Lots of stuff

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would do a big post.
In the mail today I got a mailer from Vocal Point, it contained a coupon for a free box of Rice Krispies and a bunch of $1 off coupons. If you haven't yet joined this is a great web site. I got a Shape magazine (freebie since I don't buy), a Tide coupon for $1.50 off any size tide stained release product.

I went by CVS on the way home to get my weekly back to school freebies. Even though I don't have a child going to school they are great for my granddaughter and myself. Every week they have something different. I did a survey some time back and got $5 ECB and have been using it over and over to buy. Here is a picture of some of this week's goodies (my CVS isn't very good and is out of about half the items) There are 2 packs of glue sticks, 2 composition books, 2 pairs of safety handle scissors, 2 flexible rulers, a pack of pens and 1 of pencils, and 2 stretchable book covers.






I got a start for friendship bread for a friend's mom and tonight was the night to make my bread. I choose to make it chocolate. I am taking one loaf to my dad. He just got out of jail and I am hoping to convince him to come to church with me on Wednesday. I am teaching that night on Laminin. Its an awesome message. Google laminin and you will get the gist of my message. I would like to see my family get saved. Here is a picture of the loaf I made for him. The glaze didn't spread as well as I wanted it to but its still edible :).




Here are the instructions I followed. You can Google (I only Swagbuck though, you find the same infomation and you earn goodies. I need one more buck to get another $5 Amazon gc)

Do not use metal bowl or spoon. Why no metal bowls or spoons? This interacts with the sourdough process and can actually ruin it. YUCK!
Do not refrigerate
As air builds up in bag, release slowly, it is normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment.
Day 1. do nothing
Day 2 Stir.
Day 3 Stir.
Day 4 Stir.
Day 5 Stir.
Day 6 Add: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir.
Day 7 Stir.
Day 8 Stir.
Day 9 Stir.
Day 10. Add 1-1/2 cup flour, 1-1/2 cup sugar, and 1-1/2 cup milk. Divide out 3 - 1 cup portions to give to friends and keep 1 for yourself. Label the bags day 1 and put the date.

preheat oven to 325
to the remaining batter(should be less than 1 cup or so) add
1 c. oil
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla (I use 2 t. vanilla)
3 eggs
1-1/2 t. baking powder
2 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
1 large box instant pudding
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon

Mix well but do not overmix.
Combine in small bowl the following:
3 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
Grease well 2 loaf pans or 1 bundt pan. Coat with cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour batter into pan or pans equally. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes clean.

My favorite variation is chocolate. I take out 1/2 c. flour and replace with unsweetened cocoa powder and then use a chocolate pudding mix. With this variation, I do not put the cinnamon sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.

Low-fat - replace 1/2 of the oil with unsweetened apple sauce.Replace 2 of the eggs with 3 egg whites or use an egg substitute.

Low-sugar - use only 3/4 c. sugar or replace some of the sugar with Splenda


finally I will end with a quick picture of the grandkids together.

free software

Since I take so many digital photos of everything, I love photo editing software. Here is a nice freebie.
Corel Paint Shop Pro X delivers a complete set of photo editing tools to help you create professional - looking photos fast! By combining automatic photo fixes and precision editing controls with a revolutionary Learning Center, Paint Shop Pro is a first of its kind.
download here

a few deals

I went by CVS and bought a few school supplies. I don't need them but they were free after ECB and so I got them. I had a $5 ECB for taking a survey so used that to pay. I went through the line 2 times to minimize my cash outlay. I got 2 pairs 5" blunt scissors, 2 bottles glue, 3 packs of pens and 2 70 count notebooks all free after ecb. I also bought a clearance headband for 55 cents and a box of Alavert for 55cents. I get allergy symtpoms on occasion so thought it a good deal. If I can get orgazined, CVS also has the photobooks on sale for $7.99 with $7.99 back in ECB so I would like to get a coupon to give as gifts.

In the mail I got my rebate check for buying the blue bunny ice cream back in May. I am going to use it on this deal There is a try me free rebate and a $1 coupon to print so you actually come out ahead plus have a free meal of Tyson skillet creations.

I am stopping by Wal-Mart in the morning to pick up some free water with this Nestle coupon Wal-Mart has the 6pks on sale for $1 and so that makes them free. You can print the coupon 2 times so you get 2 six packs for tax. I printed mine Saturday but haven't been online to post.

Also sign up for a coupon for a free Venom energy drink from Dr Pepper.

Another deal for anyone who has gotten their free chocolate coupon from Mars. Rite Aid has Mars on sale for b1g1 so you can get 2 for nothing.

contests

I found these at A Full Cup also has really good forums and coupons to print.
Here is a pretty good daily one to enter.
Wrigley's Flip the top and Go. Enter daily.
GRAND PRIZE (1): One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a 2010 Ford Mustang convertible (make and model to be selected by Sponsor in it sole discretion). (Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of Grand Prize: $30,000.00). Grand Prize winner may choose to receive a cash alternative prize of USD $15,000.00 to be awarded in the form of a check.
FIRST PRIZES (50): Fifty (50) First Prize winners will each receive one (1) $50 gas gift card selected at the sole discretion of Sponsor. (ARV of each First Prize: $50.00).
SECOND PRIZES (50): Fifty (50) Second Prize Winners will each receive one $25 Walgreens gift card. (ARV of each Second Prize: $25.00).
Limit one (1) prize per person, household or address.

An instant win- these are my favorites. I have a short attention span and want instant gratification :)

Jennie-O Turkey Store
daily per person, 18 and older.
Prizes: (60) $100 supermarket or Visa gift card.
Limit one Instant Win prize per person.

Join the Wakin'Up Club

Possible samples and coupons from Folgers

Get a coupon booklet worth over $50 from Kraft If you aren't a member it will prompt you to join. I am practically a member of every company site out there.

So far this week I have bought 12 bags of shredded cheese and 13 blocks of cheese at Kroger. After the $4 coupon it was roughly 20¢ a package. I also went by K-Mart who was having a clearance on toys. It was 50% off the clearance price. I got my grandson a playset for Christmas that has animals and makes sounds and does a lot of different little stuff for $18.50. It was supposed to be $75, I got my granddaughter a Ba Ba Baby Elmo for $8.50. Thats another Christmas present. I also got her a Tigger Bounce chair for $4.50. I honestly didn't know it was a bounce chair. I just wanted a little kid chair for her to sit on at the house. Its so cute.

