October 2018 Ultimate Blog Challenge
Oh my gosh it’s here, the October 2018 Ultimate Blog Challenge and I can’t wait to reconnect with my blogger friends that have participated in the past and to welcome any new bloggers to the AWESOME challenge! Does anyone else feel like the past few months since the July Challenge FLEW by? I have been so busy and now I’m ready to get back on track! Before I begin, I would like to thank the host, Paul for organizing and keeping this challenge fun.
I’m going to give you a run down of what has gone on in my live since July. Sadly on August 6th, we lost our beloved toy poodle. Marty was 16 years old, we got him as a pup and was like one of our children. The good thing, Marty had a great life but the past few years was going downhill, he was deaf, partially blind and couldn’t walk too far. Marty passed away peacefully in his bed and he’s now at the Rainbow Bridge waiting until we meet again.
http://themarthareview.com/memories-of-marty/
You may remember I started my healthy eating plan the beginning of July and I’m STILL DOING GREAT WITH IT!! I have lost about 15 pounds with my new eating plan and have made some delicious and healthy meals. At the end of July I had planned on adding an exercise routine into my healthy living plan, but unfortunately that didn’t materialize. BUT I’M NOT GIVING UP, I will start it this month for sure! This is an update I wrote in August.
http://themarthareview.com/healthy-eating-plan-update/
But wait until you see what I made as a treat since I cut out most sweets. I made organic Almond Joy bars and are they delicious! They are so rich I can only eat half a bar at a time.
http://themarthareview.com/organic-almond-joy-bars/
The most exciting news was on August 23th, hubby and I became GREAT GRANDPARENTS for the 5th time! Princess Lia Faith Brunson was born at 12:40 AM after a long 18 hours but our granddaughter did awesome. Lia has been a happy baby from day one with the most beautiful smile. You can be sure I’ll be writing updates on this big event. These are two of my favorite photos of Lia Faith, the first is when she is about 10 minutes old, the smiling face is when she was 5 days old. One thing about grammas and GREAT grammas, we have bragging rights!
http://themarthareview.com/the-miracle-of-birth/
On September 12, Hurricane Florence was barreling down with a direct hit looking like it would come right into the North Carolina/South Carolina border, right were we live. At the last-minute it turned and came in about 60 miles north near Wilmington, NC but then she turned back south and headed towards us! It then squiggle around, headed inland with major flooding in both SC and NC. Roads are still closed in areas, houses are covered in water up to their rooftops and schools have been closed for almost three weeks. With roads closed, there is no way for people from one town to get to another, it’s like we are all little islands. The sub-division where we live did not have flooding but just a mile from us, the flooding was unreal. This is just one of many sub-divisions that are totally underwater. There are no roads, just water everywhere.
Photo credit: WMBF First Alert Weather.
There is one more big announcement to make but I will save that for a blog in itself. I just want to welcome everyone back plus welcome any new members. Let the October 2018 Blog Challenge begin!!
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Hi Martha,
I’m a returning UBC bloggers as well. Do we know each other? Trying to remember! I didn’t participate every day.
Thanks for the big welcome back! If I don’t know you, I feel as if I do now! Thanks for the updates and those Organic Almond Joy Bars look terrific!
Amy
Hi Amy, I think we have passed each other on previous UBC and glad to see you back again! If you make the Organic Almond Joy bars, I’d love to hear what you think about that! Blog on!!
Your 5th Great granddaughter has the loveliest smile. Its a beautiful picture.I am happy to join you for this season of UBC.The flooding looks scary.
Thanks Amrita, I am so in love with our little Princess. Glad to see you back in the challenge!
Congratulations, Martha! What a joy a new grand is… 🙂
And so sad to say goodbye to a beloved pet. We had one dog in our life (from a puppy to 14 years old) and now just dog-sit other people’s pets so they can enjoy their time away, and we can get a dose of doggy-love!
Thanks Lori, while we had to say goodbye to our pup, we had joy a few weeks later with Lia. Dog sitting is something we may have to look into! Thanks for visiting!
Welcome back to the Ultimate Blog Challenge! Always a pleasure hosting it when we have participants like you, Martha! I look forward to reading your posts (as usual!)
Awww, thanks Paul! I will be blogging about a BIG announcement soon. I’m excited to see so many new challenge members joining in this quarter!
First, congratulations on the new baby and the weight loss! Second, I am sorry for the passing of your poodle. The photo of the flooding is incredulous, I cannot even fathom that.
Thanks Trish, Lia is so precious! The weight loss wasn’t planned but I’ll take it! I’m looking forward to this challenge once again!
That baby is so precious! <3 I am excited for the challenge. This is my first time do this! Hope I'll be able to keep up.
Welcome to the challenge Angel, it’s so exciting! I started in January 2016 and have completed every challenge since then. Some days been a real challenge but I didn’t give up! I just have to keep my eyes on the keys instead of Lia! LOL Thanks for stopping by and blog on!!
Great post and congrats on being a great grandmother!
Thanks Mary, you probably remember I love to brag about my grandchildren and GREAT grands! Lia is our 5th GREAT grand and we have 2 more that will arrive the beginning of next year!! Thanks for visiting and enjoy the challenge once again!
Martha, congratulations once again on your darling Lia! She is totally adorable… Looking forward to the challenge to reconnect, make new friends, and for the challenge itself
Hi Vidya, I’m looking forward to your blogs also and I’ve even read a book!! I will blog about that soon. I need to take my eyes of Lia just a little bit so I can blog! Thanks for visiting and look forward to chipping away the month, one day at a time.
You have had a challenging last few months in some ways. I pinned and shared the organic Almond Joy bars; I’m on Weight Watchers so will have to figure out the SmartPoints on them – they sound delicious. I might have to dial down the sweetness just a little. But welcome back to the Challenge – and your granddaughter has the sweetest smile!
Glad to re-connect with you again Alana! I usually tweak recipes to my taste or change the ingredients that fit my plan. They are delicious, let me know if you make some! Looking forward to reading and writing many more blogs.
What’s the challenge–just to post *some*thing every day?
Adorable baby smile picture, anyway!
Hi Priscilla, you just post a blog everyday for the month of October. Paul sends out a daily suggested topic but I usually come up with my own topics. Someone has to be different! LOL I am so in love with Lia and her smile.
I have been reading out some of your stories and i
can claim clever stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.