Autism Awareness Month!

April is Autism Awareness Month. Jamberry Nails is proud to feature Autism Awareness nail wraps, as a part of our Commitment to Charity nails. For every set of Autism Awareness nails sold, $2 is donated by Jamberry to the Autism Society to help better the lives of all effected by Autism, and I will also donate $2 for the month of April. Simply go to my page to order before the end of April!

beverly.jamberrynails.net

Craft Show Goodies

I organized an Easter Craft and Vendor Show last weekend in Blairsville, and besides having a table for my Jamberry Nails, Frank and I also had a table selling wooden bunnies and eggs that he and I made.  He cut out the shape and painted the edges, I picked out the scrapbook paper to put on the front and back and he applied them.  They sold like crazy! We should have made more... Oh well, we can always plan for next year!





I also made some quilted table runners for Easter and they turned out really well too. I enjoyed making them and sold 11 at the show and have orders for 8 more that I have to get finished before next weekend so that they have time to have them displayed before Easter.  I love sewing, so this has been a fun project for me.

Thinking again to fall and Christmas ideas! I'm already scheduled to be in 3 craft shows in the fall, so I'll have to come up with some neat new things.  At least we have more time to get ready ;)

Plans for Peru!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted, but it's time to start things back up again. Becca and I have the opportunity to go to Peru on a mission trip with my sister in law Beth in November of 2013. I want to start a blog specifically for the trip, but want to come up with a unique name for it, so until I do, I'll post here.

Beth went a couple years ago and came back with so many stories and pictures, that I have often thought of how neat it would be to go too, but just wasn't sure about it. She told me last week that she's planning another trip with the same group that went before and wanted to know if I wanted to go along. Ummm, yes!!!! So, I prayed about it, thought about it and talked to Frank about it and we have decided that as long as we can come up with the money, Becca and I will be going.

So, we need to come up with some unique fundraising ideas and plans on how we can come up with the money to go. Any ideas? It would just be the two of us selling or doing things to raise this money, so I really don't want to sell things like subs or pizza's or anything like that. We need some kind of unique idea. When Jill went to Germany, we made the Christian bracelets that she sold for $10 for two, then they would give one back to her to take to Germany so that she could give them out to the kids there. So I'm thinking that might be a neat way to raise money...

Here are a couple of links that I want to keep handy, so I'm posting them here so I won't lose them. The woman that organizes the trip has one that she uses when she's on her trips: Pachita's Blog The other is the Adopt a School program that we'll be supporting. So, my first post in quite a while is done!

I really hope and pray that I can keep this up because I'd love to keep a journal of our trip and be able to post, hopefully, while we are gone.

Making Slouchy Hats

Becca found a picture of a Slouchy hat on Pinterest and was determined that we were going to make them. So, we went to Walmart yesterday and bought some yarn. Between making one, and teaching Becca, it has been a long process! I'm almost done with the one I'm making.

Here's a picture of the gray one I'm making for Becca. She started one too, but used a smaller hook so hers is going to be smaller. I can't wait till it's done! My poor hands are very sore this morning! They kept cramping up!

I'll post a picture of Becca in it when it's done :)

Jill

This is a picture Becca took of Jillian for her photography class last semester. The assignment was called Experimental Portraiture and this was selective coloring. I love how it turned out!

My baby's 18th birthday

Hard to believe, but 18 years ago today, my Jillian was born. She has been such a blessing in my life. I am so proud to be her mother. She has grown into such an amazing young lady. Happy 18th birthday Jill!

Homemade bread bowl!

Becca and I have gone to Panera Bread twice now to get their Bread Bowl and both times, they have run out right before we got there. Grrr!!! Sooo, I found a recipe for them on the Pillsbury website telling how to make your own bread bowls! Ta Da! That's what we did!

I used one of the Pillsbury French loaves. I popped it out of the can and cut it into 4 even pieces. I rolled each one out and then placed them on top of 4 greased custard cups that were placed on a cookie sheet. I baked them about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. I had made some homemade chicken noodle soup and scooped it into the bread bowls. Delicious! Definitely going to do this one again!

A rough couple of days....

My heart is heavy after the loss of our dear sweet dog, Lexi. She passed away yesterday very unexpectedly. She was my constant companion for the past 12 years. It's definitely going to take some adjustment not having her with us. Rest in peace, Lexi girl... we'll see you again some day.

Time to get fit!