5 free issues of O magazine

If you are a member of Startsampling they have an offer for 5 free issues of 0 magazine. I get about 12 magazines a month and I don't pay for 11 of them. I did buy a subscription to All You but thats because its such an awesome coupon magazine.

I stocked up on some cheese this week at Kroger. They have Kraft cheese( shredded or chunk) on sale for $1.24 a bag. If you buy 4 the 5th on is free so its 5 pks for 4.96. Then it prints a catalina for $4 off your next order. I am going to get some more cheese in the morning. I keep it in the freezer and thats an awesome deal.

I got my latest $5 gift cert for Amazon.com from Swagbucks in my email last night. I am saving for Christmas with those.

BTW I order some 4th of July pictures from Snapfish using the coupon code PENNY. I got the pictures today and they are awesome. The code is good until July 10th and its 50 prints for 50cents plus shipping and handling.

There is a rebate out for $10 from Kellogs Fuel for School
buy 10 product in one trip and send the upc codes, cash register receipt and the form to get your rebate. These are the products.
-100 Calorie Right Bites (6 ct. or larger)
-Eggo Products (4 ct. or larger)
-Keebler or Austin Products (8 oz. or larger)
-Kellogg's Cereal (10 oz. or larger)
-Kellogg's Fruit Flavored Snacks (6 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars (8 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Pop Tarts (8 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats Squares (8 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Special K Cereal Bars (8 ct. or larger)
-MorningStar Farms Veggie Foods Product (5 oz. or larger)
-Sunshine Products (8 oz. or larger)

I have put links on the side bar for sites to print online coupons and a lot of those sites have coupons for those products. I am hoping to catch the eggo's on sale since I have printed coupons for those.

Get your name on Dale Jr's Amp car

I will start out on an odd note. Its not very warm for it to be July in West Virginia. Its only in the 70's and I am freezing for some reason so had to light the stove to take the chill out of the air. This is crazy. It was cold and snowy for months and months and now its not even warm for summer.

I thought this was pretty cool. I am a Jimmy Johnson fan myself but still this is cool. Sign up if you aren't an Amp member and then you can have your name on the 88 car in the Amp 500 race. Sign in here.

Also for any who are interested in actually money not gift cards, you can now redeem swagbucks for paypal cash. It takes 80 swagbucks for $5 in PayPal but I prefer the Amazon gift certs since that makes me feel like I am buying presents for nothing.

Wednesday Weigh In

I missed last Wednesday, mostly because I hadn't lost anything. I got on the scales this morning and am down 2 more lbs. I've been a bit depressed so haven't felt much like posting lately.

I have been in a lot of pain from my back lately so I thought this was a cool deal
Sign up and get 3 sample size oinmnents here for pain.

In the mail yesterday I got a box of Nature Valley Nut Clusters There were 4 bags, 1) roasted cashews with granola and a touch of honey, these are my favorites, 2) honey roasted peanuts with granola and a touch of honey 3) roasted almonds with granola and a touch of honey, and 4)nut lovers with granola and a touch of honey (my second favorite). These were a freebie from MyBlogSpark. These are the people who sponsor a lot of the giveaways you see on other blogs. If you have a blog I recommend you set up an account with them. BTW if you go to the Nature Valley page there is a $1 coupon to print off the nut clusters at the bottom of the page.
I also got a couple of coupons off of Marlboro cigarette's. I don't smoke but they are having a daily prize contest. Last year I got a sleeping bag from them. My sister won a tent once from them. I also got the Veggie Tales dvd I ordered. Since my granddaughter's birthday just past I am going to save it for either Halloween or Christmas.

mail call

Here are a few things I got in the mail yesterday. I got my coupon from KFC for a free ungrilled meal after the coupon fiasco, I got a coupon for free flatbread melt from Digiorno, I also got my Pillsbury doll. He is adorable. I am putting him up for my granddaughter when she is older. In my email I also got this notice I won a second Pillsbury doll. That is too cool. It also comes with a cookbook of prize winning recipes so now I have one cookbook for my collection and then one is going to be someone's present for something. I am slowly building up my gift box. I used to always have a box that was full of stuff I had for gifts for unexpected occasions and had gotten away from that but now I am working on building it up again. That makes for a frugal Christmas and all around occasions. I got enough Swagbucks to order another $5 Amazon.com gift certificate. I get about 1 $5 gift code a month and am saving those up to get Christmas stuff with.

free sample of Kiss My Face anti-stress gel. Boy do I feel like I need this.
offer here

A really cool moneysaving contest. I really need to crack down and save and am enthused just by the chance to save money.
All You grocery challenge. You could win a $1000 grocery card, a one year supply of Knorr side dishes, plus a feature in All You magazine! The winner will appear on the CBS Early Show in December!
To register, fill out and submit the form by 11:59 p.m., July 12. The challenge starts on July 13.
We'll send you weekly e-mails, starting July 13, that include tips, recipes and instructions on how to blog about your progress and use our handy Spending Log.

After four weeks, we'll tell you how to send in your results, and we'll then choose 10 finalists.
The finalist who followed the budget with the most creative healthful choices will win a $1,000 grocery card and a year's supply of Knorr side dishes—and will appear in ALL YOU!
You must spend no more than $25 per person, per week on groceries
They also have an online spending log you can use to track your spending. You have to keep the receipts for each week because if you are choose you will have to show them.
Household and toiletry items do not count in your grocery spending total
Eating out/takeout *does* count toward your grocery spending total

Saturday Savings

Sportsman Magazine free subscription

Double Roll of Scott's Toilet Tissue and 10 count pack of Flushable Wipes This is offered from Walmart.

Ok this one isn't totally free but its really cool and a good deal. You can get a Veggie Tale dvd for $2.99 shipping and handling only. Free DVD Veggie Tales are faith based cartoons for the kids to watch.

ranting

Please forgive the below rant but I am so mad I could spit. My oldest daughter is so lazy she won't get a job, she just sits around with her friends all day. She has been coming to my place to visit me supposedly only tonight I look out my window and she is making out with the man next door. I don't know his age but I do know he is older than me. He is on disability due to a back injury, owns no car, has 4 kids with his ex wife. I am so angry and disappointed, I just want to pack up and move back to NC and not deal with any of this anymore. After stewing all night about it, I got to thinking off all the things I have done so that she would have a better life than I had. Then I thought of Christ. I imagine there are a lot of times he feels the same way about me. He even died and was tortured for my sake and yet I so often go about my daily life without thought of Him. I still don't have the slightest idea what to do about her but I will just pray for her and turn it all over to God and let him take care of it. He is so much better equipped to deal with this than I am.


