Vacay at PCB!

We're back safe and sound from good ole' PCB!!  Why is vacation never long enough?!?!  I can never get enough of relaxing by the beach/pool!!!  So here's a quick run down of the last week...

Wednesday night we headed down to PCB, FL with Jaime and Evan.  Chad knows Jaime from the SLU meteorology department.  She just graduated with her Master's.  So this was a well-deserved trip for all!  We arrived in the PCB Thursday morning...and they had a room ready for us.  Score!!  (Thanks, Jaime and Evan, for driving all night!!)  Here's a couple pics of our resort.

The resort had the huge pier extending out from it that led to a bar, Lime's, and then eventually to a boat dock.

 Here's the clan with their toes in the Gulf for the first time this trip.

Thursday night we headed out to the #1 place in PCB (as listed on Yelp)...Hunt's Oyster Bar.
You'll laugh at the website if you click on the link.  It's a complete hole, but was packed until after 10pm every night we drove by.  Evan shared his baked oysters with me, which I loved surprisingly!  The grilled grouper was also good...but I was bummed that they were out of cheese grits.  (It doesn't surprise me though.  I think we were the last patrons there that night.)  We were on "resort time".  I don't think we ate until at least 9pm each night.  LOL!

Friday we hit the beach for the first time.  Our resort doesn't really have a beach of its own, since it's on the bay.  However, they do provide a boat shuttle that takes you over to Shell Island.  Shell Island is a barrier island that is several miles long and super narrow.  The boat drops you off on bay side of the island.  Then you walk down a boardwalk to the Gulf side of the island.  It's so private & secluded.  It's phenomenal!!  

Friday we packed a lunch and spent all day at the beach!  Heavenly...even though Chad and I got a bit toasty, which we wouldn't know until later.  : )
While hanging at the beach that day we got to see this awesome U.S. Navy Hovercraft!  It was massive!!!  

Friday night we headed to Schooner's.  It was right off the strip on Panama City Beach!  Very cool...but made up appreciate our Shell Island beach even more!  

Saturday Chad and I decided to hang at the pool for part of the day nursing our sunburns while Jaime and Evan hit the beach again.  Saturday evening we hit up a local souvenier store, Alvin's Island, that was built like a volcano.  Completely tacky, but quite comical too!  Here's a pic of the boys goofing around...

After Alvin's we headed over to Uncle Ernie's for a late dinner.  It was the cutest place...looks like a house, but has an amazing two-story deck in back.  It overlooked the bay and marina.  Gorgeous!  We opted for the upstairs deck with the bar and live jazz music.  Yummy food and martini's!  I got a seafood pasta, and Chad ordered a soft-shell crab dinner.  The soft-shell crab was a first for the both of us...but very tasty!

Sunday was our last day at PCB...bittersweet.  We opted for a morning at the beach...

Chad will kill me for posting this one...maybe Jaime too...but I can't help it.  Check out his back...poor guy!  If you look closely you can see the STL Arch in his back.  Ha!  I think that I was trying to avoid the breeze on the beach while applying sunscreen and sprayed too closely.

...and then a little lunch at Lime's...

 

 ...sunset drinks at Schooner's...

...and finally dinner at The Shrimp Boat.

 

What a fabulous vacation!!

Grillin' up some pie!

Another weekend in the books!  I've had some great weekends lately with family and friends.  That's really been a treat for me, since I've spent soooo many weekends recently working and working and working!

This weekend began with the Tour De Belleville ride on Friday night.  This was my 4th year participating in the race.  The Tour De Belleville is a night-time bike ride through Belleville and Swansea with two different bike routes...6 miles and 15 miles.  There was quite a large group of us this year...Judy & Rich, Mom and John, Vicki, myself and my cousin, Jimmy.  Chad, Ashley and Judy's mom, Cheryl, all came out to cheer us on!  Woo hoo!  Here's a pick of us pre-ride grabbing some grub and beverages at the Wine Tap.

 It ended up being a great night for a ride...perfect weather!  We had a fab time!  I haven't been on the bike at all this summer.  Mom and I went for a 16 mile ride last weekend, but that was the very first time this year.  Thank goodness I've recently increased my gym time.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it!  Fun times!!

Saturday...with very little sleep...Mom, John, Chad & I headed down to Columbia, MO.  Calyn was having a BBQ in celebration of Ben attaining his citizenship.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of this trip.  I really wanted to get a shot of Ben with his papers...BUT he misplaced them!!!  Already!!!  Can you believe it?!?!  Love him anyway!  It was great to spending time with my niece and family!!


Today I hit the gym...and the went to see a house in Soulard with Ashley.  Ashley and her Chad are looking for some new digs and are focusing on the Soulard area.  I'm soooo jealous!  I can't wait for Chad and I to start looking.  My house looks the best this year than it ever has, but I'm so ready for a new...more modern place.  Here's the place that we looked at today. Super cute!!!


Tonight Chad and I tried our hand at homemade grilled pizza.  I've never made homemade pizza dough before...or even tried grilling it.  It didn't turn out half bad.  I can't wait to try it again!!!  We made two pizzas...a pepperoni and a veggie...both with jalpenos!!

