The Shiny Shimers

Kline Family Pictures

2011-01-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

So, it's only been about 13 years since my family had actual formal family pictures that weren't in front of our house on Easter. This year, my mom told me she wanted a family picture to send out as a Christmas card. Being that we had everyone dressed and ready, I had to take advantage of the opportunity and got a whole set of shots :)

First we did the standard formal group shot.
Then couples (My Parents)
(Justin and Me)
(Nick and Kelly)
Then individuals of the kids. First is me.
Kelly
Shannon
Marisa
and Briggs.
And of course, being my family, we had to do some ridiculous ones too :)

We all had fun in spite of everyone's complaining while I had to set up the shots, set the timer, and then run to pose with them. For Christmas, I printed out all of these (except the last one) and gave them to my parents in a set of matching frames. It went over well, I think :) The funny thing is, I don't think anyone likes themselves in the picture as an individual, but all in all they came out really well.

So, there you have it. We have family pictures and they will be on the wall. Let's just hope another 13 years don't go by before we do it again.

Coupons For Dummies

2010-12-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

So, I have always been a fan of a good deal, but recently I have become completely addicted to couponing. And no, that is not a typo. Couponing is a verb, and a very active one at that. It all started because Justin's half-brother's ex-wife's husband (phew!) Henry, whom we enjoy hanging out with very much, asked me if I had ever been on Hip2save.com. When I said I had not, he told me all the great deals they have gotten because of it, so I decided to give it a look over. That was all it took.

Hip2save is a fantastic website run by a stay at home mom with a knack for coupon shopping. She and other shopping mom contributors post the amazing coupons, deals and freebies they find and tell you how to get them. She even has a full explanation of how to accomplish the deals as a Newbie and gives several tips to help you in your hunting.

On Monday, Justin and I did some serious power shopping at Waterford Lakes in Orlando. We drove over after I got off work so we only had 1 hour and I had some very specific things we were going to get. We began at Ulta because I needed shampoo and I had a $5 off any purchase of $10 or more, so I scored my bottle of Redken Clear Moisture for $13 along with a Christmas double pack of Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer for $26 (normally $18 each or 2 for $36). From there, we went to Petsmart, where I had a coupon for a free individually wrapped Greenies treat for Gordo. On top of that I had another coupon for buy one get one free on the individually wrapped Greenies and a coupon for $10 off a tub of 27 Greenies, normally $35 but on sale for $30. After that, I headed to Bath and Body Works for their semi-annual sale where I scored 7 full sized moisturizing soaps at 50% off, a scent pod and 2 refills for $6, and a small lotion for 50% off. Then we ran to Old Navy because they had adult jeans on sale for $15 per pair! I got 2 pairs and a sweet pair of bright green comfy yoga pants for $8.

Combined savings for our Monday night venture: $108.57

The next day, I went all out on my grocery shopping. I had a folder full of coupons organized according to the store sections (food, health & beauty, home sanitation, etc.) and a detailed list of what to get at each store with my coupons already paper clipped together for each place. I went to 4 stores (Walgreens, Publix, Target and Walmart - in that order), and it took me 4 hours in all, but I came home with a carload of food all bought at sweet deals. Publix was where I saved the most with a total savings of $48.81 just there.

Combined savings for my Tuesday night grocery shopping: $102.25

In among my shopping adventures, I had several items that I got completely free with my coupons. For example, I received a bottle of Excedrin Migraine and Excedrin Extra Strength completely free. Just go to this link, fill out your info, and they mail you a coupon for each that you request. Mine arrived in about 2 weeks, which is really quick. I didn't get it on my shopping trip, but I also received a completely free bag of Purina One Beyond Dog Food and they shipped it to me for free :) I'm also excited about my biggest conquest that I haven't gotten yet. I won a one month supply of Pillsbury Toaster Strudel for free! That's 4 coupons for a free box of Toaster Strudel that are on their way to my mailbox as we speak. Everyone can win this by clicking the above link and playing the instant win game. If you win, it says it will take 4-6 weeks for delivery of your coupons, but there are women on hip2save that say they got theirs in 2 weeks. I was incredibly excited about that one because I never win anything when it comes to the luck of the draw, so that made it even better :)

Anyway, if you want to see the source of my insanity, head over to hip2save and give it a look-see. Even my sister has become an addict and she got 5 small jar Yankee Candles for $20 shipped to her door because of this site. Since most of my friends are in the same boat as me financially, I hope that this will help you out in the coming year, as I know it already has helped me.

A Christmas Movie Worth Watching :)

2010-12-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

Last year, I bought Mickey's Christmas Carol as it was always a favorite Christmas film of mine growing up. I was surprised to find that the dvd not only had Mickey's Christmas Carol, but also 3 other short Disney Christmas films. My favorite of these was The Small One.

It was nice to see a kid's movie (not made by a church) that has centers around Christ, the true meaning of CHRISTmas. Now, I look forward to watching it each year, especially when I have kids :)

Sorry I couldn't find it all in one clip, but I guess it was just too long. It's only about 25 minutes, so watch each one in succession. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

Gordo Meets Elly

2010-12-03T22:09:00.001-08:00

So, Shannon's birthday present this year was a papillon puppy. Back at the end of September (when her actual birthday occurs), we had trouble finding anyone around with them. Luckily, some friends/relatives of Justin's had a papillon so I asked them where they got theirs. When I looked at the website they sent me, we discovered that the breeder had just had a litter of 2 puppies, a boy and a girl. The girl is now Shannon's dog, and her name is Elly. She is quite the rambunctious ball of fuzz, and while Gordo was hesitant and confused at first, he warmed up to her. These videos were taken about 20 minutes after Elly came into our house.

There is another video, but blogspot seems to hate it for some reason, as I have tried 5 times to upload it, only to find out there is some kind of error. Hopefully these videos give you an idea of what our few hours of watching her were like :)

When Shannon came to pick her up with my mom and Marisa, Marisa decided to have some fun with Gordo's latest wardrobe acquisition.

I love this one. It's like a dog crime scene :) This was after she was too tired to play anymore.

A Gordo Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T21:08:00.000-08:00

This year is the first year in many that we have only had one family to visit on a major holiday. My Kline family (in light of recent occurrences) decided to ditch the traditional on Thanksgiving and do something completely different, like go to Disney. Since Justin can't sit or stand for extended periods of time (in fact he is now staying home from work longer - until late January), we didn't think he would enjoy walking miles around a park and waiting while we all rode rides he couldn't ride. So while my family rode Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, Justin and I went to his parents house.

For our meal, I made home made french bread rolls and two pies: Chess Pie and Chocolate Chess Pie (because they come in a set, after all). As we were leaving, I decided that we don't take enough pictures of ourselves, so I grabbed a point and shoot and started off documenting how the Gordo enjoys his car rides.

Yes, I know I look weird.
And here is the signature squint once we get going around 40 mph.
I tried to get a shot of the both of us, but add a wiggling corgi to a moving car and only one hand to hold the camera steady, this is what you get.

I interpret this look as him saying, "What on earth do you want? I was busy."
But he's so cute :)

He always leans further out of the car when we get on Justin's parent's street.

And here is Justin trying to drive and still smile at the camera ... very safe.
So, last year, Justin's mom bought Gordo a santa suit to wear, but he was still growing and he ended up being to big to wear it (and I felt really bad). So this year, she bought an outfit that didn't have to wrap around that robust rib cage of his: A reindeer hat and jingling collar.

He was licking his lips in preparation for the meal.
After a few minutes, he was not only utterly humiliated, he was also completely sick of the antlers.

He kept looking up at me pleadingly.
So, we took off the hat, but we made him wear the collar. And he jingled all day.

And unfortunately, I got so snap happy with the Gordo that I filled up my memory card. So, that's all you get to see my Thanksgiving experience :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aimee & Carlo Get Married!

2010-11-28T04:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Justin and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of some friends of mine from high school, Aimee and Carlo. I've been friends with them both for a long time and it was so nice to see them tie the knot :) They also threw one heck of a shindig, if I do say so myself. We all sort of hung out with the same group back then, and because everyone was in town for Thanksgiving, it ended up being like a better high school reunion, meaning a reunion of just the people you would want to see at your reunion.

So, together again with Taylor and Katrina (my main crew back then), Katie, Jeff, Mitch, Romel, Albert, Alyssa, Charles and many others, we partied almost all night long. Also Katrina brought her two adorable kids, Sophie and Adrian. Katie was prepping for the evening of missing her UF/FSU game.
Katrina showing her cleavage.
Jeff... being Jeff. No really, he's always like this.
Justin looking thrilled.
Me with my sweet buddy Sophie.
Holy crap, that's a cute kid! Look at those cheeks :)
She wouldn't look at the camera or smile unless I tickled her, so this was the play by play.
Then she would cheer, because I had done such a good job at tricking her into laughing on camera.
And I even got her to eat chicken and rice for dinner. I am amazing.
I guess the food on my plate tasted better than her mom's.
Dude, really, that's freakin cute :)
Katrina worried that she looked red when she really didn't.
And then the dancing began :)
This was the bouquet in mid-air.
And April catching the bouquet.
And more of Sophie being cute.
Here is Jay and Carlo, the groom.
I believe this was a Jay bending and flailing to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
And Taylor looking fierce.
Isn't Alyssa's dress fantastic?
And we all had to sing along as we danced.
This was Alyssa doing the moves to Poker Face.
Doesn't Romel look proud :) And Taylor looks caught.
I don't remember what song this was, but I'm guessing it talked about time.
Here are Charles, Albert, Alyssa and Romel.
And Alyssa campaigning ... for something.
And Taylor all up on the Aimee, the beautiful bride. Taylor was her first husband, after all.
And Mitch looking like he is going to charge the camera football style, but he was actually dancing.
And more dancing :)
And finally the night had to end so the newly weds could get to going. So, they had their last dance :)
Don't they look happy?

I was so glad we were able to go to Aimee and Carlo's wedding. It was such a great night and they looked so happy :)

After the wedding, Carlo's mom hosted all of us at her house, where we all hung out doing not too much. Then when people started to get hungry again, we headed to Denny's in Titusville... because that's what we do here. We did it in high school and we will keep doing it until Titusville gets a better late night restaurant.

This was so much fun, and we all need to get together again! Maybe in another 6 years or so :)

In Memory of Grammy

2010-11-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

*This is going to be a long entry :)

Well, my Grammy passed away last Saturday. Not a fun thing for anyone, but I am happy now that she is not suffering anymore. She certainly lived quite a life. She was born in 1932 as Ethel Bernadette Connors, named after her mother who thought that her own name (Ethel) was the most beautiful name ever, which Grammy vehemently disagreed with. As she was the only girl with 3 brothers, she went by Sis and it stuck throughout her life.

She met my Grampy, Vadron Asbury, a man who also hated his name and who was stationed in Brooklyn with the Army, at the Old Oak Bar in Brooklyn. The bar doesn't exist anymore, but my uncles are determined to find out where it was and what happened to it. The got married in 1955. As an active army man, my Grampy was stationed in many place such as Brooklyn, El Paso, Oklahoma City, Okinawa, and Merritt Island. He also served in Vietnam. Grammy took all the kids to live in Okinawa, Japan while he was stationed there. This experience caused her to never set foot on a plane in her entire life (she had 3 boys and a new baby girl who were driving her crazy and there was some type of severe turbulence).

By the time they were sent to Merritt Island, my mom was 13 years old and my Grampy was an army recruiter. He even recruited his oldest son (my uncle Ken) and I have the article from the paper when he did. He was the head recruiter for the state of Florida for a while too. Anyway, that's a little about Grammy I have learned from her own telling and from my mom and her brothers. She had 3 sons and one daughter - my mom - who was the youngest.

