A Peek at Life as a Natic

Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of Football with the Guys here

SOME of the guys

Thanksgiving evening the guys in the family took a ride over to Sharon Springs Park in Cumming.  It is right around the corner from Edwin and Geni’s so it was perfect.  When we got there we found that it was a fully artificial turf field and was completely numbered!!  It was AWESOME!  Ever since that night I had been itching to play some more football with the guys.  It was a great time and was a great way to keep active.  My legs were SHOT after playing.

So last weekend I organized for a lot of the guys to get together and play and nice game of two hand touch / flag football.  While we played the ladies planned to get together at our house as well.  We had a great turnout of 17 guys!  A huge turnout even though the weather was in the low 30’s as a HIGH.  It was VERY cold but we all dressed warm and showed up to play a great game of football.  It was such a blast again!  We had some great highlights and just an all around great time.  Everyone got along very well and we had no injuries.  A total success!  I was sore for like 4 days after playing.  That sprinting over and over again really beats the hell out of inactive legs. 

After the game we all headed over to Taco Mac for some food.  The ladies and kiddos came up there as well to meet up with us.  We had TERRIBLE service (always do at 141!!!) but ohh well… we still had a good time.

Shirt Lin and Kara bought

After Taco Mac everyone kinda did their own thing.  We headed back home to hang out with Andrea and Ryan (and the kids).  We all just hung out and talked until about 11:00 or so and then they took the trek back to D-Vegas (Douglasville).

We had such a great Saturday.  Man did I have a great time playing football.  It was awesome!  We are hoping to get the guys together every other Saturday to play.  Hopefully we can make it happen!

The shirt that is on Preston is quite a funny story.  A while back Kara and Lin came over to watch a football game.  Lin and I were in the living room watching the game and Alisha and Kara were in the kitchen.  So Alisha must have caught a glimpse of two linemen pushing and shoving at the line and said, look at those two guys fighting at the hut-hut line LOL!!!!!!!!!  She was referring to the line of scrimage but did not know any better.  She will NEVER live that down.  When Preston was born Kara and Lin got him a shirt that says future member of the hut-hut line  on the front and Natic with a number on the back.  It was a perfect gift!

This afternoon I decided to spend about an hour and half brewing a new cider recipe that I had found.  The first cider that I brewed came out terrible due to a wild yeast strain that took over fermentation.  I recently brewed another cider which is currently in a keg to age in the garage.  Ciders are easy to brew and also very cheap, but unfortunately they need to age for quite some time before they become very enjoyable.  Knowing that, I decided to throw another batch together with the intent to age.  This particular recipe is kind of a hybrid between beer and cider but is supposed to be very good.  It has grains and hops added to it as well as 4 gallons of apple juice to complete the “cider”.  I am looking forward to this one and can’t wait to see how it turns out.

After brewing Bobby came over and we headed to dinner at Bucca di Beppo.  We had a great time catching up on events from the week as well as enjoying some good food.  I will say that I was very shocked by the new pricing.  It costs quite a bit more than Maggianos and the food is NOWHERE near as good.  That may be my last trip to that place for me.  Great atmosphere but those prices are kinda ridiculous even though you are supposed to share. 

After dinner we headed to Cold Stone for some ice cream and then to Taco Mac so that Bobby and I could have the limited beer from He’Brew called Jewbilation 13.  It is a 13% alcohol beer and is made with 13 hops and 13 grains.  It was pretty damn smooth for that kind of alcohol content and was a perfect way to wrap up the night.

notes:  The cider (Graff) has an OG of 1.064 (expected an OG of about 1.060).

Sunday afternoon the ladies wanted to go shopping… who knew?  Lin and I told them that we would go to Target with them, they could drop us off at Taco Mac to watch some football and have a beer, and then they could pick us up before heading home.  It worked out pretty well I’d say.  LOL

After shopping we heading over to La Casuela for some nice Mexican food before heading back to the house to chill.

It was a nice chill Sunday and a great way to wrap up the weekend.

Well… the day has actually come… the day that we have to say goodbye to our friend Jason.  He is moving back to Maryland and today is his last day to hang out

Taco Mac Thursday is tradition for the guys and he joined us often for beers and a great time.  We decided that it would be most appropriate to meet at Taco Mac for the last hurrah.  We had a great dinner with friends and said goodbye to our good friend.  We will miss you man…. take care of yourself and your family.  We will have to come up to visit you soon!

Saturday morning was a big day as Hector and Reagan were heading back to the 3d/4d ultrasound studio to get their gender confirmation and I was excited to watch the UGA Auburn game with Lin.  It was bound to be an excellent day!

