It's Been a Long Time!

Wow!! I have been away for a while! and I am not sure if there will be anyone out there to read. I have really needed some time away to refresh and think about exactly what it is that I want to do with this blog. I want the things that I share here to be helpful and encouraging and sometimes just fun, to those who are reading. We will start back with a little fun. I will give you a little hint about what I was up to last week.

We saw this.

Did a little bit of this.

This was the preferred mode of transportation.

Ate here.

And saw this cutie every day!

If you guessed we were vacationing at the beach you are right! I am missing those ocean breezes already, as we endure 100 degree temps here in south GA! We had a great time, and eventually Judah decided that he likes the beach too. He wasn't too sure at first, but my husband and I love spending time at the beach, so we figure we had  to get him started early. Next year it should be a little easier, when he has figured out that the sand is not there to eat.

I have some new posts planned that I hope will be helpful, practical, and sometimes like I said, just plain fun! I will be also trying to get together a little summer giveaway, so I hope you will hang in there with me. What about you? What has everyone been up to lately?

Have a blessed week!

Back from Vacation

We have returned from a week of vacation at Hilton Head Island, and  a much needed vacation it was! The weather couldn't have been better! Even with a little rain we were still able to spend many hours on the beach every day! My husband loves the beach as much as I do, with the exception that I love to sit and read, and he likes to walk on the beach. When I 've had enough sun I just move under my umbrella. There's nothing like the sound of the ocean for some relaxation!

This little guy headed to greet us as soon as he saw lunch, I mean Stella.

If you are in the area Market Street Cafe is the place to eat! Reasonable prices, great service, and great food! This little Greek Cafe had the BEST Greek Pizzas. Toppings were fresh, and not your typical greasy pizza. A large variety from salad, gyros, assorted wraps and what looked like great desserts. We were just too full to give them a try.

 

I hope your summer is off to an absolutely wonderful start!

Jackie

Food for Thought?

          Needless to say our Maine trip was not good for my diet! I will be playing a little catch up this week, and for the next little while. For the past 13 weeks I participated in a "Chubby Challenge." I am participating to improve my health, exercise habits and eating habits. This past 13 weeks my weight loss was 14.2 pounds, until Maine that is. I am back with it this week. There was actually a break in the rain today, and I walked and ran this afternoon.

     We felt as if we were eating from the time we arrived in Freeport, until we left Atlanta, and since we were attending my nephew's wedding, there was a lot of good food involved!  I will say all of the food was great! We did not eat a bad meal. There seemed more to choose from, than your typical chain food restaurants.

This little roadside stop was highly recommended to us, and advertised as one of USA Today's top 10 picks. By the time we parked the car the line had gone from three people to about 15 in a matter of a few minutes. It had gotten pretty windy so we opted for this little place instead.

Sarah's sign out front said,"As seen in Country Living Magazine", so we were hoping that meant it was OK.

We ordered some Haddock Chowder and salad. The chowder was delicious, and we definitely should have shared the salad!

Our table mates ate the rehearsal dinner.

Before

DURING                     

                               And AFTER!

                                    

    If you guessed this is my daughter and her husband you are right.

Can you guess what we had?

Totally Yummy!

All this, and not to mention we still had the wedding reception to go!

Now it is definitely time to get back to reality!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Jackie

Fall in Maine

     We returned Sunday evening from our trip to Maine. The fall weather was beautiful! We left cool, crisp fall days and returned to our muggy South GA weather. Being in Maine during the fall was truly a treat!

     For those of you who are wondering, I did make it through the flight without freaking out. Thanks for your prayers! I wouldn't say flying was my favorite thing to do, but certainly was not the worst either.

     We stayed in Freeport, which had plenty of places to shop in addition to all the LL Bean stores. LL Bean Home was one of my favorites, and the bike store certainly had some great bikes!

     Friday we traveled to Pemaquid Lighthouse pictured below.

    We then traveled back to the little town of Damariscotta, where they were preparing for their annual Pumpkinfest.

Check out these PUMPKINS!

Many of the stores had these LARGE pumpkins out front. Each waiting to be carved or painted with something unique.

This gentleman had started carving while we were there. Just seeing all of these Giant pumpkins was a lot of fun!

I love this house that sat on the edge of the river. Nothing fancy, just very peaceful.

So  how did you spend your fall weekend? More on Maine to come when my camera battery is recharged. Have a wonderful week.

Jackie

More Vacation Fun!

I wanted to share how we spent our time late one afternoon on vacation. We thought that it was getting ready to rain, and preferred not to be sitting in the tent in the rain. We had seen this on our way in, and decided that it would be worth a stop. Being the wonderful blogger that I am ( a little sarcasm there) I did not even get a picture of the road side stand. But what you are seeing is Kings Produce market, or rather some of the farm surrounding the market. there were rows and rows of these...

and more rows of these...


which were made into bundles of these...

FOR SALE at $5.00 a bunch.
Quite the bargain if you compare them to florist prices.

These were out back in the coop . Fascinating and fun to watch. Doing what they do best

Laying some EGGS of course!

As you can see it takes very little to entertain me on vacation. I just enjoy simple things. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. What kind of simple things will you be enjoying?

Jackie

Thrifty Vacation

You might ask, "how do you have a thrifty vacation?" You camp of course, and in a tent at that! We are back from our beach camping adventure. And it was all that we had hoped it would be relaxation, fun, adventure, and Stella even adapted well. I cannot believe that I did not even take a picture of our little home away from home, but I did get a few other pics.

This was right over the dune from where we camped.

Fences to protect where Loggerhead Sea Turtles are laying their eggs.

Beach reading.

Stella's shady spot on the beach.

Now to get busy finishing up a little laundry. Have a great day! Jackie

A Camping We Will Go

We went this weekend to visit family, so I have missed a little catching up with you all, and will be missing you a little more, because tomorrow my husband and I head out to Edisto Island for a mini vacation camping trip. We will return on Saturday hopefully with great pictures, no sunburn and a some needed relaxation. Edisto is usually booked up, and we were trying to decide what to do. We have been there once many years ago when our kids were small. It is a State Park with some campsites just a sand dune over the beach. When I called to get information they had one beach site available for 3 nights and we took it. I know this sounds a little primitive, but I am really excited.We are doing a little cheating on the cooking. We have already grilled hot dogs and chicken, and cooked bacon for breakfast sandwiched. Since it is just the two of us, we didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking. We will probably go into Charleston one day. I have never visited Charleston so I think that's going to be a lot of fun! I will let you know for sure when we get back. Have a great week and look forward to catching up on Monday. Jackie

A Pleasant Interuption

No pictures today. I am headed out on a little post Christmas break. I will be taking off for a couple of days to the beach! A friend of mine called with an invitation to join her at the beach for a few days. If my camera arrives before I leave, I will definitely return on Monday with some pictures. Some of you may be thinking, the beach in the winter? Well here in the south we had about 80 degrees on Christmas day. It is a little cooler now, but I will be curling up on the beach with sweats and a blanket, and a good book, and perhaps getting some blogging thoughts and projects together. I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful new year! So for now Happy New Year, and don't forget, there will be a giveaway when I return. Looking forward to that 100th post. Blessings! Jackie