Beercation!

The Martins came to visit us last week and there's really no better title for their time here. We started off by sharing our first beers from our taps (with guests). It was nice that the first people we drank from our taps with were homebrewers too!

Our bar, a work in progress.

We decided to go to Frisco's Taphouse to try an IPA with no hops the night Anna and John flew in (Wednesday). We ordered one for each of us when we got there, and none of us liked it. We learned our lesson there! We had a very yummy dinner then headed back to our place for the rest of the night. It was fun hanging out and catching up. A low key, but very fun night. 

We wanted to tour a brewery or two while Anna and John were in town. John ended up scoring us a private tour at Heavy Seas, a local brewery. We almost didn't go since our tour at Dogfish Head was scheduled so close to this one, but we decided to try to make both. I'm SO glad we did! It was totally worth it. We got to see a little more than we would have if we would have gone on a public tour (we couldn't do that one since it's only offered on Saturday and we had a game to go to!). At some point, Josh and I want to check out the public tour to see how it compares. Our tour guide was Kelly and she was super nice. We learned a little about the history of Heavy Seas and got to taste some beers of course. We had a great time!

Tasting at Heavy Seas.

We left and made it to Dogfish Head in Milton, DE in great time since there was no traffic. The Dogfish Head facility was awesome. It's really hard to believe companies like this started off where we are now. The Dogfish tour was a really good tour too. Josh already knew the history and all since he had read the book, but it was mostly new to me and the rest of us. We all had a great time. I was excited to try a beer from Randall, since Josh had talked so much about him. Randall is a dry hopper. Basically, beer goes through hops as it's being poured. I was a bit surprised they had their Punkin' on Randall, and not something a bit more hoppy. I was REALLY excited to try their Punkin' beer, but I wasn't all that thrilled with it. Don't get me wrong, it was a good beer, I just didn't really taste the pumpkin. I was a little disappointed that the samples were all picked out for us. I like to have some options :-). We still really enjoyed ourselves and I would go back for another tour (in another season).

The hubs and I, about to tour Dogfish Head!

The Martins!

Look at all those fermenters! Crazy!

Cool tree house we didn't get to go in.

After the brew tour, we went to the Dogfish Head Brew Pub for dinner. We all ended up getting burgers, which were very good. The restaurant itself was a bit cramped. The food was good, but overall, I wasn't very impressed.

Friday was the beginning of Beer Week. We hung around the house early in the day and prepped food for our tailgate on Saturday. We took the lightrail into Baltimore and went to Fells Point. We had a few places we wanted to show Anna and John. We were planning on going to PowerPlant later, but we decided to just hang out in Fells Point. It's my favorite part of Baltimore anyway. We ended up staying past the time the lightrail runs, so we had to get a cab home. Ouch! 

Fells Point!

We got up Saturday morning to pack and prep for the game. Luckily we had the food mostly done, I just had to throw a couple things in the oven and the crockpot. We had BBQ! YUM! Unfortunately, we don't have a pig cooker, so I cooked it in the crockpot all day Friday and pulled it when we got home Friday night. Saturday morning I got up to chop it and put it in the crockpot to heat. We also had jalapeno popper dip, which was delicious! I was really excited about trying beer and bacon mac n cheese. Anna suggested making it into mac n cheese bites, which is WAY better for tailgating. It was just OK. I would try to make them again, but I would make it a little more cheesy and creamier. 

We had plans to tailgate in the same spot we tailgated in the last time we played at MD with some other State fans we met there. That didn't work out, so we ended up parking in a random lot full of MD fans. We did find 1 other State fan to tailgate with and we had a couple other people meeting us there. Don't get me wrong, we had a lot of fun, but it wasn't like other away games we've been to, where you see fans from both teams scattered all over. We were definitely tailgating in the MD section. MD fans have a reputation for being not so nice and humble fans, but they were fine during the tailgate and game. They talked a little crap, but who doesn't? The game itself was just crazy. It was close the whole game. MD fans aren't that loud...until the 4th quarter, then they show up. I don't get it. Anyway, if you watched the game, you know we shouldn't have won it, but somehow, we did. I'll take it!


