Sunshine Challenge

Rob and I went to the Sunshine Challenge this weekend in Orlando. The SC is a homebrew beer & mead competition. Rob plans to enter next year (he's brewed for years and usually turns out some yummy stuff!), but for now, we just went to the weekend-long event to enjoy what others made.

We met a bunch of great people and had a lot of fun. Tried some new beers and got a TON of prizes and freebies.
Friday night was a dinner and beer fest. Sort of. "Dinner" consisted of appetizers (of the bar food variety) and were in short supply. Many people didn't get anything to eat at all, and others got only a little. We missed most of the first round and were lucky enough to get food the second time around.

Saturday was a pub crawl - much more fun than the field trips we went on in school lol! We went to BJ's and tried their sampler, along with the food they provided us (wasn't too fond of their pizza, but I've eaten at other locations and enjoyed the other menu offerings). Next was House of Beer which had a great selection on tap, including a couple of IPAs we hadn't tried. We both liked Rob's better but he was kind and let me have it all. Finally, we hit Bar Louie, which had a large draft selection too, although not as many good ones. I got free sweet tea there so I was happy lol :)
After the pub crawl was a nice sit-down dinner (it was really good after all that bar food!) and awards for the best beers. Hopefully next year Rob will be up there! At dinner, someone had this cute little guy - he moves!
Jenn

PS: Funny iPhone story - there's an app called Bump that I have but hadn't used yet. You put your contact info in it, and then literally bump hands with someone else who has the app (you both need to have the app open) to exchange your contact info. I "Bumped" for the first time with our new friends (they all downloaded the app as soon as I mentioned it). I thanked the guy for "bumping" with me, so that was the running joke all day lol.

Concert

Rob and I went to the Night Ranger/REO Speedwagon/Styx concert on Friday night. We had gotten $15 reserved seats w/ no service charges, which made the concert even better :)

I didn't recognize too many of Night Ranger's songs, but Rob did. And he sang them to me. Badly.

REO Speedwagon was good. LOVE the singer's voice. Rob's voice? Not so much.

During their set this guy got up and started dancing in the aisles. Not really sure what he was supposed to be or WHY.

I recognized a lot more Styx songs than I thought I did - just didn't realize it was them! My throat hurt from singing along (badly lol). Rob continued to sing. Badly. He was quite the annoying individual all night lol. He stopped when I threatened him with having to spend the whole day with me on Saturday if he didn't quit ;)

To end the concert, both REO and Styx came out and sang a song together.

Great concert and good weather, so it was a nice evening!
Jenn

Recycle

I keep discovering new things that are easily recyclable. I'll bet most of you are just tossing little bits of paper, packaging, and more.

I keep bins around the house for paper. Tags from clothing, packaging inserts, straw wrappers, paper scraps, newspapers, junk mail, cereal and other dry food boxes, shoe boxes, receipts, and more go in the bins, then everything gets taken out with the recycling on Thursdays.

How many of those things do you throw away?

For plastic, look at everything - unfortunately many companies don't bother to put a number on their packaging, but for those that do, HOORAY! Most communities will easily recycle #1 and #2 plastics. I'm trying to find somewhere closer than Whole Foods that does #5 (prescription bottles and other types of thicker/sturdier plastics), but for now I've got a bag going that I'll eventually bring over there. You know the lampshade collar that poor Madigan had to wear? It's a #5 so easily recycled! Although I will probably just drop that off at Animal Services - better to reuse than recycle.

I hardly ever get a bag at any store, opting instead of bring my own. Not just grocery stores, all stores - clothing, Build-a-Bear, drugstores, grocery, crafts, you name it. (Part of this is helping to justify my obsession with totebags though lol). Rob is afraid to come into the house with plastic grocery bags now - he hides them from me lol.

I pack Rob's lunch every night - maybe 2x a month will he get something in a ziploc, everything else is in a reusable container.

I'm not perfect in my quest to save the planet - and by no means can I do it alone - but I do what I can, and hope you all do the same!
Jenn

I'm a Star!

