Florida 2012

My cousin, Katie got married over the weekend.  She lives in Florida so I decided to make it a weekend trip and flew done to Florida.

I got a car rental (Nissan Versa) from FOX RENTAL after going through a hassle with another company in which I had a reservation.  Fox rental stepped up and helped me.  :)

Anyways, I finally got to my hotel Friday evening.  

 

I had a very nice, clean room.  I loved this hotel and will totally stay here again if I need to.

 My cousin was getting married at the Citrus Tower in Clermont.  You can see the tower off in the distance.

Outside the hotel were lots of palm trees.  I love them b/c we don't have palms in Virginia.  As I was looking at the palm trees there were little lizards running all around.

This little guy would not move and tried blending in with the wood.  :)

After I was settled in at my hotel room, I went to Publix and got some bottled water, 2 donuts, and a yoyo cookie.

I went around the corner to NY Chinese and got General Tso's.  I don't even remember the last time I got Chinese food.  It was so good and I only had to wait like 2 minutes for it.  AWESOME!  :)

My fortune.....

I got this map from the front desk.  As long as I could see the citrus tower I knew where I was.  LOL

Here's the cookie I got from Publix.  It's called a yoyo cookie.  :)

I got 2 donuts from publix as well for breakfast Saturday morning and Sunday morning.

These gossip magazines kept me busy on the plane.  :)  Everything is about Katie and Tom right now.  LOL

Saturday, July 21st was the wedding day!  

Here's a picture of the Citrus Tower.

Here's my cousin and her mom (Aunt Betty, my dads sister) getting ready.

Here's some of the flowers that the grooms Aunt did.

Here's the wedding cake.  The grooms mom made these.

 Here's Katie coming in with her dad (in wheel chair) being pushed by her brother, Matthew.

My Grandparents watching the ceremony.

Saying the vows....

It was a quick ceremony......This picture was kinda a blur buy I liked it.  It shows how happy the newlyweds are.

Here's the reception.....

Head table....

My Grandparents!!  Love them!  :)

Cutting the cake...

There was different flavors.  The slice I got was red velvet.

Palm tree, outside of citrus tower.

Katie and Johnathan coming out to leave.  We all met at Buffalo Wild Wings for a after party.  I stopped in for about an hour and a half and got dinner and chatted with my Aunt Betty and Uncle Mike.

 The next morning, I got up and packed my bag.  Ashley and Daniel accidentally left Greek Bread in my fridge.  I ate a chunk.  It was good.  It was a little sweet and it had almond slivers on top.

I had some time to kill so I drove down to the Showcase of Citrus and walked around and took some pics.

Fake alligator.  :)

Oranges are growing.....but they are green right now.

I stopped on the road next to the place and took pictures of the orange grove.

See the green oranges?

After that I drove back to Clermont and got on Rt. 50 and headed back to FOX rentals to return my car.  I turned it in early b/c I was done and just wanted to go wait at the airport.  Here's my bag as I'm waiting at the airport.  I'm glad to be home.  :)

Garden Progress- Day 89

An update on my Patio/Deck garden.  I have tomatoes 12, 13, and 14 almost ripened.  They will probably be ready in the morning.  I'm going out of town this weekend so my BFF Kristen will be getting them to eat.  :)  My basil looks sorta dried.  I don't think it was a fan of the heat we had the last couple of days.  I have more marigolds getting ready to pop and my green bell pepper plant is doing really well.  The 2 peppers I had on the plant fell off and rotted.  Not sure why.  There are lots of pepper blooms under the leaves.  The plant is really healthy and full of leaves.  I think it's going to surpass the tomato plant pretty soon.  :)

Next year, I plan on doing just tomatoes.  I'll probably do 2 or 3 plants.  :)  Of course, I'll have marigolds too.  The tomatoes do really well with the marigolds.  :)

Stuffed Zucchini

Tonight's dinner.....was AWESOME.  I don't mean to brag but I will be making this again and again.

