08/5/14

Three Bean Beer Chili with Ground Turkey

Three Bean Beer Chili with Ground Turkey made with a light lager. Perfect for College Football.

I know it’s a little too early in the year for chili, but I had a craving and had to make some. As you can tell, I’m ready for football season! I ready for Saturday mornings spent watching College Game Day, having friends over to watch a game, and the food! Oh the food! I’m literally counting down the days. I do this every year.

Chili always reminds me of football season. I’ll make a big pot in the slow cooker, and it’s ready whenever we’re hungry. I’m not sure if this can be considered a recipe, though. More like mixing a bunch of cans together, but it’s great and only gets better the longer it cooks. It’s my favorite football season recipe {Second would be my Buffalo Chicken Dip!!}. I figured I could post this now, so everyone can “Pin It” for football season that starts in a couple weeks! ;)

I’ll be back later this week with another recipe using this same chili… Chili Cheese Fries! Yum!

More Than Just a Backpack

Do you have something that means the world to you? Something you’ve had forever and wouldn’t want to give up or lose? I have very few items in my life that have value to me. Things I do value: pictures, my scrapbook and journal from high school, a ring my nanny Mathis gave me, a stuffed monkey, and a few things I’ve collected over the years during my travels. All these items fit in one Rubbermaid container. I’ve moved 4 times in the last 10 years, and each time, besides clothes, it’s the only thing that’s gone with me. Yesterday, I relieved I had something else to add to that very short list.

I bought this backpack my senior year in high school. For the last 12 years, its gone everywhere with me! Its been to 8 countries, countless states, it is my weekend bag, my computer bag, it was the bag I packed the day I moved out of my old house, it carried all my books during my LONG college career, it carried my clothes for the weekends when I’d stay with Huck, it’s a cooler, beach bag, daypack, and pillow, it was in the seat beside me the day we moved to Florida, its been under my seat on every flight I’ve ever been on, and it was on my back the WHOLE time I was in Italy.

Considering it’s 12 years old, and been through hell and back, it’s in great condition. But, it’s starting to show it’s age. The seams are tearing and my computer barely fits. As I was looking for a new bag this weekend, I was reminded that every great memory {and a few not so great memories} I have from the time I was 17 until now, this bag was a part of! Of the few materialistic things in my life I value, this bag is at the top of the list, and it makes me sad knowing that its time is coming to an end.

I’m sure you’re thinking, it’s a stupid Jansport bag? What’s the big deal. Or that’s how I would normally be, but for some reason, this bag symbolizes so much more. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just keep using it until it completely falls apart! Either way, I’ll never throw it away. One day I’ll put it in the Rubbermaid container with the other things I can’t seem to part with!

Super Cheesy I know!

Now, back to work!

Three Bean Beer Chili with Ground Turkey

Serves 8
Prep time 15 minutes
Three Bean Beer Chili with Ground Turkey made with a light lager. I'm not sure this can be considered a recipe it's so easy. It's perfect for entertaining or College Football parties.

Ingredients

  • 1.5lb Ground Turkey (Fully Cooked)
  • 1/2 Large Onion (Diced)
  • 1 Large Bell Pepper (Diced)
  • 3 cloves Garlic (Chopped)
  • 1 packet Chili Seasoning (Low Sodium)
  • 1 cup Beer (Light Lager, Lager, or American Wheat)
  • 2 cans Diced Tomatoes
  • 1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Peppers
  • 1 can Black Beans (Drained)
  • 1 can Kidney Beans (Drained)
  • 1 can Pinto Beans (Drained)
  • 2 cups Frozen Corn
  • Extra for Garnish (Sour Cream/Greek Yogurt, Cheese, Cilantro, etc.)

Directions

Brown meat in a large skillet with the Onions, Peppers, and Garlic. Add meat to a slow cooker and sprinkle seasoning over mixture.
Add all other ingredients, cover and cook for 4-6 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Serve with your favorite garnish.
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07/29/14

Seared Steak with Pale Ale Butter, Mushrooms, and Onions

Huck’s Famous Spicy Steak with Mushrooms and Onions cooked in a Pale Ale Butter.

