Week 3 Recap

  I hit all my goals this week!  Yeah for being so productive but, that doesn't always happen which is why I'm celebrating.  You have to celebrate the small things.  Even if I only completed one thing I would have said good job and rolled over the other items.

1. I finished and start a new book! I am now onto book number 3.

  So far it's starting out good which always makes reading a book easy, right?!

2. My new recipe of the week was Swedish Meatballs. 

They were ok.  I didn't make the meatballs by hand so I cheated a bit but, I wanted a little more flavor so I will try again.


3. I have a few posts figured out for next week.  That's good enough for me.  Having a direction is better then not.

4. The nails did get painted as well.

A little gold for the week!

5. Lastly my fitness goal was met.  I wanted 15 cardio miles.  With inside lap miles, my job, the elliptical and the spin bike my miles were over 40 miles.  For 2 days of cardio machines I did 15 miles alone. 

I'm going to need to up that numbers!

  Overall my goals weren't that hard but not all goals have to be.  Goals just have to be something you work on accomplishing.  The meal was a benefit for my family.  The book, nails, fitness and blog were for me! 

  Maybe I will work on adding goals for specific reasons or people.  A new week is coming and there's nothing else to do but get ready for it.

New Jersey Adventures Part 4

  This post will conclude my final adventures in New Jersey participating in their lighthouse challenge.  New Jersey holds this challenge yearly  and although it's been taken over by a different organization has run for 15 years.  I highly recommend joining it next year as it offers not only tours of ALL the NJ lighthouses and safety stations but also provides a great scenic tour of the state.

  You are given the weekend to visit 11 lighthouses across the state both inland and coastal as well as a museum and life saving stations.  You are able to tour the surrounding grounds, climb and tour some lighthouses as well as take advantage of night climbs.  At each stop you are able to chat with a historian or just visit the the structure.  I learned a few things about all the structures that made the tour neat!

  We had started our tour on the west side and then crossed over and south for our tour. So the remaining part of our tour was the coast on the east and down north.  We planned on finishing the challenge and catching the ferry across to Delaware.

  Stone Harbor was our next stop after Ocean City.  Here we visited Tatham Life-Saving Station.

Beautiful painting, beautiful station, beautiful scenery.

Next we crossed over to East Point Lighthouse in Heislerville.  It proved to be a nice drive away from the beach and highway.  We were able to enjoy the fall foliage.   This lighthouse is also under construction/reconstruction.  

steps 40

  This was a beautiful building.  Old whitewashed brick.  The inside was under renovations  so although we were able to go in we were not able to go further than then the two rooms in the front of the building.

  We zipped back across the state to North Wildwood.  Here we visit the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse.

   This visit was quick as we were trying to make the last ferry homebound and we still had one more place to see.  At this location we also received a stamp for the Delaware Bay Lighthouse.  You are able to have a virtual tour of this lighthouse.

  Cape May lighthouse located in Lower Township, New Jersey was the last lighthouse we saw on our challenge.  This beautiful structure standing so tall and so superior was a great way to end.

steps 199

The finishers were allowed to climb this lighthouse without paying the fee but, we were short on time, of course I still had the boot on and it was a long day.  So I wasn't able to but if we go back I will climb this one for sure.

HEW8-T44YBTheseD-WTZHG5

These were for the finishers at this location.  I love it and it's something I won't loose and can keep out as a unique trophy and conversation piece.

Thank you New Jersey I had a great time and look forward to visiting again!

New Jersey Lighthouse Adventures Part 3

  Continuing on with my adventures in New Jersey for the Lighthouse Challenge 2015! There were 14 stops throughout various areas of New Jersey.  Some stops were actual lighthouses while others were life saving stations.  

  Tucker's Island in Tuckerton, NJ was the next stop.

steps: 40

   This building was a re-creation  of a structure swept up in a storm.  There was museum and a gift shop filled with a lot of goodies at this location.


