Added Pictures!

I added pictures of the big Halloween party to the previous post. Check it out here!

Brace yourself for the cuteness!

Halloween Cuties!

Yesterday was a pretty boring day, until lunch that is. My mom babysits a handful of adorable kids, and since she lives three doors down from me, I stop by her house several days each week to sneak a peak at them.

Some days are better than others, but let me tell you, yesterday was a great day. It was Halloween party for the brood, and they were all decked out for the festivities. We had a Dorothy, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Charlie Brown and a fairy.

My adorable cousin Karlie as Dorothy. She is such a doll!

And we have Mr. Angelo starring as Woody!

And what's Woody without Buzz Lightyear. Michael looks good!

I told my mom I would stop by and take a few photos. Um, I took 89. What can I say? I love those kiddos, and it is quite the challenge to get the attention of little ones while they are checking out each others' costumes and the room full of fun and toys.

The kids had pizza for lunch and got snack bags of course. I believe they were going to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," after I left. They were having a ball.

Little Liam looks like Charlie Brown.

The gorgeous Khloe Rose as a fairy. I love that little pixie baby! LOVE her!

Happy Halloween from the clan:

Maddy's Home Day Pictures

We rescued our beautiful Maddy Mae from a local shelter, and my husband and I decided we would probably always rescue our animals. There are so many that need homes and just want to be loved. We are blessed with one incredibly adorable and well-behaved dog. I mean she has probably gone to the bathroom twice in our house in the four years we've had her.

Oct. 8 was the four-year anniversary of the day we brought our Maddy home with us, and I can't remember life without my furbaby. We call it her home day, and here are some pictures from her special day. Yes, we give our dog treats, sing to her and give her gifts. What can I say? I think our family would say we need a real child.

 Celebration of Maddy's home day 2010:

Our Maddy had birthday ice cream with peanut butter, and we sang "Happy Home Day!"

Maddy giving me home day kisses.

Mommy will blow out the candle!

My baby eating her ice cream.

Daddy and Maddy.

So, as you can see, we borderline worship our dog. We love her!

"Rocky Horror" captures "Glee"

Nothing too exciting is happening today, and I am on deadline for work, which is making my creativity dampen. I don't have the patience to come up with a witty post or something fun.

You know what I am excited about? "Glee" is going "Rocky Horror Picture Show" tonight, and I can't wait! It is going to be phenomenal!

I grew up watching musicals in my family. We loved "Sound of Music," "Music Man," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Mary Poppins," just to name a few favorites. I was raised with morals, so "Rocky Horror Picture Show" was something I was not exposed to until my senior year in high school.

If you haven't seen "Rocky Horror," just picture cross dressing, crude humor and unnecessary language. It is a pretty raunchy show. I was exposed to it when my best friend from high school Carolyn and I went to visit a college we were thinking about attending. (It ended up being the school where we ended up attending.)

Well, I had visited the school with my parents and already decided I was going there. Carolyn was on the fence, so we drove up for a college visit together. It was a 45-minute drive, and we were so excited to go. We did a full tour of the campus, and since we both love music and theater, we decided to go see the college's production of the "Rocky Horror Show" that night.

We were quite surprised. Picture the two of us reserved, Catholic-school girls sitting in a play, which was full of audience participation and very risque costumes and dialogue. It was a riot, and we loved it. I can always appreciate a good production, and West Liberty always had high quality shows.

We ended up rooming together at West Liberty the next year, and the ironic part was that the theater production presented "Godspell" two years later. Although I loved the production of "Godspell" even more, I really appreciated "Rocky Horror" for what it was.

Although there isn't a real moral lesson presented in "Rocky Horror" it does have catchy music. I find the movie to be quite disturbing. It stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarrandon and Barry Bostwick. It is one of those productions that serves better as a live show.

Come on, how can you hate a show that featured "The Time Warp?"

"I wanna go to the late night, double feature picture show."

P.S. Totally off topic; we just had a tornado watch issued for our entire area. Freaky!

Week in Review - Oct. 17-23, 2010; Halloween Party

Well, we had another fun and exciting weekend, and now it's a rainy Monday. What a bummer! Anyways, last week was so busy, and I was lazy and forgot to (more like neglected to) document each day. So, I am trying to recall it all at one time! What a joy.

