4 Years Ago Today...

Relive the memories.

Cheddar Bunnies

I have an affection for cheese and pretty much anything cheese flavored. Therefore, Goldfish crackers and Cheez-Its have always been a favorite snack of mine. I usually try to buy the low sodium or whole grain Goldfish for some added nutrition in that cheesy baked snack, but recently I have discovered the cheesiest, as-wholesome-as-you-can-get-in-a-cracker, cracker: Cheddar Bunnies. If you're familiar with some of the natural and organic based companies out there, then you may have heard of Annie's Homegrown. Well Annie has really outdone herself with these Cheddar Bunnies. They are way cheddary and taste much less salty than Goldfish. They are made of all natural and organic ingredients with no additives or preservatives, and did I mention that they taste AMAZING??? I've also started buying Annie's pasta meals for when I need a side dish or something quick and easy- the white cheddar shells and cheese are fab! What I also love about Annie's is that they promote recycling, used recycled materials for their packaging and print with environmentally friends vegetable-based inks, so even though the cost may be a bit more for their products, I totally support the cause.

If you want to learn more about buying organic and natural products (and the dif. between the two) I recommend the book To Buy or Not to Buy Organic by Cindy Burke. I think she does a great job on helping readers discern what is worth the time and money to buy organically and the corners you can cut. It's so easy to get caught up in the "everything is so bad for you and killing our environment" mindset, but this book really helped me to focus on what I wanted to commit to knowing and buying for myself and my family- especially important when you're feeding young ones!

Night Out

Ben and I had a night out last night. It was kind of an early anniversary/we won't be able to spontaneously do these types of things anymore night out. We caught a Mud Hens game on a beautifully cool evening. They ended up losing, but it was a fun game to watch and reminded me of one of our first dates. It was a sweet time...

Too Much of a Good Thing

I think it's safe to say that anyone who has spent even a small amount of time in BG has at least heard of, if not experienced, our one and only Dairy Queen. Grandfathered-in and exempt from the corporate portion sizes and prizes, our DQ serves it UP. The Blizzard seems to be most popular with the ice cream far surpassing the rim of the cup and sometimes that overflow of goodness even equals the size of the original container it's served in. Anyone who has seen the size of a small and knowingly orders anything larger would be considered a glutton. Being that DQ is a whole 1/4 mile (if that) from our house, Ben and I tend to support the venue with regular visits. I'm always urging him to split a Blizzard with me, but 99% of the time he cannot resist the peanut butter sundae with that salty/sweet peanut sauce. Our past two visits I have reluctantly (because of the size) ordered myself a small Blizzard to eat on my own. (I've most recently gotten the Brownie Batter, fab. if you're wanting chocolate, and Chocolate-dipped Strawberry, wonderfully refreshing but still full of chocolately chunks). Both times after arriving home I've experienced the "that was too much" feeling. It's even prevented me from sleeping well. Because of this, I have officially decided to not order Blizzards anymore; it's simply too much for me. I did consider asking the dedicated DQ workers if they would make my small even smaller, but I feel like I'd be breaking some sort of unspoken rule, or be looked at as ungrateful or something. It just didn't seem right. I will, however, gladly consider splitting a Blizzard with another person. There is a new Tagalong Blizzard out which features the ever-loved Girl Scout cookie and DQ peanut butter sauce and luckily Erin Kessler has already agreed to split that one with me. I hope these thoughts don't upset or offend my fellow DQ followers, I am just glad to have come to a place where I am able to draw the line for myself and offer others this opportunity to split a Blizzard with me :)

35 Weeks

35 weeks and still going strong. I feel like I have plenty of energy and the baby is doing great. Dr. felt the head a few days ago so we know he's in the right position and so far I'm 1 cm dilated. Seems like things are progressing well :)

Progression of Baby's Room

See the slideshow from beginning to end :)

Get Paid to Recycle Your Electronics

This almost sounds too good to be true. The website seems pretty legit though. Has anyone tried it yet? Yourenew.com