Who is ready for another $50 Amazon giveaway?! If you think this is a book for you then you should check it out on Amazon!
The annual Great Quest is about to be announced in Quendel, a task that will determine the future of Marcus and the other boys from the village who are coming of age. The wizard Zyll commands them to find the Rock of Ivanore, but he doesn’t tell them what the Rock is exactly or where it can be found. Marcus must reach deep within himself to develop new powers of magic and find the strength to survive the wild lands and fierce enemies he encounters as he searches for the illusive Rock. If he succeeds, he will live a life of honor; if he fails, he will live a life of menial labor in shame. With more twists and turns than a labyrinth, and a story in which nothing is as it seems, this tale of deception and discovery keeps readers in suspense until the end. Middle readers will find that The Rock of Ivanore fits nicely among the traditional fantasies they so enjoy. They will also appreciate its fresh and inventive take on the genre.
Author: Laurisa White Reyes has been writing since the age of 5 when she wrote her first poem on a scrap of poster board. After earning a degree in English at California State University at Northridge, she spent thirteen years writing for various magazines and newspapers, working as a book editor, and teaching creative writing. She gave up all that six years ago to follow her lifelong dream of writing novels. Her first book, The Rock of Ivanore, will be released in May 2012.Besides writing, Laurisa is also a voracious reader. She also loves musical theater, chocolate, sushi, ancient history, bearded dragons, and rain storms. She lives in Southern California with her husband, 5 children, 4 birds, 2 lizards, 2 turtles, 1 fish, 1 dog, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Who is ready for a giant giveaway from Orangeberry Book Tours?? There are going to be 35 winners with the grand prize winner getting a Kindle Fire + 9 eBooks! Now THAT is a great Mother’s Day gift. If you are the winner of the Kindle Fire you should come back and purchase it through my Amazon link!
Prize Breakdown:
Grand Prize: 1 Kindle Fire + 9 eBooks
9 Winners: All 9 eBooks
25 Winners: Any 3 eBooks
Make sure you get your entries in before the 17th so you don’t miss out on all of the prizes.
Seventeen-year-old Majesty Alistair wants police to look further into her father’s fatal car wreck, hopes the baseball team she manages can reclaim the state crown, aches for Derek…or, no…maybe Alec…maybe. And she mostly wishes to retract the hateful words she said to her dad right before slamming the door in his face, only to never see him again.
All her desires get sidelined, though, when she overhears two fellow students planning a church massacre. She doubts cops will follow up on her tip since they’re sick of her coming around with notions of possible crimes-in-the-works. And it’s not like she cries wolf. Not really. They’d be freaked too, but they’re not the ones suffering from bloody dreams that hint at disaster like some crazy, street guy forecasting the Apocalypse.
So, she does what any habitual winner with zero cred would do…try to I.D. the nutjobs before they act. But, when their agenda turns out to be far bigger than she ever assumed, and even friends start looking suspect, the truth and her actions threaten to haunt her forever, especially since she’s left with blood on her hands, the blood of someone she loves.
“WOW. The description for this book on GoodReads.com does not do this book justice. This was an AWESOME, twisted, capturing tale. Like Gossip Girl with deadly consequences.” ~Teresa Rice from The Duchess Mommy Reads
About the author: COURTNEY VAIL writes totally twisted YA and adult suspense. She enjoys braiding mystery, suspense & romance with some kind of weirdness. Her addictions to crazy coffee concoctions, Funny Bones, Ben & Jerry’s, and bacon keep her running and writing. She currently lives in New England with a comedian stud and a wild gang of kidlets.
Ladies, I am hear to spill the beans on something you might find depressing. After you have that beautiful bouncing bundle of joy you are going to be left with these deflated sacs of skin that you used to call breasts. Think about that one before you go and get pregnant! (I love my Son and wouldn’t trade him for the world but after all of my babies I am getting a new pair!)