The hubs and I with the best mascot EVER!

He didn't realize they were State fans until they were about to take the pic. Too late Testudo! 

GO PACK!

Our whole group with Mike Glennon

Sunday was a lazy day for us. We stayed home to watch football the majority of the day. We did venture outside to play a little bit of bocce for a bit. Then we ate some delicious food and watched more football!

The Martins left Monday afternoon. We all slept in since it was our last day of vacation. After we dropped them off at the airport, we went to Annapolis for a lunch date. We had a groupon for crab cake sliders. Once we walked it, we realized it was the first place we had ever tried crabcakes! We've definitely discovered better crabcakes in the 2+ years we've been here, but it was still very yummy and we had a great time! Our groupon also included cream of crab soup (SO GOOD) and a beer. We both had some lunch for the next day! After that, we went home to cuddle with Bailey, watch a movie and get Josh caught up with me on Revenge!

We had such a great time with Anna and John! It was some much needed time off from work with great friends!

Family Visit

My family came to visit 2 weekends ago. They got in Friday night and we just caught up for a little bit and played Twister...a LOT. Natalia was very excited to learn a new game, so she wanted to take turns playing and spinning/taking pictures. My head was killing me from being upside down so long. We still had a great time and it was hilarious how cracked up she would get over even not so funny moves.

Bailey was very interested too.

We woke up Saturday and hung around the house for a little bit. We went to G&A for lunch. We saw it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives a while back and we've wanted to go since then. It was a little disappointing. It was OK, but we wouldn't go back. After lunch, we went to a farm. We almost went to the same place we went to last year, but a friend told me about another place and we decided to try it out. I'm SO glad we did. There was so much more for Natalia to do there. 

 They had pony rides, so of course she had to do that. 

 They had Emus! This one was much nicer than the ones I've met in the past. 

 Now, this just reminds me of a mini-me. I had a pet goat when I was a little girl. This definitely brought back some memories. 

 They had lots of little play areas, a Christmas tree maze, a hay ride, a hay maze and a pumpkin patch. I didn't get many pictures at all.

We went home for dinner and pumpkin carving after the farm. 

Sunday morning we got up and had a quick breakfast before going to the park to meet the photographer. I'll post some pictures when I get them all back. My family left us at the park and made their way home.

We brought Bailey home and left for IKEA! We had to get a TV stand and some side tables for the guest room. 

 Bailey loves IKEA almost as much as I do.

Since everything comes in a box, there's all sorts of paper for her to play in.

Friday Favorites!

I didn't do this last Friday, so I have some catching up to do.

1) Family Visit - My family came to visit the weekend before last. They hadn't been up here since April, so it was nice to catch up with them. Natalia made a little friend in our neighborhood, we went to a farm that had all sorts of animals, a pumpkin patch, hay ride and all sorts of things. We all had a lot of fun there. I'll post more about this later. They also took some of our pictures with us.

2) Short Week - Last week was a 2 day week for me and this week was a 4 day week. I LOVE short weeks!

3) Martins Visit - The Martins came to visit us last week. I'll post more about this later, but we had a great time!

4) Another State WIN - It was a game we definitely should not have won, but it was still a win. It was a really great game to be at. Not only that, but Duke won...against UNC! I couldn't have asked for a better Saturday.

5) Mike Glennon - We decided to hang out for a bit after the game and wait for the players to come out to the team bus. We got to take a picture with Mike Glennon! I know he was tired and ready to just get to the bus, but he was really nice!


6) Birthday Wreath - I've been wanting to make a burlap wreath to put on our door for Fall, but I was having trouble finding the burlap I wanted. Brittany surprised me with one for my birthday!!! She made the wreath and left it plain so I could decorate it how I wanted. I already had the decorations since I was planning on making one anyway. I LOVE how it turned out. I attached the decorations with floral wire so I can take them off and decorate it a little differently for other occasions.

