We began shopping around for alternate sources to supplement our home heating this year.  We currently have a forced air oil furnace, and with the constantly rising costs of heating oil, this was quickly becoming a necessity.After exploring various options like wood-burning stoves, electric fireplaces, and pellet stoves, we found a website that sold infrared heaters.  After readi...

My family used AirTran for the first time on our last trip to Disney World- we actually used another airline on the way from Baltimore to Orlando, but then used AirTran for the return trip so we could compare the two airlines, and AirTran won that battle hands down.Our flight was on time, and our luggage arrived safely- obviously 2 very important features when flying with a family in tow. ...

Kitchen Kettle Village is a rather unique destination spot.  Located deep in the 'Amish Country' of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this village is a little retreat away from the everyday hustle and bustle.I have visited Kitchen Kettle Village many times as a child growing up, since I lived fairly close.  The "village" is actually a group of small shops and restaurants, but...

My family of three flew on Southwest Airlines for the first time last December.  We flew out of Baltimore, MD and traveled to Orlando International Airport in Florida.  We were scheduled for a 9:00 pm flight on a Thursday night, which was the last flight leaving from Baltimore that night.  We arrived early, then moved very quickly through security.  We were waiting at the te...

The All-Star Movies Resort is located on the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.  The All-Star Movies is a "value" resort, which is the lowest cost category of all the resorts, (the others being moderate and deluxe.)  Generally the prices range from $82- $129 a night, depending on the season.  There are also discounts available if you are a AAA member.  T...

The Body Shop has great smelling products- but this is not one of them.  This is part of their tea tree oil line, and now that I have been using it a while now, I am used to the smell, but I didn't like it at all when I first bought it.  It reminds me of a tree bark scent. The tea tree oil line is designed for oily or blemished skin, and I must say I am very happy with the re...

I bought this filter on recommendation from a friend, and I am so glad I did!  With my new photography hobby, I have purchased a few new lenses recently.  These lenses were not inexpensive by any means, and although I was using a lens hood while shooting, I had no protection for the lenses themselves.I had heard about lens filters, but the ones I had seen were more for creating specia...

Arm and Hammer is known for baking soda primarily, and so of course their toothpaste is manufactured with....baking soda!  Go figure.  There are many versions of Arm and Hammer's line of toothpastes, but this is the Advanced White version, which also contains peroxide.  It is supposed to whiten your teeth with repeated use.I am not sure about the whole whitening thing- I pers...

I recently decided to start my entire family on daily multi-vitamins since we are changing our diets.  I have a 4 year old who generally is not picky when it comes to eating, but most of the time he is just too busy to eat, and so he has trouble sometimes gaining weight.I wanted to find a childrens vitamin that would taste good enough for him to want to take it, but that wouldn't conta...

Ok, I admit, when you think "farmer's market," you probably think, "So what?"  Hinish's is so much more than a traditional farmer's market- there are so many things to do, you will want to visit again and again, and during different seasons to experience all they have to offer. Hinish's is open all-year round, but my favorite time of year to visit i...

This product was given to me to try, and I think it is a pretty nice product.  The scent is a nice, clean scent, and not too overpowering, which is nice in a facial cleanser.  Pore-fection is designed to help acne breakouts, and since I do have occasional breakouts, I was interested in trying it out.  I am not sure that it really helped in that aspect, but again, my breakouts are...

I don't necessarily have a favorite deoderant- I tend to buy what is on sale because i feel like for the most part, they are all overpriced.  I bought this Ban deoderant because I had a coupon for it, and I must say I have been pleasantly surprised.The scent is "petal bliss", which I was nervous about, because I am not really into floral scents, but it has a very light scent,...

While I love photography, it is not always easy to lug around a large tripod to ensure great photos- this product is something that fixes that problem!  I bought a Gorillapod for my digital SLR camera (a Nikon D50), and have already gotten lots of use out of it.A Gorillapod is a small, flexible tripod.  There are 3 legs to it, made up of multi-segmented round pieces, so you can form t...

Last year I started to learn how to "can", or preserve my own food after I started a garden, and had a large overabundance of produce.  I started out canning with a water bath canner last year, but then I was limited to the items that I could make, because if you want to can vegetables or any meat products, you need to use a pressure canner because of food safety issues.So, after...

My family has been trying to change our diets for the better lately, and something we are trying to eliminate is high fructose corn syrup.  After spending an afternoon reading labels at my local grocery store, I realized I had to find an alternative to store-bought bread, because every single contained high fructose corn syrup.My solution to the problem was to buy a bread machine.  I ...

I bought this baking stone to use at home because we like to make a lot of cookies, and I thought it would work well for that purpose.I do like this baking stone's size- it is 12 inches by 15 inches, which allows me to fit at least a dozen cookies on it while baking, and I can easily fit a frozen pizza on it to make, and the crust turns out nice and crispy on the baking stone.  The dir...

After my new obsession with digital SLR photography began, I have been looking for software that would allow me to shoot RAW images in my camera, instead of the compressed jpegs.  After doing a lot of online research, I eventually decided to go with Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom.I chose Adobe because I have already used Photoshop CS2, and so I felt pretty comfortable using some of the si...

I have bought many Pampered Chef over the years, and to be honest, I have not been all that impressed with most of the gadgets- they broke easily, or just didn't work like they claimed.  That was until I got the Quick Stir Pitcher- I LOVE this product!!The pitcher holds 2 quarts of liquid, plus whatever mix you are adding in.  The 2-quart line is clearly marked on the pitcher, and...

Delgrosso's is a relatively small, family-owned amusement park.  This park is great for family gatherings, especially if you have young kids.  Not so great if you have teens or older who are looking for big thrill rides.Admission to the park is free, but you buy tickets that you use for rides.  They also have typical "carnival" type games, an arcade, and lots of pla...

Happy Feet is an animated movie based off the documentary "March of the Penguins."  This movie is rated PG for some mild peril and rude humor.  If you happened to see "March of the Penguins," this parody will have you laughing at all of the jokes made about the penguins....but even if you didn't see the documentary, this is still a fantastic movie that the whol...