Long time coming....

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!

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

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....

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!

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!

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!

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!