Eventful Weekend :)

Florida was a blast of course!! H and I always find trouble.. I mean have fun :) My blog time is limited... so here's the recap...

~ I made it to Greensboro right on time... even got to sit for about 10 minutes before my plane boarded!
~ Friday night I crashed a dinner party for H's event team. Mushroom caps with sausage and cheese.. mmm, and that was just he appetizer. Plus I got a hug from M's nephew Spencer to bring home to her :)
~ Sat morning I got in my 5 mile run. All flat!! Except for the sketchy yellow S2000 I saw 5 times it was a good run.
~ K, H and I saw the new Dirty Dancing Havana Nights movie. I recommend it. I was a little scared it would be corny.. or just bad, but it was a good flick. Lots of dancing. The main character is beautiful!
~ Then I dyed both their hair. Why they trust me who knows. Both turned out looking great though. H got the strawberry blond/light red she has been trying to achieve for some years now, and K a lighter/brighter shade of brown with some nice highlights.
~ H and I went to a mystery dinner theatre. The show Reunion. Of course H guesses the murdered correctly! One of the couples at our table was very nice and fun to talk to. It was a fun experience!
~ Then... we hit up 8 Seconds :) Watched a couple bull riders at their outdoor arena.. it was too cold though so we headed inside for line dancing!! WOOHOO!! I don't even want to think of when the last time I went was... prob back in June!! They actually had some decent dancing. Could have been worse, could have been better. Seems all they know how to do is shuffle step and cha-cha. H and I were spoiled with the variety and difficulty of the dances here at Kicks.. I guess you might call us line dancing snobs :) haha. We couldn't even remember a quarter of the dances we know though!! Very rusty. They did play some awesome music though.. old stuff.. mark wills, rhett akins, shane minor, copperhead road, funky cowboy.. as well as current TOP 40 including Gary's latest :) A surprising number of guys were out there line dancing too, and they were actually better dancers then the ladies!
~ Sunday we spent all day in Plant City at the FL Strawberry Festival! Typical county fair, games, animals, 4H, food, craft vendors, games, shows, food, rides, games and more food! :) We saw roosters, chickens, rabbits, cows, and pigs. We saw Racing Pigs, a juggling redneck who thought he was funny, another singer that though he was real funny :) We played a couple games, H won a plush flower in basketball game, I won a bear in the guess my age/weight game. The main reason for going to the festival was because we had LONESTAR tickets. They were really good! Didn't play for a real long time, but were very personable on stage which was fun. People kept bring them strawberry creations, strawberry fudge, strawberry hotdog, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry shortcake, strawberry shakes, strawberry kabobs.... you name it they sampled it! For the last 4 or so songs they let everyone rush the stage.. always fun! I will post the pictures one day :) A bunch of farms had stands set up between the parking and the fair grounds. I couldn't pass up all the fresh fruit and veggies... so I managed to haul strawberries, grapefruit, onions, corn and tomatoes on the plane with me. Mmm Mmm good :)
~ Monday, I made it to my gate with about 3 minutes to spare :) haha! One day I will be early.. one day!

We packed a lot into 3 days!! Can't wait to do it again!!

Sleep!

Something I have not been gettin enough of this week. I will have to get back to enforcing my bedtime next week. Especially with all this training... I have been totally worthless today!