So in the morning we woke up, got ready, and headed out the door to meet Hector, Reagan, and Geni and the ultrasound studio on Marketplace blvd to do their gender confirmation.  This was the same place that helped us out when we were in need and I highly recommend them to EVERYONE trying to get a 3d /4d ultrasound done.  See the bottom of this post for a full shout out.  We went back and confirmed…. ITS A BOY!!!  Looks like Preston is going to have another partner in crime to hang out with just like I did with Hector when we were young.  It is going to be great for these two to grow up with another family member their age.  I know it was huge for me.  After the ultrasound we headed over to ihop for breakfast with Hector, Reagan, and Geni.  We had a delicious start to the day and then headed off to go shopping at the outlet malls while they headed up to North Point Mall to do some shopping of their own.

After brekfast we headed up to the Dawsonville Outlet Mall to check out Baby Gap and pick up a few things for Preston.  I have fallen in love with that store and before anyone gives any lectures, I’ll be sure to mention that we buy things when they are on sale and they are no cheaper than any other place we look for clothes and they are much cuter and nicer.  We use coupons and watch the sale racks and love every bit of it.  I can’t wait to dress Preston!!!  We then grabbed lunch and headed back towards the house to meet up with Kara and Lin before the UGA Auburn game.

As you know I am a UGA fan and Lin is an Auburn alumni and huge fan as well.  Well… today was the day.  UGA was playing Auburn in Athens and it was bound to be a great game.  Before it all got started Lin and I headed out to Home Depot to pick up some double sided sticky tape and then over to Taco Mac to grab a few beers and watch a little bit of the games on the tvs there.  We had a some good guy time and then headed back to the house to meet up with the ladies.  We caught some shit about disappearing for a while, but hey… we had some bonding time right?  When we got to the house Jason Lucas had come buy on his way home from work to drill a hole in a keg for me before having to head back up to his house to get things done preparing for his move back to MD… damn you Jason…. we will miss ya buddy!  Courtney was also there as she was in the area to work for the night and stopped by.  I did not get to see her much but it is always great to see her.

We had Bobby, Danny, Kelly, Kara, and Lin over to watch the game and had a blast doing so.  Auburn took an early lead and then after the half it was a battle to the end.  UGA pulled off a HUGE win over the Auburn Tigers making my weekend!!!  GOOO DAWGS!  It was a great day full of things to do and excitement.  Congratulations to Hector and Reagan!  We are so happy for you two!

I want to recognize A Window to the Womb on Marketplace Boulevard in Cumming GA for helping us out when we were in need and providing such a great service to people.  It was a beautiful studio with a huge screen and amazing technicians.  If you are in the market for this type of ultrasound, please support them!  Window to the Womb

On Thursday I had no plans to head to Taco Mac and we were having Courtney come over to have some dinner and chill at our house.  I had a rough day in the Kennesaw office and was exhausted and was eager to get back to the house to unwind.  As I got home, I called Alisha who reminded me that I needed to grab some food so that we could cook dinner.  Damn!  I had to pull back out of the driveway and head back to Publix to grab something for us all to eat.  On my way home, I am pulling into the neighborhood when I get a text message from Bobby who was stating that he was drinking Terrapin’s new beer which was just released for the first time.  I had not had it and was extremely jealous.  I sent him a damn you text, brought the groceries inside, and headed off to Taco Mac to taste this new deliciousness!  Damn was it good!  Everything they make is ridiculously good!  I love that brewery!

I grabbed two drinks and headed home to meet up with Alisha and Courtney.  As a matter of fact, I was there before she even was!  That was the plan of course .  We had a nice dinner and chilled and they showed me the awesome gift that Courtney had made for Alisha’s shower.  It looks great!  I was quite impressed!

Thanks Court!  We love it!

Closeup to see detail of each letter

Okay so yes, this is another post about Taco Mac LOL. 

So, I keep up with the Taco Mac blog which is kept up to date by a guy named Fred.  He is the beverage director for Tappan Street Restaurant Group and keeps everyone ramped up about new beers that are being poured all over the Metro Atlanta area.  His blog can be found in my blogroll on the right hand side of the page or here.  Because I like to keep up with new beers and what my local Taco Mac is serving, I read his blog site often.  Well the other day I was reading and came across a post in which he was offering tickets to the first 20 people to ask for a free brewery tour (with samples) for Atlanta Brewing Company (the brewers of Red Brick – an Atlanta based beer).  I tired to reach him by email but was confused where to go about finding him so I called Tappan and they transferred me to him. 

We spent several minutes talking about beer and the local breweries and he told me that he would send me a bunch of tickets so that I can bring some friends along with me as well.  It was really cool of him to offer out tickets to people (plus the real reason is that it will support our awesome local breweries) and even cooler of him to take some time out to BS with me.  He seems like a great guy.