 I LOVE the little scarecrow! He's so adorable.

7) Kegging - Yes friends, we finally starting kegging. This has been in the works for a while, but Josh didn't want me to say anything until it was finished. It's still not 100% finished, but it's close enough. We just have to add the top to our bar, and we'll be good to go! More pictures to come :-).

 Our first 2 beers on tap were our PunKinlaw Ale (YUM!) and a clone of Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA.

8) Date - We got up Monday morning (or afternoon) to get ready to take Anna and John to the airport. We decided that we should burn up some Groupons that we had sitting around and go out for a lunch date after we dropped them off at the airport. I had a small breakfast since I knew I was expecting a big lunch, so I was STARVING. Our Groupon included crab soup (we could pick cream of crab or MD crab). We both chose the cream of crab because it's a million times more delicious! By the time I finished that, I was almost full. It was a big bowl, not the little cup I was expecting. We still had a beer and a crab cake slider entree waiting for each of us! Let's just say I had crab cake sliders for lunch on Tuesday :-). We both love Annapolis, but we were just too exhausted to hang around after lunch. We made our way home.

9) Revenge - I started watching Revenge while Anna and John were still here. Josh resisted watching it with me at first. We watched a movie after getting home from our date in Annapolis, then he finally agreed to watch an episode or 2 to see if he likes it. We've been watching it every night before bed and we're almost half way through season 1!

Family Pics: Sneak Peak

Josh, Bailey and I had family pictures taken last year, but I wasn't really happy with them. They were OK, but I wouldn't go back to the same place. Not only did I not love the pictures, Bailey was terrified of the backdrops. She did NOT like being in a studio at all. I prefer outdoor pictures anyway, so I was SO excited when I found a Groupon for a 2 hour photo shoot with Evening Star Photography! 

I wanted to take pictures while the leaves were changing, but I wanted to take them soon enough so that we could use them for Christmas cards. That leaves a pretty small window considering we have to leave a month or so for us to get our pictures back, then to have time to order the cards. Luckily, Sandee is awesome, and she said she can get us a few pictures to use in our cards by the beginning of November!

We had our pictures taken yesterday morning. My family was in town, so we got to take a few with them, then everyone except my Nikki took Natalia to play at the park. It was a beautiful day, but a bit warm for fall pictures :-). That's fine though, you can't tell that in the pictures! Here's a sneak peak. I saw a picture like this on Pinterest and I HAD to try it. My sister threw leaves for us while Sandee tried to catch it at just the right moment. It took a few tries, but I LOVE how this turned out. Thanks sis!

I am in love with this picture! It definitely competes with some of our engagement pictures. I can't wait to see the rest!

Friday Favorites!

1) Inlaws Visit - Josh's mom and step dad visited us this past weekend. They haven't been here since last September, so it was fun to show them what we've done in the house since then! I didn't realize how much we had changed since then until they pointed it out. 

2) TV - We bought the mount for the TV before we actually bought our TV...which was in February. We FINALLY mounted the TV this past weekend! Now we just have to get rid of the big, bulky TV stand we have now and find something a little smaller. 

3) Hershey Park - We finally visited Hershey Park! I've wanted to visit since we moved up here. We got really cheap tickets for family day through work. YAY! The new roller coaster was down for the rest of the season, but there were lots more to ride and we still had a great time!

4) State! - We redeemed ourselves after that horrible game against Miami. I'll take a game against #3 FSU any day! The end was amazing! Hopefully we'll rest up this weekend and be all ready for MD next Saturday.

5) Camp BowWow - I briefly mentioned that Bailey has Kennel Cough. We have to wait 2 weeks after she hasn't shown any symptoms for 24 hours to take her back to camp. This week, we got a get well note from Camp BowWow, along with a voucher for a free bath during her next visit. Bailey hates baths, so I hate giving them to her, so I'm really excited about that! She is still coughing, but she's MUCH better than she was. She's sleeping through the night without medicine now :-).

