Tuesday, August 31, 2010

reboost

11:49 PM 0 Comments
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.


Who do y'all use for your cell phone service? Living where I do, it was a bit tricky for us to find a provider that had coverage. In fact, after a year of dealing with AT&T's poor service, we ended up switching to Verizon. So far, it's working pretty good.

Those of you who know me know that I don't follow the latest cell phone trends. Keeping that in mind, it wasn't much of a surprise to find out that there was one that I hadn't heard of. Boost Mobile wasn't an option when I was looking for a new provider because I hadn't heard about them. That being said, tonight, I'm going to tell you what I've learned about them.

One of the coolest things is their Re-Boost. First, it has a cool company themed name and second, it just means that it's super easy to reload your phone with minutes. In fact, there are three different ways to do it. You can do it over the phone, you can do it online or you can do it in person at a store that offers the service. Plus, you can use your debit/credit card and set up a one time payment or a recurring payment. There's also the option of picking up one of their cards and registering it with your account. How simple is that?

They also have tons of phone options for you to choose from, including the Blackberry. With the blackberry or other phones, that they offer, you can easily keep up with your Facebook page, Twitter account or other forms of social media/networking. Personally, I don't currently do this but it has crossed my mind that it might be fun to be able to. After all, doesn't everyone want to know about the fantastic sale on groceries that I found or the fact that I'm chasing my cat around the neighborhood yet again? C'mon, y'all know you do! If I switched to Boost, I might get one of the cool phones that allowed me to keep the world informed of my exciting life. ;)

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Visit my sponsor: Reboost

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

11:45 PM 3 Comments
I'm on a blogging roll this week and loving it! I hate when I neglect this blog. I don't know why I don't take the time sometimes to write. It's something that I love doing and hopefully some of you love reading it.

Now, I think it was two weeks ago that I made an attempt at catching up on my (almost) Wordless Wednesday posts. Of course, I totally slacked off last week and now I'm 6 photos behind again! Well, with any luck, I'm going to post 3-4 of those in this post. They won't be new photos because along with blog slacking, I've totally slacked in photo taking, as well.

Ready? Here we go!



Fireworks
Orange - I'm still mastering taking photos of fireworks. Almost all of mine turned out  fuzzy, this year.

Sky High
Open - This is open air! This crazy great-grandma was something like 80' up in the air without a net or harness!

Parked
Park - This lovely is permanently "park"ed at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Roger
People - This year is one of my favorite people, Roger. I think he was in kindergarten when I took this. I love this photo.

Quiet
Quiet - I took this the same day that I took the above photo of Roger. I believe they were taken at the zoo in Battle Creek.

Sunfield Post Office Library
Quarter - This is a picture of the hours at our local post office. I'd say it's open about a quarter of the time a normal post office is.



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Monday, August 30, 2010

Win a Free Weekend Stay

7:25 PM 0 Comments
Hampton_logo

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine.

Would you like a vacation? I know that I would! It just wasn't in the cards for this summer because of finances and the fact that we've been trying to do things around the house. I was lucky enough to get away a couple of times and the boys and I did have an awesome time backyard camping!

Now that we all know we would love love love a vacation, can you imagine taking a vacation with 100 of your closest friends? Do any of us have 100 close friends? Probably not, but who cares! We could invite our closest friends closest friends and their closest friends too!

No idea what I'm talking about? Well, you need to check out the Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes! They're giving away an Entire hotel for a weekend! That's 100 rooms for 2 nights! On top of that, they're giving away 100 weekends for a guest plus three of their friends! Those are being given away daily!

I was just talking with a friend of mine who is going through a tough period and she told me about two other friends who are going through similar things. It would be so wonderful if the 4 of us could snag one of those free weekends for some quality girl time! I think if I won, that would be exactly what I would do. Now, the big question is, where would we go? Boston sounds nice...

Now, if you're interested in trying to win one of these fantastic weekends, it's really easy. You just go to the website and click the enter button! If you win, make sure you come back and let me know!

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Visit my sponsor: Win a free Weekend Stay

Tackle It Tuesday - Early Edition

6:23 PM 0 Comments
I know! It's Monday but I want to get this up and posted because it distracts me from dealing with meltdown little boys. I know they're melting down because it's so hot but sheesh, it's hard to stay patient sometimes! It does make me proud though when they stop and realize all on their own that their behavior just isn't cool.