Sunday - It was the day after alumni band, and since we went to Mass as a part of those festivities, we didn't have to go to Mass that day. However, I did have to get up and do a Weight Watchers meeting in excruciating pain. Remember my foot saga? Oh, it was bad. I pretty much laid around and elevated my foot for the rest of the day. I even watched some of that show "Sister Wives." I totally and completely disagree with their entire lifestyle, but I couldn't look away. It was like a car accident. Later, we headed down to my parents' house for pizza and then headed home. It was relaxing, and it was nice for a change.

Monday - Monday, my foot was swollen bad, and I had trouble putting a shoe on. I hobbled into work, and my co-worker Janice encouraged me to call my doctor. So, I took the afternoon off and went to the doctor who was convinced I had gout. That whole story is here. After stopping by the doctor's office, I went to the store for my weekly groceries and dropped off my prescription. Then, I headed home and put rustic chicken in the crock pot. It was so yummy. I then ate lunch and relaxed for the afternoon and evening.

Tuesday - I woke up, and the steroids and pain killers were magical; I finally had some relief. I did some light working out that day, just to see how it went. I went to work. After work, I made beef and noodles and worked on cleaning out the office a bit in the evening. "Glee" was a re-run, so I had to make other plans. I had some stuff to put in storage, and my brother and Joe took the stuff downstairs.

Wednesday - I woke up and did Tae Bo before work. I then headed home for lunch. After work, I dropped off some stuff to Goodwill, and then I headed to Weight Watchers to do my meeting. We had leftovers for dinner, and for Wednesday date night, we watched "Hocus Pocus." We love that movie. Then we relaxed for the rest of the meeting before heading to bed.

Thursday - I got up and worked out (I believe). I went to work and went home at lunch to put chili in the crock pot for dinner. I can't remember what I did right after work. But, I remember we had chili for dinner, and then my brother came up to watch "Community," "The Office" and "Outsourced." We had hot chocolate and had a great evening, and Joe finished putting together my Halloween costume (pictures coming).

Friday - We had a busy weekend coming up. I went grocery shopping for all the events. When I came home, we had leftover chili for dinner. Joe had cleaned the house, and we had a great evening making a spider cake. We made a chocolate cake in the shape of a spider's body. We used chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles (to make it look hairy). Then we made chocolate-covered marshmallows and attached them going out from the body, to make the legs. We used pretzel M&Ms for eyes. It was huge and was a hit. We delivered it to my parents' house. That night, I could not sleep. I think I was up until 5 a.m., absolutely wide awake. It was terrible. I have gone through bouts of terrible sleep for years, and this weekend was bad. I was so exhausted. I only slept for three hours. I then got up and made a lot of food for Sunday. We were planning on heading to the pumpkin patch, and I was having my family over afterwards for food and "Sweeney Todd." On Saturday, I made pumpkin trifle, sweet potato salad, pumpkin dip and a cheeseball. Then I showered, ate and laid down for a bit before the Halloween party at my parents'. However, I only slept maybe a half an hour. I got up, got my stuff together, got ready, and then we headed to the party. We stayed there until 2:30 a.m. Then we headed home, and I got approximately five hours of sleep before my Sunday Weight Watchers meeting. It made for a long and tiresome Sunday.

Making the spider cake. My husband is the artist, and this was his baby.



I am working on the frosting and sprinkles.



Our finished project. I have quite a creative husband!

Yesterday, I got up, did my meeting, went to choir and church, headed to the pumpkin patch for a fabulous but hot few hours. We went to the shop, ate fudge and kettlecorn, shopped and had a wonderful day. Joe, my mom, dad, sister and I went, and it was so much fun. We headed to Kroger before heading back to the house for food. I served a pepperoni cheeseball (with crackers); pumpkin dip (with gingersnaps, Nilla wafers, graham crackers and cinnamon pretzels); pumpkin soup and bread; barbecue beef for sandwiches; a walnut, feta cheese and cranberry salad; homemade macaroni and cheese; Doritos; pretzels; some leftover desserts from Saturday that my mom brought up and an awesome pumpkin trifle. It was tasty. My mom, dad, sister, brother, Maria (brother's girlfriend), Joe, Father Bill (family friend who's a priest), friend Shaun and I had a great evening and watched the gruesome "Sweeney Todd," which was a hit. Joe and I love that movie.

What a week. I need a nap after my long weekend!

Here are a few more pictures from the Halloween party. Pumpkin patch pictures will come next week.