I will be 25 in a few months so I was in my prime before my munchkin came around. I was a huge anti-bra person if I had a shirt that wasn’t bra friendly. You might have said I resembled a hippy at times. I am going to stop you before you suggest a strapless bra because you and I both know that those are not comfortable. You spend half of your night adjusting yourself and dancing… totally out of the picture. You might as well just sit in the corner and look pretty. Don’t even get me started on those girdles! I couldn’t wait to get that thing off on my wedding day and that was completely unrelated to a ‘honeymoon night’.
When you are nursing your breasts look fabulous because they are firm and full of milk. While nursing you smell like maple syrup because you never think you are producing enough milk. If you are producing enough milk and get engorged keep your fingers crossed you don’t end up with a plugged duct or an infection… OW! Then there is the whole drying up portion of breastfeeding and your dirty little secret happens to be the cabbage leaves in your bra. Don’t forget the pain of drying up! Yes fellas, it isn’t just our vagina that goes through a traumatic experience… our whole body takes a beating.
There is a product that will help keep you from looking like your 90 year old Grandma in shirts that aren’t bra friendly. It isn’t a pill, cream or even clear tape holding up your pitiful breasts. The product is called Strap Tamers and they are used to conceal your bra straps! So friends, I invite you to pull those super cute shirts out of the closet and brave the beast that is known as postpartum breasts with me!
You will go from drab to fab with this Mom invented product! Thank heavens for Victoria’s Secret and all she does for women everywhere! Make sure you check out the giveaway below because this week it includes: Accessory Connectz, Strap Tamers, Body Bark and On the Cuff.
This giveaway is sponsored by Mompact.com. This is a product “invented by moms, for moms” and I received this product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
Her father has been accused of stealing from the king, an allegation that has reduced her family to poverty. She has one chance to find and marry a man who can help her prove her father’s innocence. Lord Therri, heir to a rich barony, has the wealth and connections Mathilde needs to delve into the mysteries of her father’s past. Furthermore, Therri embodies all her romantic dreams.
Etienne, the younger son of a disgraced family, has neither wealth nor connections, but is smitten with Mathilde at a glance. She finds the knight intriguing, but believes he is only out to seduce her. While she seeks for a way to win Therri’s attention, Etienne tricks her into granting him her favor, an embroidered white ribbon, for a tournament, setting in motion a dangerous chain reaction of events. Can Etienne save Mathilde from a nightmare from her past and prove himself the true hero of her dreams?
I am the author of three “sweet” medieval romances, Loyalty’s Web (a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist), Illuminations of the Heart (past RWA Heart of the West Winner, and a 2009 Whitney Award Finalist), and Dangerous Favor (2012 release). I’ve also written a short medieval Christmas story titled “An Epiphany Gift for Robin” published in the Christmas anthology, Stolen Christmas and Other Stories of the Season, also available as a “single” on Smashwords.
Emily White lives in NY, wedged between two of the Great Lakes and a few feet of snow and ice. She’s spent most of her life running away from the cold, and even spent a year in Iraq, but now contents herself with writing her characters into warm, exotic places in faraway galaxies. When not tapping away at her computer keys, she can be found reading, reading, and reading some more. And when she’s not doing that, she’s usually playing video games with her husband, peek-a-boo with her kids, or walking through her garden, wondering why the bugs insist on eating all her vegetables.
Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple.
Take from the rich kids at valley prep and give to the poor ones.
Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her new high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”—known to everyone as the Glitterati—without them suspecting a thing is far from easy. Learning how to break into lockers and Beemers is as hard as she’d thought it would be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are bullied just for being different, is more fun than she’d expected.
The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, VP’s most notorious ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her—evening the social playing field between the haves and have-nots. There’s no time for flirting, especially with conceited trust-funders like Aidan. But when the cops start investigating the string of thefts at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could Aidan wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?
Elisa Ludwig’s Pretty Crooked is the first book in an adventurous teen caper series filled with mystery, humor, and heart.
I know a lot of my friends are into Pretty Little Liars so here is a review that just might sway you to check out Pretty Crooked.
“This should be an easy sell to fans of Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars books.” —Booklist
You can purchase Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig on Amazon in a hardcover or Kindle version. Make sure you get your entries in below for the $50 Amazon gift card giveaway!
