The Bateman Beat

Aloha!

2009-07-23T09:00:00.003-05:00

We had Hawaiian Luau day at work last week. We all had to make something to bring in. I found a recipe for Pina Colada Cheesecake, it was incredible! I made a 9" one to bring to the office, but I had extra crust, filling, and topping so I made Jesson a little baby one in a ramekin. I took a picture because I am slightly obsessed with my food creations. The recipe is below as well.

PINA COLADA CHEESECAKE

This cheesecake is baked in a water bath, which allows it to cook at a slower, more even temperature. The texture was so nice-light, almost fluffy. Not the heavy dense cheesecake you might be used to. It is really a nice recipe. A hint-if your springform pan isn't completely watertight, be sure and wrap a couple of layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the pan to prevent water from seeping in and making the crust soggy.

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup shredded coconut, toasted
1 stick butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together the crust ingredients and press into bottom and up sides of aa 8 or 9” springform pan. (Wrap heavy duty foil around bottom of pan, 2 layers, so the water bath doesn’t seep into the crust.) Set in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Filling:
3 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup coconut milk(I used the thickest part from a can of coconut milk)
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 vanilla bean
½ teaspoon coconut extract(can omit if you don’t want a stronger coconut flavor)
3 tablespoons dark rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

Combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer). Cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Be sure to scrape down the bowl between each egg. Add coconut milk, seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, lemon zest, coconut extract and rum. Blend until smooth and creamy, but do not overbeat.

Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place the pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done. This can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from the oven and carefully lift out of the water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and refrigerator until overnight.

Topping:
1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup water
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 cup rum
½ cup toasted coconut
½ cup toasted macadamia nuts or pecans, chopped

Place pineapple in a small saucepan. Stir the cornstarch and sugar together and add to the pineapple. Heat to boiling. Cook and stir until clear and thick, about 2 minutes. Take off heat and cool. Add the rum and stir until combined.

When topping is cool, spread over top of cheesecake and sprinkle the toasted coconut and chopped nuts on top.

Ooops

2009-07-23T08:54:00.003-05:00

Jesson and I grocery shop in cycles. We'll usually go to the store, load up on everything, and then not go again for 3 weeks or so. This means that by the end of the three week cycle we're getting pretty low on everything. Recently, when that happened, we were grilling one of the last steaks we had for dinner when my mom called. She had made dinner and wanted to invite us over. You didn't have to ask us twice, it was bound to be better than whatever we were going to try and put together. So we headed over and had a great time. As we are leaving, Jesson says, "I don't think I turned off our grill..." In the excitement of having real food not cooked by us we left the house and completely forgot about the steak we had been making. By the time we got home, it was fairly well done. Below are the results.

Living a Nightmare

2009-04-08T18:10:00.008-05:00

As a horse owner, there are a few things that you live in fear of. Colic, torn ligaments and tendons, nails through hooves, trailer accidents, etc. The last in that list happened to me on Saturday. I hope it never happens again. It was easily the most helpless I have felt in my entire life. Here is what happened.

My friend Jan and I were going about two hours north of here to Misty Morning Hounds to compete in a Hunter Pace. It is a 5 mile course that is timed but you do not know the time when you start out, you have to go at the pace that you think is most reasonable. The team closest to the Pace time wins.

We met at the barn at about 5:30am and fed our two horses and got everything packed into the trailer. We loaded the boys up and headed out. We had gone about 5 miles and were almost to the interstate when we felt a small bump. We looked at eachother and Jan eased off the gas and gently applied the break. That is when all hell broke loose.

The trailer must have come off the ball on the hitch because all of a sudden the truck was shoved from behind (by the 5-6K pounds of trailer and horse behind us!) and was spun almost 180 degrees, so that we were now facing into oncoming traffic. The trailer jack knifed and then whipped around behind the truck, breaking all attachment to the truck at that point (safety chains included) The trailer then took off on its own across the six lanes of traffic and headed straight towards a curb, house, and irrigation ditch all at once. All I could do was watch my horse in this death trap as it flew towards the other side of the road.

Jan and I were both fine. We jumped from the truck and she ran for the horses while I grabbed the phone and called 911. Amazingly enough, both boys were completely fine and were munching their hay when we got to them, muttering about crappy women drivers. The pictures tell the rest of the story, except that we couldn't get the horses out of the trailer! The bottom of the trailer was too close to the ground and the ramp wouldn't open. A few beatings with a crow bar later by one determined tow truck driver and we were able to get them out.

It all started on the left of this picture near that tree. That is where the trailer hit the truck and spun us around. Then the trailer flew across all these lanes of traffic and ended up in the ditch.

When we got over to it, this is what we saw. That is Reno's butt on the right for those of you that wanted to know. You can see how close it got to these people's house. There was apparently a woman working in her office in this corner of the house, so thankful the trailer stopped where it did!
This was the view of the left side of the trailer. The front was crumpled in and the hitch was buried in the ground. This is why we buy STEEL framed trailers!
This was the view from the other side of the trailer. You can see how far off the ground the trailer actually was. This was about 3 1/2 - 4 feet off the ground.

This was what the boys did while they waited for us to bust them out. Notice that Copperfield took way more advantage of the hay net than Reno! If they had been in there much longer, we were going to make Reno share some of his! Also, in this picture you can see there is no bar in front of Reno. When we loaded him there was a steel bar there. With the "sudden stop" he crashed through the bar and it was laying on the ground.

Engrish

2009-04-01T18:03:00.001-05:00

Mom ordered Dad a motorcycle jacket for his birthday. It came from Thailand and this is the note that was inside:

Jesson in the News

2009-03-29T23:00:00.002-05:00

Jesson has been practicing a form of martial arts called "Krav Maga" for over 6 months now. They did an article on his gym and though he wasn't quoted in the article, they used a picture of he and his instructor practicing. Below is the picture with the caption and then the full article. Enjoy!

Jesson Bateman, 27, and Steven Faison, 23, warm up with some krav maga techniques as instructor Steve Del Castillo looks on.

Premier Martial Arts of Tampa teaches Israeli fighting system krava maga

By Mike Camunas, Times Staff Writer In Print: Thursday, March 26, 2009

LUTZ
Defense wins games. • That's an old saying in sports. And though in the krav maga classes hosted by Premier Martial Arts of Tampa, there are no games or sport applications, it can, however, win a battle. • In some cases, the battle of life or death.

"Its only purpose is to get home alive at the end of the day," Shihan and instructor of krav maga Steve Del Castillo said. "It really is a practical self defense technique. Everybody needs self defense nowadays, and this is one that keeps you on the defensive."

Krav maga (pronounced krahv magah) is used on a day-to-day basis by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) including their Special Forces Units, Israeli police and Internal Security branches. In the United States, it's used by the NYPD, the FBI and the U.S. Armed Forces. It originated in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld, its primary founder, who fled Czechoslovakia to the British Palestine Mandate, now Israel, where it was further developed by the defense forces.

The form is more of a survival system, considered to be a modern street-fighting system, designed to be used against armed and unarmed attackers. This form uses a variety of punches, kicks, chokes, bear hugs, headlocks, grabs and defenses against multiple attackers and assailants armed with any sort of weapon. During the class, participants will team up on each other, as well as use plastic handguns to simulate situations.