My awesome parents dressed up as Carnival  Cruise Line employees. We love cruising, and I love them! Hilarious.

And the big reveal of our costumes. I was Flo, the Progressive Insurance girl, and Joe was the Nationwide guy. This was Joe's idea. He made my apron and buttons.

My brother was the three hole punch version of Derek (as opposed to Jim). If you watch "The Office," you understand.

The Day Wasn't Bad Enough!

So, last Friday I was getting ready to go home from work, excited to start my very fun alumni weekend. Well, I woke up that morning with a really painful foot and was hobbling around all day long. You can read all about my pain here. I know people have way bigger problems and more chronic pain, but I was hurting, and I wanted to curl up and go to bed. It had been a long week.

Well, on my way home from work, I stopped at the gas station, took the gas cap off and put it on my trunk (since it is no longer attached for some unknown reason), put gas in my car, paid for it, hobbled back to my car and started my merry way down the highway dreaming of the awesomeness that I was about to go home and make (a.k.a. Oreo cupcakes).

Well, there was a real treat of a driver driving in the right lane next to me. You know what I am talking about; the person who drives really slowly, and then when you go to pass him/her they speed up...ugh! (By the way, this story has you on the edge of your stinking chair, right?)

I finally pass the person, and a semi truck comes up behind me. I see him flashing his lights at me. I couldn't figure out what he wanted, so I just kept on going. He flashes his lights again right before I get off my exit. I wanted to tell him that I was not the aggressive driver it was the other car. Then I thought, maybe that was my friend who just started driving truck with a new company, and I just didn't recognize the truck. Oh well!

I saw the friend at alumni band the next day, and it wasn't him.

On Sunday, I had my Weight Watchers meeting, and the check engine light came on in my car. Then the check gas cap light came on. It hit me: I left the gas cap sitting on top pf my trunk, and the semi truck driver saw it! Oh man! I am so frugal when it comes to stuff like that. So, I drove up and down the highway four times looking for the thing to no avail.

My brother Derek (who is in college and loves cars) went to a dealership and found out it was going to be $20. That's not bad; I thought it would be worse.

Sorry if I bored the daylights out of you. Until I figured out what the driver was trying to tell me, I was wondering and wondering. I love when I solve a good mystery! OK, it's not really a good mystery, but it was bothering me. Happy weekend!

Questionnaire of Sorts

Here is a questionnaire I found on other blogs and thought I would do. Someday, I may be able to look back and laugh at some of my answers or may still agree with them! The theme is fours (don't know why four, but it is).

Four jobs in my life:

• The Times Leader - I worked a s a reporter at a local newspaper while I was still in college. It was a paid internship, which is always a plus. Although I didn't take a job there (it was offered), I loved the people there and sometimes wish I would have stayed there. I worked with some people who influenced me significantly. Plus, I had some great experiences there. I got to cover an attempted murder trial, house fire (very sad), go skiing for a feature, go scuba diving for a feature story and even ride in an old bi-plane where I wore one those really cool leather hats and goggles. OK, they weren't cool; but, let's all pretend they are.
• The Trumpet - I was the assistant editor of my college newspaper for two-and-a-half years before becoming editor my senior year. The Trumpet was published weekly, and I really got to get my feet wet being a leader. I loved that job! I wish I could go back to those days.
• The Steubenville Register - This is where I work now. I don't have much good to say, and when you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Let's just leave it at that: It's a job, and at least I have one.
• Weight Watchers - I am a leader for Weight Watchers. I went through some pretty incredible training, and when I think about what I do at Weight Watchers, I realize this job makes me feel most fulfilled. (yes, I am such  a cheese ball. Yum, cheeseball!) I absolutely adore helping others achieve there goals. There are tough days, but I love what I do. I think my husband would agree that I am happiest when I talk about that job.

Four movies I could watch over and over:

• Any of the Harry Potter movies - Yes, that is probably cheating, but I think of it as one story.
• "P.S., I Love You" - It is a sad movie, but I loved Ireland so much when we were there, and I just love seeing the scenes in the movie.
• "Apollo 13" - I have always found that movie to be so inspiring.
• "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (or any Christmas movie for that matter) - I adore this movie and could watch it all year around. But, I don't because my husband would frown upon that.