What happens when you find a house that is almost everything you have dreamed of AND the right price but is a ‘project house‘? Of course there are different degrees of a project house but projects are projects. You can have your honey-do-list house, your money-pit-house and your give-up-your-first-born-to-pay-for-all-of-the-repairs-house. Ours just happened to be the latter and I want to show you something the made an enormous difference on the cheap, a mini bathroom makeover.
For reference we have a blue bathroom and pink bathroom and a yellow bathroom. I know, totally retro. This mini bathroom makeover took place in our yellow bathroom because it is the main bathroom that we use.
Please say Hi to our grody floor. Let me tell you that this is AFTER I was on my hands and knees with all of my free toothbrushes scrubbing and scrubbing until I could have passed for ‘high as a kite‘ from the fumes. What else is a crazy coupon person going to do with all of her free toothbrushes?! Don’t flame me, I donate a ton of them too. You can see that there are clearly gaps in the grout making the floor look dirty still.
It was driving me bonkers because I would sit on the toilet and just give the floor the stink eye to pass the time. It was time to remedy this situation with a mini makeover until we can afford to knock it out and rip it all down to start fresh and pretty. Money, why are you so hard to come by?
My amazingly awesome Husband humored me and jumped on board with my project. AKA he did all of the work while I entertained the baby. He ripped out this God awful shower door because I have been nagging him for a year. In the process he broke 5 tiles and had to replace them. Off to Lowe’s to see his lover he went! I have gotten used to their love affair and I just deal with it.
Let me tell you who invented these glass sliding shower doors, A MAN! How in the world can you bathe a baby when you get 2 feet to wiggle in? Worst invention ever.
After the whole grout and tile process it was time to wipe down the excess and just clean the shower in general. Everyone who has cleaned a shower has experienced the little sneak of the water drop that starts at your hand and ends up in your armpit! It tickles, it is cold and there isn’t a good way to stop it. So this Mom invented something called On the Cuff and I made Michael try them out.
You know, he could be a hand model if he had better cuticles. On the Cuff prevented any water drips down his arms and I left him to continue cleaning the bathroom after I made sure they worked. They look bizarre and people might just look at you funny if you wear them but who will be laughing when you are still dry?
Did you know On the Cuff…
Is made of a unique stretch material that will not tear
Is comfortable to wear and easy to use
Can be used over and over
Is a “one size fits all” design, perfect for women, men and teens
In the end I am 110% pleased with our mini makeover. I think the important part with a successful makeover is to pick one thing that would make you happy with the room and in my case it was the shower door. We spent $44 total on some supplies and tiles. We had to buy all of the tools for doing tile so those are just a one time cost. I found an old shower curtain and matching picture in my basement to give this room some new life and Michael did the labor. So find your focal point in your room and make it magnificent!
It isn’t perfect but it’s like the saying, ‘putting lipstick on a pig‘. I am happy there aren’t anymore holes in the grout even if there are still cracks in the tiles.
This giveaway is sponsored by Mompact.com. This is a product “invented by moms, for moms” and I received this product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
All throughout the month of April fans of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series are promoting the upcoming release of her book Insurgent through various contests, group efforts, and more! If you have never heard of the Divergent Series you are missing out. Learn more about the series on the Publisher’s Website.
This $100 Amazon Gift Code Giveaway was organized by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and is brought to you by a large group of Bloggers who are showing their support for the Faction Abnegation by posting this giveaway on their blog.
All entries are done via the Rafflecopter Form. (Yes I know it is ridiculously long. We had a lot of people sign up to support Team Abnegation! There is a +25 Clicking Bonus if you make it all the way through the rafflecopter and follow & like everyone). Open to anyone 18 or older who can legally receive and use an Amazon Gift Card Code. The Rafflecopter accepts entries from 12:01 AM on April 18th to 11:59 PM on April 30th. Enter daily to better your chances of winning.
Do you know the origin of the Easter Bunny? Michael and I were interested so we went on a Google search to add more random knowledge to his brain. He retains just about everything he reads. Pre-Christian it was a holiday worshiping the Goddess Eastre who was the Goddess of fertility with the symbol of a bunny. Interesting right?
