I don’t know if you saw the big credit card fraud ring that took over 40 million credit card #’s from stores like Sports Authority, TJ Maxx, and Barnes & Noble.  It is believed to be the largest identity theft case ever.  Here is the story in case you haven’t seen it : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26055902/

Since identity theft and stolen credit card numbers and becoming more common I have a couple of precautions that I think can be helpful:

- Be cautious using your Debit Card.  If you use it, and there is fraud, it may be harder to clean up than a regular credit card that you pay in full every month.

-Check you account on-line everyday if you can.  But don’t do it from a Wi-Fi spot that might not be as secure.

-Know your liability if there is fraud on your account.  Get to know the time frames of advising that there has been fraud and your limits of liability.

-And of course, check your credit report.  You may even want to check your children’s as thieves do steal children’s identity.

You can’t always prevent it, but you can be on top of it.

Have a “Safe” Day!

I think I will wrap up the last of the vacation recommendations.  Needless to say we had a great time and here are the final great spots we hit in no particular order:

- Morro Bay, CA The weather was wonderful, although a bit foggy.  It is a small town that makes you start looking at home prices.  Kids learning to surf on the beach, small local shops, friendly people, and an otter met us by the bay just to say “Hi” as he was banging his dinner on a rock.  Make sure to go to La Parisienne Bakery and get some fresh breakfast sandwiches to go and head on over to the beach and watch some surfers or go play in the sand!

- Solvang, CA is a wonderful little Danish Town in Central-Southern California.  Even though we got there just as the shops were about to close (Did hubby plan that?) it still is a fun little town to visit.  It thrives on tourism but still has so much character!  Don’t forget to go to Wheel Fun Rental for a bike ride.  Oh, and arrive early to pick up a danish too 

-Apple Farm Mill Housein San Luis Obispo is a restaurant that has been around awhile.  They are now part of a corporation entity but it is such a beautiful place and the food is quite good too.  Don’t forget to go the the little gift house where they make the homemade ice cream.  All the restaurant ice cream is made on the premises!

-Portillo’s Hot Dogsin Buena Park.  If you are from Chicago, or are familiar with Italian Beef’s, this is a must.  It even passed my brother’s review and that is no easy task!

-El Capitan Canyon near Santa Barbara, CA.  If you can swing staying here, cost wise, it will be memorable.  These are  yurt style tents and cabins in a beautiful setting.  There is a pool, bikes to ride, and many places to hike.  If you like the outdoors you would love this upscale version of camping!  If you can’t stay there, go there for a lunch.  It was yummy!

That’s all Folks. 

Have a “Recommended” Day!

As I stated before I could go on and on about Southern Oregon.  If you ever get a chance to visit, do so!!!  It’s beautiful.  And let me know so I can send you even more info

I am going to move on to California:

- Jelly Belly Candy Factory Touris a really interesting.  It’s free but most people, like us, end up buying a few things in the gift shop of course.  We try to only buy a little and succeded for the most part.  I will say this, don’t go to the cafe unless you want to drop a lot of cash.  That must be where they make most of their $$$.

- Of course San Francisco has so much to see that I could never cover it all but make sure to go through the Golden Gate Park and see the Windmill.  It is currently getting restored and my brother knows the contractor so we got to see the process it is going through.  When it’s complete it will be wonderful!

The Pacific Ocean.  Go early in the morning to pick up Sand Dollars.

-While in the San Francisco area stop by Lunardi’s Markets.  The fruit is excellent and they have a cinnamon bread that is to delicious to explain.  It’s good toasted or not. 

- Although we didn’t get there this time, try to head over to Half Moon Bay.  It’s just Southwest of San Francisco and has a wonderful small town quality to it.  There use to be a sandwich shop there that had lines out the door.  It was YUMMY!  Not sure if it’s still there or not.  I use to live near there and even as a teenager appreciated it.  And head a little more south to the town of Pescadero for some pie.

Tomorrow we will head south.

Have a “Scenic” Day!

