Guilty Pleasures

Since the current trend is to be healthy, I thought I would share my three guilty pleasures that I've been partaking in recently.

Guilty Pleasure #1: Peanut Butter Chocolate
This is a SIMPLE recipe that I either made up or stole from my Simple & Delicious magazine.  It is such an easy and inexpensive way to have candy in the house with out having to do a lot of work or spending a lot of money.  I don't use exact measurements when I make it, but for the sake of others recreating it , I will give the recipe with measurements.  It uses 2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter.  You melt them together in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval so you don't burn the chocolate.  Once the mixture is smooth, then poor into cupcake pan (the silicone one is the best) and freeze until solid.  EASY, SIMPLE, and DELICIOUS!

Guilty Pleasure #2: Cheesy ranch hashbrowns
I can blame this one on my sister Holly.  She showed it to me at IHOP, but I've recreated it at home several times.  All it is is an order of hashbrowns, topped with cheese and ranch.  Mix it all together and whah-lah! You have a hashbrown casserole!  YUMMY and TERRIBLE!

Guilty Pleasure #3: Cheesy mexican rice
Alright be ready for this one, it will put a strain on your budget.  I haven't attempted to recreate this one at home.  When I'm at a Mexican restaurant I order the cheese dip, not only for the chips but for my rice.  I drizzle a little over the top and add a spoonful of sour cream, mix it all together and is SOOOOO GOOOOD.  I'm telling you, the Mexican restaurants should really reconsider how they deliver their rice.

Just thought I would share my horrible enjoyments recently.  I mean I'm not eating this stuff every day, but when I do, its definitely good.  :)

Fall Fun

Chrysalis Fundraiser!!

Chrysalis Autism Center, is now doing a fundraiser! You can go to www.thatsmypan.com to see the items - and if you find anything you like, you can order them through me - that way Chrysalis Autism Center will benefit from the fundraiser and shipping is less. The items are very good quality as the company sent samples for us to view and show. If you are in the area and would like to see them, just let me know. The best and most unique thing about them, is that every item can be personalized. I really love how the cake and pie pans have lids that can be personalized. Below you will find the price list and shipping is $1.10 per item ordered, no added tax. You'll also find the personalization instructions, again there is no extra charge (What a deal!). Checks can be made payable to Chrysalis Autism Center - orders must be in by November 30, 2009 so items will be back in plenty of time for Christmas. Look at that Christmas List, these are great gifts for teachers, friends, parents, etc! If you'd like to order anything just leave me a comment and I'll get in touch with you. Please let me know if you have any questions - thanks for taking the time to look - The children at Chrysalis appreciate it!

Geocaching in Rock Hill

We are excited to find that there is a geocaching organization in York County. Paul got me a Garmin Oregon for my birthday last year and we've been geocaching like crazy! Geocaching is a world wide treasure hunt that uses GPS. Geocachers go to www.geocaching.com to get coordinates to put in their GPS and go to the location. Once they arrive they begin to search for the "cache" which can be a landmark, a small capsule, or a box with trinkets in it. Most caches contain a log book to record who's found it. If you find a box, it is traditional to trade trinkets. We like to trade glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs. Everyone who we've taken geocaching has LOVED it. Its great fun for all ages. My favorite cache so far is a night cache at Winthrop Park. You started at the coordinates at night and shown your flashlight around until you saw a reflector. You then walked to the reflector and show it around to find the next reflector. You repeated until you found the 10th reflector and there was cache! It was fun to do it at night! Anyway, the organization is called YoGO and its website is: http://www.yogosc.org/ We are still learning how to upload our finds to our profile on geocaching.com. If anyone has any short cuts, please help!!

Walk Now

Here a few pictures from the walk now for autism in Concord, NC. These can also be seen on theAutism Speaks website Here are my favorites, because its pictures of our staff! I can't even begin to describe how wonderful, talented, kind, and dedicated our staff is. God has truly led each and every person to the doors of Chrysalis and I am so thankful for their service. I'll add some of my own pictures soon!

Captured

Our brother-in-law's band has a new blog. Check it out here. They also have pages on

facebook

myspace

World Wide Web :)

Below are some of my favorite pictures of my April and Tristan. We haven't gotten to see them in a long time and miss them!

Ladies weekend

This weekend the Benton Ladies, (my mom's side of the family) took a bus trip to Helen, Ga. It was great to see everyone. With Paul and mine's busy weekends, we rarely get to see our families. We really have to start making time to travel to our home towns. I don't know the last time we've been to Hartsville. We saw my mom pretty regularly during the summer, because we were on a bowling league. We came out with bowling ball and shoes and haven't been bowling since! Anyway, here are some pictures of the weekend.