If any of you have been following along with my stories you know that I am not supposed to get pregnant until Michael is potty trained. How is this for ironic though. It was Easter weekend, I was ovulating and we tested Michael’s sperm? Wouldn’t that have just fit perfectly if we would have conceived on Easter? It all makes sense why it is called humping like rabbits.
Michael was a little nervous to test his sperm with the SpermCheck Fertility test but I told him that it would be better to find out that he doesn’t have a high sperm count now, rather than when we were in the clear to get pregnant. It is a male ego thing. We got so lucky with Baby Michael because we conceived my very first ovulation. Not everyone is that lucky though.
What are some tips you can try at home to help yourself get pregnant?
Track your ovulation either the old fashion way with pen and paper or with a free application like Period Tracker. I totally use an app!
I would try all of these things before taking the plunge to the doctor’s office. Fertility checks and medicines can get expensive and uncomfortable. I now know 2 women in this position and it is hard on them. I also know one women who has successfully conceived after years of failure.
The test is really easy to do even though the instructions are a little overwhelming. There are a lot of timings to follow to make sure you do the test right and you don’t want to bruise your Husband’s ego my doing the test wrong! I liked that the box was equipped with a hole to keep things from spilling, as you can see in the picture above where I am putting the sperm into the test solution.
After you give it a mix and let it sit some more you put exactly 6 drops onto the test, see picture above. You guessed it. Then you let it sit some more. This is the point where Michael was getting anxious because we were almost done.
The verdict is in and I have a relieved Husband! This means he has a normal sperm count of at least 20 million per milliliter. So what are you to do if it comes back negative?
Sperm Tips:
Make sure you Husband is eating right and taking the proper vitamins.
STOP SMOKING!
Just like a women, men need to have a healthy weight.
Try boxers instead of briefs to keep the genitals cooler.
QUIT MASTURBATING so much! Save your sperm for the mission at hand.
There are many factors that come into play with a man’s sperm and how effective they are such as: count, motility and shape. We could be here all day if I went into each of these so I will advise you to talk to your doctor if the simple at home tips don’t work for you.
You have a chance to win your own SpermCheck Fertility test right here in the Rafflecopter below! As an added bonus you should check out their Bring Sexy Back giveaway that is mentioned below. Victoria’s Secret… yes please!
Bring Sexy Back” Giveaway from SpermCheck Fertility
According to fertility advocate, educator and SpermCheck Fertility expert, Pamela Madsen, so many times couples get lost in the “baby making” process and forget to actually have fun! SpermCheck Fertility wants to “Bring Sexy Back” to the baby making process with a special giveaway offer. Starting March 16th through April 13th enter the “Bring Sexy Back” SpermCheck Fertility Giveaway for a chance to win one of four prize packages which includes: a $50 gift certificate to Victoria’s Secret, a copy of Pamela Madsen’s Shameless: How to Make Making a Baby Fun CD, a sexy cinnamon scented candle and room spray, $50 iTunes gift card and a $50 gift card to Walgreens. Connect with SpermCheck Fertility on Facebook – www.facebook.com/spermcheck- to enter the giveaway and learn more about the product!
I know I am terribly behind since Michael is almost 9 months old but there was no way I was going to cram 2 months worth of updates into one little post. If I would have then you would be sitting here reading for hours! Not to mention you know the monthly updates are a photo bomb so a month at a time is plenty.
Once he got past 6 months he became so independent. He would not have anything to do with me rocking him! Occasionally he would give in and fall asleep on me but good grief, it was like pulling teeth! That is such a bittersweet thing because we get more time to do what we want and need to do but we miss out on those precious moments where they are just completely trusting you. We complain in the beginning but once it is gone we want it back.
We had to take out first traveling trip for my Step Dad’s surgery and we stayed a couple of nights down there with him. Michael did so good sleeping and staying on schedule! I was so proud of him! It really just reinforces the whole concept of watching your baby’s cues. If you miss one you could be in for a difficult child! Thank goodness at the time of our trip he was still on a sleep every 2 hours and eat every 2.5 hours schedule. He threw that all out of the window in recent times but I will touch on that in another monthly update.
