Fall Fun

I just wanted to share some pictures from when we made caramel apples and the boys carved our jack-o-lanten! :)

Run, Water, Run!!

On October 21st, mom, Ash and I ventured out on our first airplane ride (big airplane, Amanda, not your dad's :). We flew out of Jacksonville, to Atlanta (craziness!), to Rochester, NY. Drove to Buffalo that night where we stayed in a Hotel that weekend. The flight was nerve-wracking, well not even really the flight, security check, boarding, and waiting was killing me. When the plane took off, I thought I was going to throw up, or squeeze my mom's hand off, but I didn't! The flight from Jax to ATL took no time at all, before we knew it the seat belt sign came back on and we were landing in Atlanta. I was really confused once we got off the plane, because we had to change terminals, which meant grab all of our crap and lug it down the hallway, up the escalator, down the hall again, down the escalator, on to a tram thingy where I almost fell over because the thing took off so fast, off the tram and down the long hallway to the gate. All of this while wearing heels, carrying 2 jackets, my purse, pulling my luggage, and talking to Travis on the phone....dang, I'm pretty talented! :) The other flights that we took on the trip were easy, it was just the first one that I had to get over.

Before take off, Jax to Atl

Once in Buffalo, we went shopping at a way awesome mall, the Walden Galleria Mall- Buffalo, let me just say, my sister and I were mesmerized by the 2 story Forever 21, we could have stayed in there for hours, but we only had 1 hour....it was crazy! Friday night we went to a Buffalo Sabres NHL game, uhm...that was an experience, and I must say that I still like football better! It's too cold in the arena!

Pre Game

Club seat level

Me, Ash, Mom & Bob

But we didn't go all that way to shop and watch hockey...we went to Niagra Falls! Saturday we headed north, like only 30 miles north, to Niagra Falls, we spent a few hours at the park, amazed by the water, just thinking how can this be? God created this for us to see...it’s definitely a spectacular, a must see...bucket list item! We also went out on the Maid of the Mist, and yes it was cold, and WET, very WET, like being in the middle of a hurricane, but it was way worth it!

Sunday, our day of departure, we spent some time in the small "village" of Ellicotville, a ski resort town with a few shops, a winery, a brewery, and that’s about it! We ate lunch and watched some of the Buffalo Bills game at Ellicotville Brewing Co. and not long after lunch, we headed back to Buffalo for our flight back to ATL, then home to Jax.

I had a great time and went somewhere I never really thought I would go...but boy was I glad to be home! I missed Travis and the kids so much, I was so happy to see them all! :)

Niagra river and Me! :)

Taken from walkway, American Falls side

Maid of the Mist, Canadian side

American Falls, Niagra Falls, Ontario in the distance

Canadian Falls in the distance

Me and the falls! :)

Bridge to Canada

Looking down on the optional walkway UP THE SIDE OF THE CLIFF

after you get off the Maid of the Mist.....needless to say, we did not do this! lol

Pretty blue water, like the caribbean

My sissy

Cheese!

Looking down on the Maid of the Mist folks

Maid of the Mist boarding dock house

Tall American flag, next to the even taller rock face

American Falls, boat view

American Falls again

again...

Horsehoe Falls, or Canadian Falls

Old power plant in the side of the gorge.....and this is where my camera decided to die!

Birthday Blessings

I went to a breast cancer benefit with my aunt last year and Debora M. Coty, an author, spoke promoting her new book “Too stressed, to feel blessed, and other feminine fairy tales”. She then asked the room, “are you too stressed to feel blessed?”, and of course all of the women nodded yes, or mumbled something under their breath to the extent of, “I have before!” I think about that all the time, too stressed to feel blessed, man that’s true! Sometimes, well a lot of times, my stress overwhelms me, but today as I sit at my desk, and look out of my smudged floor to ceiling windows, I think about the many blessings I have, that I frequently forget to count.

