Oh Baby Baby

Went to my second baby shower ever on Saturday.

To the great Carrie G. - very good friend, St. Louis native, Florida State alum (yak), and mother-to-be.

We all met up at her SILs house in Kissimmee (crazy far away from where I live, sort of), and just celebrated together with memories (I guess she was like 5 weeks late) and stories, opening presents, and eating wonderful food!

The cake. Very good.

Carrie opening presents - can you see them all?

This was so cool and creative.
Just a whole bunch of outfits strung together on a clothes line.
They just kept coming and coming...

Diana and I.
(Trying to figure out what everything was for.)

The beautiful quilt from Carrie's mother.
Ahh hem.

Big Boy D keeping us entertained.

Carrie spent a long time opening presents - she's very blessed with all these incredible gifts. I have to admit I was sad not to have any games or such, I was gearing up for some. I think I could have done better on ultrasound pictures if given a chance.

Carrie's Family
(Courtney, Carrie's Mom, Carrie, Kristin, Katie, Daryl, and Angie)

The girls:
Del, D., Cherrah, Carrie, Alisa, Becky

Fun times. And now I want some cake.

Update on the Pottery Class

I finally got around to taking some pictures at class last Thursday.

I kind of went crazy with the camera before I actually started with my clay, and then forgot to take a picture of the mess afterward. But, I did take some of the pots/urns/bowls that I made on Thursday and the week before!

My area.

The classroom.
There were 8 people starting and now about 4-5 come.

Ready to go, and clean.

The wheel.
I never named it. Should have probably.

I was very proud of the ones I did. I think I'm finally getting it. Two weeks ago was pretty difficult because our clay was too hard to work with - even our teacher, Barbara, told us so. Oops. This weeks was a lot easier.

This week's three! My best yet.

We have three more classes to go. I'll probably do another class next year - haven't really decided yet. I am really enjoying myself!

My first little pot. Isn't it cute?

From two weeks ago. I still need to trim them.
More cups/mugs to make!

And that's it. I'll try to take more pictures of how dirty I get - as well as how dirty my space gets. I can't believe I only have three classes left, but I am very excited to glaze my stuff. We do all of our pots together on the last day. Can't you wait to see what I create?

"Close Every Door to Me" - Joseph

No, I'm not depressed or anything of that sort. I was listening to Joseph and the Technicol@red Dre@mcoat today at work on my new iPod N@no, 5th Generation.

Woo hoo.

Darin got me one for my birthday - I only had a shuffle I got free from work like over four years ago. I was in need of a new one.

And it's purple.

Love. It.

I finally got around to adding the rest of my CDs to my computer/laptop at home from when I got my shuffle years ago. I'll only probably be about 6 GB after I am done. Wow. Gotta steal some other peoples' CD collections!

Now I get to listen to show-tunes in the lab. Fantastic. They make me super chipper. Tomorrow, Cats.

It takes movies too. Will add one from my birthday later on.

Painting Orange

This past Sunday, Darin and I volunteered at our church to help paint the chapel.

And did we paint it.

It was like being in South Carolina all over again (see, I went to Clemson for graduate school). And everything was orange.

Here were the before pictures. I guess this room hadn't been painted for at least thirty years!

And the after.

It was bright orange. The color was called saffron, but we decided pumpkin was a better description. Plus one of the guys didn't know what saffron was. (There were two other gentlemen 'helping' us out. We can't really figure out what they did while we painted. I guess prepared the other walls?)

And the other three walls were to be painted papaya. Or light pumpkin. Very bright and cheerful this room will be!

Ended up only painting the bright orange and then taping the rest of the room for the guys to paint later this week. Now I don't mind taping at all, but I went through two rolls just going around the room doing the bottom half. Darin was on the ladder taping the crown molding.

But it was actually fun and relaxing. Talked to the other two guys and listened to some football on the radio.

And met a nice camel.

The things you find at church.

Painting Perfection

I was a very evil friend and made people paint pottery for my birthday celebration. You might not think it sounds that evil, but it was. I thought it would be fun to try something new - and everyone did have fun.

We went here - good times. And it was open late - until midnight. And a lot of other random people were there on a Saturday night after 8 pm.

People picked what they wanted to paint - and went crazy.

Anu.

Renee (Janice's high school friend), Tony, and Suzanne.

Anu and Kucku. They're concentrating.

The artist of the group.

Darin and me
(With my new shirt on!)

I think deep down inside, everyone had a great time. It was nice to be able to talk to everyone and concentration on what you were doing. And we were all very creative. I was so happy that we did something different! And my plate came out great if I don't say so myself. I'll take more pictures after they're fired.

