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Showing posts from 2015

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Dark Chocolate Milk

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I like making my own coffee creamer. I get most of the recipes from Mrs Happy Homemaker and so far the only one I've been disappointed in is the chocolate one. It's just not chocolatey enough for me. The one thing all these recipes call for is a can of sweetened condensed milk. That I don't usually keep on hand. So when the mood strikes me to make say Almond Joy creamer I can't. Because if I run to the store for sweetened condensed milk, I'm just going to pick up the Almond Joy creamer. You know what I'm saying here? So making sweetened condensed milk seemed like a good idea - time intensive, but mostly down time. Just stirring and watching. So I searched for a recipe that uses almond milk. We've recently switched to almond milk, we like it better. Of course there's one out there and I found it here . But I like chocolate. And hello...remember - not chocolatey enough? So why can't I make chocolate sweetened condensed milk? Why not? Hey, I'm

Shampoo Bars

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I think we all know about my love of making soap. So I figured why not try my hand at shampoo bars? If it didn't work out, I can always use them as regular soap so I'm not losing anything by trying. I followed recipe #2 found at Skin + Soul . I picked this one simply because I already had all the necessary ingredients. That's some deep research there. =) Once the bars were cured (almost) long enough to use I embarked on my experiment. Week One: I started out following 'standard' hair detox rules. Don't wash every day, use a mixture of ACV (apple cider vinegar) and (distilled) water to rinse. This mixture started off as a 50/50. But people, I live in the south - and it's humid here. Yes, even in September. And I sweat. A lot. So, whenever I'd start to sweat all I could smell was vinegar. Not pleasant. So I added more water to this and diluted it down to about a ratio of 1 to 4. And I continued. My hair looked crappy every other day. Folks, I'm

Southern 500

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I attended my first NASCAR race this past weekend. The Southern 500 at Darlington. Y'all it was a blast! I've had trouble finding a driver to throw my support behind in the NASCAR world - Mark Martin retired, Marcus Ambrose went back home, which left me with no driver. So, looking for someone without some form of Mark in their name, and from the USA I decided on Kyle Larson. I decided he was young enough to stick around for a while and I didn't feel like I was jumping on anyones band wagon. This is what his car looked like at this throw back weekend. Sorry, every picture was taken on my phone with a sun glare - so yeah, they could have been better. =) Here's a couple of my boys And our seats - right at the start finish line Guys, this was blast. Definitely something I want to do again. But, as always, there are lessons to be learned. 1. They let you bring in a cooler, and you should. Water is $4 a bottle. Gag. Also snacks can go in this cooler.

Summer Round Up

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Monday my baby will officially be in high school. I'll officially have no control over his lessons. He's excited. I'm losing my mind. I'll definitely keep everyone updated but for now I'm going to overload you with pictures of what we've been doing to enjoy the last of our summer. May Shortly after our return from the World of Disney one of my nieces and her family arrived in FL. She must really love her old auntie and uncle. This is the first time I've seen her since 2006 and the first time I've met her hubby and kids. Only a year until the next visit though - we will all be getting together for a wedding! =) June June found us back in Myrtle Beach for the SC firefighters conference. Of course Erik had to work Friday night so Zach and I spent some time at the aquarium and then wandered around and hung out until Erik was done. It was a long day, but incredibly fun.  And any trip to Myrtle would not be complete

High School is Coming

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Hard to believe that this looker is starting high school in August. Yep, no longer my little baby boy - now he's all growing up and stuff. Any ideas on how to stop that? Anyone? Well, if you think of something let me know! Now, when he started talking about getting a high school experience I freaked. Then I thought, well, ok. Let's learn about the school he would go to. During the weeks of my sleuthing I learned 1. His high school is the worst in the district for passing those tests I don't agree with. 2. Gang violence is very common (three lockdowns in the two weeks I was investigating - one involved a gun). 3. Both the parents and students seem to be ok with these situations. All of these factors made the whole idea seem stupid. But... Let's face it, I was already struggling with his math (and it's pre algebra), so I also knew something was going to have to change this year. So he's getting his experience without the gangs, guns, and apathy. In

DisneyWorld

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It's been a long time since we've visited the main mouse at his Florida home. About three years. Last time we went Zach was shorter than me, he wasn't a teenager, and it was much cooler! This time we made the trip in May instead of February. Big difference. While I really enjoyed the one day we spent at Blizzard Beach I don't know if it was worth roasting the rest of the days. This time we got to stay at Bay Lake Towers. People, it's right across the street from the Magic Kingdom! We asked for theme park view and enjoyed the fireworks every single night sans crowds and screaming kids. Awesome. The view from our balcony.  We were also there during the Epcot flower and garden show. This year I got to see so many cool topiaries. Some of my favorite characters in bush form. Yep, you can't beat that! Phineas & Ferb topiaries! The new Fantasyland was open. And I made the boys ride the Ariel ride. She's so my girl, I had to! I didn't g