My New Toy

Tonight i'm typing this post from my new toy...an AT&T Acer Iconia A501 tablet and I LOVE it!!! :-) This is the picture my little cousin Callie took of us. Haha More on this weekend & an update on daily pictures soon!

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Day 180

I am mostly packed for the weekend. I am going to set up a Scentsy booth in Georgetown at my cousin's house during their subdivision yard sale. It's usually well attended. My cousin is also hosting a party one night so his neighbors have time to check out Scentsy! :) All I gotta do is pack my clothes, figure out how we're getting there (driving my aunt who had heel spur surgery) & fit in moving my sister. Gonna be a late night tomorrow & super busy day on Thursday.

We might have to crack open a bottle of wine tonight! ;)

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Day 179

Got out of ny car tonight & this praying mantis was hanging out on mom's truck. More brown than I usually see, but still cool.

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Day 178

I'm going back to my roots & giving the original MK basic set a shot. My skin has always been super oily & this was the first set (formula #3) that I started using in the 7th grade when my mom took me to my cousin's house for my first skin care and makeup lesson (yes, my cousin was & is once again a consultant). Hopefully it works as good now as it did then. Haha

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Day 177

Fall is the perfect time of year for a cookout & bonfire. Tonight friends & family came over...so much fun! As you can see in this picture, the kids made their own fun. :)

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Day 176

Last night mom bought a waffle maker (the kind that rotates). We've been hooked ever since my cousin made some for us at his house. The waffles were quite yummy! They get so light & fluffy in this contraption. Ha

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5QF - 9/23

I'm ready for another fun...and busy weekend! It seems that even a weekend that I had originally planned to not be too busy, plans quickly change. I love it, but I could really use some downtime as I prefer for a hectic week next week!

I stayed this same this week on weight. I have been fighting the same 2 pounds all month! I'm gonna take a week off tracking my points and start back at the beginning of October. I have been doing WW for 32 weeks this year so far. It's hard to believe it! I'll be ready to jump back in after a short break. I've still got 20+ pounds I'd like to lose before the end of the year and then another 50 pounds to go next year. Big goals, but it's so worth the effort!

And on to this week's Five Question Friday...




- - -

1. Dream job...realistic and completely unrealistic.

This is a fun question - we've actually talked about this at my job the past few weeks! haha Realistic dream job would be selling Scentsy full-time and training others as a Super Star Director. I know it's possible and I always believed that God would use my talents for public speaking and leadership and sales....I just didn't know the forum. Now I do. :) My completely unrealistic dream job - - are ya ready?? I would LOVE to be a company restructurist. (is that even a word? probably not! ha) You have no doubt seen shows like Tabitha's Salon Takeover and that new one about the bar/pub redesign....well I want a job like that for large corporations. I'd be a happy girl to go into companies and boss people around, helping them be more efficient and organized!


2. Do you fart in front of your significant other?

I do not have a significant other, so NO. haha Even with past boyfriends, I would have been mortified if that had happened.


3. What's the furthest you've ever traveled from home? How far and where was it?

The furthest I've gone is Australia, New Zealand, and China. I was gone for a month and had a blast ever single second! I wish I could go back. Such an amazing adventure...and I did it by myself!! I truly enjoy traveling and would do so ALL the time if I could afford it.


4. How do you celebrate birthday for your kids? Family only or friends? ...alternate for those without kiddos: How did you celebrate birthdays as a kid?

As a kid, we always had big to-dos! Birthdays are a week-long event in our family. haha I've had numerous roller skating (geez, can ya tell I grew up in the 80's? ha) parties. Lots of ice cream cakes consumed thanks to having a summer birthday! I've had lots of sleepovers with friends...even those where we slept on the trampoline under the stars. :) We usually had a family only dinner and then some sort of large party with friends that was cake only. Now I'm lucky to get a meal out with my family! ha


5. Fave thing about fall?

Just one? Are you kidding me????? My favorite things about fall are: football, crisp air, leaves changing color, jeans and tshirt weather, bonfires, fall decorations, basketball season starting, sweatshirts...really the list could go on and on. It's my absolute favorite time of the year. I wish it would be fall all year long! ha

Day 175

I have several awesome UPS drivers & tomorrow they will be delivering 4-6 big Scentsy boxes! I put a scent circle so they can freshen up their delivery truck. :)

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Day 174

Delivered lots of Scentsy orders tonight! Love this "job!" :)

On a totally unrelated note, it seems everyone has been talking about Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte for days on end...and I'm wondering what the hype is all about?! I used to live near a Starbucks, but never really strayed from my Caramel Macchiato. Now I'm wishing there was one close so I could try this seasonal latte. Hmph

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Day 173

While I'm at my dental appt tonight...I unfortunately (Haha...yeah right, who am I kidding?!) have to miss out in all the fun mom will have shoveling this load of gravel around the tree to hide the roots that trip everyone. I just hope it doesn't rain Saturday night for our bonfire party so all this work is for naught.