Michael got his first tooth 2/1/12 and his second tooth 2/7/12. (The picture above was taken on St Patrick’s Day but it shows you his cute little teeth.) I was surprised that it was as easy as it was. He was only really fussy the day the tooth cut through so I consider myself lucky. By the time I realized what was going on the tooth was through and he was all better. I have yet to really need teething gels and tablets… YET.
Right now the way I keep track of what pictures to include in my posts is to look through the baby folder on my desktop and go through Facebook to match mobile uploads. What would I do without Facebook? I know a lot of people are all up in arms about the Timeline feature but I love it. I am one of those chronic updaters so I know exactly when something happened so I can put it all together in a post. The picture above is his outfit for our photo shoot today. I want to show you this cool product that I just got to keep better track of Michael’s monthly milestones.
Sticky Bellies are simply a sticker that you can put on any piece of clothing to document how old your baby is or how far along in your pregnancy you are. This is a way cheaper alternative to buying 12 outfits. Check them out on Amazon to see the different patterns for neutral, boy and girl!
Sticky Bellies Milestone Stickers are really easy to put on the clothing. I ran into one problem while using them. He is very mobile right now and I filled up a whole SD card, 300 pictures, trying to get these TWO pictures. So I was shooting him for a good couple of hours. During this time he was eating, crawling, walking, climbing and drooling like a champ. You can see some wear and tear on the sticker. The drool part was a little harder to peel off but not bad.
There are very few company Facebook pages that I like to follow and for the one reason of engagement. I love when a brand is personable and Sticky Bellies Facebook Page does a great job of that! You can also find them on Twitter and Pinterest.
This giveaway is sponsored by Mompact.com. This is a product “invented by moms, for moms”. I received this product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
I have partnered up with 150 fabulous Bloggers to give you another chance to win $100 Amazon Gift Code!! YAY! During the month of April HarperTeen is promoting the release of the book Insurgent by Veronica Roth. This giveaway was organized to help promote the release of that book. To learn more about this book series please visit the Publisher’s Website.
The Divergent Nation is made of up 5 separate factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless & Erudite. The faction with the most traffic clicking through during the month of April via their links wins. You have many chances to win and can enter daily from now until April 22nd. To enter use the Rafflecopter form below.
I was not compensated for publishing this post. I was given an entry on the Rafflecopter form in exchange for promotion.
Rules & Restrictions:
Open to anyone 18 or older who can legally receive and use an Amazon Gift Code. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded and Mandatory Entries must have been done or prize will be awarded to a different winner. No purchase necessary. You must be 18+ to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Permanent link to this article: http://www.mallerysdeals.com/2012/04/08/100-amazon-giveaway/
We love seafood in our house and Michael is in love with shrimp. If someone has a shrimp plate at a party you better believe that he eats 80% of it and he especially goes crazy for jumbo shrimp. I made bruschetta for his birthday party but I didn’t think to make shrimp bruschetta. So I am taking the foundation of my previous bruschetta recipe and tweaking it to make a happy Husband!
Your ingredients are simple as you can see. Again, I prefer Roma tomatoes but you work with what you have. (Olive oil not pictured)
Instead of rubbing the garlic on the bread like I did in the previous recipe I just sliced it up and baked the garlic right on top of the bread. I found this to be way easier if you have enough garlic.
I started cooking the shrimp according to the package and decided not to waste the garlic from the bread. I tossed it right into the pan for more garlic flavor! Mmmhm garlic!
Once the shrimp was done cooking I removed the garlic pieces and mixed it in with the Bruschetta. I can’t tell you how delicious this smelled! All you do from here is top your bread with it and eat up!
Side Note: My Husband had Good Friday off from work so he was home and got to see what I do all day since he swears I sit around and twiddle my thumbs. I told him we would be trying a new Bruschetta recipe and he was not excited. That was until the house started to fill up with the aromas of garlic and shrimp. Silly man. He could barely wait until I had taken my photos to try it out. Then as he was working throughout the day I would here him open the oven and the fridge to make a new snack! I told him he would be fat if he stayed home with me all day because this is what takes up most of my days. Needless to say, he approves.