So my bro wants some commentary on last nights Bachelorette Finale. First of all.. why can't it be from 8-10?? I'm surprised I lasted til 11. Ok back to the show. There are lots of rumors circulating the message boards that she knew from day one who it would be. If so.. why lead Matthew on so much. "Since meeting you I'd be honored if this ended in a ring"? Come on now! That was just wrong! Of course my opinions are a bit skewed because Matthew is my type.. and I have never really thought that much of Ian. M had said all along Meredith would fit into Ian's lifestyle better... she predicted she would want to live the glamorous life in NYC. So it wasn't really a big surprise when she told Matthew there was a but. I will say her break-up speech wasn't bad. I would hate to be in her shoes. Matthew was nothing but a Texas gentleman. Full of class. Took it like man. Meredith with her guilt settin in didn't take it so well. If she would just shut up and say good bye these rose ceremonies would go so much better. She's usually the one that can't let go. Not the guys!! Matthew (as portrayed by ABC) seems to be a genuine great guy that hopefully will find someone way better suited for him then Meredith!! Back to Ian. Seems they are in love and caught up in each other for the moment. That's cool. Disappointed Ian got caught up in the moment and didn't stick to the logical side of him that I like. (back up - it was cool on the home dinner date when Ian was like there's two of us.. you have to choose, I hate for it to not be me and know this communication we have shared is fake... you got two days left.. he is pretty straight forward.. I liked that) Back to the ring.. what about the whole "This has been really fast and I don't want to propose with the chance it won't last" Obviously the emotions took over his common sense. Of course I hope it works out :)

Random note: I don't think I liked one outfit Meredith wore on the show. Supposedly she is a make-up artist which would lead me to believe she has style.... well she might.. but not a style I like. That hot pink patent leather jacket she wore picking out rings. I'm glad she didn't go with Matthew.. they wouldn't let her wear that in Texas!

So tomorrow it's off to Orlando :) :) :) I hope this snowstorm doesn't hose up my flight!!

Chef Jilian

This weekend was lots of fun!! We had a full house sat and sun including the little ones B watches in the mornings. It was nice to relax in the burg for the weekend, plus I got lots accomplished. We cleaned up the boxes that have been in corners since we moved in (7 months ago!). Hung up quite a few things including a new message board and coat rack. My room is 3/4 of the way clean! Still one junkie corner though. But it's progress. I found lots of picture frames that had never been unpacked along with a long lost screwdriver! We hung another shelf in the duck bathroom.. now there are many more ducks on display! It's actually feeling kinda homey now :)

Saturday morning I had my first 5 mile training run. Hit the huckleberry. The weather was a little chillier then I had hoped to start. Lots of wind. I hit 10:10, 10:10, 10:10, 11, 10 splits. Not a bad pace for me. It felt good and my shin didn't give me too many problems. I got this race, no problem! :)

Ok so back to the title. Chef Jilian. Don't know why but I was a cooking machine this weekend. I hit Wal'Mart after work friday then headed home and cooking up some glazed salmon for dinner... mmmmmmmm! Then made my food for the stampin party saturday. I made one of my mom's cheese spreads I hadn't had in ages. Cream Cheese, Dry Ranch, Pepper and Paprika! Tried out a new recipe I found on food network for lemon bars. Angel food cake, lemon and cocoanut base with a cream cheese icing. The stampin party was on the small side so I was a little bummed only 5 people would get to enjoy my food. I don't know why but when I cook I like lots of people to eat it! Everyone loved the dip and lemon bars and kept going back for more so I wasn't so bummed :) Saturday night was a replay of the Italian Orange Roughy I made a week or so ago. It was even better the second time around. I served it with Lime Asparagus and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Lip Smacking.. and really easy to make. I discovered I really really enjoy trying out the recipes in my books and magazines now that I have some time :) It's a challenge to create healthy tastey meals!

Long Time No Talk :)

Can't think of too many exciting stories from this week... here's a recap of some events...

~ I am now a mid-level developer :)
~ Tomorrow completes week 3 of my 12 week 1/2 marathon training program
~ Caught some more Lanny on THE MEN TELL ALL last night :)
~ Signed up for the 9th Annual Hargray Shamrock 5K Run
~ Made reservations to eat at The Lady and Sons. Paula Deen's Restaurant in Savannah :) mmmmm!
~ Applied for my passport :)
~ Hung out with a long lost friend :)
~ We can actually see our driveway now... at least a tires width of it!
~ This weekend is do laundry, clean house, and finish projects weekend!
~ BLUE got spoiled today and she is now all sparkly clean!!
~ One hour til the weekend begins!

guess what... it's snowing!

