Nothing Beats Free!

 It's been just about a week since we bid farewell to my mom, who is safley back in Ohio enjoying the snow, and tomorrow we're gaining a new visitor for the week- my cousin, Jake- so I figured I'd get you caught up on the happenings around here before Jake shows up and all hell breaks loose. 

The lemon tree is coming back to life, in fact, thanks to the warm and cold weather we've got ourselves some baby lemons. But, we are also finally getting some limes! In fact, I got to pick one this week. 

Asa and I headed into Tampa- where a whole lot of things were happening at once. There was all kinds of Chinese New Year stuff, plus Gasparilla.. and some left over remenants of that one week the Bucs were in the playoffs. 

Asa and I were down by Armature Works, and they had some special fairytale characters out as well. The Cinderella pumpkin was new! 

Anyway, we were down there for a grand opening give-away. A brand new Tiff's Treats was opening downtown and the first 100 people in line got free $50 gift cards, plus if you ordered ahead you could get $2 dozen cookies. We arrived about an hour before opening and we're probably somewhere around 50-60. We got our wristbands for our gift card and waited for the ribbon cutting. 

They also handed out free warm cookies to everyone in line. So, it was a total success, we each got a $2 dozen, we each got a free cookie, and we each got a $50 gift card to use later!

We then took our cookies over to Waterworks Park to have a picnic lunch. 

If you notice, we have some chicken salad there, and it's our monthly free chicken salad we got from waiting in line for Chicken Salad Chicks grand opening in August. Not only do we get free chicken salad every month, but the day we picked it up was customer appreciation day and we got extra scoop of free classic carol!

See, we kind of love free stuff around here. We won't go super out of our way for it (unless it's a grand opening that piques our interest), but if it's near us- we're there. This week was also free chicken nuggets at McDonalds, so everyone went and enjoyed their six piece (I donated mine to Peyton who was going to buy extra). 

Asa and I both had free coffees at Aroma Joes in the app, so we rode our bikes down there for that. 

And, we managed to get a free $100 Wawa gift card from our credit card rewards with GTE, so we've had free Wawa subs twice this week (and it's double points this month AND the subs have been on sale for $6 any classic sub-- we also love stacking free stuff!) 

I also convinced Asa to go to the grand opening of Asto Ice Cream since we were close by at Wawa anyway. You only got a free scoop of ice cream- nothing extra for the Grand opening, but it was free, so we'll take it! I got Tampa Guava Cream Cheese and Asa got Peanut Butter Banana pudding. Both were good, but his was amazing. 

However, Asa barely likes desserts (how awesome is he that he went to get free cookies with me, though?) Sometimes, this makes me sad- because I love desserts and nobody in this house is ever down to share them with me. But, that means when we get free desserts, he often just takes a bite and gives me the rest. So, it's like I got two ice creams for free!

Of course, all this eating out means more walks to walk it all off. Good thing the weather has been nice. 

In addition to all that, I've also been crafting. I finally got around to making us our napkins I've been talking about doing since our anniversary. (Nobody needs to know where I got these napkins from.) I did take a picture of the logos and then do my best to adjust brightness/contrast so I could clean them up enough to print them in vinyl. It was a journey for some of them.  

In more crafting news, Asa and I have both signed up to volunteer at the library. I'm going to be doing my first couple Crafting with Corinne classes at the libary in March, and I'm starting with Mickey Ears. I had to do a basic pair to show off what we'll do during class, so while they're boring compaired to what I usually do, they're good to show people the process. 

I also finally got around to putting the velcro on the covers for the couch to make them removable. It also just tightened up the covers, and it looks pretty good out there. 

In one of my crafting genius moments, I also constructed a dog wheel chair this week. Phenom jumped off the couch, and has been having trouble with his back right leg ever since. He'll wake up fully rested, doing zoomies around the house because it feels better since he rested it, but then by lunch time he's scooting his butt across the floor to get anywhere. The poor guy might be nearly 16, but he still acts like a puppy, and he just does not want to sit still. I figured if I could just get him a little walking aid so he could still be mobile while it heals (so he's not dragging his butt everywhere by mid-day), he'd be much better off. I looked into doggie wheelchairs, but they are so expensive, so to Youtube I went to learn how to make one. I literally had everything to complete the project in my garage (I swear, I'm not a hoarder!) I even stole the wheels off the power washer (Sam, next door, even helped me get them off) And then I took some measurements and went through several prototypes before I finally got something that worked. 

Four prototypes later, Nooms had a working wheelchair. I used everything from my drill to my glue gun to my sewing maching...