If you have never been to a Taco Mac and you live in GA, you are missing out big time.  They offer about 150 beers on tap and about 200 in bottles at most of their locations.  They also do a passport club in which you are rewarded from trying different beers.  Eventually you are given a larger mug (for the same price people pay for the smaller servings), name on a plaque on the wall, and eventually some gear.  As you should know, it is our local bar of choice.  We go to the location here in Cumming because of their awesome employees and we recommend you do the same.

We are going to Sweetwater this weekend and cant wait to go to Atlanta Brewing Company soon!

Friday morning I read that Taco Mac was releasing a new Terrapin beer at 5:00 PM.  As you know I am a Terrapin addict and I HAD to stop by and try this new beer.  It was actually being released for charity… and that is the only reason I was going (okay – I lied LOL).  After seeing this beer release, I made some phone calls to see who wanted to join for a quick Friday Happy Hour.  We had a nice crowd lol.  Bobby, Dan, Jason Lucas, Spencer, Paul, and Rickie all decided to meet up at Taco Mac in Cumming at 5:00. 

Once I got work I headed up to meet Dan at the Avenues in Forsyth.  He mentioned that some shorts were on sale so I ran up there to snag a pair.  We did some shopping with my dad and then headed over to get his haircut at Sport Clips.  I love that place, but he didn’t get the same vibe.  He was not a fan of the steam towel and head massage that they give you while washing your hair… he is crazy!  Anyway, after getting his mophair cut, we headed over to Taco Mac for a few beers.  Alisha was still out with Ryan and Anne so we took some time to grab a few beers and catch up.  Terrapin’s new beer was a double white and I thought that it was quite tasty!  A few of the others did not agree completely but I was very happy with it.  It is not a style that I would typically drink but it was good.  Light, different, good!

After grabbing three beers we headed back to the house to make dinner and chill.  Dan rode back with me and Spencer and Jason joined.  Bobby had a date so he did his own thing.  I (yes I not the pregnant one lol) had been craving IHOP all day… but apparently i could not get anyone else to join LOL.  Alisha decided that she was in the mood for french toast so I picked up stuff for that and we did french toast and chilled on the patio. 

We had a great dinner with great company and a few beers.  It was a great start to the weekend!

While this week kinda dragged on a little bit, I did a fair amount of fun stuff throughout the week.

On Tuesday Spence, Bobby, and I met up at Taco Mac for some dinner and a few beers to make the week go by a little faster.  Wednesday was the typical BINGO night at Ray’s Pizza in Alpharetta which is always a blast!  Last night we headed up to Maggianos to meet up with about 18 of Grant’s friends from college and high school to celebrate his birthday.  Unfortunately Alisha was completely miserably sick last night and could not even eat a bit of her dinner at her favorite casual restaurant.

It was fun…. but now I feel like a whale LOL.  I would like to say that before this week, I had shed all my cruise weight   I was scared for a while!

Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of  Gwinnett Braves game at pictures.neilnatic.com  or here.

Gwinnett Braves Game

On Friday night we went with Jason Lucas and Bobby to the Gwinnett Braves game!  Jason had gotten some tickets from a vendor that he works with and asked us if we would like to go with him to the game Friday night.  We definitely said yes and we all headed out to Duluth to see them play.

I had never been to the stadium and I have to say I was VERY impressed.  The stadium is brand new and the people could not be any nicer there.  Everyone welcomes you in and is so willing to help.  They escort you to your seats do everything possible to make sure that you have a great time!  Our seats were right behind home plate and only three rows back!  They were perfect!  In addition to great seats it was full service!  A lady comes by and asks what you would like to drink and brings it to you.  During the game I had a bunch of time to play with the camera and really learn quite a bit about shooting in low light situations.  I took a crap ton of pictures (only posted a small handful on the photo gallery site) which really gave me a chance to understand a number of different settings.  The only downfall to this is that i quickly found out that I need to spend some money on some more expensive lenses.  As you can see in some the bad and or ball is blurred.  This is because I could not choose a shutter speed that would let enough light into the frame and still freeze action happening that fast. 

Bat Breaking at Contact

The game was a blast especially with Bobby heckling all of the opposing players.  It was hilarious.  Go check out a game sometime.  There were about 7,000 great fans there and it was a hell of a time.  Plus tickets are CHEAP!

Sign Above the Toilets

While at the game Alisha noticed that there was a sign about the water in the toilets.  Who the HELL would use ANY toilet water for drinking water??!  LOL

After the game we all headed to Taco Mac out at Mall of Georgia.  We had a few beers there and had a great time.  One of those beers was a one time brew from Terrapin called 30 Strong Ale.  This is brewed ONLY for Taco Mac for their 30th anniversary.  It was delicious!  It is a strong ale brewed with 30 different ingredients and a very smooth taste.  As you know, I love Terrapin and this was a must have for me.