So, what are we tackling in Roetsville this fine, hot Tuesday? Well, since I've decided that it's time for me to go back to school, I'm going to attempt to get our printer up and running. If I manage it, I'm going to print out the application forms that I need. I'm also going to try to figure out who I can ask to write those pesky letters of references. I didn't form any tight bonds with any of my UB instructors, so it might be difficult. I do have a few ideas though.

This is our last week before school starts and once their schedule/routines change, mine will be too. I'm getting back into crafting more and there's always lots to do around the house! Of course, with a hesitant plan to move in the next 4-10 months, there's tons more to do!

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member's mark

5:26 PM 0 Comments
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Member's Mark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's been far too many years since my babies were baby enough to need formula. Both of my boys were bottle fed for various reasons. I remember trying to decide what the best formula was for the best price. Keeping that in mind, I happily agreed to let all of you know about Member's Mark formula.

Recently, they changed their packaging.  It has a nice clean look and easy-to-read product information. Other than that, nothing has changed! It's still the same great formula in the same sized can. It is available at Sam's Club and is quite often the same or lower price than other brands of formula.

Member's Mark formula meets all FDA guidelines and offers complete nutrition for your baby's health and development. It has DHA and ARA to help support your little one's brain and eye development. If I were to have another little one, this is a formula I would certainly look into.

If you would like to look more into Member's Mark formula, you can do that at http://www.membersmarkformula.com for more information and to access their savings calculator. Plus, they're on Facebook! (Then again, who isn't on Facebook these days?) You can find them at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Members-Mark-Infant-Formula/41995099898

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Visit my sponsor: Member's Mark

Menu Plan Monday

2:07 PM 0 Comments

Ugh! It's hot here again! We had such a gorgeous week of weather and then it had to get blazing hot again! Yuck, yuck, yuck! My brain feels like it's melting so my menu is going to be less than creative or inspiring this week. It's going to be all about using up things and trying to keep the house cool over the next couple of days.

So, here we go:
Monday- Pizza (take out..see? That keeps the house cool..hehe)
Tuesday- French Toast w/ Sausage
Wednesday- Mac n Cheese w/ hamburger
Thursday- Pasta w/ shrimp
Friday- Pesto Chicken Pockets
Saturday- Cheeseburgers w/ homemade fries
Sunday- Blueberry Pancakes

So, there we go. One easy peasy menu. Starting next week, it's going to be so different since I'll be cooking for just myself again. That's always such a huge transition for me.

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ramblersway.com

1:54 PM 0 Comments
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you like to window shop? I'll be honest. I'm not a window shopper. It always makes me want and knowing I don't have the money to get bums me out. However, if I convince myself that I'm not so much window shopping as creating a wish list, it seems to go better. In this case, I was asked to pretend that I had a $200 gift card to Ramblers Way.  $200 isn't much when it comes to quality and yumminess.

So, what would I buy? I think I would get one of the shirts that you see to the left there. It's a scoop necked top made out of superfine, 18.5 micron Rambouillet wool. Priced at $75, I can't see me buying more than one but you never know! I think I would also get their camisole. It looks so super soft and it would be lovely to wear while working out or just relaxing. Then again, they have a gorgeously soft looking henley that is priced at $90. Hmm...if I added $30, I could have all 3!

I'll be honest though. When I think of wool, I think of my winter socks and things that keep me super warm. I find it hard to imagine wearing wool in the middle of summer. Then again, the sheep do it, so I guess I could too!

Ramblers Way raises Rambouillet sheep while trying to maintain humane and organic farming practices. They bring their sheep in each night and raise their own feed. I love that, if you go to the website, you can actually read about the different sheep that they have. I would love to learn more about how they've created their year round wool products, but sadly that page seems to be missing from their website. No worries, I'll be going back soon to see if it's available!
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Visit my sponsor: American Comfortwear

Monday, August 9, 2010

Menu Plan Monday

12:49 AM 0 Comments
Whew! Happy holy hot Monday, world! We made it all the way into August and last night (technically tonight since I haven't been to bed yet), I gave it and put the window unit into my bedroom window. Last summer, I put it on the landing and while it was semi-effective, it took nearly a week to cool down our bedrooms. So, it's now in my bedroom window and the boys are camping out on my bedroom floor. I offered them my bed (it's important to me that they get enough sleep), but they said no, then I would be hot. So, they talked about it and decided to camp out on my floor so that I could still have my bed. I have such great kids!

