[114] 30 Day Photo Challenge?

I'm sure many of you have seen friends posting a 30 day photo challenge on their Facebook, or maybe you've started your own as well. I've been interested in doing a 30 day challenge myself, but I wasn't too impressed with poor quality image that listed each days topic. So I created my own! I used images from various My Memories kits to recreate the list of daily photo topics.

Please feel free to use it as the starting image of your own photo challenge folder. :] I don't plan on posting my daily photos here. You'll find my photos on Facebook or Instagram (@behindthecanon).

[113] Plimoth Plantation

Friday, November 11th, I visited Plimoth Plantation for the first time. Located on Plymouth's historic waterfront, the permanent exhibits tell the story of two distinct cultures - English and Native. You lead yourself on a self-guided tour through the different areas of the museum.

Walking through the Wampanoag Homesite you'll find Native People - either Wampanoag or other Native Nations - dressed in historically accurate clothing. These people will speak to you from a modern perspective as they are not role players. You're encouraged to ask as many questions as you can, but if you're shy like me you're more than welcome to just look around and listen in on anything they're sharing with groups.

Upon entering the 17th Century English Village, you'll find role players portraying actual residents of Plymouth Colony. These people are very good about not breaking character when you mention modern day things. One man, whose name I did not catch, asked my boyfriend what his trade was. I wanted to play along and say he was a sword smith, as we're both nerds who play(ed) World of Warcraft, but I held back. I believe his mom is the one who finally mentioned that he is a computer programmer. To which the man responded, "Ah, I believe in England we handle much pewter!" That got a good chuckle out of me. In the village you'll find houses furnished with reproductions of the types of objects Pilgrims owned. You'll also see various animals, such as chickens, cows, and goats.

Now for the pictures!

Wetu - Wampanoag word for house. This wetu was in the process of being built but you were welcome to come inside and watch one of the Natives hammer away at some wood pieces. Another man helped explain to visitors a little bit more about the wetu and how they were built.

The two men inside the wetu.

Awesome poses in front of an awesome view. Taking the trail towards the craft house and the English Village.

Having a seat on a beautifully crafted bench which you'll find all along the paths.

The first building upon entering the 17th Century English Village.

A somewhat blurry photo of a Pilgrim's kitchen.

A my-size bed, haha. You'll find these small sized beds in all of the houses in the English Village. There were a few houses with larger beds but I didn't get a photo as there were far too many people and I was a bit cranky.

One of the animals in the village. If you can find long grass, you can pick it up and hand feed these cows. They loved it!

A garden outside of one of the houses.

This man rambled on about a story for a solid 30 minutes before we could break away to see the rest of the village. I'm very impressed with the role players ability to keep character the entire time they are talking to the museum visitors.

Goats, hanging out and chomping on grass.

Standing outside of one of the houses. A my-size house, haha.

The pottery section of the craft house. All of these handmade items are sold in the shops in the museum.

The woodworking section of the craft house.

This man is wearing a headdress made of porcupine hairs.

My souvenirs! Of course I picked up an owl which is made of strands of animal fur. Shawno found the last tiny bear carving. His mom bought me a jar of apple butter. (Thanks Momma Nancy!) And I bought myself a Plimoth Plantation magnet for my fridge. I love my souvenir magnets. :D

This was the last of two shirts in this style. I originally wanted an adult medium, but my only options were small and x-large. My boyfriend said the shirt looked like it would fit since I've lost 30+ lbs. Glad I picked it up!

Thanksgiving is 12 days away! I am going to be baking up a batch of pumpkin cookies to bring to dinner at Shawno's aunts house. But I also want to try making some pumpkin bread. I have yet to try my hand at that!

I know I haven't been posting as often as I should be. I've been working 5 days a week and getting in as many hours as I can. This season has been a bit different for me as I've taken on a few extra responsibilities than I have had in past years. I am liking it though!

A had a few post ideas from about a month ago that I put on hold for when I have more free time. Hopefully I'll find time to type them all and just queue them over a few weeks time.

I'd like to announce the winner of the My Memories Giveaway.
The winner is Katie!
Congratulations!

[112] Footsteps in the ceiling

Everyone's watching American Horror Story. I saw about half of an episode and walked away. Not because it is scary but because I'm not really interested in this show right now.

Although, I would rather live downstairs from a haunted apartment than have to listen to the kid upstairs, stomping his feet all around the apartment. Seriously. Just stop.

I recently took some herbal supplements which left me with less than desirable side effects. Evening primrose oil makes me itch like crazy. The opposite of what I was hoping for, as I was taking it to help clear my eczema. The good news is, I read that omega3 and zinc deficiencies are possibly the reasoning behind my intense breakouts over the last few months. After reading and seriously thinking about it, this does make sense to me. So I picked up some supplements at my local CVS. Luckily for me, they were running a Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal on some of the things I was looking for. So I picked up some acai as well. Hoping for good results and keeping a positive attitude about it. :]

Don't forget, I have extended the My Memories giveaway!

[111] Music Monday: Sophia Grace & Nicki Minaj

Before I get to the music I'd like to remind you that I have a GIVEAWAY going on right now!
http://veggingforhealth.blogspot.com/2011/10/110-giveaway-my-memories-suite.html
Be sure to sign up for a chance to win! You don't even have to use the product for yourself. You could give it to a friend or family as a holiday gift.

---

I'm sure most of you have seen this video of Sophia Grace singing Super Bass. If you haven't, it's a must see! You can also find videos of Sophia Grace on the Ellen Show where she meets Nicki Minaj. She's so adorable! 


