I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has stopped by my blog, like my posts, or just said hello!  I hope you all had a wonderful 2013 and here's to an even better 2014! 

Dollywood Christmas

I'm so excited that only 28 more days until our cruise!

We will be going on the Carnival Fantasy, leaving from Charleston, SC for 7 nights to Bahamas and Grand Turk!

I'll be posting more after the cruise.  So excited and can't wait to get away for a week. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful time filled with family and friends. 

Great deal on collage software. Perfect for Christmas!

If you are looking for a great software to make picture collage creation quick and easy, then I have some great news! There is currently a big discount promotion running for the pro version of CollageIt (both Win and Mac.) This would be a great gift for the holidays as well for yourself or that special scrapbooker in your life! 

CollageIt is an automatic and easy to use collage maker to create eye-catching collages in no time on both Mac OS X & Windows. It excels with its ease of use.

Highlighted Features:
•    Making collages is as easy as 1-2-3.
•    Various kinds of layouts and diverse 
templates.
•    Free to customize collages with powerful functionality. 
•    Multiple export and share options.

 The pro version of CollageIt is currently running the a promotion of up to 65% off from now through December 26. It is normally priced at $29.90, now only $9.90 during this Christmas Sale, saving you $20. 

 You can take advantage of this special opportunity at:  
http://www.collageitfree.com/purchase.html 

For more information:http://www.collageitfree.com/ 

Paisley

Paisley enjoying her first rip to the Smoky Mountains! 

Smoky mountains

Smoky mountain national park

Mom & Dad at Fort Moultrie

Dolphin statue at the Florida welcome center

Isle of palms

Isle of palms, sc Christmas tree!  

Jawbone! Finally it's all mine!

I finally got a Jawbone up this weekend. So far I'm loving it and will be posting some thoughts in the next few days so stay tuned. 

Has anyone else out there had any success with any of the activity bands on the market?  Which bands are your favorites? 

Sea world

Deals all around

Good afternoon everyone! I just wanted to pop in and says hello and that I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

There are some great Cyber Monday sales out there so hope you are taking part. 

What are the best deals that everyone has found so far? 

On to the next holiday!

Well, just finished putting up the Christmas tree. I think it looks great!  We are doing a small tabletop tree this year, but it's live so still gives the same feel and smell to me!  Happy Holidays everyone!  May yours be filled with family, friends and love! 

Give Thanks!

Happy Thanskgiving to everyone!  I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends!  Let us all give thanks for our many blessings. 

Cinderellas Royal Table

This was my "Around the Clock" dessert at Cinderellas Royal Table on our recent anniversary trip to Magic Kingdom!  It was delicious. This was our second year dining here and the food has always been very good. 

Isle of Palms

Daisy and Yoda

Daisy enjoying her Yoda bed. 

Perky Jerky

Being a chronic migraine sufferer for many years due to nitrates, MSG. etc it's been hard to find a good beef jerky that I can enjoy without it giving me a migraine. 

Perky Jerky is all-natural, ultra premium beef and turkey jerky unlike any other. No nitrates, preservatives or MSG. It's tender, healthy, and flavored with a hint of Guarana, a berry from the Amazon that is commonly used in energy drinks. Perky Jerky is...The Action Packed Snack!™  The Perky Jerky Story

I sampled both the original flavor Beef and original flavor Turkey. 

Pros:

1.  Jerky was tender and full of flavor

2.  Good amount of jerky in each pack

3.  All Natural and No nitrates, preservatives or MSG

Cons:

1.  I found the Turkey to be too wet for my liking 

This was the only con that I could find as everything else about this jerky was wonderful!  

I find this to be a keeper for me and will continue to eat Perky Jerky. I'm thrilled to find a jerky that is delicious and no migraine after is even better! 

Now if you are ready to go out and buy some great jerky find a store here: Perky Jerky Store Locator

What other jerky's have you found with no nitrates, preservatives or MSG? I'd love to hear of any that others have found. 

Perky Jerky provided jerky to facilitate review. 

New website up and running!

I'm happy to announce that my new website onthegoblogger.com is finally live!  

I hope you will all check it out!  Also, please follow my blog and like me on google+. 

Jawbone Up

Here is my new obsession that I'm craving, the Jawbone Up!  This device is so many tools rolled into one. 

This little beauty tracks your activity, even vibrating to alert you that you've been sitting too long and need to get up and move your rump!  

It tracks your sleep cycle as well - when you went to bed, how long you slept and whether deep or light sleep cycle

I hope to get one soon to get able to review!  Stay tuned. 

Alcatraz and view of S.F. from Alcatraz

Angel Oak Charleston, South Carolina

Here are a few pictures of our trip to the Angel Oak outside Charleston, South Carolina.  It is approximately 1,500 years old and believed to be the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi River. This means it had sprouted from the ground nearly 1,000 years before Columbus discovered this new world!  Amazing to think in those terms.  Imagine the things this tree has seen and been around for!  I cant believe it took us nearly 5 years of living in the Lowcountry before we finally made it out to see this beautiful creation of God.  

It was severely damaged during Hurricane Hugo and is now owned by the City of Charleston, SC.  They have worked tirelessly to preserve the tree so that future generations are able to enjoy it! 

Below is a photo to really put into perspective its size.  It features a  5'10 inch man standing by the tree!  If you are ever in the Charleston area, you should make at trip to see the Angel Oak.  It has free admission and makes a great day trip with the family! 

