Sweeps4Bloggers Bathrobe & Gain Laundry Giveaway ((ENDED))

*THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED*

Valerie from Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away an awesome, helpful prize. A wonderful looking bathrobe and some awesome smelling gain laundry products!

I think my husband is a bigger fan of bathrobes than I am. I only wear mine in the winter, when I'm absolutely freezing and want to be snuggled up. My husband wears his all year long. He loves fluffy robes! He will probably enjoy the robe more than I would.

As for the laundry products, I am the one who does all the laundry and while I try to go cheap, I also try and get what smells good. Gain is definitely a product that smells so good! Laundry is a chore I have every week. With just the two of us, I can usually do about 2-3 loads a week, and that's all that I need to do. Laundry detergent and fabric softener is not always cheap, so winning some and getting some free, would definitely help financially and help our clothes to smell amazing!

To enter this contest, visit the link below. Follow the rules to enter this contest. Please GO QUICKLY because this contest ends 7/2! You only have a couple more days to enter this contest!

Sweeps4Bloggers Bathrobe & Gain Laundry Giveaway

Twitter Wins & Thank You's Part 5

Here are some more pictures and thank you's from my twitter wins.

I have won a few different prizes from Dove, and recently I won another one! I absolutely love Dove products. The smell, the way they work, and the generosity of the Dove twitter company! I won some Dove Nourishing Oil Care Shampoo & Conditioner! I hope to soon do a review on them because I love them! Thank you Dove! To follow Dove on twitter, visit the link below the picture.



Dove

I won an Axe pack from Kitten Lounge, and because of some server errors, I also received a Schick pack from the same company! That was so unbelievably nice of them! The Schick Pack included two razors and two cans of shaving cream. The Axe Pack included the new Axe Excite products. A body wash, two deodorants (one dry and one gel), and of course a body spray. Plus it also came with an awesome travel bathroom bag! Thank you so much Kitten Lounge. My husband very much loves the prizes I won for him! And I love him clean shaven and smelling good! To follow Kitten Lounge on twitter, visit the link below the two pictures!





Kitten Lounge

I love my husband and I love that he wears Axe products. They smell amazing. I won some awesome goodies from the Axe twitter. I won two containers of the Buzzed Look Cream for Crew Cut hair. They also threw in some extra awesome goodies! We also got Refreshing Mint Shampoo, which suprisingly smells amazing and the smell lasts all day! We also received a Thai Massage Body Wash! It's different, but still smells awesome. Thank you so much Axe, I appreciate it so much and hubby loves all the stuff! To follow Axe on twitter, visit the link below the two pictures.





Axe

My last recent win, was from the Subway twitter! For tweeting for Footlong Friday and mentioning a friend who should try the Orchard Chicken Salad Footlong, I won a gift card from Subway! I love subway, and can't wait to go get the hubby and I some lunch, or dinner, whenever we are in the mood for it! Yum! And subway is so healthy, which makes this a win win all around! Thank you so much subway! To follow subway on twitter click the link below the picture!



Subway

One last thank you to all of these awesome companies for these amazing wins! I appreciate each and every thing that I receive!

Sweeps4Bloggers Monopoly Disney Pixar Cars 2 Edition Giveaway ((ENDED))

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My husband and I are big Disney Pixar fans. While my favorite so far is Up, my husband's favorite of all time, is Cars. He is SO excited for Cars 2 to come out. While we probably won't see it on opening night, or even opening week, we definitely plan to see it in theaters at some point.

I've always been a big Monopoly fan. It's a long game, but when you have the time to sit down and play it, it's loads of fun. My husband is not as big of a fan of monopoly, but he plays it with me every now and then.

Valerie from Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away a Cars 2 Edition of Monopoly! Big win win for hubby and I! Plus our siblings, our nephew, and our future children will also enjoy this game if we would win it!

There will be only one winner of this giveaway, so while I want to tell you to stay away and don't enter so that I have more chance of winning, I can't do that to Valerie. So please visit the link below and follow the rules to enter this contest. This giveaway ends 6/25.

Sweeps4Bloggers Monopoly Disney Pixar Cars 2 Edition Giveaway

Father's Day 2011

Father's Day is a difficult day for me some years. My dad was missing from my life from about age 9 until age 18. During that time we didn't talk a whole ton, and we didn't have much of a close relationship. During the past 4 years or so that my dad has been back in my life, I have still had trouble building up a relationship. Things are awkward and distant still. Along with that, his health has slowly gotten worse and worse. He is not quite 50 yet and I worry how long he will still be around.

Most conversations and visits with my dad are quiet, and very awkward. When I called my dad to wish him happy father's day yesterday, I didn't expect much difference. While things were awkward at first, I just kinda quit thinking about it and tried to talk about just whatever I could think of. It ended up being about an hour long phone call. It was still kinda of quiet, with awkward silent pauses here and there, but it seemed to be an improvement from past conversations.

