February Hat of the Month: Burgers on the Brain

I'm just barely making this one in under the wire! For February I gave Melissa a hat I affectionately call Burgers on the Brain.

Side view

top view

I based this hat on the pattern I found here. As I said before, this hat was so much fun to make! On a scale of Beginner to Advanced, I would say this one was Intermediate. You have 5 color changes and use a few different stitches, but that's what I liked about the hat. It made the pattern go by pretty quickly, unlike some patterns where I feel like I'm in crochet purgatory. 

This was actually my second time making the hat. The pattern says it's for a child, and since Melissa is 32 I wanted to make sure it was the right size. I figured if it was still too small, I have a few friends with kids who would get a kick out of it. Well... It ended up being too big! I gave it to our youth pastor for Christmas because he has a love/hate relationship with Five Guys. 

It made me come to the realization that either I crochet really loose or she's around really big-headed children. Regardless, it taught me a few things to change when I made Melissa's hat:

1. The pattern calls for a J-hook to make the child-sized hat. I went down to an I-hook on Zac's hat. I ended up using an H-hook for Melissa's.
2. As you can see in Zac's picture, there is a dc row beneath the lettuce "skirt." I left it off on Melissa's hat because I wanted the red "tomato" row to peak out from under the lettuce row. If I make it again (which I probably will because I love it), I think I'll change it to a sc row between the skirt and the tomato. It added a little bit of lift, and the tomato almost disappeared on Melissa's hat. 
3. The pattern says to stitch teardrop shapes into the top of the hat and then fill them in. Let me just tell you, it is not easy to stitch a teardrop shape into a crocheted circle. I just did random stitches all over the top. You get the same idea. And in 1/3 the time!

Overall, I loved making this hat. The pattern was fun. The hat is adorable. I will most likely make it again. 

Let There Be Light

I officially have power in my bedroom again! It was fixed about 20 minutes after I got home from work this evening. Thank goodness, because that was really getting a bit ridiculous. I didn't really mind it at first because I'm rarely home, but after a while it became difficult to find things. And my new cell phone battery seems to be working out well. I think I may need a new charger, too, but that can wait for now.

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Lately I have been trying to dig myself out of debt. We are doing a series at church about money management (and no, it's not just the church asking for money from the congregation). I've learned a lot. And I'm trying to get out of debt. I managed to get my credit card paid off (then put it in a bag of water and stuck it in the freezer). Now I'm trying to save a decent rainy day fund. Then I'm going to have to figure out something to do about my student loans. That gives me heart palpitations, so I'm trying not to stress about it at the moment. One step at a time!

I feel like ever since I started trying to be smarter with my money, the devil's been trying to trip me up. The electricity went out in my bedroom, my phone battery went kaput, and yesterday I had a flat tire on the one day that the tire store is closed. It was like he was trying to tempt me into defrosting my card so I could fix it right now. But if I just gave it a minute, God helped me find a cheaper, easier way.

1. A friend of the family fixed the electric switch that was bad. He only charged us for the part. 
2. I was able to get a new phone battery for a decent price instead of having to buy a whole new phone. 
3. When I bought my tires a few weeks ago, I purchased the certificate for a repair/replacement/refund if anything happened to the tire. I only had to pay for the Fix-a-Flat to get me situated until this morning. (PS, if you ever need new tires and there is a Discount Tire in your area, Go There! I have heard nothing but awesome stories about their service, and not just my local store.)

I just had to be patience... which is an area I struggle with, especially when it comes to rushing into big purchases. I want things fixed now instead of looking for cheaper options.

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I finally finished my cousin's hat! I decided to go with the a Cheeseburger hat I made a few months ago. While I was searching for the original pattern again, I stumbled across this:

Uhm.... yeah, so that exists. Who knew? Anyway, I will try to get my pattern review posted tomorrow. It was a lot of fun to make. I may make another one! 

Crazy Going Slowly Am I

Does anyone remember that song? Here, let me jog your memory...

My friend and I used to sing it when we were in high school, and I still sing it every now and then. Especially when things are going a little goofy. Like when you have no electricity in your bedroom and your phone decides to die. I might have changed the word "crazy" to "Amish"... maybe.

