around here

pork shoulder + sauerkraut

2011-02-24T21:35:00.000-05:00

This recipe looked so delicious on the Nutty Kitchen's site. It calls for a pork shoulder but I ended up using a Boston Butt. The meat ends up so tender and the sauerkraut is really tasty. I've never had sauerkraut before and I would definitely eat it again. My mom, who can't stand sauerkraut, ate the dish. My dad loved it.

The last time I made the rice I hand chopped the cauliflower and it was a failure. Use the food processor. The bacon cauliflower rice recipe is almost like pan fried rice and is delicious.

Ingredients

▪ 3 lbs of pork shoulder, cut into big chunks

▪ 2 lbs of sauerkraut (washed it really well – drain well too)

▪ 2 tbsp coconut oil

▪ 1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

▪ 1/2 tsp Caraway seeds

▪ A pinch of sea salt to taste, as well as some fresh ground black pepper

▪ 1 red chili

▪ 2 cloves of fresh garlic, finely chopped

▪ 1 tbsp of paprika powder

▪ 3 – 4 whole pepper corns

▪ 1 bay leaf

▪ 1 cup of water

▪ 1 tsp of Chef’s Shake

Preparation

In a very large soup pot, roast onions and garlic with coconut oil until golden brown, add Paprika, stir well and add meat. Stir in meat and add Sauerkraut, and all other ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours. After about 2 hours, turn back up to medium high until almost all the moisture has evaporated, and serve.

▪ 1 head of cauliflower (finely chopped in food processor)

▪ 2 thick strips of all natural pork bacon

▪ 1 medium onion, finely chopped

▪ 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

▪ 1 green chili pepper, finely chopped

▪ S&P to taste

In a pan cook the strips of bacon, remove the bacon, and chop them up into small bits. Use the bacon fat to saute the onions, pepper, and garlic until golden brown. Add cauliflower rice and bacon bits. Pan-fried for 10 minutes.

spagetti squash pasta

2011-02-18T23:10:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I just feel like pasta, well really its the pasta sauce I crave, especially in the winter. Good thing squash is a winter vegetable. When choosing a spaghetti squash look for the yellow-est ones as those will be the ripest and best to eat. When it comes to choosing a jarred pasta sauce, be sure to read the labels for added sugars. I'm really fond of Scarpetta's sauace.

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash, halved with seeds removed
1.5 lb. medium shrimp
1 cup pasta sauce
1/2 lemon zest
Chili flakes

Prep:

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds from the interior. Drizzle the flesh with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Lay each squash half flesh side down on a foiled oven tray and pop in the oven until a knife pierces the flesh easily. Smaller ones will take less time to cook than larger ones so check them about 45-60 mins. Larger squash can take up to 1.5 hrs.

Once ready, remove from oven, let cool enough to handle and using a fork gently scrape out the ‘spaghetti’.

Place tomato sauce, zest, and chili flakes in a sauté pan and gently simmer shrimp until pink and firm to touch about 15 minutes. When ready to serve add spaghetti squash to sauce and toss to coat. Of course you can eliminate the shrimp and eat on it’s own or you can add grilled chicken.

rainy weekends = chili

2011-02-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

A rainy Saturday morning paddle to see the manatees left us chilled and desiring a warm cup of soup. Not that many manatees around the springs, however there were lots of people, probably 10 for every manatee.

With three different types of meat this chili recipe is hearty and not for the faint of heart. The spice blend is a little on the sweet side so if you like it spicy up the cayenne pepper. There are no beans so if you must have them in your chili add a can or two.

All or Nothing Chili

Ingredients

1.5# pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch chuncks

1.5# flank steak, cut into ½-inch strips
1# ground buffalo

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. paprika

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. instant coffee powder

1 tsp. mustard powder

½ tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil

5 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped

28-ounces diced tomatoes

14-ounces stewed tomatoes

18-ounces beef broth

Salt & pepper to taste

In a food processor, combine the pork tenderloin and flank steak. Pulse until chopped, but not ground. Don’t overdo it. Set aside.

In a large, dry stockpot over medium heat, combine the seasonings. Toast the seasoning, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Watch them closely as I almost burned mine. Transfer the seasonings to a plate or small bowl and set aside.

Return the stockpot to the burner over medium-high. Add the oil and heat, then add the onion. Saute until the onion is just tender, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

Add the chopped pork tenderloin and flank steak, as well as the ground buffalo. Cook until the meat begins to brown, about 8 minutes.

Add the reserved spice blend, broth, and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle bubble. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes.

kale chips

2011-02-04T19:01:00.001-05:00

The greens at the market have been so wonderful this year. This recipe was posted on the Beasley's Farm webpage, a local farm in Brooksville. I think the recipe was delicious and an easy way to get your veggies. My dad wasn't so sure of them, he definitely preferred his Fritos. To get through the entire bunch of kale I bought it took me four batches so you need to scale this recipe to how much kale you have.

Ingredients

1 bunch kale

1 tablespoon olive oil

dash of sea salt

dash of garlic powder if desired

ground black pepper if desired

chopped fresh herbs if desired

Prep

1. Preheat an oven to 250 degrees.

2. Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper.

3. Carefully remove the thick stems from the leaves and tear into bite size pieces. (The stems are tough and contain a lot of water).

4. Wash kale pieces and thoroughly dry by patting dry with towels or use a salad spinner.

5. Place about 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil into a zip top baggie, and thoroughly smoosh oil around to line baggie inside.

6. Put dry kale pieces in the baggie, zip it tightly, and shake until all pieces are lightly coated with olive oil.

7. Place kale pieces on parchment paper, taking care to separate pieces and only having a single layer (more than one layer will prevent the drying process).

8. Sprinkle with seasoning salt, herbs and any other spices or seasonings you enjoy.

9. Bake until the edges are brown but not burnt, 20-30 minutes. Serve immediately.

NOTE: Some recipes say to bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

paleo sandwich bread

2011-01-27T16:16:00.001-05:00

Felt like a little bread today so I made this recipe borrowed from Elena's Pantry. Pretty good although I think I'd leave out the salt next time. My aunt Wendy, visiting from Colorado, and my mom both liked it as well. Looking forward to a sandwich tomorrow for lunch; my first in two years.

Ingredients

¾ cup roasted almond butter, at room temperature

4 large eggs

¼ cup blanched almond flour

¼ cup arrowroot powder

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp ground flax meal

Prep

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 7 x 3-inch loaf pan with grapeseed oil and dust with almond flour.

In a large bowl, mix the almond butter with a handheld mixer until smooth, then blend in the eggs. In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot powder, salt, baking soda, and flax meal. Blend the almond flour mixture into the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes on the bottom rack of the oven, until a knife inserted into the center of the load comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 1 hour, then serve.

paleo-ish pad thai

2011-01-27T09:49:00.003-05:00

I was in the mood for some noodles. Fortunately for me I found this recipe on Mark's Daily Apple. I think the almond butter was a little overwelming and I'd definitely only add 1-2 Tbsp. next time. My mom loved, loved it and my dad didn't add any salt or pepper to it. He actually said, "Hmmm, not bad." Sometimes I feel bad when I put by dinners on the table. I'm never sure if he wants to eat them but he's a good sport. I'd make it again.

Ingredients

• 1 lb tuna

• 1/4 c coconut oil

• 4 smaller zucchinis

• 1 onion

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 T rice vinegar

• 2 T fresh ginger, minced

• 3 T almond butter (next time I’d use less)

• 1 T fish sauce

• 1 lime, juiced

• s&p

Prep

For the tuna, melt the coconut oil in a large sauté-pan over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the tuna. Add to the pan and sear about 8 minutes. Flip it over and sear on the other side, about another 7-8 minutes. Remove the tuna from the pan, let it rest.