I made Stuffed Zucchini inspired by this blog and this blog.

I used the following:

1 large zucchini  (from Farmer's Market last week)
1 small squash  (from Farmer's Market last week)
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 small onion
1 small tomato (Tomato 11 from my patio/deck garden
Bacon or Sausage (I used bacon)
Minced Garlic
Whole grain brown rice (I used 90 second rice packs)
Black pepper
Red Pepper flakes
Olive oil
Parsley flakes
Shredded parm or mozz cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)

First off, put your bacon on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake on 350 degrees until cooked to your liking.  If you're using sausage then go ahead and cook it up. While the bacon is baking you can chop up your squash, onion, peppers, and tomato.  Wash your zucchini real good and cut it in half.  (I cut the ends off but you don't have to....try to cut it evenly)  With a spoon, scoop out the flesh of the zucchini.  Cut up the flesh into small pieces.  Once the bacon is done, take a paper towel and pat the grease out of the bacon.  Chop up the bacon into little pieces.

Take your zucchini boats and put them on a foil lined cookie sheet.  Drizzle some olive oil and let them bake up in the oven.  It will make them nice and tender.

While the zucchini boats are in the oven.....In a big pan with oil and minced garlic cook your onions for about 2 minutes.  Then add your peppers and cook up another 2 minutes.  Stir in your squash, zuchinni, tomato and bacon.  Sprinkle in black pepper, parsley, and red pepper flakes.  Mix in your whole grain brown rice and let everything cook together for a few minutes.  Be sure to stir constantly.

Take the zucchini boats out of the oven and add your mixture.  Then enjoy!  You could top with some cheese if you'd like and put in the oven till cheese melts.  I didn't add cheese.  I just topped with a little more black pepper.  I served leftover mixture on the side of the zucchini boat.

New Things Monday

I got these cheese wedges a while back at Food Lion for $1 a piece.  Can't leave a bargain behind.  I love Babybel cheese so I figured I would try this.  I got the Mozzarella, Sun-dried Tomato & Basil cheese wedges.
I tried one by itself and it was okay.  It's very creamy.  Next time, I will eat it with a cracker instead of just the cheese by itself.  :)

Pump Boys and Dinettes

Today was a fun day.  I met at Sharon's and rode with her and Agnes to Castiglias downtown to meet Erin for lunch.  Lunch was fun.  We ordered a pizza with the works (minus the ham b/c of me...haha).

Here's Agnes sleeping in her car seat.  :)

After lunch, we went to the library to see a play that my boss stars in.  My boss, told all of us that he was in a production and invited everyone to come out and see it.  This of course, is a side of the boss no one has really ever seen so we had to check it out.  The production:  'Pump Boys and Dinettes' from 

Stage Door Productions.

The room was decorated with tables and candles to make it like you were sitting in a diner.  So cool!  :)

Act 1 started.  My boss, who plays 'Jim with the guitar', is holding up a raffle prize.  It was a little tree air freshener for your car.  There were 3 to choose from and the winner would be announced after intermission during the start of Act 2.  :)

Here's the dinettes singing and dancing....  "Menu song"

The pump boys singing and dancing.... "Fisherman's prayer' and "Catfish"

Rhetta is singing to Jim "Be good or be gone".....

She was pushing Jim around.....

During the 15 minute intermission, Erin and I got a slice of Key Lime pie and Sharon got Peanut M&M's.  It was delicious!

The start of Act 2, the Pump Boys announced the winner of the raffle car air freshener.  And the next few songs they included his name in the song.  It was funny.

This guy is singing about Dolly Parton and one of the guys came out dressed like her.  Hilarious!!

Here's the performers "Vacation".....

Singing at the end.  This performance was awesome.  Very cute with so many talented people.  :)

 Upcoming performances.....'Mornings at Seven', 'Cinderella' and 'A Christmas Carol'.  I am def going to see Cinderella and A Christmas Carol.  :)