Celtic Festival St Augustine

I actually won tickets to this festival from the Simply St Augustine blog after I decided to go a month ago.

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The husband hasn't been able to make it to any of the local Celtic festivals in the past years. So when I heard about the Celtic Music and Heritage Festival I marked on my calendar. Ok, it was the calendar on my phone.

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We wanted to make it to the parade that was held before the festival, but an extended trip to the post office to mail off some sales killed that idea. I knew parking would be a problem and traffic would be outrageous. We ended up making it into the parking garage right before they closed it due to being full.  We did drive behind the parade. Maybe next time.

From atop the parking lot

The festival was packed. They had vendors, sporting events and a huge stage. We wandered around, watched the games and listened to the great music. The husband was able to find his family crest and bought a key chain.

I ran into an old friend who was in the parade. I swear I am more and more of a shut in when I see people I used to hang out with but haven't seen in years and don't know what to say.

After the festival we wandered down St George Street. The husband stepped into a store that has a lot of family crest type things. The guy offered to pull up ours. The husband already knows plenty about his surname. We already have a map of Scotland that shows it. I took a chance and asked the guy to pull up mine. I never have any luck finding my surname. It is not that popular.

Amazingly the guy brought it right up. It is German and ironically the colors were the same as my kitchen - blue and green. In the rundown about the name it said my people are from saints and popes. I definitely didn't imagine that. We didn't buy anything but left with some interesting information.

We went online but haven't been able to find that coat of arms yet. I am still trying. I texted my sister and eldest niece about it. They were surprised too. I guess I may need to do more research.

We have maps of Scotland and Ireland in our dining room. They have the husband's paternal grandmother and grandmother's names on them. The one of Ireland has my paternal grandmother's name. I don't have any more room on the wall and I am not sure if they make one for Italy, but wouldn't that be neat for my maturnal grandparents that both were from Italy.

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We wandered around thinking about food. The husband chose Cruisers Grill. You could smell burgers from the street. The lady in line in front of us raved about the burgers and the fries. That had us. Although there was a line to get in it didn't take more than 10 minutes to sit down. 

The waitress was so nice. The husband chose the biggest thing on the menu - a double country fried steak. I went with the Burger of the Month - Guacamole Burger. The waitess explained that everything was fresh so it may not come out at the same time. 

We got my fries first. They were good. The ranch they came with made them even better. The husband loved his country fried steak. My burger was good. The chipotle mayo was a good mild spice and with the cool guacamole a nice combination. It was a little pricey for lunch but i would go back. We usually have pizza in St Augustine. I think it's time to expand our horizons. 

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Since we were in St Augustine I had to stop by the only outlet store that I frequent... Converse. I only wear Chuck Taylor hi tops. I haven't been having much luck when I stop by there in the past year. The last pair I got was the pair of brown boots the husband bought me last Valentine's Day. I definitely needed some new shoes. 

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The only pair of hi tops my size on the wall of discounted shoes was a pair of black and white. I was unsure. The price on the box was $29.97 or whatever. The only other ones discounted my size with the regular prices shoes were orange and a denim blue. Not work shoes. So I took the chance on the black and white pair and decided I needed new shoes and they were the best deal. When I went to ring up they came up as 19.97! I was so excited. They are now my 4th favorite pair and I haven't worn them. The skull & cross bones (the most I spent on any pair of shoes) is #1. Then #2 is the all blue pair I tend to wear every Friday to work and everyone comments on. Number 3 goes to the brown boots the husband bought me. 

Trucks and Rain

The other weekend we went to Monster Jam. The husband and I have gone every year since we met except for last year. I wouldn't have thought I would love Monster trucks before I met the bog lug, but it is so much fun.

It started raining, okay pouring during the freestyle part. We tried to sit through it. You know it's bad when the announcer says to get underneath something. We waited and waited. The husband made the call to head to the car. It is his thing so it is his call. I was good and suffered through being wet to the bone.

The wet masses

Muddy

It was still fun and he took a lot of great pictures. He is getting to be such a good photographer.