We just mainly talked about what's going on in each other's lives over the past month or two since we have last talked. With him, there's never really anything new. With me, I just told him what I've been up to recently, between attending and planning birthday parties, babysitting, cleaning house, and so on.

On a better note, we had James' parents and siblings over for dinner for father's day. James made some delicious barbeque chicken on the grill and I made perogies and green beans to go along with it. The meal was a good success. Everyone found it very delicious, and sometimes his family seems hard to please, so I was glad to see that they all enjoyed it. We got to enjoy time on the back porch in the decent weather, and we played xbox kinect games for a while too. So yesterday wasn't too terribly bad.

Sweeps4Bloggers Miss Lucy's Monograms Weekender Tote Giveaway ((ENDED))

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This is a cute girly giveaway from Valerie at Sweeps4Bloggers. Miss Lucy is a company of cute monogrammed pieces! A fun fact about the Miss Lucy company: The company is named after their cute rescued puppy mill dog, which they named Lucy!

The prize for this giveaway is the large weekender tote! It's a large quilted bag, that comes in many different colors. It looks large enough to be an oversized purse, an overnight bag, a diaper bag, a briefcase, a beach bag, or whatever you can imagine to use it for! I always have a need for different sized bags, and what girl doesn't love bags!

This contest ends 6/25 and there will be only one winner. To enter the contest, visit the link below and follow the rules to enter.

Sweeps4Bloggers Miss Lucy's Monograms Weekender Tote Giveaway

Leslie Loves Veggies Vitalicious Super Samplers Pack Giveaway ((ENDED))

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Leslie from Leslie Loves Veggies is holding a delicious, guilt free giveaway. Vitalicious brand snacks, are healthy baked goods! There are brownies and muffins and muffin tops and all kinds of delicious goodies! Being healthy and low calories, just makes them even more awesome!

The Super Sampler Pack that Leslie is giving away, has so many awesome goodies! It includes brownies and muffin tops and YUM! So many flavors, and so much variety!

This giveaway ends 6/24. To enter, visit the first link below and follow the rules and enter this delicious giveaway! There will be only one winner of this giveaway, so good luck to you all. To visit the Vitalicious website, just follow the second link below and check out all they have to offer!

Leslie Loves Veggies Vitalicious Super Sampler Pack Giveaway

Vitalicious

Sweeps4Bloggers ScareMeNot Plush Toy Giveaway! ((ENDED))

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Little children are usually scared of monsters under their bed or in their closet at some point in their young life. I know my sister in law (who is only 6), came home from school saying the kids all told her that there is such thing as monsters. So my mother in law talked her into saying she has a monster under her bed, which is her cat. Her cat likes to hide under her bed and jump out at peoples feet! So now she tells everyone at school that she has a monster under her bed, but that she's not scared of this monster. So being afraid of something, is all part of childhood and growing up.

Valerie from Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away a cute stuffed monster toy, that is supposed to help children not be afraid of monsters. These toys show monsters in a new light. They look cute and adorable and cuddly. Not scary. This way they have their own cute monsters and hopefully will help them not be afraid of any supposed monsters under their bed or in their closets or whatnot. Also, these cute little monster toys have adorable names like Protector Patty!

There will be one winner of this contest, and it ends on 6/18. To enter, please visit the link, and as always, follow the rules.

Sweeps4Bloggers ScareMeNot Plush Toy Giveaway

James' 23rd Birthday!

Yesterday was my wonderful husband James' birthday. It turned out to be a great party, and a good day for both of us.

We got up early in the morning, because we still had quite a bit of cleaning and such to get done. I started off the morning by making my love double chocolate chip mini muffins for breakfast! He loves muffins, he loves mini muffins, he loves chocolate, and he definitely loved me for making them for him!

After breakfast, we did all our housework and stuff. Dishes, shower, cleaning the bathroom, cutting up vegetables, preparing foods, filling coolers, and on and on and on.

The party started about 1pm and went pretty good. James' mom and siblings came, my mom, stepdad, sisters and nephew, both sets of James' grandparents, and my grandma attended the party. James' dad was very late, but still came for a bit later.

We visited for a while, then James cooked on the grill for us, and we ate lots of yummy food, then talked for a while, then had desserts, then gifts, and more visiting! Apparently some of the grandparents were grumpy, but they got over it and it was still an enjoyable party.

Things went very well at the party. I was not overly stressed like I normally would have been. The nephew crying and upset did not bother me too much, and the younger sibling running around like a crazy woman was not horrible. The wrestling and horseplay between some of the boys somewhat bothered me, but the nephew kept me busy so I didn't worry about it as much, so that was good.

Once everyone left, James and I sat on the back deck in the rain for a few minutes just talking about how the day had gone and how today would go. Then we relaxed on the couch, something we hadn't done in a while, and just watched tv before heading to bed.

