On the road again

We left Raton, NM this morning and we just crossed the Colorado state line so we are just outside Pueblo. Right now it is snowing! Not a blizzard or anything but definitely flurries! Yea!

The trip so far hasn't been too bad...we drove about 10 hours yesterday and we have about 5 hours left today. The drive has been really pretty. We saw 2 huge mule deer and tons of antelope all in front of snow covered mountains! :) the only thing is I wish I wore my tennis shoes instead of my flippers...my feet are freezing!

Hope everyone has a happy Monday!


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Amarillo by morning...

No by night! We just stopped in Amarillo at The Big Texan...home of the free 72oz steak. If you can eat your steak in under an hour with all the sides, then you get it free! I can't even begin to describe how cool this place is...animal heads decorated with Christmas stuff! I'll post pics later!
We should get to Raton Pass later tonight and Colorado tomorrow!


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Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies?

On Saturday, we went to Daytona Beach to visit my Grandmother Rita. We ate at a place along the Halifax River, which is part of the Intercoastal Waterway. It was so fun! There was a live band and we all three had a Grouper Reuben. I think that is now my favorite sandwich...EVER. Oh my gosh. I think I want one right now. Here's a picture of the three of us. We had such a fun visit!

I brought my grandma some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin cookies. A friend at work gave me the recipe and I thought she was crazy. Pumpkin and chocolate? Sick. I decided to give them a try and they were AMAZING. Oh my gosh. I would say they are going to become a Thanksgiving tradition now, or at least as soon as the grocery starts stocking canned pumpkin.

Here's the recipe if anyone wants to give them a try! Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Bailey Mae or Bailey Bear as we call her sometimes is no longer a puppy! ha She turned 1 on Friday. :) We got her a new bone and she has been carrying that thing around with her everywhere! Even when she goes outside to go the bathroom and when we she crates up at night. It is kinda cute.
We got Bailey on New Year's Day about two hours from here. If you are looking for a puppy - I highly recommend her breeder. She was so amazing and really takes good care of her dogs. You can check out her website here

So since it is Bailey's birthday weekend, I posted a few pictures of her from when we first got her to now - at least that is what people do when their kids have birthdays - so we have no kids, but we do have Bailey! haha

Happy Halloween!

Don't forget to set your clocks BACK one hour on Saturday night! I love the Fall but that is one thing I do not look forward to - waking up and it isbright and sunny and leaving work when it is already getting dark! Oh well....it means cold weather is coming! (maybe...) :)

A lady at work sends out a Daily Devotional - I thought this was an especially good reminder for us all!

To Extend Forgiveness
Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others,
or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37

Forgiveness can be hard work. It isn't easy to forgive someone who has hurt you. But as
God extends His grace to all, so you are called to extend forgiveness to those who have
wronged you. Be compassionate, because everyone struggles and all fall short of their
potential for greatness. Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other
person to die. Ask God to help you do the difficult but essential work of forgiveness.
Now is The Time

Have a wonderful weekend!

It is finished!

My back porch is no longer a disaster! yea! You know how you have areas in your house that aren't complete or there are things you want to do to enhance an area? And it just stresses you out and consumes you until it is fixed the way you like it!? Well, I no longer have that feeling about my back porch!

We went to Lowe's Friday night after dinner so I could look around - that is it...just look around for flower ideas. They had an amazing selection of pansies, so I picked up a couple for an empty pot I had at home. As we were leaving, a worker asked us if we had checked out the sale area. I am a sucker for sales so of course we had to walk down and check things out. If some of yall have never checked out the sale area at Lowes, these plants are in desperate need of some tender-lovin'-care. They need to be pruned, dead buds removed, etc. Otherwise, they are just fine.
So let me tell you about this sale. I bought four quart-sized Dianthus for 10 cents each. 10 CENTS! I never would have bought them had they not been on sale, but they are a pretty flower, not my favorite but they were 10 CENTS! They are the hot pink ones in the picture below. (The ones in the pots on the far right, far left and dead back middle). The pansies are in the blue/white checkered pot.

I also decided to pull out some ivy, viney plants we had - I can not stand them! I pulled about half of the them out of the front flower bed and just put the pots on top of the mulch. We need to re-mulch so bad and add more topsoil, which we are doing in the early Spring, so I decided not to mess with trying to plant flowers in the ground just yet.

I also bought two sago palms for $5!! I put those on my back porch as well as another Dianthus.

I also bought a palm for our dining room for.....$2!

I would say I can now be classified as a bargain shopper!

Thank you to Rachel for all of your suggestions on what I should plant! The area I was dealing with is full sun and I was afraid the elephant ears wouldn't make it in this Florida sun! :)

Now...on to the next project! :)

Time to Plant

My back porch is a disaster. Complete DISASTER. My sunflowers that I grew from a pack of seeds have now died, and the other "late summer" flowers are well on their way to the empty lot next to our house. There are dead leaves stuck to the ground and it just looks icky. I plan to do a major overhaul of the porch this weekend! So, that only leaves me with crotons on the back porch, which are pretty but I LOVE flowers!! Does anyone have any suggestion for flowers in the Coastal South that bloom through winter? Or is that too much to ask. My October Southern Living magazine says to try petunias and snapdragons...I am in need of some ideas to liven things up!

Those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds; those who look
at every cloud will never harvest crops. Plant early in the morning, and work
until evening, because you don't know if this or that will succeed. They might
both do well.
Ecclesiastes 11:4

He who waits until circumstance completely favor his undertaking will never accomplish anything.
Martin Luther

Happy Friday!!!