Ok, so we loved Eagle Rock Lodge as mentioned but we got a great B & B in Ashland as well.  The only bad part for you is that it’s not open to the public.  :)  Hubby’s Dad and Wife made us feel like we were at a B&B.  If they ever open for business we will let you know.  They have a beautiful house, that my father-in-law built, on the hill so you would love it!  And guess what my hubby lived there most of his life!

Anyways, I thought I would give you some recommendations of places and things to do while there.  Since we lived there, and hubby grew up there, you can bet these are great places:

- Science Works in Ashland is a lot of fun.  It’s not a big city Science Center, but I think it does a great job and has different themes each time we have gone.

- The Breadboard Restaurant is yummy.  It’s been a favorite of mine for years!  They are open for  breakfast and lunch so be sure to stop on by.

- Four and Twenty Blackbirds Bakery.  YUMMY!!!!  And please try Marionberry!!!

-Paddington Station is a terrific shop in downtown Ashland.  They have everything from kitchen to clothing items and a lot in-between.  It’s a terrific shop!

- All of downtown Ashland is fun to walk around.  It is a little on the hippie side but fun.

- Lithia Parkis a beautiful park just up from downtown Ashland.  You can see the ducks, have a picnic, hike, take the kids to pay in the creek or the playground, and in the winter ice skate.  Really there is too much to mention. 

- Big Town Hero is a nice sandwich shop.  The bread is fresh baked and it’s all ready to be taken to the park for a picnic like we did.

I could go on and on in regards to Southern Oregon.  So…there will be more to come!

Have a “BEAUTIFUL” day!

First of all:

GO TO OREGON!!  I MEAN I LOVE OREGON!!!!!!!!!

OK, now on to the recommendations:

- Eagle Rock Lodgejust East of Eugene/Springfield, OR.  This was one of the splurge options for us but can you say worth it!!!!!!!  The lodge itself is amazing.  It sits right on the McKenzie River.  The property is breathtaking.  We stayed in the Damsel Fly room and it was perfect for our family.  We had a separate room and the boys slept in the living room on a hide-a-bed.  They were big on making sure to do all the wonderful touches that make a big difference.  For example at night they have smore buckets and a nice cozy fire by the river, fuzzy socks to wear around the room, and fresh cookies to greet you as well.  And then came breakfast!!  Oh my!!!  Fresh baked scones and fruit, followed up by an egg dish with a homemade peach mango salsa I believe.  Anyways it was delicious.  If you get in this area you have to stay here.  My husband was ready to move in.  And the owners were as friendly as can be!!!!

(This is a covered bridge just a few miles west of the lodge.)

Here is their website if you ever want a chance for a great getaway!!

http://www.eaglerocklodge.com/

Since this review was so long, I will continue with Oregon tomorrow.

Have a “Berrylicious” Day

I hope you can see the pictures I am putting up.  If not, let me know.

Today I will go over Idaho recommendations, well just one really.  We were not in Idaho for long, but I will give you what I have: 

 We stayed at the

Hyatt Place Boise Towne Sq Mall

It was a beautiful hotel and room.  The staff was very friendly!!  They had a kiosk to make checking in and out a breeze but the staff was right there to greet you and see if you had any needs.

The staff advised the hotel had just been renovated but it looked brand new.  Everything was very modern!

The room had a dividing wall so the kids could sleep while we lounged on the sectional sofa watching TV.  And speaking of TV’s, there was a 42′ Flat Panel TV so my hubby and kids were ready to stay put for a long time.  The pool was very comfortable and indoors.

The hotel had many restaurants nearby as well.

The only issue I had was the breakfast.  There was a continental breakfast but you could pay for some cook to order breakfasts as well.  I didn’t think it was really well communicated on the system and I would rather have one or the other -pay or free.

Other than the breakfast I loved this place.  I would definately stay there again!

(We even hooked up our Wii to the TV to play before we left.)

“Hey, this bed is so comfortable!!.  Maybe if I elbow him he will fall out and I can have it all to myself .”