Now that I have shown you that Gorton’s is more than just fish sticks you have a chance to win 2 free product coupons from them! There are going to be 3 winners so your odds are good! (See Rafflecopter below)
To sweeten the pot even more Gorton’s is running a Fisherman’s Friday Sweepstakes, through May 8th, where they will draw a weekly winner to win a TOP SECRET prize. As long as it is some sort of seafood our house is happy. They just introduced a new product called Skillet Crisp that I would be interested in trying out. We stick with their shrimp and grilled fish products just because I am not a big batter fish kind of gal. They also run coupons on their site that you can print out and save some cash on dinner.
Does your child get a lot of boo boos? Do you go through Band Aids like crazy because it makes their ‘boo boos’ feel better? Kissaboo from Mompact might be something that you want to look into then!
Michael isn’t to the stage of wanting a Band Aid for all of his boo boos yet but my God Daughter loves that I give her boxes and boxes of them. Thank goodness for coupons! She will mysteriously get a boo boo so she can get a Dora Band Aid. Kids are silly but whatever makes them feel better. The Kissaboo is nice because it can act like a reusable Band Aid and save us Moms some cash on all of those ‘pretend ouchies’!
Here is a pro and con all wrapped into one about this product: it is tight. This is probably not even a problem for 99% of you Moms out there but I fall into that 1% because Michael is 8 months old and… 25 pounds! So my very healthy little man has some adorable rolls that he needs to grow into. I will say this though, I like tight once I got it on him. He was crawling all around the Family Room and they never once slipped or came off of him.
I was surprised at how welcoming Michael was to the covers. He never once fussed or even acted like I had put them on him once I got them on. I thought for sure the finger cover, on his right hand, would drive him bonkers. He is such a good sport reviewing all of these nifty items for Mommy!
The site says that the big cover, pictured above, can act like an elbow or a knee cover but it wouldn’t fit on his leg. Keep in mind, he is adorably chubby. They would also be good to cover up a real scrape or bandage because they do stay in place. I can see it keeping little ones from irritating an injury.
Just in case you want a cute chuckle today I thought I would share a video of Michael telling us what he really thought of the Kissaboo product!
Overall, I think this is a great way to give your children the comfort they are looking for when they want us to kiss their boo boos. After all, we know it is a super magic healing cover right?! Make sure you get your entries in below for your chance to win a fabulous prize pack from Mompact! This week you can win: Safer Car Seat Cover, BoogieSnatcher, Parking Pal, Snifflebuddies, Kissaboo and a Gripsterz. Kissaboo will be coming soon to Amazon so watch for it and pick yours up!
This giveaway is sponsored by Mompact.com. This is a product “invented by moms, for moms”. I received this product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
I was sent some Country Bob’s to review so I wanted to make a recipe out of it. What do you make with All Purpose Sauce, besides everything? The first thing that came to mind was some type of BBQ chicken. Hmm. *thinking cap on*
Don’t forget that I am a 90% crock pot/freezer meal gal so I have to take that into consideration. Well I hate onions but if I had to eat them I prefer red onion. I like potatoes and that reminds me of BBQ chicken so lets try that. From there I just got in a rut on what else would taste good so I rolled with another simple recipe. You know me, simple is better.
Ingredients:
half red onion
3 lbs red potatoes
2 lbs chicken breast
1 bottle of Country Bob’s
2 garlic cloves
I just had to highlight this picture because I don’t know what I would do without my Garlic Press! I live by this handy dandy tool.
I added all of the ingredients right into the crock pot and turned it on low. It is pretty standard that I cook everything for about 6 hours. I always check to see if the chicken breaks apart when I jab it with a spoon. I like yummy tender chicken breasts!
Moving forward I think that less potatoes would be better. I would have been happy with 1-2 pounds of potatoes but cooking is all about trial and error unless you are using someone’s recipe who already did the trial and error. I like to think of myself as the not so perfect Betty Crocker. I have a fabulous Husband who tolerates the errors and tells me what he likes and dislikes with each meal. Not to mention he puts up with all of the pictures I take of our food!
