Hilton Head

As you might remember from a previous post, my siblings and I surprised my dad for his 60th birthday in November by planning a family vacation to Hilton Head.  We took the trip in March, and it turned out even better than we could have planned!  The house we rented in Sea Pines was gorgeous, even better than the pictures online made it out to be - we were pretty amazed!  It was on a street of stunning houses...actually, the whole gated community of Sea Pines was stunning in every way.

It had a heated pool and hot tub as well, with a lagoon right behind it.

Did I mention that there are alligators everywhere in these lagoons?  That's right, in the lagoons, in people's backyards, along the bike paths...we saw quite a few of them on bike rides.  Just don't feed them and they'll leave you alone...at least that's what they tell me - aah!  I was freaking out over them everywhere we went.

Bike rides - the highlight of the trip!  They were dirt cheap to rent ($17 each for a whole week! of course, these were "off-season" rates, but I'm sure it's still pretty cheap anytime).  There are bike paths everywhere, with live oak trees and hanging moss lining the paths so you feel like you're in an enchanted forest or a Disney movie or something.  GORGEOUS.  Can't even describe how beautiful, the pictures don't do it justice.  We rode our bikes all over every day - it was awesome.  I kept track of our rides on my runkeeper app on my phone, and I put in 45 miles over the course of the week.

We biked to the beach a couple different times to play bocce ball.  The sand is nice and compacted down from the high tides and long flat beach (also perfect for biking on).  

Ben, Wes, and I went on runs through the trails every other day.  It was a great!  Mom, Jenn, and I went on a long walk one day as well.  So scenic...I would be a lot more motivated to workout at home if I had this in my neighborhood!

We had a putt-putt evening (Mom was the winner!)...

...a couple poker nights...

...lots of dining in...

...and lots of dining out!  

Our favorite restaurant was a Robert Irvine (food network star) restaurant called Eat!.  Food was fantastic and the prices were reasonable given the high-end food.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone visiting Hilton Head.

In fact, I would highly recommend Hilton Head to anyone!  Seas Pines, the area where we stayed, is the most beautiful (so I hear, and I would believe it based on my experience).  The beginning of spring was a great time to go because the weather was just warm enough (high 60s, low 70s...although it was cool the last couple days) and the crowds weren't there yet, so we had shorter waits at restaurants and the bike paths all to ourselves.  I hear it's humid in the summertime too.  It wasn't beach weather yet, but we didn't miss it.  So next time you're looking for a great spring vacation or family vacation spot, check out Hilton Head!! 

Chef Ryan

My cousin Ryan will be a world-famous chef one day.  In the meantime, family gets to enjoy all of his masterpieces...like this one - the birthday cake he made himself.  How beautiful is this, and how scrumptious does that homemade marshmallow-like frosting look??!  Trust me, it was to die for.

Ryan has also been known to make the best rolls for family get-togethers (Christmas, Easter, etc.).  It's unbelievable how beautiful and delicious they always turn out.  Bread takes a special knack, a knack that I clearly don't have.  Good thing I have Ryan! :)

Louisville Arcade Expo

Yep, it's about as geeky as it sounds.  Last month, Ben and I went to the Louisville Arcade Expo in town, complete with over 80 pinball machines, plus every old arcade game, gaming console or computer game you could imagine.  Plus all the freaks and geeks who came out to play them.

The Wizard of Oz pinball machine was really hard, but so cool!

Mom joined us at the expo - I love that I grew up with a mom who loved to play video games with us!  So much fun :)

This was a pinball machine we had never seen before called "Teed Off" that we thought was a good one.

I had to buy a souvenir - a Pac-Man ring from the 80s!  It was only $2, why not?  (In case it's hard to tell, that's Pac-Man eating a ghost.)

Special thanks to my cousin Jason for alerting me to this fun expo that I otherwise wouldn't have known anything about!

Recent health kick

I'm trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my life, and less gluten.  I read that I should be having a green, leafy vegetable every day, plus 2 more servings of vegetables, plus 1-3 servings of fruit...yikes!  I eat fruits and veggies, but definitely do not get that many servings in a day.  So, in addition to eating a banana every morning, I've pulled out the ol' juicer and am trying to use that to help me out.

Juicing recipes are actually really delicious...much better than if I just started throwing stuff together.  I'm also going to try just blending everything up in my Vitamix blender at some point instead of just juicing, but for right now I'm enjoying just the straight juice without all the texture.

I've been getting my recipes from here.  A couple of my staples:

Sun Kissed Juice - this one is full of color - literally BEET red!  Be careful cutting up those beets because that juice stains your hands and cutting board and everything!  The recipe calls for swiss chard, but I've also used kale or collards or spinach.  Just any green leafy vegetable is good.

