Checking in from the Boardwalk at Disney World!

Hi guys! Tonight I'm writing to you from The Boardwalk at Walt Disney World. I arrived at the resort around 5PM this evening and after checking in and unpacking, I walked around the Boardwalk area. It's still hot but there was a good breeze so I had a nice walk.

I then made the short walk from Boardwalk over to Epcot, where I walked around a bit and then had dinner at Tangerine Cafe. I am going to do another post at the end of this vacation where I give you what I paid for the dining plan, vs what I would have spent had I paid out of pocket. I hadn't eaten there before and it was quite good! I had their vegetable platter and the baklava for dessert.

I then decided to walk back to the Boardwalk, where I took some more pictures and then went back to my room. I answered emails and started on a video I'm doing about the dining plan. Boy, I have a LOT to learn on iMovie. Do you know of any good tutorials I could review?

Here are the pictures I took tonight; I will check back in tomorrow, but enjoy! And have a good evening!

A little of this and a little of that

It's Tuesday! Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. Mine was marvelous and the perfect way to usher in the fall season.

So today is going to be another "mish-mash" style post where I chat about a variety of topics. As always, please comment here or where the link is posted in the Facebook group and give me your feedback.

(Can we talk for a minute about the picture to the left? I cannot wait to see orange and pumpkins and all that loveliness at the parks this weekend.)

* Disney Dining Plan - would you be interested in a video?

I am going to Disney World on Thursday and staying there until Monday afternoon. I'm doing the Disney Dining Plan - would you guys be interested in a video where I show you what I order from each place, compare if I had paid cash, etc?

I did a series of blog posts about the Dining Plan 2 years ago and they were some of my most popular posts, but I want to graduate and start doing more video. I hate being on camera but I know that people really like videos and sometimes that is more informative than a written blog post. Let me know if this is something you'd like to see.

* Similar to the above....video of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party?

MWT owner Michelle and I are hitting up the Halloween party at Magic Kingdom on Sunday the 11th. Would you be interested in live and later edited video from the party?

* Pumpkin spice. BRING IT.

As if a sign from the heavens, my regular blend from Dunkin Donuts ran out this morning, and I opened up a fresh bag of Pumpkin Spice.

HEAVEN. Oh man it was so good. That smell.....I love it.

I am headed to church small group and the house where we're meeting is right near a Starbucks...I might have to pop in and grab one before group starts.

* Puzzles and cards and board games....oh my!

We played Clue this weekend and I haven't played that game in a long time; I forgot how much I enjoy it. Most of my board games and such are still in Iowa; one of these times I'll bring some back with me. I do have a puzzle here that needs to be put together, and I bought a deck of cards so I can play Solitaire.

One of my favorite things to do at night or when it's icky outside is to play games, or do a puzzle.

What board games / card games / etc do you like?

So that's about it for today. Let me know what you think about videos and if you'd be interested in those.

Have a great day!

Closing out Labor Day Weekend 2016

Well friends, another Labor Day weekend has come and gone. We're officially at the end of summer. Commence the tears.

Just kidding - - please don't because there are many, many good things ahead for fall,

We got a glimpse of that this weekend, with college football starting back up. 

(GO HAWKS)

It was a pretty great weekend. Family, football, went to the pool twice, made smores, played Clue, ate some delicious food, and got a bit of rest in too. Today I went to Naples to hang out with my sister. We ate at Tacos and Tequila (one of, if not the best, Mexican food establishments in Southwest Florida) and then spent a few hours at her neighborhood pool. Afterwards we hit up the pool supply store to look at floaties but alas, they were closed. They Open sign was lit, however, and the owner and his wife were in the store doing inventory or something so they kindly let us in anyway to look around. I bought a pair of swim googles I've been needing so it was a good trip. On the drive back to Fort Myers I narrowly dodged another epic Florida summer rainstorm and have been hanging out at home tonight.