While the tuna is going…

If you have a mandoline, get it out and start slicing the zucchinis lengthwise. If you don’t have one, you can use a knife to slice the zucchinis as thinly as you can (lengthwise). I used a knife and it took me about 15-20 minutes. Then slice them into thin strips, just like a noodle. I sliced them before I started the tuna since it was a little time consuming.

In the reserved fat, saute the onion, garlic and ginger, until soft. Add the fish sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, almond butter, 1-2 Tbsp of water. Stir to combine. Add the zucchini noodles to the saute pan. Stir them around to get the sauce incorporated onto the “zoodles”. The point here is get the “zoodles” hot and very slightly cooked through, about 10 minutes. Best to cover the pan when you are cooking the zucchini so it will soften better. You want them al dente just like real noodles.

fish taco night

2011-01-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

I've been craving tacos and saw a version of this recipe on Paleo Girls. I only had cod on hand, rather than turkey, so thats what I used. The taco seasoning mix is really delicious but I didn't add in the onion & garlic powder since I had run out. Adding in those two spices would probably make it even tastier.

Fish Tacos

Ingredients:
1.5 lb. cod or any type of white fish

6 romaine leaves, washed

2 tomatoes, diced

2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil

Salsa, avocado etc. of your choice

Taco Mix:

1 Tbsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

½ tsp. group pepper

½ tsp. Italian seasoning

½ tsp. paprika

¼ tsp. mustard

1 ½ tsp. paprika

Prep:

For taco mix combine all the seasonings together.

In a pan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the fish and cook until flaking. Turn the heat down low, break the fish apart, add stir in the taco mix.

Scoop the fish onto the romaine leaves and top with tomatoes, salsa, avocado, green peppers, etc. Its best to use small romaine leaves, they'll hold their shape better. Larger romaine leaves are floppy like tortillas. Both of my parents liked the tacos, however they ate them with real tortilla shells and sour cream. I can't seem to be able to break them of the bread habit.

coconut chowder + shark steak

2011-01-08T16:08:00.000-05:00

I've been in the mood for chowder for a while, especially fish chowder, and this recipe is delicious. The coconut milk and rock shrimp are sweet and creamy and then the red pepper kicks in at the end for a little spice. I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart's Corn Fish Chowder. The sweet potato is used as a substitute for the corn and it needs to be diced into small corn sized pieces.

Coconut Shrimp Chowder

Ingredients:

1lb. rock shrimp

15 ounces sweet potato, peeled & finely diced

1.5 cups water

1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

3-4 Tbsp lime juice

1 onion, finely diced

1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil

Prep:

Heat grapeseed oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion & red-pepper flakes; cook until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add water and sweet potato. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potato is tender, 4-5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer 1.5 cups of sweet potato and onion to a blender. Add coconut milk; blend until smooth. More blending will result in a thinner soup so be cautious if you like you soup thick. To pan, add rock shrimp. Simmer until opaque throughout, about 5 minutes. Return sweet potato puree to pan and heat until just warmed through. Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice.

For dinner the other night I made shark with roasted fennel & broccoli. The shark was so sweet and the added coconut was wonderful. Both of my parents really enjoyed the dish. I also roasted some veggies & added parmesan cheese to my parents half of the pan. My mom really liked the vegetables but my dad topped his with mayonnaise. Gross. I'm trying to break him of the habit but apparently he really hates vegetables.

Roasted Fennel & Broccoli:

Ingredients:

3 fennel bulbs, diced

1 head of broccoli, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, diced

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

4 Tbsp. olive oil

Prep:

Preheat oven to 375. Chop broccoli and fennel & dice garlic. Toss broccoli & fennel with oil, seasoning, and garlic. Place on a baking sheet. Roast on the top shelf in the oven for 40 minutes.

Coconut Crusted Shark Steak:

Ingredients:

½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1 tsp. sweet curry powder

1.5 lb. shark steak

1 tsp grapeseed oil

Prep:

Preheat oven to 375. Slice the shark into four individual pieces. Combine the coconut and curry powder. Cover the shark with coconut. Oil a baking pan and place the shark in the pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

In the photo the shark is in one piece, which is how I started it. Due to its thickness I suggest slicing it into four individual steaks, thereby allowing it to cook faster.

pancakes + the end of the xmas cookies

2010-12-30T21:50:00.000-05:00

I have reached my limit of sugar and wheat products. I let myself eat whatever I wanted from December 1st until now and there is a reason gluttony is a deadly sin. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and are ready for some healthy eating, I am. This is the last two of my xmas recipes for a while.

For xmas breakfast I made pancakes. They were delicious, as was the syrup, & the next morning someone ate the leftovers that had been intended for the dogs.

wheat germ pancakes w/ blueberry syrup

ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. suga

¼ cup wheat germ

1 egg white

1 cup buttermilk

¼ cup walnuts

1 tsp. vanilla

1 banana smashed

1 cup grade B maple syrup

1 container of blueberries

prep:

pancakes:

Combine dry ingredients & then add the wet. Add the banana and walnuts at the end.

Heat up some oil fry pan or griddle. Pour the batter in 2-inch mounds and cook until golden. You can keep them warm in an oven heated to 200 degrees. Or like in our family it’s whoever gets to the cook first.

syrup:

Bring the syrup and blueberries to a boil. Reduce the mixture, it took about 13 minutes. Cool to lukewarm.

For xmas presents I made a ridiculous amount of cookies; I think 10 different types in all; it was a cookie making marathon. The pictures are from malt ball cookies, which some people liked but most thought were only so-so. I did make mocha wands that everyone really liked, especially my dad.

mocha wands

ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp. instant coffee powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted & cooled
1 cup chopped pecan

prep:
Preheat oven to 375. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium for 30 seconds. Add sugar, espresso, salt, and baking powder. Beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla, then as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour.

Force un-chilled dough through a cookie press, or as I did through a snipped corner of a ziploc bag. Just make sure the hole doesn't create an uncooked cookie larger than 1 cm in diameter as the dough spreads. Make the cookies 3 inches in length and space 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are firm. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Dip the ends of cooled cookies in melted chocolate & then sprinkle with pecans. Let them set on wax paper. Store between wax paper in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days.

The darker the chocolate used the better they taste.

creamy parsnip soup + cookies

2010-12-26T15:23:00.000-05:00

Today was a busy day; soup making and cookie decorating with my sister. The soup is delicious and the cookies look equally good (I haven't tried one yet). For christmas dinner I made mashed parsnips rather than mashed potatoes; they were delicious. I over bought on parsnips, so the extras got made into a soup.

Sugar cookies with brandied icing

Creamy Parsnip Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound of yellow onion, chopped
1 pound of parsnips, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 apples, peeled and chopped
3.5 cups sodium free chicken broth
12 ounces of water
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 cup of cream
salt & pepper

Prep:

Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, cook for 5 minutes. Add the parsnips, apples, sweet potato, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered until vegetables are tender. Usually about 20-25 minutes.

Using a blender and working in batches, puree the soup until smooth. Return it to the pot and stir in the cream. Salt & pepper to taste.

I topped my soup with 2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces. Parsnips have a distinctive taste and are a little sweet, to me they seem to pair best with something a little salty.

pig wrapped in pig....merry xmas

2010-12-25T19:18:00.000-05:00

So here is my attempt at a french cut pork loin roast....... (recipe from epicurious).

The pups are ready for dinner.

Pork Roast with Winter Fruits and Port Sauce

Uncooked roast improves in flavor if stuffed, seasoned, and wrapped with bacon 1 day ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature before cooking.

