Pumpkin Crunch

Mmmm... Think I'm gonna try this Paula Deen delight.

INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 oz.) can fresh pumpkin

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 c. sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans

2 sticks butter, cut into pieces

FROSTING:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, evaporated milk, cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and mix well.
Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish prepared with a non stick spray. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over entire top. Sprinkle nuts evenly over cake mix and top with butter pieces. Bake at 350º F for 50-60 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Prepare frosting while cake is cooling. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese until light. Add in whipping cream and continue to whip until fully combined and thickening. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon and whip until smooth.
To Serve: Scoop out a slice of the pumpkin crunch and top with a dollop of the cream cheese frosting, or frost the entire pumpkin crunch with the frosting.
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Servings: 8Prep Time: 10 minCook Time: 1 hourDifficulty: Easy

Relaxation Desperation

My Friday night...


I don't think I've taken a bath since I was five. Seriously.

I've been working overtime- covering two departments at work, and planning our church area christmas party, ontop of helping a friend with realestate. Desperate need of relaxation.

RECIPE:
Jet Tub
Aromatherapy relaxation bubbles
Jim Brickman Piano Music playing
Dimmed lights
Candles lit
One husband on-call just a text away incase the bubbles took over
Oh- and People/US Weekly Magazines-

All was right in the world again....

Lately

A cute little piece I added to my decor.


Went to Graffiti Junction Downtown with the girls from work. It was a blast. Karaoke, Great Music, Fun atmosphere, plenty of dancing...

Visiting Ladies from church with My primo partner Renee who had this great cookie idea. Each petal and bee are different cookies. Thanks Renee!

We've begun the painting process in the Kingdom of white walls (aka lovingly... My house).... Boy does it look good! Before and afters to come soon.

A little message from M3

Church Fall Festival that I planned.

Chili/Soup Cook off, Trunk or Treating, Costume contest.

Vote at this table for the best Chili!

Cruise Vacation Part Duece (2)- Cozumel Mexico

Fresh off the boat. Mexico was BEAUTIFUL!

Walking down the sidewalk...This was the view... loved it!

Street Performer- Scared teh bejeebes out of me. I was walking along and thought it was a statue and he leaned in toward me and smiled, I did a nice little jump and grabbing of Kevan.

Spanish Nativity Set- Jesus was in a hammock on a bungalow on the beach don't you know? Duh, the wisemen wore sombraros, and we can't forget little mamacita Mary. Should have bought this.

After looking a little in the touristy area, we took a taxi to the middle of down town where all the native people live and went to a little native restaurant called, "La Choza"

The food was awesome!

It was so tropical that it had an open construction with plants hanging from the ceiling and an open courtyard.

Let's not forget the Mariachi band- Video Below

They thought I was taking a picture, so they were grinning really big, and I just kept holding up the camera cause I was recording, and they kept grinning like "common already lady". You can hear me laughing and trying to explain to kev that I was recording. They were cute. I told the guy in the middle I liked his shirt but he didn't really speak any english.

Paintings on the walls/bar of the restaurant

The people there were VERY religious, there were all kinds of crucifixs everywhere, this was one of the most creative I've seen.

After eating we decided to walk around among the local people. We met people with pictures of Hurricane Ivan that almost destroyed the whole island. We were told stories of how the island used to look, and what the culture was like. Wish I would have taken more pictures. We were the only white people in the whole area. Alot of the areas where the people lived away from the touristy stuff was run down and people poor, but very friendly. We found some neat little shops and even stumbled upon the Flea Market with all kinds of neat goods.

(sorry it's blurry) Got this ring at the flea market. LOVE IT.

Couch in a Boot Shop. They had sea turtle boots that were beautiful. Should have gotten a picture...

Back on the boat, the next day was Kevan's Birthday, I ordered him a cake and he got a big loud singing surprise at dinner. The guy next to him said, "Hey man, get your money back, They spelled your name wrong."

We laughed.

Next day at sea, we did some more of this

We also went to a karioke competition, a comedy show, and laid out on the boat deck.

I'M READY FOR ANOTHER CRUISE- HUGE FAN!

Holy Moly! Watch This!

I can't even describe the amazingness of this video. The first part is cool, but the longer you watch, they jumprope while flipping, laying down, while doing sommersaults.. watch all the way to the end...Maybe I'm doing the wrong workout :)

Cruise Vacay Getaway Part One

On the boat and
GRAND CAYMAN ISLANDS


Disclaimer: we were our own photographers, and I failed to take pictures of inside the actual boat... therfore, there are just lots of pictures of US :)

On the boat: Water slides, miniature golf course, pool, Casino, lots of lounges and show rooms. We went to several shows including a juggling show and comedy shows that were a blast.