But krav maga isn't about going all Steven Seagal on someone. It's more like going all Jackie Chan.

"My old instructor used to say, 'Not real pretty, but real hard,' " Del Castillo said. "It's not quite as much of an art as it is martial. It's a fighting system used to defend yourself, not beat someone up."

Columbus Blue Jackets?

2009-03-27T22:47:00.002-05:00

Buddy and I went to the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets game this past Tuesday. Apparently they are an official NHL team. We had never heard of them. We think they meant to call themselves the Yellow Jackets and just got confused. We didn't care because our seats were 7 rows from the glass! The game was very close but the Lightning managed to pull it off 2-1 in overtime! Buddy and I both had a ton of fun!

2009-03-27T22:37:00.002-05:00

On March 20th and 21st my Mom and I went to Time Out for Women in Orlando. It is put on by Deseret Book and has become an annual tradition of ours since the event started back in 2003. There are inspirational speakers and song writers and it truly does feel like a time out from life. For those two days you rememer why we're here and where we're going and what is important in life. You also remember that, no matter how you were feeling when you first got there, we are all daughters of our Heavenly Father and are stronger than we think. There are still a few events left this year and, if you've never been, I can't recommend it enough. Here is a link to their website to see if there are any events in your area: http://deseretbook.com/time-out

This year, there was a new presenter there by the name of Mark Mabry. He is a photographer who did an entire series on the life of Christ. His pictures are amazing, but, the stories that go along with each of them are equally amazing. The presentation he gave was very humbling as was his own personal story. It reminded me that we each have internal work to do and that we each have talents to magnify. Here is a link to his website and more information about his photographs which have been assembled into a book called "Reflections of Christ": www.reflectionsofchrist.org

New Job!

2009-03-27T21:41:00.002-05:00

I started a new job about two weeks ago, on March 16th. I work for USAA in their Member Relationship division. I love my new job! Here are a few of the perks:

On Site Gym: This is not just any gym. It is amazing, state of the art! All the treadmills/stair steppers/elipticals have their own flat screen tv's with headphone jacks and DVD players, so you can watch whatever you want while you are working out! They have work out clothes there for you that you just throw down the laundry shoot when you are done. They have a sauna and showers with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hair spray, hair gel, blowdryers, straightners, q-tips, cotton balls...you name it! They said they don't want anyone to have any excuses not to work out! Plus they have group fitness classes before work and a few during the day so you can go on your lunch breaks. Two days last week, during lunch, I took a yoga class. Too cool!

The Cafeteria: Yes, yes, I love food. But this is not regular cafeteria food. This is gourmet, fresh salad and pasta bar made exactly how you want it! The menus change all the time and there are always healthy options. Plus, the healthier you eat, the cheaper it is! For example, there are three fresh soups everyday and the healthy soup is always cheaper than the other two. Even in the vending machines, the water is cheaper than the Diet Coke which is cheaper than the regular Coke. They said they want to encourage people to make healthier eating choices. If you don't feel like eating in the cafeteria, you can eat in one of the two break rooms on each floor that overlook the lake.

Covered Parking: There is a six story garage with plenty of parking for everyone. This may not seem exciting to some people, but for those of us that have walked out to our cars in the middle of July in Florida only to have our skin melt the second we got in, you know how exciting covered parking is! Plus, during the rainy season this summer, I will not need my umbrella! Yay!

Flexible Schedule: Once my training is over I will be moving to a four day work week. I will go from driving over 300 miles per week to only driving about 160 and I get a whole extra day off!

So those are the highlights of my new job. In this economy I am very thankful to be employed, but even more thankful given my new working conditions!

4 Years and Counting!

2009-02-23T22:09:00.004-05:00

February 18th marked our 4th anniversary. We both agreed that it feels like we just got married yesterday but at the same time feels like we have been married forever, if that makes any sense!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-22T22:25:00.013-05:00

Valentine's Day this year started with Jesson surprising me with a beautiful bouquet of yellow Tulips and a very sweet card that said "I Love You".

That evening Jesson and I went to a cooking class with my parents. The class was a ton of fun and the food was amazing! Below are pictures of each of the courses.

We started with an oyster shooter. It was a single oyster in a cream sauce. I am not an oyster fan but I thought it was fantastic!

Next was a round of Camembert cheese that had been warmed and melted in the oven with sauteed wild mushrooms and walnuts on top. We ate that on top of a thinly sliced french bread.

Our first main dish was a pasta with a lobster cream sauce. Those are fresh chunks of lobster on top of the pasta, they just melted in your mouth!

Next was a thinly sliced, herb rubbed steak over a bed of arugula with a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice with fresh shaved parmesan cheese.

For dessert there was a chocolate cupcake with creme fraiche, a balsamic reduction, and fresh berries.

We all had a great time and will hopefully be going back for another class soon!

Big Cat Rescue

2009-02-22T22:03:00.009-05:00

Jesson has started volunteering at the Big Cat Rescue right here in Tampa. Their website is: www.bigcatrescue.org and their purpose is:

"Big Cat Rescue, a non profit educational sanctuary, is devoted to rescuing and providing a permanent home for exotic (i.e. wild, not domestic) cats who have been abused, abandoned, bred to be pets, retired from performing acts, or saved from being slaughtered for fur coats, and to educating the public about these animals and the issues facing them in captivity and in the wild.

The sanctuary is home to the most diverse population of exotic cats in the world, with 16 species and subspecies of wild cat represented among more than 100 residents. These include tigers, lions, liger, leopards, cougars, bobcats, lynx, ocelots, servals, caracals and others, many of whom are threatened, endangered, or now extinct in the wild."

Below are some of the new "friends" that Jesson has made at the rescue:

Sabre the Black Leopard:
Aspen Echo the Cougar:

Zeus the Siberian Lynx:

Cheetaro the Leopard:

China Doll the Bengal Tiger:

Grace the Ocelot:

Zabu the White Tiger:

Cameron the Lion:

Hockey Night in.....Tampa?

2009-02-22T21:49:00.005-05:00

Jesson and I have had the chance to go to two different hockey games here in Tampa recently and have had a ton of fun! The first was the Islanders vs. the Lightning (Tampa won!). The second was the night before our 4th anniversary, the Lightning were playing the Chicago Blackhawks, who were Jesson's favorite team growing up. The Blackhawks won in the end, but not before Steve Stampko's of the Lightning scored a hat-trick!

West Edmonton Mall

2009-02-22T21:38:00.004-05:00

While we were in Canada we took a day trip up to Edmonton, about 3 hours to the north. We visited Jesson's Aunt Kirsti and Uncle Brad as well as their little girl Skye. While there, we went to the West Edmonton Mall, which has a pirate ship, water park, skating rink, and much more all inside the mall! Below are a few pictures from "West Ed" as it is known.

Christmas Day 2008

2009-02-22T21:13:00.011-05:00

Christmas Day was spent with the Novaks here in Tampa. The day after Christmas we flew to Calgary to spend 10 days with Jesson's family. Once again, we are so thankful that we were able to spend time around the holidays with both families!