Ingredients:

Stuffing:

¼# dried apricots, cut into 1/2inch pieces

¼# pitted prunes, cut into 1/2inch pieces

2/3 cup ruby Port

1 medium onion, minced

1 small shallot, finely chopped

¾ stick of butter

1 apple (Granny Smith), peeled and cut into 1/2inch pieces

Roast:

1 bone-in pork loin roast (8 ribs), frenched, at room temperature for 1 hour

1 package of bacon

Port Sauce:

½ cup ruby Port

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1/2 cup of water

1 Tbsp almond oil

2 tsp. arrowroot

Prep:

Stuffing:

Simmer apricots, prunes, and Port in a small saucepan, covered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Cook onion and shallot in butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4-5 minutes. Add apple and ½ tsp. of salt and pepper, cook until apple is just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in apricot mixture and cool.

Stuff & roast pork:

Make a pocket in center of roast by making a horizontal 1.5 inch wide cut into one end of roast with a long thin knife, repeating from opposite end so pocket runs all the way through. Then make a vertical cut through center (forming a cross) to widen pocket. Push about 1 cup stuffing into pocket using a long handled wooden spoon; will need to stuff from both sides. Reserve remaining stuffing for sauce.

Season roast with 1/5 tsp. salt and ½ tsp pepper and put in a large flame proof roasting pan. Wrap with bacon, between rib bones, tucking ends under roast. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 500 with rack in the middle. Cover roast with aluminum foil and roast for 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 325 and roast until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast registers 155. Approx. 1.5 hours total.

Transfer the roast to a serving platter, reserving pan, and let stand loosely covered with foil, 15-20 minutes. (Temperature of the meat will rise to 160; meat will be slightly pink).

Sauce:

Skim fat from pan drippings. Cook shallots in 1 Tbsp. almond oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in pan juices and 1/2 cup of Port; bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Add reserved fruit stuffing and bring to a simmer. Whisk together arrowroot and remaining ¼ cup water until smooth, then whisk into sauce with any juices from cutting board.

Simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

curried cabbage

2010-12-15T21:49:00.002-05:00

I borrowed this recipe from Sweet Cheeks; absolutely delicious on a chilly winter evening, just make sure you like coconut.

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage, sliced

1 medium eggplant, cubed

1/2 red onion, diced

2 cans of coconut milk

1-2 tablespoons up to entire jar of of curry paste (depends on the brand of curry & how spicy you like it)

Put the sliced cabbage into a large skillet or pot. Pour in 2 cans of coconut milk (reserve 1/4 cup of milk to mix curry), cover and let cook until the cabbage cooks down to about half it's original size. This should take about 10 minutes.

Add the eggplant and onion. Mix curry paste with reserved coconut milk until no more clumps. Add curry to pan. Cook covered until the eggplant softens. I cooked mine for about 15-20 minutes.

I served this dish with chicken cooked in a little coconut oil.

Review: I thought it was wonderful. I love coconut and am discovering how amazing curried food it. My mom also thought it was great. She ate leftovers the next day. My dad said it was okay & he didn't go for the salt and pepper. Definitely repeatable.

turnip breakfast casserole

2010-12-12T12:39:00.000-05:00

The rainy weather kept me inside today so I decided to try out this breakfast recipe from Mark's Daily Apple.

Ingredients:

3 turnips

3 sausage links (approx. 12 ounces)

6 scallions

4 eggs

2 sweet peppers

13x9 inch baking pan

Prep:

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Peel & grate turnips or roughly chop in a food processor. ( I did half chopped and half grated)

Dice scallions, sweet peppers, and slice sausage. You don't have to pre-cook the sausage if you leave it in the casing and slice it. If you don't want to eat the casing then pre-cook in a pan.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix around, & put in the baking dish.

Bake for 45 minutes covered with foil, then uncover and bake another 25 minutes.

Season during the prep as you wish. I added pepper & Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning.

Review:

Make sure you like turnips as the turnipy flavor will come through. I really enjoyed the dish and so did my mom. I got mixed reviews from dad. He has a pretty "traditional" palate and ended up adding salt. I think if I had added onions that would have made the dish definitely repeatable.

So my compost bin in the house is out of control. I have three containers and I have to empty all of them everyday. I think its a sign your eating right if you empty your compost that much and only really need to take out your trash every 3-4 days (not that I wait that long).

Ribs

2009-12-21T10:01:00.001-05:00

Alright, so I've pretty much sucked at posting everyday (my goal.)

I haven't eaten any sugar since November 27th and only a few more days to go. I've lost about 4lbs. of fat and posted three PR's on my Crossfit total last week. I feel good. Sugar is such a drug, one that is hard to resist. For the last week I've been thinking about it non-stop.

My HSPU goal is not progressing as well. I've re-set the goal for 1 HSPU by 1/11/10. I can get my head half way to the ground.

A dinner of smoked beef ribs and broccoli. We pulled them out an hour early so they were a little rare and chewy. Still very delicious.

Paleo Sushi?

2009-12-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

Well as Paleo as sushi can get. There was no rice; I think the imitation crab was fried; and who knows what was in the eel sauce on top. All in all if you have the craving for sushi it will do the job.

Did Joshie on Sunday really scaled. It sucked.

Today I ran for the first time since the 10K. My calves were on fire. Lots of cramping. Not enough water and stretching afterwards.

I've noticed this week that I'm eating more fruit than I would like to be. I think its my body trying to get the cheapest sugar it can find.

Turkey Trot, Linda, and no more Sugar

2009-11-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

Did a 10K on Turkey day; my goal was to finish in less than 60mins. Time: 58:46. Then proceeded to eat lots of sugar that evening.

Now.....no more sugar.

Today I did Linda for the first time. Very scaled and it was still hard.
DL: 135
Bench: 85
Clean: 75
Time: 27:25

Jame's Fight Gone Bad score. His first time.

White Board

2009-11-24T22:16:00.001-05:00

This is my white board. Its a work in progress which means it won't always be pretty or perfect. Not everything will be Paleo, organic, or gluten free. But I'm working on it. Maybe after Thansgiving I'll take the time to explain what I'm trying to accomplish. For now just know that I workout hard but I don't eat as well as I would like. My downfall is sugar.
I have two goals:
#1 to not eat sugar from 11/27 to 12/25
#2 do one HSPU.

Vacation

2009-09-17T14:39:00.000-04:00

After finishing orientation on my floor I went on vacation for 10 days. I headed out to Wyoming and Colorado to hike, camp, and hang out. Ran into a few bears, helped rope some cows, and saw my family. A pretty busy 10 days and ate lots of non-Paleo food.

Gunnison NF

Creepy

2009-07-06T22:10:00.001-04:00

http://www.retrocomedy.com/2009/07/15-creepiest-vintage-ads-of-all-time.html

I find out tomorrow if I'm an RN....I keep having waves of nausea.

Yum....

2009-06-25T10:25:00.000-04:00

Lets all go get a salad from Wendy's.

http://www.meatpaper.com/articles/2008/0620_wollan.html

High Society Drunkeness

2009-06-23T22:52:00.000-04:00

I'm not even sure that 'drunkeness' is a word but in Sarasota they sure know how to knock 'em back. I think my favorite part (beside all the old men driving their retirement cars in the Porsche parade) was watching everyone tottering around with their $8 plastic cups of cheap wine replacing divots. I really did have a good time, mainly because I've had an obsession with horses since the age of three.

Only 9 more days til I take my nursing boards...........I'll know by July 7th if I'm a nurse or I just wasted the last two years of my life.

Judging by the cover

2009-06-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

Pretty funny page of a not so great site:

http://www.theartofdansilver.com/dvdcovers.html

Procrastinating studying for my boards.....

Ft. Laud for a day

2009-06-06T21:40:00.000-04:00

Drove to Ft. Lauderdale for a day to help the Fish with surveys of elementary schools. Its so much fun to drive around in the summer taking photos of schools. We did stay at a cool motel near the beach, circa 1950's I think. The family was nice, they had a whole wall of DVDs that you could borrow, and three computers in the lobby to surf the net. I did talk Fish into driving to S. Miami so I could go to Niketown. It wasn't as impressive as I was hoping, although I did get a heart monitor. The whole trip took 24hrs start to finish.