When I was at the “office job”, I was treated to two overpriced fancy, white table cloth, steakhouse dinners. One for our Christmas party, the other a just because “You’ve never been there??” treat. I greatly appreciate my boss treating us to dinner each time, but both meals were less than stellar. In fact, at the Christmas party, if I was paying for the meal, I would have hand delivered my extremely overcooked, boiled, pieces of unseasoned beef to the kitchen and showed them a thing or two about my good friends Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper.

As you may have gathered from my little rant, I’m not a fan of steakhouses. If I’m throwing down over a $100 for a meal, it’s not going to be something I can make better at home.

I like hole-in-the-wall or eclectic restaurants. On a recent trip to Coolinary {My favorite restaurant of all time}, I ordered Barley Risotto with Lamb Meatballs. Not overly crazy. Probably something I could recreate on my own {I’ve made Barley Risotto before}, but I could NEVER get the favor into my dish they did. As soon as the food hit my tongue, I closed my eyes, smiled, and ‘Yummied!’ That is my happy place! Then I had a mini battle with myself, do I tell everyone how great this is and share or keep it all for myself?? Of course I shared!

Today’s lunch was a Yum moment. Huck and I have our steaks down to a science, as long as I’m cooking for just the two of us. I like my steak rare and have no problem eating it blue. As long as the outside has a nice sear, we’re good. I honestly don’t know how to cook a steak any other way. We’ll have friends over and they’ll request their steak medium. I start stressing about over or undercooking their piece.

Steak is expensive after all. Steak is something we’ll have once or twice a month. We usually buy one Porter House and Huck takes the New York strip side, and I get the filet. Aren’t we just prefect for each other??

So back to lunch, I seared our steaks in an extremely hot pan. I usually smoke up the whole house while doing so. It’s so worth it, though! We marinated the steak yesterday with Huck’s spicy rub we put on everything, literally! {It’s a mix of a bunch of ground pepper powders, garlic, onion, salt and pepper}. Once the steaks were finished, I added about two tablespoons of my Pale Ale Butter to the pan with mushrooms and onions and cooked until the veggies were soft. The slight bitterness from the Pale Ale worked great with the spice from the marinade.

I actually overcooked my piece a little while setting up for pictures. Go figure. Luckily, the center was cooked perfectly.

Looking at these pictures makes me want another pieces. Instead I’m making cupcakes. Peanut Butter Frosting for Chocolate Stout Cupcakes to be exact. My goal is to only eat one… Maybe two! I’ll let you know how it goes!

I also announced the winner of the t-shirt from Kona Brewing Company. Head over to see if you were the lucky winner!

{Blog maintenance question before I leave: if anyone knows how delete the boarders around my pictures, I’d really like to know! My Windows Live Writer isn’t working, I’ve watched countless YouTube videos, and read a bunch of WordPress forums and still can’t figure it out:( I don’t like it!!}

Pale Ale Butter

Flavored butters are super easy and added extra flavor to normal dishes. Add additional seasonings or substitute for some of your favorite.

Ingredients

  • 1 stick Unsalted Butter (Room Temp)
  • 2 tablespoons Pale Ale
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • PinchSmoked Paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Ground Pepper Powder (Optional)

Directions

Combined all ingredients together until fully combined. Place butter on plastic wrap and roll into log form. Place in the refrigerator to chili until ready to use.
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07/23/14

Kona Brewing Co. Castaway IPA Plus Giveaway

Want to know one of the best advantages to being a beer/food blogger? People send you beer samples in the mail!

Receiving beer samples at work makes everything better!

I was contacted by a representative from Kona Brewing Company weeks ago about trying out their new IPA! As you all know, I have a slight obsession with IPAs. For me, the day I had an IPA and said, “Wow! I really like this!” was the day I knew I’d become a craft beer fan for life. Trust me, that didn’t happen overnight. It took a couple of years experimenting with beers to finally, truly, enjoy an IPA. Now, it’s what I order 8 out of 10 times.

Now, back to the beer. To give you a little history about Kona. They started in 1995 in Hawaii. They’re Pacific Golden Ale and Fire Rock Pale Ale were their first two beers. Now, they’re the top selling craft beer in Hawaii. They also distribute to 36 states and 9 countries. Their new Castaway India Pale Ale made its debut in the Mainland in 2014. For us South Florida peeps, it will be making its way down here this summer. We’re the last to get everything! ;)

The Castaway had a nice hop balance, but wasn’t super bitter like some IPA. I would compare it to a session IPA, maybe? I never claimed to be a BJCP judge after all. There is a hint of citrus flavor that I love in an IPA. Here is the description from Kona’s website.