James said he had a nice birthday party and I for once had people over to the house without stressing too much. James got lots of gift cards for his birthday and also a season of South Park that he was missing. James was happy, I was happy, and it was a wonderful birthday for my love.

One bad thing, is that I did not get any pictures at the party at all. That makes me sad. Meaning I have no pictures to add to this post.

Sweeps4Bloggers Ball Park Franks Giveaway ((ENDED))

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This is a giveaway my husband will enjoy. His favorite food of all times, is hot dogs. He could eat them everyday if I let him. He loves them grilled, and burnt, and in beans, and pretty much however he can get them. I also enjoy hot dogs, but not as much as my hubby, so I'm entering this contest for him.

Valerie from Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away 3 product coupons to one winner! Each product coupon will buy you a package of hot dogs! This would feed my hubby for a few meals!

This contest ends 6/18! To enter, visit the link below and follow all the rules!

Sweeps4Bloggers Ball Park Franks Giveaway

Meet Jack!

Throughout the next few months when I don't really have another post prepared or don't feel like posting anything too important, I'm going to introduce you to my furbabies, one at a time. I hate that I feel this way, but I'm going to introduce you to my favorite, my baby, first.

Jack is an all black cat, about 2 years old. James always wanted an all black cat, so Jack was a present for his 21st birthday, from my mother. We named him Blackjack, because it was James' "21st" birthday, and he was all black, it just fit. But his nickname was Jack, so that stuck a little more. Jack was picked from a litter of kittens from someones home who was giving away free kittens. He was not a stray or from the pound.



I remember the day we got him, he was so tiny and fluffy! Our other cats, didn't really like him at first. He was the newest and he's the youngest of all our six cats.

Through these two years he has been here, he has grown to be mommy's boy. He was given to James, but he's definitely my kitty. I've been through so much with Jack. While James was deployed, I was at home with all the little cats, and Jack did not handle having daddy gone very well. It was rough, and he was very sick.



It was shortly after James left, and (don't read this is you're squeemish), Jack had diarrhea badly. He sounded awful in the litterbox, he dripped all through the house, he was very sick. I tried changing his food, I tried giving him rice and chicken as the vet said, and I even tried diapers, with no success.



I had him at the vet probably 10 times within a month or more. He was on different types of medicine, which didn't work. He ended up to a point that diarrhea was not it, he started getting really sick and throwing up a lot. At this point I had him at the vets and he was put on an i.v. with fluids. I had to sit there holding my baby in my arms while he was scared to death while he got fluids dripped into his back. Not only that one time, I had to leave him overnight once so they could try and figure out what was wrong with him. He had more i.v. fluids at that point too, but I wasn't there to hold him. He was on two differnt kinds of pills, he had antibiotic shots, and he was on one type of liquid medicine. The liquid medicine was a nightmare. It made him foam at the mouth and drool pink stuff all over the place for 10 minutes. He only got that medicine once. It was a mess.



During this whole process, I had to feed him and make him drink. He had gatorade in water, which had to be fed to him in a dropper. He had baby food which had to be fed to him in a dropper also. He had prescription canned cat food, which did work finally. All of this stuff was so expensive. The medicines and prescription cat food, and the i.v. fluids and multiple shots, and so on.



For about a month or two while Jack was getting better, him and I both stayed at my moms away from the other cats. I had been staying at my moms and I couldn't leave my baby home alone. I'm so happy that my mom is always accepting of having cats stay over there. She is the healing house, or the hospital as we call it. I've had 3 different cats over at her house healing up from one thing or another, so that they could stay away from the other cats.

We still to this day have to have Jack on only indoor formula dry cat food. Meow Mix seems to be the best option that works for him. I also still have some of the prescription canned food that I use when jack seems to throw up a lot, or has diarrhea again. It usually straightens it right up.



Luckily once James came home for his break halfway through deployment, Jack got much better. I think the whole thing, was that he was afraid his daddy left him. Once James came home halfway through, he realized that he would be coming back. I honestly think that was his problem. Now that James has been home from deployment for good, Jack has rarely been sick. We just can't change his food.

Well, besides the rough times, Jack is still a fun loving, loveable cat. I think it was the rough times that bonded us close together. Jack sleeps with us at night, he always comes when you yell for him, he's definitely a begger when it comes to people food, and he loves soft fuzzy things, such as robes or blankets. He absolutely loves the outside. He begs and cries to go outside. He will gladly wear a harness and leash just so he can go outside. He loves walking around the yard.



He loves watching the birds. He loves meeting new cats. When people come to the house, he usually hides behind the couch for a few minutes, just until he can figure out who it is that is here, then he comes out and is friendly. We say he still hasn't hit puberty, because his voice is still kind of high and squeeky. But I love that squeek! His favorite toys are bouncy balls and fluffy balls, and of course strings. And daddy's favorite to use with him, is the laser pointer! He will chase it until he's panting and dizzy!