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Day 172

Back to the treadmill...and back for some more C25K!

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Day 171

Sunday was a family day...spent celebrating my lil cousins's birthdays! They are absolutely adorable! I seriously have some of the cutest cousins EVER. Not that I'm partial. ;) haha

Miss Callie Lynn turned 3! She loved her "camel" hahaha

Mr. Henry Cooper Carl turned 1! He was lovin' the cake :)

Day 170

Meat lover's pizza from Ernie's...this beats chain restaurant food hands down! Yum yum yum :)

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Day 169

Waited in the McDonald's drive-thru for over 20 minutes because I'm a nice daughter....mom had 2 teeth pulled today & wanted ice cream and french fries.

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5QF - 9/16

Holy cow people!?! Can you believe it's already the middle of September? I can't believe how fast the days are rollin' on by....goodness.

As you've no doubt seen in the previous posts of last weekend...I totally pigged out. ha I absolutely gained weight over the weekend, but with exercise and good food choices, I managed to get back down to where I was 2 weeks ago, which is 1 pound down from last week! Woohoo! :)

And now on to Five Question Friday! Join us for the link up!




- - -

1. If you had a weekly newspaper column, what would you name it?

I actually did have a weekly column once when I worked in a local county Extension office (4-H). I wrote a home economics, consumer information, and summer safety tips article. It was fun, but stressful. I don't think it had a cute name...I had to create a weekly headline though. If I did it for real...I'd need it to have a catchy name (but I'm too exhausted to be creative!).


2. Who is your mentor/inspiration?

This is a tough question...lots of people inspire me! I would probably say that my mom and sister provide the most inspiration in my life. I mean, I'm tattooed with it! ha

3. What is your wake up beverage of choice?

WATER! I know, I know. BORING. ha I love water. My family is a water-drinking family. Once I get to work, I do have a cup of black coffee. mmmm


4. Would you wear your mom's clothes?

Um, definitely not. haha Love my mom, but our styles aren't very similar.


5. When you were a kid, did you put posters on your wall? If so, what were they of?

I don't think I ever had any posters on the wall. Not that it was outlawed, but my parents built a new home when I was in the 3rd grade...and we weren't supposed to "mess up" the house. ha

Day 168

Tonight we had a hodge podge dinner from various places. I laughed at the Arby's bag....it's been a joke at work lately. Anytime someone is in a grumpy mood...the one guy tells us he's going to build an Arby's closer to work so everyone can get "good mood food." Hahaha

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Day 167

Toys toys toys. My lil fur baby, Toby, has his toys everywhere! This is his FAVORITE toy...a squeaky bone. He carries it around like a baby with a pacifier. Ha

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Day 166

So...we have a temp at work this week. He drives a scooter with this lil gem stuck to the side. He's a real winner. If I had to guess, I'd say he was the student who needed help passing the class. Hahaha

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Baking: Candied Pecans

One of the girls at work (there's only 3 besides me! ha) made candied pecans last week and brought them in to share. Oh My Gosh! They were so freakin' good...I'm glad I only let myself eat 1 piece! haha My momma loves pecans, so I thought I'd try the recipe while visiting my sis this weekend. I did...and we are all addicted to 'em! :p Once again, good thing I wasn't counting points this weekend! EEK!

Join the lovely ladies over at Two Maids a Milking for their weekly baking linky! :)

Candied Pecans

2 3/4 c. pecan halves (we used 3 c.)

2 T. butter, softened, divided

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. vanilla extract

Place pecans in a shallow baking pan in a 250* oven for 10 minutes or until warmed. Grease a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of butter; set aside.

Grease the sides of a large heavy saucepan with the remaining butter; add sugar, water, salt and cinnamon. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cover and cook for 2 minutes to dissolve sugar crystals.

Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reaches 236* (we didn't have a thermometer, but it's until it hits soft-ball stage). Remove from the heat, add vanilla. Stir in the warm pecans until evenly coated. Spread onto prepared baking pan. Bake at 250* for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Spread on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet to cool.

THESE ARE SO YUMMY!! Making another batch tonight because the first batch is long gone! ha

Weekend Recap in Pictures

Friday

Test run on a pie for the upcoming family reunion Dessert Contest - thanks for the recipe Sarah Kate! 

yummy Chocolate Chip Ice Cream pie

  

 I even did the dishes at Jen's (by hand) so I wouldn't get in trouble for baking in her kitchen! ha

The rest of the evening I enjoyed spending time with my sis and eating good food! ha (did a lot of that this weekend...thank goodness I wasn't counting points this weekend!)




Saturday

When I woke up and realized Jen was not going to get up anytime soon, I ran some errands in Indy. When I got back, we made another sweet treat, but you'll have to wait until another post to see that! ;) 


We had a delicious lunch at Papa Roux's...that place is seriously so good! After a filling lunch, we rested awhile and then had to get dolled up for a friend's wedding.

The bride & groom had a beautiful wedding and reception at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Indy. It's a truly magnificent place! So happy for Penny & Adam.




Sunday

Funday Sunday! :) Sunday I was back home in southeastern IN for a family reunion. There were actually 2 reunions that day (1 on mom's side & 1 on dad's side). I attended the one on my dad's side. The ice cream pie tied for 3rd place! We had some amazing desserts! It was great seeing all the little kids running around, playing together. It was nice catching up with family we only see this one time every year. Never a dull moment. ha

young & young at heart enjoyed the bounce house! haha

holding our annual "business meeting" and catching up on family locations/history/etc.

bubbles!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well! It just keeps getting busier from here on out!

Day 165

Sorry for the scary picture but this was taken after my workout. I have been super lazy the last 3 weeks & tonight marked my "back on the exercise" bandwagon moment! ;)

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Day 164

Today was another busy day of this already jam-packed weekend! Here is my picture of the day...I will recap the rest of the weekend in the next few days! ;)

The bouncy obstacle course was fun for the kids...and ALL ages! haha My cousin Marvin hopped in, then my Grandma, and eventually I jumped in with my cousin Monica and then my Uncle Owen took a spin too. :) We're all kids at heart!

9/11 Thoughts

This will be my one and ONLY post about September 11th. I am not heartless (although some may think it), I just don't care for all the fake emotions shared on this day. I know exactly where I was at and what I was doing when I found out what was going on. I remember thinking it was a joke because of how I found out. I truly feel for those who lost their lives and their families for having to go through such a national tragedy. I don't however feel the need to watch the 2 million television specials or attend one of the local memorials. I am a huge proponent of not forgetting your past or honoring it, but just because this was a somewhat recent happening, it gets overdone. Most of the people changing their Facebook and Twitter status just join in to feel like they are part of the in-crowd. You can have a silent moment to think about it and then move on. The more time we spend crying about it, gives the terrorists more gloating time....do you not think this is exactly what they want to have happened? They love every moment they steal of our country's joy. Don't give them the satisfaction!

I was at Purdue in my freshman dorm room. I had just gotten back from my first class of the day and was talking to my Australian buddy, Pete, on instant messenger. He asked me what the hell was going on in the States. Thinking he was just being his usual jokester self, I said, I don't know - tell me. So he did. I didn't believe him so I turned on the tv and saw all the news coverage. That was in between the first and second plane. Most of my classes were canceled or moved to rooms with tvs so everyone could watch the news.

Day 163

I have more posts coming from yesterday and today, but that will have to wait until later!

Last night I decided to drive home after my friend's wedding in Indy instead of spending another night at Jen's place. (too much to do today!) I changed my shoes and got to wear my new flats home. Aren't they cute?? I love 'em! They are so comfortable...I just wish I would've had enough extra cash to buy the other pair I wanted too! ha

Day 162

I got my new Scentsy business cards today! Love 'em!! :)

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5QF - 9/9

Geez it's been forever and a year since I had time to link up with 5QF!

First of all, I must say that I was extremely lazy this week...and the scales say I gained 1 pound. EEK! I have got to be better about exercising this upcoming week. I would say starting today, but I'm not gonna lie...will be gone a few days and the food choices will not be all the great either. ha

Without further ado.......





- - -

1.What ringtone do you have on your cellphone?