Take a sip of this copper-colored India Pale Ale and you’ll taste bold, citrusy hops with a touch of tropical mango and passion fruit, balanced by the rich caramel malts. Castaway IPA has a clean, crisp finish that’s as refreshing as the wind in your face when you set sale for adventure.

It’s brewed with Galaxy, Citra, Simcoe, and Milenium hops.

My husband buys Citra by the pound! He’s also known as the Citra king.

The bitterness is moderate in this beer with only 50 IBU {International Bitterness Units}. To compare, Lite Lagers are around 10 IBU. The alcohol by volume is 6.0%.

We actually did a tasting with Karl and Holly, and we all agreed, it was a nice tasting summer IPA. Good for a hot summer day.

Isn’t the packaging awesome? So creative shipping the beers in a Wilson volleyball, like from the movie Cast Away.

Now the best part, Kona is offering one of you guys a prize. Unfortantly, it’s not beer! Sorry, I tried! But they are providing a t-shirt for one LF&B reader. I don’t know about you, but I love beer shirts. Now, that I work from home, it’s all I wear.

All you have to do is leave a comment below telling us what’s your favorite Kona beer or what’s your favorite line from the movie Cast Away. When the Kona rep asked me that question, I could only come up with one. I’ll be interested to see if anyone comes up with something different.

You can enter for more chances to win below. Winner will be announced July 30th. Please us the Rafflecopter box below to leave a comment. It will select the winner randomly.

{Winner will be able to select T-Shirt size}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Kona Brewing Company provided me with two bottles of their Castaway IPA and a t-shirt for one reader in exchange for the post. As always, the opinions are all my own.

07/21/14

MIA

Hello! Its been a while! Just when I had motivation to blog regularly again, life happened! I’m not complaining, though.

A blog that I like to read does this thing every couple weeks called High Low High. She shares the high points and low points from the week. I though I would be fun to share some of the things going in our lives with my own High Low High, so here we go.

HIGH- I got a new job.

My office job was supposed to be a temporary job until I could find another property adjuster job. I really like property insurance. Yeah it’s lots of paperwork. Yea, climbing on roofs isn’t my favorite. Yea, most of our claims are in the worst parts of Hialeah. But I love working for myself. I love the freedom that comes with it. And I actually like the job! I’m not made for 9-5 Monday-Friday. I’ve either worked for myself, 12 hour shifts, or enjoyed the semi-retired life for a long time. Some days, I felt like a bird in a cage. Having to ask off to do simple stuff like go to the doctor, drove me INSANE! Sitting at a desk for 8.5 hours was even worse. It’s crazy because I can work on claims for 16 hours a day {I did it 3 days this week}, and it doesn’t feel the same. I have no idea why. I also got to the point where all I wanted to do was stay home. I felt like I was gone all the time, and when I was off work, I just wanted to hang out here. I’ve NEVER been like that before.

So, I spent the last year searching for the right job. Our trip to NOLA a few months ago, was actually to meet with a company for both of us. Not just Huck {I lied! Sorry!}. After talking back and forth for a few weeks, June 30th I received my first claim. It was a happy day! Followed by an Oh Shit! I don’t know what I’m doing day. Luckily, I have Huck and some really great support helping me learn the ropes. It adds a lot more pressure, though. Huck’s like a rock star claims adjuster, and I’ve wanted this job so badly. I’m really scared I’m going to screw it up, and I’ve been stressing myself out thinking I should know EVERYTHING already and feel like a failure when I mess something up. Honestly, I don’t think I’m doing terrible. Just learning! But I’m still stressing.

{Our office!!}

Low- I was let go from my old job.

I’m really thankful for the office job. Yea, I hated it, but it keep me employed and provided a steady paycheck for 10 months. I was miserable before I found that job. I had nothing to do all day. I also wasn’t contributing to our household. I didn’t want to do anything or buy anything because it was Huck’s money. Not mine. So, the office job made me feel better. It gave me something to do, and there was a time when I actually thought I could see myself growing with the company.

