Some of us dove right in, splashing colors all over the place, while others had to be pushed a little to blend different parts or try something new. It’s the most fun I’ve had with a paint brush in a long time!

Abstract art can be hard for adults. We want things to be “right” or to do things “the correct way.” Abstract art takes that mentality and throws it out the window. All of us found it relaxing to be able to add whatever we wanted (shapes, colors, lines) to fill up the canvas. Plus, I have to add, our work came out looking pretty good for people who haven’t painting since middle school!

The best part came at the end of the night when Holly said she could tell a lot about our personalities just from our paintings. This lead to us begging her to go around the room profiling all of us — which she did!

I’m so thankful Holly made time in her schedule to come “play art” with us. I can’t think of a better way to mark “Take and art class” off my 27-week birthday challenge. I’m sure it won’t be too long before we’re calling her up for round two!

Everyone cheesing with their masterpieces!

Artwork on display so we could enjoy them all night long!

Paintin’ those pictures!

Eatin’ oysters!

My trip to Beaufort this weekend only confirmed that we live in small world after all. As my brother and I huddled around the bon fire at this year’s annual St. Peter’s Oyster Roast & Microbrew Festival, we struck up a conversation with the guys standing beside us. After exchanging a few casual comments, the guy next to me says “Yeah, I’m originally from D.C.” My response was “Oh cool, my husband is from Northern Virginia.”

From there, he says that he, too, is from Northern Virgina, Prince William County, actually, the Manassas area, but it’s easier to just say “D.C.”

“So you’ve heard of Nokesville?” I asked.

“Heard of it. No one from here has ever heard of Nokesville! Who is your husband?!”

Turns out the two grew up together. Even graduated together from “Cow-Patty High” (also known as Brentsville). What are the chances? We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with him and his buddies. It still amuses me that out of all the people at the Oyster Roast, we were standing next to him and happened to start talking about where we were from. Again, what are the chances?!

The weekend flew by way to fast. We packed a good bit of stuff into my visit other than the Oyster Roast, including a wing night, karaoke and some awesome seafood. A second trip will probably be planned soon!

The only unfortunate part of the trip is that I’m going to have to alter part of my 27-week challenge. As it turns out, the guy who offered the bike tours is no longer doing them — locally at least. From his website, it looks like he’s touring up and down the East coast — which is awesome for him! Sad day for me.

My brother is never one to disappoint though, and we did successfully mark one thing off my list: going to a beer festival. I guess “Bike Tour in Beaufort” will have to be changed to something else. No worries though, I’m sure I can figure it out.

Chris getting ready to attack the oyster!

The bucket of oysters we devoured…

Zoo trip, August 2012

I had the privilege of spending time with a very special young lady this afternoon. Mallery is an 8th grader at Camden Middle School. We met through the United Way mentoring program three years ago and she holds a very special place in my heart. You see, Mallery is one of the most compassionate, caring young people I’ve had the pleasure to know. She’s always thinking about others and how she can bring happiness into their lives. She’s definitely got a bright future ahead of her!

During our trip to the library this evening she bee lined over to the Dr. Seuss books. Confused, I asked her why she wanted to check them out (she had a stack of about 10 of them). They were for her one-year-old nephew. He’s going to be staying with her family this weekend and she wanted to read them to him! That’s Mallery — putting her family first. I hope her nephew knows how lucky he is to have such an awesome aunt.

Since last year when I decided to tackle the Paleo diet, my ice cream consumption has been limited. Not that I didn’t eat it, I did. Shamelessly. And paid for it afterwards.

However, now I’ve found a way to eat as much ice cream as I want with out feeling guilty. Check this out!

I remembered to take a picture before I inhaled it!

Looks good, right? I thought so, too. I ate two bowls of it.  Thanks to Ben Hirshberg’s paleo e-book “Paleo Ice Cream” I’ve rediscovered the cold creamy treat.

Here’s his recipe for vanilla ice cream. I topped mine with chocolate shavings.

• 1 can of coconut milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/5 cup of honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat coconut milk, honey and vanilla in medium saucepan over low heat. Whisk egg yolks in separate bowl. Temper egg yolks by adding small amounts of the warm mixture at a time. Keep stiring until all ingredients are combines. Refrigerate the creamy mixture. Once it’s cool put in ice cream churn and let it run for 20 to 30 minutes — or until it has the right texture! Yum! This recipe makes enough for about three people.

Waiting for the churn to finish. Felt like forever! I really wanted to eat the ice cream!

Yumminess!

For those of you who know me, I’m terrible at remembering to take pictures. And these burgers were devoured before I thought to pull out a camera. So no pictures, sorry, but I can tell you how to make them!

I was first inspired by Juli over at paleOMG. She posted a recipe for the “JB Burger special.” What intrigued me was that she used shredded rump roast (straight outta the crock pot) and mixed it with her ground beef to prep her burgers. I immediately wanted to try it out! Then I got to the ingredients list. Lots of red pepper, cayenne pepper and hot stuff.  I don’t do hot stuff. So I knew modifications would have to be made. As it turns out — I pretty much threw her recipe out the window and created my own based on what I like.