In an attempt to get my mind off this I was netsurfing and found this video. I would imagine its to promote the new show with MC Hammer and his family. It was fun to watch though. I remember my cousin Melanie used to own pants like that and she loved MC Hammer :)

I won again

I signed up to win a Pillsbury dough boy and then I got an email saying I won. Check it out here

Get your sample of the 90 calorie Strawberry Bar

I got in the mail yesterday the $50 gift cards I had won from Shell. That was fast since I only confirmed my address last Thursday. It came as 2 $25 gift cards. I also got my coupon for a free ungrilled meal at KFC from the fiasco they sponsored last month. I also got a Precious Places dvd I sent off for a while back (going to be a present for my granddaughter's 2nd birthday), a couple samples of of a pain medicince called Curamin
and some dove hair samples.

End of the weekend update

Here is a freebie to start us off.
Geo Trax CD order a free cd from Mattel with 4 episodes of Geo Trax on it.

Saturday I got up and discovered I had no phone, cable or Internet. There was an outage around midnight and it didn't come back on until about 2pm. So since I couldn't be online I went and did laundry, then came home and cleaned my whole apartmant and rearranged the bedroom. Amazing how much I can get done without the Internet :). Then at 2:30 I went to a celebration cookout at church for out of school. It was loads of fun. Everyone enjoyed the fellowship and the food. There were sack races and horseshoes to play. The men in the church also did a sack race and the preacher fell and his glasses cut a little spot on his nose, the winner of the race fell into his vehicle and put a dent in it. The things men will do to win :).


Then I had to leave there to go to a housewarming party for a couple at my church who built their own house. Its absolutely beautiful. Here are a couple of signs they have hanging on each side of the bedroom wall. One says "the best things to hold onto in life is each other" and the other one says "always kiss me goodnight".




Then my boyfriend and I went to see Land of the Lost. I was expecting the see a movie based on the tv series I grew up watching. This is not it. I am not a Will Ferrel fan and the humor was off color in several scenes. I should have been more responsible as a Christian and investigated better before we went to see it.

Today after church the boyfriend and I went to a flea market and they were having an antique tractor show. Here are a couple of them.

WII Fit

I so want a Wii and the Wii Fit. I keep entering contests because I certainly don't want to pay for one :). I had to laugh when I saw this video though.

Some survey stuff

I got a code for a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate in my email this morning. I earned it at Keynote. I like this survey company. They don't send me a lot of surveys but when they do I always earn a $10 gift certificate for Amazon. You can buy about anything with those gift certificates so I like them a lot. I am currently up to $22 worth. I will probably use most of mine up on Christmas presents.
While searching for the link for Keynote to post here I earned $5 swagbucks so thats putting me closer. You need 45 swagbucks for a $5 Amazon gift cert. I earn about 1 a month from here. I am the type of person who is always wanting to know something so I use the search bars a lot. I have one for Swagbucks that I do several times a day until I earn at least one, then I have one for Mypoints. I also do Blingo but I haven't won anything there in ages.

win big

Life in a Shoe
They are running a 40% off sale over at Geneva Bible Pages. They've even created a special Family Bundle at 50% off! They are offering all of their merchandise at 40% off, plus a giveaway of up to $400 in free merchandise or $200 in cash. It's an overstock sale, so prices are good only while the excessive inventory is in stock- when an item is gone at that price, it's gone. SURPRISE BONUS: Every 4th floating, framed or matted page will be a beautiful Psalm, New Testament or Title page which usually retails for $114.95. Order 4 to be guaranteed one in your order!

So if you are looking for a unique gift for someone, take a look and help them out.

I'm a winner

check out this email I got today. The contest is until 6/14/09 so you still have time to enter :)

Hi Madonna,
Congratulations! You are the winner of $50 of Shell Gift cards in a drawing you entered at scoreacard.com.

Free Minute Maid Frozen Novelty fill in the form and submit for free.

week 1 of the diet

Well this week I decided to start by just walking 30 minutes a day. No dieting. I wanted to ease into this. I managed to walk every day except Sunday and today. Today is the first day of that time for me and I am always exhausted the first 2 days. I did lose 2 lbs though just from the walking and today I will start the dieting.

free stuff

Tampax Pearl

Sun Crystals never heard of this but its another sweetener

Kotex Overnite

The Jesus You Can't Ignore free book offer. I haven't read anything by this author so I can't personally attest to the value of the book.

National Park free entrance there is a link to show the parks listed by states. WV only has Harper's Ferry but I haven't been there so would like to plan a trip.

6/5/09 Weekend update

I was pretty busy this weekend. I spent all Saturday morning trying to get my car worked on. I tell you, everyone around here assumes you get some kind of check and don't work because you can't get any work done on the weekend. So basically my car is still broke and I don't have the slightest idea whats wrong with it. Then I went to Kroger's and bought a ton of chicken. They had chicken breast on sale for $1.99 for boneless, skinless breast so I bought about 10 packs. I really like chicken and I love bar-b-que chicken and since I have so much bar-b-que sauce this is perfect. Plus its a good diet food. I did do my 30 minute walk on Saturday morning but just couldn't get the energy up for Sunday.
I went to the boyfriend's house Saturday and played with the kittens and checked on the baby chicks. They are growing huge. These are brahma chickens. Mostly my boyfriend likes golden comets but since I like the brahmas he got about 20 of them also. He bought 50 golden comets and 20 brahmas last month at Southern States I like the brahmas because they have feathers on their feet. I really like the cochins and the silkies.


Sunday I went to church and my oldest daughter showed up so afterwards we went to town and bought a few supplies because I have a friend that had a baby and we are all taking diapers to her. I thought I would get a little dressier than just plain diapers so Mandi and I made her a diaper cake. We also made one for a woman I go to church with that has a friend who needed some help with her baby. The second one turned out better since we had some practice. I hadn't ever made one before but they weren't too hard. These were plain with just diapers but you can also add bottles and stuff.


Then the boyfriend called and I went to the flea market with him and his parents for a bit. I got his dad a hat that says God is good all the time. I got his mom a water pitcher. I got this book for myself. I love Anne Geddes work. So I was pleased with the book. It cost me $4.