Mean Green - I can't seem to find the original recipe, but this it the "smoothie" version.  I actually use this recipe, minus the banana and milk, for the juice version.  Don't let the green scare you - it tastes really good!

I also make carrot apple ginger a lot.  On my "to try" list currently is oh sweet broccoli and sunburst.

So in addition to juicing, I've also been trying some gluten-free recipes.  I've made cauliflower pizza crust before, so I decided to just do a smaller version of those to make "rolls" to go with a meal:

They were pretty good!  Just some cauliflower grated up, mixed with an egg and some mozzarella, and some oregano and salt - then baked until browned.  It was good to have something to hold with my hand and feel like I was eating bread!

I also made these almond flour frosted sugar cookies that turned out great!  I tried just half the recipe the first time around, but I'll definitely make the whole recipe next time.  I made the almond flour myself - literally just threw sliced almonds into the food processor for 15 seconds.  Mix with raw honey, coconut oil, almond extract, and a pinch of sea salt, and bake - and bam, cookies!  The icing is the same ingredients minus the almond flour.  Seriously, very delicious...felt like eating a regular cookie and very satisfying and sweet.

I can't wait to try more recipes from detoxinista.com - lots of gluten-free recipes and great healthier substitutes for traditional meals!

That's all I got...I'll post again if I try anything else bizarre :)

Nashville 2012

In case you all missed it on google+, I posted a link to some pictures from our trip to Nashville in November under "Picture Gallery" on the top right.  I planned this trip as an anniversary present to Ben...we just didn't take it until November.  Another great trip on the books!

Robin Hood

Ben loves his new bow.  We went to the park for him to shoot it on a warm January day.

Look closely at this next one - I got the picture right as he released the arrow!

Cupid!

 

Christmas

With Ben's siblings and some of my cousins living out of town, our Christmas usually extends over a week or two as different people come in town and we celebrate at different times.  I love it that way because I love Christmas, and the longer it lasts, the better!!  So just a warning...that also means a long blog post :)

Christmas with my side of the family really began on the day before Christmas Eve (or "Christmas Adam" as my family likes to call it).  My parents had Mom's sisters and families over for dinner and a gift exchange.  I didn't get any pictures except this - my present from my cousin Jason:

He figured out this pattern himself and cross-stitched it himself too!!  In case you don't recognize it, it's from only one of the greatest original Nintendo games - Lolo.  How awesome is that?!

Christmas Eve we celebrated with my immediate family.  Mom made these cute little nameplates for each person at the table, and we each got an ornament too.  (see prior post - my parents make everything special!!)

My ornament was the best!

Again, there's always something up my parents' sleeves - to our surprise, they had bought a pinball machine! We were obsessed and pretty much played it all night.  They surprised us with one when we were kids, but that one is long gone.  This made us reminiscent of that...and even as adults we loved it and were super-competitive trying to get the top score!

Presents, presents, presents!  

Wes stole the show with his original paintings for everyone.  They are all so unique!

Mom and Dad - with Mom and Dad!

All the paintings and the artist

Here's the banjo painting he did for us hanging up at home.  LOVE IT!

One gift from Jenn was this apron that she sewed herself - how cute!!

We had our traditional scavenger hunt and ended up in my parents' closet looking in my dad's hats to find the final gift - Brian Regan tickets!!  Woohoo!

Ben and I celebrated on Christmas morning.  Santa did good!  He brought me a jewelry armoire that I hadn't even asked for, but he knew I wanted!

I had to give Ben his present a week early because he almost bought one himself - a bow.  And arrows.  He was stoked! (another post to follow with pics)

My cousin Alison and family came in town a few days after Christmas.  We had fun celebrating with their kiddos - it's always more fun with kids!

Alison and Brayden

 Nana watching on - she loves her great grandkids!

 Katelyn

A couple days before New Year's, we celebrated with Ben's parents and his brother's family who came in town.

Opening presents:

 I love how London is licking Deena's phone case, hahaha

 Presents!

I can almost reach it...

 Carl likes to elaborately wrap all his presents - how adorable is this one (and Reagan too :))!

 Carl and Carl with their Lincoln books

Having a good time

 London With Kids - book from Ellie - Reagan looks ready to go!

 Neena is the greatest!

 "You know, with this much wine, we should probably open a bottle right now!"

Fancy outfit from CH and Neena and fancy gloves from Ellie

 London climbing up these awesome hand-painted stairs by Deena!

 We got to spend some time with Ben's Aunt Sharon on another night too.  

Can you see why I love Christmas so much?