The mountain top city in Florida

Mt. Dora is a small little quaint town that's on the water and great for an afternoon out. I love to visit new places and explore what else is around me. This city was very different, Ryan and I both agreed that it was like we had stepped back in time, most of the buildings were built in the 1800's. The downtown are is full of art and specialty shops along with quite a few coffee bars and tons of restaurants. We looked at every one's menus before choosing The Lost Parrot. Most of the restaurants seemed like they were for lunch with the dinner choices being a little upscale and on the water, which would be perfect for a sunset meal.

I did a lot of research on what there was do do in Mt. Dora. What caught my eye was the steam train ride. After reading that it was not air conditioned we decided to wait to try it out when it gets cooler outside. It sounds like fun to enjoy the countryside of Florida.

This town is known for its arts and crafts fair in late October. Their website says over 300,000 people come and visit each year just for this event. One of my favorite fall activities is going to craft fairs so I will defiantly be checking that out. It was a perfect afternoon out, only a 25 minute trip each way.

Old movie theater off the main road

This was hand carved on the bottom of a storefront 

Little shops all connected through a beautiful alley 

Huge houses along the water

Loved the old window covers on the restaurant 

Lake Dora lighthouse 

Old buildings in downtown are now full of restaurants and shops

Loved this sign outside of a bar

Ryan Ruddy, M.S.C.J.

My husband Ryan has done it. He is officially done with grad school! After turning in his last theory paper and receiving an A- he can finally relax and not worry about school (for at least a year.)

3 schools later and a masters in criminal justice from The University of Cincinnati, one of the top online CJ schools is pretty amazing. Lots of hours in the books and many days of staying home and studying have paid off. 

What's next? Focus on work and studying for the GRE. Getting his doctorate is the next goal and I have all the confidence in the world that he can accomplish that too!

Easy homemade dip

I made a combination of spinach & artichoke and guacamole dip the other day. I didn't have all the ingredients for one whole recipe so I mixed the 2 together and came up with something really awesome. Besides the cream cheese for flavor it's pretty healthy.

Ingredients:
cream cheese
artichokes
spinach
avocado

Mix what ever size portions you want in a food processor, blend together until smooth. Pretty easy to make and clean up and is really good for an afternoon snack.

Chips and homemade dip

Sooo good with salty chips

Only thing not pictured: cream cheese

First cup of pumpkin coffee this year

Barnie's officially has pumpkin coffee! While in the mall yesterday I was very tempted to get myself a cup after walking past it several times. I finally decided I'd get a small to try it out. They do not have syrup yet so it was just their coffee poured over ice. I didn't care for it very much or the price of $4. I know all pumpkin should taste the same, but this just didn't taste like my favorite pumpkin flavor...Starbucks.

Oh well, at least I can say I've had my first cup of the season. So that means I can start decorating for fall now right? I've already got ideas in my head and a shelf full of decorations waiting to be put up!

Three

I'm very happy that it is Friday because this is my 11th day of working (between 2 jobs) and I'm ready for a much needed break tomorrow. My plans for the weekend are to relax and get some sun at the springs. As I was walking out of Universal one day this week I got a great panorama of the lagoon and entrance to the parks. Ryan picked up a little duck and he is fitting right in with the family. Newton thinks that he is a dog and follows Barney around and even drinks out of the dogs water bowls.

Finally, yesterday I worked the American Idol Live concert at Amway. I didn't watch one episode of this past season and didn't even know who the winner was. They sang mainly covers so I knew every song. Their performances were not stellar, let's leave it at that.

Entrance into the parks

Newton, the duck

American Idol contestants