Four places I have vacationed:

• Ireland - Wow! What a fantastic, hospitable and beautiful country. We spent two weeks there in August, with only one day of rain and otherwise fantastic weather. It was a dream come true, and I thank God every day for a husband that helped my fulfill a dream I've had my entire life. Someday there will be an entire post on that trip.
• The Caribbean - We have been on three cruises and have been to several places in the Caribbean, including the following: Tortola, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Grand Turks, Half Moon Cay and more. I love the Caribbean lifestyle of relaxation.
• Disney World - Hello, honeymoon! It was such a magical post. I did a whole review of it here. It was quite the adventure for the two young newlyweds who had never vacationed without parents before.
• Canada - When I think of vacationing as a child, I always remember the several times we went to Niagara Falls. I loved it. My family always vacationed, and this was a favorite of all of ours.

Four favorite foods:

• Chocolate - It's a weakness. In fact, I did a whole post on that, too! I love chocolate candy, ice cream, cupcakes and frosting. It's amazing that I ever got to goal weight!
• Pasta - I may be Irish, but I love and adore Italians for their contribution of the tasty carb that is pasta. I love pasta so much, especially rigatoni. Yummy!
• Fruit - I love fruit because of how filling it is. It is naturally sweet, which helps with my sweet tooth, and it is low in calories. I have a special place in my heart for apples.
• A good hamburger - The American girl in me loves a really juicy hamburger with all the toppings. I love me a good hamburger. In fact, it is a running joke among my family and friends that I put fish and children on my burgers. For the record, I don't. Your children are safe. I eat normal toppings: ketchup, mustard, tomato, lettuce, onion, etc. The joke stemmed from a night on our first cruise when they took a picture of me eating a burger, and the burger was overflowing with toppings.

Four things I am looking forward to:

• My parents' Halloween party this weekend - It is such a great time with great friends and food. I can't wait! Don't worry; I won't forget the camera this time.
• Going to the pumpkin patch Sunday - I love the pumpkin patch. We have such  great time taking in the sights and smells of the fall season. I love fall!
• Christmas - You could ask me in January what I was looking forward to, and I would have said Christmas then, too. I just adore the season. There is nothing like it. In fact, I will probably be quite obnoxious talking about it all the time over the next few months. In my family, the Christmas music starts Nov. 1. We are a musical family, and there is way too much Christmas music to only listen for a few weeks. My husband even (reluctantly) follows this tradition! Woo hoo! It's coming!
• To see where we will be in a year -  I am hoping for a great year, and I can't wait to look back on this blog and see how much we have changed over a year.

If you do this in your blog, let me know! I would love to see your answers. Take care, and have a fabulous Thursday!

*My images are a from a collection from my computer that I have collected over time. Let me know if they belong to you!

Prognosis is Good!

Well, it isn't gout! Thank you! That is a typically something older people and men get. I know I am getting closer and closer to the big 3-0, but I am not quite prepared for the diseases and problems of the elderly Heck, I still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up! I know I am not ready to be the game night host at a nursing home I am living in ... not yet!

Anyways not much new going on here. I have been kind of nursing my foot. Today, I actually worked out twice and brought another box up from the basement to put more winter clothes in the closets. I need to get those warmer clothes out! It is quite chilly, if I do say so myself. This morning in my car, my thermostat read 37! I am not kidding. Now, I am all for the cold, but I really love fall, and it's only October. Hold off old man winter. Yes, I have major crush on you in December, but not yet, buddy!

This weekend is my parents' Halloween party, and you will have to stay tuned to see what my dear husband and I are going to be! Also, Sunday, Joe and I and the rest of my family are going to the pumpkin patch. We will probably cheat and get our carveable (yes, I made up that word) pumpkin at the local store because it is way cheaper. But, the pumpkin patch has a Christmas and fall shop, kettle corn, apple cider, hay rides and other fall foods. My family started coming with us last year, and it is a blast. They are all going to come to our house afterwards for dinner and to watch "Sweeney Todd." Woo hoo!


Finally, here are a few pictures. I failed big time and forgot to take my camera, so I had to steal these. Some are blurry ... sorry. The worst and best part of alumni weekend: I didn't get any pictures of the Oreo cupcakes, but they were so popular, they were gone in a flash! The were definitely a hit. the only changes I made to the recipe were that I added chopped Ores to the chocolate (box mix, he he) cake batter, mixed finely blended Oreos into the cream cheese frosting and decorated with mini Oreos. They were divine! you have to make them now!