(in no particular order)
I woke up to see the sun shining this morning
I am healthy
I have a family that loves and supports me
I have a job and am able to provide for myself

I have a man that loves me, and that I love dearly
God chose two of the best people in the world to be my parents
I have a partner for life on this earth, my sister
I have many friends
I have the ability to get an education, when so many women in the world do not
I know what it’s like to lose a loved one, but know for a fact I will see them again someday
I have been hurt and heartbroken, bounced back and now am able to recognize true love
I was born into this great country
God brought two children in my life that I love and adore, as if they were mine
I am another year older, which means I got to be on this earth for a little while longer!
I have the ability to love and be loved

On Sunday, my mom made a huge birthday dinner for me, and my entire family was there, even Travis’ side, my new family. I can’t say enough how much it meant to me that everyone came, I had no idea that the kids were going to be able to be there, or Travis’ mom Angie was coming, and I went to open the door for my Uncle Michael and Aunt Kim, I saw Travis’ dad Larry and stepmom Ann walking up the driveway! I was shocked, and just couldn’t believe they all came for my birthday! I am truly blessed.

Shooter

Saturday afternoon, we went to a field/woods and Travis helped Travin practice his shooting. He shot air, a can, a dragonfly, a dove and probably something some other things that I just wasn't paying attention to. The weather was so nice, and there was such a nice breeze, if there hadn't been a Gator football game to get home and see, I could have sat there all day! All in all, Travin did really well, was very excited and listened to his dad regarding gun safety, things he can and can't do. And it turned out we should have stayed in the woods longer...because the Gators lost! Who wants to rush home from doing something fun to see that! Booooooo

Happy Fall Ya'll!

This is my first time decorating for fall, and started with nothing! I have been watching the blogs since summer, gathering fall decor ideasm, thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com, and houseofhepworths.com are my two favorites! So with an ounce of creativity and a ton of inspiration, I came up with the following ideas!

Coffee table centerpiece:

3 vases from Dollar Tree- $1 each

1 bag of popping corn- $1.48

3 candles from Walmart- $2.88 each

1 square tray from Goodwill- 1.99

1 box of pinecones and small squash from Michaels- $2.99

Jute- had on hand

Leaves- left over from garland

= fabulous! :)

Fall Mantle:

Leave garland from Michaels- $1.99

2 small pumpkins from Michaels- $1 each

2 Faux wheat bunches from Michaels- $2.99 each

Pinecones- free!

2 glass pedestal vases- made them from dollar tree parts, cost $2 each!

3 fall hydrangea bunches from Michaels- 3.99 each

3 Vases- had on hand

Pics of kids- of course we already had those!

Small swirly black thing (candle holder) from Goodwill- $.59

Fireplace Scarecrow:

Metal Pale from Goodwill- $1.99

Pinecones- free!

Scarecrow from Michael's- $3.99

Small Pumpkins from Walmart- $1 each

Added a basket from Walmart for $10 a throw we already had and a pumpkin for cuteness!

the "Live, Laugh, Love" sign also came from Goodwill, $2.99 :)

Metal basket from Walmart- $5.00

1 Box of "sugared" pumpkins from Walmart- $6.00 (they look white in this pic, but I swear they are orange!)

Dollar tree pedestal vases again!

1 bag of popping corn from Walmart- $1.48

Leaves left over from garland

Jute- had on hand

Candles- had on hand

Dollar Tree pedestal vases, once more...

1 box of "sugared" pumpkins from Walmart- $6.00

1 Small pumpkin from Michael's- $1.00

Leaves and Small Squash left over

Kitchen Table:

4 fall placemats from Dollar General- $2.00 each

3 leave votive holders from Dollar General- $1.00 each

Popping corn left over from vases

Tealights- had on hand

Jar candle from Walmart- $4.00

Candle holder from Goodwill- $.79

Jute and leaves- left over

That's pretty much all she wrote for fall decorating this year (besides the porch), now on to Christmas planning!

Celebrate Good Times!

We celebrated Kayleigh's 10th Birthday by having a sleepover Friday night...it was alot of fun everyone had an awesome time! :)

Cell phone from Daddy and Tam!

She was so happy, she started crying, she made the rest of us cry too!

No this is not hairsprayed, there is actually a plastic cup under all that hair!