Ryan had fun with his wrapping....
...and shared some of it with Nano!

The boys all put together Ryan's new computer.

Buddy hugged Mom, it was a rare event!

One of the gifts I gave Jesson was personalized Jones soda Rootbeer.

Jesson and I always take a day and go to Banff when we are up in Canada. On our way back to Calgary, we stopped in the small town of Canmore and got dessert at a small French restaurant. It was good and, due to the poor weather, we were the only ones there so we had excellent service!

We had strawberry crepes with chocolate sauce...

...and maple terrine with maple sauce.

Jesson had the change to play hockey the night before we left. He has not gained weight, those are hockey pads!

Christmas Eve Ride

2009-02-22T20:48:00.006-05:00

On Christmas Eve Nano came out to the barn with me and took a spin around the pasture with Reno and I, and then decided that he needed to ride on Reno as well! He puts his front paws up on Reno's front legs and I can lean down and pick him up and put him in the saddle. Reno is a very good and patient boy to stand still for all of this! Jesson came out with us to take a few pictures. It was a great way to spend the morning.

It's a race! I wonder who will win...

Reno congratulating Nano on a well run race!

Time to go back to the barn. Nano was too tired to walk!

The face of a very happy dog!

Christmas Light Date Night

2009-02-22T20:33:00.007-05:00

Around the middle of December, Jesson called me at work and told me that he had planned a date night and I should pick him up at the mall and we would go out. He kept what we were doing a surprise. He had and address and put it into our GPS and I just had to drive wherever it told me to go! After a little over an hour of driving, we arrived at a botanical garden in Largo. I was a little confused because I thought you had to look at flowers during the day. I got the idea when I saw this sign greeting us:

The entire garden had been decorated with Christmas lights and we spent an hour or so strolling through the garden and looking at all the different lights, like the gingerbread house below:

My favorite was the polar bear pulling an eskimo on a sled:

Jesson liked the turtle the best:

Someone was nice enough to take our picture under a gazebo:

Despite the many signs posted around, we never had any trouble with gators:

GO GATORS!

2008-12-08T22:33:00.005-05:00

They did it! They beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game and now have a shot at the National Title! Gotta love them Gators! You know where we'll be on January 8th!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-04T19:33:00.007-05:00

The Bateman's sent us adorable hats for the dogs. So naturally, Jesson being his Father's son, we had a photo shoot! I am 110% sure that we had WAY more fun than the dogs did. Here's what happened:

First we had to get them to all line up in front of the Christmas Tree so they could get dressed:

Then we took several embarassing pictures:

Finally, we had to reward them with the bribes that made them sit still in the first place!

The dogs say "Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the hats!"

"E" stands for Eliminated

2008-10-05T19:09:00.004-05:00

Well, Reno and I competed in our first show since April. It was a doozy! It took place at Fannin Hill Farm in Brooksville, FL. It was a 3-Phase competition which meant that Reno and I had to compete in three completely different phases. They are:

1. Dressage: Takes place on the flat (meaning no jumping). You have to memorize a set pattern around a ring. You change speed between walk, trot, and canter at designated points throughout the ring. You are judged on rhythm, smoothness, and your horses submission (this just means it shouldn't look like the two of you are having a fist fight trying to get around the arena). Overall, it should look smooth, balanced, and effortless. Here is a link to the pattern I had to ride and the layout of the ring if anyone is interested.

2. Stadium Jumping: A course of 10-15 jumps are set up in an arena. You have a designated time to get over the jumps in the pre-determined order. If you go over time, you get faults. If you knock any jumps down, fall off, or your horse stops at any of the jumps, you get faults. Faults are bad, you don't want any. Here is an example of a typical course. These jumps were higher than what I was doing, and the layout of any two courses is never the same, but this is a good example. There is no set way to get to each of the jumps. It is up to the rider to walk the course ahead of time and decide which way will be the quickest while also giving their horse ample time to analyze the jump and make it over cleanly.

3. Cross Country: A course of 10-15 jumps are set up over approximately 1500 meters. Again, you have a designated amount of time to get over all of them in the pre-determined order. These jumps are different though. They do not fall down. They are made up of logs, walls, and other solid objects. You have to be very careful with your approach to these because they are unforgiving. Here is an example of a low level jump (the type I do) and a very high level jump (what you see professionals and Olympians doing).

So, with the 3-Phase 101 completed, I can now tell you how Reno and I did. Placement-wise, the answer is not very well. But, overall, we accomplished what I wanted us to for this outing. It gave us a great place to start for show season and helped me outline goals for the coming months. So, without further ado, our results:

Dressage: This was the first phase we competed in. We received a score of 39, which is ok. A winning score would have been around 29. We were not the best, but we were not the worst either. The only bad part was, coming around one turn, Reno stepped out of the ring for a split second. This immediately eliminated us from the competition and took us out of the placings. We were still allowed to complete the other two phases, however, it was without any chance to place. Reno actually performed much better than I expected him to. And again, it gave us a great baseline for the upcoming show season.

Stadium Jumping: We jumped everything cleanly (meaning he did not knock anything down and he did not refuse) however, we were a little over time so we received 6 time faults. I was not upset about this (obviously, we'd been eliminated already, what's to get upset about!) but I felt we took the appropriate amount of time for us. I made sure Reno had a good experience and did not feel rushed to the jumps. We will get faster with each and every competition, but this was a good starting place for us.

Cross Country: I was least pleased with our performance in this phase. Of the 12 jumps, Reno refused 5 of them, meaning he did not jump them the first time I presented them to him. This meant I had to circle around and try again. This took up valuable time and was also not a very confidence building experience for either of us. This will be an area we focus on over the next few months. Unfortunately, this is also the hardest area to practice. The reason being, while you may make a horse very comfortable with the jumps that you have access to from your own farm, Cross Country is all about the horse being brave over fences he has never seen before at a place he's never been to. The horse must be able to see a fence and jump over it a few seconds later. Any hesitation typically results in a refusal. So, we will most likely have to trailer to other farms and competition venues to brush up on this.

And that was pretty much my entire Saturday. I had to be at the farm at 5:30am to feed Reno breakfast and get him on the trailer, and we didn't get back to the farm until about 6:30pm. Jesson was able to come and cheer us on for the dressage and stadium portions. I always feel better when he is at a competition with me, he has a very calming effect. Below is a picture of Reno and I over jump #6 on the Cross Country jump, the Tire Jump (for obvious reasons!)

Date Night

2008-09-12T17:54:00.005-05:00

Each week, Jesson and I switch off who is in charge of Date Night. This week it was my turn. I decided I would cook Jesson dinner and then we could go see a movie. The food turned out so well I had to take pictures. Below was our "Date Night Dinner":

These are "Scallop Sliders" (mini-burgers) courtesy of Paula Deen. They have scallops, chives, cilantro, lime juice, and bread crumbs. We also had them with a Cilantro Lime Mayo. Yum!

These are parmesan crusted steak fries. They have a really crispy parmesan outside and a really soft, french fry inside.

And of course dessert. We had Peanut Butter Parfaits with shaved chocolate on top.