Here is my dad, me, my brother Derek (in the back), my husband Joe, my sister Kayla and my mom before the game!

Here I am getting ready to go on the field for halftime!

This one is blurry, but this is during pregame! The girl on the left is Amanda. I am actually really good friends
with her older brother and friends with her now, too! I remember when she was a little girl;
now she's in grad school. Wow, I am old!

Holy Gout!

Well, today was interesting. My foot was feeling a little better this morning, but it still looked pretty swollen. So I decided to call the doctor, and the nurse told me to stop in. I took the second half of the work day off and headed to the doctor. He instantly thought that it was gout! Yuck! Just the word "gout" bothers me.

Typically it is something older people deal with. Basically, it is when the kidneys have trouble ridding the body of uric acid, so the uric acid leaves through the bloodstream and for some reason, heads to the big toe in most cases. It is a form of arthritis, according to what I've read. The doctor said that when the toe swells, it indicates a gout attack. Things like alcohol, red meat and spicy foods trigger attacks. However, my doctor said he is not to the point where he would limit my foods. He said I am healthy and at a healthy weight, so he is not worried about foods, etc.

Even though he is pretty sure that it is gout, we won't know for sure until the blood results come back. The blood work was done in the office, and the results will be back tomorrow.

I'll be honest; I am not convinced it is gout. I kind of want it to be, since I will know what the problem is. Although this incident is the first time my foot has been really bad, I have had a few times when the foot hurt before. I always wrote it off as a pulled muscle or a bruised bone or something. However, this is a completely different possible diagnosis. I mean, I was thinking I would need x-rays and would find out I had a chipped bone or stress fracture or something.

Like I said, I would be absolutely shocked if it was gout. But, I guess I will find out tomorrow! I just want to be able to work out and walk like a normal person again. I need to because I ate like a pig this weekend.

Week in Review Oct. 10-16

This was a fun but busy week. I was on deadline for work, we had alumni band, my brother-in-law came in for a visit with his kids and my parents went to Baltimore on a trip with the church. So,here goes nothing!

Sunday- I had to go lead my Weight Watcher meeting in the morning. We then headed to church for choir and had Mass. Then we headed back to our house, and my brother-in-law Jim stopped by for a quick visit with his two kids, Hannah and Ethan, before heading back to his house two hours away. Jim was visiting my in-laws all weekend (who live 15 minutes away). His wife couldn't come because she had to work all weekend. We had a nice visit. Earlier in the morning Jim called me and asked me to be baby Ethan's godmother.Of course I said yes, and I looked forward to Jim coming over so I could snuggle with the little guy. It took him a few minutes to warm up to me, but he did. After Jim left, I went to the mall to get my uncle a Steelers' shirt for his birthday, and then I went home and woke Joe up, so he could come to my grandma's house with me for my uncle's party. We then headed up to my grandma's for dinner.We had my grandma's amazing meatballs, pasta salad, my mom's wedding soup and pumpkin pie for birthday cake. After a long day,we came home and relaxed before bed.





It's Aunt Renee and her newest godson!



He is wondering about me!

 


Happy birthday, Uncle Joe!



Go Steelers!





Monday - I woke up bright and early to walk Maddy,and then headed to work. It was a deadline week at the paper, so it was a busy day.I went grocery shopping during lunch. I then packed up a lunch and headed back to work. After work, I had to go to the doctor's office to pick up a physical paper for my brother, since my parents were out of town, and Derek had to go straight from class to work. Afterwards, I went home, made chicken with tomatoes, baked potatoes and corn for dinner. After dinner, Joe did dishes, and I cleaned out the hall closet, while watching the season opener of "Giuliana and Bill." Yes, I am a reality show junkie. Then, I went to bed absolutely exhausted, but I couldn't sleep until 2 a.m. It made for a long Tuesday!

  

Tuesday - Even though I had a long night, I got up early and did a workout from digital cable. I then headed to work for actual deadline day. I went home at lunch to put a ham in the crock pot, and I headed back to work. Joe finished dinner. He made mashed potatoes and green beans. I got home at around 7 p.m. and ate. Then we relaxed and watched T.V. Kayla came up and we watcher "Glee." It was  great episode about duets. Loved it. Then I blogged a bit and headed to bed. What a long day!

