Happy Friday!

So glad the weekend is finally upon us! It will be SO nice to sleep in tomorrow and do whatever we want! :D Here are this week's favorites and some other updates!

1) CLOSED- the regular school year is closed and everyone has moved out of my building! While I was sad to see my staff leave for the summer- I am SO happy to have a quiet hall, with nobody causing trouble :D I do have conferences in my building, but they are easy and quiet- at least for now.

2) DEADLOCKED- the new Sookie Stackhouse book that I have been waiting for since November came out this month. I didnt even bother to check the library on campus at first because I just knew it would be gone- good thing I decided to check anyway! I got it yesterday and am 100 pages in :D 

3) This guy:

4) and this guy:

He has learned to move the blinds with his head to look out the window. We have a stupid stray cat that likes to hang out in the bushes and he freaks out every time it's there- hence the standing and he was also whining. We started to ignore him in hopes he quits. Maybe eventually? He also does this with squirrels...

5) My brother! He is the sweetest son and brother ever. Yesterday was my mom's birthday and since my dad is gone now, these special days are always way harder. But my sweet brother took my mom out to dinner and to play pool. I dont think she's played in years! I know I am not there and I hate it, but at least I have an awesome brother who cares so much about my mom and takes good care of her :D that peace of mind definitely deserves a favorite place in my list!

6) Gretchen and John Fisher- Some of our cousins are expecting a baby!! She is due December 22nd and I couldnt be more excited for them! :D i cant wait to go visit and see her cute bump! Be praying for a smooth pregnancy and healthy baby!

7) Hair cut- I finally got a hair cut- I needed it BAD. My hair was so long. I love it long! It was just scraggly on the ends. The girl who cut my hair- one of my coworkers- ended up cutting 9 inches off! 9 inches! and my hair is still past my shoulders. I didnt realize how long my hair had gotten!! It's a little shorter than I wanted it- but it looks cute and it will grow back out :D It feels fuller and somehow looks lighter too. haha :D

8) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY- Krystal and Josh will be here next week. I am BEYOND excited!!

Other news:

- Our car hit 100,000! And now it's having trouble starting :( So now we need to fix that (not sure what's wrong with it yet) and the anti-lock break system (that's the orange light you see on. lol) . It's going to cost us a fortune. 

- Goodbyes- I had to say goodbye to some very special RAs this week :( I had 8 seniors graduate! Over the past few days they have been leaving slowly. Luckily some of them are working over the summer, so I have not had to say goodbye to them yet. But it was sad to say goodbye to the ones who did- I had a great staff this year. They really are what pulled me through it all.

That's it for now- Happy Friday Y'all!

Brewing

So, our first batch of beer is officially done! YAY! As you can tell through previous posts, it was a long process, but it's so much fun. AND at the end of the process we get to drink beer that WE made. Pretty cool :D 

To summarize our adventure:

First we actually brewed the beer. This was about a 3+ hour process. We had to brew the grains, add the malt extract, then brew the bittering hops, then the aroma hops. That took a few hours. Afterwards, we had to cool the beer (at this stage it's called wort) as fast as we could. The faster you do it, the less chance there is of it getting contaminated. We put it in the sink and throw ice around it and stir it until it cools. Usually takes about 30 minutes. Then all of it goes into the fermenting container. Then we reactivate the yeast and add it to the wort, take a measurement of the alcohol content, put the lid on it and wait for about 2 weeks. The yeast will turn the wort into beer.

After the two weeks is up, we siphon the beer out of bucket and into the bottling bucket. We add a sugar mixture to it, stir, and then bottle! Then you let the bottles sit for about 2-4 weeks to carbonate. Then enjoy! 

Brewing...

 Siphoning it to the bottling bucket

Into the bottles...

  Our first bottle!

First taste!

Obviously, there are a lot of details I left out- but that's the gist! The first we just finished is an Autumn Amber Ale- it's quite delicious. The longer it sits, the better it tastes too. I'm not sure if we let it carbonate for long enough? Anyway, it's yummy and ours! We haven't named it yet- but hopefully we will soon. We are bad at naming things! haha

YAY! Our next one is a Honey Bee Ale (we like ales, what can I say?)

Brad and Jenny

We had so much fun in Key West with Brad and Jenny and were very excited they were coming back to  Miami with us!

Sunday we drove back to Miami and decided to walk to dinner. We walked to Titanic and had some yummy burgers and drinks. When we got back we spent the rest of the night playing games. 

Monday- I took off and we went to the beach for the day! It was nice. Then we got dressed up and went to dinner. We went to a place called YardHouse in Coral Gables. It's nice- pricey, but nice. They have delicious macaroni and cheese!!! After dinner we all got back and passed out on the couch. It was only like 9:30- but between the sun and stuffing ourselves, it was game over. haha.

Tuesday- John and I both had to work :( after work we stayed in because it was raining all day. It was nice though because we were all so tired. We ended up ordering pizza, brewing another batch of beer (yay!), and playing some games. 

Wednesday- Brad and Jenny were flying out after lunch time :( John and I both had to work again, so we didnt get to spend much time with them Wednesday. We took them to the food court on campus and then drove them to the airport. 

It was really nice to have them here! Having people here makes it so much easier being so far from home. I know I say that after everyone leaves, but it's true! Now I cant wait until our next guests get here!! YAY! 

