Chicken Fried Steak

I'm a little sad because KFC in Illinois does not have chicken fried steak :-( At home in Utah, Mom and I would always get chicken fried steak at KFC, and I loved it! I bet I could get some chicken fried steak at Cracker Barrel in Mattoon sometime. I went to KFC this evening because I realized that I was falling into another vicious cycle where I did not have time to eat or sleep. I have food at my house--just no time to fix it. I got spoiled over Thanksgiving break when I had time to both eat and sleep! :-) Since they didn't have chicken fried steak at KFC, I got some chicken strips, which are pretty good. I'm at home for a minute, but then I need to go pick Dr. Hardeman up from one of the school judiciary committee hearings and go work on some house survey stuff with some of the other inmates (that's what Mrs. Miller calls us). :-) The other day we had a discussion about what an EIU Historical Administration student action figure would look like if there was such a thing. We decided that it would be really skinny (no time to eat), have white skin with black circles under its eyes, bloodshot eyes that could pop out of its head (no time to sleep), and have really grungy clothes (no time to do laundry). Ha ha. As the saying goes, "if you don't laugh, you'll cry."

I think I'll be at the library for a really long time tonight because I need to do some reading for class tomorrow, and I need to look at some items for one of my research papers. I was so excited today to see that an item I had ordered over interlibrary loan has just arrived. It's a microfilm of the Prud'homme family papers from Natchitoches, Louisiana that span from the 1700s to the late 1800s! It might night sound very exciting, but I am totally ecstatic and can't wait to go crank up the microfilm reader. That is one of my favorite strange secret hobbies: reading microfilm. Today in Dr. Reid's class we got to talk about how the South has memorialized its pre-Civil War past through the use of Confederate monuments and Southern Colonial revival-style architecture. I was in heaven! Well, I'm off to pick up Dr. H. and spend some quality time at school.

Oh, really quickly I just wanted to say a few words about my arch nemesis: Stanley Thayne. I've met Stanley Thayne before, but he probably doesn't remember me. But he is totally my arch nemesis! He is currently living the life that I thought I wanted, but things have worked out for the best for me. Stanley was an English major at BYU, but then decided he likes history, so he started entering papers in all of these LDS Church history paper competitions. He always beat me out--whether is was the Religious Education Student Symposium or the Mormon History Association, he was always the one who was one up on me. Then, I totally wanted to do the history graduate program at BYU, but didn't get in, but who did? Stanley Thayne. And he wasn't even a history major! Then, I submitted a paper to the Journal of Mormon History--the granddaddy of all Mormon scholarly publications, but it got rejected. Well, who has a 37-page article in the latest issue of the Journal of Mormon History? Stanley Thayne. Grrrrrr. Sorry I'm being mean--he just makes me so mad! :-) Although the editor of the Journal of Mormon History did contact me about submitting a paper that I presented in Salt Lake this summer, so there is still hope--I just need to find time to revise the article before submitting it. Like I said, I think things seriously have worked out for the best for me--even though I used to be really sad that I didn't get into the program at BYU. I bet that Stanley Thayne doesn't know how to draw museum exhibit floor plans, make a website, or judge the structural integrity of a historic house! :-) Just kidding--I shouldn't be mean.

When Tiffy Met Stanley

Usually when I write about something involving "Stanley," it is in reference to my arch nemesis--Stanley Thayne. You may remember some of my previous musings about how Stanley Thayne has been one-upping me ever since our first encounter in college. And the worst part is that he and I look alike (see photos)! He is my evil clone. Just kidding. But today I got to meet THE Stanley--Stanley Cup, that is.

Bright and early this morning the Stanley Cup--the holy grail of hockey--paid a visit to the Lincoln Home! The Cup was on its way to the State Fair, since it is currently in the possession of the Chicago Blackhawks who won the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. As you can see, it was a pretty big deal. The Springfield Police Department was in the neighborhood, along with our law enforcement rangers. At about 8:15, this big, black SUV rolled into the neighborhood, and out came the Stanley Cup.

While it was publicized that the Cup would be at the State Fair, its photo-op stops at the Lincoln Tomb and Lincoln Home were kept "secret." Here is today's staff with the Stanley Cup in front of the home. It was a pretty amazing opportunity to be so close to the historic, iconic Stanley Cup. And, I suppose the Stanley Cup sort of has a connection to Lincoln, since the Blackhawks won the Cup this year, and Lincoln fought in the Blackhawk War? Okay, that's quite a stretch. But it did feel very historic to see the Cup at the home.