Jack is fixed, but not yet declawed. He will be declawed soon. We are doing our cats one at a time, and he is #3. We've only gotten one done so far.

I absolutely love my adorable baby. And I hope you enjoyed meeting him. There will be more meet my kitties post in the future! You've still got 5 more to meet, and I may introduce you to our neighborhood cats, and also to my mom's cat, which used to be another one of our cats!

Sweeps4Bloggers Cape Clogs for Women Giveaway ((ENDED))

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I like shoes. I like cute shoes. Flip flops are heaven. I like to have one in each color. Clogs are cute, but I never seem to find ones that are cute enough or comfortable enough. I have one dressy pair of clogs that I own, and they are kind of tight, and they are plain. Brown. They have little jewels on them, but still, brown and boring. They are fine for dressy occasions. I want some everyday clogs.

Valerie from Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away a pair of Cape Clogs to one winner! These clogs are so bright and cute, I would love to own one of each pair. They look so summery and comfy. Have I mentioned they are adorable???

This contest ends 6/17. To enter the contest, please visit the link below and follow the rules to enter yourself.

Sweeps4Bloggers Cape Clogs Giveaway

Leslie Loves Veggies Oogies Gourmet Popcorn Party Pack Giveaway ((ENDED))

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Leslie from Leslie Loves Veggies likes to give away delicious, and nutritious foods sometimes! Some things sound so amazing, and this is one of them! Popcorn is a fun snack, and a great movie time snack! I don't get a chance to watch movies too often, but I would definitely make time to watch a movie, just so I could fully enjoy this popcorn!

Oogies Popcorn is made in corn oil so it's better for you, and it's made with all natural ingredients! The best part, they come in seven different flavors! My top three I would like to try are below.

-White Cheddar
-Hatch Chili Con Queso
-Movie Lovers Buttered

Three lucky winners will be winning a party pack of Oogies Gourmet Popcorn! Which if I understand right, has two bags of each of the 7 flavors! Yum!!! This contest ends on 6/17. To enter the contest, visit the first link below and follow the rules! To check out the Oogies Gourmet Popcorn Website!

Leslie Loves Veggies Oogies Gourmet Popcorn Party Pack Giveaway

Oogies Gourmet Popcorn

One Step At A Time

There for a while I had fallen behind on so many of my favorite things online. I've been getting back into them all, one step at a time. I added my weight loss blog, then back to my twitter, then back to my normal blog, and my next step is my avon blog. I would like to use it to get lots more business. As of right now, my avon is only getting in enough income to be called a hobby. I want it to be a job again. I need to make some more money to help out my family.

I want to try and keep up on ALL my internet things. Both emails, both twitters, all four blogs, facebook, my fitness pal, and my survey sites I use to make some extra money. I still have quite a few things to add in. I want to be able to blog at least once a day or every other day on EVERY blog. Whether it's a random post, a review, a recipe, a contest, or whatever. I want my blogs get regular traffic and I want to keep up on it because it's something I enjoy doing. I'm gonna eventually get into a routine where I can get everything done each day in a short amount of time. I just need to keep up what I'm doing. Adding one thing at a time, so as not to overwhelm myself. Today's project, and added step, is my avon blog. So look out for a new post on it at some point today. Hopefully a review!

Sweeps4Bloggers Supreme 90 Day 10 DVD Set Giveaway ((ENDED))

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Valerie from Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away a 10 DVD Set, called Supreme 90 Day. They are workout videos and very much appeal to me. Since I'm in the process of dieting and losing weight, this would be awesome to win. It's a 90 day program, hence the name. It includes a meal plan booklet, which is cool. It also includes a calendar that tells you which days of the 90 to be using which dvds and which days you should be resting! That is so cool to have it planned out fully for all 90 days! I have trouble sticking to workouts and such, so having it all set up for me, would help me stick to it! Plus it sounds like it has much more variety since there are 10 DVD's!!!

There will be 3 winners of this fabulous prize, and I hope to be one of them! This contest ends 6/12, so you have just under a week to enter! To enter please visit the link below and follow the rules! Enjoy!

Sweeps4Bloggers Supreme 90 Day 10 DVD Set Giveaway

Congratulations To My Sister!

I just wanted to post a congratulations to my younger sister (not the youngest). Her name is Nikki and she just turned 20 years old. School was always a struggle for her, from elementary all the way up through high school. She had her adorable little boy, my wonderful nephew in the middle of her senior year, when she was 19 years old. Yet she pushed through and somehow was able to finish school, from home, and then going back to school, and has finally graduated. I'm proud of her, because I know it was a struggle for her. I also think she did the right thing by not dropping out, even under hard circumstances, and finished and got her diploma. It is the best thing for her and her baby. She graduated high school yesterday!

