Author: Tammy Litke

People wouldn’t realize by looking at us, reading my blog or even hearing us speak that we are immigrants.  In 1999 we left everything we knew and moved to the United States, really in search of the American Dream – a place where hopefully we could offer our daughter more because of an economic change in my husband’s job.  It was a different journey than what my parents took, both having immigrated from Germany to Canada, but regardless, in its own way it was a scary endeavor.  What if it didn’t work out the way we thought it would?

It seems that lately we’re always on the go.  Between visiting guests, our own road trips and blog opportunities, my camera has been working overtime in all the places we’re going to.  I kind of like being a minimalist when it comes to what I carry around, but when we’re going some place that I know I’m going to take a lot of pictures, I end up looking like I’m going on a major trip with all the ‘baggage’ I end up carrying!  Taking your DSLR camera on the go with all its accessories, plus your own personal items like your phone, wallet, car keys, etc. can be a real challenge.

Crossroads at House of Blues is where food, music and art intersect.  It’s the ultimate live music and dining experience where both music and food feed your soul.  And they have something exciting to share – a new menu created by celebrity chef and Food Network star, Aarón Sanchez. 

Their new cuisine is a mix of American and International dishes created by one of the hottest chefs in America. 

Dreamworks Animation and 20th Century Fox have made my childhood come out of the ‘wayback machine’ , and if you have no idea what I’m talking about then you must read on.  If you ever watched the original or syndication cartoons of The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show then you’ll remember the segments of Mr. Peabody & Sherman.  Gosh how my siblings and I loved watching that.

I’m part of the eMeals blogger network and as a part of that I receive a subscription from them so that I can try out their service and when I like something I can share it with you!  Last month eMeals launched a new Low Calorie Family Plan.  It has all the benefits of eating under 500 calories with the flavors and tastes of your favorite foods.

Eating slim doesn’t have to mean cutting out your favorite foods. With the eMeals Low Calorie plan, you can enjoy a varied meal plan with your favorite dishes, from pizzas and pastas to salads and steaks, all with less than 500 calories per serving.

Whether you have an iTouch, iPhone or iPad, Talking Anya Dress Up & Pet Puppies is a free download app that will be enjoyed by most little girls.  While I’m sure the ages of children that would like this app vary, I would think it would most appeal to the ages of 3 to 7 year olds.  

Anya is like an interactive paper doll.  The child can dress her up, change her hairstyle/color, eye color and add accessories. The free version includes only a couple of options for personalizing Anya which are two dresses and two hairstyles and one pair of sunglasses.

Learn. Think. Create. That’s the motto of Sprite Kids.  And they’ve really hit upon the create portion in their new free iPad app; Mini Monet Creative Studio and Art Club for Kids – Lite.  We tried the app out ourselves, and since art is a pretty big deal in our home, we were really interested in seeing what it had to offer.  We haven’t had a whole lot of time to play with it, but from what we’ve been able to explore so far, it’s pretty cool.  Mini Monet is far more than just a basic coloring app.

My family is not much of the outdoorsy type.  Our idea of camping is the Holiday Inn Express and communing with nature is watching episodes of Duck Dynasty on TV. 

That being said when we go on vacation we’re up for short adventures, even going so far as taking in the wilderness on some occasions like when we were in Alaska and we went on a whale watching excursion. 

It must be noted that we were wholly unprepared for the weather that awaited us in Juneau that day, and we ended up having to purchase some gear the day before in Skagway because we would have been chilled to the bone otherwise with what we had packed with us.

As many of you know, our daughter is at the point in her life where she’s transitioning from that menatality of ‘child/teen’ to ‘adult.’
As parents it’s tough to always know when and where to help or the times to just step back and wait to see if a decision or plan of your ‘almost adult’ crashes & burns.  When it comes to finances we’ve chosen to help, we feel that too many young adults have no idea how to manage their money and we don’t want our daughter to be in that leaky boat.