We just got back from doing our show live from the Luzerne County SPCA.  If you are looking to expand your family with something furry, this should be your first stop.

Right now the shelter has 256 animals (dogs, cats, birds, ferrets & turtles) all looking for good homes.

Puggles the Puggle could be yours!

If you can’t adopt, there’s many other ways to help.

Cash donations can be sent to:

The SPCA of Luzerne County
524 East Main St.
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702

(Make checks payable to:  The SPCA of Luzerne County)

It costs as much as $40/day to shelter one of these animals, so every penny helps!

“My name is Taco.  Can I be your friend?”

You can also help fill the SPCA’s wish list.

Cats:

Non-clumping Clay Cat Litter
Dry Adult Cat Food without Red Dye
Dry Kitten Chow

Dogs:

Dry Adult Dog Food without Red Dye
Canned Dog Food
New or gently used Kong Dog Toys
Collars & Leashes

Cleaning & Office Supplies:

Paper Towels
Bleach
Latex Gloves
6″ Paper Plates
Dish Detergent
Pet Shampoo without pesticides
55 Gallon Trash Bags

You can find the rest of the Wish List at www.spcaluzernecounty.org

Lissa just made a friend

If you would like to volunteer at the SPCA, please call 825.4111 or email:  spcaedu@epix.net.  Volunteers must be at least 18, however, children ages 13 and older may work with the animals if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at all times.

A few of the SPCA’s volunteers

And don’t forget about the SPCA Open HOWL-SE this Saturday, October 29 Noon to 3pm.

We urge you to get involved anyway you can.  You won’t be disappointed, and the animals could really use your help.

~Rock

Been awhile since I posted one of these.  But I found it hard to give a clue for this one-hit wonder without refrencing the visual of this group.  It was so ’60s psychadelic lollipop fantasy, I don’t know how else to put it! 

They looked like throwbacks, and their music track was made up entirely of samples from old songs – really old songs, including the theme song from Green Acres.  But they were innovators, putting DJ skills out in front of the band when David Guetta was still in diapers.  And they were recycling before green was trendy, turning real old school music from the likes of Bill Withers and Herbie Hancock into danceable grooves.  Sure everyone’s doing it now, but in 1990 it was still underground, mostly happening in the hip hop clubs and city parks in the Bronx.  And this is just a super-fun video!  Click here to watch:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4D1HSL7P98

I spent some time in Amish country on Saturday and holy good god. They still get around on horse and buggy! I’ve HEARD this was true, but I finally got to see it for myself and WOW. Talk about traditional … it’s kind of cool that they stick to what they believe in and stick to the traditions and all … but I felt like I traveled back in time.

Boyfriend and I went to meet up with his parents, who came for a dinner train at Strasburg Railroad. It was pretty awesome! We toured the train museum, boarded the train, and then got served dinner as we rode around. It was old fashioned and really yum!

I couldn’t get over the number of horse and buggy we saw … and had to sit behind (because you treat it like a car) on the road. The amish even go around selling “quillows” to the visitors … which I guess are quilts that fold into pillows. (I’m not gonna lie, I wish I was around when that guy came around bc that sounds like an enjoyable purchase.)

Sunday was spent doing some MUCH needed cleaning! It’s nice to finally see the floor again! Don’t you hate when it gets THAT bad?! Hope Monday’s treating you well! XO

After a few failed attempts and an “ok” batch . . . i’ve finally mastered making CAKE POPS! These babies are WAY more time consuming and expensive than baking cupcakes (which was my most recent baking obsession) but they are are so darn cute, I just couldn’t help myself from trying to make them again!

I did a ton of Google searches looking for the easiest directions as to HOW to do them and really, I feel like these people over-complicate it all. Instead, I chose trial and error and finally have my own system DOWN! If you want to try making cake pops for the upcoming holiday season, maybe a birthday, or for no reason at all. I’ll walk you through the process. (A few of you emailed me the last time I made them and wanted more information … here’s the rundown!)  If you have any tips for me – i’d LOVE to hear them! Amanda@985krz.com

Before you start – here’s what you need.

Cake mix. (These pops are so much work that I don’t both making my own mix)

A can of frosting (You’ll only end up using less than half … make sure the color goes with the cake, as you’ll be mixing them together!)

Melting chocolate (Michaels or AC Moore – you can choose from TONS of colors to go with whatever theme you are making!)