Her future plans are to go to cosmetology school, or maybe get a job. I wish her luck in all her future plans and I hope she can get on track and have a good life for her and my wonderful nephew!

Sweeps4Bloggers World's Best Cat Litter Giveaway! ((ENDED))

*THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED*

For myself, being a cat owner, this is an awesome giveaway for me. I have six cats of my own and buying litter is not always simple. I try to go for name brand, but at a decent price. I do not like store brand litter, I don't like non-clumping litter. Currently I buy Tidy Cats for my cats. It seems to keep the smell down the least, without being overly expensive. We used to buy Scoop Away, but it's getting kind of expensive. I would love Fresh Step, because it seems to be the best at clumping and keeping down the smell, but it's always extremely expensive, and with six cats, we can't go overboard on some things.

World's Best cat litter clumps, which is a plus, and it's made from corn meaning it's better for everyone! It's biodegradable, no dust, and it even comes scented! If I could afford this litter full time, I would definitely be purchasing it for my own cats.

Valerie at Sweeps4Bloggers, is giving away a 7 pound bag of Worlds Best Cat Litter to FIVE winners! FIVE! To enter this contest, visit the link below and enter away! Just don't enter too many times, because I really want this one! :) Make sure to follow the rules! This contest ends 6/12.

Sweeps4Bloggers World's Best Cat Litter Giveaway

Leslie Loves Veggies Dr Sears Zone Diet Giveaway ((ENDED))

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I'm not gonna go into detail on this giveaway too much, but I will tell the important things.

Leslie is holding this contest, where three winners will win 2 weeks worth of Dr Sears Zone Diet food, and 2 weeks of essentials. Dr Sears' Zone diet food is normally sent to your house. I've never personally been on any sort of diet where I had to have special food, so this would be a new thing for me to try. Some of their foods sound really yummy!

This contest ends on 6/13. To enter, visit the first link below and follow all the rules. To visit the Zone Diet website, visit the second link below.

Leslie Loves Veggies Dr Sears Zone Diet Giveaway

Zone Diet

Memorial Day Weekend!

This past weekend has been absolutely busy. It's been fun, but I've also been sick, so that kind of sucked. I had a sore throat, which is starting to go away, but I've now got like a cold. Sometimes stuffy, sometimes runny nose, and just major head congestion. I feel like a lot of pressure in my head and nose. I'm taking medicine though and hopefully will be feeling better very soon.

Friday: Friday was a semi-easy day. I did housework, yardwork, ran errands, and a few things like that. Nothing too important on friday, but it was a busy day.

Saturday: Saturday was my sisters birthday, and my hubby and I went with the whole family to Sam's Club. My mom has a membership there and we also get stuff there. We didn't get much this weekend. A large box of rice, some v8, some cereal bars, and some starbucks coffee packets. Mom got lots more than we did. We then went out to lunch at iHop for my sisters birthday. They sang to her of course, which she didn't enjoy, but I know I don't either. It was good lunch though. Then on the way back to moms house, we got Maple Bacon Sundae's from Denny's. I had not neccessarily wanted to try them, but they really weren't that bad. They have way too many calories though. Then James and I came home and got more housework done.

Sunday: Sunday morning and early afternoon we did more housework, relaxing, and errands. In the late afternoon we went to James' grandmothers house for a cookout. We just all hung out and talked for the most part, then we ate dinner, then we played some outdoor stuff, and we were there kind of late. We also that evening had a little mishap with the air conditioner. Before we left that evening, we turned the a/c on and was hoping for a cool house when we got back, but apparently the hubby had shut off the breaker to the a/c, so it was NOT cool when got home, but more hot. Anyways, we got it all figured out and cooled it off, eventually. It was a late night though, and I was only getting sicker!

Monday: Monday I had a few things to get done in the morning, but early afternoon we headed to my moms house and we had a cookout, somewhat birthday party over there. We hung out and played with my nephew and talked a lot, ate some yummy food, and did it all over again. Then later in the evening we had a birthday party type thing for my sister. She had a couple friends come over and got a few gifts. Then since James had work today, we had to come home at a decent time and get ready for bed early.

Overall it was a long, weekend, but fun.

Pork Chops!

I make my pork chops a special way. Not sure that it's anything special, but I find it delicious! And of course easy peasy!

I usually try to buy thin pork chops, because they soak in the marinade better, but regular pork chops are just as good! I stab the pork chops up and down both sides with a fork, then marinade in..... get this..... simple italian salad dressing! It's delicious! Then just grill or even throw in a skillet on the stove and works just as well!

I normally would then dip my pork chops in ranch dressing on my plate to eat it, but ketchup is also good, and last night I tried mayo, which is also yummy. They are just as good to just cut them and stick it in your mouth and not dip it in anything!

