Sew Along

I have recently found a few bloggers with similar interest in making quilts & bags and it has been fun to see their projects and ideas, it is very inspirational. I am also becoming obsessed with FABRIC but that is another story. On the Craftapple blog they are having a "sew along" (now I feel old) where they are making really cute stockings (25 of them) as an advent calendar. Nothing like getting a head start on December while all the Christmas fabric is on sale. We don't have one so I thought that would be a great idea, and when they are all done we can put little candies in each one or something fun. I am still trying to decide what to do with them when they are finished, do we hang a line or ribbon and clip them all up and then unclip them with each day or add one each day? Wow, the possibilities are endless, and they look really easy to make. (anyone want a cute stocking advent calendar?)

Annual Boat Show Weekend

So every year right on Flagler on the intercoastal West Palm hosts a HUGE boat show. They close down the road and spend weeks building a temporary dock out on the water for all the boats to pull up to so people can browse and buy or do whatever it is one with money would do at a boat show. I just notice the influx of traffic and street closures. I am sure Greg would love to go but the tickets are priced very high and I quite frankly don't feel like being looked down upon all day but the richies. But it is fun to drive by on the bridge and see all the boats, here is a picture from last years event. From this picture Palm Beach Atlantic is about 3 blocks to the left. And the restaurant "Bradleys" is right across the street for those of you who have been there. Just keep in mind when looking at this picture, 1 week before the event there is NOTHING in the water no dock, nothing.

It just started yesterday and there were a lot of signs on my way into work this morning directing traffic so I thought I would share. Also I really like the logo for the event I would totally wear a Tshirt of it, if they made one.

Journal of Athletic Training

Finally published! Journal of Athletic Training, March-April 2009 issue. I knew we were waiting to be assigned an issue, but I didn't know one had been assigned until a fellow grad student of mine congratulated me on facebook when she saw our article. I guess that is one way to find out. I will be anxiously awaiting my journal in the mail these next couple of days.

Back on the horse

I have been doing a lot of talking about getting in shape.  Greg and I were even doing really well (for about 3 weeks back in January) then he got sick of eating salad and I got sick of watching him go back to eating whatever he wanted.   Back then on and off I was meeting a friend to run, but then her job changed so we were not able to meet up anymore and I am physically unable to get out of bed in the morning of my own free will and run by myself.

Well, 2 weeks ago before heading to Cocoa beach I decided to get back out there and act like a runner again, since the scale was telling me all my hard work in January was soon to be in vain.  Well my "quick little jog" wound me up with a strained hip muscle (which has not bothered me in months), I got a mile out and had to gimp back, it was like out of no where.  It's my tensor fascia muscle (the one that turns into the IT band) and it is the worst.  After lots of excuses and quite a bit of complaining I have been telling myself it is time to take action.  So I have been treating myself like one of my athletes and yesterday I got back outside and attempted a 15 minute run.  I concentrated on my form and ran with a good rhythm.  Although I felt my hip the whole time and was limping around all evening afterward it sure felt good to be out running.  It is so relaxing.  So today on my running schedule I think I am going to do 1.5 miles, and hope my hip cooperates.   

You know when you live in a place like Florida you should have no excuse why you can't get out and get moving!  (unless of course a hurricane is coming).

So much going on

Yesterday was quite a productive day! Mya had a great morning at her little beauty salon getting a bath, nails clipped, hair trimmed and combed out nicely, and a little pretty Easter scarf around her neck. I am glad we finally got her in those front nails were getting pretty gross, I bet we could have painted them if we wanted to.

While I was waiting for Mya to be finished at the groomer (takes like 3 hours) I decided to go to the fabric store because it is on that side of town (like I needed an excuse). I visited them last Friday because I wanted to make a bag and they have the most modern fabrics, so I found out then that they were going to have a sale this week.(my bag is green and pink below) I had no idea I was going to get so lucky, I got fabric for $2.50/yard!!! So, I decided to scale down the bag pattern a bit and make one for Katie for her bday, wow she is 10 already.
When I finally left the store I had fabric for Katie's bag as well as some fabric for baby quilts since there are 2 ladies in the office pregnant right now. I figured I could load up on the baby fabric and get started on that. I mean what a deal it is usually $9.50/yard. I could feel my adrenaline pumping as I looked through the bolts on the shelves! But, I did have to go to work eventually and when I finally got home and got Greg fed ;) I got to work on Katie's bag (red and purple flowers and dots) and finished it in an hour and a half.