One thing I will always have to remember is that she swore she would come back from the grave and haunt me if I named any of my kids after her, as she hated both Ethel and Bernadette. :)

For her funeral, I went through her pictures and scanned all the ones that she was in, almost 600 in all (it took a long time). I figured I would put up some of my favorites that I found :)

Ethel "Sis" Bernadette Connors Asbury - Nov. 17, 1932 to Nov. 13, 2010

Grammy & Grampy in August of 1953.

Grammy and my mom, Kathleen, in El Paso.

Check out that hat! :) Quite the brood they all were.

Here she is with her friend, Janet.

This was how she could constantly be seen for a long time, and what helped in her demise.

Gotta love the picture though.

I love that bathing suit! This is with her friend Janet at Coney Island in Brooklyn.

Here she is holding her brother's son, Harold.

The day they married.

Even my uncles hadn't seen this one from when she was so young.

April 9, 1984 at my parent's wedding.

This was taken in 1985 around the time I was born.

One of my absolute favorites as this is one of my earliest memories.

This is Me, Grammy and Nanny, her mother, in 1987.

Christmas of 2003. This is all of her grandchildren minus my cousin Delaney.

January 3, 1988, the day my sister Kelly was born.

July 1985 the day I was blessed.

Grammy did love to bowl :)

Artillery Day 1964 in Okinawa, Japan.
With her brother, Charlie, June 1947.
Grammy in her famous fake fur coat she bought from a door to door salesman as a teenager.
lol Check the hair.

With two of her brothers in Brooklyn.

This was probably their first Christmas together as husband and wife.

Grampy carried around the only other copy of this picture in his wallet until he died.

1962 :) Love that outfit, I must say.

With her first son, Ken.

1952 in the Old Oak Bar, where they met.

I love everything about this one.

August 1951, the the whole drunken, Irish family. Grammy is on the left at the bottom.

Probably 1980, my mom and all her brothers with Grammy.

lol My mom in a hideous ponch.

Check out that hair man! She certainly liked to style it.

This one we all love because my uncle Kevin looks like Pee Wee Herman.

This is at Coney Island in the late 1930s with her brother Charlie.

And last but not least, the all time favorites:

On their wedding day. Grammy's mom and dad are on the left, and her friend Janet is on the right.

You have to admit, it's a beautiful picture.

Well, Grammy and Grampy are together again and I will be happy to see them one day and tell them about my life. I was privileged to be their first grandchild, and I will love them both forever. Miss you Grammy! Til we meet again!

Trunk Or Treat

2010-11-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

I feel terrible to be so late in my posting this one, especially since we had so much fun doing everything.

After being set on making us a fantastic set of costumes to wear for Halloween and then having it all fall apart, Justin and I decided to pick our own costumes, which we haven't done since we've known each other. I have to say it was a lot of fun. Justin had a scarecrow that he had wanted to be for a long time and so I got to do a little looking around and decided on a World War II Factory Worker :) (It was cooler than the name implies).

Also, all of a sudden, my little brother has decided to like gross things and he wanted to be a zombie. As my husband is a self proclaimed zombie expert, I felt he was the perfect wardrobe designer for this occasion. We went to the thrift store and got to work finding clothes for the three of us with great success.

On Friday night, I had to begin my transformation by twisting my gigantic head of hair into pin curls (I was going for a Rosie the Riveter look). I have to say, I really don't know how women of the 1930s and 40s did it. I took me an hour and a half to twist all my hair up and pin it in place. After such a feat, I had to take a picture. Mmm, lovely.

This, my friends, is what dedication looks like. Not only did I have to do this, but I had to sleep with all these pins in while wearing a shower cap for the next 2 nights. Not exactly comfy, and I had a ridiculously deep crevice carved into my forehead from the cap everyday. Oh, and I couldn't wash my hair for 3 days. Not exactly fun for a person who washes it daily (thank my oily ancestors for that one).

So, I wore my whole costume all day at work on Saturday, and I was surprised at how few people noticed it was a costume. I think most of them just thought I was weird.

Finally the night of our church trunk or treat came and we unleashed our costuming skills. I picked Briggs up on the way home from work and we began our boy to zombie transformation. Here is the play by play.

First, he needed some nasty gashes in his face, so we picked up a few at the local Halloween store.
Then he had to look pale like he is actually dead, so he got a base coat of white.
After that we added some faint green (to look rotten) and we had to give him sunken in dark eyes. So, here he is doing what he seems to think is the zombie face. Oh, and how industrious is this: I didn't have powder white enough, so I dusted his face with cornstarch to set the makeup. I must be a genius.
Then on to the clothing. We had to make him look like he had been all torn up. I mean, you can't have a gash like that on your neck and not have your collar to match! And here's the zombie face again. He's such a ham.
And what self respecting zombie wouldn't have his hair sticking in weird directions from the congealed oil and who knows what else that has collected in his hair?
Ok, so the basics are all there. Now... add blood! Justin was very adamant about making the perfect blood concoction and he was quite pleased with his results.

We took Briggs out into our front yard and squirted him down with a meat injector (it was the only syringe-like object I had). I'm sure my neighbors enjoyed the show.
He kept complaining about how gross it felt and we kept calling him a wuss. THat's what siblings are for.
This was the piéce de résistance. How real does this picture look?! Seriously! We were so proud.
So we had a photo shoot once we were done. Here is our zombie standing next to Justin the creepy scarecrow.
Aparently this is the full on zombie pose with the zombie face.
lol I still laugh everytime I see this one.
And here we all are. One big, weirdly mixed, slightly sticky family. (And they kept making me do that pose all night).
So, on to the actual event. Briggs went off with his friends to reek havoc and we decorated the car, and by decorate I mean I went to get Justin a chair because he was our main decoration.
Here is my little lion! Isn't he cute. I made his costume myself with no pattern. Yes, his mane had slid down in this shot, but you get the idea.
Isn't it creepy?
This is what our car looked like when the kids came around. Justin would sit slumped like that and there was not a single person there who didn't ask if he was real or fake. Of course, I told them that he was just from my yard and I made him myself.
After a few seconds (basically just long enough for the kids to have decided he hadn't moved so he must be fake), Justin would suddenly move. He didn't lunge at them, he would just pick up his hand or sit up straighter. I think we scared more adults then kids. The kids were apprehensive from the get go, but the adults were usually talking to the kid and just saw him move out of the corner of their eye. It was great.

We had a little Dorothy come by again and again. I think she thought he was her scarecrow. At the end of the night, she was pretty upset to find out he was a person and not a real/magically animated scarecrow, but she got over it enough to have this picture.
We had a lot of fun and Justin was very pleased with his costume.

Afterwards, we had to clean Briggs off and couldn't resist taking this one :)

So, that was our first event for Halloween. My next post will show the actual day of :)

A Giveaway? How Can I Go Wrong?

2010-10-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't ever posted anything like this before, but I couldn't help myself!

I've been very into the vintage style lately, and I ran across quite a plethora of blogs devoted to all things retro and some of them are giving things away!

This one I am really excited about. In The Heyday is giving away a Fleur dress!Isn't it cute? I'm super excited to try that hair-do, by the way. It's a wrap dress that's oh-so -40s-and-girly with pockets, matching buttons and bows! Hooray!

For a direct link to the giveaway, click here.

Ok, I know I sound ridiculous, but one of the ways to get an extra entry into the giveaway was to post it to the blog. So, if you're anything like me, I expect to be seeing your post about it before October 29th :)

Best of luck!

Hooray For Handouts!

2010-10-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure why, but I've been very into making handouts for church related things lately.

For months I've been accumulating all kinds of digital scrap booking supplies (which I never knew existed until probably this past June) and there is one particular site, Steadfast and Immovable, that specializes in Young Women Organization related items, and I knew my mom (as the new Young Women's President in our ward) would be all over it. Erika, who runs Steadfast and Immovable, designs really cute handouts for each week to go with the Young Women's lesson for that Sunday and you can download them for free! She also made a few for Relief Society, but stopped after the two. With her work as an inspiration, I decided to make my own.

I began with the September Visiting Teaching message:

Then I had to keep going with October's Visiting Teaching message:

Also, I'm the 4th Sunday teacher and they assign me conference talks to teach on, and this week will be "You Are My Hands" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf from April 2010 General Conference. Here is the full talk: LDS.org - Ensign Article - “You Are My Hands”. I was happy about this assignment because I really liked this talk when I heard it the first time. It begins with an object lesson of sorts that explains the title, so I decided to make a handout and a sign with just the main title to be a reminder:

Now, this may be arrogant of me, but all these other women do it! Since I've made a few handouts, I figured others might like to use what I have already created so they can have good messages and handouts. And what do you know, I already have a website! So, I put up the full sized images of each one of these so you can just right click them and save the image to your computer or copy it. So, check out: my downloads and you can follow the links depending on which one you want. They are already sized for my own purposes, but you can resize them to fit on the page however you want. I don't mind :)

For direct links:

September Visiting Teaching Message: click here
October Visiting Teaching Message:click here
You Are My Hands Lesson Poster:click here
You Are My Hands Single Handout:click here
You Are My Hands Page of Handouts:click here

I fully plan on keeping this up the Visiting Teaching Messages each month, so check back to get yours. Wouldn't you rather receive something like this than a xeroxed piece of paper? I thought so :)

Thank you to all those ladies whose scrap booking pieces were used to create these. Unfortunately, I do not have the info on each artist for these, but I will be sure to save that info and post credit on future designs.

Pumpkin Cookies

2010-10-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

So, I have a little tradition I started for myself. Every October (because that's when canned pumpkin becomes easily available), I make pumpkin cookies. Growing up, these were and are a Kline family favorite. My mom has to make at least a double or triple batch when she makes them or else they don't last longer than a few hours after she makes them.

So, I felt that I should share this fantastic family recipe (that was given to us by the lovely Carol Fowler) so that everyone can enjoy the new fall season :)

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 cups canned pumpkin

Icing Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

confectioner's sugar (1 whole box)

1. For Cookies: Cream shortening, sugar and 1 cup brown sugar together. - The mixture just becomes kind of evenly crumbly.

2. Sift the next 6 ingredients together (salt, flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking powder). Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with canned pumpkin. Beat well after each addition. - I add a little more pumpkin at first just to get it creamier, then I start adding more flour mixture. This gets really thick, so definitely mix really well adter each addition.

3. Drop by spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes at 350 degreed F. - Make them as round as possible. These cookies don't melt and they don't rise very much, so they will look the same after they are baked, just darker.

4. For Icing: Mix butter, milk, and 1/3 cup brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

5. Stir in vanilla. Let cool slightly then add powdered sugar a bit at a time. Keep adding until icing is nice and thick. - It seems like a lot, but it really does take a whole box of powdered sugar. If you are using powdered sugar that comes from a bag, just keep adding until it's the consistency of thick icing.

6. Drop balls of warm icing onto cookies. - Be really careful not to put too much. The icing melts over the cookie like a glaze. If you want to be able to control the icing a little better, I let the icing cool and I put them on the cookies while they are warm. This makes the icing melt a little slower and it doesn't go all over the place. Just for comparison, I put a nickel sized ball on a 2 inch cookie.

Sorry to cover the recipe with all that red, but hopefully it makes the process a little smoother the first time you make them. This is the wisdom I have acquired over years of making these.

I got a little fancy this time and tried them out as muffins, and they taste great :)

Just as a side note: I would advise against being healthier and foregoing the icing unless you really like the flavor of pumpkin. They are kind of boring without the icing.

