Coke Freestyle!!!

While Patrick was in Atlanta we made it a point to go visit one of the new Coke Freestyle machines. Coca Cola is testing these machines in various restaurants in Atlanta, California, and Utah. The machine offers probably a hundred different choices... it is so cool!!

First: You pick which drink you want... Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite... etc

Then you decide if you want any flavoring... Cherry Coke, Orange Coke, Raspberry Diet Coke... etc

Then... just hit the button and it mixes the Coke right there in your cup... very cool!

We didn't take any videos... but there are plenty on YouTube if you want to have a look.

These pictures are a preview of tomorrow's post... hopefully they will entice you to come back...

U2 360... in the Dome

This past Tuesday I attended the U2 360 concert with Patrick, his friend Stephen, brother Sid and a couple of their friends from home.

I must admit that I was a little nervous in the days and hours leading up to the concert... and if I'm being completely honest I was even a little nervous during the opening band. Patrick and his brother Sid had been talking about this concert for months... they were both incredibly pumped... I'm not a huge U2 person (or so I thought)... so I was not quite sure what to expect from these two big time fans.

Sid got general admission floor tickets when they first went on sale months ago. So there were two possible places we could end up... if we got there really early we could make it into the "inner circle" but more than likely we would be outside of that in the "outer circle." The inner is good because you are right up next to the stage... but you miss a lot of the lighting and graphics that make the show special. The outer is a little farther away... you are separated from the inner by another circular stage... but the band would frequently cross a little bridge and play on the outer stage too.

Here we are at the concert, I didn't bring my camera because we thought they might take it... so we had to take a cell phone pic.

We ended up being about 8 people back in the outer circle. The opening band's bass was so loud it left our ears ringing... it was so out of proportion we could not hear what they were singing at all. Then after a short stage change U2 took the stage. This video is a decent representation of how close we were... though we were a little farther back and on the other side, closer to the guitarist... but it's close enough!

They played for 2 plus hours with hardly any breaks. It was such a fantastic experience... despite the fact that my feet got spilled on in the middle of the show. It seems like the more I think about it and the more we talk about it the more excited I get. It is definitely an experience I will not soon forget.

26 things... Digital Camera

I am thankful for... my Digital Camera.

I love having a digital camera. It would be so hard to go back to the days when you just took a picture and hoped it turned out... now we have "insta- develop" cameras. I love taking a picture and then viewing it instantly to make sure it has the right lighting, framing, etc.

I have a super small camera that I take everywhere... it is so handy, I use it to take pictures of just about everything. (I will post some great new pics next week).

We are so lucky to live in a time where we can preserve our memories so easily!

Food Friday Tailgate 1-2-3 dip

This week Kelly's Show Us Your Life is about Tailgating traditions... mine is a little different than most. When your work for for a 24/7 business you often have to do things creatively. So for the last two years we have had a "tailgate" at the work near the start of football season. Everyone brings their favorite tailgate foods and wears their team colors. We always have quite the spread... and everyone has so much fun!!

This is part of our food this year... yum!

One of my dishes... and my representation of school spirit! Go Dawgs!

If you want to read more about my love for Georgia football... take a look at some of my "Football" posts (look in the categories to the right)... I do one each week! I love football season!

Now on to the Foodie Friday part of this post... I have chosen the dip I made for the tailgate. I got the recipe from the Perpetual Newlyweds blog during Boomama's Diptacular. It was wonderful and the recipe is so easy to remember!

1-2-3 Dip

Ingredients:

-1lb sausage

-2 cans of Rotel

-3 blocks of Cream Cheese

-Brown the sausage

-Then place the sausage along with Rotel (I didn't drain it) and cream cheese into a crock pot.

-If you are going to need it quickly cook on High... but I let it cook on low for several hours-- it will take a little bit for the cream cheese to melt

-Stir the dip every 10-15 minutes so it does not burn or get hotspots.

UGA vs Tennessee 2003

I will make this one pretty brief... The video speaks for itself... but first, let me set the stage...

We got up early practiced and traveled to Knoxville for an evening game. We came down out of the stands and readied for the half time show. Tennessee drove the ball all the way down the field... it looked like they were about to score when..

Sean Jones ran right in front of us!!! It was probably one of the coolest moments of my career as a Redcoat! I feel like we floated through that half time show... it was AWESOME!!! And, one more thing... we were set to debut our 2nd show of the year that week... it was a Queen show... complete with "We are the Champions." It turned out to be quite fitting!

Foodie Friday Barbecue Pork

This is a recipe I have been making for a very long time... very good and very very easy! It is a super easy way to feed a crowd... put it in and forget about it all day... perfect! Great for tailgates!

Barbecue Pork

Ingredients:

-1 Boston Butt Pork roast

-2 jars of barbecue sauce (I usually get one cheap one... and one nicer one)

-Vinegar (enough to fill a barbecue sauce bottle)

-Crock Pot

Place the meat in the crock pot. Pour the cheap sauce over it, then fill that bottle with vinegar and pour it over the meat. Cook on low for about 8 hours (make sure it is covered).

After 8 hours the meat should easily pull apart with a fork (you may want to test this to make sure it is done). When the meat it done pour off all the sauce/vinegar. Then shred the pork with two forks.

Now you can either mix the other sauce with the meat.... or just put it out when you serve the barbecue and let each person determine how much sauce they want.

The marks on the inside of the container are steam... it's hot... sorry, I could not get a picture without it.

Check out Brittany's Foodie Friday today... Pumpkin Bread... yum yum!!

26 things... Cranberry Lemonade

*Let me start with a little disclaimer... I am writing 26 things I am thankful for... they are not the 26 things I am most thankful for... some will be serious others will be funny. Just thought I would make sure I clarified that.*

I am thankful for Cranberry Lemonade.

I used to have a pretty serious two Diet Coke a day habit. I really wanted to cut back, but I was never able to find anything I really liked to replace one of the Diet Cokes... until I found this product. It is lemonade with a tangy punch... and it's not thick like juice, it's a light treat. It's perfect!

Thanks Cranberry Lemonade... with your help I have cut back to a one Diet Coke a day habit!