After I cooked it in the crock pot I threw it in a freezer bag for a meal later on in the week. When I want to cook a freezer meal I pull it out in the morning and let it thaw on the counter. Then when Michael is on his way home I put it into the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes depending on the ingredients. This dish was still a little cold after 15 minutes because of the potatoes so we nuked it for another minute or so. Just keep that in mind.
So what was the verdict?
Michael: He liked the chicken but not the potatoes because they were too squishy. I made them squishy because that is how I like them silly man!
Me: I thought the onion was really strong but I don’t like onion. I am the worst judge of food because I am so picky. Michael LOVED the onion flavor so use your own judgement.
Sister: My Sister came over and ate the leftovers and she loved the chicken but not the potatoes. She thought they were too sweet because they weren’t white potatoes. I really can’t please every can I?
I have only found Country Bob’s at Walmart in our area but my Step-Dad LOVES this stuff. Let me explain just HOW much he loves this stuff.
I had just gotten my bottles to review in the mail so they were sitting on my counter when he stopped by one day. He immediately asked me where I got those bottles. So I told him I needed to review them for my site. “So do you need to review both bottles?”, he asks. I gave him one of the bottles because he gave me some insight for my post.
He was telling me he can eat this sauce on anything. He mentioned all sorts of meats: chicken, beef, etc. He even said he will eat it on chips! I wish I could have recorded his enthusiasm because he was all about the Country Bob’s!
Lucky for you 2 readers are going to win their own 2 bottles right here, right now! You can create your own recipe or try a recipe from their site.
I received my own product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
I wouldn’t classify myself as a serial dieter but I know a lot of people who either struggle with their weight, don’t want to fork out the cash to eat healthy or nothing works for them. Then there are the people who try every diet pill out there and take water pills. What does that accomplish? If you don’t change your HABITS you will continue to crash diet. I do believe it take 21 days to form a habit? If that sounds like you then you might want to try a different approach and 80Bites Diet is here to help.
What is 80Bites?
80Bites is a 12 week program designed to monitor your food intake so you don’t overeat. I am not going to give away the tips that they have given me up to this point because that would defeat the purpose of you trying it out for yourself. I will say that in the 4 weeks I have been doing this program I have gone from 152.4 to 148.6 pounds. The proof is in the pudding.
So I lost about 4 pounds in 4 weeks and that isn’t a huge number. I was testing the waters and I wasn’t being careful with good foods and bad foods. I also had a big work project so I wasn’t going to the gym for 3 of those 4 weeks. So I was pretty much only using this method and was really surprised when I ended up losing 4 pounds.
When I say I was eating bad foods, I mean it. I had some candy on multiple days, I had some pizza, I ate some fast food and I lowered my fruits and vegetables for quicker meals. It is a good thing I am a crock pot/freezer meal gal because when life gets busy meals are the first thing to lose priority. Looking back on the past 4 weeks I regret that I am admitting to those weight loss faux pas, but it happened. I will say this though, it felt so nice to not feel bad about eating the wrong foods!
Moving forward to the next 4 weeks I am going to focus on becoming more active at home instead of relying on the gym. Baby Michael started to change his sleeping habits during the first 4 weeks and was going to bed at 6pm, which is when I would go to the gym. Then we was all sorts of crabby during the day so I didn’t want to take him to daycare until I figured out what was going on with him. Sure those are excuses but your priorities change with children and him being happy was is more important than me going to the gym.
I can tell I am moving along on the right track though because I start to get full at about 15/16 bites. Once I get to 20 bites, “Whoa Nelly! It’s time to loosen those pants!“.
Everything has a phone application these days and I don’t know what I would do some days without the applications I have downloaded. I didn’t review this application but I think that it is almost necessary to really stay on track when you are out and about. I will say that starting a program like this is incredibly difficult because you don’t realize how poor your eating habits are until you try and change them. I am a serial multi-tasker and that was the hardest part for me. I would start counting my bites then start watching TV or surfing the web and lose count.
