England {Windsor Castle}

   [Day 1] We arrived in London around 6 am and hit the ground running. After storing some of my sister's luggage that she'll be taking to University and getting new SIM cards we hoped on a train and headed west. We stopped to go through Windsor Castle on our way to our hotel in Bath.

   It was so cool to jump right in to something so historic and so different from anything back in the states. The rooms inside were luxurious beyond belief, and to know that they aren't just museum set ups, but they are used to this day. Amazing. After going through the interior we were able to explore all around outside, the castle had some great views of the surrounding area. It was hard to see too much though because of all the rain clouds. A rainy day, walking through a castle with red coated guards marching around felt pretty English, a great start to our trip.

No Spend October

   Stephen and I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University a couple of weeks ago and in an effort to get our finances in order we've agreed to not spend any extra money for the whole month of October. Of course we have to still spend money on all of our required payments but the almost always over budget entertainment category will be shut down. We are really excited to see how much we can save in one month. We'll let you know how it goes!

Any advice for sticking to budgeting goals?

England {Getting There}

   So, it's been like forever and a day since I got back from my trip to the United Kingdom with my family. I was so good about making sure there were posts all lined up while I was gone and then once I got back I was so wiped out that I just couldn't bring myself to go right back to posting. Now, it's been weeks and weeks and I finally have the time to get back into blogging.

   Our trip officially started with all of us meeting up in the Newark airport hanging out there for a while and then boarding our plane for the long haul overnight to Heathrow in London. Once we landed at like 6 am London time we hit the ground running. We changed our clothes, got our phones set up and ordered large coffees. 

   We did so much over the course of the two weeks that I have a million pictures to share (ok maybe thats an exaggeration but there was close to 8,000 pictures taken.) So, with that being said I am going to break down our trip into quite a few posts. 

   Have you ever been to England? Is it on your wanderlust list?

The Keys || Day 3

   So, I got back late last night from my trip all through England and boy did I enjoy sleeping in in my own bed with my purring kitty. But, before I get into all those fun details let me share the last few images from our last day in the Keys.

   We got up early so Stephen could do a little fishing with his dad before we all grabbed a quick lunch at a local seafood restaurant. I cast (well reeled in) once, but I'm not a fishing enthusiast so sitting on the dock watching the little fish and jellyfish swim by was good enough for me. On the drive back this mural on a K-Mart store wall was just too good to pass up, so I made Stephen pull over to take some pictures. The rest of the drive was pretty easy and Albert was very happy to see us come back. 

   I had so much fun and am inspired to keep finding ways to adventure. Even if that means having to get creative with local options. 

Week 31

Week 31

Target and Midnight Edition inserts.

Doozies

   So this recipe is totally to die for! But, I'm not an oven user, it's some kind of irrational fear. So I'm going to pass this one off to Stephen to tell you all about.

    A friend of mine posted a picture of these on the internet and it was not too long before I was craving something delicious and oozing with caramel (hence the Doozie). The recipe is quick and easy and these really are a great desert. All it takes is a few ingredients:

1 Roll of pie dough
12 Chewy caramel pieces
1/4 Cup of cinnamon/sugar

     We cut the pie dough into 12 equal pieces and wrapped them around each of the caramels then roll the pie dough into the cinnamon and sugar mixture and pop in the oven on a greased pan at 350 until golden brown. They are best to eat right out of the oven while the caramel is still melted. These doozies are great on their own but next time I might try them out I might enjoy them with a little vanilla ice cream.

The Keys || Day 2

   Back to our trip to the keys. We all got up pretty early Sunday morning and packed up. Everyone else was headed home and Stephen and I continued on to Key West. The drive was pretty easy even though it was only one lane most of the way. The views were amazing of ocean on both sides of the car, the old bridge was neat to see with trees growing out of it, birds hanging out and most of it falling down.

   Once we got into downtown we parked the car and started to walk everywhere. We went into just about every shop and made our way up and down every street. We got in line to take a picture at the southernmost point and met up with Stephen's parents. After getting our picture taken the four of us continued on to find the end of Route 1. It was so hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, I had forgotten to put on sunscreen and was sure I was getting burned. Next to the southernmost point there was a fresh coconut stand, a straw in one of those was the best solution to the heat.

   We were told that Key West is a totally different animal at night so we stopped at the little Cuban restaurant in front of our hotel for some Cuban coffee. I'm not really a coffee drinker so that little buggar was enough to keep me up for days! I guess every evening they have a sunset festival with street performers and local vendors on the pier. We found the perfect viewing spot right next to a man with his performing cats. The guy was really hard to understand but he sure did enjoy performing with his cats. It was very strange but they did jump through fire so that was pretty cool.

   The sunset was really beautiful even though it was partially blocked out by clouds. Stephen and I then had dinner on the boardwalk at a lobster house. I'm not a huge seafood fan but I tried a bite of Stephen's lobster sandwich and it was pretty yummy. We had this delicious salted carmel cheesecake for dessert, I think we licked the plate clean. So, even though it was late we still had that Cuban coffee coursing through our veins so we went back through downtown. Everything had a whole new energy, there were people everywhere, music drifting through the streets, and all the buildings were beautifully lit up. It was such a full day and we had a blast!

  I'll share our last day in the keys next week and then I'll share all about my trip to England! I'm having a blast! Sign me up to travel the world, ok thanks.