Wednesday - Wednesday I woke up and went to work. I know I worked out at some point, but I can't remember if it was in the morning or during lunch. I went to work, and after work headed to Walmart to pick up supplies to make the Oreo cupcakes I was making for the weekend. Then I had my Weight Watchers meeting, headed home to my house that my husband cleaned (we're talking bathrooms and all) and ate ham leftovers. Then I had a Weight Watchers conference call at 8 p.m. Afterwards, Joe and I watched "Sweeney Todd," and relaxed. My sister, brother, and brother's friend Ben stopped by for a few minutes. We had a a nice evening.

Thursday - Thursday I was planning to have my parents up for dinner because they got back very late Wednesday night from a three-day trip to Baltimore, Gettysburg and Washington, D.C., and I wanted to hear about the trip. Well, Joe had cleaned the whole house the night before, so I didn't have to worry too much about that. I think I did Tae Bo in the morning before heading to work. At lunch, I came home and made an apple spice bundt cake; it was yummy! After work, I headed home and made taco salad, corn bread, cinnamon applesauce and macaroni and cheese. Then my parents came up for dinner. It was yummy, and we had a chance to visit, look at pictures and relax. It was really awesome. After they left, my brother and sister and my brother's friend came up to watch "The Office." It was a great night.

Friday - I woke up early and did ab exercises. My left foot was killing me (and still is), and I couldn't do much exercise. It is a pain that radiates from the inside ball of my left foot into the toe. It even looks slightly swollen today (Sunday). Joy! I then went to work, came home and baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and Oreo cupcakes that were divine. (I even chopped up Oreos for the cake batter and for the frosting.) Then, Joe and I relaxed and watched "Groundhog Day" before heading to bed.

Saturday - It was the big alumni day I have been talking about. We had practice at 11 a.m. at  the high school. I got up early, went to practice, and we all headed to get Chinese after practice. Then we headed to Mass at the high school and played after Mass. Then, we rode in the band bus to the stadium (five minute drive away). The game was fun, and we ate a lot of Swedish fish, which is an odd tradition for alumni band. After the game, we drove cars (that we dropped off at the stadium earlier in the day) back to the school and played at the fish fry. Then we hung out in the band room and Chris (alumni band member) played "American Pie," "Piano Man" and "Sweet Caroline," while we sang along. Chris is, by far, the most talented musician I know. He can hear a song and just play it right now - no music needed. Amazing! Afterwards, my cousins Megan and Ryan rode with us back to my parents' house. My mom had awesome roast beef sandwiches, chips, Doritos, potato salad and macaroni and cheese. We also had my cookies and cupcakes for dessert. We ended the party way into the night (after 2 a.m.), and I had to be up for my Weight Watchers meeting at 7 a.m. That was a blast (notice the sarcasm).

Today, I am relaxing and taking it easy. I hope that by relaxing, I will give my foot some time to heal. Go Steelers. Ben is back!

Alumni Game 2010

As I mentioned, this weekend is alumni band weekend, and I am so excited because so many of my former band peers are coming in for it this year. We will have practice tomorrow morning at the school, and then we will all head to lunch before returning to the school for Mass (Catholic high school). After Mass, we will head to the game and play and hang out. I doubt I will play much, as I look forward to the company more than anything, but my whole family will be playing, and it is a good time. When I say my whole family, I mean my mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and cousin. Yes, we were all in the same band, at different times, of course :)

After the game, we are always pretty starved. So, we will head to my parents, and my mom will have tasty food. I am going to make  pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and Oreo cupcakes. We also bought a couple dozen smiley face cookies from a local bakery, which was a treat my group always enjoyed while we were growing up. Yum!

Here is the link for the Oreo cupcakes:
http://acupfullofcake.blogspot.com/2010/06/fathers-day-death-by-oreo-cupcakes.html

Here is the link for the chocolate chip pumpkin cookies:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-iii/Detail.aspx

Now, I haven't made either recipe, yet, but you can be sure I will give you a full update next week. I mean, honestly, how can they be bad? They are chocolate and Oreos and frosting. Thinking about that alone made me just gain five pounds! Normally, I like to make apple pie cupcakes for the fall alumni game, but I am changing it up this year. I love trying new recipes in the kitchen, and my husband never seems to mind! Since my post was so picture heavy yesterday, I will keep it free of pictures this time. Be sure there will be plenty from alumni game next week. 

Have a great weekend and be safe!