So, I hope you enjoy these as much as we do :)

Justin's Check Up

2010-10-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, we went to the back doctor today to get Justin checked out and (his highlight) get the staples taken out of his stomach. Since he's been able to wear more than a hospital gown, the 4 incisions have made wearing normal pants a bit of a painful situation as two of them span right where the waistband hits - ouch.

On the cool side, they had to take x-rays of his back to make sure everything was healing properly and they said it looked wonderful! They were all very impressed with how well he is getting around.

So, here is what it looks like:

I was a little surprised to see so much metal in there, but I'm glad everything is healing well. Hopefully it heals fast :)

Justin's Surgery

2010-10-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

If you are connected to me or Justin on facebook, I'm sure you've seen all sorts of posts about his being in the hospital without much explanation as to why; so, I figured I would clarify that here.

For the entire time I have know Justin, he has had back pain that limits how and what he can do. In fact, back when he was 17, he had a similar surgery. He needed work done on some herniated discs, but since he was so young, they were worried about doing a spinal fusion and hoped that he would be ok with whatever their "quick fix" option was at the time. Well, it didn't last for him. His pain has gotten worse and worse for years now, making us come to the decision that now was as good a time as any to get it taken care of (plus we have health insurance now which will not last after the Space Center shuts down the shuttle program).

After going to several Doctors and trying everything from therapy to injections, he slowly negated all other possible fixes to his pain which lead us to Dr. Hynes.

Dr. Hynes is a very famous surgeon throughout the US. He is the person who did Justin's original surgery as well. He gave him a few options, but said that a partial spinal fusion on at least two discs would be the best option for his condition.

This brought us to Friday morning, October 1st when Justin checked into Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, FL ... at 6am. I got to be with him until they took him back for surgery around 8am (I was a blubbering wreck too which he fully enjoyed).

His parents and I waited for 4 hours in the waiting room and they finally said he was in recovery and everything had gone great. **Note, this is the last time you will hear of anything with this experience going "great."

By about 2pm, they had him in his room and were getting him situated. He was still very out of it from the anesthesia , so we let him sleep for quite a while. His mom and I sort of took shifts after that. I stayed with him for the rest of the day (while he slept) and then his mom came to relieve me at 9pm so I could go home to sleep since I had to work the next day. Around 8:30 is when things really started to get interesting. His anesthetic was wearing off and the pain was starting to kick in. Now, having someone slice open your spin and abdomen is bound to be painful; but when you add in that the surgery was laproscopic, that complicates things even further.

Laproscopy is a surgical process that is supposed to be less painful than traditional incisions. They make a few small cuts in your stomach, blow it up with air, then insert cameras and small tools that they use to to the surgery by camera. The advantage is that they don't have to slice you completely open. The disadvantage: you are full of carbon dioxide gas. Now, before this experience, I would have said, "Why is this a problem?" Well, when you have people up in your bowels touching everything, they kind of freak out and shut down; thus you have all this gas in your body and your bowels won't do anything to help you get it out.

Ok, so we knew that some gas would remain in there, but nothing too ridiculous. Not so with Justin. At 8:30 on the first night, he began to complain of intense pain in his chest when he breathed. The pain would cause his heart rate to rise, sometimes up to 160 bpm. This is not a good thing. The poor nurse was wonderful, but no matter what she did or who she called, she couldn't help to relieve his pain. After work the next day, they had just given him a bunch of morphine and muscle relaxers to help him sleep before I got to the hospital, so I sat with him again while he slept for hours. Around the same time (9pm), he woke up and started having terrible pain again. All night, he would call to me to help him with something or other, turn him on his side, get him a blanket, etc. The pain just got worse and worse and his heart rate continued to climb. We got so used to the constant beeping of annoying machines because they just would not stop.

By the morning, they actually became worried he may have had or would soon have a heart attack. So, a cardiologist came and ordered a ct scan of his chest. If it wasn't a heart attack, it could have been a blood clot that had made its way up into his lungs which cause the stabbing pain while breathing. Also note, his bowels had not yet shown any sign of waking up, which for other laproscopy patients would have already been in full swing. So, they took him for some scans and tests and then transferred him to the telemetry floor where he could have his heart constantly monitored. This meant a little box was hooked to him at all times, which was annoying for anyone, but it was not designed for someone who needs to wear a back brace at all times. The box would not fit beneath the brace without pushing on the cuts on his stomach, and could not be left to hang because that would disconnect the wires. So, he had to hold it whenever he moved.

Anyway, all the scans came back fine - no clot, no heart attack yet. So, he was monitored, and given everything they could to get his bowels working. The nurses got a little over anxious, and they gave him 3 suppositories and a laxative at the same time. Well, his bowels started to work, but not in a fun way. Soon, they couldn't do anything to make them stop. Which brought on another problem in itself. He was still in horrible pain and he could only have liquids. Not a fun combo with nothing to comfort you.

So, this long explanation finally gets a little better. By Monday, which was his last full day in the hospital, he could at least watch tv and get up to walk around. Remarkably, he was able to go home on Tuesday morning, which was faster than normal for his surgery. He was able to eat solid food again and walk just fine. He was in a lot of pain for the first day, but now he can actually walk without a walker.

Our problem has now become his actual surgical sites. He is allergic to the tape they use to hold the bandages on, so not only does it itch because the skin is healing, but he has blisters and rashes under the tape that itch like mad, and we can't do anything about it. So, his mother, who is a nurse, comes by every so often and changes the bandages to help alleviate the pain and itching.

Other than the tape, his main issue is frustration and boredom. He has to wear a brace and he also can't bend, twist or lift, limiting the things he can do to laying around and playing video games. He can't shower, which annoys him to no end. He can't walk very far without becoming incredibly tired since his body is literally using a protein they injected around the discs to grow bone.

So, I know I have put a very depressing spin on things, but we are glad to have it done. The worst is over and he gets the staples taken out next week. And on the bright side, he can't work for at least 4-6 weeks, so we get to spend a lot of time together. So, thanks to modern medicine, he will be able to pursue the more physically demanding careers he really wanted after he has healed :)

Cruisin' the Bahamas

2010-09-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Justin and I went on a cruise to Nassau and Coco Cay in the Bahamas. Justin's parent's got this cruise for him as a graduation present, and it could not have come at a better time. Both of us were ready for a much needed break.

We boarded the Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas on Friday and immediately started taking advantage of the food :) If you don't drink and don't gamble, the food is the best part of any cruise and there is plenty of it. I was afraid I would over do it and gain back some of the weight I lost, but I am glad to report I weigh the same that I did when we left :)

After our lunch ,we walked the ship while we were waiting to shove off.

A quick view of our boat:

... And the long drop if you fell off the side.

We had fun on our first day, met some fun folks at dinner and had a good rest all leading up to Saturday in Nassau. Since we have both been to Nassau before and did the beachy thing, we decided to do something different first. We grabbed a map and headed toward Fort Fincastle on foot. On our way we had fun looking at all the paintings on the sides of the buildings.

This guy was my favorite :)

And this was Justin's.

This mural was just too cool, we had to take a picture of it.

Also on our way, we passed the First Methodist Church, which is such a neat building.

Incidentally, we passed a large baptist church as well that was a bit further off the beaten path and it was full of people having what sounded like a very spirited funeral service.

Finally we made it to the Fort Fincastle, which was like a very very small version of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. The thing that sets this fort apart is its shape, it has a large triangular shaped deck that jets outward. It was designed to look like the front of an oncoming ship.

So we played on the canons.

Went in the powder magazine.

And admired the view, which was very nice, I must say.

Here's the "ship's bow" piece of the fort along with the water tower from the 1920s.
And this is me demonstrating how all American tourists look in the eyes of the Bahamians. I think I did a bit too good of a job in this picture.

This is a statue of Queen Victoria in the town square. This statue sits in the courtyard that connects the senate and court buildings.

And we could not press on without trying some of the local fare, namely Goombay Punch. It was ridiculously sweet and tasted like artificially flavored pineapple and mango. How appropriate.

So, after wandering the town for a few hours, we noticed another interesting destination on the map called The Cloister. I can't resist cloisters, so we grabbed a cab and made our way to Paradise Island.

As you walk up to it, you can't help but say, "What the heck is this doing here?" The Cloister is a medieval structure that was built in Montrejau, France in the 12th & 13th centuries by the Augustinian Order. It was purchased, taken apart, and then reassembled piece by piece on Paradise Island in 1962. If you don't believe me, read this stone:

After you walk through the cloister itself, you can see a stone pathway leading down the hill in step sections, ending at a lovely gazebo.
This is the view from the gazebo.
The gazebo had the coolest iron scroll work ceiling.

This is the view of the ocean from the gazebo. The more time we spent in this quiet, secluded little spot, the more we were convinced that it would make a fantastic wedding location. So, all of you who want a unique place for your destination wedding, this is it. The pictures would be amazing!

We went back up the hill and over to the other side of the cloister and walked through the Versailles gardens. There were still ponds full of lily pads and water lilies.

And in between each section of stairs was some type of statue.
This one caught my eye because of the knights carved into the side, but when you look closer...
You can see it's an old sun dial. Unfortunately most of the writing has worn away (it was in latin anyway) and someone has taken the actual angled piece you tell time with, but it was still cool.
More statues.

This was one of the ponds.
And a statue of Psyche and Amore.

This one was technically on the property of this very exclusive resort that butts up to the Versailles gardens. Ironically, their pool is just to the left.
I love the root structures of these trees.

So,o after we had our fill of medieval art and architecture, we made our way to Cabbage beach, which turned out to be very secluded and empty. Most of the people there were locals, some who brought their dogs. Once we set foot on the cornmeal-esk sand, Justin noticed a large rock jetting out from the shoreline and we began our trek toward it. We walked and walked and walked, but it was worth it to see all the creatures who chose to make this rock their home.
This was prime time to test out Justin's new b-day present: The Panasonic Lumix TS2 Tough Cam :) It can go underwater 33 feet, be dropped from 6 feet, withstand 200 lbs of pressure and 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yes, it's a miracle. I was in the water! :)
We were quite fascinated by these urchins.

And anemones. Justin kept trying to get me to touch one and when I finally did, it sucked all the fronds up into itself so quickly I thought it was going to suck my finger in with it.

These two urchins were the best shot. Good job to Justin for taking such a crisp shot under water and in a pretty powerful tide current.

During out little snorkeling exhibition, we not only found shells and sea glass but 3 pairs of sunglasses (one of which is a pair of real Chanels, but they unfortunately were in the water for a very long time), a large piece of astro-turf-like carpet, and the plastic diving step off of a boat. The carpet was a bit of a let down. Justin thought it was a burlap bag and managed through his determination to go hold his breath and use all of his might to pull the piece out of the sand. I wish I had a picture of it, it was great :)

So, after about 3 hours of snorkeling, we made our way back to the ship and got ready for our formal dinner night.
Don't we look crazed?
After dinner, we went to the show which was El Gaucho, the amazing Uruguayan guitarist, pianist, and bolo swinger. He was actually very good, probably the best show I've ever seen on a cruise. After El Gaucho, we went onto the deck for the Set Sail Party and midnight buffet :)

I couldn't help but take a picture of this guy. He was a bread decoration on the bread table. I am now determined to make all my breads look like him in the future.

After having a few very unhealthy snacks and watching the drunk people shake their groove things on the edge of the pool deck (and waiting with baited breath for one of them to fall in), we got some rest so we could enjoy our next day at Coco Cay.

