Romantical Weekend

Just got home from a very romantical weekend with my hunnie Ed. It was the most beautiful place ever. A great cabin at Elliott Lake. I am tired from all of the relaxation...LOL This picture is the view from our porch. The lake was extremely low but we didn't go to swim or fish or boating. This was a just a couple of days of rest, relaxation and romance. I am happy to be home but miss the peace and quiet of east Texas.

Sugar free Margarita Cake

Ok I was asked to try to make this as sugar free as possible. I think I am an over-achiever but I did it!!!! First let me say Thank You to "Just a Pinch Recipe Club" and Nancy Thomas for sharing the original recipe. It sounds awesome, but I needed an alternative!!!

Here goes:

For Cake:

1 stk "best life" buttery baking sticks" softened

4 eggs (I used an Omega 3 rich egg) you could use a substitute here I suppose

1 box Pillsbury Sugar Free Yellow cake mix

1 box sugar free instant pudding (I used a large box)

10 oz or 1 1/4 cup No sugar added margarita mix (Master of Mixes) found at Wal Mart for me.

2 tsp lime juice

1 Tbsp lime zest

For Glaze:

1 container of Pillsbury Sugar free white icing/frosting Softened in the microwave

1 Tbsp of Margarita mix

1 Tbsp lime zest

(This made WAY more than I needed so I put the rest back in the container for a later use.

Preheat oven to 350ᵒ and prepare a Bundt style pan with a non-stick spray.

Mix butter, eggs, margarita mix, lime juice and zest together.

Add cake mix and pudding then mix til well blended.

Pour batter in pan and bake for 45-55 mins Let cool 10- 15 minutes & remove from pan. ( I just turned mine over and it popped out and was fine.)

Combine the remaining ingredients for glaze until it is smooth. Pour/drizzle over slightly cooled but still warm cake. I used about 1/3 of the glaze on my cake. I squeezed some fresh lime juice over the cake and added a few pieces of lime to decorate.

Enjoy!!!!! Hope you like it!!!

One year of love and joy (chaos and mayhem too)

I cannot believe we have had our kitty boys for one year. I am a bit shocked that time has flown by so fast. Today's picture is Twoey and he has tripled in size from a year ago!Knitting: I am working on a scarf my sister started. A simple k3p3 pattern in alpaca. I also have a mitten on dp needles to practice for a charity.
Crochet: I am hoping to start a yellow yarn and ribbon purse very soon. Keeping my toes crossed.
What else??? Not much. I have a colonoscopy on Tuesday. FUN...NOT!! But hey I am 50 and need to get ur dun. Now off to exercise......O:)
139 lbs lost and keeping on keeping on!

Walk for Cancer research

Lexy and I went out today for Bark For Life (American Cancer Society). This picture of her shows she won the smallest dog in the walk contest. The Frisbee is almost as big as she is. The weenie dog was bigger because he was longer and they were the same height. She did not enjoy the walk and was sick for most of it. We only walked 3/4 of a mile but that was awesome since we never walked that far before. My neuropathy makes me slow but the old lady was just not happy to be amongst other dogs or to be walking. I dragged her most of the way. I was proud for our first time out. We were tired when we got home and I took a small nap but I think we deserved it. Lexy also won 1st runner up for "Name" they thought her name was Carkie (her breed) and I just didn't go through the explanation. lol
Survived to walk another day!!!!
Many Blessings!

130 down more to go

Tomorrow is my first time ever (I know I cannot believe it either) to have allergy testing. I have been miserable for 34 years and just now getting help for this horrible affliction. I hope they find out what is making me so miserable.
I have lost 130 lbs since Dec 23rd, 2009. 229 days. It has been a long battle but so worth it. I have not felt better in ages. That is a little over .5 lbs a day. Almost .6. I have been doing a lot of exercise in the water and actually swimming!!! For a spinal cord patient, that is a huge feat!
I am working on so many yarn projects. I started some animal cozies today and still working on a baby kimono. I finished a hat but it looked too big so I added elastic in the ribbing and now I think (after measuring and finding the avg size of a baby's head{14 inches})it may be too small. *sigh*
I found a pattern today for felted house shoes and plan to try those out very soon. That is a lot on my plate for now. I have been sorting through some old boxes and found a lot of sewing projects and cross-stitch projects. I cannot die for 40 more years. I have too much to do. I will post some pictures soon. My camera is in need of a chargie poo from vacation. That is why I posted the picture of me from vacation. That is Aug 2010 and 128 lbs down. close to now.
Many Blessings

Rocky Mountain High and Cooler Weather

We enjoyed our trip to CO. A visit to the John Denver Sanctuary and then the Denver area was more than I could expect. Visiting family is always nice. I had a chance to go into the mountains (RMNP) several times and the cool weather was great!!! It is now nice and cool here in North Texas too.
I have used my purse for a few weeks now and I am loving it. I need to charge up the camera and then I will get those pictures. Anyone out there working on a knit or crochet project??? What are you making? I am making baby things for my niece in SA, TX. I hope I get them finished. I have good intentions O;)
Off to knit. Many Blessings.

Body Lifts and new bags (related items??)

The past few days I have been obsessed with hanging skin. After 122 lbs lost, you find you have that excess skin that annoys everyone. My issue is arms. I work my arms while in the pool and think my biceps look great. However, the bat wings make it look as if I am not working my arms or that I draped a curtain over them to hide them. It is weird to have defined biceps and then the bat wings. I know my thighs are saggy but that doesn't seem to bother me so much. I think because I like sleeveless clothing, my arms bother me most. My crafting keeps my hands from freezing up and I even exercise my hands in the pool. I believe exercise increases your lifespan and adds to your quality of life. I often wonder if my new journey is more challenging than first expected.

Ok new bags...I have finished a bag that is my own design inspired by another pattern I saw somewhere a while back. I will have a picture soon, but I am shopping today for a lining. I think the lining will be the best part of this bag. Why? I hear you asking. I am going to concentrate on the things I want the lining to do for me. I want pockets for organizing. I usually just toss together a lining and forget I need zippers and pockets to hold things together. The pictures of the lining will come soon. I am going to really make this a super project! OK back to life, getting dressed and shopping for the fabric and notions.

Enjoy today. No matter how hot it is, you can make it a great day. Effort to happy results in a worthwhile job/journey. You can do it if you want to. Give it a try!