Remember how I said my phone didn't Friday night? Well, it didn't charge at all yesterday either. I had it plugged in and turned off for most of the day and it was still losing it's charge. Greg and I went by the Verizon store and they confirmed that it was a battery issue. But because I have a phone from 16 months ago they don't carry the battery I need. There is a battery store in town that might have one for my phone. If they don't, Amazon does.

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It's Oscar night! Not that we're doing anything exciting. I think we're just going to watch them over at Greg's house. One of the theaters in Knoxville is showing the Oscars on the big screen. We thought about going, but  thought again when the price of gas shot up. It's not like the theater is that far away, but he has to drive all over creation for work, and I'm just poor. Not worth it for something we can watch at home.

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Ok, I'm going to go finish up Melissa's hat. I don't know why I've been stalling. I need to get it off in the mail tomorrow or it's going to be the Hat of the Bi-Month club.

100!

Oof... Today did not start off awesome. I had to be at work at 6:00 this morning. So when I woke up at 6:06, I knew it wasn't going to be a great start. My phone battery died at some point last night, and like most people I use my phone as my phone as my alarm clock. My phone has been a little kooky lately. I have to have it on the charger just so or it doesn't connect. And sometimes, even when it's just so, it's discharging instead of charging (which is what I think happened last night). I may need to go to Verizon and see if it's not a battery issue. I'm not eligible for an upgrade until the end of July. It's starting to get more than a little annoying.

My day has been better. My shift was fine, and Greg came to take a class towards the end, so we went to lunch and then went shopping. Believe it or not, we went shopping for Greg. He needed some new workout clothes and some casual work shirts. I may or may not have drooled over the shoes while we were in JCP, but I didn't buy anything. :-)

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I found the cutest necklaces last night. I saw them on Instagram of all places!

So cute!

I accidentally hit the explore tab and found this necklace (which I also love). There was a link to the company, so I spent the next few minutes browsing the selection. Love! Greg will be getting a few not so subtle hints about my upcoming birthday. Ooh! Or a celebratory "yay for your promotion!" gift.... or just because. I'm not picky. :-)

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This is my 100th post on this blog. Thanks for sticking around!

Delayed Gratification

Can I start by saying how sore my hip muscles are?? Yesterday I did Donkey Kick Planks which look a little something like this:

Fun. That plus the side planks really worked my hips for some reason. Actually, I think it was all that plus standing for 6.5 hours. My hips are generally sore these days. They don't hurt, just the muscles feel like they got a good work out. I probably need to start foam rolling more often. And then I followed that up with a cycle and a core class this evening (I told you today wasn't going to be like yesterday). I'm going to have fun walking tomorrow.

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Today was a better day than most of the days this week. I'm not sure why, but this week has just been a string of rough days. Rude people, weird situations... All adding up to a not awesome series of days. But I did finally get some good news today. I got the promotion! First thing this morning I emailed the lady who interviewed me and asked if there was any update on my promotion. From what I pieced together, she called my boss shortly there after and told her that I had gotten the promotion, effective March 1.

I'm not going to lie, I was kind of hoping it would go in effect immediately, or even retro active to when I started doing the job at the beginning of this month. But you know what? I'm not going to complain! Just knowing that my work is appreciated puts a lift in my step. Besides, March 1 is a week from today. I think I can make it. I may see if I can't get Greg to take me bowling to celebrate. :-)

No News is... No News

I still haven't heard back about my interview yet. I know, no news is good news, because they haven't said no, right? But at this point I still don't know if I'm going to get the promotion or not, and I'm starting to get discouraged. My boss emailed the lady who interviewed me this morning to ask, but she never responded. And when my boss called later in the day, she didn't answer her phone. Boo.

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I did really well on my diet today... until dinner. Greg and I went to Olive Garden because I really wanted their soup. And all would have been fine if I had stuck with my original plan of soup and one of the "Lighter Fare" dishes. But no, Greg saw the $12.95 3-Course Menu and I changed my plan. I still got the soup, but I also had four a couple bread sticks and a less healthy entree. I got the Grilled Chicken Toscano. According to the website, it is 700 calories! But I didn't eat any of the risotto, so that probably saved me a good 350 calories. Then we got to dessert (It was the third course in the dinner). When I go to OG and I want something sweet, I always get the dolcinis because they are 2 bites and gone. Just the perfect amount of dessert, right?