Coco Cay is Royal Caribbean's private island, which seems to be synonymous with "Nothing to do unless you pay us more money." We aren't much of the excursion type, since on every island you can find the same tours and activities from a local in the port for half the price the ship wants to charge you. Unfortunately, there is no competition on a private island. So, we brought our snorkels and tried to find a fairly deserted stretch of beach.

Once in the water, we soon discovered why there were so few people in that area:

Mushroom Jelly Fish. We must have seen about 15 of them randomly as we hunted the ocean floor for shells that we technically weren't supposed to take. I saw a gigantic sting ray a little ways off from me, and Justin found a conch shell with a live conch inside (which we willingly put back in the ocean - the whole shell, not just the naked conch). We swam for about an hour and then decided to head back.

On the tender boat back in, we took a few more photos:

We ended up sleeping more when we got back (surprise, surprise) and then prepped for our final dinner. After our tasty meal, we came back to find this little guy in our cabin.
A cruise just isn't a cruise without towel animals :)
And the goofy pictures you take with them :)

We had a wonderful time on our mini-vaca. Since Justin is having back surgery this Friday, it came just in the nick of time as he will be pretty much down for the count for at least a month. Now we are home resting from our rest so we can be ready for work tomorrow. I wish we could just be on vacation forever. Wouldn't that be nice?

Revolutionary Products - Hold Onto Your Heels!

2010-09-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

What female doesn't have a pair of shoes that they both love and hate because they are super cute but they rub the daylights out of their heels? I know I do. - he he, I can totally see a TV personality walking to the side while saying this.

I love a cute pair of shoes, just ask my husband. My feet have been a solid size 9 since I was 14 years old, so I have amassed quite the collection des chausseurs. Like anyone else, I have one set of shoes that I wear everyday and then I have another set that I only pull out occasionally (such as my sweet pair of neon yellow slip-ons from Aldo Justin got me while we were dating). The set I wear the least is probably the most fashionable, but also the least comfortable. Having a long and narrow foot means that shoes have to fit tight to the side of my foot or else they like to slip off while walking; therefor I sometimes have to buy them to where they just barely fit lengthwise to help with the width.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I was shopping at the local Winn Dixie that was going out of business. They had their whole store 40% off, so I decided to take a gander around and see what was left after the uncontrollable mobs had ransacked the place for a week before. I had no expectations of what I would find, but I made out like a bandit. I focused on products that I normally wouldn't buy because they are a little pricey. I bought different laundry detergents, fancy vinegars, and more, but then I rounded the corner of the hygiene isle. Normally I don't stop long in the foot section as I thankfully son't get things like corns. But since everything was on sale, I decided to look.

Dr. Scholls must have stock in Winn Dixie because they owned that whole section of the store. I purchased Ball of Foot Cushions, High Heel Insoles, Heel Liners, and (my personal favorite) Miracle Shield Anti-Friction Stick.This wonderful little product looks like a giant's tube of chap stick. The instructions say, "Apply generously to feet as often as needed." It also tells you not to eat it. Duh. So, I followed the instructions and I have to say I was completely shocked. I have no idea why it works, but it really does. My new leather strappy sandals that had rubbed my heel the day before didn't bother me once all day and I only applied the balm once.
So, if you have the same heel problem that I have, I would recommend this hands down. And it's really not expensive at a retail price around $5. Even if it doesn't work for you, at least you're only out $5. So try it out, you will be glad you did :)

Are Strippers Powerful?

2010-09-15T22:51:00.001-07:00

My first day in Intro to Anthropology at the University of South Florida, our teacher grabbed my attention immediately with a very interesting question: Do strippers have power?

Our class was fairly small, less than 20 students overall, but what a diverse group it was! As this was our first meeting, the instructor asked us to go around the room introducing ourselves before we gave our opinion on the topic. Almost every person in the class responded, most in length, and the answers were not always predictable. I remember one particular comment by a girl who shared my name. When called on, she began with, "Hi, I'm Megan. I'm a feminist," in what I can only describe as a vocal tone out of the movie Clueless. You could feel the collective eye rolling as she continued on to explain she was also a female studies major. Quel surprise. She managed to really befuddle me with her answer to the professor's question though. She launched into a grandiose speech about how the stripper is the one with the power. By her estimation, these women were comfortable with their bodies and in using them to get the most gain. They didn't have to do what they were doing, nor did they force any of their patrons to be in their establishment. These women know what the men want, and they give it to them in exchange for money, and money equals power.

Up until her comment, I was a little up in the air about who had the power in this scenario. Each person who imparted their stance on the rest of us managed to sway me ever so slightly to their side; but her opening line made me immediately contradict her (I know, I'm terrible, but that is the truth). I began to think harder... is money really power in and of itself? Or is it all just a paper that we have generally accepted as having a value?

After the rest of the class made their introduction and blurb, the teacher gave us a little more information. He wanted to know if they have true power. Power just for being who they are before any service is given. He brought our attention to strip clubs that don't use actual money. Like gambling in Las Vegas, the men purchase chips with their money as they enter and give these to the strippers instead of actual money. The strippers then cash in their chips at the end of each night to receive their pay.

I'm proud to say, this tipped me off. I was the first person in the class to give a plausible argument that true power does not lie in the hands of the strippers. The strippers want something. Sure, some of them do it for the sexual thrill or what have you, but I would say the vast majority do it for the money. That is the whole reason they are there, even if they try to say its for something else. If they didn't want the money, they wouldn't be there; so if they really do it for a mental tweak instead of a physical payment, they are exploiting themselves for no reason.

At first, everyone in the class was arguing against me, especially Miss Feminist. They still equated money with power and said the strippers held both. The more I argued, the more people came to my side. Eventually, the professor called an end to the argument, telling the class that I was right. I was elated and also disturbed. How can a feminist dilute herself into thinking that sexual power is true and free power? The stripper is not just receiving the money for being herself. If it was just a woman standing fully clothed in front of a man holding out her hand for money, she wouldn't receive anything. She is receiving this as payment for a service. The man however, is respected even with his clothes on (in this scenario). Let's say he's a middle-aged businessman stopping by a club on his way home from work. Do the strippers scoff at his receding hairline and paunch? No, for the simple reason that he then would not spend his money on them. The man has complete power in the given situation.

Now, why am I blogging about this? This post must seem very random, but it was inspired by a book that popped out at my in the sociology section of Barnes and Noble. It was called Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and The Rise of Raunch Culture." I glanced at the back and then wrote the title down so I could look into it later on, and I just pulled it up on Amazon tonight and took advantage of their "Look Inside" feature. I was able to read the introduction, part of the first chapter, and the whole conclusion tonight and now I want to buy this book. The author, Ariel Levy, is by no means someone who I would agree with on many other points. In fact, if we were in the same room, I would probably try to stay on the other side of it to avoid a huge argument. Her moral and political views are extremely polar to mine - I know this due to her constant reiteration in the book - but her writings personified a mental debate I've had going on for a long time. Why has being sexual become equivalent to being "free" or "empowered" or "equal"? She even makes reference to the same figures and organizations in the popular culture of our generation and the next that caused these questions in me. Reading what I did of her book immediately reminded me of this anecdote from my college days and I had to write it down before the mood left me.

If you are at all interested in this topic, I highly suggest going to amazon and looking at this book for yourself. She writes very well, it is easy to read yet educated. She engages the reader because it's more like she is talking to you that having you read something. It is open and honest and calls out the current world on its crap. Therefor, I love it. So go to Amazon and give it a bit of a read and please give me your opinions. It's been a long time since I had an open and educated debate on such a throbbing topic :) I've been PC too long, now I want to hear the truth on this one.

Julie and Julia Review

2010-09-15T19:11:00.001-07:00

Being a young woman with a blog, I constantly hear, "Oh, like in that movie!" when I run into people who have maybe glanced at this webpage, but not really looked into it. "That movie" being Julie and Julia. Like many other fairly new movies, I thought about seeing it when it was in theaters but never got to go due to our erratic schedule. Thus, it ended up on the abysmal list I like to call "Movies I Will See Eventually." Thanks to a new Netflix account and having a huge list of films at my beckon call, I finally watched it...

I have to say, it was not exactly an epically moving piece. It was cute, but not really anything to write home about. I completely back the concept of a young woman without any real purpose gaining structure by setting a goal and taking everyone along for the ride. She creates some small problems for herself along the way, but she involves her readers and feels validation in her life, which most anyone could agree is a good feeling. No one wants to wander aimlessly through life. Sure, at first glimpse of freedom we all rush out and do anything and everything or nothing if we want to; but eventually we all come to a mature realization that at some point we will no longer be around. Most individuals have children at this point. I would say that children are a the biggest legacy we leave behind us. But if children aren't an option, due to choice or circumstance, any goal that helps to better the achiever is certainly not a bad idea.

You're probably now thinking, "Wow, for a person who says this movie wasn't that great, she certainly is going into deep thought because of it," and even I have to admit that any commentary that draws its audience into contemplation cannot be a failure. I just don't think this movie accomplished all that it wanted and attempted to. I could go on and on, but I doubt you would want to hear my existential rant. I tend to overdo those a bit

Suffice it to say, I'm not running out to purchase the Bluray, but I may try to make a little boeuf bourguignon on my day off :)

Revolutionary Products - The Quest To Cover Up

2010-09-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

I would have never guessed how many people read/enjoyed my vacuum reviews. Friends come up to me at random events and send me messages saying how they are so glad I posted my opinion of the Shark Navigator. So, I have decided to run with this success. I've been compiling a small list of products that have recently changed my life and I would love to let everyone know why :)

To get things rolling properly, I will begin with what is literally my favorite product of the week: Curvana

For almost 2 years now, I have experienced frustration, as many twenty-something LDS women do, with finding appropriately cut clothes. Before I got married, I was a big fan of deep v-neck tops. Once I got married in the temple, I no longer want to wear clothes that are so revealing, and I made a large effort to pass most of my clothing I could/would no longer wear to various charitable institutions. Just because I can't enjoy them does not mean that no one else should. Even with my new found modest zeal, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of my favorite shirts of days gone by.

I have seen advertisements for various products to solve this problem i.e. Cami Secret. I almost broke down and purchased it, but when I went online there were several websites for the same product that all looked different - can you say scam? At that point I decided to make one myself. It can't be that hard - it's just a napkin that clips to your bra. On Labor Day, I drug Justin to Joann fabric to purchase the fabric. I found the stretch knits and even had my choices in my cart when I turned around and hit the jack pot.

Joann has a section amongst the sewing supplies devoted to things like shoulder pads and foam rubber breast inserts. Mixed in with them is a line of products by Curvana.

Curvana makes such products as bra straps, gel breast inserts, pasties, etc; but the cream of the crop as far as I was concerned was the Reversible Mini Cami.

This product is basically a tube top designed to just cover your chest. It has lace on one side and just a hemmed edge on the other. They had three colors: Black, White, and Natural.
Another cool feature is that it can be worn with straps, and there are tabs for the hooks on both sides, so you don't have to worry about it sliding down at awkward moments.
One side note I have to say is, though I don't exactly have gigantic boobs (not even close really), I took the cami out of the box and held it up for a size comparison. I'm glad I did because I doubt the medium would have been very comfy. I purchased the large, and it has worked out great. So, if you wear larger than a 36B I suggest you get at least a Large or Extra Large.

So, I have to show you the results :)
I have to confess, I only bought this blue shirt a week ago, but it was on sale and I like it :)
I had to try it with this shirt because it has the deepest V of them all. I never wore this without a tank top underneath (sheesh, I'm not that much of a hussy), but it gets very uncomfortable to wear multiple layers in Florida. I'm warm natured as it is without piling on more insulation, so I was so glad that this cami worked with it.