...to my cricut, because of course I labeled it for him. Nooms is his nickname, but then when he has his sweater on he's "sweater nooms", when he has his hoodie on he's "hoodie nooms", when he gets a haircut he's "fancy nooms" so obviously, when he's in his wheelchair, he's "wheelchair nooms" (It also helps everyone to know which way the middle support is supposed to velcroed so it doesn't catch any fur). 

He doesn't use the middle support when he goes outside, then he just has on the front harness and the back strap- but he can in fact navigate and use the facilities outside. It's a big improvement for him. He's so happy, he's running around and wagging his tail a whole lot. Hopefully it helps him get better. 

Last night Asa and I had a date night at International Plaza. We even treated ourselves to Grilled Artichokes, the first time we've had that experience. Once you figure out how to eat them though, they're pretty good. 

We've had some cooler days and some warmer days around here lately. 

But the cooler days are nice for grilling out and hanging out on the patio couch with a good book. 

So, like I said, Jake will be here tomorrow. He's coming specifically for the Championship Sunday pizzas, which have been determined. 

As always, I leave you with Waterstraut pet pictures. 

Next up: Jake's visiting for the first time in three years! We're super excited to have him. 

Sattler's at Disney, Day 4: Epcot

We woke up early on Monday to grab ourselves some Guardians of the Galaxy Virtual Queue passes. The good news? We easily got them. The bad news? We were in Group 2! Thats TWO, people. Meaning, basically as soon as the park opened up we'd be called for our group. We've literally never gotten better than somewhere in the 40s, meaning we had a couple of hours between opening and our group being called. 

None of us had planned to go into Epcot for early entry, because we needed to check out of our cabin by 11 am. But when we got our Virtual Queue for so soon after regular opening time, some of us re-evaluated. Asa and Calib decided to head in with Cort's family while I stayed behind with Peyton and Hayden to help pack up the cabin. They didn't do as well with early entry at Epcot as I had done at Magic Kingdom, but they were able to get on Ratatouille, which Calib had never been on before. 

Meanwhile, I packed up and returned the golf cart with mom. 

It was just after 9 when Hayden and Peyton and I entered the park. We headed towards Gaurdians, as our group had already been called and waited to meet up with Cort and Holly who were running a bit behind. 

We did notice a fun Groot chalk drawing though. 

And while we waited, we went over to Club Cool. Peyton hadn't been there since the new one opened. 

This is Peyton's "Beverly is still gross" face. 

After that, we met with everyone else for the VIrtual Queue. At this point though, we had discovered you don't have to be back at your time. You can never be early for your time, but you can always be late- as late as you want. So, I passed on Guardians and told Cort and Holly they could use mine, moms and Joanns later to ride again with Garrett. I was glad to "sacrifice" my virtual queue because the ride makes me sick, and because I'm an introvert that had spent the last three days around people. (Even my voice was suffering at this point). So, I gladly headed off on my own to enjoy the Festival of the Arts which was only a few days old at this point. 

I feel like the Festival of the Arts is totally underrated. I love all the art booths set up. 

It's fun to nose around the paintings and the sculptures and marvel at people's talents. 

Plus you run into some real obscure Disney stuff- including Ratigan, who I only know of from playing Villianous (though Hayden has asked for us all to watch The Great Mouse Detective for his birthday). 

There aren't just paintings there, you can find chalk art along the main walkway. 

While some of it is Disney, some of it isn't. But if you get lucky, you'll be able to spot some chalk artists in progress. 

And then there's always the one giant drawing that they have for photo ops. On my trip it was Raya. 

Then there's the paintings that you can jimp into. 

And, there's the mural you can help color. I planned to rope drop this and be the first one to paint by number on the new Figment mural, but it doesn't open until 11, and I didn't want to wait around that long. Sadly, then the line got too long and nobody else was that interested in doing it. But, maybe we'll make it to Epcot one more time before the Festival ends. 

Even the construction walls are decorated with art work during the Festival of the Arts. 

I made my way back through the world showcase, and stopped to see Binny in the UK. If you know, you know. Binny is the most famous trash can in all of Disney world, not to be confused with his cousin in the American Pavillion, Binjamin Franklin. But Binny was missing for a few days! Luckily he showed back up, so when I passed Binny, I sent Asa this picture. He replied with the picture from earlier that morning when they had stopped by to check on Binny. And yes, I know this is all ridiculous. 

The world showcase was still pretty quiet since most of it was still closed, but I was able to get a picture in Washington crossing the Delaware, a favorite of mine for obvious reasons. I like to think I get to be the James Monroe in the painting. 

The only food booth from the art festival open before 11 is the Encanto Cocina, where they serve breakfast empanadas and totally reasonably priced (and delicious) hot mocha coffees. I grabbed myself one and enjoyed it in the empty Italy pavilion. 