Then it was back to church for evening services.
My sister has a site for us and our weight loss journey. I will be posting over there this evening and going to set up a link to the site from here.

Prayer

I haven't really being online look for deals lately. Of course if I find some then I will post them. I have still been thinking of my friend who took his life. As I struggle to see any good come from this, I realize it has enriched my prayer life and my concern for others. I don't ever want another friend of mine to feel as though they have nothing to live for. Every single day I start the day by calling the name of each and every person who attends both the churches I go to, then I move onto people I work with, friends and family. I don't have a generic "God bless everyone I know", I mention each and every person and picture them in my mind and I ask God to minister to whatever needs they have in their life for that day. Some I know need salvation, some need healing, some just need a touch to bless them. While I may not know what they need, I serve a God who knows exactly what they need. I want to be a light to the world surrounded by darkness. I truly believe God is preparing to end this time as we know it and I want everyone I know to be ready for that. I know I would rather someone ask God to bless me personally by name then to just say bless everyone I know. I want to lift up in prayer these people and help them through their day.

Weight Loss

I read someone's blog this morning and she was talking about losing weight. I have been thinking for years how I need to lose weight but haven't done anything about it. Her blog for some reason hit me and thats going to be my main goal for the time being. I have been overweight my entire adult life. I mean seriously overweight, not 10-20 lbs. I want to lose 122 lbs as you will notice on my ticker on the side bar. I am starting today. I will update the ticker every Friday. I went to the park below my house and walked 30 minutes this morning. I am going to force myself to get stirring a bit earlier every day and walk 30 minutes every morning. I have a job where I sit all day long. I sometimes get up to go to the restroom but thats about it. On my maternal grandfather's side of the family, bad knees are the norm. I have a number of aunts with knee problems and I know weight makes it worse but one of my aunt's hasn't ever been real big and her knees are bad so thats not the only factor. I think it will really help my knees though if I lose weight. So here it goes, everyone wish me luck and stamina :).

Sticks and Stones

At work I put a memory verse I am trying to learn each week into my screensaver. This week's verse is related to a devotional I am doing today at ladies circle.

Mark 12:36
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgement.

Just think of all the things you say and imagine having to explain to God why you said them. Quite often we tend to get careless with our speech. This is my new goal to have more control over my tongue. There are quite a number of scriptures about the tongue and effects of it. We teach our kids that sticks and stones might break our bones but words will never harm us and thats not true. Words can cost you a job, a place to live, relationships and all sorts of things. Just one misplaced word can wound someone to the core so please stop and think before you say anything to anyone or about anyone. If its not something that is uplifting why say it?




Now on that note here are a few offers I have taken part in this morning.

I got 2 swagbucks this morning searching for a video link to "A Backslider's Prayer" by Ty England. I just redeemed for another $5 Amazon gift cert from here this month also.


here is a place to sign up to get a book with over $30 in coupons.
Home Made Simple

a free subscription to Golden Gazette Here is what another blogger had to say about it It comes out quarterly and will be mailed at no charge. It contains historical information about the U.S. in the 30s and 40s which is when pulp fiction was written. It further contains quizzes, contests, riddles and cryptograms which are a lot of fun.

Book Swap

Anyone who knows me, knows I love books. It is my dream to one day own a used bookstore. So when I read about this swap on another site I had to sign up. Book Swap If I understand it correctly, you are matched with someone and agree to swap nonfiction books. I read the rules but they don't explain the entire concept so hopefully it will come in an email. I collect books of all kinds and regard them as friends to visit over and over.

Editing my blog

I am sincerely hoping to have time this week to work on my site and add new links to some awesome blogs I have just stumbled across. I also removed the link I had on the side bar that showed a new You Tube video. I happened to notice when I went to the site today that the video was a song by Lady Gaga and after I watched it, I was quite sure it wasn't appropriate for a Christian blog. I couldn't monitor the content offered so it had to go. Sometimes we must take a stand for what we believe in.

This morning I made a pineapple upside down cake for the 5th Sunday dinner at church. Every time a month has a 5th Sunday in it we have a fellowship dinner. I think fellowship is important among Christians and friends. Then this evening I am attending the wake for my friend who killed himself Thursday. I hope to post a few links later today though.

Saturday Savings

I have been so busy this week with work and revival. I work 9-5 and have to drive about 30 minutes each way and then the revival started at 6:30 each night. Its been a real blessing though. Last night Brother Syner was asking the sick to come forward. Then afterwards he looked straight to the back to my boyfriend's dad. I told the boyfriend that he was coming back to pray for his dad and sure enough he came back and said " you've been sick and the Lord wants to heal you tonight". He had no clue who my boyfriend's dad was or that anything had been wrong with him so I know it was straight from God and I trust that he has been healed completely. My boyfriend's mother is a big hard of hearing so she misses some of the words sometimes. Brother Syner was talking about preaching and asked how many there had ever preached and several people raised their hands. Mary raised hers and her husband grabbed her hand and said you haven't ever preached. :) She thought he was asking who had been to that church before. It was so funny, the boyfriend and I both laughed about it for a while. She is such a sweet lady though.
Here is a picture of Brother Syner. He is the very first pastor I ever had about 22 years ago.




I got up this morning and went to Kroger. A coworker had told me that both Kroger and Walmart accept internet coupons without fuss and I wanted to buy a few things. I went to
Coupons.Com and to Kraft Foods and printed some coupons on Kool-Aid, Countrytime and Bar-B-Que sauce. The each of them were on sale for $1 each. The coupons were for .50 cents off 10 packs of Kool-Aid, $1 off 2 Kool-Aid canisters and $1.50 off 2 Countrytime and $1 off the bar-b-que sauce. Since I went to each site I got 2 of each. I also had some coupons for .50 cents off Gatorade I had gotten at a gas station and so I bought 5 Gatorade, 4 Country Time, 2 Kool-Aid canisters, 10 packs of Kool-aid, 2 honey bar-b-que sauce, and a bottle of dish liquid since I was out. It was $14 something and after coupons I paid tax and all $2.38 plus a coupon printed out for $1 off my next order courtesy of Countrytime. I thought since I bought 4 it would print 2 or I would have split the orders up. You had to buy 2 Countrytimes for the $1 catalina but still it was a good purchase. Here is a picture of all I got so you can see the full effect.