The picture does not give it justice.



This is my second grilling post for the Sears: Grilling Is Happiness Ambassador program. All you have to do is grill, talk about grilling, share recipes/ideas, share pictures, be creative, and join in on the fun! One of the Grilling Is Happiness Ambassadors will win a grill for themselves and 5 friends! Awesome I know! Please visit the first link below to check it all out. Visit the second link below to follow Flip Grillman on twitter and get loads more information from other ambassadors!

Flip Grillman! Sears: Grilling Is Happiness Ambassador Program

Flip Grillman on Twitter

My Summer Plans for 2011!

This summer is definitely going to be a long one, and busy one! However, hopefully it will be a fun one too! Lots of birthdays, lots of plans, a possible vacation later in the summer, and much more! Find our plans below and read whatever you would like!

-Birthdays: James' birthday is coming up in about two weeks, which we will be having at our new house, hopefully having a cookout, the first cookout with all the family together, hopefully nice weather so we can hang out in our awesome back yard, and it will just be lots of fun. Then of course a couple months later we will be doing somewhat of the same thing for my birthday, towards the end of the summer. Along with planning those two birthdays, we have many many many birthdays to attend. One last weekend we already attended, then we have my sisters coming up, my mother-in-laws, my father in laws, my grandmothers, my grandfather-in-laws, my cousin-in-laws, my brother-in-laws, and my grandmother-in-laws. That's just up through September. We get bombarded with birthdays in the summer.

-Babysitting: I'm not for sure how things will go with my sister and nephew this summer, but I'm sure I will be helping out with my adorable nephew in some way or another. As the plan is now I will go "visit" him maybe once or twice a week and take care of him for a couple hours to give my sister a break. Maybe some days bring him over to my house for the day. I look forward to spending lots of time with my nephew, so that he grows up with a close relationship with me. I love him so much!

-Spring Cleaning: I got started a little late on my spring cleaning, so my goal is to have it done by the end of the summer. I'm almost done with the living room, and that's about all I've gotten done. Haha. That's my large goal, but my small goal is to finish the living room, do the dining room, the stairway and the bathroom before James' birthday party in about two weeks.

-Work: James is supposed to be working full time at the pool this summer, so hopefully we will get more income that we can add to our savings. He will still be working early mornings though, so even after 8 hours, he gets off early in the afternoon and we will still have most of the day to do whatever we want. He will still be job searching though, even this summer. When it comes to my work, I hope to be able to focus more on avon this summer and gain some new avon customers in my neighborhood. I need to make avon more of a business and not a hobby.

-Remodel: This summer, I hope we can get EITHER, the basement or the attic set up and in working condition so we can use it. As it is, both areas are a mess, still need unpacked, still need some work, and so on. The basement we hope for it to be like a game room, hang out room, reading room, etc. The attic is like a craft room, cat's hang out room, storage room. So if we can focus on one or the other, that would be wonderful! Besides that, maybe we can do some tiny fixes around the house, such as hanging up pictures, fixing a couple electrical outlets, unpacking some more, etc.

-Weight Loss: You can check out more on my weight loss blog, but my main goal is to keep up the healthy eating, add lots of exercise, and get below a certain weight before the end of the summer.

-Vacation: We already took our vacation for the summer, and I don't neccessarily plan to make another one this year, unless certain family is able to take a vacation with us, then we may make a trip again later in the summer.

-Internet: I want to keep up on my twitters, my blogs, my facebook, my emails, and all of it. I want to keep up on it, because it's all things I enjoy. I just have so much to keep up on, sometimes it's difficult.

-Holidays: We don't have a lot of holidays for the summer, but there's a few. For memorial day, we will be spending time with my family, having a cookout, and celebrating my sisters birthday. For fourth of july, we hope to see at least one set of fireworks, and for the actual day, I'm not for sure of course what we will be doing. Then there's also labor day. I think those are the only three holidays that are during the summer.

That's a lot to plan for this summer, busy busy busy, fun fun fun, but it's all gonna be worth it in the end. I'm sure I'm missing some things, but oh well. Those are the main points.

Leslie Loves Veggies Mother's Touch Thermometer Giveaway! ((ENDED))

*THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED*

This is a very helpful and useful giveaway from Leslie! It's for a Mother's Touch Thermometer, which is this awesome invention for mother's or even daddies who don't want to shove a thermometer up a babies bottom, or even try and get them to hold still while holding a thermometer under their arm for long enough. This thermometer is worn on the adults finger and you just put your hand on the child's forehead. You're giving a loving gesture to your children, and you only have to hold it there for 6-8 seconds! It's a quick reader! This prize just seems to useful and wonderful! This thermometer is the first and only of it's kind! I had never heard of it before, until the wonderful Leslie Loves Veggies blog, decided to give one away! So cool! Thank you Leslie!

