Long Overdue Challenge Update!

Me and my mom have been working through the challenges in Elsie Flannigan's book we are having a great time with it but we have fallen behind. First Mom went on vacation and then I just fell behind, I let life get in the way of my scrapbooking! But now after some time away we are getting back on track!

Ok so one of the challenges was to create a mini book about quotes and phrases you use often. This is a tough one because I communicate with a lot of people using movie quotes so I have a lot of stories I want to tell for this one and since my mom is one of the people I talk to using quotes she has a lot as well! We each did a couple of layouts in this book and will be going back to it from time to time to add to.

Here are my mom's awesome pages! These are great stories and could very easily turn into pages for my own book!



Here are my pages - they tell two stories that are special to me.



Then the next challenge was to use stitching particularly around a focal point. I missed the mark a little on this one and just used stitched flowers. Both me and mom used rubons though we would both like to do actual sewing on our pages sometime.

My mom's pages of course are awesome! Makes me really wish I was with my family that night!



My page is a story I've been wanting to tell for a few years. Our Dead Flower Anniversary may not sound very nice but it is a cute story and an anniversary I remember fondly!



Now here's hoping it doesn't take quite as long for the next challenge to be up and running! I will be talking to my mom about a due date tonight! Stay Tuned!!

Trying to Play Catch Up

Where is time going?? It feels like Summer just start and now here we are in Fall! Now don't misunderstand I absolutely love Fall, it's my favorite time of year but I wish the year would just slow down a teeny tiny bit! So with time flying by so fast I'm going to use this post to catch up on everything that's been going on.

First, Mike's birthday celebration was just a huge overall success! On his actual birthday I surprised him with his favorite meal - mystery chicken and I filled the apartment with balloons, and presented him with some homemade goodies and we topped off the evening with ice cream cupcakes from Cold Stone Creamery! Wow those were good I kind of wish we hadn't tried them because then I wouldn't know how good they are!



Next, I'm on day 15 of the 21 day challenge, 15 days without coffee! Well almost. Last night I had the slightest little slip up. After five beers at dinner I thought a cup of coffee was much needed but one cup of coffee in 15 days is still a major win for this coffee addict and I had no desire for it this morning - so day 21 here I come!!

This week Mike is in California - I hate when he's away, I know I have the animals to keep me company but it's just not the same. I will say though that every time Mike goes away I mentally prepare a giant to do list of all the things I want to do while on my own and this is the first time I'm accomplishing any of those things. I'm working out, I'm crafting, I'm catching up on reading, I'm working on getting the house decorated for Halloween and I'm spending time with friends. So though I don't like being on my own at least I can say this time around I'm being productive!

Last night I had dinner with my friend Leslie we had so much fun, she really makes me laugh! Then this morning I got a 7AM phone call from my friend and neighbor Anna and within forty-five minutes I was out the door and we were on our way for adventure. Anna and I make an unlikely pair she's in her seventies, she's tiny and in such great shape and well I'm younger but in much worse shape but we have fun and I love talking to her. This morning we walked over two miles around the Port Orleans resort, did some shopping, had lunch and then stopped at the Coronado Springs Resort for gelato! It is amazing how many things I've taken for granted around here and I plan to do more walking and exploring and just getting out and doing things. Allowing myself to be happy and have fun.



When I got home I went for a swim and then made Halloween cards (photos coming soon) And now I'm watching some TV and I'm going to play with some more Halloween craft ideas I have rattling around in my head.

And I leave you with this adorable photo of the cats! They are just so precious aren't they?? (and yes I'm biased!)

21 Day Challenge Day 7

With a great big thank you to Rhonna Farrer I am on day 7 of the 21 day challenge and I have managed to not drink even a single sip of coffee! I am stunned that I've made it this far I've had some moments where I thought for sure I would fall off the wagon but I have powered through and the more days that pass the easier it is. I will make it to day 21! I have been having less luck on the workout front but not so bad that I'm giving up just have to get back in the groove which Mike and I plan to do tomorrow! Wish us luck!

We have had a busy and fun few days! On Friday Monika and I went out for a girl's afternoon - we went to tea at the Grand Floridian which is something we've been eager to do for quite some time and it was great to finally go and it was so wonderful. The tea and food were amazing and it was nice to just have a girlie afternoon.



Saturday Mike and I kicked off his birthday celebrations by going to Disney on Ice. Now Mike is so not interested in long drawn out birthday celebrations but I tend to over celebrate things so he's being a good sport about it. We headed to Disney on Ice which was a big deal because I get lost in my own apartment and had never driven to the Amway Arena before but we made it with only very little trouble. The show was lots of fun brought out the big kid in me for sure.