New puppy...

2009-05-23T20:52:00.000-04:00

This one is going to stay.

Google Map Gainesville

2009-05-20T13:11:00.000-04:00

A friend of a friend made this map of places he's been in/around G-ville. Google maps--a way to let everyone know where you've been and where you plan to go. One more voluntary invasion of your life.

To see all the locations with his descriptions: Google Map Gainesville

Do we really come from monkeys?

2009-05-20T09:44:00.001-04:00

The debate continues.
The missing link?

Dog update: Ivy is gone and all I can say is good riddance.

Anymails

2009-04-16T10:33:00.000-04:00

A system in which your e-mails float around as amoebas, all color coded and furry. I think I wouldn't get anything accomplished, perhaps that is the point.

http://carohorn.de/anymails/

The Dogs

2009-03-29T22:22:00.001-04:00

Max and his new mini rugby ball, maybe this one will last.

The new dog of the house, Ivy. Kinda hairy, jumps on everyone, digs out from the yard, digs in the yard, nips at your hands, barks all the time, doesn't fetch. Maybe she'll out grow it.

CT of McNuggets

2009-03-24T11:46:00.000-04:00

Yum.

http://www.radiologyart.com/

Bagging

2009-02-22T18:21:00.000-05:00

Stores drive me crazy. First they only put two items in each bag, which are designed to hold at least 40lbs. My toilet paper and hair brush definitely do not weigh 40lbs so put them in the same bag. Second they bag your shit before you can say "put it all in one". Third if you ask for only one bag and they've started to use the second one then they'll throw that bag away (which is what happened today at Lowes). Fourth if you ask for them to use paper they act like the world is going to end and then they put your peaches underneath your milk and all your shit gets squashed. Fifth if you bring cloth bags they just get plain stupid, look at you funny, and then only put three items in the bag. So they put the rest of the items in plastic bags and you have to tell them to put it all in one. Then they throw that plastic bag away.

Moral of the story: Let me bag my own crap!

My battle

2009-02-17T23:19:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day in which I felt comfortable enough with my own body to not constantly suck my stomach in every time I saw a reflection of myself. I still look at every reflection that I can find to make sure that I don't look 'fat' but I didn't try to change how I look.
I've been struggling with my self-perception since high school, before then I don't ever remember caring about what I looked like. I'm trying to love myself no matter what but I find that unless I exercise everyday I can't stand to look in the mirror. I have a problem and its a common one that runs deep with in american women: I'm never satisfied with my body.
I must mentally call myself fat at least a dozen times a day and when my girlfriend is around I'll tell her I'm fat, mostly just to hear her say that I'm beautiful. I drive her crazy with my incessant whining. I have a history of being heavy and I'm terrified of putting the weight back on. Maybe one day I'll feel empowered all the time, right now it comes in waves. And largely depends on when I go to the gym.
I don't want sympathy or encouragement I just need to write it somewhere public and you can't get much more public than the internet.

V-day with the Fish

2009-02-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

Cooked the Fish blueberry pancakes for breakfast and just chilled the whole day; not something that I do very often. We went to watch the UF girls play Clemson. Not the most impressive display of rugby but they did win which was good for them. Went out for karaoke with some friends we hadn't seen for a while.

I imagine that it will be another three months before I update again. I'm in my last semester of nursing school and it has ended up being really time consuming and dense with material. Good news is that Fish got into UF Law so she will be in G-ville for the next three years. Now I just need to get a job at Shands or the VA. We'll see.

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-23T20:24:00.000-05:00

12/23/08:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-22T09:26:00.001-05:00

12/16-22/08:

A very diappointing showing from the cataglog companies this year. I seem to remember last year getting all sorts of catalogs right up until Christmas.

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-15T22:32:00.000-05:00

12/15/08:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-10T22:34:00.000-05:00

12/10/08:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-09T21:06:00.001-05:00

12/9/08:

12/8/09:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-06T21:28:00.001-05:00

12/6/08:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-05T20:59:00.000-05:00

12/5/08:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-04T21:15:00.001-05:00

12/4/08:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-03T20:30:00.001-05:00

12/3/08: No magazines, kinda sad

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

12/2/08:

A Catalog of Catalogs

2008-12-02T00:04:00.000-05:00

Beginning on Black Friday and ending on Christmas day I am collecting all the catalogs that are mailed to my house. Each day I will post them, I wonder how many will show up?
12/1/08:

11/29/08:

11/28/08:

Weeki Wachi

2008-11-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

A warm fall day on the river before the cold, wet winter sets in. Cold air = short dip. In the water was warmer than out. We'd never started from the head springs before and the first 2.5hrs of the paddle was definitely worth the $10 per boat to launch. The fall wildflowers were in bloom, sadly all I had was my crappy little camera that likes to over-expose highlights.

She can't get enough of the springs, even in the cold.

Classic landscape with a crap digital camera.

More kitties

2008-11-06T21:00:00.000-05:00

Can't resist...you have to admit they're cute.

Obama Supporters Only

2008-11-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

So last night around 11:30pm I got a text message from some weird number in Oklahoma (I know this because I looked it up to see if I could figure out who it came from)--405-202-0480. The message read:

(FW:) Due to long lines on tue., all obama voters are asked to vote on wed. THANK YOU

So I hope that all those Obama voters got the message that republicans think we're dumb and that we won't show up today to vote them out of office. Just to be safe I decided to vote today cause I didn't know that there was such a thing as 'late voting'.

Yes, still procrastinating studying.

LSU Game

2008-11-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Yeah I'm a few weekends behind but I just found them. I'm procrastinating 'cause studying for my exam on Wednesday is harder than reorganizing the photos on my computer.

Daytona Beach

2008-11-02T18:30:00.000-05:00

Spent the week in Daytona for a nursing school conference, pretty much stressful the entire time. But I did get to spend the week on the beach. It was a cold and windy week, only the hardy Floridians or the snow birds were out.

The Halloween party at the convention. My camera needed a charge and I was in a rush so the flash stopped working.

I did go to a much more exciting Halloween party later in the week, I don't go out much in Inverness cause I don't want to run into people from HS. I've become antisocial since moving home. But Danialle talked me into going, and not only did she talk me into going but she talked me into going as a suffragist. We had fun and I saw a few people from HS that I never thought I would run into again. Its amazing how much people do and don't change.

More kitties

2008-10-13T22:17:00.001-04:00

They are so hard to resist.

Okay, she isn't as cute but in her defense she was having a bad day. It took about a month for her to get used to the kitties.

Kitties

2008-10-08T12:26:00.000-04:00

So my sister brought home some kitties from the chicken farm she worked at over the summer. They are super cute so I decided to make ridiculous pics of them.

Gum Slough

2008-08-06T13:56:00.001-04:00

It ended up being a marathon paddle, which is what I feared from the beginning. It takes 2hrs to paddle down the slough and I really didn't want to find out how long it would take to paddle up. But Danialle was determined so I was along for the ride. We didn't leave until 12 o'clock which is a little late in FL during the summer but I figured it couldn't be any worse than the trip down the Chaz a few weeks ago, if it did start raining. Our trip up was mostly uneventful although the tree below with 20 crosses was a bit ominous for the beginning of our trip.

Shortly after we passed it we were almost swamped by an airboat, no wonder there are so many crosses. Poison ivy was rampant along the banks and I ended up wading through some poison ivy to pull a tree out of the slough so we could eek past. I think the biggest event on the way up was passing a strange eel/lizard creature that was dead at the bottom of the slough (its picture is below). Danialle wanted to grab it out of the water to identify, I wanted to leave it the hell alone.