Have a “Comfortable” Day!

OK, I am just getting back to a little, and I mean little, routine right before school is going to start to throw me back off again.  So before things got crazy I promised some recommendations of places that we experienced while on our trip.  Today I will start with Utah……

-Arches National Park was pretty.  You can see arches along the way and then into the park there is a long route or you can go just part way in to see a few.  The information booth was very helpful in finding the best places to go with the amount of time you had.  The boys had a good time climbing after being in the car.

- Didn’t enjoy the Sheraton in Salt Lake City.  This is the first time I ever had to change rooms as it smelled completely like smoke.  This is weird since the whole building is suppose to be smoke free.  We went to another room and it wasn’t as bad but still smelled of cigarette smoke.

-Utah Olympic Park was wonderful.  You can do as much or as little as you want to.  The tour is a good price and informative.  There are many things to do and see there.  I would highly recommend the Quicksilver Alpine Slide!!!  Great place for all ages.

-Antelope Island at the Salt Lake was full of bugs!!  Not sure if it was just a bad time of the year to go there but we were ready to move on quickly. 

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will cover Oregon recommendations.

Have a “Promising” Day!

We got back from our vacation on 7/12.  Shortly after that I went to Costco and got a few grocery items like milk and eggs.  We brought home a lot of fruit from the trip so I wasn’t in need of any. 

Last weekend we went to a party and needed to bring an appetizer so I made a peanut butter caramel dip, since I had the ingredients on hand, and before we got there we picked up some fruit.  The leftover fruit came home with us.

So that’s it.  In over two weeks I have dreaded going to the store and haven’t.  And if you really think about it we didn’t go to the store before we went on vacation since we were going to be gone for two weeks.  I hope I still know where to find the store and where the items are in it!

Due to this lack of store attendance, I have been participating in the games of “How Bare Can We Make the Pantry?”, “I Didn’t Know We Had That in There”, “Let’s Try and Pull This Together”, and “What’s the Expiration on that Can?”.   Have you played those before?  It’s challenging but fun to see how far you can go.  You start to wonder if you can make it all the way to empty cabinets.  Which really is sad in and of itself since so many go without food!

Some of the meals have been good like Raviolis with Sausage/Tomato Sauce (using up some frozen sausage and raviolis).  Some have been a stretch like a Fritata with only 4 eggs and lots of fillings.  It’s amazing how much food is really there and how much we are blessed with, but I think the time has come to break down and go to the store.  We are out of milk, eggs, and fresh veggies.  We are very low on most pantry staples and cheese, and you have to have cheese don’t you?.

So I have adequately, I hope, prepared the boys to expect that we will be heading to the store today.  Prayers are always accepted and welcome

Have a “Blessed With Food” Day!

In the past I use to email back to anyone who would write a comment.  It’s been a fun way to build some friendships and such.  I know some people comment back on their own site.  I would be curious to here what you all do.  So you can leave me a comment letting me know what you do.

But for me, as we approach the new school year, ours starts on Aug 11, I have come to realize I will not be able to email everyone back anymore.  I will try and comment here so you can see.  If you, or I, have something that should be held in private I will not comment here but by email when I can.

Please be patient with me.  Adjusting to homeschooling the two boys is going to be big for me (I think).

Have a “Learning” Day!

For those of you who don’t know we (my children) are enrolled in an on-line charter school this coming school year.  it is part homeschooling and part not

The school has planned activities, sports, curriculum, and a teacher that they send their work to and can ask questions, etc.

Today the computer arrived and we have a nice little setup for it.  The books come next.  School starts Aug 11th here so there’s not a lot of time left before we start this adventure.

Since we have been back from vacation the boys have been very lazy carefree so I am a bit concerned.  Even the smallest errands have been a true challenge!!!!!!!!  I am a little concerned about facilitating the material, doing my home business, and keeping up the home while holding onto sanity.  So if you are so inclined please pray for me.  I would appreciate it.
Have a “Teaching” Day!