Design: Bowling

Happy 2018! Last year went by so quickly and so far 2018 is following the same trend. The spouses' club here is still rockin' and rollin'. This month we will be going bowling for our monthly social. I enjoy bowling because, especially around other ladies, I tend to do pretty well. But it's fun regardless of how well I bowl.

I am having some difficulty with finding graphics that I like enough to use. I started off using Shutterstock and found a TON of great images. But then I had an issue with their website and renewing my account. Then I tried another stock images site and I did not like it as much. I did find the below image, but it was more of a struggle to find something I liked there. Right now I do not subscribe to any other stock photo sites. I will try my luck finding free images through Google for a while until I can't stand it anymore. 

Soft Gingerbread Cookies (Vegan-style)

I love reading, but mainly Kindle books which makes me unusual among other readers (at least the impression I get from my book club is that they prefer real books). For this past month's book, we read Washington's Spies. I thought it sounded interesting since I enjoy history, but for some reason this book fell flat with me. But, as usual, I gave it a try and finished it in time for our book club meeting.

This month I hosted book club at my house. When I host, I like to cook and bake. It's just part of hosting, in my opinion. One of our regulars follows a vegan diet which proves to be slightly challenging when I menu plan. But luckily I was able to come up with a couple options that were pretty tasty.

For a sweet treat, I baked soft gingerbread cookies. I have made them before, but not a vegan version, so I was a little nervous about how they would turn out. They came out great! Maybe a little too good because I can't stop eating them!

To make them vegan, I substitute coconut oil for the butter and a flax seed mixture for the egg. Easy as pie...well, cookies. Here's the original recipe if you want it: One Little Project.

Dressember 2017

Back in 2015, I was introduced to Dressember by my friend Ciara. Dressember is a campaign that challenges participants to wear a dress every day for the month of December to raise awareness for human trafficking and sex slavery. The last time I participated I didn't participate in the official Dressember by creating a page through their site to raise money, but instead encouraged my friends and family to donate to Project Rescue which also works to help victims of sex slavery.

This year I decided to participate fully in Dressember and created a page where family and friends could donate. It's a unique way to highlight something that is so prevalent and needs to be stopped. I hope my small efforts will impact lives around the world.

Design: Christmas Party

We have now been at this base for a whole year. Man, has it gone by fast! I got plugged in with the Spouses' Club right away by attending the Christmas party. It was so much fun and I'm looking forward to this year's event.

Design: Cookie Drive

Do you remember last year when I shared about an event called Cookie Crunch? Well, it's that time of year again! Our current base calls it "Shower (Base) with Cookies!" We are in the process of gathering volunteers to help with the loading, unloading and packaging of the thousands of cookies that the town collects. It's such a fun cause! Last year we had just arrived when they were doing this event so I did not volunteer, but I am hoping to help out this year.

Design: Pumpkin Spice Bunco

I will be hosting Bunco again this month. I immediately thought of Pumpkin Spice as a theme. If you happen to be a fan of Brant Hansen, you may agree that pumpkin spice is all hype and that no one actually likes it--Contrived scarcity and fear of missing out. I will admit that it's not something that I would want to consume all year round, but a little bit around this time of year is enough for me. I've enjoyed a few pumpkin spice lattes and such.

Hosting will also give me a reason to make Upside Down Pumpkin Cake! I was introduced to this dish back when we lived in Ohio. I attended a work party and my boss' boss brought it. It is incredibility delicious and moist. Plus it's super easy to make. If does use a boxed cake mix. If you've been following me so a while you'll know I'm not a huge fan of boxed cake mixes. The last couple of times I've made this dish I was able to find mixes that don't have a lot of junk in them. Hopefully I'll have that same luck again.

 

Design: Oktoberfest Bunco extras

Oktoberfest Bunco was a big hit! We enjoyed our German dishes of potato salad, schnitzel, apple strudel and more. Beer flights were consumed. Photos taken and, of course, Bunco played. Sadly I did not walk away with any of the amazing prizes, but it was fun nonetheless.

Because I love when pieces from an event match, I offered to create score cards and such to have that night. I wanted to share them with you!

Score cards. We played two games, but this could be expanded for more game play.

These are the rules we followed. I've seen different variations from club to club.

We could have just used note pads, but I thought this would be a nice added touch.

I cannot take credit for this design. The social chair found one similar and asked if I could recreate it. I changed it up just slightly so there would be a little contrast with fonts. The original had all the wording in the Oktoberfest-style font.