So here it goes, the “KB Burger”

Ingredients:

For the roast: (Here is the recipe I used)

• 1 Rump Roast
• 1 Large Sweet Onion
• 8 Ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 2 Tbsp White Wine
• 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
• Seasonings for Rub:
  • Salt
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Garlic Powder
  • Onion Powder
  • Black Pepper

For the burgers:

• 1 pound of grassfed ground beef
• several handfuls of shredded rump roast (cooked above)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons  basil
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chives
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 avacado
• 1 tomato
• 1 block of full-fat mozzarella cheese

I followed the Civilized Caveman’s recipe for the roast. It turned out beautiful. My kitchen smelled AMAZING while it was cooking. I actually put the roast in the crock put Saturday night and then fixed these burgers Sunday for lunch. It took some planning –but it was so worth it!

After you shred the roast, pull out your grass fed ground beef. Mix the beef with a few handfuls of the shredded roast in a bowl. (It took me about four or five — but my hands are small) Add your egg, lemon juice and spices. At this point I gave up on using a spoon and mashed it all together with my hands until it was well mixed. After mixing, divide the  meat into patties. I had 7 medium sized patties.

Heat up your skillet (or grill) and cook. As soon as they come off the heat, top with a slice of mozzarella cheese (so it melts!). Before serving, top with slice of tomato and avocado.

To get the full “KB burger” experience, it must be served with sweet potato fries. Enjoy!

Anywho, this leads me to my third goal accomplished. New glasses! I was like a kid in a candy shop trying on new pairs. My mom even tagged along to help me make the decision. She’s pretty awesome like that. I should have taken a picture of her juggling all my stuff as a darted from one pair to another. We went to dinner afterwards to celebrate my new-found sight.

Much smarter looking with these!

With new glasses and a new prescription for contacts, it’s kind of like upgrading your TV to HD. I mean, I could see ok, but now everything is so crisp and in focus. All you SC drivers out there — you’re safe now. I can read all the road signs again. Haha.

Part gentleman, part redneck, mostly southern and all American. He’s passionate about his family, his country and his right to bare arms.

While I spend a good bit of time with my parents, it is not often I hang out with just my dad. Maybe it’s because my mom and I are so alike. We tend to grab lunch or go shopping together a good bit. Plus, I don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call her at the drop of a hat. It’s kind of unusual for us to go a few days with out at least checking in “to chat.”

Because my dad and I rarely plan specific time together, I figured a daddy/daughter date would be a fun outing to add to my “27-week” list. When I asked him to take me shooting, I could hear the excitement in his voice. He immediately carved time out of his Saturday afternoon to take me.

Dad owns a 30-something acre tract of land out in the middle of nowhere that he bought at an IRS auction three years ago. I had heard all about it, but never actually went to go see it. This shooting escapade was the prime time for a tour, as well as a gun lesson.

The land is gorgeous with rolling hills, big boulders, several grassy knolls and a creak running down the side.  I think what surprised me the most was seeing Dad in his “natural habitat.”  He loves being out there, and it shows with how much time and work he’s put into perfecting the property for deer hunting. He’s cut roads, planted deer plots, built deer stands and installed a “game camera.”

Maybe his goal was to flip the land when he first bought it, but I’m pretty sure this is going to be a long-term relationship. And honestly, I don’t blame him. If I got that much joy out of something, I would keep it, too.

At the end of the tour, we made make-shift targets and fired a few rounds with his revolver. It was a great way to end our afternoon play date.

Dad uses a sharpie for our targets.

Fire away!!

Reload

The land is like my dad’s giant playground. The tractor and the 4-wheeler are his toys. Being out there with him today reminded me how important it is to find the things in life that make you happy and embrace them with all you’ve got. There are plenty of adults out there who take themselves too seriously and have forgotten how to have fun. I’m glad my dad isn’t one of them.

Dad’s furry friend (Bailee) joined us for the afternoon.

Zombie movie, check!

Well, one item has officially been checked off the list! The 27 Week Challenge is underway.

After much deliberation as to which zombie we would watch, my friends and husband finally settled on 28 Days Later.

To my surprise, I enjoyed it. Well, some of it. I hate scary movies. I jump at loud noises, squeal in horror when something bad is obviously about to happen and, yes, if it gets too graphic, I cover my eyes.

In fact, Julie apologized a little too enthusiastically when 28 Days Later was voted as “movie of the night.”

“It’s a good movie! You’ll just have to get over the scary parts!”

And she giggled when I covered my face, just peeking out of my fingers. *shakes head*

But who wouldn’t if some guy is getting his eye balls poked out?! Ugh. Gross!

Overall it was a good evening, except for the meal planning. Apparently, if you want chicken for dinner, and you plan to cook it in a crock pot, you should start the process before 3:30 that afternoon.

Our evening went as follows: 1) popcorn, 2) dessert, 3) zombies 4) chicken and veggies. I guess if I was a proper southern lady, this would embarrass me. Haha. Proper. Anyway, food was served and fun was had. That’s what matters right?

Well, it’s here. The first week of my 27-week challenge. And the funny part? I’m not sure which item will be lucky number one.

Obviously, all the water related activities are out for the moment.

Cheers to the beginning of this new adventure!

See the list of goals!