I've let myself go over the last two years. I was doing really well maintaining my weight for the 4 years before that, but slowly the weight has gone up and up, till I've gained almost 20 pounds since then. Soooo, I've started a local Biggest Loser Challenge for my town. It's an online contest and I started it through Facebook. So far, 19 people have joined! Which is a lot more than I had thought would! I'm not sure how many will actually participate, but I'm very excited to have other women to help motivate me and to share ideas with.

My daughter Jillian is going to be my "Jillian Michaels" from The Biggest Loser show. She is determined to help me get in shape, so she has me on a nightly exercise routine. We start out with a yoga series to warm up. Then we do this Fitness Routine that is supposed to be repeated 3-5 times. Well, we started it last night and I made it twice. I made it twice again tonight, but I think I did much better tonight than I did last night. Tomorrow, she says I'm going for 3 times. ;) She is a tough trainer! We finish with the same yoga series to cool down.

I'm also doing a Leslie Sansone "Walk Away the Pounds" every morning before work. I did the Walk and Kick one today, which is a 30 minute work out. So, for today, I did 1 hour of working out!

Anyone local to Blairsville that would like to join me, just let me know! I'd love to have you!

Happy New Year!

2011 has been a pretty good year at the Schweigert household. So from my family to yours, Happy New Year! I hope and pray 2012 is a wonderful year for you and yours!

A visit with Mom S.

It's been a hard year on the Schweigert household for Frank's parents. His mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's a couple years ago and did well for quite some time. But, the Parkinson's really took a turn for the worse this year and we ended up making the difficult decision of putting her in a nursing home just a few weeks ago. So, we went to Corry the day before Christmas Eve and stopping to visit Mom in her new home, and took Becca's dog Lucy with us. She loves to have Lucy on her lap!

We were able to take Mom "home" on Christmas Eve day to celebrate with the whole family, which made it a very special day.

Cookie Dough Dip

A friend told me I needed to try Cookie Dough Dip. I never heard of it before, but I knew that I love eating raw cookie dough... I mean, who doesn't? So I looked online for a recipe and found out that it's made without eggs, so it's totally safe to eat, and wow, is it delicious!

So, today I made up a batch after following the recipe below:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar until it dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar together for 60 seconds. With the mixer on low speed, add in brown sugar and butter mixture, then the salt. Mix until combined. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

Garnish with additional mini chocolate chips. Serve with animal crackers, nilla wafers or graham crackers.

I made 4 different varieties. Plain chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip and snicker doodle. It is very sweet tasting, so eating it with graham crackers or nilla wafers is a great way to eat it.

Time to start again

Well, I've been gone for quite some time, but decided to get this old blog up and going again. Why not? Everyone else is doing it! lol! So, it's almost Christmas, 2011... so much has happened since I last wrote...

Let's see, Becca is now 21 and a Senior in college. One more semester till she graduates! She has to do an internship this summer, but after that, she is done! It's been a long 4 years, but she has done very well and maintains just above a 3.0 average. I'm very proud of the young lady she has become. She has started her own photography business and even has her own website. You can view some of the photo shoots she has done by going here: http://rebeccamariephoto.4ormat.com/
She's done quite a few Senior pictures this year, and even a couple of weddings and family group pictures. In fact, she's doing a family of 15 on Monday! She really hopes to be able to take her photography to a new level once she graduates. She is sooo good :) Just take a look and be the judge yourself.

Jillian is 17, almost 18, and is a Senior in High School. She is still doing fantastic in school and maintains Distinguished Honor Roll each semester. She made National Honor Society this year, and she also was named Senior of the month for October by our local Kiwanis Club. She still twirls like crazy and is on the Varsity Squad for the Competition Majorette Squad. She also competes in solo competitions and takes private lessons weekly. She was accepted at Duquesne University, Westminster College and St. Vincent Colleges and is in the process of deciding which one she wants to attend. She'd like to go for Bioinformatic, which is the study of Genetics.

Frank and I continue to keep busy with work and the usual running. Frank's job keeps him traveling quite a bit, but not as much as it used to. We're still very active in the church and sing in the choir and play in the bell choir.

I think that's it for now! I'm going to do my best to keep this active from now on... we'll so how I do on that ;)

Winners!

We're so proud of our girls! The Junior High Competition Majorette squad won 2nd place in a county competition last weekend, and the Senior High squad won 3rd! Look at those trophies!


One more week till the next competition! Let's go for first, girls!

FHS!

Here she is... Jillian, all grown up, getting ready to go to the Freshman - Sophomore Hop at the high school with her boyfriend Casey. Okay, maybe not all grown up! But she sure doesn't look like my baby any more...