A few deals

My oldest loves the Jane games so here is a deal for her.
FREE Spa Mania PC Game Download
Jade dreams of starting her own spa but she must first learn the ropes! Use your Time Management skills to please guests and use profits for upgrades. Can you manage the Spa Mania? (use code FREESPA) Save $6.99


Also I signed up a month ago for the emails from Borders because everyone said they frequently have freebie codes in them. The email I got 2 days ago had a code in it for $10 off $10 at Shutterfly. Go to My Account across the top Scroll down to Plans and Offers box Click on the Enter Special Offer Code A box will appear and enter the code from your email there. Each code is unique. They are also offering a free Father's day card here. Create a 5X7 Folded card and enter code CARD4U.

Suicide

I found out last night that a young man I knew had killed himself yesterday. I feel so sad and burdened because of this. Every time you met this man he was smiling, singing and witnessing for the Lord. Yet somehow Satan managed to win this battle. (The thief comes only to steal and destroy (John 10:10).)

Please always remember to pray for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, you don't know what battle they are going through in their day to day life. Someone once told me that suicide is a permanant solution to a temporary problem. There have been times in my life when I considered this option but somehow kept going. Had I choose that way there is much joy I would have missed out on in the last few years. If you are thinking of this as a way of escaping your pain, please think about it some more. There are people who care about you. Even if you are surrounded by those who don't care there is Someone above who is always there to listen and to make a way of escape for you. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into he world to condemn the world, but to save the world through them. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” (John 3: 16-18)

One characteristic of someone who chooses suicide is because they have known someone who died by suicide. If you have children, think of them. Statistics show that a child who has a parent commit suicide is more likely to commit suicide themselves. Basically you have told that child that they aren't worth living for.

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus or Lord.” (Romans 8:39)

Please please seek someone else's help with your burden before you choose this final step. There isn't a second chance.
Suicide Hotline National Suicide Hotlines USA

Toll-Free / 24 hours a day / 7 days a week



1-800-SUICIDE 1-800-273-TALK
1-800-784-2433 1-800-273-8255

free samples

I have been real busy this week with work and church and I have spent a lot of time reading other blogs. Here are a few samples.

CVS Aveeno offer

Kroger Aveeno offer This is a limited area offer. Basically only good in places that have a Kroger's.

Happy Memorial Weekend

I want to say first off I am so thankful to all the veteran's who fought for my freedom. Let us never forget that freedom doesn't come freely.

Have some free ice cream to enjoy during the holiday. Blue Bunny Purchase some frozen yogurt and fill out this form and mail back in with your receipt and upc to get the purchase price back. I checked at Wal-Mart and this is around $4 a box so a bit pricey but since you get the purchase price back then I am all for trying it out. Only good May 23- 25th.

Own a piece of baseball history. Win a poster and get a free sample of Gilette.
Sporting News be sure to check the box at the end of the page to get a free sample. I like to collect samples and make gift bags up to give as presents. Everyone I have ever given one to has loved them.

Baskin Robbins has a buy 1 get 1 free offer on their 31 below desserts. The closest one to me is about 35 miles :( so unless I plan a trip to Charleston in the next couple weeks I won't be able to take advantage of this offer.
Coupon

Join the Kraft family and get coupons and free offers.
Kraft


coupon for a free frosty only on the coffee toffee and frosty-cino flavors.
free Frosty

my sister sent me a list of awesome summer freebies from Arby's. I pass one on my home from work every day so I am going to print this list and get mine.



Arby’s will be giving away some great freebies all summer long. Here are the dates and the respective freebies:
May 27th - Free Regular Roast Beef sandwich with any soft drink purchase
June 3rd - Free FruiTea with any sandwich purchase
June 10th - Free Roast Chicken club with any soft drink purchase
June 17th - Free Regular Sidekicker with any sandwich purchase
June 24th -Free Regular Roast Beef with any soft drink purchase
July 1st - Free Regular Beef ‘n Cheddar with any soft drink purchase
July 8th - Free Orange Cream Swirl shake with any sandwich purchase
July 15th - Free Regular Roast Beef with any soft drink purchase
July 22nd - Free Roastburger with any soft drink purchase
July 29th - Free FruiTea with any sandwich purchase
August 5th - Free Regular Roast Beef with any soft drink purchase
August 12th - Free Roast Chicken Club with any soft drink purchase
August 19th - Free FruiTea with any sandwich purchase
August 26th - Free Regular Beef ‘n Cheddar with any soft drink purchase

More contests

Its been a busy week with revival every night so I haven't been online much. I woke up this morning and wanted to enter a few contests so here are some.

Win with Good Housekeeping. There are a lot of sweeps on this page but be careful to always click the link on the entry form to enter without a purchase or you will get a subscription bill.

a few more contests to enter.

Here is a daily one. You can win a new grill or steaks for the grill. Ends 6/26/2009

Taste of Home

another daily. This one you can win cash. Ends 6/3/09
Lifetime

yet more cash. This one ends 8/7/09
Bar S

I love S'mores. ends 9/14/09
Kraft S'mores

Happy Mother's day

Here are a few goodies to celebrate Mother's day.

Glad Trash bag get your free sample from Sam's club. I love these bags and its about all I buy. It asks for your membership number but its not required.

Menopause Survival Kit I think I have about reached the age I am ready for this :).

Who wouldn't love a trip to Orlando for free?
Win it here One entry only must be 21 to enter.

a few contests to enter

Crave Online Taken DVD Kick Ass Sweepstakes- 5/19/09
Enter


One (1) Grand Prize is available. The Grand Prize winner will receive the Grand Prize consisting of One (1) Sharp AQUOS 46" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV (Approximate Retail Value "ARV" $1,198.99 US), One (1) Panasonic - Blu-ray Disc Player with 1080p Upconversion (ARV $299.99 US), One (1) Taken on Blu-Ray (ARV $27.99 US), and KRAV MAGA Training Classes (ARV $ $1,000.00 US)
The approximate retail value of the Grand Prize is $ 2,578.97 US.

US residents age 18+ One entry per person/email


ok this one isn't a contest but I really love playing Pogo but in an effort to save money didn't renew my membership so this post was an awesome deal.

