We are booked!

Carnival Elation (courtesy - http://www.carnival.com/)

I cannot express my excitement for this trip.  Hubs and I enjoy traveling but generally we are 5 or so hours from home.  This cruise will be a whole new experience.  We booked 5 rooms last night.  In total, we have 11 people in our group - Mom, Dad, Hubs, Me, Brother, Brother's BFF C, Parents' friends P,M,A,K, & N.  It is going to be a blast!  We will be visiting Cozumel and Calica.  Just to be off the ship in another country is very exciting!  Now we just have to wait for August to get here!

Here are some details about our Fun Ship.

Total Staterooms - 1,021
Decks - 10
Passenger Capacity - 2,052
Total Crew - 920
Officer's Nationality - Italian
Ship Size - Large
Tonnage - 70,367
Ship Length - 855 feet
Registry - Panama

Menu Plan Monday

Hubs and I are trying very hard to eat better.  This weekend we bought lots of fruit, whole wheat products, and even ground turkey instead of ground beef.  We have a beach weekend coming up and a cruise in August.  We want to get in shape and feel good about what we are eating.

Here's our tentative plan for the week:

Saturday - Dinner out with my Parents

Sunday - Homemade Chinese (again with my Parents while we booked our cruise)

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Chicken Junk (had this on the menu last week)

Wednesday - Steaks and Sweet Potatoes (with in-laws)

Thursday - Either - Baked Chicken, Green Beans, Roasted Potatoes OR Turkey Spaghetti

Friday - whichever we didn't eat on Thursday.

Go check out orgjunkie's weekly menu plan for hundreds of great menu ideas!!

Menu Plan Monday

I had a great menu plan that was going to start on Saturday.  However, we had a death in the family and that somewhat derailed our plans for the weekend.  Saturday night Hubs' had to get out of the house so he went with me to a photoshoot and then we grabbed Arby's afterwards.  Then on Sunday, after the visitation at the funeral home for Hubs' grandfather, we went to Cracker Barrel with my in-laws, Hubs' aunt and some of her friends.  It was good family time during a sad occassion.

Here is the rest of our week.

Monday - Steak Sandwiches and Home Fries

Tuesday - Class night!  Hubs' is making Taco Salads for us to eat when I get home.

Wednesday - Chicken Junk (crazy name!) for sauteed chicken, squash, and zuchhini over linguine.  Recipe/post to come later this week.

Thursday - Class/Work night!  Hubs' is FINALLY making Cowboy Stew.

Friday - Grocery Shopping Night/Eat Out!

Go check out orgjunkie.com for HUNDREDS of menu plans and ideas.

Yes I am a Geek

I was browsing the internet and came across a hilarious website.  Well, Hubs and I think it is hilarious.   If you need to get in touch with your inner geek, go check out thinkgeek.com.  
You'll find fun things like these:

If you have watched the SciFi series, Firefly, you'll get this. If not..then you should watch it.

Hubs needs this.  He is a big fan of the Dune book series and we recently watched the SciFi version of Dune.  Another movie you need to watch.

Please, oh please.  Please know what this is from!!  Bazinga!  Google it.

And these are just adorable.  I might buy them for my adorably nerdy student assistant for her graduation present.

An Ode to Panama City Beach

Hubs and I love vacationing on the white sand beachs of Panama City Beach.  In fact, I called yesterday and booked a room for a long weekend in early May to celebrate Hubs' birthday.  Our love affair with PCB really started with me.  My family vacationed there and I had not been in 10+ years.  For the first years of our marriage, I tried to convince Hubs to travel but he was a real homebody.  But, in 2009, to celebrate 5 years of marriage, Hubs and I spent the week on the emerald coast.  He fell in love.  We returned again in the early summer of 2010 for even longer.  Since we are going on a cruise in the late summer with my family, Hubs and I were heartbroken that we wouldn't see our beach this year.  However, some fancy talk by me and an AMAZING room rate at our beloved Osprey, we are going for 4 days and 3 nights!  PCB - we are coming back to you!





Beachside Dinner

Beautiful Sunsets

Hi Hubs!  On the Balcony.





Restaurant Rave - The Fish Market

I was feeling very inspired to start a new "restaurant rave" series.  Hubs and I eat out A LOT.  I want to brag on some of the places we go.  So, my first rave is for The Fish Market (downtown location).

Here are some reasons I can rave about this joint:

-The restaurant has a very obvious Greek influence.  George Sarris, owner, moved to the U.S. from Greece in 1969 (read more on their website).  If I could choose any other nationality to be than American (aka mut) then it would definitely be Greece. I love their food, their island, their hospitality, their dark hair, etc.  So this is an instant plus for me.

- They claim to be the most inexpensive FRESH seafood market in town and I agree.  I ordered popcorn shrimp with fries and coleslaw and it was less than $10.  Let me restate that...I ordered a regular order of popcorn shrimp and they gave me enough to feed to people.

- The downtown location is mega cool.  It is in a former storage facility.  It has beautiful old brick walls and a very awesome ladies restroom. 

- The have a HUGE menu.  You can get any kind of fish you could want plus some chicken dishes and even alligator!  They serve basic southern fare like fried okra, traditional cole slaw, and fries as sides but also include some Greek inspired dishes like greek-style rice, pasta with alfred sauce, greek cole slaw, and some amazing green beans.

- If for no other reason at all, go taste their tarter sauce.  I am sort of a sauce connoisseur and in the category of tarter sauce, The Fish Market wins hands down! 

So come Downtown and try The Fish Market.  You won't be disappointed.

Menu Plan Monday!

Another week is here!  I am committing this week to be organized and prepared for next week.  I had a busy weekend but that was no excuse not to be organized.  Thanks to orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday I have lots of help with meal planning and I need to make more of an effort!

Here is our Menu Plan:

Saturday - Out to eat with my baby Brother and my sweet cousin
Sunday - Crunchy Oven Chicken, Green Beans, Roasted Potatoes
Monday - Chicken Casserole (this is like a running thing at my house now since I keep putting it on my menu).
Tuesday - Hubs is making my dad's Cowboy Stew

Wednesday - Fetticini Alfredo Stir-Fry (It is one of the frozen meal bags so I'll give a review)

Thursday - Class for me so we'll do something easy like Pancakes.  We LOVE pancakes.

Friday - Out to Eat (we are trying to only eat out once a week or at least once during the weekend).