This last shirt was given to me by my mother in law because she didn't like how the wrap part would occasionally cause over exposure. I had the same problem the first few times I wore it and I was pinning it together with a safety pin after that. I like the lace detail for some of my more work appropriate shirts.

This product changed my life because:

It's comfortable and lightweight. It's stretchy so it moves well, and you can pull it up or down to adjust the height. Also, because it's a tube top, it will never pop out of the neckline of your shirt because it's too low cut, unlike some of the reviews I've read about the Cami Secret. And now I can wear all of my old low cut favorite shirts!

So anyway, if your boobs are hanging out and you want a way to cover them up, this is a fantastic option.

***Also, wait for their next big sale to buy this at Joann. Normal price was $16.99, but they were half-off on Labor Day.

Necessity is the Mother of This Cobbler

2010-09-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago, Justin and I had honey garlic chicken wings for dinner. Unfortunately, in the effort to make these wings, we were a little too generous with our saucing, and ended up with a very dirty oven and a foul odor through our whole house. Several times this week I have turned on the oven and only remember what happened when I start to smell that lovely aroma. I tried to clean it today, but none of the cleaners I have will do the trick.

So, at dinner time this evening, I became incredibly frustrated as I went over the list of various meals I could make with the ingredients I already have only to mentally cross them out as options because they required use of the oven. Luckily, I had ample left overs from other meals which took care of dinner; but I've had a few peaches and nectarines in my fridge for a little too long and needed to do something with them. I found a recipe several months ago from the Magnolia Bakery in NYC that would work perfectly for my fully ripened fruits :)

Thus began Peach and Nectarine Cobbler:

Topping -

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup Milk

4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, Softened

Filling -

4 cups Sliced Nectarines - I didn't have enough, so I mixed nectarines and peaches

1/2 cup Cold Water

1/3 cup Loose Light Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tbsp Unsalted Butter

Garnish -

Cinnamon Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. To prepare topping: In medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, & baking powder. Add milk & butter. Beat until smooth.

3. To prepare filling: In large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook & stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly, about 5-10 minutes - I cooked it longer, about 15-20 minutes.

4. Pour into ungreased 13x9" glass dish. (sorry the picture is blurry)Spoon topping over the filling & spread evenly with spatula. Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar.

5. Bake 30-40 minutes until topping is golden & cake tester comes out clean.

6. Don't forget to top it off with some vanilla ice cream :)

Even though I didn't have an oven, I have a convection/toaster oven. I had to use a much smaller pan than the recipe calls for - I used a 9x9" square. I double-lined the pan with aluminum foil. In case you are wanting to make this in your own toaster oven, please note that my oven is made by Cuisinart, and because the heating elements are so close to the food, I always decrease the temperature by about 50 degrees so it has time to cook before the outside turns brown.

Being a girl who has only ever made cobbler with canned peaches in syrup, I was very pleased with this recipe. The nectarines, while similar to a peach, give it a sweeter taste that's less tart than peach cobbler. Also, the topping is much cake-ier than my grandmother's country cup-a-cup-a-cup-a recipe, which is nice and crunchy mixed in with the fluffy. This one is very tall and light, a pleasant surprise.

This has really contributed to my self-sufficiency. I now know that I can cook a cobbler in my toaster oven :) Which is a valuable asset with hurricane season in full swing. I can now keep everyone's spirits up by making this with only a small generator for power :)

Oh, and just to let you know, it tasted delicious :)

Gordo Meets The Gopher Tortoise

2010-09-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Gordo encountered a tortoise for the first time on his walk today.

The Grand Tour

2010-08-31T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we have lived in our current place for some months and have had much more freedom with our new landlord, a.k.a my mother in law, so we have been able to paint and customize our space to feel more homey :)

We finally have most everything away to where we are proud to show it off (you can't rush these things). So, for all of our friends who don't live around here, you can see how/where we live :)

Without further ado, the Hallway:
I had to show the fact that we have photos in our frames. The sat empty for a really long time.
Gotta hang the keys somewhere.
My cute Bistro sign no one ever sees because our hall is so narrow. I wanted to give it its moment to shine.
The Kitchen:

We love the purple walls. The table is also super cool because it is just a square that has two built in leaves that level themselves when you want to make the table bigger. Thank you Ikea.

Our glass top stove never looks this clean, so I had to strike while the iron was hot for this photo.

The Front Bathroom:

You can't really see it, but the shower curtain is doubled up. The brown tree one is behind a clear one with a green leaf pattern all over it. I love both curtains but the other shower has sliding glass doors on it.
The dog in the mirror is also a permanent feature in any room, because he will follow you everywhere... even into the bathroom.

The Office:

We love Ikea, if you can't tell.

The records and (dun dun na na!) Justin's diploma :)
The record player, which ironically sat in this exact place for several decades before we lived here. But hey, it still works and I can say I have a hi fi :) And yes, that is an 8 track player on top of it.

The Living Room:

Yes, the carpet matches the door mat. Thank you Angela :)
The back view of the office, complete with our fish. And yes, those are wedding pictures.
The super comfy couches.

The freshly completed wall feature. I added the bottom shelf recently.
I needed a space for our all time favorite picture with is also our all time favorite souvenir from a trip.
Our Bathroom:It is purple and green. If you haven't noticed the overall purple and green theme yet, perhaps you will now.
And last but not least, Our Room (my favorite room):

Your eyes are not deceiving you, it really is that green. The color is called "leprechaun."

I had to show this because I'm proud to finally have something in my frames. It took over a year, but finally we have visual proof we got married.
The tree above our bed is our second favorite souvenir. We got it in New York outside the Met. It is actually a paper cutting. It was done kind of like a snow flake but incredibly more complicated. Also, if you have seen our business website, this is the tree the whole site has on it.
I'm proud of this curtain too because I've had the curtain rod up since we moved in, but had nothing hanging on it until maybe a month ago. What makes it even better is that the panels cost me $3 each.
The cleanest our dresser has looked in a long time :)
Overall, I love the look of our bedroom and how it has turned out. I feel so adult and put together when I look at it.

The Shark Review - Continued

2010-08-29T20:23:00.001-07:00

So, I have had the Shark Navigator vacuum for one month, and so far, I love it. I find myself vacuuming more frequently than I ever have in my life just because this piece of machinery makes it so easy to do. I know that I sound like a bit like an infomercial when people ask me about it, but I guess I will just have to accept it. I tried out the pet hair attachment today after discovering that the Gordo has started his biannual change of season shedding, which is more like a sheds-a-bit-more-than-normal. His fur was all over the couch after we brushed him, so I decided to test that baby out. I have to say, I was quite impressed.

I have another feature that I don't believe I mentioned very much in my previous posting: the size. This vacuum is incredibly compact for what it accomplishes. It is lightweight, and is so small it can fit into our teeny hall closet along with our steam mop, broom and dustpan, and ironing board that sit in front of all of our towels and such on shelves:
Here is a shot a little backed up so you can fully appreciate the dinky-ness that is the size of this closet:

The one downfall to this mini-vacuum is the size of the canister. I know a lot of it is my dog's hair combined with a wool carpet that sheds constantly, but I have to empty the canister in the middle of vacuuming my one carpet. For the rest of the tile, I can usually use if for most of the house before emptying, but the hair fills past the max fill line fast.

I also have to say, I love the dusting attachment. I cleaned our entire bedroom on Thursday, dusting all of our furniture, including candle holders and picture frames and even under the bed. I was even able to suck the dusty build up off of the air conditioning vent in the ceiling. It even got fur off of slightly fuzzy surfaces that have never looked this good since I bought them.

So, I'm still going to wait another few months before I make my final judgement, but I am enamored with the Shark Navigator thus far. :)

Impromptu Norah Jones Concert

2010-08-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I was lucky enough to go and see Norah Jones in concert. It was amazing! What makes it more interesting is that I didn't know I was going until 30 minutes before we left.

On the sad side, my mom is sick with a very painful and very long named illness. The tickets were hers, she was supposed to go with my dad, my sister, and my sister's boyfriend. Try as she might, she just couldn't muster the fortitude to go out to the concert, so she offered the ticket to me. So, I tried not to act to happy, but also not disappointed.

So, we went to see Norah Jones at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center in Orlando, and we even got roasted pecans :)

Here are some of the videos I got with my phone during the show (I'm sorry they are a bit shaky):

Chasing Pirates:

Don't Know Why:

Come Away With Me:

My Angela Is Gone :(

2010-08-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it is official. Angela left for Queens, NY last Friday and I'm still in withdrawals. At least I had the opportunity to hang out and sort of help with the moving process.

On Thursday, we just kind of hung around the house. Angela picked up delicious Chicken Nachos from Mad Maxx's Grillin Shack - which I highly recommend if you are wanting a calorie filled, delicious meal. Before we left to get the food though, we had this little bit of fun:

Gavin was incredibly excited about having two vacuums in the house. Earlier in the day, he and I did this same routine for at least 20 or 30 minutes. Eventually Angela got the idea to switch it up and move the vacuum and see his perplexed reaction. It was really funny. Then, when Cheryl came over, he had to show her as well :)

The next day, my mom and I went over to help wipe everything down so they could get on their way. We had to wait for the movers to finish, so while they loaded everything up, we hung out in "osh room" - which translates as Josh's room. We had fun holding Harper and playing with Gavin. By the time we were finished, I just wanted to get pictures so I could remember how cute Gavin is right now :)

Justin and I will miss the Smiths and their little family. We will have to bug them in NYC sometime - hopefully soon :)

The Shark Review - This Vacuum Sucks

2010-07-29T19:29:00.001-07:00

So, the time came for us to purchase a new vacuum. Our vacuum that we bought on the day after Thanksgiving last year for $35 at Walmart is complete and utter crap. Do Not Buy the Eureka Maxima unless you enjoy rolling a vacuum back and forth for no apparent reason.

Anyway, when I looked at Target to see what they offered, I decided to look up online reviews and see which one is best. What a waste of time. IT is a complete crap shoot choosing a vacuum. All of the good reviews are 1) written after using the item for 5 minutes or 2) written by people who are paid by the company to do so. They sound like infomercials, for real - normal people don't talk like that. A good portion of the reviews aren't even about the product but the store they purchased it from. Yeah.

So, I posted my woes on facebook and received a huge response. Friends were telling me what they had, how happy they were with it, and what surfaces they worked best on. After 3 days of combining online reviews with vacuum rating site (which also sound like they are tipped by the companies) and with my facebook friends opinions, I reached a decision: The Shark Navigator.
I know, I know. I'm cliché for buying something with an infomercial that keeps telling you, "It's amazing" à la Billy Mays, but I could not ignore the evidence in its favor, no matter how dumb the commercial is. I figured I could buy it and give it a try. If it sucks - or doesn't rather - I can return it.

Before I tell you the results of this new machine, I first must let you know the testing conditions:

1) Understand first that my apartment is completely tiled. The only carpet we have is an area rug, and the rug in question has changed several times over the last few months. The rug you see pictured here is just as new as the vacuum cleaner; well, new to us, that is. My dearest Angela is moving to NY next Friday and decided not to take this with her, so she gave it to me :) I just picked it up today and it's so much nicer than any of the other rugs I've had in this space. This one is wool and it is actually plushy, a new concept in this house. Also note: wool carpets shed. Angela informed me when I picked it up that it takes several years before they settle enough to not shed anymore. Anyway, the vacuum needs to be able to work well on tile as well as on carpet of various heights.