  Atlantic City! In the city of Atlantic City is a lighthouse!  I have never been here and hope to visit again now that I know it's practically up the street.  It was neat to see all the sights and lights.  It would have been neater to see at nightime or dusk but then again I wasn't driving.

steps: 228

The Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City!  I didn't climb this one but it would have been nice to see all the buildings at the same level as the Lighthouse give or take.

  U.S. Life Saving Station 30 was down the street.  It is in the middle of being restored with hopes of a full completion in time for next year's Lighthouse challenge.

  I peeked in the door which was the only look you could get besides walking around the outside.  No steps to climb, no distance scenery to see here.  It would be nice to come back next year and see the end result.

  Thank you for reading part 3 of my Lighthouse Adventures in New Jersey.  I have one more final post (4 more stops) to share with you!

Blogger Challenge

  I do like a challenge.  I don't always take on a challenge nor do I take the easy way out and take a easy challenge.  I selective choose them and sometimes I don't complete it but I don't lose sleep over it.  I just keep it moving.  Recently my lasted challenge was to blog for 30 days.

  30 days is a long time.  Let's be honest it 30 days.  The only thing I would like to say I do regularly for that period of time is take a shower, and brush my teeth but I'm not so sure those happen everyday either.  Following through on something for an extended amount of time takes real effort.  Funny how you could be doing something all the time then when you sign up and make it official is when you start losing power, patience,  motivation and getting more easily distracted.  Sometimes work is no fun.  You were only completing it last time for sheer habit.

  I have officially completed a 30 day blogging challenge.  I signed up obviously 30 days ago with the goal of staying on track. Some days I wrote and uploaded sooner than others but always managed to get a story posted everyday.  Some days are easier than others.  Topics don't always flow.  What's that cold?  Writer's block?  Could be more like lack of motivation or just plain too busy that day.

  This challenge was great for numerous reasons.

1.  It was free.
2.  I received a daily email with prompts tips and motivation. EVERYDAY!!
3.  You belong to an exclusive Facebook group where you post daily, holding you slightly accountable as you just don't want to miss a day.
4.  The Facebook group allows you to get concerns addressed by admin in a timely manner.
5.  The Facebook group also gives you acess to other bloggers with the same experience as you.
6.  Everyone is supporting, motivating and encouraging.
7.  You discover new blogs and well as establish relationships with other bloggers
8.  Bloggers helping each other through immediate,recent experience.
9.  Sharing what works for them.  With so many bloggers open to needing one thing or another.  This group even provides you with comments and critiques; of course solicited.
10.  Your hard work is noticed as you get recognized for the progress your making.  I thought it was so neat to see a badge congratulating me on 14 days of writing!

  This is a great group.  If your looking for more tips to better writing, prompts of what to write, how to incorporate certain items into your post then this is the place for you.  Everyone is at different levels and there are even some seasoned bloggers in there as well.  I never felt out of place and enjoyed reading other blogs that were new like mine.  There was not a stupid question and there was always an answer for a question!

If you know you need the motivation.  If you know you don't know everything about blogging.  If you like a challenge sign up!
http://www.sarkemedia.com/30dayblog tell +Sarah Arrow I sent you.  She will remember me I left a lasting impression. You know not the star pupil type the other one class clown!

New Jersey Lighthouse Adventures Part 2

  I would like to point out we stayed the night on this weekend adventure but I heard at the last lighthouse I went to that some individuals managed to make a pit stop at all of them in one day.  I can't even imagine.  How much time you spent at each stop.  Did they climb to the top of any of them?  Was there a line to wait in to climb to the top?  Were they locals and new where they were going because we certainly didn't know the best routes.

  I didn't climb all the lighthouses ( I wore my trusty ortho boot)

but didn't climb a few.  Even after the challenge I thought about how I wish I had climbed more of them.  Not necessarily all of them but that would have been fun too.  But not all lighthouses are the same, the architecture alone is pretty neat.  The outside and the inside are similar but different.  The view from each and everyone of them would have been just as unique.  Some were very close to water and others were not but what could you see from out of them?  Land, water, a city? 