On Sunday we had a little birthday dinner for Mike. The birthday boy chose meatloaf and potatoes for his special meal and I made him a very special cake. Those of you who know Mike know what a huge Transformers fan he is so making him this cake was important to me as I knew how much he'd appreciate it. Once I got the pan home I wondered if the task of decorating this cake was over ambitious but I must say I think I did a nice job! We had Monika and Dave over for dinner and our neighbors Tom and Anna joined us for dessert it was such a nice evening.



Tonight we had a little break in the celebration but I have a few plans for Mike's actual birthday on Wednesday so I'll be sure to post pictures of those happy happenings as well.

Stay Tuned!!

Mike ready for Disney on Ice

cute huh?

The 21 Day Challenge and Loving Life!

Today is day two of the 21 Day Challenge I have joined on Rhonna Farrer's blog. Rhonna is one of the remarkable gals responsible for House of 3 not to mention countless other amazing things and she has challenged us to create or break a habit in 21 days. So as many of you know I've been trying like crazy to give up coffee and both Mike and I DESPERATELY need to get exercising on a regular basis so I thought now was the time to get rid of one bad habit and pick up a really good one.

So far things are going much better then I thought. I got Mike up today and yesterday earlier so that we could exercise before getting Mike to work. We have tried working out in the evenings but it just hasn't gone very well so now we are giving the morning a try and wow what a difference! I feel so energized and it forces me to get in the shower really early in the morning so that when I get home from taking Mike to work I'm ready to go!!

The coffee business was not as easy yesterday by 3PM I was dying for a cup but I held strong and kept my cool and resisted the urge to run to Dunkin Donuts. It is so great having a challenge so that I hold myself accountable I think it will be a big help. It is still early today but so far my one little cup of green tea is curbing the desire for coffee... well for now anyway. I plan on posting often during the challenge to keep you all posted and to keep myself honest. Wish me luck!

Now I know it's Wednesday so I'm a little late talking about the weekend but I just had to make sure I did talk about it because it was fabulous! This last weekend was Labor Day Weekend so we got an extra day of togetherness. Saturday I spent the morning with my fabulous new Tupperware Recruit - she is really awesome and I truly look forward to working with her. It's also not because we have way more then just Tupperware in common! Saturday evening we met some old friends for dinner at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort which I love. The food is always fantastic and then we headed to the beach to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks. It really gave us the feeling that we were on vacation so we continued that trend the rest of the weekend.

Got this fabulous drink at Kona Cafe!

Sunday we headed out early and made our way to Downtown Disney where we had lunch at the Earl of Sandwich which we hadn't been to in ages since it's always so crowded and then we did something I haven't done since I was a kid - we rented a boat! What a fantastic time we had. Mike surprisingly did all of the driving and we just relaxed and took pictures and chatted and just spent nice time together. It is something I can see us doing much more in the future.





Monday we headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at one of my absolute favorite places Boma! The food is out of this world and they have this juice that is heavenly and I don't even like juice. After breakfast we walked around this amazing resort, taking pictures, looking at the animals and playing in the arcade. Then we came home and ended the weekend by hanging out on the couch watching TV. Pure Heaven! It was a really great weekend with another great one on the horizon as we are planning Mike's birthday celebration!!!




More Soon...

New Recipes!

So on Friday when Mike asked how I wanted to spend the evening, I opted out of our usual dinner and a movie for a night at home cooking together. Not only was it fun (and a little messy) cooking together but we tried not one but two new recipes!!



Both recipes were taken from Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine so here we go. The headliner was the Cape Cod Reuben - you can find the recipe here. We made one change instead of slaw we topped our Reubens with sauerkraut! This was a really flavorful sandwich the Russian Dressing, sharp swiss cheese and the sauerkraut paired nicely with the rye bread and the fish. However we wouldn't use this particular batter as a stand alone for frying fish we would use a batter with more kick but it was what this sandwich needed so as not to overwhelm the sandwich.



For our side we made Buffalo Potato Wedges with Warm Blue Cheese Dip - find the recipe here. These may have just been a side dish but they were the star of the show as far as we were concerned! They turned out so delicious!! I can tell you I used more butter and hot sauce then the recipe called for but only a little - I like things spicy! I was hesitant to warm the blue cheese sauce but I am so glad it did the cheese was so nice and blended into this sauce it was super delicious! I will definitely be making these again - not sure how soon but only because I have a little weight to lose first!!



So there you have it last week's new recipes! I have no idea what this week's new recipe is but I promise I will post a full report! Check back soon I have lots of updates so I am going to be posting a lot over the next few days and possibly weeks!