First night at dinner on the boat.


The first day was a day at sea, which meant the casino, fun shows and relaxing on the boat deck sipping pinacoladas- people looked at us nutso when we asked for non alchoholic-LOVED THESE!


Second Night at dinner on the boat


One of my favorite things to do was to be on the boat deck at night. We lounged on the top deck under the stars, and stood along the railings watching the Ocean below. It was so beautiful and relaxing. Crashing waves, a large moon, a pitch black sky allowing millions of stars to appear, and an ocean breeze dancing around me playing with my hair. Ahhh.. doesn't get much better than that.

First stop: Grand Cayman Island

When we got there we looked in some shops, and got haggled by local people to do excursions and tours. All the excursions if you booked them on the boat were around $100 so we opted out- *Note to reader- always book the excursions on the island, way cheaper!

One guy talked us into a tour of the island. He gave us a history, and inside tips of the local people, more about their culture, etc. It was fascinating. First the tour took us to "HELL". I've been to HELL and Back, Have you?!? No Joke. The town's official name is HELL. We were sad we left our passports on board the boat, cause you can get a passport stamp saying you went to Hell. Here we sent out postcards that were postmarked from hell, to our parents (sorry folks, didn't have anyone else's addresses memorized!)

The Devil's Playground. It consists of natural limestone deposits on the ground (you can see behind us) Under the dirt the limestone is really white. The local people grind it up and use it to whitewash their houses.

We saw huge iguana's in Hell, walking around, laying in trees, they're all over.

This pic from here

They give you a chance to redeem yourself while in hell.

Next stop on the tour was the RUM factory. Grand Cayman markets rum and rum cakes like the orients do rice. It was crazy, they let you drink as much free rum as you wanted while you were at the factory. We opted out of course, but we did sample the Rum cakes...I can't even describe the goodness of the coconut rum cake. (all the alcohol was cooked out :) ) Kicking myself for not bringing some back!

Ahhh rum cake....

pic from here

This was the view walking down the sidewalk...

This was at a restaruant table. I'd eat there everyday for this view!

Next stop was the 7 mile Beach. The beach looks like this for 7 whole miles! There was no one on the beach, couldn't believe it, it was so Beautiful!!

Before we got back on the boat, we stopped at a local restaurant to try the local food.

Apparently the national dish in the Cayman Islands is Turtle stew. We opted for a Turtle Burger instead. It was made from sea turtle meat. Turtle meat is regulated because the turtles are endangered, so you have to buy it from the governement turtle farms. Our tour guide showed us the one restaurant (Above picture)that serves turtle on the island.

People ask what it tasted like. I compare it to lamb. It was different from anything I've ever had. Like Lamb, it has its own distinctive flavor.

We also got some Conch Chowder. VERY GOOD.

The towel animals we found waiting for us in our room every night.

When we left Grand Cayman we sat on the back of the boat on loungers and watched the view of the Islands disappear.

Other places we went not pictured:

The Aquarium where people swim with the dolphins.

The turtle farm where turtles are hatched, raised and released into the ocean.

Next Post: The Cruise continues to MEXICO!

U2 Concert!!

Kev's Brithday Present- Tickets to U2 Concert, a dream of his.

First we went to...

for dinner. We ate slowly to enjoy every bite. INFO WORTH MORE THAN GOLD: THERE IS NOW A BAJIO IN TAMPA, FL!!! Can't tell you how ecstatic we were when we heard the news! Don't know what we were more excited about, Bajio or the concert :) For those who don't know its similar concept to QDOBA or Moe's, but 10 times better. The food has so much flavor. Mmmmm....

At the stadium. Their stage was amazing!

It was at the Buckaneers Stadium- Sold Out

the Pirate ship

All excited before the conert

A little U2 Love-

A Beautiful Day- by U2
Better Video!

Home Sweet Salsa Home

I went home to Indiana to visit my parents at the end of September, my favorite time of year there. Just a weekend trip. It was perfect, the weather, the company, the activities... all of it.

Standing on the parents back patio. (My dad's tornado proof shed)

hydrangeas still in bloom...

The only kids that are still at home.

