Our Staycation

We joined the bandwagon of taking a "staycation" this year instead of a vacation. We spent 2 days in Cincinnati and 2 days in Indiana - and we had just as much fun!

We celebrated our 9th anniversary at one of our favorite places to eat - Teak Thai in Mt. Adams. A very quaint place with very good food!!

Aaron's parents and Cameron then met up with us and we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see The Bodies exhibit. This is a MUST SEE! It was absolutely incredible and nearly indescribable - so you just gotta go!

Then we traveled to Edinburgh, IN to spend some time (and $$) at the Edinburgh Outlet Malls. They had a Carter's baby store with lots of good deals and adorable clothes. This is an outfit that Aaron just had to have - and I think it's cute too.

I laughed so hard while we were in the Crocs store. Aaron's dad was trying out a kneeling pad. I came around the corner and saw this and it struck me so funny because it looks like his legs are only about 2 feet long. It was the funniest thing!

We also went to Upland, IN to visit Grandma Herring, but we must have been so busy talking that I didn't take any pictures! But, we had a great time and certainly enjoyed seeing her! :-)

Mini Fruit Pizzas

I love fruit pizza and I've especially been on a fruit kick recently. So, I was delighted to find a recipe for these mini fruit pizzas. I've made fruit pizza several times, but had never thought of doing them like this. The "no cutting" makes it really easy to serve and they stay pretty. We certainly enjoyed eating them at Brent/Rhoda's on Sunday evening!

Happy 85th!

Happy 85th Birthday to Grandma Young! We celebrated with her in Muncie, IN on Saturday at a restaurant which happens to be one of my favorites - Ruby Tuesdays! They have the best salad bar of any place I've ever been to.

Shirley (Aaron's mom), Aunt Bev, and Grandma Young

Dayton Air Show

We had a great time on Saturday at the Dayton Air Show! Yes, it was hot and we got quite a bit of sun, but I love being outside so I really enjoyed it.

These planes really weren't coming out of Ron's head, but it was so bright it was hard to see the back of my camera. :-)

Ron was explaining to us what part of the plane he works on at GE.

Aaron, Brent, Nathan, Ron, and Jeremy . . . very intrigued . . .

. . . with this.

Family Resemblance??

My crazy brother-in-law, Cameron, (all of 15 years old) has recently been intrigued with manipulating images on the computer. Aaron emailed him the picture of the ultrasound and Cameron responded with an email that said he definitely sees the family resemblance. When we opened up the attachment to his email, this is what we saw. . .

Hee hee - yep Cameron's crazy. :-)

What a Blast!

We had a great time in Missouri over the 4th of July weekend! Trips home are always too short, of course, but we sure enjoy going when we can. The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays and it was sure good to be home and in America this year (last year we were returning from the Cayman Islands on July 4th). And of course the holiday is not complete without our own rendition of a fireworks display.

The sparklers were a big hit with the kids. Aaron got 144 of them (I think we had plenty).

Only part of the stash.

Mark got a "good deal" on the cackling hens... I think we cackled more than they did. :-)

Camen did not enjoy the loud bangs, but did good with covering his ears.

..they watched from a far.

Emme - Jeff/Vicki's youngest firecracker (2 months) liked being indoors where it was much quieter.

Karson - (Mark/Jana's youngest) all geared up for the holiday.


And a trip to MO isn't complete without a Sonic stop - I sure do miss having one of these nearby. But it might be a good thing - I'd be wanting a lemonberry slush, a limeade, and a butterfinger blast everyday!

A very cool new CD!

GBS just released a new CD by Reflection, the ladies trio, that is outstanding! I love these girls' voices, and they sound so nice with the full orchestration that was added.

Thought I'd plug it here on my blog since I think the photography is really cool too! :-) I had a lot of fun with these girls - they were very easy to work with and made this photo shoot at the Purple People Bridge fun!