We must have taken about 3hrs to paddle up to the main spring that feeds the slough. Once we got there all I wanted to do was dive in; the water was crisp and freezing. Its the kind of spring that gives you goose bumps after only a few minutes. While laying around identifying fish at the bottom of the spring Danialle found the largest caterpillar I've ever seen; she wanted to take it home to feed to her hedgehog. After about an hour we both began to realize our stomach were growling and we were out of water so we headed home. The return trip took about 2hrs and we headed straight to Stumpknockers for stuffed flounder and pan fried gator steaks.

A wonderful summer day at the head springs.

From the Cape to Chattanooga

2008-08-04T09:58:00.000-04:00

A weekend spent on the Cape and Boston. We played with the Satiated Beavers on Sat, hung out in P-town on Sun, and Mon in Boston wandering the city.
Rugby playing Beavers by day........Spice Beavahs by night (there was a skit contest and since we won last year this year we had to really pull out all the stops, which means one thing: Spice Girls.

Pitch-a-Tent in Chattanooga. Abby flew down from Chicago and pitched her tent right next to us. Lots of fun: drinking, rugby, drinking, drinking, drinking. Most of the drinking took place out of a flabongo that was passed around the camp.

Lori seemed to be on pretty good terms with the flabongo....and the dance floor.

stormy weather

2008-07-10T21:37:00.001-04:00

Ahhh....Florida in the summer. Went paddling on the Chaz with Fish and Sammy and didn't get on the river until 11:00. Knew it was too late but we were busy watching the Wimbleton. By about 12:00 the rain had moved in and we were stuck on the river with no rain gear, a scared dog, and a 45min paddle back to the car. So we stopped at one of the many empty hunt camps along the river, flipped the canoe on top of a set of stairs, and hunkered down underneath. It was a typical Florida storm with lightening popping right across the river from us. Sammy was scared right out of her skin.
Fish and Sammy.

The hunt camp we spent 30mins in underneath the canoe.

After we got off the river and got home the 'rents wanted to know why we were back so soon since the storm had "missed us," according to the radar online. Well that shits wrong. We got dumped on and there was more comin' so we hightailed it off the river. We were hoping to have more luck this weekend.

scoot scoot

2008-06-23T10:38:00.000-04:00

A walk along the trail lead to mom on a scooter.....scoot scootin' along. Eventually my cousin, whose 4yrs old, wanted her scooter back. So many youtube moments with my mom and I never have my camera.

Poison Ivy and Sprained Ankles

2008-06-18T11:06:00.000-04:00

From my weekend at Ginnie. I'm so freakin' allergic to poison ivy. It was all over my leg and it started as a little tiny bump.

I'm finally home from four days of rugby in Pittsburg. The whole time we were driving around, lost most of the time, all I could think was how beautiful it was. Lush and green.....Florida is brown and burning. I have no idea why all the Yankees from up north come here to retire. Its hot as hell.....humid like a rainforest.......and everything is brown.
I played for the South. We lost both of our games but its the best rugby I've played with them in the past four years at ITTs. Hopefully next year we'll be better with the new coaches we have, both played on the national level for years. Plus we are getting a lot of coaching from the national coaches 'cause they are really invested in the South getting better. I'm excited.

In Loving Memory

2008-06-10T22:55:00.001-04:00

I live in the south and see a lot of things that are just plain stupid, people down here can't help it, occasionally it drives me crazy. Yesterday I was driving home from work on 441 and a Mustang passed me with an In Loving Memory decal on the back window (see below). Every time I see one of those decals I think how redneck can you get? It said "In Loving Memory to My Cousin........" Their cousin? WTF. When I saw that I thought what happens if their kid dies? Are they going to have the decal for their cousin removed? Would their kids decal have to be put on their bumper? What are people thinking.

Ginnie = Summer

2008-05-20T16:11:00.000-04:00

School is out and its time to move to G-ville but before I could leave Inverness I had to help my sister bury her dog. She wanted to put her right under an oak tree in the front yard so we needed the ax. My mom sharpened it for us on the grinding wheel in the garage, another missed youtube moment. I never have my camera ready. Over christmas break Fish and I laid a brick patio in the backyard and we had to chop out a few roots. I was showing Fish how to us an ax and I wasn't doing it right so mom stepped in. She started hacking away at the roots (she's 64 years old). The ax was half her size.
Went to Ginnie Springs this weekend for a hash. Lots of drunken fire jumping and drunken tubing down the river. Had fun and got pretty sunburnt.

Vanagon-ville at Ginnie Springs....drumming and all

Fish had a hard time finding the river but not her tube.

Prom

2008-04-07T16:49:00.001-04:00

HaHa...I couldn't help but put a photo of myself on the blog. Mainly cause my dress is soooo sexy.

Remember the Alamo

2008-03-28T17:13:00.000-04:00

Hank doesn't like people apparently. Too bad he looks like he would have been fun to ride.

I've always wanted to go to the Alamo. Ha, Maggie I beat you to it.

Grapevine, TX

2008-03-26T14:32:00.000-04:00

Can't get enough of the cowboy hats and belt buckles out here. Flight out of Tampa into Dallas. Couldn't help taking a typical photo from the plane of the islands off St. Pete. Very cliche.

Sandwich shop in the town of Grapevine. We are staying at the most ridiculous convention center I have ever seen. It belongs on the strip in Las Vegas. There is a stuffed Texas Longhorn below my room and a life size replica of the Alamo inside the hotel. Photos are soon to come.

Babies always taste better

2008-03-23T21:50:00.000-04:00

A little disturbing to see a baby try to eat a chick on easter day.

Things tend to get a little crazy at my house and thats without all the animals. We had baby chicks, baby pigs, and baby humans. Way too many babies for me.

Dropping Like Flies

2008-02-29T17:04:00.001-05:00

So there seems to have been a rash of death in the nursing program as of late. A few weeks ago a nursing three student is rumored to have been in a car accident and died. Apparently the faculty thought it would be best to keep it a secret from the students for fear they would all fail their upcoming exams. Then last week an intro to nursing student is rumored to have committed suicide right before their final exam. Again the staff didn't tell the students for fear they would fail their exams. Just this week a nursing two student was in a serious car accident and is hospitalized for the next week. Perhaps this is a plot for Final Destination 5. Nursing students trying to escape death so they can pass school.

from mardi gras to late night travels

2008-02-11T15:17:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh.....the Sentry Motel. With holes in the comforters and bedbugs in the mattresses I will forever think of you fondly as the place I didn't have to sleep while in New Orleans. The pool was filled to the brim with mud and you could rent the rooms by the hour. I did get to see Sara's ass in the parking lot so it was worth the stop on our way to the Marriott.

Downtown along Canal Street there are still buildings without windows. Lets not even talk about the rest of the town; there are trailers everywhere.

Part of the group terrorizing the tourists on Bourbon Street. None of us were drunk enough to have that many beads yet it didn't stop most of us from getting them. Where's Fish?

There she is, trying to get girls to flash her for her beads. Naughty girl.

