Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Homemade Sorbet

I just finished making homemade sorbet for the very first time. I got my ice cream/frozen yogurt/sorbet maker from Maria earlier this year as a bridal shower gift and I know I should have used it by now, but honestly I've been so busy.

I've been thinking about what kind of ice cream I should make and while searching recipes I found one for Mango/Orange Sorbet. I improvised slightly and made a Mango/Raspberry/Blueberry version. I was anxious to try it and probably stopped it a little early, but it didn't matter it was still a good texture and tasted SO GOOD! I was surprised by how easy it was, and Sean definitely agreed with me on the taste.


I'm now anxious to make some some ice cream. I saw a recipe for Rhubarb, and I think I might improvise and try Strawberry Rhubarb. My sister Stacy is known for her Strawberry Rhubarb pie, and I'm hoping this might taste half as good as her pie.

I'll keep you posted.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

1st place overall

For the first time ever I finished first female overall in a 5K race. I didn't run fast, and I didn't have a ton of competition, but it doesn't matter I still got first place and I got a nice big trophy to put with my other awards.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Busy Weekend in NOVA and MD

This past weekend was a lot of fun. Friday night we drove up to Northern Virginia. On the drive up I really wanted some pizza and asked Sean to call a Pizza place 20 minutes away so we could order a pizza and it would be ready by the time we got there. He opted for just going to a random pizza place and hoping we could order single slices. He looked for a pizza place on his phone and found three on one street so we decided to check it out. We ended up going to Cici's Pizza.

We didn't realize it was a chain and it's a buffet pizza bar, all you can eat for $4.99. It definitely wasn't what we were looking for and although we stayed and ate our pizza it wasn't too tasty, next time we'll skip Cici's.

By the time we got to Sean's sister's house the kids were sleeping, but we had a nice time visiting with Amy and Scott.

Saturday morning we woke up early to play with the girls. It's amazing how much they have grown since we saw them last at our wedding.

Anna won't smile but she'll make her funny faces

Lucy showed me her baby doll named Baby of course

Such a happy girl

The Birthday Cake that Anna decorated for Sean's birthday, it was completely covered in sprinkles.

Anna is excited to sing Happy Birthday

Everyone gets to blow out the candles

Time to go to the pool, Lucy loves her Uncle Sean

Anna having fun in the pool

Got to love the pigtails

Last time we saw her she couldn't walk

Look at those thighs

Sean doing flips off the diving board


He had a fun time, this was the last jump before he fell and luckily only scraped his foot on the diving board

Modeling her bathing suit

After the pool we said our goodbyes and got on the road to Maryland. We had to go up because our tenants were moving out of the house and we had to do a walk through with them. We also used this as an opportunity to visit old friends and to see our O's play.

Camden Yards used to be our favorite place to go for a date. We hadn't been back since our engagement photos last September, and we didn't get to see the O's play then. It was great to be back and we ended up getting cheap tickets in the bleachers.

The view from our seats

Our BFF the Oriole Bird

Sean sporting his Orioles gear

Sean and I enjoying the game

It was a fun game and it was a nice date night with my husband.

Sunday morning was Sean's birthday. We woke up said our goodbyes to our Maryland friends and got on the road back to Williamsburg. Of course we got stuck in traffic. It could have been worse, but it still wasn't fun. Luckily I slept for half of the way and Sean drove the entire trip, even though he was the birthday boy.

Once we got home we relaxed and decided to open presents.

His first Son-in-Law birthday card

His Dad got him a signed photo of some retired Giants player that was autographed specifically for him

I love this photo, Sean was excited to get his Garmin for his bike

We relaxed for a little bit but then had to try the Garmin out. We took a bike ride, a little over 16 miles and had a fun time. We were able to talk for about half the ride, and I pushed it harder than I have ever done. It was a fun afternoon.

After our bike ride, we came home showered and we were starving so we went out for Sean's Birthday Dinner. We were originally going to go to our favorite restaurant Cities Grille, but when we got there, there was a note on the door that said they were closed every Sunday through August. We decided to go to our second favorite restaurant Bonefish. It was pretty empty so we got a table right away. We had a wonderful evening enjoying each others company and after dinner I made sure to notify the waiter that it was my husband's birthday.

Sean with his Birthday Key Lime Pie

Right before we left we had one of the waitresses take our picture. We were tired after a long weekend but it was a fun one.

I love date nights and being able to spend time with my Sean

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Vineyard 5K and Bowling

Sean and I participated in the Vineyard 5K yesterday evening. With temperatures in the high 80's at race start time of 7 pm we made sure to stay hydrated all day. Well I stay hydrated, Sean just drank extra beer. This was our second 5K since the wedding, and I really wanted to do well. Usually the local 5K's bring out a little over 100 participants, maybe up to 130 or so. This one had well over 500 participants, probably close to 600. It was a great chance to support a local charity CDR.

We arrived early as I always like to do, and met up with Melissa, Cindy and Glenda, some of my old Virginia Gazette co-workers. It was nice to see them, although we didn't have much time to catch up before the race. We figured we'd have time afterwards, that didn't happen, I'll explain in a bit.

It was hot, but we both ended up with times faster than the last time we ran the race, which was 2 years ago. Although not our best times, considering the heat, we were pleased.

Here I come, speeding in with my fun blue shoes!

Sean speeding to the finish!

After the race we enjoyed our free food from Carrabbas and ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. It was great to have such great sponsors at the race.

Apparently the humidity was high, because all of a sudden it started pouring and the rain came down like no tomorrow. At first it felt good, but then there wasn't any place to go. We hung out under a tree trying to shield ourselves from the rain, but after seeing lightning and hearing some thunder Sean told me he'd get the car and bring it closer.

The organizers were trying to stay positive and started calling out the numbers for the auction items. Everyone's raffle tickets were soaking wet and they really weren't legible. I no longer cared to stay. Sean came back and I had to go grab our fleece blanket that of course was where I left it, and being fleece it was heavy and soaking wet.

Sean went to the car and I told him I'd meet him there. I decided to take a short cut down a hill and ended up going through mud, that was like quick sand. I got stuck up to my knees and couldn't move. I had to pry my feet out of my flip-flops and then reach my arm into the mud to get them out. I found the left one really easy, but the right one was lost, I eventually found it after digging. It didn't help that it smelt like sewage and I was carrying a heavy, wet fleece blanket. I got back to the car and was covered in mud, so I put my hand on the ground and "cleaned" off in some of the puddles. Sean was laughing at me, of course and I was anxious to get home and showered.

I never found out if I placed or not, and I'm still anxiously waiting for the results to be posted, I'll keep everyone updated.

After getting home and showering we went bowling with our friend Emily for her birthday. I hadn't been bowling in so long and I realize I should do it more often, it was a lot of fun!

Sean tries to show off

I have mad bowling skills too!

Tides Game!

Last weekend Sean and I met up with our good friends Cindy and Steve and their children Savannah and Sammy to go to the Tides AAA baseball game in Norfolk.

We had a fun time getting all of the baseball food and even watched the game a little. The kids were bored, or "boring" as Sammy kept saying, but they still had fun after the cotton candy, flavored ice, ice cream and whatever else we all shared.

We even saw the Tide Monkey. Well he's really supposed to be a wave, but I by mistake called him the Tide Monkey, and the kids kept yelling out looking for the Tide Monkey. I couldn't tell you who they played or what the score was but it was a fun time.


Before the game, Savannah and Sammy goofing around

Having fun posing for the camera

Finally a nice oneSean and Steve relaxing before the game

The Tide Monkey!

Cindy and Savannah