Free 1 month Club Pogo +20,000 Tokens Woman's World
*No purchase necessary to obtain tokens. Token and Guest Pass offer expires 7/1/2009. Limit one Guest Pass per Screen Name. Current Club Pogo members excluded. You may cancel at anytime and the tokens are yours to keep. This offer may not be substituted, exchanged, sold or redeemed for cash or other goods or services. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer, Gift Card, rebate or other discount Coupon. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.
Pogo

this one is for a prize I really would love to win. I want a WII.
win a WII

Free chocolate and other freebies

The first 25000 people to register get a coupon in the mail for free chocolate. There are few things in life that can't be made better with chocolate.
Mars

Anyone who has had to clean house knows that Mr Clean Erasers are great. They take off about anything on the walls. Try them for free here.

You can get a coupon book from Walmart on P&G products.

My weekend in Webster Springs

Saturday the boyfriend and I were supposed to go fishing but it was raining and he was afraid I would get sick so he said no. Instead we drove to Craigsville and at a place called the Ranch House Restaurant near Craigsville WV at the intersection of Rte 55 & Tioga Road. The place is done up with a ton of Coca Cola memorabilia. Everyone in my family loves Coke so this is a place for Fridley's for sure. Somehow I let him talk me into trying the elk burger with batter dipped fries. The fries were awesome and the elk burger wouldn't have been bad except I am pretty sure it was fried in canola oil. I don't like canola oil because it tastes and smells like fish. It was very lean though and I think it would probably be really good on a George Foreman grill or simmered in some beef broth. There were pictures of mothers and babies all in the women's room. Most of them were really sweet but there was one picture that made me think of Grandmamaw from the Addams family in her younger days.


Then we decided to keep riding. He was going to show me the place where they dug the ramps for the church ramp dinner but we ended up not there. It was funny because he called it God's country but said we couldn't go all the way because we weren't in God's car. He has a little Honda Fit and it doesn't do that well on dirt mountain roads. We ended up in Webster Springs. I hadn't ever been there but its a real cute little town. Here is a picture I took of fog rising on the mountains.



This is a picture of a bank there. The building was founded in 1906. If you look real close there is a little room over the door and its got a little village of houses in it. It is so cute.








There is also a little memorial wall to all the veterans of Webster county and a lump of coal in front of the court house that was dug up in 1932.
















On the way back we stopped at a little custard stand and had an ice cream cone. They also sell funnel cake fries. I hadn't ever heard of them but I know my oldest would love them because she loves funnel cakes. Next time I am going to try them. We came back by a place called Big Ditch which is a huge fishing lake. I want to take our poles next time so we can see what we can catch. It was gorgeous but I didn't get any picturs :(. All in all we had a great time though and I would love to go back to Webster Springs an explore some more.

Product testing

I already posted on how much I love to get free stuff in the mail. Here are a couple of sites that I am member of that enables me to do that. When I think of more I will post those also but these 2 sites are the best out there.

Vocalpoint I sometimes get a small sample of something in the mail from here but the best part is that you get a coupon for whatever it is for free and a lot of cents off coupons to share with your friends.

Bzzagent I have gotten some awesome try-mes from here. They will send you products and you talk about it to friends and family and then report back how you spread the word. I am currently trying out the following 2 product lines, L'Oréal® Advanced Revitalift® Deep-Set Wrinkle Repair and Nature's Source™ cleaners.
The L'Oreal products feel and smell great. Everyone wants to minimize or hold off on getting wrinkles right? I really like the way these moisturizers go on smooth and are absorbed fast so they don't feel greasy on my skin. I have used others that were just nasty feeling. The scent is a very delicate one that is just the right strength to be pleasant without overwhelming. Between the night and the day lotion, I prefer the day lotion but thats only because its a pale pink :). I recommend both of these to anyone who is worried about wrinkles. Bzzagent sent me a full size bottle of both the day and night cremes and some small sample packs to give out while talking about the product.

I am also trying out Nature's Source™ cleaners. This line of cleaners is the absolute bomb. I love love love them and won't use any others again. They are plant-based biodegradable cleaners that contain no ammonia, bleach, phosphorous or dyes. They are made by SC Johnson and are just as powerful as the regular cleaners. There is a natural Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles toilet cleaner, Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner and a Scrubbing Bubbles all purpose cleaner. I swear I have never used any cleaning products that smelled as great as these. I have used cleaners before that smell so bad you almost pass out from the odor especially in a small space like the bathroom. I don't know what the odor is in these but it smells so good that it has made me much cleaner just because I love to clean with them to scent the house. I will truly keep using this product line after my current bottles are gone.
Bzzagent sent me a full size bottle of each cleaner along with coupons for free bottles that I was to pass out to friends. I gave the women at the office a free coupon a piece so they could try them.

Midweek update

Last night I went to my cousin Jenny's baptism. She and her two sons recently both gave their hearts to God and all of them were baptized last night. Here are their pictures.





I love getting stuff in the mail that isn't bills. Here is a site for some freebies.
Walmart. Currently there is a Cottonelle sample, pullups, good nites, Zyrtec, John Frieda hair care, Aveeno hair care and a couple other samples. These change all the time so check it out often.

Busy busy busy

I swear I don't know how I get so busy. It seems like I am only home long enough to sleep anymore. Heres a few odds and ends.
Yesterday I went to a fundraiser for a friend's kid at his school. I really didn't have a good time and realized that it was a waste of my time when I could have been doing something I really enjoyed. I am going to start evaluating how I spend my time more carefully. Afterwards I came home and called the boyfriend and we went to Kanawha Falls fishing. We didn't catch anything but thats ok because I really just like sitting by the water. All my life water has been calming to me. There were a lot of geese and the trees are so much greener down that way than here. Now I am making a cake and a broccoli casserole for Pastor Appreciation this morning. I don't know how the cake tasts though. I made one to sale at a ramp dinner at my other church a couple weeks ago and it sold pretty quickly but I don't know who bought it so I couldn't ask them how it was. I hope it turns out well. I got the recipe from Southern Plate and its called Apple Dapple Cake. The casserole is one my cousin Jenny makes. Its a mix of a bag of stuffing mix, a couple bags of broccoli flowerettes, 2 cans of cream of chicken soup (she uses cream of mushroom but I hate mushrooms), a bag of shredded cheese. Mix, pour in a pan and bake at 350 for about an hour or so. I love about any and all broccoli casseroles.
I was saddened to read last night that Bea Arthur died yesterday. I loved her so much on the Golden Girls, that was a great show if you haven't ever seen it.
Yesterday I also ordered 2 years of the magazine All You. Its only for sale at Walmart and always has tons of coupons in it. If you are a couponer this is something you need to order. Its about $2 an issue at Walmart but for about another week you can get it at The link is Southern Living At Home

Once you're at the site, go to Our Products...then How to Purchase....then enter Carrie Koors as your hostess.
Enter product number 40776 for the item. It should pop up. Since its a magazine subscription you don't have to click the link to have it shipped directly to you.