I received my own membership in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
So you love the concept of reusable grocery totes but some totes can be pretty crappy quality. I will just tell you that I am in love with my totes from SnapSac! Do you see how giant these puppies get?! At first I was a little skeptical because I felt like it I filled it with grocery it would be weak like the others I have received. That was not the case this time and I would pay for these totes. I said it! I would pay for these totes. They make my life easier, they are cute and they a good quality. You can buy SnapSacs on Amazon!
The bags are huge and yet compact enough to fit both into my diaper bag to make traveling easier.
I was sent 3 sizes and the smallest one fits right into my purse! I think that is my favorite part of the bags. It isn’t like folding a tent either, they are very simple to fold up after you have used them. I think this makes storage so much better too! I really am impressed with these grocery totes!
That bag that fit into my purse is now holding 8 bottles and some candy without any problems! As you can see there is more room inside the bag for stuff.
This was the big test for me. I fit 15 boxes of cereal into the Mega Tote! Think about how many bags I would have used for that many boxes of cereal? The cashiers are always blown away when I give them my bag for my groceries.
I am also going to give these a try for beach days this Summer. I am pretty sure that I will be able to fit everything that Mom and Baby would need into one of these bags.
Do you want to win your very own tote? Well today you can right here! Or you can buy SnapSacs on Amazon!
I received my own totes in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
You guys know I like Rockabye Baby already because I just wrote a post on the release of Renditions of The Police but their newest release is even better. It’s Dave Matthews Band! Who doesn’t like Dave Matthews Band?! As you can see above, Michael was pretty excited as well.
The first song I wanted to listen to was Crash Into Me and you can actually go over and listen to it on Rockabye Baby’s blog! This is the song they picked to feature and it’s one of my favorites! I think they did a good job and once again I let the CD play without that desire to turn it off or down. My Sister is a huge DMB fan and she approved.
I am totally into the humor of this company and I can’t wait to see what comes out next. I opened up the case to find another baby food recipe for ‘Squash Into Me’! Aren’t they clever?!
Michael wants to share what tracks are on this CD.
The Space Between
Crash Into Me
Satellite
American Baby
Don’t Drink the Water
Ants Marching
Stay (Wasting Time)
So Much to Say
Where Are You Going
Crush
Grace is Gone
You and Me
The good news is that you can try your luck at winning this one was well. Right here, right now! Good luck!
I received a copy of this CD in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
This is going to be a two part review for the obvious reason: I am not supposed to get pregnant right now so I can’t fully review FertiBella. Once I get the go ahead to get pregnant again we are going to use this and then do a video review! Yay videos! The above picture is everything you get in your Conceive Easy Starter Kit!
I was so excited to get contacted to review this because I have a very close friend who is trying to get pregnant and having a rough time. Going for fertility treatments through your Doctor can get expensive so it is nice to know you have another option before that. I just want to give her some hope because I would be so sad if all I wanted was to get pregnant and couldn’t.
I watched the success stories that they have on their website and it sure does tug at your heart strings! I feel for anyone in that position because having a child is so rewarding… and so much work!
We actually didn’t have sex until 6 months after delivery just because I hadn’t healed and it was pretty painful. Our first time we had a ‘whoops moment’ so I reviewed one of the pregnancy tests that came with my kit. It was easy to read and you can see the line saying that I am not pregnant. *sigh of relief*
The pills that come in your kit are actually labeled so you are supposed to take month 1 first and then month 2. I would have just started taking the pills willy nilly so I am glad I double checked!
You can order your own 30 day free trial on the FertiBella website and just pay shipping! If you continue using it then it will be billed $39.95 a month. In addition to helping you get pregnant, for each kit sold $1 will be donated to breast cancer research!
I had to report what was in my box because I am a sucker for a good deal. On your second order you get FREE Ugg infant booties and your third order you get 2 Baby Einstein 26 DVD collections! I am not saying that when you get around to trying their program these same freebies will be available but I am just reporting what they are promoting at this time.
You can also win a 2 month starter kit right here!
I received my own kit in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
Sticky Bellies
Sticky Bellies Milestone Stickers
! I live by this handy dandy tool.
Loading tweets...
