May 2017 - St. Joseph, Michigan

I have been thinking a lot lately of two years ago when I lived and worked in Indiana/Michigan. I drove up to lake Michigan almost every night and I have such a love for the lake now! I miss seeing it and hearing it!

Here are a few pictures of St. Joseph, MI. It is a 20 minute drive form where I worked in Indiana. I think you will understand why I love it there when you see these...

Untitled from ann wolfe on Vimeo.

On one of my many walks along the beaches there; I met a wonderful woman, Jeri,  that taught me about crinoids - they are fossils that can be found in the sand there. We have kept in touch and she is now a wonderful self made photographer that takes the most beautiful and unique pictures of Lake Michigan. You can see her work HERE.

I miss you Lake Michigan!

That Weekend When Summer Came Back

Happy Monday ya'll!! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as I did! I love Summer and apparently it came back in Pennsylvania!

I was planning to go up to my parents at the lake but left my swimsuit at home because I thought the lake water would be freezing and there would be no use for it.

Well.....that was NOT the case! I got there and the weather became gorgeous!!! It was in the high 70's all weekend and the lake water was SOOOO warm!!!!!

 

I arrived Friday night to help my parents with their "test" fish fry at their Parrish. The Parrish built a new recreation hall and the wanted to do a test fish fry to make sure all the equipment and everything works the way it is supposed to prior to the next REAL fish fry they will have there.

 

Here is the picture before hand...this is all the volunteer workers.

 

Here is the ToGo station all ready...

 

 

Here is the line when we opened the door. It was only for friends and family of the volunteer workers as it was a test run...

 

 

Little taste testing….

 

 

 

And a picture when it was over...we sang to my parents and two other volunteers that had birthdays in the month of September.  Such a fun and successful first run!!!! It went great!

 

My niece and nephew bought this game for my Mom for her birthday because they thought it is was funny!! It is called Pimple Popper!!! ICK!!! My sister and niece played it before dinner on Saturday.

 

On Saturday we decided we needed to have some fun in the water!

Walking down to the water, I was cracking up watching my parents cats Sami stalking his prey. he catches at least on little animal a day...it is soooo gross! He does not eat them; he just brings them to my parents feet dead and gross! UGH! But he thinks he is earning his keep as he really is a country cat! Here he is in action! He catches squirrels, chipmunk, moles and even a bird every now and then. It makes me sad but my parents say it is in his blood.

 

Here is the view of the lake this weekend...it was so still and pretty!!

So, Aly started tubing alone...

And my Mom drove and sister spotted...

And then I hopped on...it was a great day!!! We bit it sooo many times on the tube...it was really fun being the only boat on the lake!

I drove home Saturday night to go to the Steelers Home Opener on Sunday!!! YAY!  I sent my friend in San Diego, CA a Steelers cheerleader outfit for her adorable daughter Nena (Charlotte Magdalena) and she sent me this pic early Sunday morning!!! Sooo cute!!!

I was going with a friend on mine but we met up with my family before the game for a quick lunch!  From left to right....my older sister; my nephew Matt, then little guy is nephew Ryan, then brother in law Steve, then niece Jessica, then brother in law Dan! I love my family and I love that we make time to meet up whenever we can!!!!

And this is me and Kathy (the friend that invited me to the game). Thanks for the invite Kathy! I love hanging out with her - she is a blast!

Here is a picture of me and my sister. This one was when we were walking to the stadium, Heinz Field before the game.

And here is my sisters family in one...what a cute family, hugh? I may be partial...HA!

 

One of my favorite layers is JuJu and he has the cutest dog! This is his dog with his girlfriend that e sees at the dog park....too cute, right??!?!?

Sadly, my team lost on Sunday so that was a tad depressing but it is just a game, right? Better luck next week!!!

I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather as much as I did.

Have a fantastic week!!

Do you attend fish fry's in your area?Are you boycotting the NFL? Do you like to go to sporting events? Who is your favorite football team?  Are you sick of summer and ready for Fall?

Crusin' Anyone?

I am finally getting prepared for Fall...I was hanging onto Summer with all my might but it is time so I am now embracing fall.

I am heading out tonight to get my fall cereal (I LOVE Pumpkin Spice Cheerios) and that is it. Nothing else pumpkin - not even candles! HA!

I got my new fall hair yesterday after work.

Here is the new shorter cut and color...I love it! In the Fall my stylist adds a darker base color and two different reds and a purple.  I was so ready to lose the light blond hair this year.

I honestly think I am always bummed at the end of summer since vacations are over then.

But then I thought to myself...they don't have to be, right??? I called my mother and asked to if she wanted to go on a vacation in December (when everyone with kid's is busy shopping and planning for Christmas). SHE SAID YES!!! My father is a home body and just wants to be home so it is me and Mom for the trip!