I have several ringtones on my phone...just depends on the caller! ha The Purdue University fight song plays on any number my mom calls from, for my sister it's Brown Eyed Girl, for my cousin Z it's Zac Brown Band's Chicken Fried, etc, etc. The main ring tone for all those "non-special" callers is King of Anything by Sara Bareilles.


2. What is your favorite memory from this summer?

My favorite summer memory would probably have to be our vacation to Cozumel! It feels like it was a lifetime ago (seriously, where did summer go?), but in reality it was only 2 months ago. Yikes. It's true what they say...time flies when you're having fun! ;)


3. Paper books or ebooks?

I am a fan of all books and have oodles of paper books shoved on bookshelves; however, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Kindle!! No more hassle of lugging around 1 or more paper books...I have 25 or so at a time loaded on the Kindle. Superb!


4. If you could have one home upgrade, what would it be and why?

The one thing I would love to upgrade in mom's house is the bathroom. Suffice it to say, it has been over 50 years since it was last remodeled and it is in bad shape. It's to the point where it is just deteriorating. Maybe one day! ha

5. When was your first serious boyfriend/girlfriend?

I guess my first actual boyfriend was when I was a freshman in high school though I wouldn't call it serious. ha If anything, it was a serious lapse in judgment! ;) My first serious relationship probably wasn't until I graduated college and I dated a really great guy. I still occasionally get emails from his family (his sisters) and I don't talk to him anymore, but I hear he is doing well and I'm genuinely happy for him. It was not a bad ending. :)

Day 161

Laundry & packing. This starts my fall weekend extravaganza! I have only 2 free weekends from now until the end of the year & it's looking like they may be booked soon! Its gonna be a wild ride, but I'm ready! :)

I'll post about this weekend's adventures after it happens! Hope you stay warm (didn't think I'd be saying THAT) & enjoy your weekend!

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Day 160

So excited that I got the new Holiday warmers catalog today! They are so cute!! I just finished writing my info on the first stack of 50 since there's no room for my sticker. The special holiday collection is available on Sept. 15th. These will sell out...so if you want a sneak peek, message me & I'll email you a digital copy!

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Day 159

Sorry for the crappy pic...it was sprinkling & my windshield was dirty!

Tonight was a first for me...I got my first fillings ever tonight. Took me 29 years. Ugh. I was hoping to never get them, but such is life. I was a little nervous going in, but it was a pretty decent experience. Luckily, they did the resin which is colored to match your teeth. At least no one will be able to tell! Ha

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Day 158

Our lunches for tomorrow have been packed...it is definitely chili weather around here! I LOVE fall & am so ready, even though this week is just a tease.

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Day 157

My Sunday was spent with family and friends on an ATV/Ranger Poker Run. So much fun and it was for a good cause! (google Polaris Ranger if you are unsure of what I'm talking about)

Mom and I rode with my cousins. Hopefully we'll be able to afford our own ranger in the near future, but until that time, we enjoy riding with them! It was $5 a person to ride & $5 for a "taco bar" buffet at the end of the ride. GPS Tracker said we rode 77 miles. It sprinkled off and on throughout the day, but never much to be a nuisance. It was a cooler day, so it was really a great day to ride! The money we raised benefits 2 organizations. The first group, Safe Passage, is a shelter for domestic violence. The second group, (can't remember the name or if it even has an official name!), takes disadvantaged youth on once in a lifetime trips such as a week camping and hiking in the Grand Canyon. So proud to be part of a group of people that donated $330 to EACH group...that's right folks, a total of $660!!

our start/stop point - my Uncle's business (tractor pulling indoor track, go-kart track, and home of local ranger rides)

Here are a few pictures of our day! I took almost 100 shots and posted 50 on facebook. Had hoped to take more, but 1 group got lost (funny story since the leader of that group did a run the day before & he's a tow truck driver who should know the area well!) and the other had to make a few extra stops due to equipment problems, so I never got to meet up with them after the second stop and grab some pics of their groups.There's always next time, right? ha

listening about where our money is going!

 all our rides lined up on the indoor track

 stop #1

 the kids enjoyed water at nearly every stop

stop #2

it's awesome to see a line of atvs and rangers

stop #3 - a covered bridge

time to eat! yum!

chatting while in line to eat

the third group finally made it back after leaving 2 vehicles behind

my cousins rolling in

Callie telling me she had fun! :)

last stop - gotta draw your last poker card

Henry was ready to get out and move around ;)

me on one of the stops