Since the temperatures are supposed to be anywhere from 85-90 all week long, we're cooking/cheating in ways that are going to keep the house as cool as possible. I'm looking forward to Autumn when things cool down and I can really get into the kitchen and start cooking and baking again. I'm continuing on my goals of making changes in my life and that's part of it.

Monday - Leftover Pasta
Tuesday - Sandwiches
Wednesday - Family Picnic
Thursday - Pasta
Friday - Taco Chicken Packets
Saturday - homemade pizza
Sunday - Lasagna

Simple and hopefully very tasty. If the heat is too much for any of the oven cooked foods, I'll switch it to something in the crockpot. I love how easy that is.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

12:16 AM 0 Comments
So, some of you may have noticed that I've missed some Wordless Wednesday posts. In fact, I think I just counted and somehow, I've missed the last 6 themes over at Sunday Shutterbugs. Well, today I'm going to make up for that.

So, without further ado, three of the missed themes. First, we have Macro:




Brownie Cow
It's not the best macro photo I've ever done, but it's a favorite one with my kids. Roger "created" this guy one day when we were having a snack and I love his creativity and his demand that we take a photo.

Now, on to Nature:

Mom, is it time for ghost stories yet?
Ok, don't tell anyone, but this is really our backyard. The boys and I badly wanted to go camping this summer, but couldn't afford to go to a proper camp ground. So, we set up the tent in the backyard and pretended we were out in Nature. Let me tell you, the mosquitos didn't know any different!

Last picture in my plan to catch up? Noun:


Octopus sculpture
Here we go. The octopus sculpture that's across the street from the library in Hastings. It just seems so cheerful and happy and always makes me smile when I drive past it. One of these days, I'm going to stop and get a really good photo of it. But, for now, that's 3 weeks of themes all caught up and I hope you enjoy them!
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Tackle It Tuesday

10:41 PM 0 Comments
Woo! It's Tuesday and it's 2 posts in a row, day! Woohoo! I'm back! Did I tackle anything? Well, not a heck of a lot. The boys and I had planned on tackling their bedroom, but the heat got to all of us. They did get under their beds cleaned out, though.  If the heat doesn't get us tomorrow, we're going to work more on their room. It's just a matter of now tidying up at the end of their bed and running the vacuum. Then, we'll be moving on to working on my bedroom. Our goal is to get the entire upstairs whipped into shape and then we'll move to the downstairs. I can't wait to have a lovely clean home that's inviting instead of chaotic. Clear spaces = Clear Mind.

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Monday, August 2, 2010

Menu Plan Monday

10:16 PM 0 Comments
Monday, Monday...Menu Planning Day. I finally have my boys back and I'm so happy for that. They spent an extra 5 days with their dad so that they could also visit with their grandparents. I'm so glad that they got that time with them. Sadly, neither Peter or I make sure that the boys get enough time with our families. I know that we have good reasons for that, but it does make me a little sad.

So, they're back and we've already gotten to work on our end of summer project. The boys and I talked and we want to get our house in really good shape to start the school year. This means more cleaning, more purging and just plain more work. We work when we can and relax when we can't. The can't is mostly due to the horrible heat. It's after 10pm here and the downstairs is registering in at 88 degrees. The humidity is way up, as well, which affects my lungs. However, we got the landing already whipped into shape and I'm proud of us. We got rid of 3 boxes while we were working up there. Yes, there are still boxes in the house. That's part of our goal. We want the rest of them gone.

Okie...Menu:

Monday -  Cheeseburgers
Tuesday - Cereal (oy the heat...)
Wednesday - Pancakes
Thursday - Mac n Cheese
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Chicken
Sunday - Pasta

There we go. Of course, depending on how bad the heat gets in the house, this may be tweaked.
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