The 4th Publix to be built on SR200 in the last 2yrs. They work night and day just too make sure that people in neighboring country clubs don't starve on their 1.5mi trek to the closest Publix.

from brick laying to back in school

2008-01-18T15:19:00.000-05:00

two weeks into the semester & life is already crazy. it doesn't help that i'm starting to procrastinate really early this year. my neighbor's horse desperately needs to be put out of its misery. it has a respiratory infection and obviously isn't getting enough nutrition, although she feeds it. its ancient and suffering.

molly was in town from the 25th-2nd. went paddling & hung out for new years with fish & danialle.

uncle paul's birthday.

fish is doing all the work, so she says. i think max is helping plenty.

merry xmas

2007-12-27T22:49:00.001-05:00

my family is finally gone. except for my sister. i could handle sleeping on an air mattress on the floor for months on end rather than spend one day with her. sadly she is here for another week. on the bright side fish is here. other than that i have been really moody and cranky. fish says thats normal. i went paddling with my aunt on the rainbow river before she left.
i think these people are from the north as no sane floridian would get in the water when its below 90 degrees out. we all thought it was a chilly day out (actually only about 65.)

i don't know why i posted this other than the leaves are a beautiful orange.

as a child we used to paddle to the head springs and tie our boats to this tree and then jump off it into the water. now all the land is owned by the state and you have to swim in a designated area.

randoms from home

2007-12-21T13:03:00.001-05:00

vacation has been a blessing. minus all the talk about politics. my sister has become a raving conservative and feels like everyone should listen to her. i have a very strong reaction to conservatives, usually involving puking or throwing a punch or two, so far i've only had bouts of nausea. last night she actually defended bush's national guard record. the other day driving to g-ville she tried to tell me that the real reason we are in iraq is to free the iraqis from saddam. where does she get this stuff?
abby graduated. yay abby. she already has a house and job waiting for her in chicago. of the three of us (fish, abby, and i) she's the only one with a job.
my uncle passed away last tuesday and the memorial was yesterday. it was pretty country. at a boat ramp in orange lake, which is a small town consisting of a bp gas station, boat ramp, and bbq place. it was really for my aunt kate who needs all the help she can get right now.
a lot of family in town. my uncle guy and my cousin kendrick....who's here only because he's on house arrest. my aunt wendy and uncle paul... they are staying til xmas. and of course my sister.

annual lanigan card

2007-12-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

the semester is officially over and i don't know what to do with myself. think i'm gonna build a brick patio for mom.
i took over the xmas card this year. mostly because mom hadn't made one the past two years. not great but its done. for a woman who didn't want to make one this year she sure did have a lot to say about what went on it.

thanksgiving with the family

2007-12-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

yeah its a few weeks late but life is a little bit hellish lately. today is my final...in about 15 minutes. what am i doing updating my blog 15 minutes before my final? trying not to think about how little i've really studied. this year for thanksgiving my mom wanted to cook the turkey in a hole in the ground. it was a little burnt. fish's family was supposed to come but our sisters weren't so keen so it was just the four of us. perhaps for the best. charcoal turkey isn't exactly the best.
dad watching the fire.

maggie and i went to the uf v. fsu game on saturday. as always it was fun although i thought i was going to die on the drive there.

eating s'mores in the kitchen. we were supposed to go camping but i had a nervous breakdown. my stress level this semester has not been so great.

need some a**?

2007-12-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

who ever said big asses aren't sexy clearly have not experienced the "lanigan" behind.

two more days til the semester is over. thank god. i'm having a hard time giving a shit about anything school related. all i want to do is lay around and rot my brain with books. this past weekend i went to atl for a rugby camp. we stayed with a uf alum that played rugby. she's also an adventure racer and i got to pick her brain for a few days about it. now i'm searching for a cheapish mountain bike, preferably a gary fisher or specialized. there is a race in jan but i'm nervous about the orienteering aspect. this weekend is much needed, the parents are in kansas and i get to take care of the animals. hmmm, does that mean i have to cook?

i got an A!!!!

2007-11-21T17:39:00.000-05:00

yay! so my funny story. last week i had a morbidly obese black women as my client. i walked into the room and she told me she had an upset stomach & she didn't want her b-fast. so i took her tray away, as soon as i walked back into the room she started to projectile vomit all over the place. she is immobile so i have to hold a bed pan to her face while she vomits in it. this goes on for about 20 mins. i think that may be a new record 'cause the woman didn't eat anything. so i think she is done and i wash out the pan and take my gloves off. as i head to the bathroom to wet a washcloth her roommate goes into the bathroom, the dean of the school comes in the room & the woman starts vomiting again. i have no gloves on while i again catch her vomit. she looks at me and says, "wipe my face girl" which is covered in vomit (i have no gloves on). the dean is standing behind me & asking me what i can do to comfort my client. what!!!! um, wipe the vomit off her face and prepare to catch more? i didn't really say that. so the dean leaves and my client finally feels good enough to get up for the day. which means a bed bath, which was actually on the toilet 'cause she had to go. so, i bathed her and was getting ready to get her dressed and in her wheelchair when she says to me, "i think i had a BM, can you check?" i separated her butt cheeks to look & didn't see anything. the women then says to me "well just wipe anyways." she was so obese that the BM got stuck in between her cheeks. i think my hand got stuck a some point in the wiping as well. so finally she's clean, dressed, diapered, and in her wheelchair. okay, i'm done. yeah right. the dean sees me coming out of the room and she corners me. i spend the next 5mins. answering questions about my client & then my classmate (who hasn't been paying any attention) has to come up with a nursing Dx. she kinda wasn't ready for that. so finally i'm done. three times during post conference i have to get up and leave 'cause my client is a diabetic & she is feeling weak. i had her the next day as well but she was already washed and in her wheelchair. come to find out she thought i was 14 years old & told her family that she didn't think i knew what i was doing.

this weekend will be fun. two whole days with the sis. i've talked to her once on the phone today and i'm already about to go insane. by friday afternoon one of us may be dead.

nursing fun

2007-11-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

a small break in the monotony of school. a convention in orlando at which there was a nursing student dressed as a parrot. thanksgiving break is almost here, thank god. first i have to make it through another exam tomorrow. there is a pattern to my posting.....the day before an exam. hmmmmm. i have to study but i do have a very funny/digusting story from clinicals last week, i'll post it tomorrow afternoon after the exam. or i may be drowning my sorrows in a beer or two or three.

fish & cookies

2007-11-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Its been a while, school has been hell, and Fish is pestering me to put something up. I think a photo of her in a cookie dress is fitting. Abby, the hairy one, thought it would be funny to come as a vagina. Not my style.......I prefer the cookies. I'm trying not to think about school but that's all there is in my life. I played a weekend of rugby in Orlando, DII Nationals. We came in 3rd. Not too bad but if it hadn't been for our fitness we would have been at 1st. Thanksgiving break is coming up...not soon enough I'm afraid since I have another exam before then. I need to go write a paper about delegation...not sure how I'm going to fill up the space yet since this is another piece in a long line of busy work.

raining bugs

2007-10-21T14:47:00.001-04:00

its a day of mourning in england since they lost to south africa yesterday in the world cup finals. it was a disappointing game, especially since i was cheering for england. south africa had superb tackles, rucks, mauls, lineouts, & scrums. england looked slow by comparison.
fish went to an abc party last night in a mini dress made of cookies, sadly my camera was mia and i have no proof of the dress.
the pic below is fish's. she spent about 30minutes trying to rescue the bug from imminent death on the sidewalk at the apt. then she needed to take it's pic so she could look it up later.
an entire day in the library studying pharmacology feels like a waste of a day. especially since it's not hot outside.

hashing

2007-10-14T11:24:00.000-04:00

WARNING: too many hashers on your porch may cause it to collapse.....

mom & dad

2007-10-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

and he's from nyc.

so is she but the south hasn't gotten to her as much.

eggs galore

2007-10-10T16:57:00.000-04:00

Mom's way of keeping track of which eggs are new, newer, more newer, and latest.

6 hens = 6 eggs/day

We're South Champs which means we'll go to Nationals!

All the UF alum that's now playing with Orlando.

Rugby with Lori and Kerri is always fun even though Lori looks like a big dork.

i've got a few friends who fit......

2007-10-04T12:29:00.001-04:00

i think this is hilarious and i don't want to study pharmacology. sorry you have to click on it to actually read it.

Dodgeball

2007-10-02T15:47:00.000-04:00

Dodgeball on Sunday was fun.....we were sponsered by a local ice cream shop. Fish and I have been eating there consistantly for the past four years. Most people on the rugby team are ona first name basis with bartenders; Fish and I are on a first name basis with the owner of an ice cream shop. Thanks Mike for getting us shirts and coming to watch us smash the other teams. They make some of the best ice cream I have ever eaten & I eat a lot of ice cream. The chocolate ice cream at Sweet Dreams cannot be topped by any other chocolate ice cream....there are no words to decribe how amazing this chocolate is. Enough about ice cream..........the women's teams sucked so we played co-ed and men's teams. Only one co-ed team beat us and one of the men's teams beat our sister team in blue. We were unstoppable.