We ended up eating too good last weekend. We went to Renna's Pizza for lunch before the Monster Jam. After we hot Whataburger. The husband loves to go there even more since they closed the one in our town.

Then last Sunday the husband made his first time ever homemade calzones. He even made the dough from scratch. He decided to go with hot italain sausage as the filling (along with the usual richotta cheese and mozzerella cheese). As you can see from the photo he took they overflowed the plate. I had a yummy lunch the l=next day of the leftover. He is such a good cook.

Cars for a Cure

Last weekend we went to the 5th Annual Fort White Car Show.

The husband knew one of the ladies organizing the fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis. We waited over a month for the weekend to arrive. We went with the father in-law. It was cold and windy.

We drove out there and were blown away at how many cars were there. The husband took a lot of pictures. His favorite was the Roadrunner.

The father in law loved the military truck. 

Some of my favorites...

We bought the BBQ sandwich lunches that were for the fundraiser. They were yummy. I need to check out the restaurant who did them. Barnyard Junction, Fort White, Florida. 

The husband bought fundraiser Tshirts for all of us. 

Finally a Day Off

I have taken a half day off once or twice since our last week off in October, but not a whole day. I have been working my butt off at work. So after nearly getting creamed by a tractor trailer on Thursday morning on my way to work I decided to take all of Friday off. I missed a staff meeting and my group. But boy did I not miss it.

The husband was off work by 9 am. I tried to sleep in but the dogs had another thing in mind, as usual. We mailed off a sold book at the tiny post office near the house. The husband is well known by the lady who works there since I send him to mail things for me a lot now that I work until 5 pm.

Then I remembered that I have that deal for a Mexican restaurant in Gainesville that only works Monday to Friday for lunch, or Monday to Wednesday for dinner. We found the place and the parking lot was full. We decided to use the Sonic Groupon I have. Not dad for saving $5.

Then we went to some Gainesville thrift stores. That is my kind of day off. It felt like it was Saturday. We even found a few things.

This says 1969 and a name on the bottom. 

The husband found another addition to his dream of a home casino,,, card dealer. 

1972 and never played. All parts are in there. 

I found this too entertaining and tons of 1968 Spanish learning fun. 

My third Ungame. The husband says I have a problem. This one is from 1987.

I bough a white, beat up match holder from ebay. The husband cleaned it up and painted it. He always goes above and beyond, This time it was the white trim. 

He put the hole on the side for striking the matches. 

This is my cool chair. The husband thinks I don't need chairs. Someone bought the 4 other ones that are just like this. Crazy folks didn't put in for the 5th. The husband argued that maybe they didn't need five chairs. I say if I am getting 4 I might as well get number 5. 

13 in 13 February Update

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1. Sell 150 items: 
12 items sold (one still awaiting payment).
The husband found more NASCAR to sell. I need more stock.

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2. Weekly Blog Posts: 
Only hit three out of four weeks.

3. Read a Book Per Month: 
None. I am very bad.

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4. Track my Food to Lose Weight: 
I haven't been tracking my food.
I finally weighed in. It was higher than last year.

5. Monthly Adventures: 
Monster Jam, Jacksonville, FL

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6. Get serious about starting a family: 
I have been trying. Nothing new.

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7. Save Money: 
I spent all the paypal money for the husband's new cell phone battery. I have $160 in my savings.

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8. Watch More Movies:
7 Psychopaths
Killer Tomatoes Strike Back

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9. Improve at Work: 
I have been keeping up with paperwork. Ends up my coworkers aren't. All my clients are happy, except one. His main complaint is medical.

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10. Take a Real Vacation: 
No new plans on vacation. Nothing scheduled.

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11. Try Something New: 
I really can't think of anything for the shortest month.

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12. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: 
The recycling still hasn't made it out of the yard.
I did buy a trashcan just for the burn barrel that sits in the house.

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13. More home improvement: 
Husband made more fixes to the back steps.
He painted my new key holder.
The husband put camo duct tape on the seams of the bedroom wall that I always get my head clunked  on behind the bed.