To enter this contest, visit the first link below and follow all the rules and enter away to get a wonderful useful tool to help with your sick children! This wonderful giveaway ends 6/9. To visit the Mother's Touch Website, visit the second link below and check out the awesome thermometer!

Leslie Loves Veggies Mother's Touch Thermometer Giveaway

Mother's Touch Thermometer

Leslie Loves Veggies Barista Bath & Body Giveaway ((ENDED))

**THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED**

Another wonderful contest from Leslie. This one is actually quite interesting. I've never heard of anything like this before now. This contest is for a Barista Bath & Body prize package worth $95! It's a coffee inspired bath and body company! Their products actually contain coffee products! So of course they will have the wonderful aroma of coffee brewing!

The prize pack includes a variety of different items, one being the triple shot shower gel! I can just imagine myself using a shower gel in a morning shower with the aroma of coffee and I just have the feeling it would give me an early morning boost of energy, like a cup of coffee! Of course I'm not sure how it would all really work, unless I win.

This contest runs until 6/8. To enter the contest, please visit the first link below, and make sure to follow all the rules! To visit the barista bath and body website, please visit the second link below. Good luck to us all!

Leslie Loves Veggies Barista Bath & Body Giveaway

Barista Bath & Body

Leslie Loves Veggies Kettle Cuisine Soup Giveaway ((ENDED))

**THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED**

Another wonderful contest from Leslie, at Leslie Loves Veggies. She is giving away some Kettle Cuisine Soup product coupons to get three soups free! I had never heard of Kettle Cuisine Soup's before, but when I visited their website, I became very interested. They have many different types of soup and they all look so delicious! Below, find my top three choices that I want to try!

-New England Clam Chowder (I've been a big fan of clam chowder for a while, but it's hard to find a decent tasting one. I would love to try this one and compare!)
-Organic Mushroom & Potato (I love mushroom soup, and I love potato soup, so I'm sure I would love the two combined!)
-Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables (This one just sounds so hearty and delicious! YUM!)

Okay, I know I said three, but there's a fourth one I really want to try!

-Chicken Chili with White Beans (I love regular chili and have heard about chicken chili, but have never tried it. The picture of Kettle Cuisines Chicken Chili makes it look so absolutely amazing!)

To enter this contest, visit the first link below, and follow all the rules and enter away. This contest ends on 6/7 and there will be TWO winners. TO visit the Kettle Cuisine website, visit the second link below.

Leslie Loves Veggies Kettle Cuisine Soup Giveaway

Kettle Cuisine

Leslie Loves Veggies Food Should Taste Good All Natural Chips Giveaway ((ENDED))

**THIS CONTEST IS NOW OVER!**

Leslie from the Leslie Loves Veggies blog, along with many other awesome things, is giving away a Food Should Taste Good All Natural Chips Prize Pack!!! They are some yummy sounding all natural, gluten free, kosher, and all around good for you chips. There are so many yummy flavors! I would love to try most of them, but my top three choices are as follows:

-Chocolate
-Lime
-Blue Corn

Almost all of them look amazing. And since I'm dieting, they are healthy, which makes them even more appealing!!!

To enter this wonderful contest, please visit the first link below and follow all the rules and enter away. This contest ends on 6/4. To visit the Food Should Taste Good website, visit the second link.

Food Should Taste Good All Natural Chips Giveaway

Food Should Taste Good

Sweeps4Bloggers Scholastic Scrambled States of America DVD Giveaway ((ENDED))

**THIS CONTEST IS NOW OVER!**

Valerie, from Sweeps 4 Bloggers, is giving away a nice childrens learning dvd. It's called Scholastic Scrambled States of America. It is a learning dvd, but according to Valerie, it is also entertaining. Which I think is a great thing. If kids are entertained and enjoy something, they are more likely to continue with it and catch on. I have no children of my own, but I'm helping out with my nephew a lot and I'm trying to help teach him. It's dvds and books like this one, that I will use in the future as he grows to help him learn. At this point, he's only about 4 months, so he's still in the learning to talk stage. We still try and help him learn different things, like animals and his body parts, and his family members.

This contest is almost over, so act quick. It ends tomorrow 5/25!!! To enter the contest, visit the link below and follow all the rules. You still have a chance to get a few entries in!

Scholastic Scrambled States of America DVD Giveaway

The Joy of Hot Dogs

Hot Dogs are probably the most simple grill food there is. They only take a few minutes to cook, they take no preperation, and they are always cheap to buy. I like hot dogs for sure, but hot dogs are one of my husband's favorite foods. He LOVES hot dogs. We have them in some form or another at least once a week, maybe once every other week. So in all ways, they are a joy to make, because they are very easy and cheap. Throw on some french fries or mac & cheese and you got a quick easy meal. I think we eat them a lot now, but I know I will probably have even more when we have children!

