Home for Labor Day

We were fortunate enough to make it to Florida to get to spend the first Gator game in the Swamp.  Last year we failed to make it home for a single game and I refused to let that happen again. 

ellie was SO excited.

with my Mom!

It was great to spend some time with my Mom, get some Gainesville eats, and enjoy the excitement of game day.

we tailgated by lake alice and saw tons of gators!

at the tailgate spot

obligatory self portrait

life size jenga? need this!

gator buggy.  need this too ;)

albert and alberta

here come the gators!

some of the crew

love.

second half

check out the dance moves.

celebrating the win

The original reason for our trip was to attend a pig roast hosted by Mike's bro's family.  We drove (farther) south on Sunday for the event.  It was great to see everyone and, of course, to get our hands on this little guy.  He has changed SO much since last time and keeps getting cuter!  We failed to take too many pictures, mostly because we were busy hogging Ryan snuggles. 

grandmom with Ryan

the pig!  any ideas what M is doing back there?

i think they usually seem happier when playing cornhole

Ryan and his Uncle Mike

Despite the intense amount of driving the weekend held, we had a such a great time and only wish we could have spent more time with everyone!

I'm Back!

It's been a crazy past couple of weeks adjusting to life as a full-time resident and preparing for Part 1 of my board exams (the first of three on the path to becoming a board certified Medical Physicist).  Today marked the feared day and a four-hour stretch of physics problems (with the only calculator being the one on the computer) + 1 hour of clinical problems have left me a little brain-dead.  I'm looking forward to getting back to a normal schedule!

Because of today's test, we spent the weekend close to home.  We used the opportunity to make some extra fun dinners, all of which I love love loved and have to share!

Friday night, we tried our hand at making pizza on the grill after being inspired by this post.  We followed the directions pretty exact with the exception of failing to plan ahead and using Publix's premade pizza dough instead.  We were super nervous about grilling dough, envisioning a sticky, doughy mess on the hot grill.

grilling the first side

topping the grilled side

I'm happy to report it went perfectly and every pizza was amazing.

grill once more

Our creations included margherita and traditional with sausage, pepperoni, onions and tomatoes.

ready to eat!

For dessert, we tried to recreate one of my favorite BJ's Brewhouse desserts: the pizookie.  A giant cookie, made in a cast iron skillet... yum!  We followed this recipe, substituting white chocolate chips for the real ones and loved every bite.

smoosh the dough into the buttered pan

finished pizookie

pizookie a la mode

After too many hours of studying in the house Saturday, I escaped to Costco to take advantage of the free admission day for Vanderbilt employees.  Mike had been craving steak and we'd heard these stores provide the absolute best place to get some filet mignon. 

We recreated the best-steak-ever method introduced to us by my big bro, Ryan.  And... it was the best steak ever.  This meal kicked Ruth's Chris tail and is only barely beat by my most favorite place in the world: Mark's Prime in Gainesville.

Steaks were seasoned very generously with garlic powder, meat tenderizer, Season All, and freshly ground McCormick peppercorn medley.

ready to grill

Mike manned the grill while I created the sauce that, while definitely not needed, only serves to make this steak even more delicious. 

Saute sliced baby portabellas in 1-2T butter and ~1 tsp garlic until soft.

Then stir in 1/2-1 cup heavy whipping cream until thick.  My instructions were to "add way more mixed peppercorn than you think you should, and then quadruple it."  I also mixed in a bit of salt though I'm not sure it's in the original recipe. 

The finished product:

Our dinner's were enhanced by the inclusion of fall beer!  Near the start of football season each year, I start scanning the beer aisle waiting for the seasonal brews.  I was extra excited this time to find one of my favorite beers in a fall variety: Shiner Oktoberfest!  I'd never seen it before but I definitely will be looking for it in the future. 

The following picture of the praying mantis INSIDE our house makes me laugh so I thought I'd share... We were eating outside when this giant guy landed on our porch door.  Mike wanted to open the door to get the camera and take pictures of him.  I said "watch out he might fly inside" to which Mike responded... they don't fly.  As soon as he opened the door the bug went crazy flying around/at him while he yelled and I died laughing.  Our cats were super excited to have this creature inside so it was quite the battle to get him back outside alive.  Now M believes me that they fly...

One more random picture from the weekend: Ellie has also learned to smile (with teeth) for the camera...

aww.

Updating our chairs

We recently decided to reupholster our kitchen chairs as light fabric and messy eaters don't mix too well. We  finally settled on a fabric (after I found like twenty I loved).

before.

I would recommend using a staple gun for this task.  We bought a gun and staples that did not go together.  Being stubborn, Mike decided to use a regular stapler and smash it ridiculously hard instead of going back to the store.  I think his hand was pretty sore by the end. 

during.

We love the way it turned out! 

after.

The whole thing:

{Excuse the blurry cell phone pictures!}

Spring is here!

When we were debating between renting a house and an apartment, one of the negatives on my house-list was keeping up with a yard.  I hesitated today when M suggested "yard work" but, because the forecast was said 75 and sunny, I went along with it as an excuse to be outside.  Turns out, my portion of the yard work was super fun and we enjoyed a great couple of hours outside. 

My mom gave us some adorable pots (planters?) for our porch a while back that have sat empty because of the never-ending cold.  Today we hit-up Lowe's Garden Center to look for some colorful additions to our patio.  There were SO many more choices than I knew what to do with.  I quickly limited my search to plants classified as "resilient" (so we don't kill them), needing direct sun, and not-floppy petals. 

We have been struggling with the grass in the backyard due to some shady spots.  Hubs bought grass seed and had to rake up a patch to put it in.  Ellie was right there to help ;)  I assisted by taking pictures.

I potted gerbera daisies, tulips and zinnias. It reminded me of all the flowers my Mom and I would plant every spring out on our pool deck. 

We also got this little kit (the Lowe's lady promised it was easy enough for first-timers).  You dump a bunch of water in the case and the little disks grow into these little things of soil.  You put some seeds in the top and cover them up inside until they start to grow.  I think this would be really fun for kids to do.  Well... if they grow...

We also decided to grill some sausages for lunch.  Notice the GIANT hotdog buns I made out of the previously-mentioned pumpkin bread.

Had to include a picture of our super-pretty blooming trees out front!  I love them!

Happy Halloween!

I love dressing up and decorating so it makes sense that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.   One of the first things I thought when we moved into our house was that we could finally have a Halloween party!  We had about 20 people over last night for the festivities and I wanted to share a few of the decorations that have made our house extra-spooky this weekend!

Front porch graveyard

glad he's hanging outside now!

Food!

owl cupcakes

pumpkin cupcakes

 We had a great time decorating and making treats.  The party was a ton of fun and I'm loving answering the door for all the cute neighborhood kids tonight!  Hope you are all having a very Happy Halloween!