A Season of Change

June 10, 2014 By Anne

This is my favorite Amish story to date! It’s set in Florida, specifically Pinecraft and has a whole different feel than other Amish books. A Season of Change has many non-Amish characters and to have them all interact with each made a great story. This was one book I couldn’t put down. This poor book is all warped from taking it to the pool, but I just had to finish it!!

An Amish widower finds love in unexpected places.

Amish widower Jacob Miller believes it was a mistake to visit the Amish village of Pinecraft for winter vacation, especially after his daughter is struck by a car. Stranded in Sarasota until his daughter recovers, Jacob grows increasingly wary of events that unfold in his unfamiliar surroundings—including the strange curiosity of Englischer Natalie Bennett.

Natalie never thought her circus career as an aerial silks artist would end with a blown-out knee at the age of 25. She also never knew her late mother had a secret—that she was once Amish.

When Natalie meets the Millers at the Sarasota hospital, she is attracted to their warm hospitality and simple ways—and soon wonders if they can help her find her mother’s family. As Jacob and Natalie fall in love, their worlds collide. Will their differences tear them apart? Or will their love be strong enough to blend their clashing cultures?

See more reviews here – http://litfusegroup.com/author/lsowell

About the author: Lynette Sowell is the Carol Award-winning and ECPA best-selling author of more than 15 titles, including A Season of Change and Tempest’s Course. When Lynette is not writing, she works as a medical editor and part-time newspaper reporter. She makes her home in Copperas Cove on the doorstep of the Texas hill country.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Improve Your Lawn with Bonus S

April 11, 2014 By Anne

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts Turf Builder for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Spring is here and that means new flowers and plants, maybe even a garden. But when getting all that ready don’t forget to keep your lawn healthy and looking good too! Bonus S is an existing lawncare product designed specifically for southern grass and weeds. We’ve used this product before but a new, more effective formula that’s guaranteed to clear out listed weeds including dollarweed and clover being delivered this spring. Unfortunatley it will only be available in tow areas of Florida, Ft. Myers and Jacksonville. Since I live in Jacksonville I was sent a package to use on my lawn. Last weekend I decided to spruce up the yard and tackle some projects I’ve been meaning to do. You can also check out this Organic Lawn Care Guide.

The first step was to head over to Home Depot last weekend to get some plants and soil and there was Scott’s Lawn promoting the new Bonus S. They asked if I fertilized my lawn yet and I said yes. Then they mentioned to fertilize it again after six weeks using the Scotts Turf Builder and my grass would be beautiful by summer! Our home is fairly new and we’ve been trying to keep the grass green and healthy, but we have had a few patches of not so great grass. But with this new and improved formula that’s guaranteed to clear out dollarweed and clover, I am more hopeful that our grass will stay weed free. This Bonus S controls 82% more types of weeds and is safe for more major southern grass types including St. Augustinegrass (including Floratam), bermudagrass(new), centipedegrass, zoysiagrass, seashore paspalum(new) and buffalograss(new). Look how nice and green it is!

You can purchase Bonus S at most major retailers in Ft. Myers and Jacksonville.

Anne

Disney Quest Indoor Interactive Theme Park

April 2, 2014 By Anne

Thank you to Disney for proving us tickets to Disney Quest.

During my trip to the Type A Bootcamp in Disney this past weekend, my family and I were able to attend Disney Quest. Disney Quest is a five story, indoor, interactive theme park. We visited Disney Quest about 4 years ago, but now that my daughter is older I thought she would like to revisit it. And what teenage boy doesn’t like video games?

We arrived in Orlando, Friday early afternoon and checked into our hotel. Then we took the bus over to Downtown Disney. It was a bit of a walk to Disney Quest but after being in the car for 2.5 hours, it was nice to walk around.

It’s located at Downtown Disney West Side, this 5 story, 100,000 sq. ft. attraction houses some of the most cutting edge technology, mixed with the very best concepts from Disney’s imagineers.

We received our tickets from Will Call and were told we could come and go as we please up until closing which is 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. When you enter, you immediately take the elevator to the third floor. From there you can take the stairs or elevators to any of the five floors to play and play and play.

Right on the third floor we got to see a giant Wreck It Ralph. A great photo opp, right?

From there we walked around and found lots of games to play…

My son’s favorite games – football and basket ball.

My favorite section was the Replay Zone. They had all kinds of classic arcade games like, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Space Invaders, Centipede, Asteroids, Q-bert and Mario Bros. It I love Q-bert!!

My daughter loves to dance and was able to try her moves.

She also tried some pinball. I LOVE pinball! I played a few games my self. After an hour of playing we were hungry. So we headed upstairs to floor five and had a bite to eat. My husband and I shared a hamburger, made with real hamburger and fries. My son had the chicken basket. It had a lot of real chicken pieces in there.