I do love the chalk art around the pavilions as well, I just wish there was more of it. It is themed very well though, you'll find Coco in Mexico, Beauty and the Beast characters in France, and Luca characters in Italy. 

I decided since the booth is always super busy, I would rope drop the Italy Festival of the Arts booth for some fried cheese with various dips. 

So, I sent Asa picture of me rope dropping fried cheese. 

And seriously, this was delicious. All the cheese and dipping sauces for me! 

They were all so jealous, my family decided to join me for some snacks. Of course since Peyton was with us at Disney (a rarity) we had to nab ourselves one of the sushi donuts in the Japan pavilion. 

And then there were requests for bratwurst in Germany. I put in for some pretzle bread pudding too, because it's my favorite. 

And since we were back there, I also picked up a Sam the Eagle sipper at the Regal Eagle. He is so overpriced, but adorable, so I sprung for him to add to my collection. 

Me made our way the rest of the way through the world showcase, checking out the artwork and all the special things for the Festival of the Arts. We even found a couple artists- including the guy who does the artwork for Gideon's Bakehouse- doing their work. We stopped for a Tipsy Ducks in Love for Asa and Peyton to split, and enjoyed the sunshine. 

Some of us hadn't seen the 50th anniversary statues, so we made sure to stop by and see those (I still think Rocket and Groot might be my favorite for the sheer detail of it all). 

And Asa and I took our picture in our matching Frozen shirts with Olaf. 

We headed back to Cort's family and found Pooh frolicking in the grass. I had seen him doing this on various blogs, but never spotted him there in person, so I yelled "hey Pooh!" a little too loud, but it did get me a wave, and Holly and Garrett had no problem finding us in all my excitement. 

We were right next to a pretzel cart, so I proposed buying Garrett one, which he did not turn down. 

And then we did a couple of rides... Living with the Land... 

...and Soarin- one of my favorites! 

Mom had missed out on Club Cool earlier in the day, so we made sure to get that in. 

And then we took a spin on Spaceship Earth (where I blinded everyone with my flash). 

But Asa and I had a cute future which we were able to select in French, because we're awesome and on 850 day streaks on Duolingo. 

Mobile ordering for the new Connections Cafe was available, so I nabbed a Leige Waffle I'd been hoping to try. It was good, but nothing spectacular. 

After that we decided to wait in the Test Track line before we headed home. The line really wasn't that long- but thanks to the new stupid Genie Plus people being able to pay to go ahead it took over an hour. We passed the time with shenanigans. 

Honestly though, Genie Plus sucks- it makes the line SO much longer. They were letting maybe 5 groups of the regualr line in and then filling the rest in with Genie plus. So, this is our displeased faces. 

We did eventually get there though, after about an hour, and we all broke into groups and designed our car. 

Test Track is always a fun ride. 

And Asa, Hayden and I had the most energy efficent car of the whole day! 

That was it, we were headed home to make sure to get there before the Bucs game, so we headed up to the front and took a picture in front of the ball before saying our goodbyes. 

And we were off. Cort did later send me a picture of Gwen and all her friends at the Ratatouille ride with their Ratatouille ears. 

It took a long time to get home- we had to go the back, back way to avoid traffic and it took almost two hours- we swung by Burger King in Dade City for dinner. 

After we got home and unloaded everything, it was about time for the Bucs game. We didn't have high hopes, because we've watched them all year and they haven't been... well, great. 

But despite that, I was happy to be with the puppies, and they were happy to be with us. 

Meanwhile, Cort was telling me how upset Garrett was that we had all left. And then I simultaneously got texts from Cort, Holly and Garrett that they had tried to use the virtual queues left from earlier in the day, and while they worked, the ride broke down when they were next to go (luckily, that did eventually get going). 

And they did all meet up with Gwen after we left, so we had missed her- turns out Hayden and Asa didn't even see her all weekend except when she was marching. 

The Bucs game went about as well as expected. But I'd like to thank them for blowing it so bad that I could go to sleep after the third quarter. After the long weekend with everyone at Disney, I was exhausted. 

None of us predicted the beating the Bucs took from the Cowboys, But I guess Garrett wasn't too far off. That's fine, I find when you've recently won a Super Bowl, you're not so desperate to win another one. And, it's nice to watch the playoffs and not have a huge investment in any of the teams (though admitadly I'm pulling for the Bills!) 

Mom had stayed at the cabins one more night, with Cort's family leaving around midnight to drive home, and she went up to the gift shop to get me a Hoop Dee Doo magnet that I had forgotten to grab while I was there. Then she headed back to our house for a couple days to get all her papers graded before heading home. 

Next up: Back to a party of five, for a week at least, before Jake shows up for a visit.