I was hired as an assistant claims manager for a bus company and to help with office work for a workers comp agency. I’ve worked in workers comp before but this stuff was over my head, and for a while I really wanted to learn. I was constantly asking for more things to do and more responsibilities. I can’t tell you how many time I said “I’m a fairly smart, educated woman, that doesn’t like to be bored. Give me something challenging to do!” A few months ago, I was told, basically, I was good at answering phones and that’s what they wanted me to focus on. WTF!!

I think that was the last day I asked to help anyone or for more “responsibilities”. I checked out! It didn’t help we were traveling and had visitors so much in May and June, either. I wanted my freedom back more than ever. I hadn’t worked a full week since May. I fell bad because that’s not the kind of employee I am! Again, I’m very thankful for the job, but it wasn’t a job for me! I actually had my whole “I quit, here’s my notice” speech all planned out.

They beat me to it, though. I arrived to work a couple weeks ago, and was told they were letting my go. My response “You couldn’t have told me over the phone and saved me the time driving here.” Because it’s so far. Then I was furious because I wanted to quit. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I came here to break up with you, damn it! They didn’t give me the exact reason they let me go. Apparently in the state of Florida, you don’t have to give a reason… cop out!

Honestly, it worked out better. If I put in my notice, I’d still be there until next week. I’ve been so busy this week {remember the 16 hour work days?}, there’s no way I’d be able to handle both. I still feel bad for being a shitty employee, but I was only there to answer the phones after all.

High- One Year Cancer Free

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the scariest week of my life. It’s when we found out Huck had a cancerous growth in his colon. Luckily, it was caught before it could spread and no other treatment was required. He had his 6 month check up in January and follows up regularly with his doctor.

Low- We had a water leak

The property adjusters had to file a water claim… how ironic. At least we knew what to do. Now, our house is currently a mess! We’re missing half the flooring in our bedroom and closet. We had fans and dehumidifiers in the house for 2 days last week. Dog hair was blowing everywhere.

Luckily, it wasn’t that bad. We have the air mattress in our office. It’s not bad as long as no one has to get up.

The house just feels so dirty right now!! I’m ready for everything to be back in it’s spot so I can start scrubbing!

We picked up the flooring today, so hopefully we can finish our bedroom tonight. Fingers crossed.

High- People actually use my recipes!

One of my old coworkers posted this picture on my Facebook page, and said she tried my Blueberry Pound Cake and really liked it.

My sister also tried the Buttermilk Fried Chicken a couple weeks ago.

It make me so happy to know people are actually trying my recipes!!

I’m hoping to start sharing more with you guys in the coming weeks. The weathers been pretty crazy lately. Like it rains ALL THE TIME, but that’s life in South Florida. I’m hoping I can start cooking and photographing at lunch like I did before I started the office job. It’s typically not raining then. I have so many great ideas I want to share.

Check back in on Wednesday for a change to win a t-shirt from Kona Brewing Company.

06/30/14

Peach BBQ Sauce with Cigar City Operation Homefront IPA

Georgia Peach BBQ Sauce and Marinade with Cigar City Brewing’s Operation Homefront IPA Grilled Chicken.

It’s easy to forget there is still so much we haven’t done or seen here. Some weekends, we don’t even leave Jupiter. Saturday, we decided to get out and explore. I didn’t want to spend another weekend in the house, and it was a gorgeous day!

We started our day with breakfast at The Nook. Great food and atmosphere!

The Nook Jupiter

Once we finished breakfast, we drove north to Port St. Lucie to go to the batting cages. Noon during the summer, in South Florida, probably wasn’t the best time to go.

Once we burned some calories, we traveled to Fort Pierce to check out Endless Summer Vineyard & Winery. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the place was great. I’d definitely like to go back during the winter {when it’s more comfortable to sit around outside during the middle of the day}. While there, we did a wine tasting, and tried all of the wines they offer. We both agreed we’d like to learn more about wine, and would like to do more wine tastings in the future.

Our last stop of the day was at Sailfish Brewing Company. We had a beer each before heading home. We were hungry!