Turk's Doggles

2008-09-07T10:02:00.005-05:00

Whenever we take Turk anywhere in the car he likes to stick his head out the window. The only problem is, his little eyelids are always blown back and he gets bugs in his eyes sometimes. Enter: Doggles. Yes, this is actually a real product. They are goggles specifically made for dogs. At first, Turk wasn't too sure if he liked them, but once he stuck his head out the window and realized the air wasn't blowing in his eyes anymore he loved them! Below are two pictures from his first experience with his new Doggles.

The New Car

2008-09-05T21:07:00.003-05:00

When we lived in Gainesville Jesson was able to take the bus to school leaving the car for me to take to work. Now that we have moved to Tampa and live in the suburbs (away from the crazy college students) we need an additional car to get each of us where we need to go. After a lot of shopping around and test driving we settled on the Honda CRV. We wanted the space of an SUV with the gas mileage of a car. We found a great deal on a used one about an hour away from us. We brought it home tonight and love it! Hondas are the best!

The New House

2008-08-31T19:32:00.009-05:00

Below are finally some pictures of the new house (at least the parts of it that were clean when I took the pictures!) I tried to take the pictures in a logical progression so that people could tell where all the rooms were and how they connected. Hopefully it worked. I am never able to do that so maybe some of you out there with better spatial perception will get it.

Here is the front of our house from the street. That is our little lawn that Jesson mows.

This is the view from the front door. On the right, where you can see the wall ending (past the 2nd table) is where the kitchen is. If you were to turn right immediately upon entering the house there are two small bedrooms. We use one of them as an office and another as a workout/scrapbooking/storage room. Neither room was particularly clean, so you don't get to see them right now, which is why I'm telling you about them.
This is a better view of our entryway that you could sort of see in the picture above.

If you walked in the front door and turned to the left this is what you would see. In the bottom left of this picture you can see the gray carpet that is in the entryway (just to give you your bearings). This is supposed to be the "formal" dining room. We don't have formal dining room furniture, so we turned it into a reading corner. We are currently working on upholstering two large (30" x 30") ottomans (one for each chair) that will make reading much more comfortable. For those of you that have been to our old house, that bookcase is actually the top part of the hutch that used to be in our dining room. We took it down, added a base, and painted it dark brown. Voila, instant bookcase. The door on the right hand side of the picture is our bedroom. Also not particularly clean so you will not be seeing it on this tour.

This is our family room. The door on the left hand side is our bedroom door again so you've just turned slightly to the right. The sliding doors on the right side of the picture go out to our backyard. More on that in a second.

A different view of our living room. Again, for those of you that have been to our old house, that is the same coffee table and end table, they just got painted along with the bookcase. We are tired of light colored furniture. The sliding doors lead to our covered lanai and fenced in back yard (which we and the dogs LOVE!) If you click on the picture to make it larger you can see it a little more clearly.

This picture was taken standing in front of the entertainment center and facing our kitchen and eating area. The front door is now to the right in this picture. We love the more open feel to this kitchen and the larger pantry (the double white doors on the left side).

And last but not least, this is the wall that goes from the kitchen (on the left) to the entryway (on the right). We still have some painting and furniture updating to do, and we are working on getting window treatments for the whole house, but it's a good start and a BIG step up from where we were living before. We love being in a house instead of an apartment or townhouse. It feels much more private and much more ours. Thanks for taking the tour, come visit anytime!

Haircut

2008-08-31T19:17:00.004-05:00

Jesson has had this idea for a while now that I should try cutting his hair with a pair of clippers. For those of you that don't know Jesson very well, he is VERY picky about his hair. Which is usually a plus because it always looks nice. It was not a plus when he was wanting me to be responsible for it's maintenance. That was WAY too much pressure. We decided to give it a try anyway (with lots of disclaimers from me that I had never cut human hair before and the lony time I had used a pair of clippers previous to this was to shave my horse). Below are the results. Not too bad for my first time. It's a little shorter on top than we would have liked so we'll just have to remember that an 8 guard on a clipper really is too short for on top. Past that, we'll probably try it again.

The Move

2008-08-31T19:04:00.004-05:00

Okay, so it's actually been a month since we moved, but I never really wrote about it. No time like the present! The move itself was...not fun. We thought we were really prepared, we packed as much as we thought we could ahead of time. Let's just say you should never ask us to help you move, because we stink at it! We were up at 6:30 Saturday morning and didn't finish until 11pm in Tampa, and we didn't even get the truck unloaded that day! We had to unload it the next day because it took us so long to finish everything in Gainesville that we were exhausted by the time we finally made it down south. The day started with us dumping a full can of paint down the stairs (of course it opened and spun all the way from the top to the bottom). And really, it didn't get much better from there. I do have to say though, Jesson and I both agreed that we LOVED walking away from that house for the last time, we do not miss it at all! Below are the few pictures we did get that were move related, and they're not much.

When we were moving things out of the old house it was much easier to just leave the door open and go back and forth to the truck, rather than having to open and shut the door. This left us with a dilemma as to what to do with the dogs. They couldn't run around on their own, and we didn't have a back yard to put them in. If we closed them in a bedroom they would scratch the door. So we put up the baby gate and they watched us as best they could. They weren't happy about it, but they survived.

Buddy helped us unpack at the new house. Yes, that is him sleeping on our office floor. We didn't get much work out of him that day.

Our Adorable Nephew!

2008-08-07T20:12:00.004-05:00

Our precious nephew, Baron Tanner Bateman, was born on July 28th, 2008. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and is adorable! The picture below is of him at his first hockey game. It doesn't get more Canadian than that! The hat he is wearing is a gift from his Uncle Jesson and I, we are so glad it kept his little ears warm! We don't get to meet Baron until December, but we have no doubt his cuteness will hold till then! Congratulations Nate and Rory! You can see more pictures of Baron on Nate and Rory's blog, there is a link on the right hand side of our page.

Time to Move On

2008-07-20T12:39:00.003-05:00

Well, Jesson and I are moving. As we mentioned earlier, he was accepted into a Graduate Program at the University of South Florida starting at the end of August. We will be moving to Valrico (a suburb to the south east of Tampa where my parents live). We have found a really cute 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a fenced backyard for the boys and a screened in lanai for us. We will be moving this Saturday (the 26th) and are really excited about it. We have been packing for the last week and our house is in serious disarray. We didn't want to pay for boxes (they're expensive!) so we have been driving around to liquor stores and picking up free boxes. One day, we went on a real spree and went to 4 different stores in one day. We got A LOT of boxes from that. Below are the results piled up in our dining room (yes, somewhere below that mound is a table and 4 chairs!)

Key West, Fl

2008-07-16T20:00:00.019-05:00

We had the chance to spend a week in Key West with Jesson's parents. It was a ton of fun! The hotel was gorgeous and the city was so interesting! We saw performers on the pier one night, shopped on Duval, ate a ton of good food, went snorkeling, and even saw a drag show! It was a very fun and full week! Below are a few pictures of our adventures.

Jesson and I at the Southernmost Point.

Sign at Blue Heaven, one of the best restaurants we went to while we were there.

Jesson battled a sponge monster on Duval Street.

We found a cool shop selling masks.

Jesson got put in the stocks for jay walking....just kidding.