big surprise huh?? well I can no longer say I have not fallen on the ice. yes our driveway is still ice covered though most of the snow has disappeared. I stopped at the top to check the mail on mon or tues night and when I went back to get in the car I started sliding. I think it was a graceful fall though. Not a ker-plunk... but more a sliding catch myself on the way down fall :) haha

3 days til Daytona!! I have entered two fantasy leagues this year and am playing to other games on nascar.com. So much fun!! This is my first attempt at 'real' fantasy sports involving trading, salary caps, etc. One league is against my bro and some guys he works with. He's been talking trash saying 'watch out for the wrath of fath'... I agree the wrath of 'lil fath :) The other league is a bunch of folks from YL. I keep you updated on my fantasy skills :)

Does anyone watch the Bachelorette?? Well M and I have been watching this season. We aren't real fond of Meredith but hey, makes it fun to watch and comment on :) We picked Lanny from the get go as our fav guy. Cute baptist horse breeder from Texas :) He proved to be a good guy too... way to good for Meredith. Last night was the home town dates. Interesting. Lanny's mom rocks! Well Meredith decided she didn't see herself living the country life and Lanny didn't get a rose. M and I celebrated!! Granted we have no earthly clue why she chose Chad over Lanny.. but anyways. So now we have a mission. How can we ensure M and Lanny's paths cross?? I think M and I need to take a road trip to Dallas!

I have been on a mission the past couple months to find these beauty products in stores that I found online. Totally Juicy and Binge. I have been unsuccessful.. but noticed today you can now buy them online. So I ordered a couple things. I will let you know if they are worth checking out. I really liked the old line of Freeman products the are now long gone.

One last random thing. Kenny Chesney. When the Sun Goes Down. Awesome. A thanks for reminding me it came out and telling me how good it is. Haven't picked a favorite song yet... they are all good!! 2 - 5 - 8 - 10 - 11 :) haha Check it out!

What a long weekend..

...at least it felt like it. Friday H and J came over for dinner. I was all excited to try some new recipes from my Light & Tasty magazines. Italian Orange Roughy and a Broccoli Medley. Both were very yummy. Thanks to M and H for being my guinea pigs! Sat I struggled through my 4 mile morning run. I sure hope this gets easier. I spent lots of time decorating valentines wrapping paper and making cards with all my Stampin' Up stuff. It was good to finally use the crafts I've been spending $$ on :) B, M and I hit up Kabuki's to celebrate M's 25 birthday! Then we headed downtown to meet up with some of M's friends. It was a really fun night! I was talkin all kinds of shuffleboard trash.. and luckily I backed it up! Sun was a great day getting things done around the house. I can see my desk again! Made some homemade ice cream.. it was my first attempt! Not bad.. really sweet though. So it was a nice relaxing weekend in the burg. I might have to try it more often!

I ran again this morning. 3 miles. Didn't seem so bad. Maybe I will be able to do this afterall!

Oh yeah.. more fun with ice. B got stuck in the driveway (almost in the trees) sunday morning. I will be so glad when this ice melts!!! The honda has been behaving so far :)

Presidential Challenge

Remember the Presidential Fitness Testing you had to do in school. I couldn't even get past negative on the V sit n reach or do a pull up, so needless to say I wasn't winning any awards! Well anyways now they have a Presidential Challenge for adults! Check it out! You get points based on the activites you log. Your goals are 20,000 points for bronze, 45,000 for silver, and 80,000 for gold! They have a couple different tracts, one for those just starting to get active, one for those who are already regularly active, and one for elite athletes. (elite athletes have double points to earn, and a max/day) This is a really neat program and adds some motivation to working out! I created a group if you want to join it. (or you can just do it yourself) Group # 7634. Have fun!

Ice Ice and more Ice

Hmmm so since I now have an abundance of ice stories.. I figured it was time to start blogging before lose track of them..