Sailfish Brewing Company (1)

On our way back, we stopped at a roadside vegetable stand. I was planning on making Grilled Peach Ice Cream, for a blog project, this week and couldn’t pass up fresh Georgia Peaches.

Peach BBQ Sauce with Cigar City IPA- Life Food and Beer

Huck came up with the idea to have grilled peaches and chicken. I started brainstorming ideas for incorporate the two ingredients together, and I think I did a pretty good job. I’m giving Huck 100% of the credit for this recipe, though. I never would have thought to mix peaches and chicken together. I’ve seen Peach BBQ sauce before, but never thought to try it.

This recipe is made with store bought BBQ Sauce, but it would also work great with my Homemade Beer BBQ Sauce. We were hungry, and the sun was going down, so this way was quicker.

Peach BBQ Sauce with Cigar City IPA- Life Food and Beer

After our breakfast at The Nook, we walked next door to Beer City. They have a huge craft beer selection. While walking around the owner told us they had some Cigar City Operation Homefront. Apparently, it’s had to find in this area, so we bought that plus a few other beers you’ll likely see in the near future on LF&B.

Operation Homefront is a collaboration beer that started in 2011 to help raise money and awareness for Operation Homefront. It’s released every year on Memorial Day.

Cigar City Operation Homefront IPA

{Source}

Peach BBQ Sauce with Cigar City IPA- Life Food and Beer

A minimum of $150,000 from the sale of this beer will be donated to Operation Homefront!

The Peach BBQ Sauce would work great on Chicken, Fish, Shrimp, or Pork. I highly recommend trying this with chicken with the skin still on. The contrast of sweet, spicy, charred, and crispiness was amazing! It’s finger licking good!

Peach BBQ Sauce with Cigar City IPA- Life Food and Beer

Huck helping AKA waiting for the okay to take the plate downstairs and eat. I didn’t have to tell him twice.

This recipe is super easy and would make a great addition to any 4th of July celebration.

Peach BBQ Sauce and Marinade with IPA

Serves 1 Cup
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes
Total time 25 minutes
Georgia Peach BBQ Sauce with Cigar City Brewing’s Operation Homefront IPA. This Peach BBQ Sauce or marinade works great with Chicken, Pork, or Seafood.

Ingredients

  • 2 Medium Peach (Ripe and Soft)
  • 2 Medium Peach (Ripe and Soft)
  • 1/2 cup Beer (IPA, Wheat, Lager)
  • 3/4 cups BBQ Sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon Onion Powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon Ground Pepper Powder (More or less depending on your heat preference)

Directions

Cut each each in half and remove the seed. Squeeze each peach, with your hands, to remove as much juice as possible. Strain juice to remove any skin or pulp.
Combined Peach Juice, Beer, BBQ Sauce, and Seasonings.
BBQ Sauce: Add mixture to a small pot over low to medium low heat. Cook for 20 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Stir often to prevent burning.

Marinate: Add 1.5 pounds of meat to a large bowl or Ziploc bag. Add half of peach mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours {longer is better}. Add the other half of the mixture to a pot and reduce down. Brush thickened BBQ mixture on meat during the cooking process.
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04/28/14

Charities, Visitors, and Beer

I’ll have LOTS of stuff to write about in the coming weeks too. Our calendar for May and June is full. Over the next 8 weeks, we’ll have guest staying at our house for 4 full weeks plus a trip to my grandmother’s, Savannah, and New Orleans thrown in there. If you don’t see or hear from us during the month of July, you’ll know why.

I get a little freaked out when I look at the calendar, but the craziness will be worth it! I’ll get to see my parents, celebrate my 29th birthday {God that sounds weird!} see my niece and nephews, spend time with our friends from MN, travel, see my grandmother, and visit with friends from Georgia.

Now, back to the blog. I was planning to write a post for each of these, but at this point, it just seems silly to write about something that happened so long ago. I like doing my weekly/biweekly post. I like looking back on older post. It’s kind of like my photo album/journal for life. So, here is the last two weeks of my life {minus this weekend}

Els for Autism

A couple weeks ago, we help with the Ernie Els Els for Autism event with TBC again. 2014-04-10 20.58.18

Els for Autism 2014 Old Palm (8)

I was paired with Chef Roy from Aah Loi Thai and Sushi in Jupiter. He was a super nice guy! He served Vanilla Cheese Cake Spring Rolls with Salted Banana Caramel, and I served a Black Walnut Porter. GREAT combo!