6) Nikki & Bryan's Wedding - Last Friday, we went to see our friends Nikki & Bryan FINALLY tie the knot! Nikki is the first friend I made when we moved up here. She and Bryan have been trying to have a baby since I met her. They had a huge announcement at the wedding. They're pregnant...with TRIPLETS!!!

Next week is a short week, so my next "Friday" is only a few days away!!! 

Friday Favorites!

Things have been crazy busy, so of course this week flew by!!! I can't believe it's Friday again. 

1) VA - Our trip to VA over the weekend was beyond amazing. We got some much needed "us" time and it was nice to get away from the house and to-do list for a bit. 

2) Camp BowWow - Bailey was at Camp BowWow while we were in VA. I love that she gets to play as much as she wants while we're away. She was exhausted when we got home!

3) Neighbor - We have a neighbor that we don't care for. He's been talking about moving since we met him before we closed on our house. He's been putting off a repair that has been causing us issues. When we got home from our trip, we noticed that he had fixed that issue finally! YAY! He's also making some other repairs, so maybe he's finally working toward selling the house and moving?

4) Riding Boots - I've wanted riding boots for quite a while. Unfortunately, the ones I want are WAY out of my price range right now. I found some that I liked for like...a tenth of the price. YAY! I haven't had the chance to wear them yet, but I will definitely be wearing them in our family pictures that are coming up in a couple weeks!

5) Straightening iron - I also found a good deal on a straightening iron I've had my eye on. I decided to wipe out my allowance and buy it. So far, I love it! We've had some very humid days this week and my hair is doing much better than it did with my old ones. Used to, on a morning like this morning (94% humidity), after a walk with Bailey, my hair would look like I just woke up and I would have to come in and re-straighten it. Not any more! 

6) Fall - It's officially Fall!!! This week has not been my kind of Fall weather. It hasn't been hot, but it has been humid. I had enough of the humidity this summer and I guess I was spoiled by the amazing weather last week. I know the good weather is just around the corner though.

7) Good Friends - We have a lot going on this weekend and we were going to board Bailey tonight. This evening after work, we have a wedding. Josh's mom and step dad will be getting in tonight as well. We will be leaving tomorrow morning to go to Hershey Park with them. Well, I noticed that Bailey had a hacking cough Wednesday evening. My baby has Kennel Cough :-(. So, now, we can't board her. I was freaking out at first because I don't want her at home by herself that long. I arranged to come home early enough to spend some time with her today before we leave for the wedding. A friend will be coming by tomorrow to walk Bailey and spend a little time with her. I feel SO much better now and I don't know what I would do without Jen!

Shenandoah for the Weekend!

I may or may not have mentioned the vacation we purchased from Bass Pro Shops several months back. We were shopping for some fishing stuff one day and we were approached by their travel agents about a weekend getaway. We said no at first, but once we talked about it for a few minutes and they offered us enough gift cards to cover the cost of the room, we decided there wasn't any harm. It's to preview a timeshare, so you have to attend a 2 hour presentation. Of course that part wasn't exciting, but we figured if our room was free, it was worth it. They had lots of locations including Charleston, Aruba and several more all over the country. We chose Shenandoah Valley since it was the closest and we had recently heard lots of good things about it from a co-worker. We decided it would be a nice weekend getaway and we couldn't have picked a better time for it!

Friday morning, we got to sleep in a little bit (until 7:30, that's later than I sleep on some weekends!). We fed Bailey, played with her a bit, picked up around the house (I hate coming home to clutter) and took Bailey to camp. She always gets SO excited to go and Friday was no exception. We dropped her off and got on the road. We didn't have a specific time to get there, which is nice since we're usually rushing. We stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch. YUM! I usually read a lot during our trips, but I decided not to this time. We left our computers home too, and we ended up keeping our phones off once we got to our place. I'm SO glad we did. It was really nice to have no interruptions and for it to be just us. We also didn't plan ahead, which is different for us. We just decided to go and play it by ear. 

