Family
-
Disney Souvenir Hunting is my Favorite Sport!
We just got back from a trip to Disney World. My daughter and I had been researching what specific souvenirs we wanted and had a short list. They included: 50th anniversary Starbucks tumbler, Mickey Waffle Backpack, Mickey popcorn bucket, Figment popcorn bucket, RoseGold OR Mickey waffle printed ears, Mickey Kitchen sink and park map spirit jersey. Whew! TALL ORDER as most of these items cannot be found AT ALL anymore. OK, so to start off the souvenir hunt I should say, we hunted for the Mickey kitchen sink for all of about 20 minutes. Lol. It was very easy to find and probably the only souvenir that we were looking…
-
Pandora World of Avatar: at WDW Animal Kingdom
We LOVE Animal Kingdom! We always have. This park is so chill and laid-back. I didn’t think I could love Animal Kingdom any MORE, until I experienced the Avatar section of the park. Wow! I’m blown away. It is literally like you walked right into the movie. First off, if you haven’t been to Animal Kingdom in a while, when you first walk in the park you will walk up to where you can see the tree of life. Turn left and almost make a U-turn and follow it back to the Avatar section. See the map where I’ve crudely drawn a red line for where to walk. Haha The…
-
Christmas 2020
And this is AFTER many HOURS of breaking down Barbie Doll boxes, digging through bags to make sure we aren’t throwing away instruction manuals, picking up every little twisty tie, wading through a sea of chocolate wrappers and broken candy canes. 🤣🎄 I tried this year. While we were opening gifts, we would pause between “rounds” to throw all the boxes and wrapping paper into a massive pile by the kitchen trash can. We would take the allotted 12+ minutes to cut the toy out of the, what I’m assuming is, military grade plastic using my sewing scissors and husband using his pocket knife. (Dad Mode❤️) After hours of work,…
-
Albanese Candy Factory
We recently visited the Albanese Confectionery in Merrillville IN. 🍭🏭 Address: 1910 W 81st AveMerrillville, IN 46410United States It was my own fault for imagining it would be like taking a magical tour of Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory, but I was surprised by how chill and low key the place was. I should say, the ATMOSPHERE was chill and low key, NOT my experience… We made this one of our “stretch your legs” pitstops about 3 hours in to our 6 Hour Rd. trip that day. So the kids were feeling WILD and restless, and I handed them each $10 and let them buy whatever they wanted 😳 That was…
-
Self Confidence is Key
I recently realized one of my “fatal character flaws” and it actually helps me understand myself better. This is a photo of me, hubby, my 2 oldest kids, aunt, uncle and a couple of cousins about 6 years ago while we were vacationing in the San Francisco area. Look at me, on the left, wearing the red “Indiana” hoodie. Do you see me? Look closely at my posture and body language. I ALWAYS do this in group photos. I recently started to wonder “why” and mentally walk through it. When a group photo begins to form, a few questions go through my mind: 1. Am I supposed to BE in…
-
Switchyard Park in Bloomington IN
Coolest. Park. Ever 😎👍 We visited Switchyard Park in Bloomington today. It’s brand new which totally adds to the charm. It wasn’t “packed,” but it was definitely busy, and we went around 10am on a Thursday. They have a nice and cool covered picnic area, so definitely plan ahead for that. Thankfully I brought a gloriously cold and delicious iced tea from Starbucks or we all would’ve had a heat stroke 😅🥵 The playground area is pretty much all fenced in aside from a couple places where it opens up to walking/hiking paths. Definitely watch out for that if you have wildlings like I do. There was a moment when…
-
The Day My Daughter Learned About Racism
I remember the moment my daughter learned about racism. The exact moment.
-
Chicky Chicky Parm Parm
Guys! I’m a genius now. (Call Mensa!) I wanted chicken Parmesan last week, but couldn’t find a good recipe that would be either low-carb, keto, or THM/S… so I started thinking 🤔 And Eureka! I realized that I could make a totally solid chicken Parmesan breading out of pork rinds, almond meal, Italian seasoning, and of course, Parmesan! So, here’s what you need to do! Supply list: Food Processor Meat Hammer 3 oz Pork Rinds 1/4 cup Almond meal 1 cup Parmesan Cheese Italian Seasoning Salt and pepper (to your preference) 2 eggs 1.5-2 lbs Chicken Breast (thinly sliced) Coconut oil for frying Here’s what you need to do: Put…
-
Brown Bag November Challenge
For the last few years I have been on a journey toward minimalism. Probably not the “over-the-top-only-own-one-chair-and-a-lamp” type, but I want to keep my earthly possessions to a minimum for sure. I always say “all this stuff could burn up in a fire tomorrow and we would carry on with our lives and be fine.” So, last November I started thinking about how much unnecessary stuff we had accumulated over the year and how Christmas was coming and we were going to get more stuff than we could imagine. 🎄I could feel the walls closing in on me. I don’t want to deprive my children of having nice Christmas memories…
-
Neighbor Best Friends Forever
As my daughter approaches the “tween” stage, I have noticed that every glimmer of childlike play has become precious and savored. Every time she plays outside with the neighbor kids could be the last time she is ever interested in doing so. Now, I promise you, I did not squander the moments of her childhood away, but there must have been moments where the mundane act of riding her bike or throwing a ball with a neighbor boy lost lustre in my eyes. Her childhood flew by so. Darn. Fast! My oldest child has taught and is still teaching me so much in my motherhood journey. She helps me be…