Sprinkles, candy (Whatever you want ON the cake pop … you could use crushed cookies, candy, sprinkles)

Cake pop sticks (You can get them at Michaels or AC Moore – there’s a whole cake pop section)

Wrappers ( You’ll need something to wrap them in once they are finished – they sell lollipop clear bags with twist ties … for Halloween I found spider bags!)

Styrofoam (You’ll need some sort of base to stick the cake pops into after you’ve dipped them in chocolate to dry standing up, so you don’t get flat tops like you would if you rest them on wax paper.)

NOW GET STARTED!

1. Bake the cake. Let cool.

2. Cut the cake up and add a few dollops of frosting. Mix together by hand, cover the cake, let chill in the fridge. (Leave it overnight)

3. Take an ice cream scooper or spoon and make 1.5inch balls of cake. It’s much easier to wear clear plastic gloves and make the balls by hand like meatballs, but do whatever works for you. Don’t make the cake balls too big, or they will fall off the stick. Put on wax paper.

4.) Dip the end of a cake pop stick in some melted chocolate (the kind that will harden after melting) and then insert into cake pop. (The chocolate acts as a glue) Do the entire batch and return to fridge for a little while.

5.) Dip cake pops in melted chocolate and decorate as you want! I’ve been sticking to sprinkles, but there are some CREATIVE things you can do with cake pops. Stand the stick up in a stryrofoam base to dry!

Check out lots of cake pop ideas here.  http://www.bakerella.com/category/pops-bites/cake-pops/

After I passed all of pops I made out to co-workers, I remembered I need a photo of them! ONE example! There were a bunch though … with orange chocolate, white chocolate, lots of different sprinkles! I’m going to get a little more creative for Christmas. I’m thinking SANTA and RUDOLF pops!

I got this phone call from my big brother Jason a year ago today:

Ben teaching Aunt Lissa to read

Ben's party! Sara & her parents are to the left – my bro (Jason) and our parents are to the right – YAY for young grandparents!

KISSES! (as with most men I kiss…..he looks relatively distracted)

MY FAVORITE PIC OF THE WEEKEND!

Me & my mommy

Ben, big brother Jason, Me, younger brother Andy – Ben looks like he's trying to get away, no?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDO!….your aunt's a doofus.

YAY for Friday!!! I’ve been meaning to tell you about a book I ride over vacation over a month ago, but it kept slipping my mind … and since I passed it on for someone else to read, I haven’t seen the cover until today when I happened to come across an article. Heaven is for Real is a New York Times Bestseller and literally gave me chills. Whether or not you are religious doesn’t really matter with this read.

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn’t know what to believe but soon realized that the boys stories were too vivid and realistic to be anything but a true account.

The boy said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before he was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how “reaaally big” God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit “shoots down power” from heaven to help us.

If you’re looking for a warm, thought-provoking book to read … I definitely suggest this one. There were times while reading it, I was in tears … others I got chills … and sometimes I had to just put it down and TELL SOMEONE ABOUT EVERYTHING I couldn’t believe I was reading. 

If you’ve already read it, i’d love to get a chat going. What did you think? Have you heard anyone else with a similar story?

At GAME 1 of the WORLD SERIES last night, Scotty McCreery sang “No Jose” instead of  “Oh Say” … (around the 1:20 mark)

He’s such a huge baseball fan … can you imagine how he must feel today? On another note, why can’t anyone sing the words correctly?!? It seems like every couple of weeks we’re talking about another celeb screwing up the lyrics to our NATIONAL ANTHEM!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! This is the best video i’ve seen all day. This poor girl is just jammin out, enjoying a Beyonce concert, when Beyonce comes over to her and shoves the mic in her face …. waiting for her to sing! The girl obviously doesn’t want to … begs “No I don’t want to sing!” and then does … and it’s awesome, because she clearly knows she can’t sing. Local bands do that ALL the time. You never sound quite as good on mic as you think you do SCREAMING along!

You know how sometimes you just want a guy to take his pocket knife and carve the word “MINE” in your ass cheek? ……No?….Hm…..Just me then…..

Well, me and Rihanna (it’ll make sense when you see the video for “We Found Love”, released this morning). She was just declared “Sexiest Woman Alive” by Esquire magazine (hell, I’ve been saying that for years) and this is my beloved Bajan at her best – a gorgeous tapestry of art, sexuality, and music. It’s a bit pulp, but if you know and love Rihanna as I do, you’ll dig it….

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http://www.985krz.com/pages/11081257

You HAVE to see the new entries in the Pregnant Pumpkin Pageant! We posted 15 new bellies today and they are AMAZING! The deadline to submit an entry is FRIDAY! Voting continues until next week!