My daughter and husband found Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlaster. You could see it from a floor above and it looked really fun. Unfortunalty my daughter was 2 inches shy to play. She cried a little but then we went on to other games. The buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlaster is kind of like bumper cars. The cars roll over and suck up foam balls (“asteroids”) on the floor. By doing so, the asteroids will be sucked up into the cabin where players can then load them into a cannon and shoot at the other cars. If hit in the correct spot, one’s car may spin around uncontrollably for ten seconds. Usually there are two players to a car; however, it is possible for one person to pilot and shoot at the same time. Hopefully next time we go she will be tall enough!

My daughter and I took a look at the Create Zone. There were many areas to “create” art or music. My daughter drew Donald Duck. The picture though is terrible, my picture not hers. My phone added a huge flash. It’s pretty dark in there.

Other Zones to explore:

•EXPLORE ZONE: You’ll be transported to another world as you experience the Virtual Jungle Cruise while shooting the rapids. Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride sends you through Agrabah as you race to release the Genie. Go in search of hidden treasure on the Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold.
•SCORE ZONE: Become a superhero as you Ride the Comix! in a 3D comic book battle. Your crew visits other planets as you go on a rescue mission in Invasion! An Alien Encounter. The Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam puts you in the middle of the action.
•CREATE ZONE: Express yourself in this artistic center. At the Living Easels you can paint a live masterpiece. Create and ride your one of a kind rollercoaster at CyberSpace Mountain. Toy Story fans will love Sid’s Create-A-Toy where you can assemble and take home your own toy. Become a Disney animator at the Animation Academy. Budding musical stars can create their own CD by choosing from over 20 styles and 1000 vocals at the Radio Disney SongMaker.
•REPLAY ZONE: Classic games and rides with Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlaster pitting you against your competitors in a zany bumper car race. Mad Wave Motion Theater gives you a choice of riding a fantasy coaster or steering a high speed race car. The Dance Zone offers the latest dance video games and KidQuest is designed for kids ages 2 – 7. Custom Redemption Games require the purchase of Disney Quest Game Play Cards. Points can be used to redeem prizes.

So we left after a few hours. Had we started in the morning we would have gone back. But we were ready for some rest and night time was coming soon.

If you are heading to the parks and want to try something new, check out Downtown Disney and Disney Quest!

There are a few games that require additional money but most of the games are “free” with your ticket into the park. Prices are Children $35.00 (3-9) adult $40.00 (10 & up).

Anne

Spring Break, Part 1

March 22, 2014 By Anne

I’m a little unmotivated this week as the children are home for spring break. My daughter wants constant activity.

Monday I took my daughter and mother over to St. Petersburg to visit two old friends. They are more friends of my mom, but I’ve known them both a long time. While we were there, we made a trip over the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where Winter lives. Winter is the dolphin that lost her tail and is the star of Dolphin Tale, a movie that came out a few years ago and over the last few months my daughter has watched dozens of times.

Above is Winter. You can see she does not have a tail. There is a second movie coming out staring Winter and Hope.

Below is Hope playing with her trainer.

I bought a ticket for Savannah to feed the stingrays but she was afraid, so I fed them.

We took a trolley to another building, featuring all kinds of props from the movie, then we took a boat back. We got to see a dolphin in the water!

Then we headed to St. Pete Beach for dinner. Brass Monkey had some awesome food. (not the best picture, lots of sun!)

The view from our table.

After dinner we took a short trip down to the beach.

And yes, I had to go over the Skyline Bridge twice! But I did it!!

Anne

I Faced My Fear – Bridges!!

March 16, 2014 By Anne

I’ve mentioned before that I have a fear of high bridges. I’m okay with low ones or even long ones, it’s the high ones that get me. Bridges and high over passes. They freak me out and I’m afraid I will go off and over the edge. I know it’s an irrational fear but it’s there just the same. I’ve gotten better over the last two years and am okay with someone else driving, sometimes.

My daughter and I are taking a trip tomorrow over to the Tampa/St. Pete area and the Sunshine State Bridge is over there and I may have to cross it. Here is a picture of the Sunshine State Bridge.

I had to cross that bridge seven years ago and was terrified! I made my mother drive over but it was still frightening.

So Friday, the first day of Spring Break for us, I gathered up the kids and we went driving north to the Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville.

Both bridges are the same height but the Sunshine State Bridge is 10,000 feet longer. So I drove and drove until I saw that bridge coming and I turned up the radio, made the air cooler and took a drink of water and I went over it!

But then I had to turn around and do it again! I pulled off the highway and sat for a few minutes and then made the drive back home. The second time was not as bad.

I definitely need more practice but I hope this will suffice for our trip tomorrow. Maybe I won’t even see the Sunshine State Bridge at all…. I can hope can’t I?

Do you have a fear of bridges?