A Trip North & a New Bow
Rachel and I surprised my mom for her birthday with a trip North. While in the thumb, I got my hair cut and colored and Rachel came to the salon with me. I couldn't resist getting her this bow for her hair.
February 17, 2010
October 23, 2009
A Trip to Georgia
You can read all about my plane ride to Georgia to visit my sister here, but I know everyone wants to see photos of my niece, Avery!
October 19, 2009
FNT to ATL
I went on a mini vacation to Atlanta to visit my sister, her husband and my niece. I'm 29 weeks pregnant at this time, and my doctor says I am fine to travel. My husband has a dentist appointment that morning, so he is able to drop me off at the airport. I don't think I've ever been taken to the airport by someone before. I usually just drive myself. So this was a nice treat. I flew from Flint, which is one of the easiest places to fly to Atlanta - small airport, quick check in, quick security pass through and a direct flight to Atlanta via Air Tran.
I checked in online the day before I was to leave, and was offered an upgrade to business (first) class for only $49. I wanted to take the upgraded seat. I texted my husband and he said to go for it, but decided I should try to stick with my budget and money-saving plan so I declined. I paid my $15 for my one checked bag and was ready to roll.
I arrived at the airport, checked in, got my bags checked in and was in the bathroom when I hear a woman come over the loud speaker. She was paging "all passengers on flight 255 with non-stop service to Atlanta." The flight had been overbooked and they needed one passenger with flexible flying plans to take a bump and receive a round trip ticket for free. Bummer, I would have been the first to sign up for this offer, because this was the first time in a long time I was flying alone, I didn't have a hotel to check into, and my sister can pick me up at any time.
When I finally get to board the plane, I find seat 14B, the middle seat, and I'm in between a skinny, maybe 150 pound man and a larger 300+ man. All I think of when I say, "I'm 14B" is that for $49 I could have been 6 rows up, in first class sipping my sparkling grape juice and sitting Indian style because those seats have so much room. But I'm fine. I can tough out two hours in these "close" quarters.
Just after I sit down, I stuff my reading material into the seat pocket and realize the seat pocket in front of me is falling apart. The magazines manage to stay and I go through the airline information card, as I do for every flight, noting my exits, where my life vest is located, which exits I cannot use in case of a water landing, etc. I then go for the Sky Mall magazine. And I DON'T HAVE ONE! Ugh! I love looking through that catalog at overpriced and often unnecessary luxury gadgets and must haves. No big deal, I have to fly back, so I'll hope that of the 100+ seats on the return flight, I will have a Sky Mall catalog and I'll have something new to read.
Now the skinny guy has the window seat, but I notice out of the corner of my eye he does not have the window shade open. This kind of bums me out because everyone likes to look out the window of the plane to see what's going on while we sit and wait for people to board, the door to close and everyone to get their bags to fit overhead. Our plane begins to push off and the window shade still isn't open. We begin to take off, and still no shade! I finally turn my head to look over at the man and realize row 14 does not have a window! I sigh and chuckle under my breath because I realize I am spoiled when I fly!
All settled in, snuggled next to the big guy - yes, my entire right side is touching him as I sit in my seat - leaning a tad toward the little guy, I read a magazine and soon the flight attendant comes to the beginning of the coach seats taking drink orders. I nab the flight magazine to see what beverages are offered, pick out my choice and plan for my refreshing free drink. As the flight attendant takes beverage orders on a piece of paper, she stops at our row and returns to the front of the plane. I sink into my magazine and an hour later, a beverage cart and two different flight attendants bring us beverages. Finally, my free drink and bag of mini pretzels. How great! I take a few sips and before I know it, the flight attendants are back asking if we need a refill. We just go our drinks! I guess when you are the last to order, you are the first to get a refill! Again, should have paid the $49 to upgrade!
Overall I survived. My baby was kicking like crazy, but that seems to be her normal active time anyhow. She may have been a bit more active than usual, but it could have been the fact that I was not distracted while on the plane like I am at work when she moves around in the afternoon. Coach or first class seats, the flight went well - on time, smooth sailing, free drink, bag of pretzels and now I'm in Georgia visiting my sister and niece.
FYI, on the return flight four days later, I got a window seat, next to a skinny guy but there was NO Sky Mall Catalog in my seat pocket.
July 11, 2009
Happy Birthday, America!
My July 4th vacation was extended a day when my husband and I took Monday off to enjoy a day at the pool. I've been wanting to go to a pool or a beach to just relax and soak up the sun. He found the Family Aquatic Center in East Lansing online and we arrived shortly after it opened on Monday morning.
This place was fabulous! Clean, fun, and not too crowded - maybe because it was a Monday. The zero-depth pool is always nice to walk into, especially when the sun went behind the clouds we had to ease into what seemed like cool water. There was a sandy area with activities for kids, and a wet splash area for kids as well. Of course we had to check them all out! There was a diving board that the kids were loving, a super slide that was short but fast, another slower water slide and a side that tubes went down. We enjoyed using our combined body weight to zip down the double tubes on the tube slide. First we tried with my husband in the back and me in the front, and then we changed positions. We concluded we can go much faster with his body weight in the back.
Being in a bathing suit made me appreciate women with bellies a little more. I felt huge, but realized most people wouldn't even know I was knocked up because they would just think that I was a woman with a little extra fat. My husband says I look fine, and if he said anything differently, I'd probably kick him where it hurts.
