This Valentine's Day, Let's Eat Cake!

Love Hugs Kisses Valentine's Day 5x7 folded card

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I'm running a little short on time this Valentine's Day...probably because I'm on the move again..lol. So I was exstatic when I saw that Shutterfly had some adorable V-Day cards I could personalize- and they had a coupon code for one free card! Love it!

We ended January the way we do best, traveling. We went back home to West Virginia for the weekend where I officially took my husband's last name. :-) I didn't realize just how much I had to change: my driver's license, social security card, credit cards, checks, passport, e-mail signature- whew!

Need a good way to pass the time on a long trip? I recommend burning a CD of some of your favorite songs from back in the day- I like a highschool music- including songs from proms, sports games, etc.

Another fun little trip-time-passer is a little game I like to call. "If I won the lottery..." It's fun to think of all the ways I could spend the bucks! lol...don't forget to pick up a scratch off ticket during a gas stop- hey! You never know, you might just hit the jackpot! (Please remember if you do!)

Well, until we meet again...happy trails!

Hello 2011!

Happy New Year!! Although it's the end of January, it's taken me almost the entire month to finalize my New Year's Resolutions!

1. Job hunting. It's tough. The economy is tough. The real world is tough. So I'm going to continue job hunting until I find a job that is challening, rewarding and I can really excel at. I've reworked my resume and I began sending out the reformatted resumes last week and have already had a few interested e-mails so till I accept a job offer, that brings us to resolution #2.

2. I was obsessed with English in highschool. I remember reading countless books, writing papers, and jotting down book ideas in between lessons. So, I began writing my book. I won't tell you what it's about only that it's been very therapuetic to write and I'm hoping that it can really reach out and help others. So here's to hopefully accomplishing a lifelong dream- writing a book!

3. I'm giving a health about it! lol Yep, time to get healthy again and back in shape- what New Year's Resolution list would be complete without working out and eating better! My husband and I used to eat out quite often. Because we both enjoy running 5ks, we surprisingly stayed fairly fit without really putting forth the effort we should have. However, we also managed to rack up the costs that come with eating out. So we've began grocery shopping and cooking at home. Here are just a few of my fav recipes that we've tried:

Black Bean Soup:

2 cans of Black Beans- drained and rinsed
1 can of vegetable broth- I prefer no MSG and low sodium
1 can of salsa- any kind will work, I chose a medium spice
(you can garnish with cheese and cilantro)
Directions: Puree all ingediants until your desired consistency then heat on stove till hot. Garnish & enjoy!

Garlic & BrownSugar Chicken:

Place about 2 tablespoons of butter, a dash of salt and pepper in a pan. Add to the pan either fresh minced garlic or you can even use some garlic powder if you prefer. Add chicken. As the chicken cooks add just a little bit of brown sugar on top of the chicken and let the heat melt it. Viola! A healthy yet not bland dinner!

4. The only way to reach a more better world is to embrace it's people. Well, that's what I think. It's important to give back. I've recently been volunteering with various programs through United Way. From after school programs to women's leadership courses, I've found many areas I can put my talents to work in. My husband's work is also striving to help the organization and he, like many other employees, is giving a portion of his paycheck directly to United Way. I'm going to continue volunteering throughout 2011 and am hoping to enocurage others to do so as well.

5. Try new things. This is always on the list. I keep it on the list so I'll always remember that no matter how scared, shy or nervous I get, trying new things is the spice of life! Trying something new everyday! Even if it's just learning to use a tea diffuser- which is what I did yesterday! (Today I made the black bean soup for lunch!)

So take awhile, thank about it, reflect and choose some resolutions for you that are some lifelong dreams, goals and will help you make your mark!

Tell I get on the move again...safe travels through your days!

Pink! Pink! Pink! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

October is breast cancer awareness month, which hits very close to home for me as my grandmother is a breast cancer survivor! I'm loving this year's "Fight Like a Girl" theme I'm seeing everywhere. So in honor of her strength, courage and never-ending love, I'm dedicating this very pink blog post to my grandmother, Eva.

January 30, 2010 as a part of my friend Maggie's bachlorette night and thanks to my newly engaged adictions to Bridal shows on Lifetime, I decided to treat her to a "Candy Buffett." I found most of the decor at the local dollarstore and got a local bakery to make chocolate lips on sticks- they were great for photo-ops.

Champagne glasses for the toast! (Found these at WalMart)

Artificial rose petals sprinkled around added a little color

The candy bar!

I used wine glasses to display the candies in. I also found the litte place card photo frames at the

Dollar Store and used them as display cards for what kind of candy each wine glass contained.

Chocolate lip suckers

I sat candles on small mirror plates and lit them during the festivities

And ta-da! Candy-bar bachlorette party! Simple and pink!

Fall Mum Cupcakes

One of my first unplanned ventures in PA was a little town called Voliant. It's in a largely Amish community and has all sorts of crafts and specialities shops. When my parents first came up to visit, we toured through Voliant's Fall pumpkin festival and this past weekend we returned with Noah's parents. There is an amazing little kitchen shop there where I decided to sign up for some cooking classes at and while there I spotted the cutest flower cupcakes so I decided to recreate my own version of them. So in honor of the beautiful fall weather and colors up here in PA, here is my how-to on my "Mum" cupcakes:

You'll need:  Cupcakes, icing, marshmallows, a knife, sprinkles or icing color spray.

While cupcakes are baking, cut marshmallows diagonally in two.

I baked Duncan Hines confetti cupcakes

Ice cupcakes as usual, I mixed in sprinkles with my icing (just because I love sprinkles)

After cupcakes are iced, begin placing the marshmallow halves along the outer edges

Then begin moving inward and placing the marshmallows till the whole cupcake is filled

Ta-da! The cupcake should now resemble a flower

I used a color mist spray for the first mum to get the orange dye color

Instead of dye you can also use sprinkles, which stick well to the exposed sticky marshmallow

And since presentation is everything, I bought a cute fall box at Wal-Mart to sit the cupcakes in

I made one box of mums and one box with just regular cupcakes

(incase someone doesn't like marshmallows)

I used cute little pumpkin toothpicks to top those off

Those are my mum cupcakes! Hope you enjoyed!

Home Is Where the Heart Is

I love to travel. In fact, in the past 8 years I've lived in one dorm, one sorority house, two houses, three apartments and one cabin. I've moved from Ohio to West Virginia, back to Ohio and have now set up home in Pennsylvania.

Our first home together in Ohio, the cabin we built <3

I'm always on the move. My fiance' jokes that "all activities, all day" is my motto. He's probably right. But as I always reply, "Who needs sleep anyway?" Sleep is what we do between activities, or- as it is more often than not in my case- in the car on the way to said activity :-)
I'm blessed to have a wonderful and super supportive fiance' (Noah), who, thanks to him, has given me the courage and support to start doing something that I have always wanted- writing books! Although I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to write about or even who my target audience will be (that's my journalism background peeking through), I figure the best place to start is writing about what I love and that is to travel!
I'm going to use this blog to keep everyone updated on where I'm traveling to now, how the book is going and just some neat things I'm seeing/doing/learning along the way.

So, may the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face and may the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars.  (Johnny Deep's famouse line from the film "Blow")