Time flies....

It's been a busy winter. Becca finished her first semester of college and started her second. She's doing very well in college and enjoys it a lot. She's excited because her best friend, who was commuting, is now living in the same dorm she is, so they get to hang out a lot more.

Jillian is busy as a Freshman in high school and is very busy with the competition majorette squad. She loves it and always has a baton in her hand. I'm so proud of how much she has improved in this past year! She can't wait till the weather gets better so she can practice outside.

We're trying to make plans for summer vacations.... first is a trip to NYC with some of my girlfriends the same time that the Chorus and Band are going... except we are going by ourselves! It's going to be sooo much fun!!! Then we have the annual Ohiopyle camping/rafting trip with friends and relatives... then we're planning a 4-5 day vacation with Frank's brother's family. I am really, really looking forward to that trip! We get along so well with them, and so do all the kids, so I know that's going to be fun!

I'm going to post some pictures this weekend of Jill at her dance in January. She had a lot of fun with her boyfriend and looked soooo grown up!

Car inspection

Yep, it's that time of year again. In PA, we have to have our cars inspected once a year to make sure they are safe to drive on the road. Mine is due in November each year, which I actually don't mind because then I know it's in good shape for winter.

Frank knew that the brakes were going to need replaced but doesn't have time this weekend to do them, so he checked out a couple of Auto repair shops that we knew about and they all seem to be busy till late next week. He did get some estimates though and Car repair prices sure are high!

Frank usually does our repairs himself, but wasn't sure he'd have the time... and he wasn't sure what else needed replaced. So he found an online Auto repair encyclopedia that gives you helpful hints on what is wrong with your car. He clicked on the brake system and it definitely gave him some pointers on what to look for. I'm sure glad he understands all of that, because I sure don't! lol!

One of the neighbors stopped over when Frank had the car up on jacks and his Honda Accord needs repaired. They swapped stories for a while and Frank suggested that he check out the Auto repair encyclopedia!

busy, busy, busy

Ahhhh, the story of my life! lol! Things have been very busy with football season in full swing! Between practices and performances, there's not much time for anything else. Jillian seems to be extremely active this year, and while she's doing well so far, I need to make sure she doesn't over do it...

Here's a list of all that she is doing right now...

Majorette in marching band - practices once a week and football games every Friday night
Baton lessons - she's taking weekly private lessons at ATJ for baton so that she keeps up with all the other girls that have been in majorettes longer than she has
Dance lessons - she's taking a weekly Jazz class with her friend Ginny at ATJ to help with her rhythm ;)
Show Choir - Special group of students who sing year round at special events. They practice Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 6:45 a.m.
Girl Scouts - two meetings a month. She loves this and has been in scouts since kindergarten.
Youth Group - with our church, two meetings a month.
Church choir - She sings in our church choir and often has solos and plays the flute for a couple of songs.

Plus, on top of all of that, she is determined to make Distinguished Honor Roll every semester. In the past, she's always made High Honor Roll, but just missed the higher level... She wants to make National Honor Society her Senior Year and she knows that she's going to have to maintain very good grades all through high school in order to make it because she has a lot of very smart kids in her class.

So, the juggling can be a bit hectic each week! But so far, she is doing great with it. I'm very proud of her and she has grown so much in the past year. She's definitely a young lady now instead of a little girl... and I'm an extremely proud mom.

R.I.P. Scooter...

Our pet guinea pig, Scooter, passed away last night... I know it seems silly to get so attached to a guinea pig, but I really did.

Jillian got him 3 summers ago at our town's summer celebration. They had a petting zoo and they had baby guinea pigs. She begged and begged all weekend for one and we finally gave in and brought home Scooter on Sunday afternoon. We all fell in love with him immediately. He had such a personality! When he'd hear my voice in the hallway, he'd squeak like crazy so that I would go into the room and talk to him or feed him.

Jillian carried him all over the house and yard. She used to take him outside with her while she was reading a book and he'd sit beside her and take a nap. Or he'd sit on her chest while she was leaning back in a chair watching movies on our computer.

He started getting sick last week and didn't recover and passed last night. We had a sweet little service for him and then hubby buried him. There were a lot of tears in our house last evening...

We love you Scooter!

Picture that describes her...

Jillian had to bring a picture to school today that "describes" her....

So, she had me go outside and take some shots of her.... I really think this one turned out the best. It's totally her... she LOVES to read and ALWAYS has a book in her hands while listening to her music.