Apples Apples EVERYWHERE!

Fall is rapidly descending upon us here in IL! Hoodie weather has arrived!

 
And fall means apples. LOTS of apples.

Me and my mother took my two nieces up to pick some apples at Homestead Orchard in Woodstock, IL yesterday, and they had a great time! Don and Barb are extremely kind and funny, and they had a delicious variety of jams and salsas in their shop! Homestead Orchard is a quiet place in the country to pick 20 varieties of apples, pie cherries, pears, and red raspberries. I'm looking forward to going back in late October to pick my personal faves : Braeburn apples!

We are making pie filling to freeze and turn into pies and cookies in the upcoming weeks, but even with doing that we have a ton of leftover apples!

This is the part where I'm asking for some help! What are your favorite apple recipes?! Aside from apple pie, and Kolacky cookies, we are fresh out of ideas!

I'm so ready for Fall!

(They had a lot of pumpkins too!)

Pillsbury Sweet Moments Winner!!

Thank you all for your entries! The winner has been chosen and e-mail is going out shortly!

Comment #14 was:

Following Pillsbury on twitter @bethwillis01

bethwillis01@gmail.com 

Congratulations Beth!You have 48 hours to respond, or else a new winner will be chosen! Thanks!

Update

I know this is a lot of updates in one day, but I'm trying to catch up.

I've been very sick with a MISERABLE cold and sinus infection all week, all peaking with a sinus headache last night so bad I was in tears. I'm feeling much better today! Or is that the Vicks humidifier with menthol in it talking? Haha.

I did not let being sick stop me from going to work though! My official first day was on Monday, September 13th! So far I am absolutely loving the job. The people are all very friendly, and I've been wanting to work in healthcare for a long time now, but couldn't buckle down enough to go back to school. I read an entire textbook on the job of a dialysis technician over this past week. It's the same book we will be studying in my class that starts on October 2nd.  And this job does tuition reimbursement, so I will at long last, be able to go to school to get my RN in the not too distant future.

Another perk of this new job is definitely the wearing of scrubs. I have never been required to wear a more comfortable outfit to work in my entire life!

Our fall bowling league also started a couple of weeks ago. It's a money league, which means that there are a lot of reaaaallly good bowlers. We came in 1st place for our summer league out of 8 teams, so far in this league we are 15th out of 22 teams. Not so good, but we're improving every time! This league is every other Saturday and is a couples league, two guys, two girls. It's also the Miller/Bud couples league, which means DISCOUNTED PITCHERS OF BEER. Be still my heart, for I love me some beer and bowling.

That's about all that has been going on with me! Hope you all are doing swell :)

XOXO

-V

Only A Few Hours Left!! My first giveaway!

Wow! I have very few entries! Only a few more hours folks! Check out the post below to enter for a chance to win an awesome prize pack!!

Pillsbury Sweet Moments & My First Giveaway! *CLOSED**

Pillsbury introduces two new ways to enjoy life´s little luxuries with Sweet Moments Bite-Size and Molten Lava Brownies! Pillsbury Sweet Moments, now available in the refrigerated baked goods section of your local grocery store, are perfect for indulging any time of the day. The Bite-Size Brownies, which are layered with either rich caramel or fudge and chocolaty coating, are just the right size to grab and go for a quick pick-me-up. They´re ready to eat, so are ready right when the craving strikes - no preparation necessary! And, at 60 calories per brownie, they´re just enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. 

 Thanks to MyBlogSpark, I was sent an AMAZING "Sweet Moments" prize pack including a VIP coupon for a free Sweet Moments Product, as well as a chocolate themed gift set. The gift set included a loofah, chocolate bath salts, mint chocolate foot scrub, milk chocolate body lotion, and cocoa chocolate shower gel. Not to mention the packaging was seriously adorable! The chocolate lotions and scrubs smelled amazing as well :)

With my VIP coupon I chose the Sweet Moments bite-size Brownies in Chocolate fudge.

I have quite a sweet tooth, but I never have time to bake or anything along those lines. These Sweet Moments bite size brownies were perfect! I could just grab one, pop it in my mouth, and enjoy! It didn't take any time away from my already busy schedule to boot! If you are a chocolate lover, these should be right up your alley! These were delicious, and I loved the ease of them. I could pay bills, do homework, cook dinner etc, and still be able to enjoy chocolaty goodness!

I am happy to tell you that thanks to the people at Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark, one of my readers is going to win the same prize pack I did! A VIP coupon for your choice of Sweet Moments product, as well as a chocolate spa kit.

MANDATORY ENTRY: Leave a comment here telling me what time of the day you could use a quick pick-me-up

EXTRA ENTRIES:

+1 - Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect

+1 - Follow Pillsbury on Twitter (leave your username here please) 

+3 - Add my button to your blog (Leave a link to your blog please)

That's 6 total entries per person!

Contest is open to residents of the US. 

If you already do any of the above, you qualify. Please leave a separate comment for each of the extra entries you complete. However, you must first leave the required comment for the mandatory entry. Giveaway will end on September 16th at 11:59pm (CST).  The winner will be selected using random.org. Winner will be notified via email upon selection, and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. If there is no response within the 48 hours, an alternate winner will be chosen using the same method.

Disclaimer: I am participating in a "spark" through MyBlogSpark on behalf of Pillsbury. I was sent the items above in order to help my honest review of the products. I was in no other way compensated for this review, and all opinions in this review are 100% my own. Winner's prize pack will be fulfilled by the sponsor.