I used pictures from Steve, Emily, Mom, the couple themselves and photos that I took. Along the way I made a few pages for Amber, the maid of honor and myself. Expect to see those posted at some point as well.

In the meantime, the couple have happily given me permission to post their pages (click the first link) for everyone to enjoy (they’re less selfish than I am).

PS: Eventually I’ll also get mine and mom’s individual Vegas photos loaded into Photobucket, but honestly they are a disorganized mess from the scrapbook project.

I started it as a 5×7 but realized that I didn’t have 5×7 photo paper. So I very cleverly resized it to nearly 4×6. We found it in a picture frame and she loved it. A perfect gift for a grandmother that adores photos. I printed out a few more snapshots that she didn’t have and we added a few more sundries and voila a perfect Mother’s Day gift.

It was also the perfect format to send to some great aunt’s to wish them a Happy Mother’s Day. I will have to remember this for future gift giving.

The final result:

First, I would recommend that you write down your recipes as soon as you think of them or use them. I don’t do this as often or as quickly as I should and therefore I lose a lot.

Second, if you don’t want to use a crockpot, I think a regular stew pot would work fine, you’d just have to watch it much closer and I’m too lazy for that nonsense.

• Toss 2lbs of stew meat in flour (I used GF Bisquik, it’s what I had on hand) and brown in skillet coated with 2 tbl oil (I used sunflower oil) add more if needed
• While meat browns, chop around 4 potatoes and 2 carrots in chunks and place in bottom of crockpot
• Once meat is browned move meat to crockpot and place on top of vegetables
• Chop 1 onion and brown in skillet (use same skillet you browned the meat)
• Season onion with 1 tbl garlic, 1 tsp celery salt, 1 tsp sage, salt & black pepper to taste (and anything else you can think of)
• Once semi-translucent, move onions to top of meat in crockpot
• Pour large bottle of dark Irish stout (I found a large 20oz bottle of Guinness) on top of meat & veggies
• Add water until meat and veggies are just covered
• Cook on high 4 hours (I think we cooked ours on low all day while we worked)
• Garnish with parsley or chives (we forgot to do this but it would have been tasty and pretty)

This had a very different taste than a usual stew. It thickened up nicely but you could really taste the Guinness. If you don’t like dark Irish beer, you might want to cut back the amount of beer you add or use a different recipe entirely. You could also add different veggies like cabbage (very Irish) and celery.

Let me know if you give this a try.

I mingled with the coworkers. The Chipotle was fabulous. I alternated soda and water to spread out the calories that were quickly adding up. I even dressed the part.

I just couldn’t seem to get that 10 lb ball down that wooden lane without landing in the gutter. I alternated my stance. I tried different weight bowling balls. I pouted. I laughed. I tried everything my little brain could think of and still I could barely hit more than a pin or two at a time.

During the second game I somehow, miraculously, got a strike. It was the only luck I had all afternoon. When all was said and done, my scores were 21 and 32. My boss’s boss said I had confused the game of Blackjack with bowling. I’m not sure I disagreed with him.

I did “win” for losing though. I received a gift card to Starbucks for having the worst score. Then my team won for the best team spirit. I don’t know if that’s because they kept their spirits up while I simultaneously brought the team average down or what exactly, but we did have a good time cheering each other on.

And in case you don’t believe me, here is a video of one of the many gutter balls.

The Shindig for Sherry, Operation Frak Cancer was an absolutely huge success. You can read more about here (the Shindig for Sherry) & here (Sherry’s Caring Bridge Journal – log in and sign the guest book!).

All you really need to know is that some truly generous & awesome people came together and donated time, energy, raffle items & loads of cash to an awesome cause. Also, the color of the evening was apparently teal (and completely unplanned).

This pic was taken by Steve and you can find the rest of the photo set here at his Flickr.

And the music entertainment was excellent as well. And as long as you don’t mind my singing voice, here is a little video.

Hedgehog Spin – Sonic was never this cute.

Lion Love – title says it all

Baby Anteater – I find few things cuter than baby anteaters.

Laughing Mouse – Should be an inspirational poster.

Piggyback Ride – Literally

Cute Kitten Tongue – I want to poke that lil belly

Tall Glass of Milk – How does he reach?

PS-  I watched all the video selections without sound, so I have no idea how annoying they might be if you actually have speakers.

Multiple baskets available with comics, geek memorabilia, crafty goodness and more.

RSVP on Facebook & find more information at the website Shindig for Sherry.