Busy Palm Sunday Weekend

I realized I have been so busy I have been slack about posting updates online about my life for my family and friends far away to keep up to date on. So here goes.

Friday night I started making cupcakes for the Easter egg hunt at the church I go to on Sunday and Wednesday nights. I wanted to take a little something for the kids to enjoy. . Here is a picture of half the finished product. I did 12 in yellow and 12 in chocolate. I also discovered what apparently everyone but this idiot already knows. Just because you use cupcake holders, the cupcakes won't hold shape without a cupcake pan. I only have 2 cupcake pans that hold 6 each so tried to use a cookie sheet for the rest. See the results here. .
Saturday morning I got up and decorated the cooled cakes. Then I went to my youngest daughter's place to get her and the kids to take them to the egg hunt. It was a beautiful day that the Lord blessed us with for egg hunting. The wind was a little cool but sunny as could be. We had a good turnout and everyone had a good time. My granddaughter, Avril won the Easter basket for her age group. After the egg hunt we had hot dogs and bar-be-ques for everyone. Here are some pics of the fun.


Me with the 2 grandbabies (I looked either dead or asleep :)-

Cathy and Bridgette finding eggs-

Avril after a successful hunt-

the family all together-

more after dinner pics-




Afterwards we went to the graveyard to visit my grandmother for a bit then I took everyone back home. I went to "for lack of a better word, we will say my boyfriend's house around 5 for some more target practice. I have gotten really good. Mostly we blow up milk jugs or use bull's eye targets.
Boyfriend holding up a jug I blew to pieces (that jug won't trouble me again :>)

Then the we rode to Summerville and had some blizzards at Dairy Queen. The new midnight truffle is divine. Came back home and put some spaghetti sauce on in the crock pot since I was having the girls up for dinner after church.
Sunday Morning I got up and got ready and went back to the youngest daughter's to get her and the family ready to go to church with me. We got there just as church was starting but had a great time. We had a guest speaker today as my pastor just had eye surgery. The speaker is a young man going to bible college in Kentucky. He did a real good job and I pray that something he said touched the hearts of my family that was there but lost in sin. After church went to get oldest daughter and back home to fix dinner for everyone. We had stuffed shells, rolls, garlic bread and cake. It was a good time. The first time that I have had anyone over for a meal since I moved to the new place. We sat around and talked a couple hours and the grandbabies took naps.
Baby Gary-

Avril sleeping like a frog- this was so cute

Normally I hate any picture with me in it but I thought this one of me and baby Gary turned out real good.


Everyone left and I went to visit my friend Debbie for a few minutes before heading to church. We had an excellant service with communion afterwards. The boyfriend isn't feeling well so I had to run him some cough syrup back to his place after church. Now I am resting and trying to clean the house all up again. This is one of the best weekends I have ever had I do believe.

Back online and update for the past few months.

Thank the good Lord, I am finally back online after all this time. This is the longest since 1995 I have been offline and I hope to not ever have this happen again.
Sept- moved to WV, the place I was supposed to move to was unlivable, ended up renting a dumpfor way too much money.
Oct-Got a job with Go-Mart, but had to quit because the arthritis in my legs and feet made standing like that unbearable. Got a job with another gas chain as an auditor. Love the job and the people in the office.
Nov-went back to Church, got saved again, started dating someone at another church, thought he might finally be the one (wrong again).
Dec- pretty much the same but getting sick of snow by now.
Jan- oldest daughter went stupid and dated a loser, quit her job and moved out. I found an adorable little apartment for way better money. Drs gave me not so good news.
Feb- the loser from Nov broke up with me, 1st grandson born (pics will be posted later). Waiting on news from dr.

I hear next Wednesday what the test results were. If God chooses to let me live then I have decided I am going to live to the fullest. I have spent my whole life waiting to be happy and I am done with that. If God chooses not the let me live then I am going to live until I die. Thats pretty much my life in a nutshell for the past 6 months.

Ten Ways We Misunderstand Children

Another lesson I found that I wanted to share.

Ten Ways We Misunderstand Children



1. We expect children to be able to do things before they are ready. - We ask an infant to keep quiet. We ask a 2-year-old to sit still. We ask a 4-year-old to clean his room. In all of these situations, we are being unrealistic. We are setting ourselves up for disappointment and setting up the child for repeated failures to please us. Yet many parents ask their young children to do things that even an older child would find difficult. In short, we ask children to stop acting their age.

2. We become angry when a child fails to meet our needs. - A child can only do what he can do. If a child cannot do something we ask, it is unfair and unrealistic to expect or demand more, and anger only makes things worse. A 2-year-old can only act like a 2-year-old, a 5-year-old cannot act like a 10-year-old, and a 10-year-old cannot act like an adult. To expect more is unrealistic and unhelpful. There are limits to what a child can manage, and if we don't accept those limits, it can only result in frustration on both sides.

3. We mistrust the child's motives. - If a child cannot meet our needs, we assume that he is being defiant, instead of looking closely at the situation from the child's point of view, so we can determine the truth of the matter. In reality, a "defiant" child may be ill, tired, hungry, in pain, responding to an emotional or physical hurt, or struggling with a hidden cause such as food allergy. Yet we seem to overlook these possibilities in favor of thinking the worst about the child's "personality".

4. We don't allow children to be children. - We somehow forget what it was like to be a child ourselves, and expect the child to act like an adult instead of acting his age. A healthy child will be rambunctious, noisy, emotionally expressive, and will have a short attention span. All of these "problems" are not problems at all, but are in fact normal qualities of a normal child. Rather, it is our society and our society's expectations of perfect behavior that are abnormal.

5. We get it backwards. - We expect, and demand, that the child meet our needs - for quiet, for uninterrupted sleep, for obedience to our wishes, and so on. Instead of accepting our parental role to meet the child's needs, we expect the child to care for ours. We can become so focussed on our own unmet needs and frustrations that we forget this is a child, who has needs of his own.

