Bread

I tried making Apple Fritter Bread...and it turned out really good :)

Weekend plans

This past weekend my parents came into town and we crammed a lot into the weekend. I got home from work Friday and as we were waiting for Dan to get home I took my parents to see my new office. Dinner on Friday night also included my friend Jen from college which was a fun addition to the evening. On Saturday we got up and after pumpkin pancakes for breakfast we drove to the Johnny Appleseed festival for the morning.

Craft booths

Farmer's Market

We had fun walking through all the craft and food booths, picking out what we wanted to eat, and seeing the cannon demonstrations. We got there early because it always gets so busy but even 10 mins after it opened the place was packed. After finishing up at the festival we jumped in the car and headed to the zoo.

 

Lion

One of the many different kinds of monkey's

Giraffe

Dan in the tree house

Bird :)

Lemurs

Red Panda

Dan in the phone booth

We had fun seeing everything and most of the animals were out as it wasn't blazing hot even though it was afternoon. The different exhibits are always fun to go through and Dan and I got to see our favorites (penguins for him and sea lions for me). We had a little bit of time to relax at home before heading to the Street Fair in Bluffton. We met up with some friends and enjoyed fair food as we finished up the day. We were all pretty tired by the time we got home from being on our feet all day.

Dish washer pellets

In the spirit of still trying to find things that I can make instead of buy  I finally had time to make dish washer pellets. I found a recipe through Pinterest that looked simple enough and as we were having a few random hot and humid days I thought I would take advantage of the weather.

Mixing the Borax, Washing Soda, and Epsom Salts

Slowly adding Lemon Juice

Pushing it into the molds

Using the sun and humidity to dry them out faster!

All done!

 The whole process was simple and easier than I thought. Each pellet costs less than 5 cents and the pellets I had been buying were over 10 cents each. I am a fan!

New Office!!!

This summer I got a new job :) I feel very thankful as it is less than 15 mins from our house and I LOVE the staff and atmosphere and really believe in their mission and vision. Here are some pictures of my new office :) Before and after painting...

Before

After :)

Getting set up

I have spent the last couple months looking for toys for the Play area of my office when I work with kids, getting some pictures framed that I have had since college :), and looking for curtains. Here are some of the pictures now on my walls...

Pic above couch from Cambodia, purple wall pic's from Swaziland

Play area

View from the door

The last step will be curtains and hauling my counseling books out of our garage :) I am really excited and have been getting new clients which helps as I am finishing up acquiring my hours.

Baby Blanket

I had a baby shower on Sunday the 8th and decided to make another baby blanket, but this time did the quilting myself.

Quilting

A finished square

Front and Back

I didn't quilt around all the animals but did quite a few so it can be a cozier quilt :) It turned out really well and I was able to add a label on the back one night while we watched TV.

Red's Game

This summer Dan and I wanted to go to a Red's game and bought tickets for the 4th of July...but we got rained out. So we decided to turn in our ticket's for the game this past weekend. We made sure to get to the stadium early because it was Joe Morgan day and they were passing out free T-shirts...which we wanted :)

They had a lot of things going on to honor Joe Morgan such as the unveiling of a new sculpture, speeches, and having his old team mates from the "Big Red Machine" (they won the world series for the Red's and all of these guys are All Star Players). It was fun being there and hearing the crowd's response when the team mates came out.

The Big Red Machine

Joe Morgan (played 2nd Base)

Morgan throwing the opening pitch

The game started off really exciting with lots of hits and runs for both teams. The game then kind of slumped which was boring but it ended with a bang and the Red's won! We got to watch the Red's player who just got pulled up steal 2nd base and then got home off another players hit which clinched the win...everyone went nuts!

We also had amazing seats as it was 86 out, we had shade for the entire game and an amazing breeze helped keep us cool. We of course stopped at Grater's to get our ice cream fix before heading to Marion to crash at a friend's house for the night.

Walking the bridge

On Monday we got up at 5 am and got in line to take a bus over the bridge so we can walk back for the 56th Annual Bridge Walk.

Waiting to begin the walk

On the bridge

Finished

 The walk went really well even though it was only in the 50's and we had wind blowing at 17 mph. It was fun feeling the bridge sway as we hit the middle, you know it is swaying when it feels like you can't walk in a straight line. We walked it in 1 hour and 21 mins...and it was about 4.5 miles. Once we got back to the camp ground we took our tent down, packed up, grabbed showers, and then had lunch with my parents at our favorite pizza place.

We then headed south, hoping for warmer weather, and clear roads. We stopped by my sister's house on the way home to spend a couple hours with them and grab some dinner. We of course had to go to Anderson and girls as they had a new baby zebra. Sadly it was at the Vet's so we settled for really cute baby goats, yummy donuts, and amazing apple cider :)

Baby Goats

horse

We headed out just before 7 pm and headed home after a very nice and long weekend, which went by very fast.

The Lighthouse and stuffed animals

On Sunday after church we had some time before lunch so Dan and I went to a Lighthouse we had been hearing about.

The lighthouse

Picture from the lighthouse

Out on the beach

Climbing the rock

Flowers on the beach

Sunday afternoon as it rained we on and off we spent time chatting with my family and  enjoying the afternoon. Once things cleared out we decided to eat out for dinner and found an Italian place in town full of stuffed Animals.

Bears, buffalo's, and raccoon

Trees everywhere

Deer on the ceiling

Bridge at night

On Saturday night we went into town and then down to the beach to get pictures of the bridge at night.

Street performer

Sunset

Dusk

People playing in water

Night

 We finished up the evening with sitting around the campfire with my cousins talking and laughing for hours.