Jesson ordered a burger with shrimp on it, the waiter was very confused!

Hmmm......

Jesson is a pirate and I'm his wench.

Waiting for the drag show to start.

The fabulous Randy Roberts dressed as Cher.

Taking the boat out to go snorkeling.

Jesson's Dad checking out the fish.

Just a sign we found while out wandering one day.....

Hanging out on Duval Street before the sunset.

At the pier at sunset.

The last rays of the day.

Outta Gas...

2008-07-16T19:03:00.007-05:00

Jesson has this rule. He calls it the 1/4 tank rule. Allegedly, when the gas needle reaches 1/4 tank, we are supposed to fill it up. The trouble is, if I get a little busy or don't feel like stopping I might let the needle get a little past a 1/4 tank. Well, when Buddy came to visit I let the needle get way past 1/4 tank, so far in fact that we ran out of gas on our way to WalMart. Luckily, there was a nice bench for us to sit on while we waited for the AAA guy to bring us more gas. So the moral of the story kids......always pay your AAA membership!

We managed to push the car off the main road onto a side street near campus.

Jesson and Buddy waiting........

.....and waiting.

My view from laying down on the bench waiting.

First Horse Show

2008-07-16T18:37:00.007-05:00

Jesson competed in his first horse show a few weeks back. He rode Maggie who he has been practicing with in his lessons. They entered 3 classes and earned a 1st, 3rd, and 4th. I went along as groom, photographer, and horse holder. Below are a few pictures from the show as well as a short video of Jesson doing part of his course. Unfortunately, before he finished the camera ran out of space. Jesson said it was a very rookie photographer mistake! It's true, he never runs out of space while he's taping me competing!

Jesson and his trainer, Pat Deasy, discussing the course ahead of time.

Jesson and Maggie ready to go in the ring.

Taking a jump in nice style.

The results of lots of practice and hard work!

Graduation

2008-07-16T18:22:00.004-05:00

Below is a short video of Jesson's name being called at graduation and him walking across the stage and shaking the President of UF's hand.

Commencement Ceremony

2008-06-07T18:21:00.008-05:00

Below are a bunch of pictures from Jesson's graduation ceremony. We were so glad that Grandma and Grandpa Bateman, Aunt Terri, Eric and Taylor Fletcher, both set of parents, and Ryan and Buddy were able to come to the graduation.

Graduation Pictures

2008-06-07T17:55:00.011-05:00

Below are a few of Jesson's graduation pictures. We let Jesson and his dad loose on the campus and they came back with some great pictures. I especially love the one with the pom-poms and the feather boa that they borrowed from another graduate! Enjoy!

Congratulations!

2008-05-01T15:48:00.000-05:00

Jesson is owed congratulations on two fronts this week. First, this Sunday he will graduate from the University of Florida with his Bachelor's Degree in Health Science. Second, we just received his letter of acceptance into the University of South Florida's Molecular Medicine Graduate Program! This means we are moving to Tampa this summer to begin a whole new chapter of our lives. We are very excited! Way to go Jesson!

Random Shots

2008-04-25T12:48:00.007-05:00

Here are a few pictures that don't really all fit together, but they don't fit anywhere else either!

Sometimes I give Reno extra food to make him eat a supplement or medicine or something and I always soak it with water. I wet it down for two reasons. One, it makes him take in more water, which is always good. And two, it mixes up the medicine with the sweet feed and camouflages the taste. It always makes me laugh when he eats it because he makes these slurping noises and gets it all over his face, like in the picture below:

Reno at the farm, being good and eating his 2nd dinner.
I got a new blanket recently. Jesson and I are both cover stealers so when we would go to sleep at night it was every man for himself. One of us always ended up out in the cold. To solve the problem I bought a new blanket. Little did I know the dogs would love it and take it over! One day I went upstairs and found Turk sleeping on top of it...

...and Griffon sleeping under it!

Every once in a while when Griffon and Nano are both SUPER tired they will sleep together in the same bed. It's always cute to catch them when it happens.

Turk when he was a puppy. He is now more than twice this size! We jokingly call him "Shamu" because he is big and spotted!

Road Trip!

2008-04-25T12:28:00.012-05:00

A few months ago we went with Buddy to check out a puppy he was thinking about buying. Obviously, he went ahead and bought the puppy as we have already put up a post about it, but we had a few pictures from our trip down there that we liked that we wanted to put up as well. Enjoy!

Nano always like to sit up front on my lap.

Griffon doing surveillance out the side window.
Teaching Turk how to do surveillance. Maybe one day Griffon will trust him enough to let him keep watch over one side of the car all by himself.....maybe.

Turk making friends with the dog in the car next to us.

Falling asleep after a hard days work.

All of our dogs LOVE Buddy. They get very excited when he comes to visit!

Griffon ultimately found a place to sleep, in the Captain's seat of course!

Buddy is about the only person Nano will leave me for.

Turk being a happy puppy.

Book Sale!

2008-04-25T11:01:00.003-05:00

Every six months in Gainesville (April and October) the Friends of the Library host a book sale. It's a huge warehouse FILLED with every type of book you can imagine. New fiction books to old classics, there is something for everyone. Jesson and I go everytime and always have a blast! Below are a few pictures showing the crowds. We always go on the opening day and get there early so we can get in and get all the good stuff! Jesson usually heads straight for the computer software and sci-fi sections while I hit up the cookbooks and craft sections. We meet up afterwards and compare loot! It's a lot of fun and we always look forward to it!

Miss Maggie Moo

2008-04-25T10:52:00.007-05:00

Jesson has been riding for almost a year now. He has come really far and it has been fun watching him learn. He is such a natural on a horse! Below are pictures from some of his lessons. Pat Deasy is his instructor and he rides a Clydesdale mare named Maggie. They are a great team! There is also a picture of his saddle. Yes, he owns his own saddle now! We found it in a tack shop in Ocala and were able to barter more than 25% off the price! On a side note, he and I competed in a pairs competition at the beginning of April and got 4th place! He has the ribbon hanging in our office now!

Jesson's new saddle (18" MW Karl Niedersuss Close Contact):

Taking instructions from Pat:
Giving Maggie a breather between jumps.

Up and over the cross rail.

Practicing his jumping position at the canter.

Fondue for Two!

2008-04-25T10:27:00.007-05:00

Jesson and I love going to the Melting Pot restaurant, but we don't love their prices. We decided to try to make our own fondue at home. It turned out really well! Below are pictures of the meats we used and the sauces and dips we made. Our favorite by far was the Curry Chutney Dipping Sauce, we have made it several times since then and have used it on everything from chicken to vegetables to rice. It is yummy! I've included the recipe at the bottom if anyone wants to try it. It's very easy to make and you can use it on everything!

Below are the meats we cooked. Starting at the top and going clockwise we have chicken breast, Filet Mignon with a Sesame Soy marinade, salmon, plain Filet Mignon, and shrimp in the center.

Below are the dipping sauces. Left to right on the top row we have Green Goddess Dip, Honey Mustard, Wasabi Mayo, and Curry Chutney Sauce. On the bottom from from left to right we have Teriyaki Sauce, Horseradish Sauce, and BBQ sauce.
Our table, all ready and waiting for the dipping to start!