Our room wasn't ready when we arrived, so we went out to pet the horses for a bit and then decided to visit a winery. We went to Horton Vineyards. The place was absolutely beautiful and they had over 40 wines to choose from! We each got to taste 12 for no charge. We chose our favorites and decided to buy 3 bottles. One to have on our trip and 2 to have on hand at home. We chose a white for the trip and 2 reds to take home. They had some special wines they had made for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. We chose one of those. When we were on our way back to our room, we saw a sign for another vineyard and decided to go there too. This one was Barboursville Vineyards. This one wasn't as pretty outside, but the inside was amazing. This one was only $5 a person and we got to try all their wines and keep the glasses. During the tasting, we met an older couple and they were SO nice. He was retired Navy and he's a pilot for Delta now. He just got back from a long week of traveling, so his wife was treating him to a winery tour. They were so sweet! 

 Horton. So pretty!

On the way out of the vineyard, we noticed a house the couple at the winery was telling us about. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson for governor Barbour. The family decorated the Christmas tree with real candles, and the house burned down on Christmas Eve. Such a sad story. What was left of the house is still standing. It was HUGE. Even though it's such a sad story, it was really interesting to look at. There were huge trees surrounding the house and they had an odd looking fruit on them. We couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be. We ran into the couple again and they told us they were walnuts. Of course, Josh had to find out for sure. He broke it open and sure enough, there was a walnut inside. We also found out that walnut stains. Josh walked around with his hands looking like this for the rest of the trip. 

 Walnuts.

His hands look like they were dipped in iodine.

We had a great time at both of the vineyards. After visiting those, I now think most of the MD vineyards we have visited are a bit on the stingy side. Haha. 

We decided to drive back toward town and find something to eat. We saw gas for only $3.50 a gallon, so we decided to stop and fill up. Of course, Josh looked for a local beer while we were at the gas station. He got Star Hill's Pumpkin Porter. We had both noticed restaurants we were interested in while we were driving through town on the way to the vineyards. We stopped at Josh's first. I don't remember the name of it, but once we got up closer to it, we realized it was really fancy looking and a bit pricey. We were not dressed to eat there and neither of us was in the mood for a fancy meal anyway. The place I noticed was The Barbeque Exchange . That was much more like it! It was probably the closest thing I've had to real BBQ outside NC. Josh got the BBQ Sandwich with hushpuppies and I got the BBQ tray with a pumpkin muffin, mac n cheese and collards. The meat came plain and you got to choose the sauce you wanted on it. They had several, but I only paid attention to one...Craig's Carolina. It was the real Eastern NC vinegar based stuff, not that tomato based stuff. The pork is pulled and I prefer it to be finer chopped, but it was pulled more finely than I've had at most places. We both had more than enough to eat, so we went to go check in to our room. 

Once we got settled, we decided to check out the bar for Happy Hour. We each had a Star Hill beer. I had The Love (a delicious wheat beer) and Josh had Northern Lights (an IPA that even Josh thought was over-hopped). After having a beer at the bar, we decided to go back to the room and watch a movie. We were both really tired, so we ended up going to sleep pretty early.

We got up early the next morning and went to breakfast. It was a little chilly outside, but we ate on the patio anyway. The view was amazing. The food was really good! We took our time eating then went to the stables to see the horses and other animals. Of course, I loved this part. We still had some time to kill before our tour, so we walked a short trail. When we got back to the general store, where some of the pools are, we found a giant chess set. It looked pretty cool, but we didn't play. We went to the preview center for our tour. Josh was signing the paperwork when he noticed a bold statement that said MD residents were not obligated to take the tour. We thought we might not get our gift cards if we opted out of the tour, so Josh asked. Nope, we didn't have to take the tour AND we still got our gift cards! Heck yes, we saved 2+ hours of our lives! We were so excited, because our tour was supposed to start at 11:45. We thought we would only be able to catch the end of the game, but now we could make the whole thing! In our excitement, we walked out of the preview center with Josh's Oakley's sitting on the coffee table. He realized it not even 5 minutes down the road, and we turned around to go get them immediately. We looked where we both knew he left them and they were gone! We thought maybe someone turned them in. Nope, someone kept them for themselves. We went back 3 times over the course of the trip and no one ever turned them in. Of course, Josh was really upset. Now I'm on a mission to find another good deal. 