This week will go fast; on Thursday I'm headed up to Disney World to see my friend and Mouse World Travel owner Michelle as she gets off the Disney Wonder from the Panama Canal cruise. I'll head up to Disney with her and her youngest son, and spend all weekend there and come back Monday night. So that's a very fun thing to look forward to in the coming days.

OK friends signing off now - I should probably not sleep in clorine filled hair. 

See you tomorrow!

Sunday afternoon ~ a fun day!

Hey there! As promised, I'm back tonight to give you the recap of today since I skipped out on a post yesterday.

The morning started off really nice; it was a great service at church, very impactful. I also saw and chatted with a few members of my church small group. It was nice to go to church today, and start to really see people I know. I feel like I am starting to make friends here in Florida.

After going home for a bit, I changed into a swim suit and headed over to my aunt and uncle's house. We went swimming in their pool for a few hours; it was so much fun. We dove for pennies, did piggy back rides in the water, and talked about all the floaties we want to buy. (Such as - that swan thing you see in all the celebrity pool pictures.  I'm sure it would be twelve kinds of tragic to see myself climb on that thing, but wouldn't it be fun?!)

Because we wanted to make the day truly epic, we made Smores in the fire pit by the pool. My aunt and uncle bought these GIANT marshmallows. See that picture, above? That is ONE marshmallow, folks. It was intense.

We were covered in melted chocolate and marshmallow fluff, but if was SO worth it.

We then played a strong two rounds of Clue. They have the Disney's version, themed with Tower of Terror. My cousin won the first round in a way I have never seen (it was incredible) and then yours truly was within one guess of taking all the marbles on the second game, but cousin #2 beat me to it. Darn kids.

This game of Clue also cemented my desire to have Disney versions of all the major board games. I know I have two versions of Monopoly (one villain, one regular Disney characters) and I *think* I have something else themed, but I might have to pick up this Clue when I'm in Orlando in the next few days.

So here I am now, back at home, resting in my pjs and doing some reading and writing. It was a full day, and really fun. I'm washing sheets and towels now (#adulting) and I might rent a movie later.

Tomorrow is looking great, too. I'll do a bit of work in the morning but in the afternoon will head over to my sister's place. We're setting up another game day and perhaps even a visit to this amazing pool supply store in Naples where they have TONS of floaties (including the aforementioned swan). We might even through in dinner somewhere, if we're feeling crazy.

I hope you all have fun plans tomorrow for Labor Day. Share with me in the comments what you're doing tomorrow!

Have a good night ~

A Recap of Football Saturday

Hey guys ~ Sorry I didn't write yesterday. As I was headed to bed about 11PM I thought, shoot I forgot to write!

So I'll make it up to you and do two posts today.

Yesterday I had my family over to my house to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes football game. The game started at 3:30PM Eastern, and everyone came over around 2:45-3:00.

In the morning, I got the house ready and ran to the grocery store. I made the salsa, queso, and ran to Chick Fil A to pick up the chicken nuggets. My sister also made Reese's Peanut Butter Bars which were DELICIOUS. I made too much queso but lesson learned; it was a new recipe and so I wasn't sure how much it made, but now I know for next time.

It was great having everyone over; we visited and watched the game until about 7:00, and then people went home. The kids stayed over for another hour and we played a version of Spoons. You remember Spoons, right? (I totally forgot the rules and had to re-learn it.) Instead of everyone grabbing a spoon when they got four matching cards, they went around the house and found spoons that had been hidden by our 10 year old cousin. It was a really fun way to play the game.....and now I also know all the "good" places in my house to hide a spoon. :)

Today I have church in about an hour and a half, and then this afternoon I'm going to our aunt and uncle's house to swim the pool and hang out. I might see what movies are playing this weekend, or maybe we'll play board games tonight. I'll do another post tonight and let you know how we spent the day!

Have a great day!

It's time again.....for football food

That time is upon us again, friends....football season is here and I am one happy lady.