As I write this out and I am now thinking to myself I want to go back.  Next year I will go at the same time or leave Friday so I am there at sunrise on Saturday morning.  I will even plan to see something sights while I am there.  Never to early to start planning.  They say the earlier you start planning the cheaper the rate, so does that mean my hotel could be $10, lol?

  After Sandy Hook we preceeded to Navesink Twin Lights.  These two lighthouses are the most northern houses.  The roads were less than desirable to get to both destinations.  At one point the road drove what look liked straight towards the water.  I could not take a picture of that.  The road curved around and curved back.  On way to Navesink was a steep hill.  I had to drive up and pull over to allow cars to come down.  You drive up this one car lane and with a cliff on one side, good times.

  This lighthouse looked like a castle or a fort.  The two lighthouses were on each side with a main building connecting the two.  I actually bought a postcard from this location because I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing.

steps:64

 64 steps is nothing we tackled this lighthouse!

 I love the classic spiral steps.  I could never quite get that circular picture that you always see in pictures but, I did keep trying.

 Wave to NYC.  Although we were so close to the city.  We didn't visit but maybe next time.

steps: 42

 This little lighthouse was situated in a nice ocean town. It wasn't very busy and the street opened up at the water.  I could see spending the weekend at a bed and breakfast in Sea Girt, New Jersey.

 It wasn't that quiet as there were a lot of people visiting the lighthouses so the beach was not their focus but I love to see an undisturbed beach.

Steps: 217

 Ok, I have practiced for this one.  Up we went!  My son wanted to go up and he made it all the way up except for the last 15 steps.  So now picture me carrying up the rest of the way and then all the way down.  Me and the boot!  I am momma hear me roar!

   After we visited this lighthouse we drove down the street and around the corner to the museum. 

 This museum originally was a one room school house.  I enjoy seeing old artifacts and furniture.

   Ok that is all I am sharing with you today.  I hope you enjoy the small peeks into my trips. I have 7 stops to share with you.  I can not express how fun this challenge was.  How awesome it was that the state of New Jersey, the Lighthouse Society and the Lighthouse Managers Association of NJ invited everyone to see their state and their lighthouses.

GoodBelly Probiotic Juice (Review)

  I recently received a coupon to try a GoodBelly product.  I am all about incorporating healthy into our meals.  I was not familiar with this brand or product prior to receiving this coupon so with trying anything new you are a little apprehensive.

  At my local grocery store is where I picked up this product.  They had GoodBelly juice and GoodBelly Plus Shots.  GoodBelly is your source to great tasting probiotics.  Probiotics is essential in maintaining a healthy digestive tract or aid in soothing an upset one.  My store only had a couple flavors available compared to the 7 varieties posted on their website.  I choose the Mango flavor.

 My carton was 1 qt in size.  The other available flavor was blueberry.  My store also had some GoodBelly Plus Shots available but the juice sounded better at the time. This product is soy/dairy free, vegan and non-gmo.  

  We drank a couple glasses as to get a good understanding of any product you need to try it in its original state!  Then I decided on building on the great flavor.

 I selected several items to enhance the flavor!

I made several cups of new GoodBelly juice!  To one glass I added bananas to one glass then strawberries to that mix.  

  I also used yogurt and GoodBelly threw it in the freezer and viola!  A healthy treat!  My youngest daughter did drink the juice before I added anything, drank it with everything and ate the popsicle.

  Even just freezing your juice may help in giving this to your children.  Probiotics helps in getting things moving through the digestive tract too which is sometimes a problem with children!  My children had digestive problems when they were younger and this product would have made things easier in giving them what their body needed.

On one side of the carton they offer you to take the 12 day challenge to reboot your belly it's just 3 cartons at 1 8 oz glass a day.  They offer coupons through your email and guarantee you will love it! 

Check out GoodBelly in your store your belly will thank you for it!

***** UPDATE***** 

 It is not recommended to freeze this juice as the probiotic goodness can be compromised thus leading to a lack of or no benefits at all.