Jesson recovering after fondue night. He ALWAYS lays down on the floor for about 10 minutes after dinner to digest. Thank goodness he doesn't try to do the same thing when we go out to eat!

That is one happy fondue customer!

Curry Chutney Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup mango chutney

1 teaspoon lime juice

2 teaspoons curry powder

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and run for 30 seconds to 1 minute (until sauce is smooth and there are no chunks). Chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. Serve over grilled meat, rice, or vegetables. Enjoy!

Playing Catch-Up...

2008-04-25T09:43:00.008-05:00

So I haven't posted in a while, and now I am WAY behind! I'm going to try and post a bunch, starting with my brother Ryan's birthday! We had him and two of his roommates over for dinner. We had steak, macaroni and cheese, tater tots, and broccoli. (this was HIS menu choice, a compilation of all his favorites!) We also had a layer cake. It was my first time making a layer cake so I took lots of pictures. I ended up using 4 cans of frosting on it, so it was so sweet we could barely eat more than 2 bites of it! Oh well, live and learn! It sure looked pretty though!

Assembling the layers:

"R-23" was in place of Ryan's name and how old he is, though we thought it also sounded like some radioactive isotope...
View after it was cut into:

Ryan's birthday present, gotta love Gushers!

Asian all the way!

It's A Boy!

2008-03-20T12:27:00.004-05:00

Not for us though! Nate and Rory (Jesson's brother and his wife) just found out that they are having a little boy! He is due around August 10th! We are very excited for them! Congratulations Nate and Rory!

And Puppy Makes 4....

2008-03-17T19:17:00.005-05:00

But not for us! Today my brother Buddy went and picked up his very first dog, Rowdy! Rowdy is an 8 week old Shiba Inu. He is Red Sesame in color with white paws and a white chest. He is a very cute puppy and we are very excited for Buddy! Below are a few pictures from Rowdy's first day at home. To learn more about Shiba Inu's click here.

Buddy and Rowdy.

Look at those ears!

Rowdy checking out the yard.

FHTA Clinic

2008-03-17T18:51:00.014-05:00

It seems that clinic season is upon us! This weekend I had the opportunity to participate in the Florida Horse Trial Association Eventing Clinic. It was a ton of fun and Reno and I learned a lot. It was a total of 8 hours of riding over the course of two days so we are both exhausted and taking the next two days off to recuperate! The pictures below are a few that Jesson was kind enough to come out and take while we were practicing the Cross Country phase of the clinic. At the end, there was a mini competition and Reno and I won 1st place in our group! I was very proud of Reno and the progress that we made as a team this weekend!

Turkish came along for the ride (and the chance to swim in the water jump after!)

We worked on our pace. The goal was 350 mpm (meters per minute). Reno and I got it just about spot on.

Taking a warm up fence.

Playing in the water jump.

Out of the water....

into the water.

Down the banks....

...up the banks.

Over a big coop at the end.

Close up picture of the same jump.

Jesson and the Fox...

2008-03-17T18:42:00.008-05:00

Last Wednesday, the 12th, Jesson and I went Fox Hunting. I had been before but this was Jesson's first time out. He rode a Clydesdale mare named Maggie. They were a great team and people around us were surprised that Jesson had only been riding for a short time. Their main comments were that he was such a natural and looked so comfortable. We both had a good time and though we didn't get any action shots, I did take a few of Jesson as he was getting Maggie ready and one of him and Maggie after the hunt. It was a fun morning! To learn more about the type of Fox Hunting we do click Misty Morning Hounds. This is where I board Reno and where we went Hunting on Wednesday morning.

Jesson and Maggie leaving the stall to start the Hunt.

Jesson and Maggie after the Hunt.

Reno snooping in my tack trunk for treats!

Cross Country Jump

2008-03-11T08:44:00.001-05:00

It's a little far away, but it's a cool picture of Reno and I jumping a log at the farm. The little horse with the white face behind us is Mason with my trainer, Audrey, riding.

3 Years and Counting!

2008-02-18T17:58:00.002-05:00

Today marks our 3rd Anniversary. We agree that some days it feels like forever (in a good way, we can't remember not being married) but in other ways it feels like we just went to the temple yesterday. Either way, we love being married and are excited about the years to come!

Our Boys

2008-02-15T20:49:00.010-05:00

Each of our dogs has a very unique personality. Griffon is smart, but very stand-offish. Nano is not smart, but is very sweet and cuddly. Turkish is very independentof people, but loves his brothers. Before we got Turk, Griffon was not much of a cuddler (with people or other dogs). He prefered to sit on a chair by himself out of the fray. Ever since Turk has come he has been sitting with his brothers more and being more cuddly in general. Below are some pictures of the newer, softer Griffon! (and a few other cute pictures we couldn't resist throwing in as well!)

The boys relaxing on the blue chair.
When I cook in the kitchen they like to keep an eye on me from the stairs.

Griffon and Nano like to stay in bed as long as possible in the morning.

Sharing a spot on my office chair.

Keeping Jesson company....

...while he watches football.

Turkish napping in the office.

Turkish and Nano smiling for the camera.

Turkish napping on the couch downstairs.

Long time coming....

2008-02-15T20:42:00.002-05:00

For over three years now I have wanted a 12-Cup Food Processor. Jesson and I would go shopping and I would stare longingly at the ones in the stores. $200 just seemed like too much to spend on it, there was never a time when the purchase seemed justified. Then, like some miracle, I found a way to get one for free!

I work in sales. As an incentive, my company decided to give us points for sales that we brought in. We could use these points at an online website to earn different prizes. When I saw they offered my Food Processor I knew this was my new goal! And finally, after saving points for over a year my food processor has arrived. It has more moving parts than I know what to do with and an instruction manual longer than most novels, but I'm excited! Below is a picture of the new addition to our kitchen. We will be moving some things around to give it a place of honor on the counter!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-15T20:30:00.004-05:00

I've said it before and I know I'll say it a million times more....I have the best husband! A few weeks ago we agreed that he would be in charge of Valentine's dinner and I would be in charge of dessert. I didn't say much about it and left him to his own devices. He sure didn't disappoint! I came home from work on Valentine's Day to find our table had been specially decorated and he had dinner all planned (filet mignon with goat cheese and carmelized onions, grilled portabella mushrooms, and crescent rolls). My dessert turned out well. I chose Chocolate-Glazed Hazelnut Mousse Cake because Jesson loves hazelnuts. It turned out well and we both like it. I added raspberries because they went well with it and made the presentation look nicer! Below are a few pictures from our evening:

Jesson's table decorating.
He put a single heart on my plate.

My finished cake.

Pat Deasy Eventing Clinic

2008-02-15T20:06:00.008-05:00

Last weekend I had the opportunity to participate in an Eventing Clinic taught by Pat Deasy. Pat is an extremely accomplished 3-Day Eventing rider that lives here in North Central Florida. Reno and I learned a lot and have a lot to work on now. She was very helpful and presented the clinic in a very straight forward, informative way. Below are some pictures from the Cross Country phase of the clinic. Jesson video taped the show jumping, but we don't have any pictures from that.