Dark Chocolate Caramel Cream

When I went to plug that in to my app, I discovered it was 270 calories. What??? It was 2 bites! I sent that picture to Amy asking how in the world that little thing was 270 calories. We agreed that if I filled that cup with just chocolate it wouldn't be that much. Needless to say, I went over my calorie goal for today. But the good news is that if every day was like today, I would still lose weight over the next 5 weeks. And every day will not be like today!

Now that I think about it, I'm kind of disappointed that Olive Garden didn't have any of the Lighter Fare menu items as an option on the 3-Course menu. I probably would have been happier with the Lasagna Primavera. Coffee was a dessert options, so (had I been so minded) I could have made it better for me. Oh well.

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I've decide Melissa is getting the hamburger this month. Things have just gotten a little goofy, and I don't know when I'll have time to make another hat. I'm running out of month! I'm going to finish it off tomorrow (it needs sesame seeds on top, of course!), and hopefully get it off in the mail on Saturday. I will post my review then, too.

Doldrums

Remember how I said that I was not going to let my wonky weekend define my whole week? Yeah, no. Monday was crazy, yesterday was bleh, and today was just... not awesome. I can't even pinpoint what was wrong with today, it just wasn't good. Worried about a few friends who had (separate) surgeries today, then I had a few rude encounters (hey, if I say something tastes like Christmas, yes, I meant to say it). And it seems like everyone around me is either having a rough week or the best week ever. Feast or famine, I suppose. I'm praying for a better tomorrow. Actually, I'm praying for a great tomorrow!

My new exercise routine is going well. Of course, today was on the day 2, so I guess we'll have to see how the next 40 days play out. And I've picked a local 5k race to run. I was thinking of doing Color Me Rad again, but I can't really afford the registration right now. So I picked the Resurrection Run. It is the weekend before Easter (hence the name), and I think I have enough time to get ready. I'm going to go ahead and write it on my calendar, then register when I get paid. I think once I put out the money, I will be more likely to stick with my training.

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For those of you who were wondering, I have not forgotten my cousin's hat for February. I was waiting to see if she mailed me back her survey. Since she has not, I'm struggling a bit to decide what to do. I think I will probably end up making her something similar to this:

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I don't know yet. I actually have a hamburger hat that I already made. I was planning on saving that one for summer, but desperate times call for desperate measures... And time is of the essence. Oh well, I'll keep y'all in the loop! 

Light's out

I still have no power in my bedroom, but in the grand scheme of things I'm ok with it. At least it's only in my bedroom. If it was in my kitchen or something I would have called for an emergency repair! But a family friend who is familiar with electrical work is coming over on Wednesday to look at the situation and hopefully get it fixed. Until then, I will just bundle up under my BH&G Sherpa Throw.

If you see one, buy it! Amazing!

I swear I think it keeps me warmer than my electric blanket! Luckily, it looks like we only have a few more colder nights before we head into a warming trend... that is until the Dogwood Winter comes and bites us in the booty. 

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Things around here were a bit goofy this weekend. I feel like I never got a chance to decompress. I've gotten used to having my Sundays completely free of obligations, and yesterday was not like that. Mom volunteered to cook lunch for a young adults lunch that I was instructed to attend. I had a good time, but I haven't felt like a young adult in quite a few years. I don't really feel like I fit in with that age group, but our groups pastor asked me to go, so I went.

I now understand why God instructed us to take a day of rest. Even with that tiny little mid-day requirement of my time, my whole schedule feels thrown off. Today just seemed off kilter. I was even late to work. Hopefully that does not set the tone for my week.

Actually, I refuse to let it set the tone for my week. I decided to start a new exercise routine this week, and I'm going to start it tomorrow. I already have my lunch and snacks packed for tomorrow and my workout clothes/towel/HRM is laid out. I just need to go workout before my shift. I can do it! I'm figuring that being prepared will help things run more smoothly in the morning. I guess I better go to sleep if I really want to be prepared, though. Good night!

