Fab Friday Faves 11.29.13

 Good Morning all my little turkey eaters!  I hope all of my American readers had a fantastic Thanksgiving with lots of friends, family and food.  We had Josh's work Thanksgiving party last night, and it turned out pretty well.  It was at the Marriot Hotel and was their normal dinner buffet but it was free!  We all love free food!  I also met some lovely people and ate A LOT of dessert.  On Sunday I will be cooking up the big traditional Thanksgiving spread for some of Josh's coworkers and a couple other friends.  I am up so early today, not only to post this, but I am hoping the crowd reading this from back in the USA can help me with something.  Since I am in Peru, obviously I do most of my shopping online.  Especially for Christmas presents that I have sent to friends and family back home.  Since I am relatively new to the whole Black Friday/ Cyber Monday scene, I am wondering: Which day really has better online deals?  Should I do it all today or wait until Monday?  Please help!  I know I found some amazing deals in Anchorage last year on Black Friday but that was all in person.

Alright, Them moment you have all been waiting for!  My Fab Friday Fives Black Friday Edition!  There is really nothing special that makes it a Black Friday Edition, but regardless, here they are.  Everyone have a fantastic Friday and please go out and do some crazy bargain shopping for me!

1.  Mittens from my Grandma. When I went home in July, I had taken a couple bags of Alpaca wool with me, hoping that my darling grandma Evelyn would make me a nice set of mittens (for someday when I am back to the land of snow and ice and actually need them!)  Well she didn't disappoint! She sent me this photo a few days ago. Gorgeous!  And I actually went out yesterday and bought more so she can knit me a matching scarf too ;)  Thanks Grandma, because I know you read this!  <3

2.  Tampon bag.  I went out to get some of the essentials from the grocery store the other day, and stumbled upon this in the "Feminine Hygiene" aisle.  Isn't it too cute?  Owls make everything adorable. I have been very impressed with the South American tampon brand "Nosotras" and their fun little holders.  I also have a cute little tin holder with shoes on it!

3. Tanya style advent Calendar.  So, This isn't mine, and I didn't come up with the idea, but it is my dream "Big Girl" Advent calendar.  Not that I can drink a bottle of wine a day, but I could save what I can't drink right?

4.  Grey Cup Champs!  This probably should have been the first thing on my list, but I know I have talked about it A LOT!  My home province SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS won the cup last Sunday to to hometown crowd.  I have never been more proud.  All my friends had the greatest time for the days leading up to and the day of at Riderville in Regina.  It makes me so proud to be from Saskatchewan.  Read this to try to understand what this is all about, it sums up my feelings perfectly It's Not Just About Football.

5. Ferrero Rocher Nutella Milkshake.  Josh wanted to try the new milkshake place down the street on Sunday, so I headed there with him.  They honestly have every kind of milkshake you could ever come up with.   I love milkshakes, but they really make my tummy hurt so I just tried Josh's and WOW, it was like a little taste of heaven in my mouth!

Today I am linking up with:

Lauren @ the Lauren Elizabeth

Jennie  @The Diary of a Real Housewife

An American Thanksgiving in Peru

Even though I'm not technically American, I am now a permanent resident of the good ol' USA, and as such, I feel like it is now my duty to celebrate Thanksgiving!  I had planned to spend the day cooking and baking for some of the guys at Josh's work that have wives back in the States and I was pretty excited, not gonna lie!  But, the client at Josh's work planned a dinner at the Marriot so we will be headed to that when Josh gets home and I will be doing the big meal for the guys on the weekend, again I am probably over excited to cook.

I hope everyone back in the Land of the Free, is counting their blessings right now, for everything that they have been given in their lives.  It should not happen only one day a year, but especially today please take time to appreciate the gifts, and love and happiness that we have been given that we take for granted.