Cantering through the field.
Working in water.

Learning to jump "Coffin Fences".

Learning to canter through the water.

Practicing dropping down into the water.

Ooops....

2008-01-17T16:26:00.000-05:00

So I rear-ended someone, my bad. Luckily it was a 10 year old Saturn with a bumper like a Rubbermaid container and I was only going about 3 mph (my airbags didn't even deploy). Even though there was hardly any damage and I offered to pay for it out of pocket the kid insisted on having the police AND the haz-mat crews come out because his car was "leaking fluid" and he wanted to "make sure the drive train wasn't damaged". I don't know much about cars, but when he said he was worried his drive train was damaged even I had to turn my head so he wouldn't see me laughing. Long story short, I missed an hour of work sitting in the Publix parking lot, the haz-mat crews basically laughed at the guy and the policeman said he wouldn't assign blame or give me a citation (score!). Plus, the kid already had so much damage on his bumper there was no way he was going to be able to pin the cost of an entire replacement on me. So, I learned a lesson in a very cheap way. The picture below is the kids bumper. The red circle at the bottom shows what I did. The rest was already there.

Canadian Christmas!

2008-01-10T09:48:00.001-05:00

Jesson and I were in Canada over Christmas and New Year's and had a great time! There wasn't much snow, but there was lots of family time mixed in with shopping, eating, and movie watching! Nate (Jesson's brother) and his wife Rory announced that they are expecting their first baby in August. This will be the first grandbaby for the Bateman's (and our first niece or nephew!) so we are all excited and eagerly awaiting it's arrival around the middle of August! Jesson's dad has assured all of us the baby is a boy! Below are a few pictures from our trip. Enjoy!

The decorations at the Bateman's house were beautiful! We loved the ornaments hung from the ceiling!

I borrowed Harrison's stocking since he's in El Salvador!

Everyone took a turn wearing the "Santa" hats!

Jesson got a "make-your-own-straw" kit in his stocking. He's testing it out on a homemade bottle of Ginger Beer.

Jesson also got stick on Cowboy Boot Sideburns in his stocking.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-17T10:14:00.000-05:00

Jesson and I wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone! Above is a picture from my work Christmas party. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and being careful when they travel! See you in the New Year!

Turks first Event!

2007-11-18T09:55:00.001-05:00

This weekend I went to Ocala to watch the 3-Day eventing at the Florida Horse Park. As Griffon and Nano are now seasoned horse show attendees, it was time to introduce the new guy on the block to the action and let him get used to it. I couldn't have asked for a more well behaved dog, or a more adored one! I could barely go three feet without someone asking what type of dog he was and telling me how cute he was! Turk made many new friends and received several offers for new homes! In the end he came home with me though! Below are some pictures of his adventure:

Turk hanging out by the water complex, waiting for the action to start.
Keeping an eye on the first horse coming towards us.
Playing coy in the grass.

Waiting in between horses.

Taking a break from the action in the shade behind my chair.

Making new puppy friends. On the left is an Australian Shephard puppy that was 12 weeks old and on the right is a Westie puppy that was 11 weeks old.

By the end of the day Turk was tired and made one last new friend....

who scratched his belly.....

and let him nap in her lap!

Tally Ho!

2007-11-11T18:57:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, the 10th, I was invited to attend the Opening Meet of the Misty Morning Hounds Hunt here in Gainesville. My trainer Audrey and I went and had a ton of fun. Below are the pictures we were able to take and two videos of the action at the end:

Reno and I getting ready to go.
Waiting to leave.

Reno getting impatient!

The blessing of the hounds.

Audrey with her brandy!

View from the "Reno Cam".

During the hunt, trying to find the fox!

Audrey and Mason looking dapper at one of our stops.

Mason would nicker if he didn't know where Reno was at all times!

One of our stops along the way. They had drinks and appetizers available for everyone.

Reno was ready to keep moving!

Reno checking out the hounds and Hunt Master.

Diesel stealing one of the appetizer trays...

All the hounds sharing in his find!

This is the opening when the Hunt Master, Staff, and hounds all came down the hill towards us.

This is the Hunt Master calling the hounds with her horn.

Totally Turkish!

2007-11-11T18:39:00.000-05:00

Well...it has happened again. We have expanded our 4 legged brood by yet another furry friend. Turkish joined the family on Thursday, November 8th. He is a Chocolate Lab and Catahoula Leopard Hound cross. He is ten weeks old and is a bundle of fun! Nano is very excited to have another playmate, Griffon is not too sure about the intruder in his house!

Trick or Treat!

2007-11-03T07:57:00.000-05:00

Each year on Halloween the departments at my office compete to see who can come up with the best Halloween costumes. Only it's almost never only about the costumes. Winning at Halloween requires that you go all out and decorate your office space as well as yourself. In a bid to win this year my department decided to dress up as characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the newer, Johnny Depp version). We then proceeded to decorate our entire department to look as much like the Chocolate Factory as possible. Below are pictures of the madness that ensued!

A "before" shot.
Another "before" shot.

Our Manager Allie (along with all the other managers in the building) cooked breakfast for everyone that morning. It was amazing and we had food for days!

Welcome to Wonka Land!

We had a bubble machine to make things fun.

Our trail of peppermints through our crazy colored grass.

Wonka Bars and Lollipops on the walls.

Lollipops growing out of the crazy grass.

A chocolate fountain of course!

Some spray painted gourds just for fun!

The whole crew. Back row (from left to right) Karen as Violet Beauregard, Jason as Charlie, Lesley as Veruca Salt, Andy as Willy Wonka, Nate as Mike Teevee, Darin as Grandpa, Enrique as Augustus Gloop. Front row (from left to right) all the Oompa Loompas, Rita, me, Dania, Kiki, and Kristen.

Jesson wanted to get in on the fun so he tried on my costume!

Show Time, Take 2

2007-09-09T10:04:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday (Sept. 8th) my trainer Audrey and I went to compete in a horse show at Gray Lily Farm in Havana, Fl. The show went very well with Audrey and I each placing in all of our classes. I got a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in my four classes and was very pleased with the way Reno and I are working together now. We're really starting to become a team and all the hard work is paying off! Here are some pictures from the show:

Reno and I with our first place ribbon.

All of mine and Reno's ribbons hanging on his stall at the show.

Reno inspecting his winnings.

My trainer Audrey with her horse Duncan and their first place ribbon.

Hey Y'All!

2007-09-09T09:50:00.001-05:00

Over Labor Day weekend this year Jesson and I went to Savannah, GA. Neither of us had ever been and we wanted to go on a little adventure not too far from home. The drive was short (only 3 1/2 hours) and the town was new and fun. There were many historic, older homes that took you back to a "Gone With the Wind" era. There were also many wonderful shops, restaurants, and old churches for us to explore. It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Below are some pictures we took while we were there:

This is historic River Street in Savannah. There were many art galleries as well as candy kitchens and souvenir shops along the river.

This was our lunch at the Express Bakery & Deli. This was by far our favorite place in Savannah. We had their Honey Ginger Chicken Sandwich, Homemade Bread Pudding, Curried Cream of Chicken Soup, and Blueberry Danish. It was the best!