When we were done, we wound up going here because the bar across the street was so loud. Like you couldn't even talk to someone standing right next to you.

And I got one of these:

Mmmm. Guinness.

And I had to put this cute picture of Suzanne up - she always is drinking her sweet tea!

Suz.

And that's that. Follow up pictures to come!

Experiencing Running in the Morning

So I've been running now in the mornings (my second week!) because I can't seem to find the time to run after work. Before, I'd run about 8-8:30 pm because it's HOT here in Florida and doesn't cool down until late.

But I was having a hard time with that. I would try to run earlier - like 6:30 pm or so, but then I'd have to eat by at least 5:30 (need at least an hour to digest, you see) and that would mean I'd have to be home by 5 pm to start on dinner.

And I don't get home by 5 pm.

And now, I've got all this weekday stuff to do almost every week - volunteering (Monday nights), flag football (Tuesday nights starting in two weeks), and then pottery (Thursday nights).

So when do I run so I can eat whatever I wish??

*** This is not why I run. I run for good heart health. Sweet and simple. ***

I decided to try to run in the mornings - I don't need to be at work until 9 am and really just spend a lot of time talking to Jake in the mornings... so I got my butt out of bed and started running.

And it's great!

Well maybe not great, but good. Semi-good. Actually, I'm pretty delirious and don't realize I'm actually running until like .5 miles in. I sort of fake myself out you see.

But... the purpose of this post was to share the exciting things I see in the morning compared to the night.

First is the sun coming up over the trees. A little annoying (it's bright) but I tend to zone the blinding light out and focus on the trees.

And then there are the animals. Last week I saw a bunny eating grass. And yesterday I saw two armadillos playing by a mailbox! I had never really seen armadillos before (other than dead ones) or ones trying to run away from the Jake monster. It was exciting.

And I see other people too. Mostly walkers and some others with dogs. I was running last Tuesday with the garbage men. They'd pick up some garbage, I'd run by. They'd go to the next house and pass me. Stop and pick up garbage, I'd run by again.

Good times.

And in actuality this is good because all of these little things help me keep my mind off what I am doing - running. Because I am not a runner. I was a sprinter a long time ago, but had the hardest time running a mile.

I can do it now, but it's nice to be distracted.

Ants are Evil

A couple of days ago, I was mindlessly (haha) sitting at my desk at work, and I got bit by an ant. On my foot. With my sandals on.

Didn't think it was a big deal until the next morning I realized my foot had swelled up.

Poor foot.

Can you even tell from the photo?

It's slowing un-swelling.

Stupid Ants.

Birthday Fondue

Well, yesterday was my birthday! I'm 29. How crazy is that?

Darin and I went to this great restaurant - check it out. The food and atmosphere was great and you can find coupons every where online!

(Sorry, forgot the camera - this was my phone's photos.)

Restaurant. It's very rustic.

Darin called ahead to get a reservation and told them it was my birthday - this was waiting for me when we arrived:

(My name's on the sign)

And the rest of the photos have a darkening effect - oops. At least I remembered to take some photos instead of just chowing down!

Darin with his beer. Tasty.



I got a beer flight. I tend to do this. I like beer. A lot.

So we got the everything special: salad, cheese, meat/veggies, chocolate. Too much food. We always do this to ourselves. It's worth being stuffed though. Definitely!

Before.



After.

This restaurant was different than other ones as you cook your meat on a hot stone (like over 500 degrees F) and it's like they're grilled. Drool. We got chicken, steak, and shrimp. The shrimp were the best. They were just so good.

The stone. We had two!
(One got cold...)

And then Darin was nice and let me decide which chocolate we got to have - I choose milk chocolate. So good. And they brought me a birthday candle. Hurray!

We ate only a little of the chocolate. Darin just gave up trying to eat more, and I ate all the pretzels and then called it quits. But we got to bring the rest home.

Now I also want to mention that though the pictures make it seem like the meal was a quick one, we actually were eating for 1.5 hours. It's a nice s.l.o.w meal.

Love love love loved it!

With the moose!

Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars

Tried a new recipe that my mother sent me ages ago. I like to bring in birthday treats for my coworkers - it's my thing.

It was Gabby's 24th birthday by the way. She really likes the pumpkin spice lattes at St@rbucks, so she got pumpkin cheesecake bars. She got to choose.