On the way home from the airport we stopped at the American Countryside Farmer's Market. Beautiful! It's made of beautiful wood and has 3 floors of restaurants and shops full of home made items and home cooked goods (including a lot of goods from the Amish community). We had buffalo burgers for lunch, Yum!

Photo from here

There was a shop in the farmers market called "Sew Cute by Janet Bradburn", where I got this AMAZING purse.

It is machine washable, reversible, can be worn as a satchel purse of regular on the shoulder purse, and the POCKETS ARE TO DIE FOR! There are all kinds of fun prints, I went with a classic look so I could wear it with anything. Seriously favorite purse I've ever owned. When you pick it up, the straps automatically shut the top tight so nothing falls out and no one can see in your purse, when you set it down, the straps loosen and open the top.

A look at the inside. (Sorry, Didn't want to empty it out just for a picture) They use a whole pair of size 9 or larger jeans for the inside of the purse. There are pockets all the way around that are super deep. Everything has a compartment, the only thing in the big section is my wallet and glasses, no more digging for 5 minutes just to find my chapstick. Keys can be hooked on a belt loop. I have everything but the kitchen sink in here. LOVE IT!!!!

Then we were headed home to make salsa. Dad's famous salsa! I'm drooling just looking at the pictures.

Freshly blanched tomatoes, ready for peeling and slicing.

The master Chef himself, making some mean salsa.

Me and dad, hard at work. From 12:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Have I mentioned one of my favorite all time favorite snacks is Chips and Salsa- Good salsa.

The Salsa made it home safely on the airplane. Friends family and co workers who have sampled the salsa we made are begging me to share some more. I called Dad the first day back and said, "Well, the good news is, it's delicious! Bad news is, it's not going to last very long at all!"

Next: Can you guess?

Home Made Freezer Jam. Fresh berries. Flavors: Marion Berry, Iverness Berry, Raspberry.

Yum. Stocked up for the year. I'm already getting requests from those who tasted last year's jam we made.

Then we were off to visit Amish Acres! A fun attraction with shops, games, restaurant and theater revolving around the Amish culture.

The Inn at Amish Acres- wouldn't this be the coolest hotel stay?

The Round Barn Theatre. Dad said the shows in here are good.

Of course we visited all the shops at my request :)

I bought an Amish doll similar to this for my house, Notice how they don't have faces on them? Amish don't put faces on their dolls.

Everything was so country. Loved this-

And this-

You have to stand back and toss the ring that's hanging on the string and get the ring on the small hook on the post. Dad did it- I was amazed!

An after church picture. I was told I looked "very Floridian" with the huge-'ol flower in my hair.

Nothing quite like going home...

Paper Goods

A friend of mine was going to throw away a little collection of these cards including ones for baby showers, birthdays etc., so I claimed them. Love em! I think I'm gonna do a craft night and Make some. Who's in for a girly craft night?

P.S. I think Allyssa made these? She's super crafty :)

Remembering Me

Pic Via Gillar Girl

Thanks for all the warm wishes, kind words, and nice gifts on my special day :) Hugs to all!
A recap:

• I had the whole day off work!
• Internship Interview- not so birthday-ish but the only time I could fit it in.
• Soup at Crispers for lunch
• Transformers 2 movie at the dollar theater (robot heaven?- come on!!!....lame)
• Auntie Mary surprised me and bought tickets to fly in and see me for a week- Wahoo!
• My main man made me pumpkin Pie instead of cake at my request- what a keeper!

An Oldy

With a birthday soon approaching I am having conversations that go something like this.
"I better enjoy these years while I'm young."
"Young? I'm on the verge of not young.. wait, I'm old!"
"I'm not Old! I'm only in my Twenties"
And then I have that conversation that starts off like... "I remember back when..." and I feel like an old soul.

As I addressed some envelopes this morning (maybe some of you are the lucky recipients), and put the stamps on, I thought, "HOLY COW! (yes, I still say holy cow :P ) I remember when stamps were 27 cents!" now I'm shuffling through my stamp stack trying to add up to 44 cents. Highway robbery I tell you!

Don't you love REAL mail? Getting the mail is my favorite part of each day (even thought it's usually junk). Make someone else's day- SEND SOMEONE SNAIL MAIL TODAY!! I have a dear family member and friend that sends me snail mail often, and i treasure each peice of mail. What a simple way to say a big I love you.

I ask, When do you cross over the threshold to, "I'm old", the point when you can't battle whether you're still a youngin any more.