Short Circuit

I had a fun surprise when I got home last night. The power was out... but only in my bedroom. Our lights have been flickering and surging for a while now, and I figured something had tripped the switch in the fuse box last night. But seeing as it was too cold to live to go back outside last night, I decided I would just check on it this morning. (Side note: Can I just tell you how much I depend on the power in my bedroom at night? I have an electric blanket, I recharge my cell phone, and I have this wonderful Lightning Bug App that I depend on when I have trouble falling asleep. Wah.)

When I got up this morning, I discovered that we had a few surges yesterday (tragically, our coffee pot was lost... luckily, we still have a Mr. Coffee k-cup brewer), which was what caused the breaker for my room to flip. We flipped it back, but guess what? Apparently something caused a short circuit between the breaker and my room. Anyone know a good electrician?

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Last night Greg and I went to go see Amour. That was the last one on the list of Oscar Best Picture nominated films that he hadn't seen. I liked it. It was a little hard to watch (because of the story, not the subtitles), but it was alright. To me, it addressed difficult things you will do for someone you love that most people don't consider. I'm not sure I think it should have been nominated for Best Picture, but I'm not in the Academy so my vote doesn't count.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but Greg's a really big movie buff. Not just watching them, but the director's style and editing and just everything about them. Over the past 4 years I've learned to watch movies differently. :-) Anyway, he always likes to watch the movies that have been nominated for Best Picture before the Oscars. Usually, he's managed to see most of them before the nominations are even announced. This year we only needed to catch up with Amour, Life of Pi, and Beasts of the Southern Wild. I haven't seen Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty, or Lincoln, but that's ok. Greg will probably buy Lincoln when it comes out on BluRay. I'll watch it then.

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Well... I have no pictures for you today, so I will leave you with these words of wisdom I found on Pinterest. :-)

Source

Winter Jam 2013

Last night I spent my evening with a bunch of Jesus Freaks. It was great! I'd been hearing about Winter Jam for a while, and Tuesday I decided I was going to take Tony. Our seats weren't too bad.

tobymac, Red, Matthew West, Jamie Grace, and Royal Tailor

  We went with some friends from church. We had a blast. I think he enjoyed his first "real" concert.

Valentine's Tea

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone had a good day, no matter how you celebrated (or didn't). Today was another long one, and slightly weird on top of it.

This morning I hit the ground running. I woke up at 6am so I could get dressed and eat before I went to a cycle class at 8:30 (I like to finish eating at least an hour before class starts). I had to make sure to take my uniform and my clothes for my date with Greg when I went to work. I managed to get everything but my name tag. Close enough.

I had just gotten done getting ready for work after class when Sara showed up. We weren't expecting her quite so early, but it was ok. She talked to me about the job opening and we went over a few scenarios. I don't know that there is anything I could have said or done differently. Then she did our audit, which we passed by the skin of our teeth. I'm hoping that helped my case a little bit. She's supposed to talk to her boss about it tomorrow on their way to a meeting in Ashville. So maybe I'll know something tomorrow afternoon.

After work I met Greg to go on our Valentine's date. We went to Coolato Gelato and to see The Princess Bride at the Tennessee Theatre.

Somehow, Greg had never seen the movie the whole way through. Apparently, he'd never even seen the beginning through the sword fighting scene. Inconceivable! 

I got tea for my Valentine's present. He and I wandered into Teavana back before Christmas, and he decided to go back there for my gifts.  

 The teas are Peach Tranquility and Strawberry Lemonade. I'm probably going to wait till this weekend to try them. The tin is to help keep the teas fresh.

He also got me a nail kit.

It helps make your nails shinier and such. I tried it when I got home and it seems to work. My nails are super shiny!

Productivity

I think I have a problem...

Water "enhancers"

I have trouble drinking plain water in the winter, so I got these to help me out. If you haven't tried them, they are basically like the Crystal Light dry powders in liquid form. All 4 flavors I've tried are really good. I put the Peach Bellini in my unsweet tea today. Yum!

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Today was a busy, productive day. I got my new tires first thing this morning. I'm glad I did because it started raining not long after. Yay, traction! After that, Mom and I went to the mall. She wanted to go to JCPenny to look at purses, and I wanted to look for new shoes at Rack Room. I lucked out because they were doing a BOGO1/2, so I got two pairs of Saucony Cohesion 6's.

Yay, new shoes!

The other pair are white and teal. We also went to Hobby Lobby, Target, another Target (I was looking for something specific), the Post Office, a computer store, church, Lowe's, and the grocery store. Whew!