We had a fabulous Monday. Soaked up some sun, enjoyed water, tubing and read a few magazines. Oh, and the super slide had a warning sign with it. It was only for strong swimmers because of the current. This allowed for a few "saves" by the lifeguard staff, which was highly amusing for my husband who was a lifeguard in college (and has 2 documented saves.) When we arrived home, he rushed to softball, while Rockwell and I took a much needed nap.
This concludes segment three of my Around the Corner blogs.
June 26, 2009
Strawberry Season
This is the second segment to my Around the Corner travels. This time I was able to drag my husband to a u-pick strawberry farm! We spontaneously went one night after work, he amazingly got out of work early, and I rushed home to meet him and get to the strawberry farm! I didn't want a ton of berries because I knew we wouldn't eat them in time and they would rot. Plus, I could always come back for more.
We visited a place not far from our house and spent about an hour and a half there. That included the walk thru of their small animal farm filled with chickens, peacocks, hens, rabbits, goats, pigs and the wagon ride to the fields where we picked jewel strawberries.
We came home with 10.25 pounds of berries and $12.30 less in our pockets. My husband even admitted it wasn't "that bad" so maybe I can drag him to pick blueberries with me.
With all of the fabulous strawberries, I decided to make some jam. I crushed the entire 10 pounds (minus some we had eaten a few days before) and made 60 small jars of jam. Below are some photos of my first-time canning strawberry jam.
Clean Jars ready to be filled!
I can't decided which masher I like better, the waffle one or the standard potato masher. I do know I like the handle on the white masher better!
Instead of pouring the berries into the jar, I decided it would be much more fun to pour the molten lava jam onto my thumb. Causing a nice burn. I found the easiest solution to making it feel better was a glass of ice water. Our solution to numb it so I could continue working was a custom made ice pack. My husband helped me wrap it and helped me finish the first batch since the injury happened when I poured the molten lava jam into the first jar.
May 22, 2009
Around the Corner
I often ask my in-laws and husband if have ever been to various local places and festivals that pop up in the area - balloon fest, melon festival, art in the park, etc. Sadly, they say, "No." Well, this summer my ultimate goal is to visit local places to plan day trips or even weekend vacations (of course this is all in between the race schedule/season so it may be difficult.)
One place my husband and I did go to was the Howell Conference & Nature Center last October to climb the climbing wall and take a few zips down the zip line. It was a lot of fun and literally around the corner from where I drive to work every day! My husband has never been to the nature center and he has lived in this area all his life!
I have the pleasure of seeing the Howell Nature Center newlsetter come across my desk a few times a year when my company is hired to print it. This is how I learned of the events and activities they offer and what prompted me to try the climbing wall and zip line. It was a fun experience. Dan made it to the top of the climbing wall which I think was 60 feet tall. I only made it half way because my hands were so cold I couldn't make them work anymore. We each took a zip across the 500 foot zip line.
I encourage everyone to check out all of the local events in their area this summer!
January 14, 2009
Tequila, Mexico Style
I just got back from Puerto Vallarta Mexico. I know what you are thinking if you are in Michigan...uh, that bit¢h, she got to go to Mexico in January while I sat here in the friggin' cold snow! I did get to go to Mexico, with 20 other people I knew, but I had to come back to MI where I missed 6 inches of snow and now that I'm home the below freezing temperatures are here.
While abroad, we took a very short and small Tequila Tour. We learned what plant makes tequila, how long it takes to age the tequila, what three types of tequila there are and then we did some tasting and purchasing of tequila. Here is what I learned:
Tequila is made from the Agave plant. (Wikipedia says the Agave plant "is an important economic product of Jalisco state in Mexico due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila" and we were in the State of Jalisco when we were in Mexico!) The plant must be at least 10 years old before it is suitable for tequila making. Each year, the leaves are pruned so the heart of the plant can grow better. It is the heart of the plant that is used to make the tequila.
Authentic tequila is made completely from the agave plant. It will say 100% agave on the label. The most "famous" tequila, José Cuervo, is not 100% agave. It is 51% agave and 49% additives such as color, sugar, water, etc. The tour guide assured us it is the additives that give us the headache in the morning. Maybe this is why most of us create a sour face when we hear the word tequila, it isn't 100% agave!
There are 3 types of tequila, blanco, which means white, is clear and is used for shooting/shots. It's aged for a very short time or bottled just after it is distilled. Reposado, the second type, is gold in color and is used for mixing drinks, such as margaritas. It is aged for at least 2 months in oak barrels. The third one I cannot remember the name of, but it is dark in color and is used for sipping and I think it says longer in the oak barrels to age. Perhaps a few years. I tried all three, the sipping drink tasted the best.
But then I tried three more! They were flavored tequilas! They had an almond flavor, chocolate/coffee flavor and a cream flavor that was similar to your Irish cream liquor. The flavors were all wonderful. We ended up bringing home two bottles, one of the almond and one of the chocolate coffee. I would have nabbed two of each of the flavors (that is what is allowed by law to bring back to the US) but my suitcase and pocket book were not big enough.
The brand of tequila we purchased is very unique. It's called Cava Antigua It's a small company that makes about 300 bottles a month and I was unable to locate the brand in any store in Puerto Vallarta, so the guy must have told me the truth when I asked if I could go to a liquor store in town and purchase a bottle. Thanks to the world wide web, we found the website!
The glass bottles are very unique (the website says they are hand made) as is the leather stamped label. There is a cork like top that pulls off when you open the bottle. My new mission is to figure out a way to get the tequila here in the United States...