I picked up the 97X Green Room Volume 5 CD and my name is in the liner notes (I did know this already, so knew to look)!

Also, Rob and I went to the Beer Club event at Datz Deli, which was a blind tasting of 6 different beers. I got 5 of the styles right, and 4 of the countries right. I beat everyone else, including Rob and the guy who orders the beers for the Deli! I won two free drinks and a hat that I gave to Rob. Go me!
Jenn

World's Best Wife

I believe I qualify for the award for the World's Best Wife.

I went to bed Monday night, and woke up about 2 am realizing I hadn't made Rob's lunch for the next day - so I got up and made it.

Whoop-dee-doo, you say?

The real reason I qualify is this:
I was holding an ice cube, heading toward the sink to toss it, when Rob steps in front of me, drops his drawers, and asks if he has a bruise on his butt. OH-SO-TEMPTING to put that ice cube where the sun don't shine. But I refrained. Can you believe it?!?

That's why I am the World's Best Wife. :)
Jenn

Pour Some Sugar on Me!

Last night Rob and I went to see Cheap Trick, Poison, and Def Leppard in concert at the Amphitheater - they rocked! And Live Nation has deals every Wednesday - this week it was $15 reserved seats/$10 lawn seats w/ no service charges. So for $30 we both got to enjoy a great concert!

Cheap Trick opened, I though I knew more of their songs but apparantly not. They were pretty good though. Here's a pic - taken with my phone. They didn't let us bring cameras in, but so many people had them I wish I had taken mine anyway!

I'd seen Poison once or twice before, loved them again! I guess they don't have anything new b/c they played all their older hits. Rob asked what "Unskinny Bop" was supposed to mean, then decided it meant bopping a fat girl. So of course I came back with "next time we 'bop' you better not start singing!" LOL. During their set, it POURED. We were in the last row of the reserved seats, and got as wet as those on the lawn. Everyone just covered their drinks with their hands (gotta protect the beverages!) and continued dancing and singing along. Our clothes were still wet 3 hours later when we got home! No pics, the couple I took with my phone were too blurry.

I missed seeing Def Leppard as a teen, so I was thrilled to get to see them live - they did not disappoint! What a great show! They played mostly their late 80s/early 90s hits, along with some newer ones and a couple covers. I will definitely see them again if they come back. When I told my mom I was going to the concert the first thing she said was "I want to go to that!", so next time I will check with her first before buying tix!

While we were there, they were selling $10 no fee lawn tix for Crue Fest - so I got one for me and one for a friend. Can't wait - Motley Crue, Godsmack, Drowning Pool, Theory of a Deadman, and another band I've never heard of (Charm City Devils). The tickets are quite ragged at this point - folded in my pocket through the rain! Oh well, at least they are still readable, and I'm sure ours won't be the only ones like that!

I needed cash to get the tickets and drinks, so rather than using the expensive ATM, I found someone buying t-shirts w/ cash, paid for her shirts, and took the cash lol. Worked well, and no ATM fees!

Rock on!
Jenn

Silly Man!

I went to a bead store the other day with my friend Jill. Rob called while I was there, so I told him where I was. Later on that evening, he innocently asked, "So, are you getting into beading now?" Oh honey, it's wayyyyyyy too late - I've BEEN into beading! Not that he'd notice since that takes up MUCH less space than the scrapping stuff!
Jenn

Long Time, No Blog

It's been awhile since I've blogged, sorry about that! I am so far behind on everything! Today I'm sharing a birthday book that I made at Quickutz Club at Violette's, my lss. I turned it into a memory book for my niece, since we spent her birthday at Disney. But before I share pics of the book, I gotta show you what my darling husband did:
Yes, those are his keys in the freezer. Why they are there I have no idea. But it gave me a laugh when I found them!

Now here's the book - turned out cute, I think Lexi will love it! (To the Peanut Gallery who is bound to make a comment - YES, I do realize there are dots - that's what paper we were given to use in class!)