Key West!

Key West was amazing!!!  I would love to go back....like yesterday! haha.


Friday we headed down there around 1pm, with Brad's girlfriend in tow. The drive was long, but pretty. So glad we were staying a few days and not making it a day trip this time. lol. Anyway, we got down there and checked into our hotel. It was AMAZING. It was a gorgeous place and the room was sweet!

The Hotel

                                      

Our "room"- it was more like a condo!

                                      

Mine and John's room

                                      

The other side- there was also an upstairs that had Brad and Jenny's room and bathroom AND there were 2 decks on our level!

                                      
We got all dressed up and headed to the Westin, where Brad was and the rest of the bridal party. From there we all got on the Conch Train- haha- and headed to the rehearsal dinner at Turtle Kraawl on the water. It was another beautiful place on the marina. We spent most of the evening there celebrating the bride and her groom before the wedding! We had a delicious dinner and hung out with Brad and Jenny most of the night. After that we tried out a few other places before heading back to the hotel for the night. Everywhere had live music, so it was a lot of fun! It's also nice to be able to walk most places!

All dressed up and ready to go!

       

Rehearsal dinner location

   

Beautiful view!

Love this man

Live band at one of the places we stopped at

Boys will be boys!

Saturday morning we got up and got ready for the wedding. The wedding was at 10am. Why so early? The bride wanted people to be able to enjoy their day in Key West. Thoughtful! The wedding was beautiful and right on the water. Afterwards, we stayed at the Westin (the hotel the wedding was at) for the reception. Again, lots of good food, margaritas for Cinco De Mayo!, and a key lime cake. While we were there the Disney Cruise line docked right where the wedding was held. The horn did the Disney song- it was amazing! 

Wedding set up

Live music for the wedding...she walked in to Journey!

Cutest little boy and girl ever! At least until John and I have kids;D

YAY! Mr. and Mrs. Walters

View from the reception

Cake

Disney Cruise Line

Emily and Me!

After the reception we went back to our hotel with the bride, groom, and their friends and spent the rest of the day at the pool. It was so relaxing! When we started to get hungry we all got showers and dressed up and headed downtown to La Concha hotel, where apparently a lot of people go to watch the sunset. It was beautiful! 

Pool Time!

Sunset

We headed to a place called Hogs Breath (yes, really) for dinner and had drinks. Then we walked down Duval street and tried out a few more places. We had a good time, but by the end of the night we were exhausted!


The next morning we got up and checked out of our hotel...I hated to leave :( It was such a nice place. We went back to the Westin for brunch to eat with Brad's family one last time. It was the BEST. BRUNCH. EVER. There was anything you could imagine on it. Traditional breakfast foods, prime rib, honey crusted ham, salmon, crab legs, the biggest shrimp you have ever seen, sushi, duck, amazing crab hush puppies, etc. I could keep going on and on. It was all delicious. I didnt try one thing that wasnt yummy. Seriously. I still dream about that meal. They had to roll me out of the place! After we all ate brunch we went and said bye to Emily and Matt and the rest of Brads family. Then we loaded the car and headed back to Miami. 


It was amazing and I really hope that we are able to go back one more time before move home!! (gotta save up though! It's not cheap!)

Friday Favorites! (early!)

Happy Friday (early!). Tomorrow I am only working a half day and then heading down to Key West for a wedding!! So, I wont be able to post tomorrow. Here are my favorites for the week:

1) Debt- the Lord has truly blessed John and I with being able to pay down my student loans quickly. We got it under $10,000 this week!! Single thousand digits!! I cannot wait until we are completely done, but it feels SO good to be so close. 

2) Shopping- John and I realized that we had not been to a wedding since Krystal and Josh's! Aside from that, we have not been just guests to a wedding in YEARS! One of us has always been in one. Living in Miami has made it hard to attend friends' weddings over the past two years :( Anyway- We went shopping the week and got some pretty clothes for the rehearsal dinner and wedding! YAY! I got two really pretty dresses, matching shoes, matching necklace, and a new beach bag! SO EXCITED! Pictures to come for sure. John got some new shirts and I am so excited for him to wear them too!

3) Lazy Weekend- this past weekend John and I did NOTHING. It was wonderful. 

4) Dexter/Weeds- In our nothingness this week John and I finished up this past season of Dexter- it was amazing! Then we moved on to Weeds and finished it up this week. Again- cliff hanger ending! ahh! 

5) Mary Kay- One of my co-workers had one of her friends come in and host a Mary Kay party for us over lunch one day this week. We got mini facials and makeovers. I didnt really care to go at first- I hate people trying to get me to buy their products, BUT it was a lot of fun! I also ended up buying their face care and some foundation. I usually buy cheap stuff to clean my face and I have wanted to get something to help fight off wrinkles (Starting early!) so I decided it was probably time to start taking better care of my skin. I have picky skin so I was nervous, but she said that I could return it for a full refund if it makes my face breakout! SWEET! I also won a bronzer and then she brought me a present today! new lip gloss. She is REALLY nice and definitely did not push anything on us. and my face looks awesome with my new care and makeup! I feel pretty :D Oh! and it's not more expensive than what I get now (the face care- the make up is a little more expensive)

6) KEY WEST! Of course this has to be a favorite- I've been excited ALL week and I just cannot wait!!! WOOT! :D

Hope you all have a great weekend!