2) Also understand the nature of my "only sheds twice a year" dog who actually sheds constantly. He's 14 months old and I'm willing to bet that if I had saved all the hair I have swept and vacuumed up around my house in that time, I could have molded it into at least two Gordo sized corgi replicas. Even when I sweep and vacuum what I think is absolutely everywhere I still get tumbleweeds of hair rolling around. I have no clue where they come from, but they are a constant in my life. I love my Gordo, so I accept the tumbleweeds. So, the vacuum needs to be good at collecting hair, even when I can't see it; and it needs to pull hair off of plushy fabrics. I'm tired of lint rolling my carpet and couches when people are coming over. (Yes, that is what I have had to do.)

So, for this experiment, we will be using my living room with the new/used carpet that has been freshly shampooed:
The carpet needed a vacuuming, Angela even told me that when I picked it up, but just to look at it, it really wasn't that bad. After vacuuming the bare tile floor under where the carpet would go as well as giving the rug a good once over, this is what the tank looked like:

Yeah, it was really full. I unintentionally let it fill about 1/3 over the "max fill" line. This was a good sign. Apparently it can suck out a lot of crap when it doesn't look that bad to the naked eye. Score one for the Shark.

The Navigator also has some very handy features. There are two positions for the on switch: click it once for the bare floor or cleaning attachments, click it twice for carpets. The second click activates the roller brush. This is nice because you won't burn your carpet if the vacuum sits on it while you are using the hose to clean something else. Another perk is the button to remove the tank. This button is right next to the on switch and just makes the whole tank pop out = no clipping anything or lifting a thin plastic door that breaks easily. It came with a variety of attachments, including a dusting brush, a pet hair brush, and a crevice tube. Even emptying the canister was easy and you don't get dirty! You just hold the tank over a trash can and push a release button to make the bottom hatch drop out. I did kind of give it a shake and then I had to take a paper towel and grab some hair that was stuck to the top filter, but it wasn't a big deal.

So, remember, I only vacuumed a 5x7 area of tile and the area rug, and this is what came out of the tank: I felt like a very dirty person, but simultaneously felt the hope of being not so dirty anymore.

In conclusion: This vacuum sucks so far, which in a vacuum is a good thing. I like it. It's small and light with neat features that are easy to use. It sucked well on the tile, not blowing the dirt around but actually sucking it up, and dug deep down in the carpet to remove more dirt than I thought was there. The dusting brush (a personal favorite in any vacuum) worked nicely, and I went on to clean my storage ottomans and lamp shade to great satisfaction. Also, it's not very loud, despite what some of the reviews I found said.Happy as I am with it thus far, I still want to see how it lasts with regular use over several months. So, if you are curious, check back in a while and I will let you know how it holds up. Hopefully this posting helps all you potential vacuum buyers make your decision better than the online info I found on the subject did me. And for those friends of mine who follow my blog and just read through this whole thing only to realize it's not really about our little family much at all, I apologize and promise the next posting will be. :)

One Quarter Down

2010-07-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I am officially a quarter of a century old. We had a fun weekend in spite of other unfortunate events. Justin's grandpa Charlie passed away early in the morning of June 18th, the Friday before my birthday. It was a sad affair, but at the same time, he was miserable for the last several years of his life with pain and frustration from strokes, so we know he is much happier where he is.

So, in an effort to still help me have a fun birthday, we called up some friends and went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner on Saturday night.

They made me stand up in the middle of the Restaurant and everything. It was a lot of fun.
And since we could't just end the night there (I mean we had driven all the way to City Walk), we topped it all off with a night of karaoke at Rising Star, a karaoke club with a full band and back-up singers. You stand on the stage with lights and everything. Most of us submitted our names with random songs. I have to say I was a little disappointed that they didn't call Justin and Shannon's boyfriend Michael up to sing "Hot in Here" like they had requested, but luckily Shannon and I graced our audience with "Wanna Be" by the Spice Girls.

Also, Aimee sang "Hard to Handle" by the Black Crows, which she did very well and very reluctantly I might add :)

We had a blast watching the other patrons sing as well. Our show included a very drunk bachelorette party, a very effeminate male Lady Gaga impersonator, and two female Columbian tourists who spoke almost no English. We will definitely go again, and maybe next time they will let Justin sing his song :)

On Monday, June 21st (my actual birthday), Justin and I had a low key day around town - we couldn't go very far because his grandpa's viewing was that night. So, I requested a photo shoot. We haven't had the chance to go out to a neat place and just shoot off film with our weird cameras in a long time, so I suggested a nearby abandoned sunflower field.

Monday night, after the viewing, Justin took me out to P.F.Changs for a b-day dinner, which was scrumptious.

Also, Justin was very thoughtful and got me a few of the random things I Have been wanting: The Sims 3 Ambitions (I love it, it's my thing, let it go), Orange Blossom Water and Rose Water (to make Moroccan food with), and the Hungry Girl 1=2=3 cookbook :)

So, even though the weekend had a much more important thing to take care of, I still had a great birthday. Here's to the next 25!

A Much Needed Sprucing

2010-05-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

The wall behind our TV has been blank for too long. We have things on most every other wall of the house. So, I've been acquiring pieces to make a little feature wall for a little while and I finally got the shelves to put them on.

I decided I could wait no longer so I put it together tonight. Here is the result.
I'm very particular with hanging things. This took me about 1 hour and a half with a pencil, a level, a long ruler, a tape measure, a drill, some anchors and some screws. Who knew it would be such an event.
Just a few of our favorite pictures in the middle.
This was the cake topper from our wedding and I've always wanted to put it on display.
And this hour glass matched the curtains perfectly... plus hour glasses are cool :)

The pictures off to the sides are both of lines of trees in fog. Also, there is a neat little tree frame with hanging picture frames. I will put a picture of it up here when I get all the little pictures in it. For now, we just pretend the people who came with the frame are related to us.

It took some time and devotion, but I'm really glad I did this. It really makes the room feel more homey :)

Our Baby's First Birthday

2010-05-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

*sniff* My baby has grown up. Today is his first birthday!

Earlier in the day, Justin took Gordo to Arby's for a roast beef sandwich, one of his favorites.
He started off the evening with a bacon wrapped steak. Which he ate in about 60 seconds.

Then I insisted he wear a hat, much to his dismay. Sadly, his idea of the proper way a hat should be worn and mine were very different.
He was more comfortable this way.

So, I had to get at least one shot of him in his hat, even if it was against his will. He loved it.
So, I rewarded him with a fancy doggy cookie.
Which he very much enjoyed.

I can't believe my baby is a year old! I remember so well when we went and picked him out, hobbling around on the farm with his little puppy legs and his raccoon like eyes :) Now he's all grown up. *sniff*

But we still love him. I don't know what I would do without my Gordo!

The Magical Bavarian Cheesecake

2010-05-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

So, I must admit, my favorite thing I tried at Epcot last week was the Bavarian Cheesecake at the Biergarten Restaurant. It was absolutely delicious. I had never had it before, and it is quite different from a regular cheesecake. It has a layer of vanilla sponge cake on the top and the bottom with the cheese mixture as the filling. And you don't bake the cheese part!

This new found love is what made me search the web where I hit the mother load with All Ears Net.

I promised my mom that I would make one as a late birthday gift for her (her b-day was Friday and it was just too hectic for everyone). Finally I had the time yesterday and I gave it a try. The result was a magical confection.

My Grammy has been in the hospital for almost two weeks now from a bad cold that turned for the worse. She started having small heart attacks to boot, so we were all very worried. A few months ago she was in the hospital and I made her Challah, or as she calls it now "healing Jewish bread" and it miraculously made her better. SO what better way to improve your health than with another Megan made baked good?

I went down to the hospital today amidst the drama of what recuperative facility she would be accepted into. There is a really nice one in Merritt Island that we wanted her to go to and we were really worried about most of the other ones in the area (not the most well kept places). So, I showed up to give my Mommy her b-day cake and of course gave some to Grammy. Grammy ate two pieces, which was a big deal since one of the things that aggravated her condition was her loss of appetite. So, once she professed how good the cake was, she told us to take the nurse and the case worker in charge of admission into the nursing facility. The cake must have been really good because after professing the nursing home we wanted was completely full 5 minutes before, she came back after eating the cake to tell us she got in! So from now on, I must make her a baked good every time she gets sick :)

I've copied the recipe to the blog so you can read it here or go directly to the source here .

Bavarian Cheesecake
INGREDIENTS

6 ounces Cream Cheese
6 ounces Baker's Cheese
2 Egg Yolks
4 ounces Granulated Sugar
8 ounces Sour Cream
1 ounce Lemon Juice
12 ounces Heavy Cream
1/2 ounce Gelatin
2 ounces Water
Vanilla Sponge Cake -- recipe follows

VANILLA SPONGE CAKE

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup Sugar (granulated)
4 Egg yolks
1 teaspoon. Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup Flour (all-purpose)
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 Egg Whites

METHOD
1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a mixer, add the egg yolks and sugar beat until light and creamy. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Beat until smooth.

5. Whip the egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Gently fold this into the cake batter.

6. Place into two separate greased and lined 8-inch round cake pans. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.

ASSEMBLING CAKE

METHOD
1. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks. Set aside.

2. Mix together in a mixing bowl the cream cheese, baker's cheese, egg yolks, and granulated sugar until smooth. Then add the sour cream and mix until smooth.

3. Gently add the whipped mixture to the cheese mixture being careful not to over whip.

4. Dissolve the gelatin in the water over a double boiler until the mixture is clear. Be careful not to whip the gelatin so it does not get air bubbles in it.

5. Add the gelatin mixture into the cheese mixture and fold quickly. When adding the gelatin mixture to the cheese mixture set the mixer on medium speed, and add it from the edge of the bowl, being careful not to get the gelatin on the whip or the side of the bowl so as to prevent lumping.

6. Using a springform pan, place one of the vanilla sponge cakes smooth side down. Immediately pour the cheese mixture on the cake, and smooth out surface. Then place the other cake on top with the smooth side out. Let set overnight.

7. Remove the cake from the springform pan. Sprinkle the top of the cake with powdered sugar. This cake can be served with any of your favorite fresh fruit sauce(s).

Notes to the chef - the gelatin really does set up fast once it hits the cream mixture, so do like the recipe says and add it quickly.

Also, as we live in America, most of you (like myself) have probably never heard of Baker's cheese until you read this recipe. Also, once you search in every normal supermarket to find it and come back empty handed, do not fret. I used low fat Ricotta cheese and it substituted wonderfully. I tasted just as good as the cake I had in Epcot.

I'm sure now that I have this website at my disposal, I will be making more posts about exotic foods. I'm dying to try some Norwegian recipes :)

The Last Days of Disney

2010-05-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we used two of our Disney days for our anniversary, and we needed to use the other two. So, we managed to coordinate our days off so we could go :)

We Went to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.

I had never ridden the Astro Orbiter before, so we decided that it must happen on this trip :)
Woo Hoo :) Sadly, Justin and I are too tall for both of us to ride it together, so Justin let me go by myself. I'nt he sweet?
We also had lots of fun at the Haunted Mansion, easily one of our favorite Disney rides.
Check out the ears! I swear they make ears themed for everything now, but these were super cool :)
Also a lovely license plate :)
There actually weren't any kids swarmed all over the sword in the stone, so we had to give it a yank.
Then we went onto Epcot, where we sampled the exotic fashion of Canada.