This is what hapens when you let other people take pictures with your camera while you're playing dodgeball, bad, bad, bad.

another weekend

2007-09-30T00:03:00.000-04:00

Got to watch some rugby. FSU vs. UF....UF killed them. Also got to play a little against Charleston with an entire rookie side. I spent more time trying to get past my own teammates than actually participating in play. We still won but the game was some pretty ugly rugby. I did get to play with Lori and Belkin which is always nice. Watched the Auburn game, pretty awful. Fish is really depressed now. I get to spend the rest of the weekend studying, although there is a dodgeball tourney tomorrow that is irresistible. Ireland v. Argentina tomorrow....should be a good game...go figure that I have to study.
A little update on my classmates from school. Thursday night I got a call from one of them asking me to tell them how I study since I seem to be doing well in the class and they are not doing so great. So I told them how I study which seems to be pretty common sense to me. Um...read and read and read.....then make flashcards and study them. Apparently they don't know what information is important. Um.....what the teacher says in class is usually important. Well I get to spend part of my monday tutoring a classmate in studying 101. Should be fun.

There goes my Fishy.

school is a drag

2007-09-25T22:55:00.000-04:00

sorry no pics this is a poor me session..............
lately i've been having some pretty shitty days at school. i think it has to do with the lack of sleep. my instructors are really getting on my nerves; i guess the honeymoon period is over and now i'm wondering how i managed to talk myself into this. i keep thinking only 3 1/2 more semsters and i'm done. then i think holy shit i have to do this for 3 1/2 more semsters; i might die of sheer exhaustion. i had an awful encounter with one of my instructors today. she rambles on and on and on and on for what feels like an hour about one little piece of information. i made the mistake of asking her to clarify something for me and she proceeded to give me a 15 minute lecture about how 2+3 and 3+2 both equal 5. what this has to do with whether or not i'm supposed to aspirate when giving a subcut injection i don't know. it was horrible and the worst part is that i asked in class so i subjected my classmates to the torture as well.
still poor me......................
i'm going to school in central florida and its fairly rural. i have class with two women who keep asking me if i have a boyfriend....which i of course do not. so far i've been saying no i don't and leaving it at that but lately they've been talking more and more about me finding a "man" overseas, etc.......its getting annoying. however, i'm afraid that if i say something like, i have a girlfriend, it'll cause me to be ostracized. i would like to say that i don't care but i'm going to have class with these people for the next 2yrs. & we have to do physical assessments on each other. it could get akward. am i being a coward by not telling these people who i really am? i feel like it.

pub crawlin' and football gamin'

2007-09-16T15:42:00.000-04:00

A wonderful weekend it was in Gainesville. Friday night kicked off with the 2nd annual Crazy Hat Pub Crawl. There was twice as many people this year and the trail was much longer, including some not so pub-like beer checks (behind the local bike shop for starters.) Some rugby girls attended and Dikey Hooker (Abby) by far had the best hat (as seen in the previous photos.) Her soulmate was in attendance with some tequila in his tap. Saturday was the Tenn. vs. UF football game and Fish somehow came up with tickets for us. It was a great game; the Gators stomped the Vols 59-20. Now its Sunday and I'm back to the books.

There is no more time in my life

2007-09-11T18:21:00.000-04:00

At least when we have time to party its always done right. And in the best outfits Walmart can provide.

Sadly this is the last party that I've gone to in a while. Heading back to school is incredibly challenging, so is living in Inverness an hour away from my "life" as I've known it for the last four years. Being seperated from Fish is quite possibly one of the worst parts of living so far from Gainesville. There is of course also the added annoyance of either being in class or studying for 12hrs out of the day.

Home at last

2007-08-18T12:42:00.000-04:00

I've moved home....not sure what that will bring me. A small reprieve for my bank account while I'm back in school and lots of heartache missing Fish. Since I'm home my dad's been taking advantage of me and we've been building a storage shed. I'm not much use and I've pretty much been replaced by the black rooster above. I pay my room and board by taking photo of my mom's chickens....not a bad deal.

Daytona Beach

2007-08-15T16:13:00.001-04:00

Fish under her umbrella putting on sunscreen for the thrid time before 11am. Some how still managed to get a sunburn.

Scranton, PA to Home

2007-08-03T17:44:00.000-04:00

AAA Yankee's game in Scranton.

The Mayflower II in Plymoth. Had to sneak in a little history.

Cape Cod beach near Provincetown.

Satiated Beavers, Cape Cod.

Went for a short paddle into Town Cove.

Poor car.....

So we made it back, by the skin of our teeth and with a large pile of laundry, but first we had a few more stops along the way. Since we were in the northeast we had to stop for a short visit in Scranton with Fish's family. While there we took in a AAA Yankee's game. I'm not a huge baseball fan but we had good seats thanks to Jack which makes the game a little more fun. After our short trip to PA we decided to head over to Cape Cod a little early so we could soak up the sun. The weather was perfect and we spent two days laying on the beach and visiting Provincetown. The water was freezing but I couldn't resist and had to get in a few times. On Saturday we had to get into rugby mode, a difficult transition to make after a month of lazing around the northeast. We were playing with Ros and the Satiated Beavers in the Cape Cod 7's tourney. After losing the first game we rallied to win the last two. The social was a blast and we were an instant sucess after winning the skit contest. We of course sang a wonderful song about Beavers and took home a trophy in the end. The next day we bid farwell to Ros and the rest of the Beavers so we could go on a little paddling trip before heading home. It was a short trip to Town Cove, home to the million+ club, the shore was lined with multi-million dollar houses. The paddle was nice and in the end proved to be a little difficult, paddling against the tide of course. The rest of the day was spent in the car trying to make it south. We were almost home, north of Savannah, when we were met with aweful weather. The day ended with us soaked in the median of the interstate and a car that would no longer go. We were finally able to get a ride to a rental agency the next day and made it home for my birthday. We are safe and no longer wet all the time, but its rained everyday since we've been home.

Acadia NP to Lake Placid

2007-07-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

ALERT!!!!! Fish has lost her chacos down a river in northern New Hampshire; if anyone sees them floating down a river please return. (She has also proceeded to lose another pair of sandals off the roof of the car...we don't want those back.)

The "beach" that was a two minute walk from our campsite.

We are at the only true beach (for us FL girls that means sand) in Acadia; everywhere else is rock cliffs (see above.)

Otter Point in Acadia.

Tea and popovers at Jordan Pond. We could eat these everyday for the rest of our lives.

The fog rolling in at Southwest Harbor.

Top of Cadillac Mtn., the longest hike in the park, about 6mi.

Near the top of Cadillac Mtn.

Fish is checking out the tide pools.

Mt. Katahdin in Baxter SP.

Moose!!!!!!!!!!!

In front of Mt. Katahdin. Yes those are rain clouds and fog, we're almost used to them by now.

Fish is icing her ankle after a fall. South Fork Falls in Baxter.

Wildflowers in Baxter...no rain until later that evening but lots of mosquitoes.

Lake Placid...no large gators but there were lots of Ironman competitors.

