work pumpkin

so for the past few years, we've decorated pumpkins for work. my boss buys everyone their own pumpkin and we can decorate it however we like. {i don't think anyone has carved theirs since it tends to sit out for a bit...}

i was a bit of a procrastinator with mine this year.
and when i finally did do it, well, nick did it.
i only did the nose. except when i damaged him on the car ride to work... then i had to do some plastic surgery and almost super glued my fingers together before work.  it was hilarious.

without futher ado, meet hootie.  ;-)

i can't take credit for the idea. my boss found it online and told me i had to do it. and the picture is crappy because he's perched on top of our coffee machine. where else would an owl be seated?

random recipes.

thought i should take a break from pictures. because the rafting post might be a doozy.

i am obsessed with recipes. i seriously have a problem. i am continually printing new recipes when i have a stack of like 100 that i still want to try!

i'm not a baker, so let's start there.
yummy apple donuts.  these are phenomenal. so good. made them for our rafting trip. we were even a fan of all the crumbs!making them for a work pot luck this week too. seriously, try them.

and a delicious potato soup. i left out the celery.  nick and i were both fans. i don't think the reviewers at kraft enjoyed it as much as we did...

buffalo chicken mac. nick loved this one. i found it in a magazine. it's a neely's recipe. can't stand them but this was pretty tasty!

i liked this buffalo recipe better.

i was a little freaked out by this one. was good. just not sure i like mexican in my spaghetti. ben, however, was a complete fan.

not sure it tasted like pierogis but it was good. nick loved all the bacon in it!

and we tried out a new chili recipe. was also a keeper. ;-)

a random side that we enjoyed with i can't remember what! maybe just some tacos....

both boys enjoyed this one. makes two which is a bonus. can save one for later or share with a friend!

trying out some tofu for the wee man. was good. but a pain to cook that tofu!

made some changes to this meatloaf. added some onions and garlic and i can't remember what else. it makes a lot! i thought it was even better cold. {yes, i love cold leftovers.}

another pw recipe. i love her. this one is simple and delicious.

cold pasta. very good. just a bit oily. have saved another recipe and hope to try it soon. has honey and a few other changes in place of the oil...

tired of the same old, boring breakfast? then you should make this. um, yum. made it at the beginning of the week and we could use it as needed in the morning. i put mine on toast and ate it cold. nick toasted his bread and then popped it in the microwave with the topping to warm it up a bit. delicious.

i know i'm on a pw kick. sorry. fan of blue cheese? meet delicious pasta.

a quick and easy dessert. total crowd pleaser. might need to double the recipe tho!

ok. last pw recipe for the evening. and yet another pasta. 

i lied. but it's not a pasta. another simple dessert. so good. even if they did stick to my pan. twice.

and then there is tuna cakes. i know strange. but it sounded different and interesting. they were so good. and the sauce on the side is a must. we will make these little guys again!

nick isn't a huge fan of chicken. so if i can find a recipe that he likes, it's a complete success.

looking for an easy potluck or breakfast idea? this got rave reviews when i took it to work.

and an easy dip. i put the leftovers on some toast and had it for breakfast. yum-o!

okay.
i'm going to stop now. hope you find something you might like... and as always, share if you stumble across any yummy recipes i should know about or even some new recipe sites!!

wip. a catch up post.

soooo i completely forgot what we did the first weekend of october.
i have pictures. but nothing is ringing a bell. they are just random around the house pics. some are super cute and i might use them in the photo hunt, if i complete the darn thing.

then the following weekend was rafting. i think that's just gonna be one giant post. and please bear with me if you're on facebook and have seen them. i'll have funnier stories. just wanted to get them up there for some facebook buds.

then that leaves us with the weekend of the sixteenth.

here we go!

friday: my mil's birthday. had a gathering at the house.
gigi just wanted a picture of her and the grandkids. uh, so didn't happen!

love the first one because gabby is totally sitting on ben and he's like wtf?

 seriously, this was the best of the few that we snapped. must try earlier in the evening apparently.

then there's megan looking like barney's girlfriend. or sister. whatever.

and the three grandkids playing nicely.

saturday:
lots of errands.
stopped by the christy's work to get a new cat for nana. no pictures. because i suck. but rocky is super cute.
then we ran by crystale's to pick up three shipments of wine!
love this one of beaner playing outside of her house.

then we ran some more errands and ended up at the grocery store that evening. ben loves the car shopping cart at stracks!  and i think it's cute that the brand is bean. bean in the bean...

sunday:
another day at the orchard.
we went to the kids side for the first time. it was so nice.
lots of animals.
a cool billy goat area.  the crazy guys climed the spiral staircase.

 love the houses for the piggies!

they had a kiddie corn maze.
ben was ready.

and then noah came and helped him...
so cute.

family photo!

trisha and noah on the train.

then we headed to the corn maze. ben was checking out the map.

then we lost a wheel. 

we had a few issues when we first got the wagon. nick never ordered the replacement parts... thought we could make it. so he just kinda muscled it to the pumpkin patch.

ghetto wagon. ;-)

then it was back to the corn maze where we lost another wheel.

i seriously thought michelle might pee!

all beaner could say was uh oh!

nick ended up dragging it back to the car. pure awesomeness!

the rest of the day was pretty uneventful.

and i was gonna do all the weekends, but i haven't uploaded this weekend's yet and i'm feeling quite lazy. so that'll come at a later date.