We also rode Spaceship Earth (the ride in the big ball). Justin and I made sure to pose nicely for our picture. So, here is a picture of us in the future.
We also decided to splurge a bit and we had dinner in the Biergarten Restaurant in Germany one day and Les Chefs de France in (you guessed it) France the other. I was so inspired by the new and different foods that I went online to find some recipes and came across this fantastic site: All Ears Net.com
This website not only tells you the menu and pricing for each restaurant in the park, it also has pretty much every recipe you could want from all the parks and even some of the resorts and events like the Food and Wine Festival.

We had a lot of fun with our Florida Resident 4 day passes, and now we have filled the Disney canteen for quite a while. :)

My Favorite Family Guy Clip

2010-05-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

I tried to find this clip online after I first watched it, but it was nowhere to be found! So, when the episode came on tonight, I couldn't help but record it. Kevin, I hope you have seen this. I know you will appreciate it :)

Justin's Surprise Graduation Party

2010-05-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

So, today was the big day that has been months in the making! Justin's mom and I decided a few months back to have a surprise graduation party for him... but making that happen was a bit more than we bargained for. He's a bit too quick on the uptake for us to pull everything over on him, so we kept having to make up reasons to be places and get him places. It was a lot of subterfuge, but it all came out great :)

I snuck over to Justin's parent's house last night to get it all decorated. This is what it looked like:
I hung up a long frame with Justin's graduation pictures I had taken over the last few weeks in it.
We had a signature frame for all the guests to sign and send their wished.
Justin's mom is a nurse and teaches at Titusville High School so she let brought home this skull to use :)
She also brought her full skeleton Napoleon (Bone-A-Part). We dressed him in a cap and gown. He was quite a hit :)

So, we arranged it all: the guests got to his mom's house at 2pm and we arrived fashionably late to what Justin thought was just a party for his parent's friends. He was so shocked when he came through the door and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" It took him a minute to figure out what was going on, but he was very happy once he did. There were people from church, my family, his family, even his relatives from down south made a 2 hour drive to get there.

I had a cake made by Leigh at Cake or Death Cakes and it came out fabulous! I told her we wanted something for his graduation from UCF and he was an anthropology major and she came up with this:
She made it look like an archaeological dig and the bones are in the shape of the UCF Pegasus logo. How cool is that?
She even made this cute little beetle :)
We socialized for a while, and then had Justin cut his cake!
Very carefully, of course.
He particularly liked the beetle :)

Then we were onto swimming!

Also, there were several babies present. So, I can't resist taking pictures of a cute baby :)
This was just such a rare occurrence, I had to photograph it. Marisa is holding a baby.
Harper (the baby) really looks like she's loving it.
So, I just wanted to thank everyone who helped out and made this surprise such a successful one. Justin had a great time and definitely felt the love :)

Justin Graditates!

2010-05-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a momentous day in the life of the Shimer family: Justin graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor's degree in Anthropology with a minor in Criminal Justice.

Justin's parents and I went to UCF early in the morning to watch him walk across the stage :)
He's smack dab in the middle of the crowd.
And he's walking :)

We had to get the studious pose :)

I'm so proud of him! We all are, and I know it is the start of great things :)

The Shimers Go Antique-ing!

2010-05-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, on Saturday, I needed to run to the local antique shop to ask their expertise on a piece of jewelry for a customer. Instead of just going there and going home, Justin came too and we made a night out of it :)

We started off at the Dusty Rose Antique Mall in downtown Titusville. I asked my question, then we perused. And man were we glad we did :)

We got: Billy Joel's Piano Man album on vinyl...
A pair of old fashioned work goggles:
Really, I don't see how there were ever considered "safe". They're really sweet though. They have the types of ear pieces you have to coil around your ear.
Here is Justin looking oh so John Lennon.

We also got quite the assortment of old cameras :) We went through about 12 cameras on display and picked the 4 that still work.
An Ansco Ready Flash
A Spartus Press Flash
An Anscoflex TLR
And a Konica Tomato :)
We have happily added these to our collection. I think we have around 80 film cameras now (possibly more - yes, I know). But in our defense, we do use the cameras. In fact, we used the Spartus on Sunday in our photo shoot with the Thor family. So there.

After our antique store promenade, we decided to go to a local Chinese restaurant we have wanted to try called David's. It was great :) If you are in the Titusville area, I highly recommend it.

To top it all off, we had talked about lots of things over dinner and the fortunes in our cookies were amazingly pertinent.
We had such a nice time. We love little adventures, and were so glad to have a date night :)

My Favorite TV Clip Of All Time!

2010-05-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

I was so excited this morning when I got home from church to see that the Hallmark channel (not a channel I frequent) was having an I Love Lucy marathon. Well, I happen to love Lucy myself, so I decided to watch while we got ready for our photo shoot. Lo and behold, it was my absolute favorite episode of the show. The story is that Lucy finds out she is pregnant and is trying to tell Ricky. She tells him she needs to tell him something important, but she can't get him alone because he's so busy. So, she goes to his show that night and has the Maître D a note to request this song...

Now Don't Get Any Ideas! I am not attached to this because of any upcoming events! This is an episode that I saw one other time in my life and I have been trying to find it online for years. I love this version of the song and I love the back story even more. It made me happy inside to see it again :)

Even more luckily, I recognized what episode it was early enough to grab my phone and record the whole thing. So, now everyone can have access to this great episode. :)

Isn't He Lovely?

2010-04-30T19:40:00.001-07:00

I seem to always end up taking pictures of the Gordo when I have the camera out. How can you not love that face? :) I can't believe that he's almost a year old. *Sniff* It seems like only yesterday he was hobbling around on a big farm with his siblings and I could fit him in my hand.

Man, if I'm this bad with my puppy, imagine how I will be with a kid :)

Justin and Gordo Photo Shoot

2010-04-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

So, it's time for Justin's graduation announcements, so I decided we needed a current picture. Luckily, I had the equipment handy :)

I think these are real keepers :)

The First Anniversary Extravaganza!

2010-04-18T19:33:00.001-07:00

Well, it is hard to believe, but Justin and I have been married for one year today!

We wanted to do something special, but our schedules wouldn't allow us to go away anywhere, so...

We went spent the weekend at Disney and the Waldorf Astoria Orlando :)

I know, it seems a bit extreme, but never fear, the Waldorf had a good price going so I took advantage of it.

This was our beautiful room on the top floor :) We felt like such bumpkins, but it was such an amazing experience.

So, on Friday, we checked into the hotel, and started off with Animal Kingdom. I hadn't been there since three months after it opened and Justin hadn't been at all, so it seemed like a good place to kick off our trip. We had so much fun! What could be better than a zoo with a theme park twist?!

This yetti ball thing was just so cute! It was in the Expedition Everest ride - which was awesome! I highly recommend it.
Justin wasn't quite as impressed as I was :)

These statues just looked so much like us...

Justin just loves when I make him wear silly hats for pictures.

And who says you can't see far away places on a budget? This was the rather convincing looking Mount Everest with a fantastic roller coaster inside.

Here we are on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, which was an instant favorite. We got up close and personal with lots of African animals, including this guy:

Also, as big fans of Meerkat Manor, we had to stop and see these guys:

And Gorillas are always cool:

We had such a fun day at Animal Kingdom, and when we came back to the hotel, they had Mimosa waiting for us.

Ah the perks of 5 stars. They gave us a card wishing us a happy anniversary too.

Don't worry, we didn't get all boozed up on free champagne. We did, however, drink the fresh squeezed orange juice. And it was delicious.

So, our one night in the Waldorf Astoria ended too soon, but after we technically checked out, we wandered around to see the sights of the beautiful hotel.

This is the iconic clock in the lobby with the fantastic domed ceiling.

And a really cool high backed chair.

So, we kept right on trucking and spent our Saturday beginning with Disney's Hollywood Studios, a.k.a. MGM if you're old like us.

Here we are in New York :)

And of course we had to go to the Honey I shrunk the Kids playground. And finally someone offered to take a picture of the both of us. I almost fell off the ant I was trying to hop on it so fast. Such is life.

So, our fun weekend was coming to a close and we had a nice relaxing day today. We capped it all off by eating our saved wedding cake.

We were kind of worried as I've heard some stories of cake being one big chunk of freezer burn, but ours was delicious. Thank you mom and being so careful with your wrapping it :)

Yum... vanilla cake with butter cream icing and lemon filing. Delicious :) And it to make it even better, it was made by my best friend Leigh - her cakes are so good they survive the year! :)

We had a lot of fun fulfilling this tradition together and marking our first year. I know that there will be many many more years to follow and I'm so excited to see what they bring! Love you, Justin!

I Know I've Been Putting A Lot Of Baked Goods Up Here But ...

2010-03-10T19:44:00.001-08:00

This is possibly the prettiest looking food item I have ever produced :)

Just look at that swirl! These are Butterscotch Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies. I have yet to taste them, but they look absolutely delicious!
This is a little recipe from the Magnolia Bakery in NYC :) If you want the recipe, I can give it to you upon request. They aren't technically "brownies" when you think about it; they're more like "orangies".

I'm trying to decide what to make for the Annual Young Women's Camp Fundraiser Dessert Auction. Last year, I made flan which was delicious but under-appreciated (I know this because my parents bought it). At the time, I thought that flan was a pretty fancy dish that people would want to bid on, but I was wrong. I think it cost me more to make than it brought in.
So, this year, I am determined to make something that sounds so scrumptious that it will cause an all out bidding war!

What do you think?

Here is a list of some tasty sounding treats I am considering - please tell me which one you think will be the most popular:

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies (pictured above)
Red Velvet Cupcakes (from scratch with the Hummingbird Bakery's recipe)
Black Bottom Cupcakes (chocolate sponge cake with chocolate chip cheesecake on top)
Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies (this is a three layer brownie)
Heath Bar Almond Crunch Cheesecake
Gooey Coconut Dream Bars (from Amy's Bread)
Zesty Lemon Bars (Also Amy's Bread)

So, tell me what you think! I will let Justin sample the Butterscotch brownies when he gets home to see if they are a real contender.

Another thought is: should I just make a dessert bread? Anyway ... I'm rambling.

What say you?!

The Hair, It Is A-Changing

2010-03-04T17:20:00.001-08:00

Well, today was a momentous day. I have made a serious change... to my hair!

First, let me explain my hair history. I didn't have any hair at all until I was a year old, even then it was just fuzz. By the time I was two, I had pretty much a bowl cut just because it had finally grown down that long. Throughout the rest of my young life, my mom always had my hair cut with bangs. By the time I was 14, I had had enough of the bangs. I was finally old enough to have a say in what I looked like, and I decided to grow out my bangs.

It took me almost 3 years to grow them out.

Those of you who knew me back then know that I wore a headband everyday for years - this was because I was growing out my bangs.

So, ever since then, I have always kept to a similar haircut: Mid length and layered.

So, yesterday, I made a hair appointment and started thinking about change. I had contemplated various hair cuts over the years, but my highly analytical brain always talked me out of it due to the slow rate of growth if I didn't like it.

Today, I took the plunge:

With the talent of the lovely Tara (the only one I trust with my hair), I now have BANGS!

It was quite a shock at first. It didn't feel like it was my hair, more like I was wearing a nice wig :) But it is indeed my hair.
This is an after shot of the carnage. Almost half of my head was laying on the floor.

So, now and for at least a few years to come, I will look very different. I really do like it, but it will certainly take some getting used to. I feel so mod and fashion forward. Hopefully I can make the rest of my attire live up to the new do!

Another Week, Another Bread...

2010-03-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

So, it seems that Monday has become bread-day.