When all of that was finished I treated myself to a bowl of Blue Bell Mocha Madness ice cream and headed off to bed.

The Magic of Modern Tech (Greg)

This morning I decided to try out a new product out by 3M called the Headlight Lens Restoration System. You see, Holly's poor little Jetta has been rather neglected lately. And here in South Florida, we're rather close to that big bright ball in the sky and it can do a lot of damage to a vehicle. The headlights on older cars down here tend to get VERY oxidized, cloudy and yellow. Not only does this look horrible and make your car look like it belongs in a junk yard, but your lights essentially stop being functional (not that we really need them to see anything when your MILES away from any two lane country road that doesn't have hundreds of street lights). But none the less, Holly's lights were very worse for wear. So a quick trip to 3 autopart stores and I finally found it in stock at Autozone! A quick $25 later I was back home and having my hand at restoration. Its pretty slick actually, the kit comes with all the sand paper grits you'll need, foam pads, cleaner/polishing compound etc. All you do is supply the electric drill. 

I also got a little creative and rewired her headlights to get rid of those STUPID daytime running lights! Turns out that you can simply swap two wires and change some fuses and tada, now the DTRL's are her parking lights! 

For less than an hours work this is what you get! 

BEFORE and AFTER (The results were so noticeable that HOLLY even saw a difference! -between you and me, that is saying something!) Love you babe! 

Mya the siren

Not sure if I have shared this fun little tidbit about our baby but she is an impersonator. Anytime a firetruck or ambulance (no so much police cars) drive by with their sirens on she mimics their noise with her own howl. It is so impressive! Today she was at the window and I was in the bathroom and she got that howl so high I have never heard her do that before. She is obviously practicing her skills when daddy and I are not home. What a proud mama I am, a dog who can sound like an emergency siren.

My latest

Here is my latest creation. A tropical big block quilt. Nice for snuggling on the couch in FL it is pretty thin but I quilted over the whole surface and added the binding with a cool detail so this was a good project. I am working already on my next ideas...

Up close "free motion" quilting


The upper right is a glimpse at the backing fabric which is my favorite, very water like :) Sorry if the quality of photo is not the best, they were taken with my phone.

Let it Flow

I climbed out of the shower this morning around 5:30am and heard the thunderous roar of the rain that is only possible in southern FL. I had the pleasure this morning of "validating" urine samples for our random drug screening for the athletes. It is a morning filled with crabby athletes awoken from a nice slumber and then being told they have to "void" into the cup with me watching, all of which is usually a surprise to them. To top it all off for the poor kids they had to trudge through the many lakes and puddles that had formed overnight and throughout the morning of RAIN to get to the Greene Complex.

The picture is one I found of rain off of the coast of palm beach, it is MUCH prettier than the rain we are experiencing now, I feel like crawling back in bed and falling asleep to the sound of the rain pound the roof.

So, after the last female filled her cup to the red line, I ventured out on the roads to get my morning coffee, since they were not open at 5:45 and I was not about to make my own coffee that early in the morning. I have been doing good, however, I had made the decision to stop buying coffee at Starbucks, I guiltily admit it was an every day occurrence. Over the course of a month I guesstimate we spent easily over $120 on coffee. So I decided to start making my own at home and it has really been going well. I guess this month and February we may have only spent $20 at the store.
But I have a new rescipie using 2 TAZO Organic Chai tea bags, use about 10 oz. hot water and steep for 5 minutes, then fill the 16 oz. cup with milk, add a teaspoon of sugar and stir.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

On a day when many are dressed up in green to avoid repercussions, drinking Green Beer, kissing the Irish, and celebrating all that shamrocks and St's have to offer, I sit at work perfectly sober.