I have so much to be thankful for in my life that I don't even know where to begin.  My amazing family, who are always there for me, no matter what.  I have truly been blessed to have everyone looking out for me and doing everything they can to help me and make me feel that even though we are far away, we haven't been forgotten.  I was also blessed with an amazing set of inlaws that have taken me in and show that I am loved like I am their own.
My fantastic friends, who are also always there for me.  Old ones that have been with me since I was a child, and new ones that I have met in the last few years, or even as recently as a few weeks.  Again, no matter how far away we are, they go out of their way to make sure I am okay and reassure me that everything is going to be okay!
I am blessed that I am able to travel the world with my husband who is the hardest working, most loyal man I know.  I could not do any of this with out him beside me.  We get to see things that I never thought I would get to and have so many new experiences together that I will never forget.
I also have the greatest fur babies ever.  They keep me company, and make spending the day at home cuddling when I am sick, or grumpy or lonely so much more enjoyable.  I know this will be Jinx's last Thanksgiving with us, so I am extra thankful to have him today.

There are so many more things that I am blessed to have in this life, but those are the most important.  Again, please take the time to celebrate your gifts today.  I see everyday how lucky we are and how little some people in the world have, yet they are still so happy and make the most out of what they do have.

Enjoy your turkey and time with your family and don't take for granted one minute of it! Next year, you may not have all of those people to celebrate with, or you may be far away from the ones you love, and trust me, you will wish you had all of those moments back!

A Little Bit Better Banana Bread

Everybody loves a good banana bread right?  I know  I always have, but for some reason I hardly ever make it.  Partly because there are a million recipes out there and I never know what one to use, or if I should add things to it etc.  I have been baking for many years, but never been comfortable enough to experiment much in fear of messing up a huge batch of something.  I finally bit the bullet and decided I would try to take a regular banana bread and make it a little bit healthier and more exciting without making it awful.  So, I started small making just a few little changes, and maybe next time I will go a little bit crazier!

A Little Bit Better Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 maka powder (this is not enough to change the taste if you are not a maca fan)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter (I was out of applesauce or I would have substituted it for the butter)
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup pecans chopped fine (I roasted mine, but not necessary)
• 6 mashed medium overripe bananas (I used 10 little mini peruvian bananas but I think its about the equivalent)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. 
2. In a large bowl, combine flours, maca powder, rolled oats, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter, greek yogurt and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten, do not over-mix. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about and hour, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto counter.
5. enjoy while it is still warm with some butter or something healthier like peanut butter or nutella.  Try not to eat it all because it is even better the next day!

A Little Piece of Home

In honor of the amazing Grey Cup win last night, by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, I have decided to show everyone a little bit of Saskatchewan.  It is one of my favorite places and where I grew, and were I still spend a lot of my time when I am home.  Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park is on Lake Diefenbaker, part of the South Saskatchewan River.  It's not that much, but it is home, and holds a million memories for me of family, friends and great times!  The last couple years, since I started running, this has been my favorite place to lace up my sneakers and head out in the morning.  Not a person in sight and just the calm water and beautiful sunrise.  When I was a kid, my grandparents would pack up the motor home and take the grandkids out for a week in the summer, now as an adult, my parents have started taking their camper down there for 3 weeks or so in the summer too.  Always a nice fire in the evening to enjoy and rain at night.

The next few pictures are from a party boat trip we took for my moms birthday in July 2012.

Over the years, there has gotten to be more and more wildlife.  Lots of fish, snails, frogs, deer, moose, beaver and many different kind of birds.  The cows don't really count but they are always amusing.

as well as beautiful plants.

My family and I love to ride our bikes along the trails on the warm summer evenings.

About 10 years ago they opened up some new trails to walk and run on as well.  

My favorite thing to do is hang out on the beach, whether it be to suntan, or wander along the shore looking for driftwood and treasures.

Some of the history of the Landing is also interesting.  From the Natives that once lived here to the ancient animals that lived here when the valley was formed during the ice age.  

fossils

lichen on a rock

pioneer farm equipment

native gravesites

 Jesse and I have spent many, many hours at the mini-golf located at the Marina . Love mini-golf!

Especially right now, I am proud to be from Saskatchewan and love where I came from!  The many years I spent exploring the valley have made me love this area so much.  It's like a little oasis in the middle of the prairie!

The skies in Saskatchewan are the biggest and most beautiful in the world.

   I will be spending the next three days planning and preparing for our American Thanksgiving feast.  It is the first time I will have ever done it for anyone other than Josh and I as we are having some of Josh's coworkers over that don't have their wives here.  They are all big, hungry men so it should be interesting!  I have a recipe to share tomorrow so stop back in then.  Everyone enjoy their day!