Tamparific!

This past weekend I headed south and spent a little time in the town on Tampa for work. On Friday night we were lucky enough to score tickets to the last home game for the Tampa Lighting, who’s now in the playoffs. The hockey game was a blast and the Lighting ended up beating the team they were playing. (Side Note – don’t know much about hockey and don’t even know who they were playing that night.) The coolest part of the experience was that in less than (24) hours this ice rink and the hockey players were going to be gone and an arena with bulls bucking and cowboys flying would be center stage.

My hotel room has awesome! I had a great view of the river and a balcony to enjoy it on. On Saturday morning I woke up to rowers working out up and down the river.

On Sunday night I got to experience one of the top 5 dinners in my life. We ate at a steakhouse called Burn’s and it was amazing. You were fed dinner in one portion of the restaurant and once you were finished you got to go on a tour of the kitchen. Burn’s is known for how long they age their beef and the fact that it’s cut to your size on the spot. The food and the kitchen were awesome!

Well, that’s until we got to tour the wine cellar, YES the LARGEST wine cellar in the world. We were in heaven. 

 

We finished the evening with a lot of giggles and an amazing desert up in the desert room. Burn’s is definitely a stop if you are ever in the Tampa area. The history of the restaurant, wait staff, food and wine are amazing!

 

My First Listing...

Today is a VERY exciting day for this former single girl. My ETSY shop is officially up and open with my very first listing. I know it's just one but more will be following. Take a look and please give me some feedback or ideas for upcoming listings.

Paisley White One-Of-A-Kind Western Funk Jewelry is open for business!

Our First "Cousin Weekend"

This past weekend The Great White Hunter and I headed west to Frasier, CO to spend a weekend with his sisters, their families and his (3) cousins and their families. All and all there were (13) of us snuggled in a very nice cabin in the woods. We spent the weekend sledding, skiing (well some of us), hot tubbing, drinking, eating and of course watching some Final 4 action.

Friday evening we all arrived and enjoyed a very delicious pizza from the town of Frasier followed up by some hot tub time and then bed for the evening. The next morning TGWH and I was the lucky couple to cook breakfast. Everyone enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls from, of course, the Pioneer Woman cook book and a couple of Longhorn Casseroles from, of course, a Kitchen Keepsakes recipe book. Everyone enjoyed it very much and I got the best comment ever that my cinnamon rolls tasted a lot like the cinnamon rolls you get at the State Fair. (Side Note – For those of you that know what I’m talking about here know that is really one of the best comments anyone could make about cinnamon rolls.) Some of TGWH’s cousins headed off to Winter Park to ski while along with his sisters, the kids and the husbands TGWH and I headed to the local kid’s sledding hill. We all had a blast sledding down this little hill for quite a while. Even Courtney, TGWH’s niece, did a solo mission down the hill which ended in a complete wipe out and a killer snow rash on her face. But, without hesitation she asked to go again along as her dad accompanied her. That afternoon TGWH and I headed to Granby to visit one of his jobs, had a nice lunch back at home and then tried to take a nap which was interrupted by Allie Face, TGWH’s niece, wanting to honk our noises. Saturday evening we enjoyed an amazing Mexican fiesta prepared by Jenny and Tracey, TGWH’s cousins, and then settled in to enjoy some great socializing with everyone. This morning we woke up to egg’s Benedict prepared by Linda with a little help from everyone and then we headed home. It was an amazing weekend with a fabulous bunch of people. This former single girl loves the family she married into and is looking forward to the next “Cousin Weekend”. 

 

 

 

Pig Buying Season

At the end of March beginning of April an amazing thing happens, 4-H pigs from all over the U.S. become one hot commodity. That's right it's officially Pig Buying Season and for that lucky 4-H'er this means going out on the prowl to find what could possibly the next county or state fair champion. Something that is really every 4-H'ers dream of winning. Both The Great White Hunter and I were 4-H geeks for 10+ years and as we discuss our future we hope that someday our kids will follow in our footsteps. Well, until we have kids of our own we have the next best thing nieces, nephews and the adopted nieces and nephews. This is just a small group of kids that we love to help with everything from sports to of course 4-H. The Great White Hunter is really known for his "PPPP" that is his Perfect Pig Picking Process. That's right last year TGWH was fortunate enough to help two boys choose their 4-h pigs at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season one was crowned Reserve Champion and the other Champion. Well, needless to say the pressure is ON for this year's pig picking process.