Travel Thursdays - Our First Cruise

This is a long post and very picture heavy. Proceed if you dare!

Cruising wasn't something that Joe or I had ever done, along with most of the rest of my family. However, it was something my parents always wanted to do. So, for their 25th wedding anniversary in 2006, my sister, brother, Joe and I threw my parents an anniversary party and asked that everyone, in lieu of gifts, consider donating toward a cruise for them. The feedback was positive, and we were able to write my parents a nice check for a cruise of their choice. Their anniversary was two weeks before our August wedding, and they took the cruise in May 2007.



Come sail away with me!



Well, fast forward two years later (June of 2008), and we all decided to go on the same cruise they went on. When I say all, I mean all nine of us, including: Joe, Mom, Dad, Kayla, Derek, two friends, our friend Finney and me! It was all set, we decided to cruise on the Carnival Miracle for nine days (same exact cruise my parents did). We left from New York, which was driving distance for us, and we went to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Tortola.

Dad, Finney, Mom and I by the pool one morning. Notice there is no one else there.

Let me tell you, within minutes we were hooked. If you have never been on a cruise, you have got to try it. Envision drinks and food available all day, someone cleaning your room twice a day, napping as you please, getting lost in a good book, excellent food, going to Vegas-style shows every night, laying poolside and gorging yourself with soft-serve ice cream. It really is magical.

Waiters singing Mom and Kayla "Happy Birthday." They share a birthday, and my sister turned 21 on the cruise!

We got a balcony room, and I don't think I can cruise any other way. Think about it, a private balcony to read on while sailing the ocean. Can you smell the salt water right now?

Our ship in Puerto Rico.

There is much debate over Royal Caribbean versus Carnival, and honestly I can't give a real review because we have only cruised with Carnival. But, we have cruised with Carnival three times, and we love it. Does that say anything? Carnival is a fun ship; it is true. There are events that are a little corny (belly-flopping contest, etc.), but we just don't go to those. There also are jewelry sales, art shows, bar musicians, trivia games, casinos, bingo games and so much. If there is something that interests you, you can go. If you don't want to go, just don't. It is time for luxury and relaxation. Speaking of luxury, my sister and I always take advantage of the spa. I just realized I need a cruise right now.

Each port was unique. We had three sea days before reaching Puerto Rico, and let me tell you, we love sea days. We could wake up anytime we wanted and really relax. In Puerto Rico, my mom, dad, sister, brother, Joe, Finney and I did a tour of the island and went to the Bacardi Rum factory. Although the tour of the factory left much to be desired, we loved our free rum, and we got to take some great flavors home with us. On the tour, we saw where Roberto Clemente is buried and shopped in some of the markets near the port. We were there a good while (3-11 p.m.), which we really loved because it gave us a lot of time to enjoy the city. After dinner (we ate in the lido deck dining room on the ship), Joe and I went and sat on the top deck completely by ourselves, and I mean completely by ourselves. It was dark out, and we could look at the city with a gorgeous view. That was probably the best part of the trip for me. I think Joe would agree. That night, we had a Mexican buffet and dance party while our ship set sale for our next port, which was St. Thomas!

Kayla and me at Bacardi!

St. Thomas was gorgeous. I don't care what anyone says. We did a tour of the island again and stopped at Magens Bay. We had the whole beach to ourselves. Seriously, there were maybe two dozen people stretched along the beach. The water was crystal clear and just gorgeous. We loved it! For that excursion day, it was just my mom, dad, sister, brother, Joe and me. After the beach, we went to (what we call) tent city, and I got my very own Coach purse. Kayla got two purses. It was insanely hot, and I believe Joe was delirious when he told me to find a purse. I promise I didn't even ask for one. Finney went by himself that day, and he said Magens Bay was packed when he went. We really lucked out. Don't worry, that day we got free rum too.

St. Thomas

Joe, me, Derek and Kayla at St. Thomas

My sister at Magens Bay with no one in sight. Incredible.

Our third excursion day was Tortola, and it was the best excursion day. Kayla and I went swimming with dolphins. I thought we would be in a huge group and get very limited interaction. Boy was I wrong! The big excursion group broke into smaller groups, and our group was approximately seven or eight people, and we had two trainers and two dolphins. We got to feed them, pet them, ride them two times each and do tricks with them (getting them to speak and spit water). It was fantastic! I highly recommend the dolphin excursion in Tortola. We purchased a video and pictures at the end. It was hot, so when we got back to port, we only went shopping for a short while before heading back to the ship.

