Life without cable.

We tossed around the idea of getting rid of cable for a long time. Then finally we cancelled it about a month ago.  I thought I would really miss watching HGTV, CNN, ESPN and the Weather Channel. But in all honesty, it has been great!

Now that I am not in school, I am actually free to watch TV in the evenings after dinner.   A few of my favorites include Biggest Loser on NBC (thanks to my parents), Modern Family on ABC, the Thursday nights on NBC - Community, Parks and Recreation, and of course, the Office.  We also have enjoyed  we watched a really interesting episode on Independent Lens about organ donation.

Life without cable has not been so bad because we cancelled it after baseball season was over and thanks to Hulu. Did you know they have workout video clips on Hulu?! Look under channels, then select all, then health and fitness. I have been doing a few of them in the morning before work the past few weeks. Jillian Michaels, one of the Biggest Loser trainers, has some short mini workout clips on there.

I didn't realize before we got rid of cable is there isn't really much good on TV after the late news, so that means it's time to either read a book or go to bed.  Do you have cable? Have you considered getting rid of it? You might be surprised how much money you can save and how you won't even miss it!

Now Open: the HOYNE blog

It's OFFICIAL!  My sister Caron and I are attempting to co-write a blog. Visit us at http://hoyne.wordpress.com/ 

We like to share ideas and links with one another...  fun or different things we find on our Google Reader, as well as our creative adventures.  Hoyne blog is a space for us to share with you too!

Check it out! S

An extra hour to...

Our first thought whenever we realize that its time to turn the clock back is "Ahhh... an extra hour of sleep!" I, too, fell in to the trap despite the fact that I have a one year old whose little body doesn't know the difference!

So we spent the extra hour playing with blocks, chasing each other (and the dog) in circles and baking! I made popovers and a carrot cake - both from scratch. They turned out great if I do say so myself.  I don't know why my whole life I have avoided baking. It was just never my 'thing'... but I have to admit that my Kitchen Aide mixer we got three years ago makes that so much easier. 

 

How did you spend your 'extra hour' this week?

Scenes from Halloween 2009

Happy Falltime!

Me + a black marker + colored pencils = A nice colorful break to admire the colorful changing fall leaves.

Hello again...

Hello again... somehow last week slipped by quickly and here it is Monday again! And honestly coming back to work didn't seem so bad after a fun weekend which started off with celebrating our friends' wedding and ended with a nice dinner Sunday evening dinner with my in-laws.

I completely forgot how much I LOVE going to weddings too. It had been a while (since last November) that we had been to one, with most of our friends attending too, so that made it EVEN more enjoyable.  They rented a photobooth for their guest book and the pictures were available for download afterwards online. Simply hilarious and a ton of fun!

Saturday afternoon we went and got Drew's pictures taken and that was a trip. My funny 14 month old little boy does not like to sit still, nonetheless on the little red dot they expect him to sit on to get the perfect picture.  So, it is what is. The only one we got of him with a #1 or the letters ONE is running out of the picture holding the letter N not even looking at the camera, which of course we bought.

The weekend also provided enough downtime for me to get a little more organized and little time to work on my scrapbook + Drew's weekly scrap pages.  I once again renewed my personal mission when I get in 'scrapbook mode' to fit everything I want to save in to a 12" x 12" plastic page cover. : )  Hopefully my kids and grandkids will thank me later.

Cheers to hoping your week is off to a great start!

We are a Baseball Family.

My parents like to joke that my first word was 'Charge!'. They have had season tickets to Cardinals baseball for over 30 years, which in turn provided the opportunity for me to attend many, many games growing up. For this reason, I love baseball.  I love Busch Stadium. I love the Cardinals.

When Drew was born in August, we waited only 5 weeks before taking him to his first game. He slept through most of it -- fireworks and all.  This past weekend we went to the game (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and took Drew. In fact, we biked down to Busch Stadium and then checked the bike trailer in at Guest Relations.  The first bike rack we tried to park at was full and the rack that we ended up parking at was three times as full when we left.  It was a fun little adventure.

At any rate, our little Cardinal has grown so much in the past year and has already started with the "Do do do do do do ... CHARGE!", as he puts his arm proudly in the air. Cheers to the start of post-season play! Let's GO Cardinals.