Raccoon Creek State Park, PA

As promised, pictures from backpacking!

It was really great fun.  On Sat we hiked in about 2 miles and dropped off our packs and collected lot's of fire wood for the night.  We also started a small fire to dry up a lot of the food as well as the fire ring.  It was supposed to and did get really cold Sat night.  Actually the temps dipped as low as 35ish. We froze!  oh yea, So after setting up camp a bit we had lunch and then headed out on a 4 mile hike of the Apaloosa trail. It was amazing!

I was so cold that during the night I got up as well as Devon and attempted to make fire just to get warm.  We did get fire, but also a whole lot a smoke!  Basically we slept in a smoke house....lol...

The next morning we got up and got the fire going again while having hot drinks and breakfast.  Then we hiked the 2 miles out.

It was a great birthday weekend spent with great friends!

Home for the night.  This adirondack shelter was built by the boy scouts. 

the inside.

Random trail.

Nose picking root!

The obstacle course! 

Me cheezing!

The pocket rocket at work! This little beauty will boil a cup of water in like 3 minutes!  

This weekend!

This weekend I turn 41.  Thought I would celebrate my healthy lifestyle by backpacking with a great friend and her nephew!

We will be doing an overnight on the Apaloosa trail and staying overnight in a shelter and heading out in the morning.  Pictures to follow.

xo
L

Cruise

Whew, just getting back from vacation and am tired, tired, tired!

We had a fantastic time aboard the Carnival Freedom.  We visited St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, and Nassau.  We've been to Nassau several times, but enjoyed it just the same.  Antigua was by far my favorite Island so far.  We visited Devils bridge as well as a naval base and a few other local attractions.   I do feel like when cruising we have to do a quick scan of the highlights the first time around, and then when we make it back we can revisit the favorite spots.

Below are a few pics highlighting our trip!

Mom and I getting off the ship in St. Thomas

Mom, Jay and I at formal night.

Jay and Gnomeo getting ready to board the flight.

Mom and Gnomeo

Formal Night!

Emerald Beach in St. Thomas

More Emerald Beach

Cute pedi at Emerald Beach

The Freedom

Daily Activities

Antigua

More Antigua

Devils bridge in Antigua

An actual working telephone booth!

Ship in port

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Tortola beach.

How to save water in Tortola!

The island of Tortola!

  

Green Mountain Coffee

I'm really enjoying my Pumpkin Spice Green Mountain Coffee!!! It is part of their Fair Trade line!




Some quick facts I didn't know.

• Farmers are paid a fair price for their harvest
• Farmers can invest their Fair Trade premiums in their communities and businesses
• Farmers must adhere to a number of environmental standards
• Fair Trade Certified farms must follow strict labor laws and practices
• Fair Trade investments and requirements help create high-quality coffee

Tasty and responsible!  

Burt's Bees

Finally a product I can use on my skin!  Last night I washed my face and moisturized with no stinging, or redness.  This is truly a first for me, and I am sooooo excited!

Check it out!

Pumpkin Bake

Yummy eats tonight with the fresh pumpkin I baked the other day.  I made a pumpkin bake, or crustless pumpkin pie if you will!

A 1 cup serving has 113 calories, 15 carbs and 9 sugars!  I added light cool whip for about 25 more calories.  This was test batch one and turned out really well.  The only thing I may try different next time is light coconut milk to reduce the sugars and more ginger!

1 cup Splenda (or sugar, or 3/4 cup honey)
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 Cups pumpkin puree (can use canned here)
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 whole eggs
1 12oz can fat free evaporated milk.

Mix well.  Spray one 9 inch pie pan, or several small oven safe dishes and bake at 350 for about 90 minutes. Mine was ready at about 70, but it depends on the baking dish.  The filling will be lose but will set up while cooking!

You will know it is done when the center is set and when a knife inserted comes out clean.

Very yummy and fall like!

No sew tutu

Thanks to a lovely gift of tulle from my sister in-law, I created a cute little tutu for my bedazzled cousin!  She is 4 and takes after me is so many ways. She loves all thing sparkly and glittery.  So of course I needed to make her a tutu.  Well, she loved it!

While visiting the other day, she shows me her Halloween costume, she is going to be a bumble bee.  Her mom asked if I could make her a matching tutu for that because the one on the costume is a bit anemic!

And so the bumble bee tutu was born.  

This also got me to thinking that I should make these for a craft fair I am going to in November.  My original plan was to make ginger bread cookies, homemade marshmallows, and maybe some other candy, but I am totally adding these to the mix. 

Christmas

I've been getting ready early this year for the holidays! I love this time of year, and am really getting excited. Today, we bought tickets to go to the Polar Express in Dennison with the family, can't wait!

I can say that as of today I am 50% done shopping!  woot!!!

I am also getting ready for vacation, headed on a cruise and can not wait!

xo
L

Coupons

The coupon stars aligned today!  Normally when I head out to coupon, I can count on most stores being out of stock on whatever is on sale. This means that I get rain checks and have to go back.  I know this and accept it as part of the process, you know the whole don't sweat the stuff that you can't change and all that!  Well, today I hit Walmart, which I hate, CVS, Target and Meijer....... and got EVERYTHING!  I am so excited!!!!

I spent out of pocket about $23 and saved a little over $75 on my weekly shopping!  The couple of hours I spend each week to organize, plan and implement is soo worth the savings in my book!

Coupon Class

I love couponing!  Seriously, sometimes it like hitting the lottery when something I need goes on sale AND I have a coupon for it!

This week however, I am not doing much in the line of shopping since I will be going on vacation and really don't need to be stocking up on anything.  That being said, I do need to start working on my coupon class for a local church.  I honestly think this will not only help them but me as well. I need to get a bit more organized in my attempt to save!

Go Buck!

O-H-I-O