 Part of the view from breakfast. The lake. 

More views from breakfast. The stables.

 This little guy just wouldn't leave us alone. I kept trying to swat him away from my juice but he kept coming back. Finally, I let him fall to his death and asked for a new juice.

 Chicken and biscuits with smoked gouda grits. So yum and the most tender fried chicken I've ever had.

Josh got steak and eggs. His steak was way overcooked, but still very tender.

 A fuzzy chicken. Josh calls it a llama.

 Peacock!

 Another fuzzy chicken with her chicks. That peacock kept bullying and pecking at the little chicks!

Giant chess!

A lifesized example.

We found a local bar that had just opened 3 weeks ago. It was only noon on Saturday, so we had the place to ourselves. We ended up being the only people there the entire game, so we had 4 TVs just for us. We stayed and watched the whole, disappointing game. This was actually probably my least favorite part of the trip. There's no reason we couldn't have won that game, but I won't go into that. Moving on...

After the game, we went back to the resort. We played a round of mini golf. I started off strong, but of course, Josh came back and beat me. Next, we went fishing for a while. Josh forgot to bring fishing poles, but you can rent them for $5 each and you get to keep them for 24 hours. They had several types of boats. We chose to get a John Boat. There was no charge since we decided to row out. We stayed out for about an hour and a half. Josh caught 1 fish, and I just got my line tangled in the tree a couple times. No luck here. We each enjoyed a Pumpkin Porter while we were out on the boat. Even though I didn't catch anything, I still had a good time relaxing. We got cleaned up and went to dinner afterward. I got a french dip sandwich and Josh got a burger. It was very good. We lounged and watched football for the rest of the night. We tried to stay up for the FSU game, but we both fell asleep before it went off. We fell asleep relatively early and "slept" for about 10 hours. Neither of us slept well Saturday night. We both tossed and turned and woke up with sore backs. Needless to say, we were looking forward to having our bed back Sunday night. 

 He did all the rowing :-)

 My bobber stuck in the trees.

 The fish Josh caught.

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Now, this is what I call relaxing.

We slept in until 8:00 on Sunday morning. We got up and got ready, packed our things, then went to breakfast. We decided to eat in since it was a little cooler than Saturday morning and Josh didn't bring anything with long sleeves. After eating, we loaded up the car and went back on the lake. I wanted to go kayaking and Josh wanted to fish. We got a kayak and fished off of it :-). Neither of us caught anything, but we had a good time rowing around the lake. We both got a bit wet and needed to change before we left. We both had leftovers from dinner the night before, so we warmed it up and decided we would have that for lunch whenever we got hungry. We had an easy ride home until we got to DC. We did hit a bit of traffic, but it wasn't horrible. Of course, I took a nap. We were back home by 2 and we couldn't pick Bailey up until 4:30, so we caught up on laundry, did a couple chores around the house and did a little work in the garage. We really want to be able to park in there this Winter! 

On the lake Sunday morning. So pretty!

Finally, it was time to pick up Bailey! It was really nice to have some just us time, but I always miss her when we're away. Of course, she was super excited to see us too. We decided to go to Bass Pro shops since we've been wanting to get Bailey out more. She's never been, so we thought it would be nice if her first time was when she was exhausted. She's usually really funny about giant animal types of things, but she didn't bark at anything. She was definitely a little nervous, but she did really well! We'll have to start taking her more. 

 Taking it all in.

 It wasn't easy to get her to sit for this one. She wanted to sniff everything.

After a long weekend at camp.

We had such an amazing weekend in VA. It was simple and low key, but that's just what we needed. It's so beautiful in the foothills in the mountains, especially with the leaves just starting to change. This weekend was a great reminder of all the things God has blessed us with. We live in such a beautiful world!