First Half Marathon!!!

I can't believe it I have decided to run my first half marathon this summer. This new challenge will require much dedication, determination and perseverance. I can hardly believe it, that I have decided to run 13.1 miles and fundraise $3,300 to find a cure for Crohn's disease & ulcerative Colitis! I will attempt to complete the Chicago 13.1 half marathon on June 8 with Team Challenge, a fundraising program for Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA)

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are known together as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are painful, medically incurable illness that attacks the digestive system. It is estimated that over 1.4 million Americans have IBD, however many more suffer in silence.

Since its inception, CCFA has become the largest organization dedicated to curing IBD and has funded more then 1,100 grants for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis research. The Foundation invests dollars wisely, funding the highest-quality IBD research anywhere in the world. The funds raised through the Team Challenge directly benefit the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America to support its mission to find a cure and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases. More than 80 cents of every dollar donated to the Foundation goes to the mission-critical programs!

I hope my effort makes a difference in fighting a disease that affects over a million people. This is where I need your help. I can’t do this alone. Please consider supporting me in the effort by making a tax-deductible donation to CCFA. Would you consider donating $10 for every mile I run? How about $5, or $1? Every dollar counts and I will also accept ice packs, Tylenol and a personal cheering section. You can make a donation on my website http://www.active.com/donate/chicagoCOH13/CATaylor

Thank you all for your support

-Ashley Creator of a dog and his monkey blog

Safari Baby Shower Cake!!

One of my dear friends is getting ready to have a baby. I had all these wonderful ideas of baby cakes to do going through my head for her shower. However, when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted she said she wanted it to be safari themed. I was dumb founded and unsure what to do, I mean I had tons of ideas in my head but nothing to the effect of a safari themed. This is what I came up with, and I hope you all like it.

Sorry that this picture is far away, and one of the monkeys has fallen over..this is the view from the top of the cake

This is the top part of the cake!

From the side angle..sorry about the mess in the back ground!!

Spiral Scarf

Spiral scarf for sale
Adults 2 color scarf 15.00
Adults 3 color scarf 18.00
kids 2 color 10.00
kids 3 color 12.00
If you provide your own yarn I will do it for 6.00

Cheap Christmas Idea

First off I want to say that I am very sorry that it has been a while since my last post. I have been very busy lately, but I will try and fix that and post more often. I know Christmas is a few weeks a way still, but I don't like to be one of those last minute Christmas shoppers, so therefore I like to start early. I wanted to share with you a cheap idea to make if you need one of those last minute gifts you weren't expecting to buy. I have a couple people that buy me cheap gifts every year so I made them this cheap gift this year. I do want to say that I am sorry for the photo quality a head of time, I was in a hurry.

First I chose a nail polish color that fit them. The next thing I did was take those free paint strips and cut them in a shape of a tree. I added a brown stem from some cardboard I had laying around in my craft box. I wrote on their "for your mistle toes". This project took me all of about 5 minutes. Now you could also decorate the tree if you wanted to, I choose not to because I got one of those .49cent staking to place the item down in and I didn't want things to fall off.

Golf Birthday Cake

My husband really enjoys golfing. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday in May he had told me he wanted a golf cake. I thought hmmm a golf cake, and really had no idea where to go with it from there. Here is the cake that I decided to make him.

This type of cake can be made for the golfer in your family for any occasion. It was simple to make. I used an 8in round pan, I cut a hole in the cake. I used a small star tip to icing the cake.

From Pringles can to Pasta can

So, I have decided that we need to start being more frugal in our household. we throw to much away that can be reused over and over again, saving us money in the long run. In today's society who doesn't want to save some money. Today, I am going to be showing you an easy DIY that can save you at least 10.00. In my household we never eat a whole box of pasta in one setting. I have been wanting to purchase a pasta holder for sometime, but can never justify spending at least 10.00 on one. Today when I was finishing up the Pringles I thought to myself this is the perfect thing I need to hold my pasta, and it is one less thing going into my city landfill that is only about 2 miles from me.

First you will need your empty Pringles can. I washed mine out when I was finished eating the chips.

Then I chose a light purple scrap booking paper. You could choose any color of your choice, in fact you don't have to wrap it in scrap book paper if you don't want (I just thought it would be easier not to get confused when I do have Pringles, or so I want get excited about there being Pringles only to find pasta in it.) This week when I get to go to Michaels, I will be getting some scrap book stickers and write pasta down the side of it (I just didn't have any in my craft box)

Then add your pasta and your good to go.

Strawberry Cheesecake bites. Yummy!!

So, I was surfing the internet one day looking for something new to make to family gatherings that I thought would be quick and easy to make and the family would love. I found this recipe from Nutmeg Nanny, and had to try it. This DIY food item is so easy to make, I just finished making them. I am sure (or at least hoping they will be hit at Cory's Grandpa's birthday party tomorrow.

First thing you will want to do is wash the strawberries.

Nest you will want to cut the top of the strawberry off. I did this as close to the green as I could get.

Then I cut the bottom of the strawberry just a little bit so that the strawberry would be able to stand by itself on a plate without falling over.

I then used this nifty tool I got free from Krogers for watching a demo to hollow out the inside of the strawberry. Note you wont have to take much out of most of the strawberries because they will already be hollow inside. You could also use a knife if you don't have this nifty tool.

I then put my cream cheese filling in the strawberry. Since I do cakes I used one of my cake bags with a tip to put the filling in. If you don't have this at home don't worry about going out and buy it. You can put the filling in a ziploc bag and cut the corner out it will work just the same.

Then you dip your strawberry (cream cheese filled side down) into your gram cracker crust and they are ready to serve.

This is what the final product looks like. I really hope that you enjoy these.

Strawberry Cheesecake bites
Ingredients:
1 lb Large strawberries
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Graham cracker crumbs (follow recipe on box for this)

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry and the bottom. Remove the top and clean out the middle with nifty tool or knife. Set strawberries aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc bag with corner cut off. Fill Strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once Strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately refrigerate until serving.

Thank you Nutmeg Nanny for the recipe. Let me know how you like the recipe once you try it.