Growing Hops

We're growing a couple different kinds of hops on our deck. The hope is that we'll eventually be able to use them to brew. The Centennial is really taking of, but Zeus is a little smaller. It has only been a few weeks to get to this! We do realize that this plant resembles a particular controlled substance. Brian looked up the difference in the two leaves so that we can explain it to the police in case one of our neighbors (who will likely never have seen hops growing in Miami) calls us in. HA!

Britney Spears, St. Patrick's Day, Kitchen Electrics

Once again, it has taken me a month to make another post! My pediatrics rotation kept me ridiculously busy. Long hours and tons of busy work. My only remaining day of pediatrics is Saturday. I did enjoy giving eye examinations to kids, but I did get really sick of the occupational therapy / behavioral therapy they threw in there. I don't mind training eyes (traditional vision therapy), but the overlap with the genre of occupational therapy drove me crazy. God bless those people who have the patience to be a therapist - for I am not one of them! I hope to never again have to teach someone else's kid the difference between left and right, letters b d q and p, standing on one foot, hopscotch, jumping, skipping, or just how to behave in general... BLEH!!!!! The last 6 weeks I've seen many examples of good parenting and bad parenting. Believe me, I'm taking notes! After all, we all know what kind of genes I'll be dealing with someday - Brian used to throw rock-filled snowballs over his house to try and hit cars on the road!!

Yes, I, Jocelyn Kay Hunerdosse, attended a Pussycat Dolls and Britney Spears concert and LOVED it! Obviously the concert wasn't about the musical ability of the performers - it was about the performance! And boy, what a show it was! I highly recommend getting together with a bunch of girlfriends and going to a show like this. We had a blast! I posted some videos I took on YouTube in case you're curious.

Pussycat dolls video

Britney Spears video

And in case you thought the dolphin video I posted on here last month was too small to see, I also put it on YouTube so you can see an enlarged version if you wish.


We had a low-key St. Patrick's Day, but it was just perfect. I made Brian some Irish stew (with lamb) and traditional Irish Soda Bread and of course we washed it down with some Guinness! It was delicious and made even better left-overs. I really think he likes St. Patty's more than he likes his birthday. I guess that's to be expected from a red-headed Irish boy!


I took Barley to be groomed yesterday and I cried a little when I left her. I felt so bad about leaving her with strangers! Oh, but silly me. She really enjoyed herself. She just loves to be pampered!

Since my last post, we have added to our collection of kitchen electrics. We now have a waffle maker (SO much easier than pancakes!!), rice cooker (now we eat fabulous Indian chicken curry on more of a regular basis), and an electric can opener that does not leave sharp edges (this is life changing). And we now use our coffee grinder and coffee maker on a regular basis (I recommend having your coffee with Nonni's biscottis!). And our Food Saver is great, especially since we are Costco shoppers (Costco - another love of mine). Oh, and the crockpot! If you don't have one, you need one! I still dream of the perfect bread maker. I know my family sometimes thinks we eat weird stuff, but I'll post some recipies on here sometime and you can try it for yourself!

We also have a phenomenal new garbage can. No more nasty plastic garbage with a lid that pops open and won't stay closed. I am a garbage germ-a-phobe. I hate touching garbage cans, the handle on the garbage shoot, the door handle to the laundry room, and especially lifting the lid on the garbage bins outside! Our new garbage can is fingerprint proof stainless steel with a step pedal and quiet closing lid! (Did you ever think I was the kind of girl that gets excited about a new garbage can? HA!)

Congrats to Jacob and Katie for buying a house!!! I secretly envy you greatly! Katie, also congrats on your fancy new job!

Kylee - did Dakota pull out some spit bubbles for the new videos I posted?

The Dolphin Video

Here is the dolphin video that I promised!! It is really our first attempt at shooting video with our digital camera, and also my first attempt with editing. It's actually kinda fun! I hope you can see the dolphins in this video. We shot this off our balcony this past Sunday. If your computer has sound, this has music with it. Just a little warning if you're listening at work. (= ENJOY!

It's been a while!

Barley might just be the happiest dog in the world.

The BARLEY CRUSHER. Brian uses this to crush the barley now that he does all grain brewing.



Brian had a birthday! He turned 26 on February 8th. He assures me that being 26 does not make you feel "old".


We've found ourselves pretty busy for the last month! Dad and Kelsey came to visit at the end of January during Kelsey's J-break. It was a nice visit. I just wish the weather had been nicer for them. We took a sailing trip out of Bayfront Park and we each got to take turns steering the ship. The night before they left we found ourselves at a German restaurant with a guy from Peru doing beatboxing on a Karaoke machine and a local Cuban woman (likely a grandmother) singing and dancing as though she was 20! It was a fantastic cultural experience.