You really can learn something new everyday!

The saying “You learn something new everyday” really is true!  Even if you don’t have a thirst for knowledge that you are running out to find it, there are opportunities everywhere to learn something new everyday!

 

This article gave me information that I’ve never heard before, and has interestingly been left out of the history books.  Enjoy the read, and get out there and learn something new each and every day!  

Once Upon a Secret

Saturday evening I sat down to begin reading "Once Upon a Secret" that I picked up a few weeks ago and had been wanting to read.  Its a book with about 180 pages telling the story of Mimi Alford, who had an affair with President Kennedy.  I was surprised at what a quick read it was and once I started the book I didn't put it down until I had finished it.  

In it she details about being a journalist for the newspaper at her boarding school and writing asking to interview Jackie O.  Jackie was unavailable for her interview, but her personal secretary was available to do the interview, so Mimi traveled to the White House for the interview.  The next year she was offered an internship in the press office and shortly after starting was invited for a mid day swim, and then later that day to the private residence of the White House, where the affair began.

She details about the many trips and experiences of her nearly 18 month long affair with the President and that she last saw him a week before he was killed.  She originally was scheduled to go to Dallas with him, but Jackie had decided to go, so Mimi was taken off the list to go.  She would never see him again.

It was a very interesting book and worth the read.  

Standard Poodle Paisley

Here is our girl Paisley the day we brought her home in May. She was 12 weeks old when we got her. 

She has grown into quite a beautiful and smart, energetic, sweet girl. I've always wanted a standard poodle and after having to put our boy Zip, a 13.5 year old golden retriver to sleep in April and seeing the utter sorrow of our other dogs we decided it was time to add the poodle I've always wanted 

I've been so happy and surprised at how much she's taken to my husband and him under her spell!  

Here she is today, more grown up and blossoming Into such a well mannered girl, not quite a year old. 

And one more of her in her Halloween costume at my work doggie Halloween party. She was the lion from the Wizard of Oz. 

Sea World

We recently had the opportunity to visit Sea World while in Orlando for our anniversary. This was the first trip for both my husband and myself to Sea World. 

The weather was beautiful and we were able to get in to see the new Antartica exhibit that recently opened. When we first arrived at the ride they were experiencing technical difficulties, but were able to get it back up and running in no time. It was as amazing as I anticipated it would be. 

We also took in the Shamu show at the last show of the day. I'll admit this was what I'd been waiting all day to see and it didn't disappoint!  

It was a fun day and was so nice to get Sea World admission included with our Doscovery Cove day. 

Melted neon crayon art

Here is the melted crayon art canvas that I made with neon crayons!  These are so easy to make and look so cute. It only took an hour or so to make. Take the crayons you want and hot glue them to the canvas, then take a hairdryer and heat the crayons until they run down the canvas in the pattern, amount etc that ou want and Voila! Kids would love to make this and so easy and inexpensive.

Universal Studios

Epcot at night.

Rewined candles

I just bought my second Rewined candle at the Charleston City Market. They have such a unique look and the scents are amazing!  I love seeing a local company who has grown and doing so well worldwide!  

Easy vintage mason jar decoration

Here is an easy and beautiful decor item I put together with a vintage blue mason jar filled with fresh picked cotton straight from the field. 

It so pretty and takes just minutes to make! 

November Birchbox

I just got home from work and I'm so excited that my monthly Birchbox arrived in the mail today!  

This month is packed full of wonderful products!  There is a soothing skin care wash with serum and moisturizing creme. 

Then there is also a black water resistant mascara, tinted moisturizer creme compact and shaving cream!  The bonus this month is flavored teas and the vanilla bean smells amazing!  I can't wait to try it out. 

Father

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Yield 36
Yields: 36 Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 7/8 cups blended oatmeal
• 9 ounces chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 (3 ounce) Hershey Bars (grated)
• 1 1/2 large eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/8 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Directions:

1. Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
2. Cream the butter and both sugars.
3. Add eggs and vanilla.
4. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and soda.
5. Add chocolate chips, grated Hershey Bar and nuts.
6. Roll into 1 inch balls and place 2-inches apart on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 10 minutes at 375° or until golden.

Fujifilm finepix XP60

I just received my new Fujifilm Finepix XP60 waterproof camera on the mail today. I'm so excited to try it out on our Carnival cruise in January when snorkeling on Grand Turk!

I took a few pictures around the house and it seems to take pretty good quality photos. I'll post pictures after our trip to show how it does underwater.

Welcome to Walt Disney World

That magical feeling when you see this entrance! 

Discovery Cove Anniversary Trip

Discovery Cove Orlando Florida

 

 

 

For our second anniversary my husband and I booked a day at Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida.  We went all out and even booked a private cabana for the day and OMG! It came with a fridge stocked with drinks and snacks and a cabana host for the day.  It was the most amazing experience of all our trips to Orlando.  

They limit the number of people allowed in the park each day, so there aren’t the long lines that accompany trips to the other theme parks.  Also, everything is included for the day – food, drinks, towels, showers, soap, etc.  You just show up and have an amazing day.

The winding river and dolphin swim were our favorites of the day. Our dolphin swim was with Lester, who is one of the older dolphins in the park and has fathered close to 50 dolphins for the park. 

If you get the chance to visit Discovery Cove – GO! It will be the best money you will ever spend and the experience is so worth it.