dessert delights.

saw the gum when we were checking out of kroger in west virginia.

wasn't sure i could chew mint chocolate chip gum....

but i did. and i liked it!
had to buy the two other flavors: strawberry shortcake and key lime pie. {i love key lime pie.} and i'm sad to say that key lime was not my favorite.
nor was the strawberry shortcake.
mint chocolate chip was by far the best. the flavor was spot on and it stayed soft the longest. the other two were really tough to chew.
so if you're on facebook and wanna try it out, check out their facebook page.

wordless wednesday.

always thought about doing these posts but always felt that my blog was picture overloaded, so i've refrained. however, i am crazy behind in sharing and thought it might be appropriate. and now i've ruined it by posting all this random babbling before.

one of my favorite rafting pictures. taken during a less wild rapid. jason's face cracks me up!

confession.

thought since my post yesterday was lame-o, i would give you a better one today.
i have a secret. a deep, dark secret....

i haven't used my rebel {slr digital camera} in months!!

and an even bigger shocker. i don't really miss it. yes, i miss playing with the iso and some of the other settings. but i love the convience of my little point and shoot. maybe i should take it off of auto and play around with it since i'm using it so much.

ok. so maybe it wasn't the scandalous secret you were hoping for but in this house it's a doozy. ;-)

welcome back.

to my regularly scheduled blogging. ;-)
thought about blogging a lot last week. but then i decided that i was too lazy. still on vacation. would give myself a bit longer of a break. {took a self imposed break over vacation and it was so nice to be 'unplugged'} might have to schedule myself some blogging breaks every now and again for my sanity. i know i cheat and do a bunch of posts at once and then just schedule em, but still...

so much going on. uploaded over 500 pictures that were taken in less than two weeks. egads! not sure where to begin since i still haven't printed pictures from months ago! sigh, some things never change.

thought about uploading to facebook but it was taking forever and i'm feeling extremely impatient at the moment.  thinking my flickr album might come out of retirement. it's just so much easier!

yeah, my first post back was kinda lame. whatevs. hoping i can find some motivation for a real blog post tomorrow! ;-P

some quotes for the road.

- we cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh.  ~agnes repplier

- laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can. ~elsa maxwell

- learn all you can from the mistakes of others. you won't have time to make them all yourself. ~alfred sheinwold

- contemplation often makes life miserable. we should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live. ~chamfort

- happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simple, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. ~storm jameson

- if life gives you limes, make margaritas. ~jimmy buffett

- if you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. it's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. ~dale carnegie

- where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. ~oliver wendell holmes, sr.

- sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. ~etty hillesum

- marriage is not a noun, it's a verb. it isn't something you get. it's something you do. it's the way you love your partner every day. ~barbara de angelis

- friendship, love, health, energy, enthusiasm, and joy are the things that make life worth living and exploring. ~denise austin

- breathe. let go. and remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. ~oprah winfrey

just an fyi... no more post until at least wednesday. hopefully, i'll have some fun pictures and stories to share!

cedar point.

i need to get these vacation posts out of the way since our white water rafting trip is upon us!

wednesday:
we left after work and drove to sandusky. pretty uneventful trip. lots of trivia.

thursday:
our day at the park. was a beautiful day. and so not crowded.  think we are going to try and go again next year at the same time.

a few pictures.

the boys planning our route.

and our standard self portrait.

i'm not a big roller coaster person. but i vowed to ride them all at least once. was terrified of one.

was trying to find some peace while we were in line {the longest of the day at 45 mins.} but the boys weren't helping. i know they were kinda trying to be encouraging but it wasn't working! so glad i did it. but i shook for like 10 minutes after we rode it.

the second longest line of the day...
for a giant snow cone!
totally delicious.

love this one.

had to cool off in the little kiddie splash pad...

then it one of the last rides of the day. the one that really did nick in. max air. no direct linkie. but you can click here and scroll down a bit.

had to cool off again.

bye bye cedar point.

then we hung out at the hotel's water park. i think nick was a little tired...

then it was off to dinner.
cheers!

then it was lost id time. sigh. still have no idea what happened. totally threw a fork in our plans. oh well.

friday:
a lazy day. went to breakfast then decided to go to kalahari. was pretty freaking cool. the boys had a blast. steph and i enjoyed the lazy river and just chilling. i almost read an entire book!
dave and nick spent a ton of time on their surf area. they both did a great job. i swear, videos someday. my pictures aren't the greatest and i've posted a gajillion already.

saturday:
we drove home!

preoccupied.

with this craziness.
it's also on the chicago news. and here too. {and now the ny post!}
so hoping they find this guy. soon!
and that no one else gets hurt.

another hunt.

i'm going to try my hardest to get this one done! seems a bit trickier with this photoshop stuff so we shall see!

1. In Disguise
2. Crisp
3. Fall Colors
4. A Jack O’lantern
5. a Shot from the Ground
6. a Landscape
7. a Fall Tradition
8. Books
9. Dining
10. Child/Children
11. Faces formed in Nature (anything that looks like a face but isn’t)
12. Tilt-Shift Photography  
13. B & W with selective coloring 
14. Bokeh 
15. Best Photo taken October 23^rd
16. Something from the Kitchen
17. Something Vintage
18. Something Creepy
19. Something Golden
20. A Self-Portrait

another reason why i love jt.