I made a new bread last Monday, and I have made a new bread again this Monday :)

I've been looking through me cookbooks lately, and I was intrigued by Martha Stewart's recipe for Coca Bread.

Martha says that this is a traditional Spanish yeast bread (even though I couldn't find any pictures or recipes of it anywhere except in Martha's cookbook).

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1 tbsp + 1 tsp active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water (110F)
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter - plus more for the pan
1/4 cup honey, for drizzling

Directions

In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm water; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups flour, and salt. With a wooden spoon, stir in yeast mixture, milk, 3 eggs, and 1/2 cup melted butter until combined. Using your hands, work the remaining flour into the dough, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough isn't sticky.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it develops a smooth satiny texture and springs back when you poke it with your finger, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, and place in a lightly buttered bowl, rotating the dough in the bowl to coat with the butter. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 400F. Generously grease two baking sheets with some of the melted butter. Turn the dough to a clean work surface, and cut in half. Place half of the dough on each prepared baking sheet, and press into two 8x17" rectangles. Allow the dough to proof(?) for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1 egg with 1 tbsp water, abd brush onto the dough.
Generously sprinkle the dough with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, and drizzle with honey. Bake until golden and crispy, about 18 minutes. Transfer the breads to wire racks to cool.

So, there's that. And here is the first picture of Coca Bread on the internet thus far :)
This bread is really more of a dessert or a sweet breakfast food. It is really sweet from the sugar and honey and it's absolutely fantastic when it's fresh and warm. It was nice and yeasty :)

I promise to write something about our actual life here soon. For now, it's just so much easier to enjoy the bread :)

Hollah for Challah!

2010-02-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

So, I was inspired by a fellow blogger. She's one of the young women (I'm the 1st counselor in young women). She has started a brownie blog and it got me all excited; I was sending her all kinds of recipes which got me thinking about baking and it just opened the flood gates.
So, yesterday, I decided to make Challah.

Challah is the bread traditionally eaten on the Jewish sabbath. I was always intrigued by the name when I saw it in cook books, so I decided to take the plunge and make it!
It was a little different from other breads I've tried, but it came out really pretty! You actually separate the dough into three sections, roll them out like snakes, and then braid them. After you let it rise for about an hour, you beat an egg and brush it all over the bread.

The result of the egg wash was a nice shiny finish. With the braiding and the shine, it was really a very nice looking loaf. :)

I highly recommend it. If you're interested, here is the recipe I used and it came out great:

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup honey
4 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
3 eggs
1 tbsp salt
8 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp poppy seeds (optional - I didn't use these)

Directions

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water (110 degrees). Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, eventually kneading with your hands as the dough gets thicker. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 1.2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto a floured board. Divide in half and knead each loaf for about 5 minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep it from getting sticky. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snakes about 1 1.2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from the middle. Grease two baking trays and place a finished loaf on each. Cover with a towel and let rise for one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seed if desired.
Bake at 375F for about 40 minutes. The bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least an hour before slicing.

So, yeah. There it is. You should totally try it. Maybe you will become addicted to making bread like I have :)

Swedish Weave and Me

2010-01-21T20:56:00.001-08:00

Well, I've started back up at an old hobby again after a long absence: Swedish Weave.

Most of the time when I tell people that I get a weird look and, "What's that?" In fact this little "show and tell" style blog was inspired by a friend of mine asking to see pictures of my newest project. Add that to the fact that I just got all of my off camera lighting equipment, and you get nice pictures :)

This one was my first ever large project. I was 17 years old and it took me 52 hours to complete (I know that because I kept track so I could use it as one of my Laurel projects for my Young Womanhood Recognition Award). It fits a twin size bed.

This one I made for my Grammy :) This is the first one that I made with a backing - it has yellow fleece on the other side. I still have to put a binding on the edge for her, but it is entirely usable. This one is lap quilt size.

This was my first project using this really neat lattice floss. It is actually cut out and graduates in color. This one went from blue to black. Yes, I know, it's Orlando Magic colors, but I just liked the lattice :) This one is also lap quilt size.

This was another attempt to use the cool floss. I had intended it to be a baby blanket - well that would have to be one small baby. I'm not sure why I thought it would be big enough, but it's not. I does look cool though.

This one is my latest project. I started it over a year ago for Justin. I had planned to give it to him for his birthday, and I did but it wasn't finished. Then, it just kind of got put aside and I forgot about it. So, last week I came across the bag it was in and decided to finish it. And finish it I did. This one is a bit bigger than a lap quilt, but still not big enough to wrap up in.

So, Taylor dear, my fellow wielder of yarn, I hope this answers your question. And I have supplied pictures of my newest blanket. It's the biggest one I've ever made. It's as tall as me (5'7") and as wide as my arm span (?") and I'm trying a graduated boucle yarn to give it a 3 dimensional look. It'll be fuzzy :) As far as the pattern, the brown row that is in the middle of this picture will be in between every other line (as it is in the picture) and the teal lines and the boucle lines will alternate.

I know every girl has their craft (I have too many to count now), but you should try this out. I really enjoy Swedish Weave.

Our First (Real) BIG Christmas Tree

2009-12-05T22:57:00.001-08:00

Well, I was going to say this was our first tree, but two years ago, Justin bought me a 3 foot tall tree for us. So, this is our first tree as a married couple :)

We have both always known we wanted to do a real tree - both having come from typical fake tree using families. So, we went down to the tree filled tent in Titusville and started the hunt.

I really can't even tell you how happy Justin is about having his picture taken here :)

And I even got the guy who worked there to take our picture with our perfect tree.
I know. I'm a big nerd.

So, once we managed to fit it into the car and got it home, we spent the day covering it with lights and decorations. The result is a very traditional looking Christmas tree.

We have even started a tradition over the last few years of collecting ornaments form all the places we go. This picture shows some of them off nicely, including the conch shell angel we got in the Bahamas just 6 weeks ago.

The dog has been very curious of the tree (I know, he looks really creepy in this picture). I kept having to make him get out from under it while I was putting the lights on. Now that it's up, he rather enjoys having another bowl to drink from :)

All in all, he's fine with it now that it's up and he can lay on the tree skirt - which is a flannel blanket. The only thing he's unsure of are my cute-sy snowmen that I have on either side of it.
... He doesn't trust them. Plus I'm afraid he will eat them, so I've had to place them up higher.

We are both very happy with our tree, and we can't wait to get all the other decorations up so we feel really festive throughout the month :)

Megan's California Adventure!

2009-11-14T23:22:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to be able to visit two of my best friends, Heather and Kevin, in Los Alamitos, California for a week! Isn't my husband nice ;)

I had lots of fun, despite what Heather says. The two of them were getting over colds, plus Heather has reached the "horrifically uncomfortable" stage in her pregnancy (ok, she didn't say it was THAT bad, but she was uncomfortable), so we didn't want to be traipsing around everywhere the whole time. We had a really fun time just hanging out which we haven't been able to due since they moved and abandoned me in Florida.

Heather helped me catch up on some movies I have missed - by the way you should so see Dan in Real Life if you haven't yet. It's amazing. We went to Seal Beach Main and shopped in all the quaint little shops. We had some terrific food throughout the week, including the most obscenely large slice of chocolate cake I've ever witnessed at a place called Claim Jumper. I even got my In and Out Burger fix :)

One day, we went to the Los Angeles Temple, which was really neat. It's such a big temple! It's also amazing how quiet that area is when the rest of the city is so loud. And how cool is it that I was able to go with a good friend of mine :)

Then we drove around Beverly Hills and saw a lady on a power chair with the most blinged out leopard print jacket I've ever seen. One day, we went out to Seal Beach and took some maternity pictures for her little girl that is due some time in the first week of December.

The week culminated with Heather's baby show thrown by some friends of hers at church. It was really a nice party.

And, no Heather isn't throwing up into that gift, I just couldn't resist posting this one ;) Sorry Heather. It was too good.

This is Heather with her mother in law and sister in law.

This is our one picture of the two of us together :)

And this is a sampling of the crowd from the shower.

I really did have such a good time. From the weather to the relaxation - it was everything that a vacation should be. Plus, I got to hang out with two of my favorite people. What more could you ask for? I loved California and I can't wait to take Justin back sometime. Plus, I need to meet that baby! :) After all, I helped build her swing.

Cruisin With The In-Laws

2009-11-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

So, we just got back form our 4 day cruise to the Bahamas with Justin's family. It was the two of us, his mom and dad, his sister Jessica and her boyfriend Adam, and his Aunt Dede and Uncle Barry. We were quite the brood, but we had a lot of fun. We went to the Atlantis Hotel and looked around, the beach, and the straw market in Nassau.

I will admit, we didn't take many pictures ... hey, we were on vacation!

Happy Birthday To Justin!

2009-10-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Yup, Justin turned 24 on September 30th (now I am no longer the "older woman"). I asked him what he wanted as his cake and he said a chocolate swirl cheesecake. I had made regular cheesecakes (with much success, might I add) but I had never made a chocolate swirl one. I was told by Justin that it came out great :) Isn't he sweet?

For his birthday, I got him a bunch of computer related items that he wanted :) So, one more year down, and many more to come! Happy B-Day Baby!

He Can See!

2009-10-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Justin finally got his eyes zapped and now he is a huge fan of Lasik surgery :)

We went in on September 25th, and he was out in 15 minutes. No wonder the Doctor has his brand new bright orange Lamborghini parked out front :) I got to watch it all on a tv screen from the lobby. I saw 4 surgeries in all before Justin was finished and came out, and he could see on the way home!

This is what his eyes looked like that night.

Hello Newest Steven!

2009-10-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well, my cousin Mistie had her baby boy on October 2nd.

Meet Steven Gregory Daniel Jr.

Stevie boy is Mistie's 4th child but her first boy! I went to visit him tonight and say hello.

I'll be back to see him sometime this week and take some more interesting pictures :)

The Gordo

2009-10-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

So, I noticed a trend with most of my friends a few months back... they were all having babies; and being that we are married now, that is most certainly the number one question we get asked. "Are you pregnant yet?" I'm sure all married couples can think back to the time when they were asked that non stop and sympathize. Also, Justin and I have very different schedules, and I needed something cuddly to fill in my spare time :)

Thus, we got Gordo.

Gordo is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and most definitely the awesomest pooch around. Corgis are the 11th smartest dog breed, they are great with people and kids - they even like to keep your kids in line by herding them :) - but they are also very loyal and loving, as Gordo is proof of.

Gordo has been so much fun! We have trained him to ring a bell when he needs to go outside (yes, that is completely true, I'm not making it up). We got him on July 26th. He is now 4 1/2 months old and he has his own little repertoire of tricks: sit, speak, shake, roll over, and high five. Recently he has decided he is a ferocious guard dog and barks even when someone rings a doorbell on tv.

So, now that we have a dog and not a baby, I'm sure many of our blog entries will be about him. So please bear with me :) He's just so darn cute!

A Catch Up...

2009-10-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

So, we have been very delinquent in our family blogging, as my dear friend Heather has brought to my attention. I vow that I will make this an somewhat up to date blog. Yes. It shall be (maybe if I write it down, I will feel more likely to comply).

So, Justin and I (Megan - in case you don't know that) got married on April 18th, 2009.

Now we are living in Titusville, Florida. Justin works at the cape and I work at the jewelry store. We also have our own photography business (Shimer Photography - as shameless plug, I know). We are both photographers. We shoot weddings, family pictures, portraits of all kinds, events and commercial photography. We also both have our own more "fine art" style images that we started out with, and we still try to squeeze some of those out occasionally.

Anyway, I will keep this updated so come back and see what shenanigans we are up to :)