Friday 5s: Five Reasons to Love Living in NEPA

For this week's Friday 5s we are traveling up to North East Pennsylvania (aka NEPA) and checking out 5 reasons why blogger Leslie loves living there!

 

Me at Ricketts Glen

For those who don’t know, I live in Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania, which is a part of Northeastern Pennsylvania, or NEPA. We call it NEPA… don’t ask us why. I compiled 5 good reasons why I am blessed to live here!

1. Abundant Nature! I live near beautiful state parks, forests, waterfalls, and hiking trails. I am in the middle of so much nature. My friend owns a pumpkin patch for crying out loud! Mark and I hike trails at Rickett’s Glen State Park and go camping (Well, LARPing…) at Hickory Run State Park. I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful nature filled area. Part of me thinks I’m a city girl, but my heart loves being close to the forest.

2. The Farmer’s Market on Thursday. I love going out to the Public Square and seeing a showcase of local farmers peddling their produce. I tend to buy squash, corn, green beans, tomatoes and onions every week. My sister and I like to go out together on our break from work. They sell big yellow sunflowers, shoo fly pie, apple doughnuts, and loads more. It’s a fantastic way to get your weekly groceries without having to pay to have them flown in from California and Florida, while supporting the local economy.

3. The PA Renaissance Faire. I mean it is where Mark and I got engaged after all! It’s theme park meets history. You can walk amongst the nobility and the peasants of 16th century England and even rub elbows with the Royal Court. There are dastardly pirates, a delicious winery, and even a joust to end the day.

4. Roba’s Corn Maze! Every fall, my family and I go to a big corn maze and run around in the brisk autumn air trying to make our way to the end. We bring a delicious picnic consisting of apple cider and other autumn essentials as well. It’s the perfect way to kick off the autumn season, get excited for Halloween, and spend time with the family. Plus this year, my niece gets to try it for the very first time!

5. NEPA BlogCon! I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my blogging conference project. NEPA BlogCon is a day long conference where me and my cohorts (Karla, Mandy and Michelle) gather the best and brightest in social media and blogging for the educational event of the year. It’s Northeast PA’s only blogging conference and loads of fun to plan and attend. Check out the website, why don’t you! NEPABlogCon.com

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Today's Friday 5s post comes from North East Blogger Leslie, who writes over at Leslie IRL.  Leslie resides in NEPA and blogs about geek girl culture, cats and food, just to name a few.

Rebecca's Run

Hi North East Bloggers!  Today's post is a little different because I want to share something with you guys about one of our fellow North East Bloggers- Rebecca.  First of all, Rebecca is the fabulous person who did our $30 etsy shop give away a few weeks ago and writes on the blog Caravan Sonnet.

Rebecca's sister Emily recently created a special fundraiser for her called Rebecca's Run.  This purpose of this is to raise money for her many treatments for her diagnoses of Chronic Lymes Disease and Cancer.  All proceeds from this race will go towards Rebecca's treatments.

Rebecca's Run is a Virtual Race!!  

You might be wondering what that is so here is all the info you need to know:

A virtual race is a race just like any other, except that there is no "official" race location, only a designated race location. A virtual race provides the opportunity for anyone to participate no matter where you live. A virtual race allows you to simply register for the race and then run during the designated race weekend (October 11th-13th, 2013) when you want and where you want(outside, indoor track, treadmill, or participate in another race. After you have completed your race email in the results when you're done (email to: rebeccasrun@gmail.com). All the results will be compiled for each category (1/2 marathon, 10k, 5k, and walk opportunity) and results will be posted on this website after the race is over. We welcome any pictures or stories to accompany your weekend- please use #rebeccasrun in any social media context !

How to participate:

In order to participate all you need to do is register for the race, run it at any point during the weekend of October 11-13th, 2013, and then email your results NO LATER THAN midnight (EST) Sunday, October 13th, 2013 if you would like to be included in the winner standings.

So, no matter where you live you can participate!  I hope you take a moment to consider joining Rebecca's race!  

Click here to go to the website about the race, read more info and/or register!

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Blog of the Week: Planned in Pencil

This week's blog of the week is PJ who writes over at the blog Planned in Pencil!  PJ has a super cute new blog design she is ready to show off to the world!  Meet PJ:

Remember when you were little, and you had a plan.

A life plan.

Married by 21.

Kids by 25.

Somewhere along the way a house, a good job, maybe a dog.

Well, this is what happens when life doesn't quite turn out the way you plan.

Remember folks, if you ever want to make God laugh tell Him your plans.

It all started back in 1999 when PJ started a new school.  That very first day she noticed a very cute Senior; and then spent the next 4 months kind of stalking him.... just a little.

Interestingly enough in December that stalking paid off and the first date occurred.  A really cool friendship blossomed, and then a really cool relationship.  A quiet boy and a rambunctious girl fell in love.

Mr. T graduated and patiently waited two years for PJ to finish up with school.  Well perhaps not so patiently because that was an engagement ring on her finger at Senior Prom. 

A few months after her graduation they tied the knot and settled down.  Mr. T joined the Navy and for the next 8 years they lived a military lifestyle.  Until quite unexpectedly that ended and so they packed up and moved home.

Along the way they made friends, adopted dogs, had adventures, went on road trips, laughed.... a lot.

This is our life, it's not going exactly the way we planned... but it's okay because we Plan in Pencil!

Be sure to check our PJs blog and say hi and leave her some comment love!!

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Blog of the Week is randomly selected by the blog administrators, however if you would like to be chosen please let us know!