Work Party/Fireworks

A couple weeks ago Mike's work hosted a party for their employees.  It was at a more "up-scale" hotel that we'd never been to before.  The food was provided by the hotel's restaurant, six.one.six, and it was out of this world good!  I was too busy eating and socializing to take pictures of the food!

After the sun set, we had a fantastic view of the museum across the river.

The party was held during Celebration on the Grand, so we had front row seats to some pretty spectacular fireworks!

Mike and I had a lot of fun spending time with his co-workers.  We both came away from the evening commenting about how much his new job really seems to appreciate their employees!  We are blessed!

By the way, do you notice anything new about my handsome husband? ;)

Friend Makin' Monday--Holidays

Congratulations to the winners of the Basic H2 giveaway--Cheri and Terri!  I'll be emailing you soon! :)

This weekend was awesome--it really felt like fall and that put me in the mood for donuts and apple cider.  I didn't have a donut but I did have some nice hot cider...mmm!  It's funny how this week's Friend Makin' Monday topic fits in so well with the changing seasons.  In fact, I was just commenting to Mike the other day that I'm ready for Christmas! :)

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: What’s your favorite holiday? And why?

I really do love all the holidays, just some more than others. I love the excitement in the air as a holiday approaches and the anticipation of kids and adults alike. 

But I'd have to choose that Christmas is my very favorite holiday.  First and foremost, because it is the celebration of Jesus' birth.  And next come all the other reasons this holiday is so fun:

*Christmas music

*Yummy food

*Baking cookies

*Christmas trees

*The anticipation of giving and receiving gifts

*Time spent with family and friends

*Parties

*Carolers

*Decorations

*A general sense of excitement and warmth in the air

To me, it truely is the most wonderful time of the year!  In fact, a Christmas song came on my Pandora radio the other day and instead of skipping it, I sang along...I can't wait for Christmas!

Our family is growing!

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family--Champ!

Isn't he just so cute! 

We've wanted a dog for a while now and about a month ago we began seriously looking.  We found a local Chow rescue that had some puppies available for adoption.  We filled out a few forms and began the process.  It took a few weeks due to a minor case of kennel cough, but on Friday night, Champ became ours!

He's a 12 week old Labrador Retriever Husky mix.  He's very gentle and loves to play.  We're in the process of housetraining him, and he's definitely learning!  He has started to learn his name and come when he is called.  He likes to play fetch and actually "gives" the toy back to us! 

After not seeing our kitty friend for a while, she made a sudden appearance on our back steps.  It was fun to watch how she and Champ interacted!

He's just so stinkin' cute!!!

Basic H2 Review and Giveaway

When I got married, my mom warned Mike that I am not a housekeeper.  Ain't that the truth!  I love to cook, bake, and make a big mess, but I hate to clean it up!  Now of course, I do clean but that doesn't mean I like it.  However, I'm always looking for ways to make my life a little easier. 

I was contacted by a Shaklee representative, Andrea, who asked if I would be willing to test out a cleaning product called Basic H2.  She explained that this is a super cleaning concentrated product that is non-toxic, organic, and biodegradable.  It sounded good to me, so I was excited to try it out!

You can imagine my surprise when I got the mail and found a tiny bottle of cleaner.  Really?  I thought, I can't clean anything with this!  After reading the instructions, I learned that the tiny vial of cleaner actually gets mixed into water (in a spray bottle) and that creates a great cleaning solution.  I decided to put it to the test.

First up, the glass cleaner and my bathroom mirror!  Please note, I let it get this dirty in order to demonstrate the cleaning power.  (Wait, seriously?  Did you just buy that line?  I hope not!) 

Just a couple sprays of the solution, a swipe of paper towel and my mirror was sparkly clean again!

Well, the glass cleaner worked, how about the all-purpose cleaner?  Perfect!  I'll try it on my microwave...let's see if it can get rid of caked on food and grease from exploding margarine?



Ewww! :)

 Yeah, I would say the cleaner definitely did it's job!  My microwave is super clean, and it required very little elbow grease.

Of course, you all know how much I love to save money, so I was really excited to see a cost comparison sheet of how much this product could save me!  Looks like a great deal to me!

Shaklee offers many types of products from cleaning products to skin care to nutritional supplements; I first became aware of them for their health and nutrition products through a friend's dad.  They offer many great membership opportunities, or if you're interested, Andrea can help you become a Shaklee representative too! She also has some great specials going on right now: Free membership with the purchase of Vitalizer at member’s price, plus a MaiaBee Special! 

So why did I share all this information with you?  Andrea has generously offered to send a sample to five of my readers!  You, too, can experience how well Basic H2 cleans!  Here's how you can win:

Leave a comment on this blog post (1 entry)

Follow my blog and leave a comment stating you did so (1 entry)

Follow Andrea's blog and leave a comment stating you did so (1 entry)

Like Andrea's facebook page and leave a comment stating you did so (1 entry)

Visit Andrea's store and leave a comment telling me what products you'd like to try (1 entry)

Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if it's not in your blogger profile.  This contest will run until September 24th, and the winners will be contacted by email.  

Though I received a sample of Basic H2 to review, all thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Remembering

10 years ago today, the unthinkable happened...

Source

Source

We are so blessed to have our freedom...may God bless America!

So excited!

This morning I set out on a run with the intention of running about 4 miles. I had my route mapped out and knew my pace and how long it would take (gotta leave time to shower and get ready for work!) Well, on the way back home, my legs felt great and I felt like I could just keep going.  And so I did!  I have a tendency to quit when I hit my "goal", and call it good.  Today I decided to keep going and just listen to my body.  So I did and I ended up running:

Actually a little more, I quit at 6.31 miles!  Running longer meant I had a lot less time to shower and get ready for work this morning, but it sure was worth it!

On a side note...I had exactly 33 minutes to shower, dry and straighten my hair, get dressed, and put make-up on before running out the door to work. I made it--I think that's another record!

Summer Breakfast Swap

Earlier this summer I participated in Uncle Sam's Summer Breakfast Swap.  I first heard about it on Kenlie's blog and the thought of a healthy and filling cereal intrigued me, so I joined her team.

The rules were simple, swap out your typical breakfast for Uncle Sam's cereal for a week and then share your thoughts.

I was really impressed with the cereal.  I ate Uncle Sam's Strawberry Cereal for breakfast for a week.  At first I was doubtful that a serving (just 3/4 of a cup) would be enough to keep me full until lunch.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did!  One serving of this cereal has 8 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, only 7 grams of sugar, and 240 calories.   I appreciated that the ingredient list was short and contained words I could actually read...all natural ingredients, not processed junk!  I also had my first experience with flax seed, and I really enjoyed it.

I would definitely recommend this cereal if you're looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  It's definitely a great start to the morning!

Disclosure: I received a coupon for free Attune food products, but all opinions are my own.