If you have never had a Terrapin beer, I strongly recommend you have one.  They have great beers from their lighter blonde ale (Terrapin Golden Ale) to darker beers like their India Brown Ale (a wildly hopped brown ale).  They are most known by beer lovers for their special one time and seasonal brews. 

Jason – thanks for inviting us.  We had a great time man!!!

Seriously!  I want to throw up!

Alisha and Ashley just called me to let me know that my favorite sandwich at Taco Mac is a good reason why I am a fatty.  I just ran the numbers and here they are:

UGH!

On Friday afternoon Bobby, Spence, Jason, and I headed up to Taco Mac for a little bit and then met up with Alisha when she got home.  We decided to head up to the new Cuban restaurant over by my parents called Bongos.  I was pretty excited about it as I had not been a  good Cuban restaurant in a LONG time (ever since From Havana 2 U closed ).  When we got there I was a little shocked that it was more of a Moe-ish type restaurant in which you go to the front and order, they make the food, and bring it out to you.  It was actually pretty good but not what I was hoping that it would be.  Give it a shot if you are ever around.  Not the best but certainly not the worst at all!

Afterwards we headed to Carvel and then back to the house to get some much needed sleep.  It was a chill Friday night but was great to hang out with Spence and Bobby again.

Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of  Courtney and Auggie’s visit at pictures.neilnatic.com  or here.

Envy, Alisha, Auggie (hard to see) and Courtney

On Saturday morning we headed over to Edwin’s office to take some pictures for GSA’s website.  Susan and Hershey (with AnnaMarie of course!)were our photographers while Joe, Edwin, Philip, Geni, Alisha, Kim, and I joked around the whole time.  It was pretty fun.  After our photo shoot we went to a hole in the wall restaurant in Alpharetta that Geni and Edwin swore by… there was good reason to.  This place had excellent food and bagels.  MMMMM  I want some now!!!  While were there we ran into a old friend of ours Chris.  It was really great to briefly catch up with him there. 

After eating lunch we headed back to our house where shortly after Mike and Aubree came over.  Aubree was going with Alisha to meet up with the ladies for Krystle’s bachelorette party while me and Mike stayed back to work on his motorcycle and grab some beers at Taco Mac.  At about 6:00 or so Bobby came over to the house as well to hang and then come to Taco Mac with us.  Shortly after Courtney called to let us know that she was on her way to our house.  We had her drop her new puppy off at our house before going out.  We all went up to Taco Mac for a few hours and eventually the ladies and Spencer met us up there as well.  They stuck around for a little while longer before heading off to grab some dessert and head to the house. 

Envy and Auggie Playing

The guys stuck around for a few more drinks and then also headed to my house.  We just chilled and talked before heading to bed.  It was great to have Courtney around again and her dog was SOOO cute!  Be sure to look at the photo gallery for more pictures of Courtney and Auggie!  That dog is SOOOOOOO CUTE!

On Thursdays after work a couple of the guys get together at the Taco Mac right here in Cumming off of exit 14.  Spence, Jason Lucas, Bobby, Hector, and myself were there this week for a couple drinks in celebration of a nearly completed week.  It is a great time while we kick back, relax, have a few drinks, and dinner with the guys. 

At Taco Mac, they have something called the Passport Club where they encourage you to try different beers each time you are there.  With 100 beers on tap and another 275 + in a bottle (these are different beers not just 275 bottles) at any given time it is easy to pick something you have not yet had.  Once you get to 125 beers, they give you a larger glass to enjoy draft beers from which is 20 ounce instead of 16 for the same price.  I am working my way there and should have one soon enough lol.

Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of Aubree’s Baby Shower at pictures.neilnatic.com  or here.

Aubree with her two sisters Chelsee and Kylee

Sunday was setup to be another great day of fun.  Alisha had all the girls coming to the house at 11:00 for Aubree’s baby shower so the guys planned to get together and have some food, and of course, drinks.  Since I was not there for the shower, I cant tell you much about it but I can tell you that she did well on the gift portion because a certain two ladies made Mike and I load them up and take them home… so congrats on that.  ha ha  Alisha, stop being lazy and post something

While the ladies were getting to the house the guys decided to head out to IHOP for some devine cuisine.  Bobby, Mike,  Spencer, Ryan, Brett, and I all ate and then headed to the Man’s Bar – Taco mac for drinks.  We chilled there for a while and the ladies finished up and summoned two of the guys back.  Mike, Bobby, Spence and I stayed to chill and the ladies called us to let us know that they were going to another shower and that we would meet up with them a little later on. 

We finished a few more beers and then headed up to Mike’s house to hang out and eat dinner.

It was a great day out and a nice way to wrap up the weekend.  Thanks for coming out everyone and congrats Aubree and Mike!!