Gabby and I at the 2008 Christmas Party
(she's a blond now)

Anyways, here's the recipe my mother gave me:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

1 c finely crushed cookie crumbs

2 T sugar

2 T melted butter

12 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 c sugar

1 c cooked, mashed pumpkin

1 to 1 1/2 t cinnamon (to taste)

1/2 to 3/4 t vanilla (to taste)

1/8 t salt

3 large eggs

3/4 c whipping cream

Combine cookie crumbs, 2 T sugar and melted butter. Press into a square 8 inch cake pan. Bake lightly in a 375° oven.

Beat cream cheese and 1/2 c sugar together at high speed until smooth. Add cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Add eggs all at once. Beat slowly until combined (can be a bit lumpy). Gently mix in cream.

Pour mixture into pan with cookie crumb crust. Bake at 375° for 35 to 45 minutes (until the mixture is set, but not dry). Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for several hours before cutting.

And then because there was a shortage of pumpkin I had to get creative and use sweet potato casserole.

And then because I wanted to use a larger pan, I tweaked things up a bit.

Here's what I did:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp melted unsalted butter

2 - 8 oz low fat cream cheese, softened
1 - 16 oz can sweet potato casserole
1 Tbsp cinnamon (to taste)
1 tsp vanilla (to taste)
pinch of salt
3 extra large eggs
1 cup whipping cream

Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter, and press into a 8 inch by 12 inch pan. Bake lightly (less than 5 minutes) in a 375 degrees oven.

Beat cream cheese and sweet potato casserole at high speed until smooth. Add cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Add eggs all at once and beat slowly until combined. Gently mix in cream.

Pour mixture into pan and back at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes. I checked the center with a toothpick until it was a solid consistency. Cool at room temperature and refrigerate for several hours before cutting.

Best served with whipped cream.

Good little sucker.



And everyone liked them at work too.

Enjoy. Especially during Thanksgiving and the Fall.

The Swine Flew

I'm not sure how many people know this (I'd think most), but I work for a immunology biotech company. And we deal with researching/developing vaccines, etc.

And we're working with the new 'news issue' - the sw!ne flu.

Today on our desk, we received this cute guy:

Get it. The swine flew.

The corresponding note said:
"In honor of the program contributing to saving our bacon, we officially declare today as H1N1 Day. The little flying pig not only represents 'Swine Flew' but also, our collective abilities at --- to turn the impossible into reality."

I guess I can explain that we just go a lot of money to test a vaccine - which helped us out a lot because we had been facing cutbacks due to the economy issue. It was a really cute thing to do for everyone here... goes to show you how great my company is!

:)

The weekend sans Darin

On this past weekend while Darin was off on a 'boys trip', I got to spend some time with friends; eating, watching TV, going to the beach, and just relaxing.

Friday night, I volunteered and Darin headed off to Homosassa with some friends to go scallop hunting and fishing. Saturday I had to work for a bit, but met my friends Kucku and Anupama out for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants.

Free ice cream.
(Anu and Kucku's arms.)

Now I was supposed to go and visit Kucku up at UF (Gainesville), but there was a football game going on and there was no way that I was going to drive up there with all of those crazy football fans. No-sir-ee. So she came down here. Hurray!.

And then I made them go shopping. Not like twist-your-arm make, but pretty close to that. I found this fun little dog thing here. Cute and on sale!

Jake was a bit scared. He's wimpy.

Kucku stayed overnight - we had dinner (pizza!) and watch The West Wing. I love that show. Well, we both do. It's fun to be excited about watching a show you've seen over and over and over again!

Sunday we headed off to the beach. Again.

Are you getting sick of my pictures of the ocean?

We got some sunshine, had fresh grouper for lunch, and then headed home.

What a great way to spend the weekend!

The Ocean Sound

Every night before bed, we turn on our ocean-making radio/alarm clock to help us get a better night sleep. It works. Even Jake sleeps better.

Decided to share the real ocean with everyone - we went last weekend just for a couple of hours to enjoy the sunshine and warm breezes.

Gross Nature

On Sunday on my way out to my car, I saw an interesting sight.

Two Polyphemus moths were mating on my car wheel.

Not very romantic guys.

Driver's back tire.

Now if you look closely, you will see two moths - the full one and then the folded up one perpendicular to the other. Shiver.

Here is a better picture.

I remember when I was little how I liked moths so much because I thought they were a unpopular version of a butterfly. And how they were beautiful in their own right.

Now I just think they're gross. And shouldn't be attached to my car wheel.

Yak.

I did call Darin out and he interrupted/rescued the moths from my tire and they are alive and well. And hopefully found a more private place to do there thing.