Sorry for the lengthy update but Fish and I just got out of the woods yesterday and we had to do a few things first....like take a shower. Acadia was fantastic, beautiful, and everything we hoped for. With only one day of fog and an evening of rain the whole time we were there it was by far the best weather we've had. There's a free bus service all over the island so we took it everywhere. We visited all the popular places and then took a break at Jordan Pond House for some tea and popovers. Amazing....they also make their ice cream by hand. Popover a la Mode, need I say more. The island doesn't have a lot in the way of long hikes, our longest being to the top of Cadillac Mtn. but it makes up in views. We headed into town a few times for lobster and this great movie place where you can order a pizza and then eat it while watching the movie. Plus more ice cream. We spent 5 days there and we weren't ready to leave when the time came. I think we must have known the weather that was in store for us. To Baxter we went....right into the rain. Baxter SP is the end/beginning of the Appalacian Trail; all of the roads are dirt, there's no running water, you have to pack out all your trash, no electric. And lots of rain. There are however pratically guaranteed moose sitings every night. We hiked half way up Katahdin but the fog and rain got dangerous. After a few days we decided to leave, the rain was unforgiving and we where sick of it. We visited the home of Ben & Jerry's (how could we not) while in Vermont and stopped in Plattsburg to visit a legendary plaque of April's name. We decided to stop in Lake Pacid where there was an Ironman going on. It made us hungry watching them so we had some blueberry pancakes in celebration of Abby's birthday (and no rain.) We're now in Scranton, Penn. and yes there was rain the first day we were here. But with a roof over our head and clean clothes we are much happier. Onto to Cape Cod for some rugby and then the race home.

NYC to North Conway, NH

2007-07-12T16:55:00.000-04:00

The dune side of Fire Island National Seashore. The weekend destination spot for all the New Yorkers.

WPI in Worcester.

My friend Molly from high school (nice shot in front of the dumpster.)

Top of Cathedral Rock. It seemed to be the hot spot for rock climbers.

Covered bridge that we camped near.

Fish climbing down so she could cross another creek.

One of the many falls that we passed on our trip.

Mt Washington is supposed to be out there somewhere.

Top of Isolation Mountain.

Would you cross this in the dark? We did three times.

After spending a relaxing afternoon on Fire Island, into the woods we went. To start this leg of the trip we took the ferry from Long Island to New London, CT. With a stop in Worcester, Mass to visit WPI we ended up in north Mass. for the night. After 24hrs of rain (a lovely way to start the camping portion of the trip) we finally packed up and headed to meet Molly (a soccer pal of mine from high school.) Sick of the rain and our tent soaking wet we decided to stay with Molly for the night. We almost didn't make it since we forgot to get gas.......hmmmm guess who was driving. The next day we headed for White Mountain National Forest for some hiking. Along the way we spotted a moose so we of course had to stop and moose watch. We spent the rest of the day driving the Kancamagus Scenic Byway and camped near a covered bridge with a gorgeous view. The next day after a little researching we decided to do a one night trip into the backcountry on a seeming scenic trail to the top of Isolation Mtn. We read that there were beautiful views of the Presidental Mtn. range. We started the day to an ominous weather forecast that did not bode well for us---fog and thunderstorms. The visibility was about 25ft. The hike started with a hellacious hike up Stairs Col in which we were hiking a mile an hour (horribly slow.) We ended up hiking 12hrs the first day. Some of it at night crossing rivers in the rain; talk about no visibility. We are so smart. We got to a shelter at 10pm to find it full of Boy Scouts; soaking wet we had to pitch the tent and crawled in. We each only got 2hrs of sleep that night; don't know how you do it Abby. The next day we had a short hike out but four more river crossings each one worse than the last. We finally made it back to our car after both having accidentally taken a swim in the river. I was up to my chest at times. Not our best trip ever. Now we are on our way to Acadia NP in Maine and looking forward to a little less rain.....hopefully.

Florida to NYC

2007-07-07T17:36:00.000-04:00

Rockefeller Center. So touristy.

The Naked Cowboy. Ew, too close.

Yum, Abby's poached egg in her "casserole"

Abby and I were waiting for Fish while she hid her knives. Now my Photoshop skills must go to work.

Fish finally made it over and we got our picture.

Our hash hats; Abby and I were feeling very patriotic. Unfortunately none of the other hashers were. Nor were they very thirsty for any beer. Plus they were stretching.

Central Park Lake, no more Abby:(

Katz's Deli. No Fish did not eat the pound of Cole Slaw; she would have been hell on the toilet. We did finish off a nice turkey sandwich.

Katz's Deli.

After two days and a train ride we made it to NYC. Well.....Fish got a little lost on the Subway; she didn't get off when Abby and I did and took the train to the next stop. She made it to the hotel at the same time we did even though her walk was twice as long. We checked into the hotel and then started on all the touristy locals: Rockefeller Center, Times Square (Naked Cowboy), Chinatown, World Trade Center, Radio City. Abby had the most disgusting dinner in Chinatown; a noodle casserole(soup) with boiled chicken(skin hanging off), some vegetables, and a poached egg. She ate it, egg and all. For the 4th we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island where Fish was left behind again. She tried to sneak through security with 3 knives, she didn't make it and was escorted out. The ferry left her and she had to catch the next one after hiding her knives in Battery Park. Abby and I bought Liberty crowns for the hash. It was all that NYC hashes are rumored to be: long and devoid of beer. We chose the "chicken" route and it was 4.5 miles, supposed to be the short route. We did get to run over the Brooklyn Bridge and our hats were a hit. The fireworks were really cool but we had the FDR(huge overpass) in our way. The next day Abby left for Rome and Fish and I checked out Central Park and the Natural History Museum. At the end of the day I found a Goodwill but didn't have any changing rooms. We also went to MoMA and International Center for Photography. MoMA was free on Friday so it was packed but well worth it. We ate at Katz's Deli; it was amazing although expensive. Now we are out on Long Island with my Aunt and Uncle and are ready for the ferry to head to NH.

Hooker?

2007-06-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

A hooker taller than her props?

Stadiums

2007-06-29T08:40:00.000-04:00

Sometimes work is a bore. But I'm getting stuff published.

Blaine

2007-06-25T12:29:00.001-04:00

A long wait in the Minneapolis airport, 4 hours. This was my view.

Blueberries Galore

2007-06-22T10:18:00.000-04:00

I have 4lbs. of bluesberries sittin' in my fridge right now. I can't wait for lunch.

Scanning Flowers

2007-06-13T13:40:00.001-04:00

So much to do and so little time. Actually the exact opposite. Now that I've put in my two weeks I'm sitting in front of the computer scanning flowers. I also get to shoot 4-H event, talk about exciting. Thank god I'm headed to play some 15's, I've been getting the itch to tackle and 7's isn't exactly all about the tackling.

I've been lazy

2007-06-04T20:13:00.001-04:00

Muddy Buddy 2007, red clay this year.

A half day at Disney and Epcot afterwards. I was nice and dehydrated, on the verge of heat exhaustion.

One of Fish's graduation parties.

Summer at the Springs

2007-05-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

I learned that the girl doing the cannon ball into Deer Spring likes to jump into the water as unsuspecting tubers get out at the end of a two hour run down the Santa Fe River.

Lazy Days

2007-05-17T13:13:00.000-04:00

A lazy day on the lake chains in Citrus county.

Good Morning

2007-05-16T15:30:00.000-04:00

River Walking

2007-05-14T15:35:00.000-04:00

Another lazy morning on the river............the water is the lowest I've seen since high school, when I used to ride my horse up it to the local swimming hole. I was able to walk a half mile up river before sinking to my knees in muck at which point I gave up. There was a family of otters swimming down river and a flock of sandhill cranes fishing. Peace and quiet reigned for those few brief hours of dawn.

Apparently few people believe in walking along the river opting for the more American version of sight seeing, the golf cart, as the wheel ruts below can attest.

Family Time

2007-05-14T15:26:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhhh..............it was that time of year again when you head home to spend a few quality hours with the family. And if from the south that usually means cranking up the airboat. So out to the river we went. Two loud and sweaty hours later we retreated to the cars upon hearing thunder from above. I've now had my family fix and am back in Gainesville surrounded by my friends (most of whom have never been on an airboat, thank God.)

Who needs to study?

2007-05-04T10:02:00.000-04:00

Especially when you take classes like racquetball.