America

This painting really is beautiful, isn't it?  But did you know it holds a secret?  Come on, take a closer look!

The grass and sand dunes are made up of people and things!  The people and things that have shaped America!

Mr. Potato Head!

R2-D2 and lyrics from a popular Post-9/11 song

A multitude of iconic people, and the Twin Towers

Martin Luther King Junior, Uncle Sam

Elvis

Santa Clause

250 people/things were painted into this painting!  Now do you see why it's our favorite?

Art Prize

We live about 30 minutes away from Grand Rapids, which hosts one of the largest (if not the largest) art shows in the world!  Art Prize hosts 1,582 artists from all over the world display their work in 164 venues in Grand Rapids.  Then, people can vote on their favorite piece!

This was the first time Mike and I have gone down to Art Prize and it certainly didn't disappoint!

Grizzlies on the Ford is one of the top 10 pieces and it looks so neat to see bears in the fountain!



This piece depicts a timeline from Creation, to the Crucifixion, to the Resurrection



Mike and I were both quite intrigued by this painting.  There's just something about the colors and the people, erie as they are, that grabbed us!

These flowers are made from water bottles!

We thought Rusty the dog was pretty cute!

Finally!  A chair fit for Mike! :)

We loved the monkeys hanging from the bridge...it was so whimsical, we couldn't help but smile!

This may look like chalk art, but it's really colored sand!  Each day, the artist creates a new work!

Men at Work was so neat!  2 of these men are real, and 1 is a statue...can you guess who the statue is?

This piece was our favorite!  Come back soon and I'll show you why!

One year ago today...

...I married my best friend.

Two simple words that changed our lives forever.  I do.

We spoke our vows, and there was no looking back.  We were bound forever in holy matrimony.

One year ago today.

I can't believe it's been a year already!  Yet, I can't believe it's been only a year.

For better, or for worse.

For ever and for always.

I love you, Michael, and I'm proud to be called your wife.

Wordless Wednesday

Windy Sailing

We went to the beach last month with some friends. It was pretty windy out, so we were surprised at how brave some sailboats were!  This one in particular seemed to struggle going through the channel and we didn't think it was safe for him to go out onto the "big" lake.  He went anyway, but we kept watching and waiting for him to flip over! ...he didn't :)

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

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