Bill Engvall

On Sunday, Rob and I had a great time in Lakeland. Yes, really, lol.

We went to an early dinner at Harry's and I got lucky with 2-for-1 Hurricanes, yum! There was a screaming child who we thought would never leave though - and apparently the manager thought so too, because she came to all the tables and apologized! Their bread is so yummy, I could have just eaten that and not had a meal.

After we ate, we walked around Lake Mirror Park for a bit. It was a gorgeous day out, so it was nice to be outside.

We then drove to the Lakeland Center to see Bill Engvall. OMG is he funny! I have the "Here's Your Sign" CD but all his material was new. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to barf! There were so many times when Rob and I nudged each other because we could relate to what Bill was saying. What a great show - we'd definitely go see him again! Of course I didn't bring the camera with the zoom - who knew I'd actually be able to take pics?

It's always nice to spend the day with Rob, although if he actually were to read my blog (that's another thing, I could totally say embarrassing things about my family on here and they'd never know lol!) he'd likely respond with an "ewwwww" and a big grin rather than agreeing with me lol :) That's ok, I know he loves me (usually). ;)
Jenn

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Today Rob and I celebrate 11 years of marriage. Can't believe it's been that long!

We had a wonderful day together, starting with cards and a quick snack at home. Then off to a chili cook-off at the local Harley Davidson store. They had a precision riding team that was awesome to watch, and several of the chilis were good. We won a raffle prize, $25 to a local pizza place.

I have never seen so many motorcycles in one place!

The best thing there (besides the Humane Society adoptable doggies who I wanted to take home) was this pup:

Since I don't ride a bike, I haven't had the occasion to visit other Harley stores so I don't know how they compare. But I think our local one is pretty cool!

After that, we went to the aquarium and walked around for a couple hours. I managed to have a dead camera battery, so spent WAY TOO MUCH on a disposable camera. Wow, I haven't used one of those in YEARS lol. So I don't really have any pics to share of fish yet. Here's one of the gators - they are so funny how they just float with their heads above water and their bodies under.

And here's an owl.

After the aquarium, we went to Bennigan's (one of the few remaining; it is independently owned) for an early dinner, then went to the Manatee Viewing Center. We didn't see any faces, but it was amazing how many manatees were in the water! You could see a bit of their backs above the surface. No pics at all, because they are on my disposable film camera! Rob bought me a stuffed manatee, so I'm happy lol.

Now we're home and someone is not feeling well because he ate too much chili then a whole meal at Bennigan's and somehow bumped his head on the car. Oh, did the "he" part give away who that someone is lol? ;)

I had a wonderful day with the guy I love - here's to 11 more (plus plus plus) years!

Jenn

Wacky Tacky Day

Those who have known me for awhile know that every year my darling husband lives for Wacky Tacky Day at the school he teaches at. It's part of Homecoming Week. The idea of course is to be as tacky as you possibly can. Rob spends a long time the night before picking out the perfect outfit and accessories.

Here's this year's getup:

And just in case you can't see his socks in the first pic, here's a closeup:
He actually ended up in his blue Crocs (sandals) instead.

I love my husband lol.
Jenn

Beer Fest!

We went to the Creative Loafing Brew U beer fest last night in St. Pete. We got a hotel a block away for free using Hilton Honors points. The bed was comfy, and we got free breakfast. The beer fest was fun. We paid for the VIP tickets which got us in at 6; it was nice because the crowds weren't as bad and we got some extra perks. The pic below is of the crowd after 8 when the non-VIP people came in. We got to try some new beers, chatted with Joey & Wayne from Cigar City Brewing for awhile and got free stuff from them (can't wait to try their brews!), I won a CD from 93.3 somehow since I took about 5 minutes to name three artists they play (this was after being there a couple hours), chatted with several other really nice people, and we got to snack on some yummy food. We left a bit after 9 and both were asleep by 10 - we're so old!

Self-portrait - Rob is such a goofball!