I went to the 2 Targets looking for Greg's Valentine's Day present. We're not super romantic on Valentine's Day (or ever, really), but we still exchange gifts. I really wanted to get him a Heart Rate Monitor, but I didn't have the funds timing. I may put some money away and get him one for his birthday... if he doesn't buy one before then. Instead, I "repacked" his gym bag. His old gym bag is falling apart, so I got him a new one, 2 workout towels, a water bottle, and a travel shower kit. He better like it! :-)

I also ended up selling an old laptop (hence the computer store) today. The motherboard was bad, and it's been collecting dust for almost 2 years. I got $30 for it, which is now sitting my savings account helping it's friends collect interest. I'm trying to be more responsible with my money, and get a nice bit stocked in savings. Next up, most of my accessories. :-)

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I have a job interview tomorrow! It is for the Front Desk Lead at the gym. My boss said I'm the only person she's nominating for the job. If they don't pick me, then our club won't have one. It's kind of a confidence booster, but at the same time having no one is a viable option. I'm a little nervous, but I've prayed about it, so I know it will be fine one way or the other.

It's going to be a long day. I'm going to a Love/Hate cycle class in the morning. Two instructors are team teaching, and they are going to alternate between love songs and hate songs. I love the themed classes. I have to work from 11-6, so I'm just going to shower at the gym and get ready for work. The lady is coming sometime during my shift to interview me. Then Greg and I are going to dinner at Coolato Gelato and a movie at the Tennessee Theatre. Tonight I laid out my workout clothes, packed my uniform, and got my date night clothes all ready. Now I guess I should get some sleep!

Long Day

Today was a long day! I woke up this morning at 6:20 to the sound of my phone ringing. It was a school calling for a substitute. I normally wake up naturally between 7:30 and 7:45 in the morning, so I was not super excited to be jolted awake more than an hour early. But of course I couldn't go back to sleep, so I just got up and got my day started.

I was scheduled to work 11-6, and I had planned to go to Groove at 6:40, but at 5:00 we found out that the 6:00 person was being sent to the emergency room. I told my boss I would stay until 9:00, but only if she let me clock out to take the class. :-) I had been looking forward to taking the class all day.

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I'm growing up, and I'm not sure that I like it. Tomorrow is my day off, and I am most excited about the fact that I have and appointment to get new tires put on my car. But I really need new tires. My current tires did not pass the penny test. They are not too horrible, really, but it will need to be done soon. And I have my tax return money to get it done now. I'm afraid if I wait then I will need them when I don't have the funds. Plus, it's not like there's anything else I really need to do with the money. If I'm not responsible with it, I'll just blow it on something I don't need that I will regret buying in 2 months.

I actually haven't done anything with my refund yet, except tithe. I refused to make any big purchases until I had my tires. My tires aren't going to take my whole refund, but wanted to be safe. One of my Facebook friends was trying to offer me her broken iPad2 for $200. She said it was cracked and needed repairs.... for $200. Uhm, my mom just got a brand new Galaxy Tab 2 for $170. No thanks. Besides, I don't need a tablet. I have an ereader and a smart phone. I don't need to waste $200 on a want, when I need to get some new workout shoes. Or when I need new clothes. Boo. I really am growing up.

Scripture Hearts

Every Monday night I go to a bible study with some of the women from my church. Since tonight was the Monday before Valentine's Day, I decided I would make them a little something. I went back and forth, and finally decided to keep it simple and make scripture hearts.

I typed different verses into the out line of a heart (I Google searched for a heart outline I liked). I found my verses by doing a search for bible verses about love. Now, I know that the bible talks a lot about love, so picked out 14 of my favorites that talked about loving God and/or loving one another. Here are the ones I used:

1. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalm 13:5
2. But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 59:16
3. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17
4. A new command I give you: Love on another. As I have loved you, so you must also love one another. But this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35
5. Owe no one anything except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8
6. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Romans 13:9
7. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:10
8. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
9. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
10. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
11. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14
12. Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18
13. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has be born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7
14. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. the one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:18-19

You can kind of tell I was camped out in Romans 13 yesterday. Oh well! I picked 14 because there are 13 women (including me) in my small group, and I wanted to have extras in case we had any guests. In hindsight, this could also be used as a biblical Valentine's advent. 