Here are some pictures from tonight's hot dog grilling for dinner. Below are also some pictures of our crappy falling apart grill. We need a new grill badly. It's rusted, it has a replacement rack, the outside cats spray on it, it's just a mess. Enjoy the pictures!



This is our wonderful grill. It actually doesn't look too bad from far away, but the worst is the inside.



This is a big rust spot on the outside.



This is where the neighborhood cats like to come up and spray on our grill. We've had about 4-5 cats do that. YUCK!



The Joy of Hot Dogs! <3

This is my first grilling post for the Sears: Grilling Is Happiness Ambassador program. All you have to do is grill, talk about grilling, share recipes/ideas, share pictures, be creative, and join in on the fun! One of the Grilling Is Happiness Ambassadors will win a grill for themselves and 5 friends! Awesome I know! Please visit the first link below to check it all out. Visit the second link below to follow Flip Grillman on twitter and get loads more information from other ambassadors!

Flip Grillman! Sears: Grilling Is Happiness Ambassador Program

Flip Grillman on Twitter

Sweeps4Bloggers Teamotions Tea Giveaway! ((ENDED))

**THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED**

Valerie from Sweeps 4 Bloggers, is holding a giveaway for some Teamotions Tea. It's tea that are supposed to help your mood or help you achieve certain feelings. There are Achieve Clarity, Discover Joy, Seek Peace, Have Hope, Enjoy Rest, Find Strength. They are in different and unusual flavors. Some sound so yummy, some not so much. I want to try Discover Joy, which is Lemon Vanilla Green Tea, and also Find Strength, which is Passion Fruit Jasmine Green Tea. Most of them sound so yummy though. I'm not so sure if I would enjoy the taste of Enjoy Rest, but if it worked, I am sure I would drink it. It sounds like it would definitely help you sleep!

Anyways, this contest will have two winners and ends on May 31st. To enter, visit Valerie's giveaway link below. Follow the rules and enter if you wish!

Teamotions Tea Giveaway

Twitter Wins Part 4

Here are my most recent wins from twitter. I took a long break from twittering and "sweeping" as people like to call it, but I've been back for a month or two and won a few awesome prizes! And this time I have pictures included!!!

I won a full size bag of Tostitos Tortilla Chips with a Hint of Lime, a full size bag of Tostitos Multigrain Scoops, and a guacamole mix from Tostitos for Cinco De Mayo! I personally love the hint of lime chips and I used them with lime and garlic salsa I got from walmart. SO YUM! James enjoyed the scoops a ton. Also I don't much care for guacamole, so I gave the mix to my mom, because my sister loves it! I shared my wonderful prize. To add tostitos on twitter, visit the link below. Thank you Tostitos!

Tostitos



I also won a $25 gift card to Barnes and Nobles from Best Western! I retweeted their information and they gave me that wonderful gift! There are so many things at Barnes and Noble I could get. I still have not spent my gift card, because I'm still debating on what I want. I would love to have some Lurlene McDaniel books. She is my favorite author and there are some of her books I haven't read. Also I want Candace Cameron Bure's new book Reshaping It All. Tough decision. To add Best Western on twitter, visit the link below. Thank you Best Western!

Best Western



My third and final prize that I have gotten, is a Justin Bieber prize pack from Meijer. I got his new movie on dvd and blu ray! PLUS I got his new remix cd that goes along with the movie! That was an awesome win! I haven't put the cd on my ipod yet, but I plan to, and I've heard two songs off of it so far already. I have not watched the movie yet, but I'm excited to and I hope to do a review of it on here for you all! To add meijer on twitter, visit the link below. Thank you Meijer!

Meijer



I also have three more prizes I have won that have not arrived, so I'll wait for a few and do another post once I get some more!

Updates

I've been absent from blogging on here. I know. For almost a year now I think. I want to get back into reviewing, I want to get back into posting my twitter wins. I want to just blog about everyday life. I've been focusing recently on my weight loss blog, so please check that out. You can find it on my profile. I started an avon blog, but have failed to actually work on it. I need to focus more time and energy on it. Between three emails, facebook, two twitters (NOT BOTH USED FOR THE SAME CONTESTS BY THE WAY), My Fitness Pal, my avon site, four blogs it's just hard to keep up on everything on the computer. I need to just not try and do everything, everyday, so I can focus on all of it, but not everyday and be overwhelmed.

Well from the last time I blogged, here are the main highlights in my life:
-James returned from deployment
-I now have a new adorable nephew named Tommy
-James and I purchased our first home in September and have been living here for a while now and loving it so much
-I flew on an airplane for the first time, well actually quite a few times since I've been on here last

Those are the main points. I will try hard to be on here more. I've already got many posts planned! Keep an eye out! And check out my weight loss blog! I won't tell you to check out my avon blog yet, because there's not much there, but you're welcome to take a peek if you want.