We are going on Royal Caribbean in December to Mexico and Grand Cayman. Our ship is Adventure of the Seas. Here is a video tour of the ship...




The only thing I knew I wanted was a balcony so we splurged and got one. I want to be able to sit in my room and see the wide open ocean!

And the booking said that all of our on-board gratuities are already included in what we paid.

I have something to look forward to at the end of the year so I am officially ready for fall!

Has anyone else ever been on a Royal Caribbean cruise or any cruise for that matter? 

I would love any and all tips you have for us!!!

I hope you all have an amazing day!!!!! HUGS to you all!

New Etsy Shop Items

Hi guys - I hope you are all having a good week!

I wanted to show you some new things that I have in my ETSY Shop.

I love to create new things out of beach glass and I found a few of these starfish at an Amish shop in Sugarcreek, OH and just had to get them to make a few mobiles. I love how they turned out!

Closer view HERE

I love how it collects and redirects the light if hung outdoors.

And...apparently,,,the hummingbirds like it too because they kept coming up to check it out..see picture below (he is on the right side of the picture).

If you are interested in anything at my store; it is all free shipping already but just comment below with your email and I will make sure to send you a 20% off coupon for being a valued reader!!!

Never Forget

I visited the 9-11 Memorial in NYC in 2015 and it left a lasting impression on me. We cried as we walked through and it is horrifying to think of what all those individuals experienced that morning...from the people that helped, to the people in the tower and the people on the planes. Simply so sad.

See the 9-11 Memorial HERE

PLEASE Never Forget!

Aloe-so healthy

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having  a great week so far!

I wanted to share with you all my newest health fad. I am now eating aloe cubes in my water. I don't feel any different yet but I hope to!!! :-) When I went to Aruba many people that live there do this and it is not half bad so when I got home I started buying drinks online with aloe in them. Then I decided I should try to "harvest" my own!

I love the word "harvest"!!! I just does something to me deep down inside...

So here is what I do to harvest the aloe.

Buy aloe leaves - I am happy to report they sell these big ones at Walmart now! Like $3 each leaf! Awesome! They drain the aloin (dark liquid which tastes bitter and is said to cause extreme diarrhea if eaten) out of the leaf before it is sealed so you get to skip that part. Here is one of my leaves I purchased...

First cut off the end with a very sharp knife...


Then slice down each side to remove the spikes down the sides...


This is what it will look like from the side after that step...


I do this all in a 9 x 13 glass Pyrex pan to catch all the gel and keep the mess to a minimum. Then take a vegetable peeler and slice off the skin from both sides of the leaf...


It will look like this...lots of goopiness...


After you take the outer skin off the leaf you can cut it into 2 - 4 inch cubes


I float all the cubes in cold water until I am done cleaning them all.


Here are all my cubes floating in the water...this was about 5 leaves I think.


At this point I cube them all into tinier pieces and put them all in little snack bags and freeze. When I want to use them in a drink; I break them up in the baggy with a meat tenderizer and throw them in. Saving a lot of money on my aloe this way and I know exactly how much I am eating.

Have you heard of eating aloe? Here are the benefits...

• Contains healthful plant compounds. ...
• Antioxidant and antibacterial properties. ...
• Accelerates the healing of burns. ...
• Reduces dental plaque. ...
• Helps treat canker sores. ...
• Reduces constipation. ...
• May improve skin and prevent wrinkles. ...
• Lowers blood sugar levels.

If you want to read about it; there are great articles HERE and HERE.

I hope you all have a fantastic day!

HUGS!!!

What a Weekend!!!!!!!

Hi everyone!!!!

I have to take care of a few shout outs before I get down to the weekend recap!!

First...thank you to Julie for motivating me to get back to the gym!!!! She is going with her son and I am officially back to getting my butt to the gym and eating healthy so THANK YOU JULIE for motivating me with your insta-posts!!!!

I also found out that Songbird is co-hosting a Music Monday!! I love this idea so I am going to pop in and share a little song that inspires me daily to live my best life!!!



Okay guys...onto my weekend! I went to Columbus Ohio for the weekend to celebrate my sister in laws birthday and my mother's birthday!

YAY!

Also - while I was there I got to watch a few great games...

My nephew Brody - #88 in the photos below had a terrific game of Flag football on Sunday!!!

What a cutie!!!

Halftime huddle meeting...

Action shot!! love that little man!!!

Another one...almost got this flag!!!

And then my other nephew Ryan had a soccer game after lunch on Sunday!!! Another cutie!!! That's him in the light blue!!!

Go Ryannnnnnnnnn!!

Look at that look of determination of this cute little man's face!!!

That was a summed up version of my weekend along with a lot of family chats and laughter!!!

I love these final quotes!!!!! They are so fitting for my struggle to get myself back into shape right now!!!!

Have a fantastic day everyone! I am heading over to start catching up on some serious blogger posts!! HUGS TO YOU ALL!!!