Thanks to Sophia Grace, I have had Super Bass stuck in my head for the past week. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I've played this video. Leave it to an 8 year old to get me to listen to a hip hop/R&B/pop artist...


A couple of friends from high school have been busy making music over the years. Here's the latest upload on soundcloud. Enjoy!
JC Ft. Tex & Zeke - Nothin Like Me by therealTEX

[110] GIVEAWAY My Memories Suite

It's time to reveal Vegging for Health's FIRST giveaway!!!

I'm a lover of all sorts of crafts, especially scrapbooking. Before I had started scrapbooking, I would make photo collages both using physical photos as well as digital photos, but I had yet to try digital scrapbooking... until My Memories contacted me about hosting a giveaway. I am so excited to help promote such great software for my first giveaway!

My Memories Suite V2!

Some of us just don't have the time to sit down and capture memories in scrapbooks. Cutting and sorting paper, applying embellishments, cropping photos and choosing whether or not you want to use monograms. It's a lot of work. With My Memories Suite you have a choice of creating pre-made layouts or starting from scratch with downloadable kits. Just load the program and start creating. It's that easy. You can find all sorts of videos from MyMemories on their YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/MyMemoriesSuite

My Memories Suite is by far one of the easiest programs I have ever used. You'll find a variety of paper backgrounds and embellishments that come with the program, as well as many different styles available for download straight from the My Memories website. I went a little overboard with the downloads within the first day of using this software, haha! You can choose to print your own scrapbook layouts at home or have them professionally printed and made into a book for you. Don't have the funds or the room to print and store physical scrapbooks? Create an online photo album using various photo upload websites or your preferred social network site.

Now to the fun stuff. You can enter for a chance to win a free copy of My Memories Suite V2! You have until November 2, 2011 11:59pm (eastern) to enter this giveaway. Extending the giveaway an extra week, you have until November 9, 2011 11:59pm (eastern) to enter this giveaway!


Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to www.mymemories.com and browse their digital scrapbooking kit.
   (1 entry) Then come back here and leave a comment with:
   -Your Name
   -Your E-mail
   -Your favorite digital scrapbooking kit from the MyMemories website
   -Link to your blog/website if you have one

Example:
Jasmine Young jasmine.thelovely [at] gmail [dot] com
Head In The Clouds Pack
http://veggingforhealth.blogspot.com

It's that simple!

Additional entries:

• (+1 entry) "Like" my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/VeggingForHealth
  Comment here that you "Like" my page along with:
  -Your Name (Note your Facebook name if different)
  -Your E-mail
• (+1 entry) Tweet about this giveaway: tag me @iJasmineYoung and include the link to the post
  Comment here with:
  -Your Name
  -Your Twitter Name
  -Link to the tweet
• (+1 entry) Blog about this giveaway:
  Comment here with:
  -Your Name
  -Your E-mail
  -Link to the post

You can tweet about this giveaway once per day, just be sure to come back and post a comment each time you tweet about it.

I will be keeping track of each entry by each comment posted, so be sure to get those entries in! Remember, the deadline is November 2, 2011 11:59pm (eastern). November 9, 2011 11:59pm (eastern).

When a winner is chosen and announced, I will also share a coupon code for $10 off the My Memories Suite V2 software and $10 coupon for MyMemories.com store. (A $20 value!)

Check out My Memories at the following links:

blog.mymemories.com
MyMemories on Facebook

@mymemoriessuite on Twitter

(New header image was created using My Memories Suite V2, MMSv2 kits, and Photoshop CS2.)

[109] Music Monday: mewithoutYou

mewithoutYou, is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their music is generally dominated by spoken-word vocals and free-ranging drums, bass, and guitar.




Torches Together is the first track from their 2004 album, Catch for Us the Foxes. Before I acquired this album, I only owned one song of theirs, "January 1979". I used to listen to this particular song, over and over, on repeat. It was usually one of the first three songs on any mixed CD I'd make for road trips. Catch for Us the Foxes was given to me as a gift for my 19th birthday in 2005. This album is still among my top favorites and I can honestly say I love each and every track on this CD.

[108] Product Review: Kashi's Tuscan Veggie Bake

via Kashi.com

I recently tried Kashi's frozen entree, Tuscan Veggie Bake. During my last grocery trip, I walked through the freezer aisles and came across Kashi's selection of frozen entrees. I was interested in trying out on of their entrees, so I began skimming through the ingredients on each box before I chose their Tuscan Veggie Bake. It's vegan friendly and it was the only entree available (in my store) without meat in the ingredients.

"Yellow squash, roasted eggplant, red onion, and sweet potato. Zesty basil tomato sauce with sun dried tomatoes served inside Kashi seven whole grain noodles."

 Growing up, I ate a lot of microwaved meals. Over the last 4 years I've dramatically reduced how often I use microwaves to cook anything. If there's a stove-top, oven, or toaster oven option, I'll take it.

The Tuscan veggie bake comes with two cooking methods: microwave (11 minutes total) and conventional oven (45 minutes total). I was starving and opted for the microwave cooking instructions. Upon opening the box, I was surprised at how big the veggie bake actually is. It's a pretty decent sized portion of food, but you'll have to decide for yourself if you need something on the side to fill you up.

I found the vegetables absolutely delicious, as well as the noodles. However, I did find this dish to be a little too spicy for my taste. To put it simply, I'm not a fan of spicy foods. If you're the type who enjoys any and all spicy foods, this just might be the meal for you. Since I am not vegan, I would probably put a dollop of sour cream on this if I choose to eat it again.

If you like spicy foods, this meal is for you.
If you're not a fan of spicy foods, don't even bother.