Jesson and I found this great kitchen store just across from the bakery. They had all sorts of fun gadgets and even offered cooking classes.

This is Paula Dean's restaurant. There was always a huge crowd outside that was spilling into the street. You had to wait outside for 3-4 hours just to make a reservation! Needless to say, we didn't eat there!

Though we didn't eat at the Paula Dean Restaurant we did shop in her store and get some great sauces and salad dressings that we can't wait to try out!

On our last night in town Jesson and I went out to a very nice dinner at 700 Drayton. We would highly recommend this to anyone who goes to Savannah!

Random Happenings

2007-09-09T09:40:00.001-05:00

Below are some random pictures of things that have happened over the last month or so.

Nano likes to help me when we drive out to the farm.

Mom and Dad came to visit one weekend and the boys decided to
take a nap with Dad on the couch!

That same weekend we went shopping and Mom and I lost all the guys. We found them parked on a bench happily eating ice cream!

Nano got a new coat that he loves very much.

A Bateman and a Baja.....

2007-08-06T17:58:00.000-05:00

Jesson has been taking riding lessons for a few months now and we finally remembered to get some pictures! The horse he rides is named Baja. These pictures were taken while he was practicing on his own. In just a few short months he has progressed very quickly and has even begun working over small jumps!

Jesson working on his posting trot.

Posing for the camera.

Reno had pulled a shoe that day so he napped while Jesson rode.

Oh Canada...

2007-07-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

Jesson and I traveled to Canada earlier this month from the 5th to the 14th to visit his family. What a trip! We went to the Calgary Stampede, floated on tubes down a river, watched chuck wagon races, got family pictures taken, saw world class Show Jumping at Spruce Meadows, went to the temple as a family, took a day trip to Banff, and saw the new Harry Potter movie! We fit everything we could into that week! Below are some pictures from our travels:

Jesson got bored on the plane on the way there.

Jesson is 6'3" so you can see how tall these fences are.

Capone showing good form over the oxer jump.

Me with the winner of the Chrysler Cup, "Black Ice".

This is the Three Sisters range in Western Alberta. You can see it on the drive to Banff. It is my favorite range and I'm glad we got such a clear shot of it on Wednesday.

I made friends with a moose in Banff.

Jesson and Harrison enjoying the Round-Up Center on the Stampede gounds.

A buffalo we met at Stampede.

Jesson thought about joining the Mounties (he just wanted to wear their cool uniform!)

The chuck wagon races, the wildest part of Stampede and our favorite! 32 horses, 16 Outriders, 8 drivers, and 4 wagons all racing on one track at the same time!!

It's Show Time!

2007-06-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

This weekend I competed in my first show with Reno! He was great! It was at Canterbury Equestrian Showplace here in Gainesville, Fl. We placed 2nd in our jumping class and 3rd and 4th in our dressage classes. I am most proud of my dressage placings because I just started training in dressage two months ago and I've never competed in it before! Jesson, my Mom and Dad, my boss Allie, her daughter Emaly, and my co-worker Karen were all there cheering me on! It was an awesome weekend and I'm looking forward to many more like it with Reno! Below are a few pictures we took at the show.

Reno braided and ready to compete.

Jesson and Nano wishing us luck.

Working on our dressage before we go in the ring.

Showing off our winnings!

Nano being a good show dog!

Griffon cooling off in a bucket.

Everyone in our group unanimously voted Jesson the "Hero of the Horse Show". He grilled burgers for us on Saturday and fixed the flat tire on the trailer on Sunday. He carried water and video taped everyone. He was the only one in our barn to receive a 1st place blue ribbon! Do I have the best husband or what!

I Do....

2007-06-17T19:43:00.000-05:00

May 30th Jesson flew to Calgary, Alberta to celebrate the wedding of his brother, Nate, and Rory (who we love dearly!) Little did Jesson know that I would follow him the next day! I was supposed to be at home the whole weekend, but after being away from Jesson for 12 hours decided that wasn't a good plan! With the help of my amazing mother-in-law I was soon on my way to Canada! I arrived shortly after the sealing, but just in time for all the parties! And Batemans know how to party! The couple was picture perfect and Jesson and I are both so happy to have Rory as a member of our family! Below are a few pictures of the FUN weekend!

Nate and Rory, the beautiful couple!

From left to right, Nate, Jesson, and Harrison.

Jesson and I with Nate and Rory.

Pet Videos

2007-05-22T19:20:00.000-05:00

Pictures might be worth a thousand words, but a video is way better! Jesson and I thought we would post a video of each of our pets. The videos actually represent their personalities pretty well. Enjoy!

This video was taken when Reno was having his pre-purchase vet exam done. If you watch until the end, he gets bored and decides to turn the lunging time into a moving buffet. I bought a very talented horse!

This video is Nano eating a corn cob. Jesson ate it and put it in his trash can but as soon as we turned around Nano had stolen it and taken it into his bed to eat. We thought we would reenact the crime and catch it on tape.

This final video is Griffon swimming and playing with a volleyball at my parent's house. I use the term swimming very loosely because Griffon is a terrible swimmer (hence the lifevest you will see him wearing!)

The Family that Shoots Together Stays Together!

2007-05-14T20:28:00.000-05:00

What better way to spend Mother's Day than at the Shooting Range! Jesson and I went down to Tampa this weekend to visit with Mom and Dad for the holiday and took the opportunity to take a group trip to the shooting range. The whole family participated. We also brought Jordan Glancy and Miranda Shurtleff, neither of whom had used a handgun before but proved to have a natural proficiency! Sunday we went over to the east coast of Florida to Fort Pierce to visit Grandma and Grandpa Novak and to have a cook out at Uncle Mark's house on the Indian River. We took the opportunity to take a family picture.

Just a couple girls at a shooting range...

Jesson and Jordan watching from the viewing area.

What a cute couple! Is that true love or what!

Jesson firing away while Dad helps Buddy.

Jesson on Uncle Mark and Aunt Laurie's beach.

Our family picture. Way to go Ryan and Buddy on the color coordinating!

Griffon kept a vigilant watch the whole drive home!

Ski Trip in Whitefish

2007-05-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

Jesson and I went to Whitefish, MT to visit my Uncle Wes and Aunt Marie in March of this year. We had a great time and took some fun pictures. The town is adorable and the restaurants are amazing! Some of our favorites were the Pollo Grill, Montana Coffee Traders, McKenzie River Pizza, and Wasabi Sushi. We would recommend a vacation there to anyone! Jesson and I on the slopes at Big Mountain.

I guess you could say Jesson and I "Found Religion" on the Mountain!

The sign says it all.....

New Addition to the Family!

2007-05-06T21:27:00.000-05:00

Once again the mother's hearts are breaking because we have made yet another addition to our family and it is still not a grandchild! This past Friday, May 4th, we purchased a horse (yes, another one!) His name is Reno and he is fabulous!

Jesson and Reno even made friends when Jesson shared a cookie with Reno:

For those of you who know and care about this sort of thing, Reno is a 7 year old, 16.3 hand, bay Thoroughbred gelding. I will be using him to compete in the Jumpers and 3 Day Eventing. Keep an eye on the blog for our future competition pictures!