I - Wednesday night, Campaigners. Park on the street downhill behind S. Pull onto the snow a little bit to ensure my car isn't in the middle of the street. S ends up going the game with E so when I leave I have to backup to pull out. Not happening :) Spin go the tires. So B, B, E, and E attempt to push the honda. Not happening. And in doing so E screams S's car is moving! B - no it's not. She touches it. Sure enough with any pressure it starts sliding down the ice. So E and E take off for the house to get shovels. They promptly wipe out on the ice. We are all laughing at everything by now! A nice neighbor comes up to help out. Finally with the 5 of them pushing my honda cooperates and backs up enough for me to pull out. Moral - I need a 4X4.

II - Thursday night, NRN. M and I head downtown. We park in a bit of an uphill spot. I'm a little crooked so I try to backup. Slide. Try to pull foward, not happening. Well now I am half out of the spot and really crooked. So I back out of the spot (read slide sideways out of the spot til I get traction) then circle around the lot to pick up momentum and make it back into the spot :) We get out and promptly slide down the hill towards the Nerv. How are we going to get back up I think?? So we hang out and have fun then decide to go home. Yeah.... more fun. Have you ever tried to walk up a down escalator. That's what it felt like. Trying to shuffle your feet.. but not really moving anywhere. After several minutes of a little bit forward and a lot backward (M was much better at this game then me) we make it to the car and move on to attempting to clean off the windsheilds with out wiping out! It was also really entertaining watching everyone else enjoy the ice!

III - Friday morning. 5:45 AM. M and I attempt to head to the gym. Halfway up the driveway. Spin. Back down. Halfway up the driveway. Spin. Back down. Halfway up the driveway. Spin. Back down. Spin. Spin. Spin. Crud, now I am stuck in the flat part. Ok so I guess we aren't going to the gym this morning.

IV - Friday morning. 8:30 AM. Time for work. Maybe I can make it out now. Well as I make it out of the spot I was stuck in at the bottom. Then I notice the garage door is open. B is trying to leave to. I hesitate. She sees me so she waits. Halfway up the driveway. Sliding back down. Breaks not work. Crud B pulled out of the garage and is stuck. Oh no.. car please stop please. Finally it stops. I really thought I was going to slide right into her. Well I get out and push B back into the garage. Then back down I go. Up the driveway halfway. Slide backwards. Ok screw this. I got back under the carport and started calling friends to give me a ride to work. B attempted to then get up the driveway. After a couple attempts she ended up getting stuck at the bottom too.

V - Friday morning. 9:45 AM. M was kind enought to come pick me up for work. Of course right when I get into his car after slipping and sliding up my driveway I realize I forgot my badge. Well screw it I am not going back for it :) So we make it to work. The roads really aren't too bad. He swings into the spots a bit to make it easier to back in. Well not realizing it was solid ice... we starting sliding towards C's car. Wow... I really thought we were going right into it!! I think we stopped with like a foot to spare though.

Ok, hopefully that's it for ice stories for a while!! Hope you enjoyed!

Check these out:

Cris exiting the rail

Me going off a lil jump :)

We will have to make sure and take a ton more pictures next time :)

I got air!

Woohoo!! I finally got the guts to play in the terrain park!! Granted 'AIR' can be a lot of things. 20' in the air vs 1' in the air :) Still.. I was off the ground! This weekend was awesome! 8 of us hit the slopes at Snowshoe. 2 beginners that did awesome skiing! JJ conquered Ballhooter! C won the most likely to get lost award. Next time he gets his own walkie talkie :) Friday night was very very cold. Pretty sure my toes suffered from the beginning stages of frostbite. I think that would be the lowpoint of the weekend! I went off lots of little jumps in the park... even managed to land a few, plus I braved one of the big jumps.. didn't go too fast though! I'm excited cause I am finally really confident on the board, I'll go down any mountain :) I could talk on and on and on about how much I love snowboarding and how much fun it is! I found these great ice blue pants.. but restrained myself! (part of the fun is buying the cool gear!) JJ took a bunch of pics with her super small digital.. hopefully I can post some soon :) Maybe even me in the air! haha!

Today is the official start of 1/2 marathon training... I'm starting with a day of rest :) haha! This is going good so far!