Here's the front and back cover of the CD (designed by Brandon Hilligoss).

(Jessica Cravens, Mandy Davison, Jacinda Cravens)

This image didn't make the CD, but I think it's really cute.

Go here to get the CD!

The Big 30!

Yesterday was the big three zero for me! It's hard to believe I'm no longer in my twenties, but I really don't mind birthdays at all. Some people get all weirded out about them and bemoan the fact they are getting older - but it sure beats the alternative! :-) Why not live to the fullest and celebrate each year you have.

I had a really good day. It started out with my wonderful co-workers. When I arrived at work on Friday morning, this beautiful bouquet of flowers greeted me on my desk. I was so surprised! So thank you, "all of us" - that was so kind! And then Mr. Hooker had bagels brought in from the best place of all, Panera Bread, and made sure I had my favorite - cinnamon toast crunch! Yum!

I met Aaron for lunch at Vernon Manor. He had never been to their buffet and since he now works so close there it was perfect. We were chatting with our server and she asked if we were in town for an event or if we lived here. I told her we actually lived here in Cincy and had met for lunch to celebrate my birthday. When she learned that she brought out this HUGE piece of chocolate cake with fudge layers drizzled with chocolate. It was amazing!

Then... we met Aaron parents and Cameron for supper in Batesville, Indiana (kind of the half-way point for both of us) at the Sherman House. I love going to new restaurants and since I get to choose the place on my birthday I always choose a place no one has ever been before. This was definitely different, but very tasty. My favorite was the fried dill pickles we had for an appetizer. I love dill pickles of course, but didn't know how they would taste fried. I was very impressed and want to try making them at home. In fact we all loved them - they really were that good!

So, not only was it a good day, but it was also a very good eating day!

birthday flowers at work

fried dill pickle chips

at the Sherman House

...and they brought me an apple dumpling with ice cream complete with a candle!

opening my birthday present afterwards - a really cute maternity shirt and skirt

An '09 Senior

Stephen Lum stopped by from Pennsylvania last week to have his senior pictures done. I love making senior pictures "personal" and was so glad when he requested some piano shots. He was great to work with

Suddenly Happier

Just like Charlotte, I am still greatly enjoying The Grocery Game. This week was especially good with some great deals at both Meijer and Kroger. Even though it's just Aaron and me, I have saved a ton on our grocery bill. And just to prove it, I've been tracking my savings. I joined The Grocery Game in January. For these last 6 months, my total savings adds up to $750.63 (this includes my coupons and store savings like sale items)! I am so glad I've been keeping track - this certainly adds up and makes me realize how much you can save if you look for deals and plan your menu around sale items.

My favorite deal from this week...

Aaron and I absolutely love Suddenly Salad, but I don't buy it very often because it's a little pricey at $2.39 per box. Well, this week Kroger has Suddenly Salad on sale for $1.00 per box (10 for $10). This in itself is a good buy; however, I found a coupon at bettycrocker.com to get 40 cents off a box. Even though it says "do not double" they nearly always double these at the store and this was no exception. Therefore, I ended up paying only 20 cents per box for these Suddenly Salads making me suddenly happier!

We had a great time in Michigan this weekend at the wedding of Jennifer Hartkopf and Wesley Gray! They were such an incredible couple to photograph - very easy going and flexible and did anything we asked them. And the wedding was absolutely beautiful! Here's one of the happy couple (I'll post more later).


We also enjoyed traveling with Ron and Jennee. They showed us the ropes of Michigan since Ron is a native - he got us everywhere we needed to go. We stopped by the mall and Jennee and I got some great deals at Bath & Body works and our other favorite place - the candy store! These carmel apples looked so good - I could have probably eaten them all!


The highlight of the weekend for Aaron was our very cool car - a 2008 Cadillac STS. Too bad it was only a rental - we reluctantly gave it up after we returned to Cincinnati (but I'm sure I wouldn't want the car payments).