I spent the next week finishing up my primary care rotation with a nasty cold. I think I've finally kicked it. But now I'm in my pediatrics rotation, so I might soon catch the next wave of virus that comes around. So far my pediatrics rotation has been a lot of work. We had a giant entrance exam last week. If you didn't pass every single section, you end up with tons of extra work. I studied my butt off! This rotation is only six weeks and I just started week 2. Graduation has never seemed so close or so real!



Last Tuesday I witnessed a terrible car accident. I was on my way to my first day of pediatrics clinic, driving on US-1 (45 mph speed limit - don't expect to see bad accidents here). Just ahead of me a PT cruiser swerved at the last second into a Range Rover that was sitting in the left turn lane. The Range Rover was tossed through 3 lanes of traffic coming in the opposite direction and ended up resting on the opposite side of the road. The PT cruiser continued to slide down the road, smashed to bits. I avoided the debris and parked my car in the left turn lane where the accident happened. I went to help the lady in the Range Rover. The man in the other vehicle was obviously in worse condition, but the accident happened right in front of the fire department and the EMTs were already running outside. The woman rolled down her window, held my hand, and cried. The Range Rover's frame was completely intact. What a safe car!! The PT cruiser, on the other hand, was smashed into about half of it's original length. It took them 45 minutes to get him out of the car, and it doesn't look good. He broke both of his femurs, tore his femoral arteries (LOTS of blood loss), along with significant internal bleeding. The EMT told me he didn't think the man would live. So why did I tell you this story? Three reasons. 1) Please be attentive drivers! Don't text while driving. Be careful if you're checking your cell phone to see who is calling you. Don't take your eyes off the road! In a split second, something catastrophic could happen. 2) If you can help it, drive a safe car. 3) Good samaratins are in short supply these days. Well, at least in South Florida. There must've been almost 20 cars that saw this accident happen. Only 2 of us stopped to help in an accident with obvious injuries. The rest of the people just gawked and nearly ran over EMTs. Unfortunately, the majority of South Floridians are "GO GO GO, HURRY HURRY HURRY, BUSY BUSY BUSY." They'll run you over with their shopping cart. This is part of the reason I couldn't stand to live down here forever. I miss quality midwesterners!

The weather is finally turning back to absolutely beautiful down here. We've been spending some time taking walks or sitting on the deck watching the boats, birds, and dolphins. I took some great video of dolphins playing outside our apartment this past Sunday. It exceeds the size to be posted on this blog, but I think I've found a way to cut out the good parts so that I can put them up.

I have class tonight. I'll try to put up pictures after I get home. Barley's hair is growing back and I've got some great new brewing photos (and if you're lucky, a dolphin video!)

Happy Birthday to Kylee (20)!

and Happy Birthday to Morgan(17)!

Omigosh - we are officially BLOGGERS!!!

I'm not sure what qualifications one needs to be considered interesting enough to have their own blog, but we do have a darn cute dog, we live in one of the most happening cities in the country, we brew beer, and we will eventually be doctors - so I'm sure we've got a least a couple of people who may be interested in what we are up to! Since this is our very first blog, it may be rather "blah"... but hopefully I'll get better at this soon.

Today is another brew day. Lately, that's been about every third Sunday. And in between those Sundays, we usually add a new element to the brewing. A few months ago the all grain brewing began. For me that means that we have a giant Coleman cooler that has been converted into a, uh, well, something that serves a very important use but is tricky to hide with a lack of closet space. Last weekend we drove to West Palm Beach to pick up a 32 bottle wine fridge. Brian calls it "The Fermentator". It was the easiest conversion we've had - only had to take out the shelves!! It sits in the kitchen. We're going to use it for fermenting the beer - now we don't need to turn the air conditioning down to 71 degrees for weeks at a time! Today Brian is brewing a clone of Gumball Head. He's thoroughly excited about it. Sometime he may get on here and post his recipes (he just informed me that they are top secret) or some other fascinating details about brewing. He is the brains of the operation. I'm just the pretty face. Haha! I just asked him what that thinger is called. It is a mash tun. I put up a picture of it with the spent barley in there from today's batch.





Today I received my board scores for boards part II. I passed with plenty of room to spare!! I also passed the embedded portion of the test that covers the treatment and management of ocular disease, which means that I won't have to pay to take that portion of the test separately this spring. However, I do have Part III in a few months and the dreaded Florida boards in July. If all goes as planned, I'll have my license and be a practicing doctor of optometry by September.




This week I gave Barley the puppy cut. I think going from frigid Iowa back to warm Miami was a bit much with her and the long hair. We think she might be angry with us. You know how she is with the way she looks. (= We're doggy sitting Chloe (1/2 chihuaua and 1/2 poodle). They're best buddies and have been having a great time together this weekend.

For the record, I tried to get jocelynandbrian.blogspot.com - but that was already taken. (;