I thought in all my free time I would do a little digging, here is a link on the history of the holiday, much like Christmas or Halloween there are historical roots in the holiday that go far beyond what we know it as today. St Patty's day

Shuttle Launch

I am sure pictures will soon be posted on the Flikr, but last night we watched the shuttle Discovery launch at Cape Canaveral from the beach. It was great with the sun setting the smoke trail it left was a rainbow of beautiful colors, we could feel the rumble and hear the take off about 30 seconds after the actual shuttle was in the air. From where we were standing we could see the shuttle rocket boosters separate. It was pretty cool. Not something you see every day and obviously something that everyone in the area wanted to see because soon after the launch we had to make our way back to WPB, and the roads were so busy that it took us 2 hours to get to I95 from Pops and Grams place, and a whole 5 hours to get home. And just to put it into perspective it should have only taken us 2.5 hours to get home. We picked up a very sleepy puppy at about 1 am and headed home to bed! All in all a good weekend, I got some sun, got out of WPB, spent some QT with family. But now it is back to work and life as usual.

Flikr

Enjoying the beautiful weather here in South Florida! Check out our new Flikr page with a lot of great new photos. Our flikr Make sure you check out the awesome Sea Turtle pics I (Greg) got from the locks while visiting Pops N Grams! Also, if any of you are on twitter, I'm now the official social media guru for PBA so check out my new twitter page (PBAAdmissions) as well as (SailfishJack). One of the perks of being the communications guy at a college is that you get to play on facebook and twitter and flikr and all those fun addicting sites AND i get to play with the great photography equipment i'm now in charge of, all while getting paid for it! So keep your eyes open for new photos and updates from the Hill family. Check to the right of this blog and you will find a new slideshow linked directly from our Flikr page. ENJOY!!!!

You know it is Spring time when...

Stores start coming out with all sorts of candy in egg shapes and pastel colors. One of my favorites thanks to my mom is Brach's Chicks & Rabbits. Greg would rather lap up vomit than eat these candies but I find them irresistible. They are like Circus peanuts but in the shape of bunnies and chicks, and I gotta say nothing says Spring like a bag of candy. Unfortunately the only place I can find them is at Target which is a 10 minute drive in the opposite direction of anywhere I am usually headed. But after my long week, I made the trip.

I arrived back from my 4 day trip yesterday after a 10 hour bus ride, with not much to show for the trip other than finishing one book ("Sundays a Tiffany's" by James Patterson), starting a new one ("Blood Brothers" by Nora Roberts, recommended by MIL), and managing to leave a couple shirts that I didn't have time to wear in the closet which I had to pay to have shipped back to me. I was in Greenville, SC with the MBB team for the regional tournament for the NCCAA, and we lost. But it is good too be home.

Andy and Jordan (Greg's buddy's from HOPE) were here to keep him company in my absence, Andy is on Spring break from grad school. They have managed to keep Greg well fed while at the same time cleaning up their dishes as well as getting FRIED in the hot FL sun. It hurts to look at them but they are confident they will be going home with a tan.

Ps- I finished my tropical big block quilt today too. I learned after putting the binding on Will (Lauren's baby) quilt that I had some practicing to do on that, sorry La, you gotta start somewhere.)

Fall Like

In spite of my poor Jetta giving up on me more and more lately I have had a few great days. The pantry is finally full of food, my quilt is on its way to being finished, it is jacket weather out, and we get to drive to Orlando tonight to get some Chicago style Pizza with Greg's dad.



I have discovered the world of making my own chai tea lattes at home and it has been a great journey. This morning I was taking Mya for a walk with Chai in hand and I was thinking about how Fall like it was outside. There were actually leaves on the ground, and Mya managed to find a pine cone. We have the lamest "pine" trees, but she likes the pine cones, so I snapped a pic of her, and then was a mean mommy and grabbed it out of her mouth and threw it away not much before she made a nice choking sound from the pieces she managed to pluck off and get stuck in her throat. Aren't puppies cute?

ps- Mya turns 1 year old on March 5th. We are going to the pet store and she can have anything she wants :)