Els for Autism 2014 Old Palm (6)

It’s always a fun event for people watching and seeing how the “other half” lives. They also raised $50K!

Els for Autism 2014 Old Palm (7)

Barley Dolls Pub Crawl

The pub crawl was a great time thanks to three every special ladies!!

Barley Dolls Pub Crawl (3)

I can’t thank them enough for coming out and making it whole night!

Barley Dolls Pub Crawl (2)

I actually spent the night at Deena’s, and we stayed up until 4AM chatting. Needless to say, it was a rough Sunday!

Jessica’s Visit

Huck’s sister came into town for a short visit. We gave her the tour of Jupiter aka bar hopped for 2 days!

Jupiter Beach (2)

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GOPR2026

GOPR2036

GOPR2040

GOPR2050

GOPR2051

GOPR2062

GOPR2063

GOPR2066

GOPR2091

Dinner at III Forks thanks to my Boss

My boss treated Huck and I to dinner at III Forks, against my will, on Friday after Growler Friday. What is Growler Friday you ask? More Friday’s than not, someone from the office goes to TBC and fells up the Growlers. It makes Friday afternoons way better. The problem is, Growler Friday is usually followed by TBC Friday leads to me falling asleep on the couch at 8PM.

TBC Growler Friday

III Forks (1)

Reenacting Huck’s Proposal

Jupiter Beach (3)

The placed where Huck Proposed has washed away. This section of the beach is kind of sad looking.

Jupiter Beach (4)

Jupiter Beach (6)

Jupiter Beach (5)

It ain’t easy being cheesy!

Jupiter Beach (8)

Easter on the Beach

We joined our friends for an Easter Party at the beach again this year.

2014-04-20 12.25.36

I made my traditional Easter Egg Deviled Eggs and Georgia Brown Carrot Cake Cupcakes. This year I soaked the eggs for longer and the colors were SUPER bright!

2014-04-20 12.34.16

I used Sweetwater Georgia Brown for my cupcakes. I didn’t bother trying to make cake pops again! That was a major fail last year!

2014-04-20 14.17.51

We had a great view of the volleyball courts, too! :)

Celebrated my Daddy’s Birthday

My Daddy’s birthday was last week. I always get really sad on holidays and birthdays when my whole family is together, and I’m missing it! I was able to Skype with everyone {my mom, dad, Tabby, and Michael}. It’s nice seeing their faces, but no the same!

2014-04-21 19.06.42

They all turned away when I took the picture though!

Huck’s always great about making me feel better when I’m sad about missing my family! My husband is truly amazing!!

Jupiter Beach (7)

Well, that was the last two weeks of my life!

02/16/14

February Trip To Georgia

We’re back from GA. We actually made it out just in time to miss all the sleet, freezing rain, and snow. We made our way back bright {Actually it was still dark outside} and early Monday morning.

I had a great time with my family while Huck was in TN riding four wheelers with his friends from high school. We arrived Wednesday night before midnight, and I dropped him off at his buddies work early Thursday morning. Originally, he was going to fly into Knoxville to meet up with everyone, but we needed to take Ginny back to the vet and with the cost of airfare, it was cheaper for us both to go.

Thursday, I had lunch with my mom and Papa Mathis at our favorite Korean place. I could tell my mom was excited to spend time with me when she said she’d go to lunch with us, too. She really surprised me with how much stuff she tried. She even tried using chopsticks. And she agreed the food was really good!

Dan Moo Ji (1)

Dan Moo Ji (2)

Friday, we had seafood with my Papa Brooks and took Ginny to the vet. When we were home for Christmas, we took both dogs to have their teeth cleaned and get their yearly shots. Ginny’s liver functions came back really bad and the vet said it could be related to gum disease. He gave us 2 weeks worth of Antibiotics and told us to follow up in a month. Unfortunately, his levels were worse this time. The vet said it wasn’t due to his age {he’s 9} and $500 later, we’ll still not sure.

He gave us two new Rx to try and told us to follow up in a month. Hopefully this will work!

