365...What a Great Idea!

                                                 I was checking out the latest posts from the blogs

I follow and came across a post from

Simply Feather

She decided she was going to take a picture a day

for 365 days!

I think that was such great challenge!

I have been wanting to learn more about

photography and luv taking pictures so why not!

I have to admit that I usually am not one

to stick to a committment so I am really

going to try hard!

So...I have decided to make my start date

September 1st and cannot wait!

See you in three days

with my first picture of my new challenge!

Weekend Getaway...

What a wonderful weekend I had last week!

A friend & I took a long weekend and headed

to the lake for four days!

We picked the perfect time to go as

the universities were starting school on Monday

so all the college kids were moving into

the dorms and left the lake to us!

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The surrounding scenery was beautiful...

the shapes of the mountains...

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We got to the lake early Friday afternoon and got settled...

she had called in advance and had her trailer

set up in our camping spot. It was really

nice to already have this done as it made

our set up a lot easier!

This was our Home Sweet Home for the weekend...

Isn't it nice?!!

It was so spacious and had all

the comforts of home!  We even had

cable TV with HBO!  I know...

so much for roughing it huh?

With a weekend with no husband and kid,

I couldn't ask for more..

oh wait...there is more!

My friend wouldn't let me do a thing!

She cooked..

She washed dishes...

Did I mention what a great weekend it was?!!!

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I think my favorite part of the scenery was the sunsets...

beautiful..

Saturday was quite the lazy day until about noon...

then we headed down to the little beach area

to spend the afternoon just swimming and

floating in the lake...

I have to say I have quite the nice tan

going on now!

This is the little beach area where we spent the day...

This little quirrel came down to get a drink...

he was so cute!

There were also some houseboats that were anchored

just beyond where we were swimming.

One was actually for sale...

I would luv to have been able to

see just what one looks like inside,

I think it would be fun to live on one!

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We took a walk down to the marina

to check out the boats..

Saturday night the monsoon storms were rolling in..

it made for some beautiful changes in the sky...

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One night I happened to be out and saw this

beautiful moonscape...

And this was another beautiful shot of the lake...

With that...I will just say...

if you are ever in AZ,

head out to Apache Lake and enjoy...

                                                                    

Yea Pammy Sue!!!

Congratulations Pammy Sue!

You  are officially the winner of my first giveaway!

I am so sorry I haven't posted since the 

deadline of Saturday...

I have been out of town since Friday morning

and just got back to my laptop!

Send me an email with your address

and I will get your goodies to you asap!

Thanks again for participating!

                                                                                    

Thank You Lindsay!

I just wanted to thank Lindsay @ Banter! 

I was luck enough to win this great burlap tote from her!

Isn't is great?!  You should head over to

Banter

and check our her wonderful blog!

                                                                              

What A Great Weekend...

I had a wonderful birthday weekend!

Friday was the big day and the kids were able

to come down for the weekend

so I got to see my baby Kael!

They didn't get in until late Friday so nothing

much exciting but at least that let them have the

whole day on Sat without travel time.

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Saturday we went to my SIL's to spend the

day swimming and visiting with everyone.

My Mother & Father-in-law

came down for the weekend as well.

August is quite the busy family month!

My husband's birthday...

Our anniversary....

My birthday...

My FIL's birthday...

Not to mention other family memember special days!

Everyone had a great time cooling off in the pool...

someone's not too happy!

this isn't so bad...

That didn't last too long!

Is he just not so adorable?!!

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The next day on Sunday, we decided to

head to the mountains to maybe escape

the heat...well...that wasn't

the case! It was still hot...

but much more beautiful!

We went to Madera Canyon where the creek

was actually running with water, flowers in bloom

and the landscape green and lush.

There was also quite a bit of wildlife

roaming about...

There are some cute homes in the area and

on of my favorites is...

Here are a few pics of the scenery...

Then there was us...

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So... after an afternoon in the mountains,

the kids packed up and was ready to head home.

While we were at the mountains,

the East of us had had quite a bit of rain...

The problem with summer monsoon storms

is there is a lot of rainfall in a short time

so the ground does not have time to absorb

it so it runs off...

and this is what it looks like in our neck

of the woods during Monsoon season...

We weren't so brave to try and cross...it was

running a bit too strong for us.

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We went for a bit to eat with the kids on their way out

of town at a place that has been

featured on TV's Man vs Food show.

The place is called El Guero Canelo...

they are famous for their Sonoran Dogs.

This was the original stand which

has now become quite the big business!

As you can probably guess, the dog is on the left!

It is a hotdog wrapped in bacon, grilled...

then placed in a special bun made just for these dogs

then topped with pinto beans, tomatoes, grilled & chopped

onions, jalapeno sauce, mayo, mustard, and cheese!

Yum!

Next to it is a Caramelo...

I got corn tortillas and inside is melted white Mexican

cheese with seasoned chicken!

If you are ever in Tucson, you must visit them!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well... I think the weekend finally came to an end!

What a wonderful weekend, I couldn't have

had a more wonderful time!

Thanks for sharing it with me!

                                                                            

Oops!

I'm so sorry...

Pammy Sue brought it to my attention

that I had made a couple of errors

in the posting of my givaway!

I have since corrected them

and hope I didn't cause anyone

the win!

                                                               

Finally....It's Time For My Giveaway!!!

Well my blogging friends...I finally got myself together and have everything ready for my long talked about giveaway!  I thought I would make one of my scrapbook paper covered journal's with matching pen and I also made a small note pad for your purse!  I hope you like it...I absolutely luuuvvvv the paper I chose, it's one of my favorites!  Without further adue...

The picture above is the three items together...

This is the larger journal....

This is the smaller notebook along with the pen.

The pen has a piece of the scrapbook paper within the

body of the pen for decoration.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now for the fun stuff!

I came up with a word scramble

I hope you will enjoy and also find challenging!

The 1st person with all  the correct answers

or...

if no one gets them all, the person with

the most correct answers...

by the deadline date

which is this time next week..

Saturday, Aug 21st!

I do ask one thing of you...to be eligle to win, you

must be a follower of my blog! 

Other than that...

lets get on with the show!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

ztneoeim

tpmeleta

lwsflooer

hbpeiulds

ftnsitnioaoic

sbruebsic

bsabrhdao

A little hint...

If you blog with blogspot, think about

what you all have in common when you log

onto your blog!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Well...better sign off as my little baby Kael

is here for the weekend and he is

really wanting his Nana!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!