Here is a pic of the dough rising and the ingredients used.  You can find the recipe for the dough here!

Here is a pic of the dough rolled out and the pepperoni pizza prior to hitting the grill!  We grilled the bottom side first as several blogs suggested.  After that we flipped it over on a pan (undone side down) and topped the pizza with all the yummy ingredients.  Then we put it back on the grill (on a piece of foil as suggested by a friend) for 5 min with the lid down.

Here are both pizzas in their finished state...and boy were they yummy!!!!  Everything worked great!!!

Next up...a stressful week!  I'll be prepping lot of files, etc for our accreditation on-site visit on July 18th & 19th.  I'm also hoping to hit the gym several times this week...and then there is Judy's birthday dinner on Thursday.  Hope everyone had a fab weekend!!!

One Stop Shopping

I have the best hairdresser ever!! I walked in for a cut/color...and walked out with that and a iPhone 3GS!! Woo hoo!!

I was complaining about slow and horrible my iPhone 3G has been. He just happened to have an EXTRA iPhone 3GS hanging around that he said I could use until the iPhone 5 comes out in September. Rock on!!

I promptly went home and sent some time backing up my old phone and restoring it to the "new" phone! Holy moly! It's like having a completely new phone! It's ridiculously faster...I can type without it freezing...Applications don't take 5 min to open. The list goes on and on! Now the real test will be Words With Friends! Ha!!

Let me know if you know a great place to get a cheap case. I need to protect this thing before I drop it...as we all know that I'm prone to do!

I've been praying to the iPhone gods for so long! They finally listened!! Thank you, David!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad/iPhone

OMG TMJ!

So Sunday afternoon I noticed a pain on the left side of my jaw. Initially I thought it was a dental issue. But after much poking & prodding on my teeth and gums, I think I ruled that out. The pain continued to increase throughout the evening. I realized it was localized in my left TMJ joint...very tender! By the time Monday morning came around the pain was quite intense!! You would think a fractured finger and back issues would be enough for me but apparently not. Man, I'm getting old.

After much research on the Internet, it seems that most people get this from clenching & grinding their teeth. Now I've done this before, and the pain was in my teeth...not my TMJ joint. Others just get it while they are eating. Of course I hadn't eaten in hours when I began to notice the pain.

Long story short...I have this intense pain that inhibits me from chewing or opening my mouth very wide (like yawning). I had it adjusted at the chiropractor yesterday, but that didn't seem to help much. Medication doesn't even seem to touch the pain, but that's just as well. I'm not a big meds taker. So I've resorted to jaw exercises specifically for this problem. They help while I'm doing them at least. Let's hope they have a lasting effect!

On the flip side, my finger seems to be healing nicely. Another week or two of taping, and it should be ready for the beach!! Let's just hope my jaw is!!

- Posted using BlogPress from Zmy iPhone

Dr. Chad

Phew!  What a busy week!!  I was in KC for the first part of it.  I made it back just in time for Chad's mom's arrival.  Sandi was in town for Chad's graduation.  We had a whirlwind weekend.  Wednesday night we took Sandi to Zia's on the Hill for a little St. Louis Italian.  You gotta love Zia's!!  Thursday we hit up St. Charles for a little window shopping in the cute little boutiques there and had dinner at Frazer's.

Friday was Chad's graduation at SLU.  Wow!  What a long, fabulous day!  Graduation started bright and early at 8am.  The ceremony was followed by two different receptions...one for the entire School of Arts & Sciences and the other, the smaller of the two, was for the Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept.  Later that night we hosted a dinner for Sandi, my family and Chad's advisor, Dr. Graves, and his wife at Sage.   Here's a few pics of the day.

Chad & his mom, Sandi

Me and the doctor

Chad and his advisor, Dr. Graves

Saturday we stopped by Rick's for a bit of vino before heading up the River Road to Grafton.  It was a beautiful day for a drive and a glass of wine at Aerie's Winery.  Later that afternoon we went to my mom's for a celebratory dinner for Chad.

Today I'm spending the day working...catching up from being off the last couple of days.  I'm wishing I wasn't spending the beautiful day inside, but it was definitely worth it being off the last couple of days.  Hope everyone has a great week!!

Good Times...

Wow!  It's been almost a month since I posted last!!  I can hardly believe it.  It's been so crazy the last several weeks...and I expect more craziness in the coming weeks too!  Ha!  

Time to play catch up...
Here's a random pic of my niece, Lehni, from Easter.  Sooooo cute!

Me and the girls at Casa on Cinco de Mayo!  It was sooo drizzly and cold that night, but we managed to make it outside for a bit.

Last night we had a small get together at Global Brew for Chad's impending graduation and my birthday.  It was a good time!!  Here's a couple of pics of my mom, John, Chad and I.

Me with Kristine, Rebecca & Joli

...and a few of the SLU crew.

This coming week is going to be crazy!  I'm headed to KC for work on Monday morning.  I get back Wednesday...just in time for Chad's mom's arrival.  Sandi is coming in town for Chad's graduation on Friday.  We have lots of plans for the end of the week.  I should be thoroughly exhausted by Sunday...but it should be a good time!  Have a great week!!