The Stanley Cup is different than other sports trophies. If you win the Super Bowl or the World Series, your team gets its own trophy--so a new one is made every year. But there is only one Stanley Cup--it is the same year-after-year. Whichever NHL team wins the Stanley Cup gets to keep it until another team wins it; and each team that wins the Cup has an engraved silver plate added to the Cup. The Stanley Cup tradition started back in 1892 and has been part of American hockey since 1915. Even someone who isn't really into hockey can't help but feel something special about such a storied piece of history.

Greg was a trooper and got up early with me today to go see the Cup. He had a really long (or short, depending on how you look at it) night last night. Someone died, so he was gone from midnight until 3:30 a.m., but there's nothing like a cup of genuine Stanley to wake you up in the morning! This would be a good Christmas card picture, don't you think? Tiff, Greg, and Stanley. As you can see, it's a pretty good-sized trophy. It is tradition for the winning team to drink champagne out of the cup, but we didn't drink any champagne today.

Greg and I even had the opportunity to meet Jay Blunk, one of the Vice Presidents of the Chicago Blackhawks. His aunt lives in Springfield, and he wanted her to be able to see the Cup, so he was instrumental in arranging the trip to Springfield. He was really nice and even signed a hat for Greg and me. What a memorable morning! It's good that I had a good morning because the rest of the day was filled with sweaty, grouchy visitors :-)

Spring Break

As I was reading through the latest Mormon History Association newsletter that Mom sent to me, I was thinking, "Stanley Thayne will probably win the contest for the best graduate student paper again this year, and he'll probably be one of the presenters at the MHA conference in Sacramento this summer." So I was feeling kind of bad, imagining his picture plastered on the front of the next newsletter, but then I realized: there is no reason to feel bad. Because, Stanley Thayne doesn't get a spring break and I do!!!! Ha ha ha. I'm sorry if I'm being mean. It's just that he's my arch nemesis, and I am really excited to have a WEEK-LONG spring break! I love whoever planned the EIU calendar. I'm so excited to go home tomorrow!

My Evil Clone

Do you love the Christmas tree decorations? I put Aly's and my favorite things on the ornaments: BYU, New York (that's where Aly is from), the St. Louis Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox (that's Aly's favorite baseball team--I don't like them), Salve Regina (Aly's alma mater), and the Utah Jazz. It's hard to see in the picture, but on the star atop the tree we have Abe Lincoln himself. It now feels kind of Christmas-y here at the apartment. I even practiced some adaptive reuse techniques, as historic preservationists call it, in putting a Christmas wreathe on our door. We had a nice fall wreathe with fall leaves on it, and it's so pretty that I thought it would be a shame to take it down, so today I wired some holly berries onto it, put a big red bow at the bottom, and voila--we now have a Christmas wreathe!

So, remember how I talked about my arch nemesis Stanley Thayne yesterday? Well, my sister Lindy sent me the funniest picture she found online of Stanley. You can see him here (he's the one on the left) standing next to Dr. Alex Baugh, one of the BYU Church History professors. This photo was taken after Stanley Thayne won the Mormon History Association undergraduate student paper competition--the competition I was supposed to win with my paper about Confederate General Sterling Price and the Mormons! :-) But you see--I'm cool too--I can hang out with BYU Church History professors like Susan Easton Black, and I have cute nieces! :-) I'm just kidding about all of this, but it's kind of funny. As Lindy pointed out, in this particular picture of Stanley, he bears a strange resemblance to me. Lindy thinks that Stanley is my clone gone terribly wrong. Maybe he's my evil clone? So now he's living the life I thought I would have, and I'm living the one I'm supposed to have--it all makes sense now.

Today has been a good day so far. I had Historic Preservation this morning, which is one of my favorite classes, and we talked about preservation in the Western United States, which I especially enjoyed. After class Dan and I went over to the Tarble Arts Center (awkward few moments there) to speak with their director about the website we're going to be doing for next spring's exhibit. She is really nice, and I think the website won't be too terribly difficult, but what that we do here isn't difficult? :-) I am so excited for the exhibit opening next April because one of my all-time favorite BYU professors, Dr. Rugh, is coming out here to be our guest speaker!!! Our class was offered some grant money if we could find some visiting scholars to come speak to the public here about our exhibit topic--transportation history in the Midwest. I suggested Dr. Rugh, since she did her graduate work in Illinois, and she is the world's best travel and tourism guru/scholar. She agreed to come, and I am so excited to be able to show her around Charleston next year!

I've just been decorating for Christmas and doing homework this afternoon, and then later today I'll be going over to the Bauman's for dinner with the missionaries, then Angel and I are going to go visiting teaching. No rest for the weary!