Friday night, Tabby took me to the new Growler-To-Go place in Downtown Flowery Branch. We sampled a few different beers trying to find something she’d like, and surprising we did! She enjoyed a Cedar and Wheat beer.

After we got our growlers, we had dinner at Show Guns. It was nice having an evening with just the two of us. I don’t see or talk to her nearly enough!

Saturday, my whole family {minus Huck} loaded up and headed to North Carolina to see my parent’s new property. In December, they purchased some land in the mountains right on the river. It currently has a RV with shed built around it with a large front porch facing the river, but they plan to build a small cabin. They’ve spent a few weekends cleaning up and were both really excited to show off their new home! I’m so happy for both of them.

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When we left their property, we took the scenic route home. We stopped at the Hiawassee Lake Dam, Field of the Woods, and Murphy, NC for lunch.

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Once we made it back to GA, we stopped at The Cottage for a wine tasting. We tried 5 different wines, and I purchased a white wine to take home. The view from the place was amazing, too!

The Cottage Vineyard and Winery

The Cottage Vineyard and Winery 1 (1)

The Cottage Vineyard and Winery 1 (2)

Sunday was spent with my parents visiting my grandparents again.

I left my parents around 5, which really sucked by the way! I always have a hard time leaving, but usually, I’m just ready to get the ride over. This time, I was going to meet Huck at his parent’s house. My whole family was standing in the driveway when I left. I started crying before I even made it to my car.

I managed to calm down after a few minutes, but started crying again, right before getting to Huck. He felt bad and we had to go over the whole I want to leave… I wanted to live in Florida… I love you more because I left a driveway full of people I love to come be with you, spill. I honestly missed him so much, though. We haven’t gone 3 days away from each other in a LONG time! We haven’t gone more than a night a part in over a year! We’re cheesy like that!

We had dinner with Huck’s parents and called it a night early. The ride back was LONG and horrible like always. I start getting angry around the 7-8 hour mark. That’s my car ride threshold.

Tuesday, Huck had his 6ish month follow up for this Colon Cancer. Everything came back great and the doctor said he would only need to follow up yearly, now. Exactly what we wanted to hear!

We celebrated the good news with Tacos and Shrimp Carbonara {Not at the same time!}. Two of Huck’s favorite foods.

That was my trip to Georgia. Nothing crazy but lots of time spent with my family. Just what I wanted/needed!

02/5/14

Dreading The Drive

*This post is completely random! You’ve been worried*

We’re Georgia bond today! As usual, I’m not very excited at the moment. 9 hours in the car= torture. The ride is always worth it in the end, though. Getting to spend the weekend with my family while Huck’s off riding four wheelers will be fun. I swear that drive gets longer every time!

I already packed my bags and have everything ready to go. I downloaded an audio book to listen to, and I packed enough clothes to last me 5 weeks.

Side note: While in Italy, we would leave school on Thursday afternoons and not return until Sunday night, and all I’d have is small backpack. I go to Georgia for 4 days, and I pack my whole closet!

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This is what my room looked like as I packed 6 weeks worth of clothes into one suitcase. The same size suitcase I’m taking to Georgia… Craziness! I guess when you can pack more, you will.

I actually found some other cool pictures, while searching for this one.

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I wish I had more pictures from my other trips, or just more pictures from Italy. Almost all my pictures from before 2010 are gone. Stupid computer virus!!

I have the memories from my travels, though. I guess that’s all that matters. Or that means I’ll just need to visit all the places again.

In high school, I use to make scrapbooks (The low tech form of blogging!) I actually looked through one a few months ago. It’s amazing how different I am from the person in those books or just how different my life is now. Or how different my life could be. Don’t expect to see any pictures from that time in my life! Holy Bad Hair Day ;)

What other random stuff can I ramble on about… Oh, Huck made a time-lapsed video of us cooking the other night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfLzTelLZ0I&feature=youtu.be

 

The caption at the end is my favorite part. I told him I didn’t understand his song choice, but he told me a “Kiss won’t make you stay but good food will”. I’ll take it!

I’m still waiting for my Beer Fest video. We’ll be stuck in the car for 9 hours. I’ll get him to work on it then!

That’s all I have for today. Like I said, this was extremely random. I’m sure I’ll pop in while we’re gone… Maybe!

 

 

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