Do I enjoy watching college sports, specifically the Iowa Hawkeyes? I sure do.

But do I equally enjoy getting together with friends and family, watching the game and snacking on some good ole tailgate food?!

You better believe it.

So here are some things I am making tomorrow, as well as things I am picking up pre-made.

from the Pioneer Woman website

* Pioneer Woman Restaurant Style Salsa

This salsa is the BEST THING EVER and as I've said on other posts, my people don't let me show up to or host a gathering without it. If you can open cans and hit Pulse on the food processor, you can do this. And people will ask you where you bought it, and act all impressed when you tell them it's homemade.

You're welcome.

I am making a 4x batch of this tomorrow. No, that's not a typo - my cousins LOVE this stuff. I once made a triple batch for a taco night and no lie, it was gone in under 30 minutes. So tomorrow, I come prepared. And if I have leftovers, it will keep in the fridge for a few days. I'll send some home with the kids if there's any left.

You can find the recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/restaurant-style-salsa/

* Fruit and veggies tray

I don't think you need a picture of this; just imagine some various fruits cut up in a bowl and a tray of carrots and such. You need something to balance out the carbs and sweets.

* 5 Ingredient White Queso

Because if you have salsa, you MUST have queso to go along with it. It's like, the law.  The Baking Fairy has this recipe on her site and I love it because you thrown the stuff in, fire up the crockpot, and move along with your life.

The recipe can be found on her site, here: http://www.thebakingfairy.net/2016/02/5-ingredient-white-queso/

from the Chick Fil A website

* Chick Fil A Nuggets with Sauce

Did you know - you can order a tray of the glorious Chick Fil A nuggets to GO?! This is life-changing, folks. Add to that some of their insanely good unsweetened tea and I am a happy lady. (Plus, this provides more substance for those who want more than snacks.) You can order this to pick up at your local store. I believe some locations will also deliver for you. WINNING.

* And the last item will be some sort of dessert item, which I haven't yet landed on. I am gravitating towards cookies for ease of eating, but might also make a berry cobbler because that is A) simple as can be and B) just screams fall.

Alas, no pumpkin on the menu this week but the season is young.

So there you have it. I hope you have fun plans for your Labor Day weekend!

Random Thursday Thoughts

Hey there everyone ~ I forgot up until an hour ago that I hadn't done my posting for today so I am remedying that situation now.

I don't have anything specific to tell you about, so instead you get some random musings and thoughts this Thursday.

Lucky you.

* Football season starts SOON. I cannot wait. I of course added the tiger hawk logo for our Iowa Hawkeyes to my Facebook photo, and am hosting a football watching party at my house Saturday afternoon. I don't know a lot about the rules and nuances of football, but I love watching anyway. Hard to believe we're in that season already.

* Pumpkin spice is about to be EVERYWHERE. I know some of you are rolling your eyes; I see you, but I don't care. ;) I admit, I love a PSL from Starbucks like so many of you, and even though "getting cooler" in the South means it's 80 during the day instead of 100, we'll take it. To me, this is the heralding of the coming fall season and I love it.

* Florida drivers, I have some bones to pick with you. I've been here long enough to where I now feel like I have a handle on the driving situation in Florida and I have a bone to pick with some of my fellow drivers. I don't know if this is taught down here in driver's ed, but I have witnessed two phenomenon. First, people do not speed up on the entrance ramp into the interstate; they go about 40 miles per hour and then try to weave into traffic, and wonder why their fellow drivers are annoyed.

To go along with that - no one here gets out of the right lane if people are entering the interstate. There can be ZERO people in the left lanes, and that person will not move over so you have to whiz past them so you don't get into an accident.

I told you, random thoughts.

So there you go. I warned you when I was doing this 30 day posting challenge that some posts would be less than stellar. Today is one of those days.

I hope you all have a great day and tomorrow is Friday! See you then!