Photos taken on October 10, 2011 at the entrance station to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
- Frost in the meadow on Hwy 67
Why, Yes, That IS Frost!
General
We Love A Good Cup Of Coffee Around Here
Fabgrandpa and I love our coffee! We love it so much that even though we live in a space less than 400 square feet, we onw one of the biggest coffee makers available for home use. It has a regular drip coffee maker on one side, and an espresso maker on the other side. However, it really doesn’t do all that well making that rich foamy espresso that Fabgrandpa like so much. In June, Becca sent her Papa Jim a gift certificate for Father’s Day, and I used it to buy a coffee grinder and four pounds of coffee beans. We have been loving that coffee grinder. I love the way the coffee beans smell when they are freshly ground!. Mmmmmmm…….
We were talking the other day about things we would like to have in our house when we buy one, and the top of that list is a new coffee maker, maybe one of these Bunn Coffee Makers. While those kinds of coffee makers may look like overkill for most people, it is exactly what we want. He also wants an espresso maker. he wants one that will make that nice foam on the top like he gets in a coffee shop. And I think that having that espresso maker in the house will be huge money saver, because I know how much he loves his espresso! At any rate, it is very exciting to be planning what to put in our new house.
Who Loves Chocolate?
This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been notified by email. Thank you to everyone who entered. I really wish all of you could have won this great chocolate prize!
I do, that’s for sure. And, I could probably name most of my girlfriends in that category. So, when I had the opportunity to sample chocolates from Dove Chocolate Discoveries, I said an enthusiastic, YES! I received a Dove Chocolatier Starter Kit that included everything that a new Chocolatier would get in her Business Start Up Kit. Things like Chocolate Brownie Truffle Mix, Chocolate Mousse Mix, Chocolate Chai Tea, Chocolate Martini Mix, and all the forms and paperwork necessary to start your chocolate business. Last night, I invited some girlfriends over and had a Chocolate Fondue party:
We had fresh strawberries, fresh pineapple, gluten free vanilla cookies, a gluten free cake cut up into cubes, and gluten free pretzels to dip in this divine dark chocolate fondue. But guess what I wound up dipping:
We had a FABULOUS time, and I would bet that if this had been an actual home party to sell these chocolate products, all I would have had to do was lay out the order forms. They are so delicious that I do believe they would sell themselves.
Here are some chocolate trends that I certainly didn’t know:
*American consumers average 10-12 pounds a year, while our friends in the UK eat almost twice that. Aggregated, this is 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate per year consumed in the U.S. – nearly half of the world’s supply.
* More than 50% of adults prefer chocolate to other flavors.
*Men and women purchase chocolate in equal amounts
*More chocolate is consumed in winter than any other season
*$16 million in chocolate was sold in the U.S. in 2010
*While milk chocolate is the preferred chocolate flavor, dark chocolate consumption has increased perhaps to its suggested health benefits
Now, with Dove Chocolate Discoveries, you can become a Chocolatier. A Chocolatier is the name given to a DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ sales force team member. A Chocolatier samples chocolate, encourages purchase, invites people to a Chocolate Tasting party and encourages others to become Chocolatiers. I can’t think of a more fun way to earn money that by selling chocolate! Work from home, have fun parties with chocolate goodies to sell, and have Dove at your back.
Dove gives these six reasons to consider joining the more than 15 million Americans in the direct selling industry:
Freedom: Work for yourself and be independent, setting your own business goals.
Flexibility: Set your own hours and schedule work around family priorities.
Finances: Pay bills, take that special vacation or replace your full time income. How much you earn is entirely up to you!
Fuel Your Development: With top notch training programs and tools, you’ll gain entrepreneurial business skills and savvy that will make you a hot commodity in any market.
Friends: Meet new people through Tasting Parties and a supportive network of Chocolatiers.
Fun: Love what you do and share that joy. It doesn’t feel like work when you make people happy! After all who doesn’t love chocolate?
With over 100 years of candy-making experience behind us, DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ is dedicated to creating the ultimate chocolate experience – in the comfort of your own home, providing an opportunity to share sweet moments with family and friends.
DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ launched in February 2007 as one of the latest ventures from Mars, Incorporated.Now YOU can become a Chocolatier, and have fun while earning money. To get started, you need a business kit:
The starter kit is a $200 value but costs only $79. It includes order forms, catalogs, hostess cards, business cards, plus enough chocolate products for sampling at your first 4-6 chocolate discoveries parties. You’ll even get the fondue set shown here.
One of my lucky readers will win a Dove Chocolate Discoveries Starter Kit like the one I received! You do not have to become a Dove Chocolatier to win this giveaway! Just leave a comment telling me how much you love chocolate!
For extra entries:
Like Dove Chocolate Discoveries on Facebook
Like FabGrandma on Facebook
Remember to leave a comment for each thing you do!
This giveaway will end on October 14, 2011 at 11:59 pm MST. Winner will receive a copy of a Dove Chocolate Discoveries Starter Kit valued at approximately $200 from Dove Chocolate Discoveries. The winner will be selected using And The Winner Is…plugin. Giveaway open to US mailing addresses only. Winner will be notified by email, so please make sure you use a valid email address when entering. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the notification of winning. If the winner does not respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. The mandatory entry must be satisfied before an extra entries can be counted. You can enter a total of three times using the entry options given above. Giveaway is open to residents of the United States and must be 18 years old or over. The prize is the responsibility of and will be shipped by the sponsor. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery after the giveaway closes.
I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of DOVE Chocolate Discoveries and received a Starter Kit to facilitate my review.
Goodbye, Steve
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs.
Of all the quotes I have read that are attributed to Steve Jobs, this one touches me where I live. I have tried to express just that, many times, to others, when asked why I live the way I do. It is because my time on earth is limited. It is because I don’t want to waste it living it someone else’s dream of what my life should be. I shut my ears to someone else’s opinion of what I should be doing. I took that leap of faith, used what courage I had, and struck out on my own journey.
Because of this philosophy, this idea that you and only you can know what is right for you, I am happier now than ever before in my life. When I was trudging along in the rat race, trying to fit into the mold of what society deemed appropriate for me, I was only taking steps each day towards my own death–not fully living, not fully engaged in life, not caring one way or another if another day would dawn.
From the day I took the first step towards my freedom, by putting my house up for sale, I could breathe more freely. Smile wider. Dream openly. I could say to everyone, “I am selling my house and buying an RV. I am going to venture out, see the country, work less, live more, laugh more, be more.” And they always asked me “But BE WHAT?” How do you explain the need to GO? How do you explain the need to just BE?”
Thank you, Steve, for putting into words that which I have been trying for years to explain: That I needed to follow my heart, my intuition, to become me.
Fall At The North Rim
Is It Ever OK?
When I was growing up, it was just another day for my brothers and I to be fighting. We punched, kicked, slapped, pulled each other’s hair. It was part of being siblings in our household. I would venture to say that is the case for a lot of other people too. Kids fight. They just do. My kids fought constantly. As you can see from the photo above, so do my grandchildren. But, is it ever ok for a child to hit another child?
This debate has been going on on Facebook for a while today. In this case, the question is about if it is ok for a BOY to hit a GIRL if she hits him first. Does a young boy, say age 10 or younger, have the right to defend himself if his he hit first by a girl.
The debate turned into a discussion of domestic violence, which I feel is NEVER ok. It is never ok for a man to hit a woman or for a woman to hit a man, for any reason. I have been in a domestic violence situation myself, and just left. That man only got once chance to hit me. I walked away and never looked back. But that is not what I am talking about here.
Why is it in our society that we teach BOYS to never hit a girl, under any circumstances? If, for instance, a little boy was being bullied on the playground or on the bus by a little girl, and he hits her back, then HE is the one who gets in trouble? If he doesn’t hit her back, but tells his parents, and the parents go to the school principal, then that little boy is called a sissy or made fun of by other kids at school. If the situation were reversed, and it was a little girl getting hit by a little boy, and SHE hit back, no one would say a word.
What do you think? Should both children be punished equally when this happens? Should the little boy just have to suck it up and be a man? Should the little girl be the one who gets punished? Should the girl be punished the same as if the boy had hit a girl? Do you teach your children to walk away or to fight back?
First Day Of Autumn At The North Rim
Since it was the first day of Autumn here at the North Rim, and I had the day off, I decided to drive up to Point Imperial. Here are some things I saw today:
Which Road Do I Take?