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to help the Broadster, aka Brody, start his hunt for the perfect pig. (Side Note - this story and the photos to follow are very vague due to the high secure nature of the location of purchase and the end result.) We headed north to an undisclosed location where we looked at over 200+ pigs at a local ranch and then at a 4-H auction. It was a splendid day and Broadster ended up with (3) purchases. To end the day we hit Good Times/Taco Johns where the whole crew ate and ate and ate.  Oh, I forgot to mention by the end of the day there was also a funk that followed us. That's right we had all been hit by the pig funk that funny smell that everyone notices but no one wants to own up to. These two former single people are excited for this year's 4-H season!

What's in a name & logo...

Over the past couple of months I have been working towards one of my New Year's Resolutions, getting my jewelry hobby up and running. I've been working with an AMAZING artist Ms. Rylee Miller owner of SDG Designs to come up with a name and logo. I'm proud to announce that "Paisley White" is one-of-a-kind jewelry made by you guessed it this former single girl and I now have a logo. As I stated before look for me on Etsy very very soon. I've been working on my photo skills to get some killer pictures to post on there. 

 

 

Easter Season

The Easter season has officially arrived thanks to my now favorite sister-in-law Tanya. She left a box of Cadbury Eggs at our house this past weekend, so of course I had to try one. Just like I remember a little peace of heaven in shiny foil that always seems to stick to your fingers. I love those darn chocolate eggs!

Turbo What Update…

Ok, so I’m officially on week 15 of the Turbo Fire workout. For those of you that saw my first post on my blog and after dong the calendar math you would know I’m a bit behind the program. I’m not going to lie I lost two weeks at Christmas time when I gave myself two weeks off for good behavior, not a good idea. I got back on the bandwagon the beginning of January and have not looked back. I must say it has been extremely hard to work out on the weekends, what I consider my off time. But, I have done it to an extent and am still working on it. J In my 1^st blog I commented on how much I loved the program and I can tell you I still love it as much as when I started. Oh, and I feel a heck of a lot tougher now that I’m kicking and punching an invisible person every morning. Plus, the choreography has gotten so much easier and you can honestly put a lot more effort into every move because you start to know what is coming next.

I was not a good Turbo Fire starter and I did not take any measurements, which I’m a bit bummed about now. But, my wonderful husband tells me that he can see a difference so I’ll definitely believe him.

Turbo Fire try it, it’s STILL amazing!

The Great White Hunter and I at Cowboy's Stadium!

Note - Yes, ladies the jewelry I'm wearing is for sale...

Chicken Pot Pie...

Sorry, had to share the corny picture of the dinner I made for The Great White Hunter this evening. Showing my love with food...

Oh, and it tasted pretty good as well...

Jewelry Update

As many of you know this former single girl has gotten her self a hobby, making jewelry. I just wanted to let you know that I'm up and running and have officially made my first (4) sales. Plus, I've decided to name my little hobby "Paisley White". Look for me on Etsy VERY soon!

But, in the mean time I'm taking orders ladies so let me know what I can make you.

 

I'm LOVING my workspace!  

Everything is bigger in Texas...

Last week The Great White Hunter headed to Texas for a company meeting leaving me HOME ALONE. Now, if any of you follow my blog you've probably read somewhere that I don't do the best when I'm HOME ALONE. Needless, to say I was pretty sure that any robbers, killers or monsters in the neighborhood were waiting for my husband to leave to attack our precious home. It was a very long (2) nights of jumping ready to attack at every sound I heard. But, thankfully I lived through it and on Friday of that week I headed to Texas as well. The PBR held their annual Iron Cowboy event at Cowboy's Stadium in Arlington and this year timing was perfect for The Great White Hunter to join me for the weekend. We were able to sneak away on Friday evening for an AMAZING dinner just the (2) of us to celebrate V-Day. We went to Bob's Steak and Chop House near downtown Dallas. We both had amazing steaks and really enjoyed the old gangster type atmosphere. On Saturday morning the craziness started at 9:00 and didn't end till about midnight.

But, one of the bonuses this year was a Toby Keith concert before the bull riding began. We got to watch the concert from about (15) feet away from where he was performing. It was awesome but a bit loud! Another bonus was we escorted Jerry Jones into the stadium. Like a normal small town girl I had no idea that was the plastic looking guy walking behind us until The Great White Hunter got super excited and explained who he was. These two former single people had a blast in the house that Jerry built!