We drove home this morning with the convertible top down - what a GORGEOUS day it is! My friend Jill watched the puppies - she said they were GOOD when she came over. She wasn't really sure what happened to them since they usually spazz and jump all over their Auntie Jill! They were back in full-force when we got home though - they were happy to see mommy and daddy!
Jenn

Good and Bad

Last night I wasn't doing well, my incision ached and I was really uncomfortable. Putting a warm washcloth on my neck helped for a bit, but still couldn't sleep. I dream of the night I can sleep the whole night through, it's been awhile!

Despite feeling icky, I had a great breakthrough today - I was talking on the way back from lunch (big surprise, huh, lol?), and all of a sudden my voice started to sound NORMAL! Woohoo! I'm back anf forth, still scratchy, but at least my voice is in there somewhere! Yay! I told Rob and his response was "Darn" lol.

Speaking of Rob - I'm kinda worried about the guy. I came home from work and the front bedroom where his computer and beer-making supplies are was CLEAN. Like nothing on the floor. The desk had a surface where one could spread out and write. I was pleasantly surprised, since it's been a disaster for awhile!
Jenn

A bit cheesy, but I love my new ring!

WARNING - YOU MAY BECOME NAUSEATED AFTER READING THIS POST!

I got this ring kind of as an anniversary gift from Rob, except I bought it myself because I'm the one with the Kohl's CC.

Our wedding colors were navy (sapphires), silver (white gold), and white (diamonds). Plus I liked the infinity style of the ring - together forever (HURL). It was just perfect to celebrate 10 years together!
Jenn

Our anniversary/touristy weekend

As of Thursday (Thanksgiving), Rob and I have been married 10 years! We didn't get to take a trip or anything, but we did spend the last couple days together being tourists. Friday we went to MOSI after leftovers for lunch, and really enjoyed the Shipwreck exhibit. Here are a couple pics. The big globe below with the red dots shows all the shipwrecks that have been found through 1983. The next pic was on the ceiling; I'm not sure what it is but it was found in a shipwreck. The gold pic is a bunch of gold coins found in a shipwreck.






We walked around the rest of the museum, the butterfly garden, and then watched Polar Express on the IMAX screen. That was a cute movie; we hadn't seen it before. Weird on such a round, giant screen! After MOSI we had a nice dinner at Olive Garden, using gift cards we got as anniversary gifts.



Saturday Rob took me to K2 Scrapbooking to pick up my prize for finding their cool ad in the January CK mag, then we had lunch at Sarasota Brewing Co (doesn't hold a candle to TBBC!), and spent the afternoon at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. The Gardens were so pretty, we both enjoyed looking at the flowers and unique plants. The day was gorgeous, so we loved being outside too. Except when I commented how the bit of humidity in the air made my hair go nuts - and Rob agreed then said "and look at all that gray! I thought you dyed your hair when you got it cut?". How RUDE lol! I informed him that highlights were expensive so they only happened every few cuts lol. We bought a few plants to kill (we have seriously black thumbs in our house lol), then had dinner at Red Lobster using those gift cards - two free dinners in a row! I'll end by sharing some pics of the Gardens.

Happy Hallow... Wacky Tacky Day

Happy Halloween to everyone! I didn't really celebrate, but did wear an orange top and Halloween jewelry to work. Oh yeah, and ate a couple mini candy bars lol.

I also got to experience Rob's annual ritual of picking out an entire outfit that doesn't match for Riverview High School's "Wacky Tacky Day". It's part of homecoming week tradition, and Rob really gets into it. He raids my closet for accessories (the purple scarf/belt was a birthday gift last year from my dear friend Charlotte, and the gold hoop earring and FSU scrunchie/bracelet are mine as well) and digs deep into his own for whatever he might find. He does this the night before so he's ready to dress in the morning. Here's this year's getup:

Before he got all dressed up, we spent some time in my scraproom (you can see the purple walls behind him) chatting and playing with the dogs. We were amazed at the amount of dog hair that was on the floor when we were done! The vacuum got a good workout this evening lol.

Hope everyone had a great day!
Jenn