After I got them to look how I wanted, I printed them on red cardstock, cut them out, and put a magnet on the back. The ladies in my group really liked them. And I liked them because it was quick and simple!

*My heart outlines were a little faint upon printing, but that was okay with me because it meant no one would notice if my cutting was a little off. :-)
*The font I used was called "A Gentle Touch" and can be found here. 

Wine Tour

Yesterday I went on a wine tour with Amy, Leah, and Brad. Amy and Brad saw a deal on Living Social for a wine tour for 2 including a wine, chocolate, and cheese tasting, $20 towards a bottle of wine, 2 glasses, and corkscrews. She and Brad each bought one, and Leah and I went as the additional people. Amy, Brad, and I had done a Wine Trail with this particular group of wineries before, so we were looking forward to it. This tour was at Eagle Springs Winery, which is their newest location.

We got to try any of the wines that we wanted. Each winery has a theme, and we quickly discovered that Eagle Springs' must be honey. Leah and I told our "host" Casey that we were "yessers," meaning if he poured it, we'd drink it. Brad and Amy on the other had are not fans of dry wines, so they joined us further down the list. He had us try some wines with the different chocolates and cheeses, and one he had us try with a bit of honey. It was fun. Amy and Leah each got a bottle of wine. Amy picked the Honeymoon and Leah got the Courage.

While we were doing the tasting, Amy, Brad, and I kept talking about how we had been to the other wineries to do the wine trail. When we did it there were only 3 wineries, and if you went to all of them you got a free wine glass. Casey said that since they added two new wineries to the group they changed it up. If you go to any 3 wineries you get a wine glass, but if you go to all 5 you get that and a tshirt. So we decided to make a day of it and do the trail.

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I'm thinking this map is not to scale, because Eagle Springs looks further away from the rest than it really was. (For the record, Amy was driving and only had 2 sips at each location.)

For our second stop we went to the Apple Barn Winery.

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I could spend all day on this property! They have a restaurant, a creamery, candy shops, and all sorts of things to walk around a see. We also remembered to take a group photo!

The sun was in our faces...

 I'm sure you can guess, but their major wine theme was apples. It was fun.

Mountain Valley and Sugarland had a general assortment of wines. Our service at Sugarland left much to be desired, but I had been there before and I would still recommend going. Our final stop was at Hillside. They had several sparkling wines, which was a nice way to finish up our day. And of course we finally got our tshirts.

I don't know how often I'll wear it, but it's a nice reminder of a fun day!

Interesting

I would like to start by saying GO RAVENS! I know I'm a few days late, but I promise I was a fan before Sunday. Actually, I was a fan when I realized their mascot was named after a literary character. I'm a bookworm like that. :-)

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We had quite a bit of fruit left over after the weekend, so I threw it in the blender, poured it in an ice cube tray, and voila!

I really wish I knew why Picasa doesn't load

I think it was peaches, strawberries, and pineapple. Anyway, I put the cubes 5 to a bag and put them back in the freezer. My plan is to throw them in with protein powder and milk alternative for quick smoothies in the mornings. I miss having smoothies for breakfast. I think I stopped when I didn't have to hit the ground running in the mornings. Dumb, because they are tasty! I kind of just wanted to suck on the cubes. :-)

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Today was kind of an interesting day. Amy called me this morning to tell me that Ajilon called her to check my references. I've known her for 9+ years and have worked for her at least 3 times. :-) She said they asked quite a few questions and of course she gave me a glowing recommendation. I know this doesn't mean they have found a job they like for me, but I find it promising that they are calling my references.

About 5 hours after that, my boss asked if I would be interested in the lead position at our club. She just got promoted (today!) from lead, so now we need a new one. The position comes with a pay raise a bit more responsibility/authority, but I think I could handle it. She said she wasn't sure if she could just name me lead [insert joke about my name being Jen] or if I'd have to go through the interview process, but we should know tomorrow. Interesting stuff all around!

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For those who were wondering, my cousin did get her box of hats. Her husband mentioned it in the blog he's been writing about Melissa's ordeal. Or at least how he's handling it. I'm currently working on ideas for February's hat. I think I know what I'll do, I just need to go get the yarn.