Recycling

Recycling just got easier!  No more waiting in lines, no more driving up and seeing they are closed for lunch from 12 - 2 or closed at 5 or closed on Sat and Sun....yep that is right, a recycling center open 24 - 7!  Recycling just makes so much sense and now it is so fun!   

Chick-Fil-A

I know what you are thinking....look at the grease on the box.  But that is peanut oil, not palm oil, so not as bad as most and the taste makes Chick-Fil-A (pronounced chick phil aaaa) one of the my favortie chicken places around.  Not only do they serve delicious food fast, they are very affordable.  We never can leave without having their tasty chicken nuggets, perfect for sharing!  My mom loves that they serve Diet Caffiene Free coke and I love the Diet Dr. Pepper.  They also have a yummy carrot raisin salad that goes great with their delicious chicken salad sandwich.     

Uncle Ray's 82nd Birthday

Today was the 82nd birthday of my Uncle Ray!  It was such a fun time at his favorite place....Hometown Buffet!  What made it so fun was family!  Here is a group photo of my beautiful family!

Thrift store find

I love thrift stores!  You can find so many treasures and just seeing some of the items for sale brings back so many great memories.  I love the search, the treasure hunt!  If I had tons of sheds they would all be filled with my thrift store finds!  But the fun is in the search, for instance, we bought these bowls new awhile ago and now are on the lookout for more.  So exciting to find one in great condition....and only 50 cents!

Extra Batteries

Boy, if there is one thing I have learned with using a camera....always have extra batteries.  I recently missed out on some great photo moments because my batteries had no charge left in them, such a bummer!  It used to be so simple for me.... stock up on AAA batteries from Costco, heavy but so worth the weight.  Not only that, but I could run into most any convenience store and purchase AA batteries.  But not so simple now, many cameras have "special" batteries....rechargeable yes, but not so easy to find an electrical outlet at an event or while outdoors.  My daughter had the perfect solution....invest in a second backup battery!  Now I can take twice as many pictures, yay!      

Mrs. Grossmans Stickers

One of my favorite factory tours is Mrs. Grossmans Sticker Factory in Petaluma.  You enter a beautiful lobby with stickers decorating the walls.  The tour guide starts you off watching a video to learn about their process of making stickers.  The tour guide in the video is Mrs. Grossman's dog, Angus, who rode around in my daughter's car with the previous owner!  The next 20 minutes are spent walking the factory floor seeing all the machines up close.  Dogs abound because Mrs. Grossman allows the employees to bring their dogs to work!  At the end of the tour you are given an array of colorful stickers and all the supplies needed for a sticker art project!  Later you can peruse the wonderful store! 

Photo Bombing

My friends and I love to travel but don't like our pictures taken.  We came up with a great idea, bring along a stuffed animal and put it in the photos!  Works great and you would be surprised how many people love to be a part of the action in the placement of our stuffed character.  We have since learned from my daughter that this technique is called "photo bombing".   Here we are enjoying the beautiful Pacific Coast drive along Highway 1 near Manchester Beach.  What a fun time!

Camping Fun

There is nothing like camping!  Out in the fresh air, early to bed, early to rise!   A cozy sleeping bag, starry starry nights, a warm fire, waking up to the sounds of birds chirping and a Coleman stoves cooks up a yummy meal everytime!    

Summer fun with Kelley, Tamar and Hanna

Most everyone loves summer....most likely because we remember the months of not having to go to school!  As I get older I appreciate summer more and more because it seems to be when friends and family can visit.  Today was one of those special days where we had a nice surprise visit from my daughter's high school friend and her friend Hanna from Sweden.  It was a fun visit and so nice to see their smiling faces!

Laundry

Now I realize some of you might hate having to do laundry, but I really enjoy it.  I feel very fortunate to have a washing machine and dryer in our home and we are blessed with nice weather so I can set alot of things outside especially during these nice summer days.  They will dry very quickly and smell so fresh and clean!  Another fun thing about laundry....socks!  I love seeing the jumbled mess of clean colorful socks and then matching them up one by one....a fun matching game! 

Monday Barbeque

Anyday is a great day for a barbeque!  Somehow food always tastes so much better when it is grilled and just the smell of a barbeque brings about a happy feeling.  We had all the summer fixins too....watermelon, french bread, macaroni salad....yummmm!  And I had a nice surprise when adding pickles to the salad....the perfect miniature sweet pickle!           

Sunday Afternoon

Hello blogger world! Here is is, Sunday afternoon and I am starting a blog. My daughter gave me the idea, even helped me choose a name for the blog. You are probably wondering why I chose "Expert in Me" as my blog name. It is simple, really... I love to share! If I know of something fun to do to make life grand, then I would like to share it with you. I am not an expert in anthing, nothing, nada... except... I am an expert in me and what makes me happy. So maybe somehow, someday, somewhere, someone will read my blog and feel happy... and not only just feel happy, but be happy! This was a very happy afternoon for me. My daughter was home, my husband was home, and my mom came over for a visit. Just being around them makes me happy!