite place: La Casita.

Thursday was Thanksgiving Day! The Barretts came over, and the girls prepared some cool candy boats to put around the table. Mom and Lindy made so much delicious food. My contribution was the corn pudding. The table was full of turkey, stuffing, yams, potatoes, gravy, rolls, and many yummy pies. It was heavenly--but the best part was being there with my family. After out Thanksgiving feast we went over to the park to play. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon!

On Friday we had a nice relaxing day. While Greg went to spend time with his family (his parents came up from Arizona), I did some shopping with Mom. Then in the evening the Barrett girls came over (looking very festive) and we had a fun pizza/movie night together. Saturday was another great day--it was the BYU/Utah football game! That morning Greg and I had pictures with his family, then we took our parents to breakfast and had a great time together. That afternoon we went over to the Barretts' for a football party. It turned out to be quite an exciting game, and in the end BYU was victorious (it even went to overtime)! On Sunday morning Greg and I had to fly back to St. Louis. Mom and Dad took us to the airport and, as always, it was sad to leave. But we were very grateful for the fun trips we'd had and for the time we were able to spend with our family and friends. We have so much to be thankful for.

Fall at the Lincoln Home