Joe and me on our balcony in Tortola.

While on the ship, we had two formal nights, which you don't have to attend, but I highly recommend them. It's fun to get dressed up once in a while, right? Carnival's dress code isn't too strict. The ladies wore anything from cocktail dresses to gowns, and the guys pretty much wore suits or at least dress shirts and ties. The first formal night (earlier in the trip) was what they call "Captain's Formal Night," where you get to listen to the ship band play music in the main theater, meet and shake hands with the captain and crew and indulge in free alcohol and appetizers. (Although food and drinks are included in the cost of cruising, there is a cost for alcohol.) My parents got to go to a special past cruisers event later in the cruise (which we got to attend in later cruises). Those are fun too!

Dancing with my baby brother one night!

Joe and I at our first formal night!

One of the highlights for our group was the piano player, Roger, in the piano bar. The piano bars on the ships are like a group sing-a-long, and they are a blast. Roger was a great entertainer, and we became regulars of that bar. It is bad, by the way, if you are regulars on a nine-day cruise.

Second formal night.

The second highlight for our group, was that Finney won bingo twice (totaling something like $800), and our other friend won. It was so cool. When Finney won the big bingo, he paid a round of drinks that night. It was a ball!

Our whole gang at dinner with our waiters on the last night. The picture is fuzzy, but it was a group shot.

Our dining room

Since that cruise was two-and-a-half years ago, I don't remember all of the details. But, I think I did pretty good.

I want a drink with an umbrella, a lounge chair in the sun and ocean as far as my eyes can see right about now.

The candy corn debacle

So, every year around this time everyone gets ready for the fall weather and tasty treats that come with the season. When I think of fall scents, I think of apple, pumpkin, spices and cinnamon. When I think of visions of fall, I think of leaves changing colors, sweaters and pumpkins. When I think of sweet treats, I especially focus on candy corn.

You may think the candy corn is a very simple concept. Heck, it's sugar and food dye, right? WRONG! In my family and circle of friends, the candy corn is reason for much debate, and I am very serious when I say that. Although the debate is not heated, it is a debate, nonetheless. The debate stems from the question, which side is the top of the candy corn? Now, you are thinking well of course I know the answer. But in our group it is a pretty evenly split topic. Ask a few of the people around you, and you may find the same debacle.

My husband and I along with our smart family members and friends (just kidding), think the pointy part is the top. I mean it only seems natural to me that the wider end would be the bottom. How would said candy corn stand on the tip? It can't!

Members of the other side of the debate said that the wider part is the top because of how how corn grows on a cob. Hello, I have yet to see a candy corn cob! In my mind, that makes their argument a moot point.

This started years ago, and it got to the point where my husband and I e-mailed Brach's (don't judge us; I know we are insane), and they took the politically correct way out. (Hey, I was surprised they even responded.) They said that when they create the candy corn the point is the bottom; but when it comes out of the molding, the point is the top.

One year for Halloween a husband and wife couple who are friends of my parents dressed as candy corn, each dressed to represent what side they thought was the top.

What side do you think is the top? Think about it; and by the way, you will never look at candy corn in the same way ever again.

My cousin's wedding

Well, we finally loaded some pictures on the computer, so I can update with some pictures...woo hoo!

Two weeks ago, my cousin Christine got married,and it was a night of fun and full of family time. She had an absolutely gorgeous September day for a wedding. It was sunny and warm, but not too hot.

I had to go to the actual ceremony by myself, since my husband and dad were working, and my sister had a football game. (My sister is the band's dance team instructor.)

Afterwards, we all caught up and went to the wedding together. My cousin Luke was in from Indiana, and he sat at our table with us,along with my dad's cousin Annette (and obviously my husband, mom, dad and sister. I think the highlight of the wedding was when the groom sang to the bride. It was so awesome. He sand Elvis Presley's, "I Can't Help Falling Love with You." I kid you not when I say he sounded like Elvis.I mean, Joe didn't believe the groom was singing until he got choked up for a second. That man's got pipes. AMAZING!

So, here are the pictures!





Here is my sister Kayla dancing with our little cousin Karlie:


And what would wedding pictures be without a picture of the bride and groom? It's not my picture, but it's from her Facebook page (not a professional picture). I don't think she'll care!