6. We blame and criticize when a child makes a mistake. - Yet children have had very little experience in life, and they will inevitably make mistakes. Mistakes are a natural part of learning at any age. Instead of understanding and helping the child, we blame him, as though he should be able to learn everything perfectly the first time. To err is human; to err in childhood is human and unavoidable. Yet we react to each mistake, infraction of a rule, or misbehavior with surprise and disappointment. It makes no sense to understand that a child will make mistakes, and then to react as though we think the child should behave perfectly at all times.

7. We forget how deeply blame and criticism can hurt a child. - Many parents are coming to understand that physically hurting a child is wrong and harmful, yet many of us forget how painful angry words, insults, and blame can be to a child who can only believe that he is at fault.

8. We forget how healing loving actions can be. - We fall into vicious cycles of blame and misbehavior, instead of stopping to give the child love, reassurance, self-esteem, and security with hugs and kind words.

9. We forget that our behavior provides the most potent lessons to the child. - It is truly "not what we say but what we do" that the child takes to heart. A parent who hits a child for hitting, telling him that hitting is wrong, is in fact teaching that hitting is right, at least for those in power. It is the parent who responds to problems with peaceful solutions who is teaching his child how to be a peaceful adult. So-called problems present our best opportunity for teaching values, because children learn best when they are learning about real things in real life.

10. We see only the outward behavior, not the love and good intentions inside the child.- When a child's behavior disappoints us, we should, more than anything else we do, "assume the best". We should assume that the child means well and is only behaving as well as possible considering all the circumstances (both obvious and hidden from us), together with his level of experience in life. If we always assume the best about our child, the child will be free to do his best. If we give only love, love is all we will receive.



By Jan Hunt, M.Sc.
naturalchild.org/jan_hunt/misunderstand.html

Carrot, Egg and Coffee

Found this story while surfing the net and loved it so I wanted to share with all of you.

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee Beans

Author Unknown

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last, ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. The daughter did and noted that they were soft.

She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg.

Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked. "What's the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Which are you?

Are you the carrot that when faced with pain and adversity, wilts and becomes soft and loses strength?

Are you the egg with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Following a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have you become hardened and stiff?

Or are you like the coffee beans? The beans actually change the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, they release their essence and flavor.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity?

9/11 Tribute

We must never forget 9/11 and all that we lost that day. This is my very favorite tribute song. I remember when I heard the news, never thought such an act of terrorism would happen on American soil .

here are a few more videos on the same loss.



and of course Alan Jackson's tribute.

Free drink mixers at Food Lion

Apparently I have been way out of the loop because everyone online was talking about this for a month now and I thought I had found a great deal to share tonight. But here is the deal anyway with some recipes I got from Hot Coupon World.

Food lion has the No Worries drink mixers (strawberry, cosmopolitaion, tropical, margarita) on sale for $1. At my Food Lion on the door there is a coupon for $1 off any so that makes them free. I got 8 tonight. I mix them with sprite but some people use club soda and of course alcohol. Here are some recipes to try.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Daiquiri-Pie/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Margarita-Cake/Detail.aspx

http://www.recipezaar.com/307778

http://www.recipezaar.com/95551

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Margarita-Beef-Skewers/Detail.aspx

http://www.recipezaar.com/304682

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Margarita-Grilled-Chicken/Detail.aspx

http://www.recipezaar.com/286192

http://www.recipezaar.com/244211

http://www.recipezaar.com/215346

http://www.recipezaar.com/68661

http://www.recipezaar.com/293545

http://www.recipezaar.com/191887

Review of the Other Boleyn Girl

I won this movie online and could't wait to watch it. I like Natalie Portman and try to watch all of her movies. I really thought from the title it would be more focused on Anne's sister since everyone has heard of Anne. The movie is very loosely based upon actual events. There appears to be quite a bit of poetic license involved with the retelling of history in this movie. The movie starts with the 3 Boleyn siblings playing in a field. Their father is quite power mad and wants to use his children to better his prospects no matter the cost to them. Anne doesn't win Henry the VIII's favor at first site so Mary is offered even though she is married. Anne then comspires against her own sister in ways that I would not have forgiven but Mary has very little backbone in the movie. The costumes are awesome. I loved Ana Torrent as Catherine. She really only had a bit part but made her character both likeable and powerful. Oddly enough her character was the only character in the whole movie that seemed to be controlled, everyone else seemed to stupid to be responsible for anything much less a country. Anne and her schemes result in the death of both Anne and her brother. The movie was ok but I am glad I won it and didn't spend money for it. I can't imagine wanting to see it a second time.

Free in the mail

Today I got a cosmo magazine that I got with coke rewards, a prevention magazine (forgot what link) and a redbook magazine that I earned from Adperks. The only magazine that I get that I actually pay for is All You and thats only because they have awesome coupons in them. I also got a check from my staples purchase back in July for some highlighters. I got a bottle of lotion that I am testing for a company.

In my email I got a yes to a mystery shop this weekend, and 2 online surveys for points and also an offer from shespeaks to test some potatoes. Also an offer for a free game from BigFish use the code and get hidden expeditions titanic for free. I love hidden object games.
New contest at DIY for an awesome log cabin

get some free tokens from Pogo
and some more and again

new survey panel from Taco Bell, could be some freebies in this.

Sunday savings

Download 11 country songs for free from People magazine.

free popcorn cakes from Orville Redenbacher Pick cheddar or caramel.

Sample of Playtex Sport

sample of Kotex

sample of Tide Total Care

more stuff I have won and some instant win games

This morning I won flytech butterfly. Not sure exactly what it is but I love butterflies so can't wait to see. I won this from Quick and Simple magazine

I also won a $50 amex debit card from Kraft a couple nights ago.
I got my duffel bag from the Marlboro contest in the mail already. I like the instant win games because I like knowing right off the bat if I have won something even if its not a big prize. I just like winning something all the time :) So here are a few instant win games for you to try.


Pier 1 design a room and play the instant win.
Castrol Peel Out use upc code 079191000687
Linea Pelle
Disney Store Dreams
Banana Republic
Line X passcode: store
Win Dole Salad
Little Mermaid
Coinstar is Free
French Toast Giveaway
Stouffers Free Method of Entry: Once on the Instant Win Game page, click on "USE CODE". You will receive an alternate method of entry play ten times per day.

a few goodies

Donate to the Troops

you can donate 1 item for free to the troops. Go to Generation Kill
choose the troop drive tab. then click the submit button and it will open a new window and you pick one item to add to the troops. Free from HBO and sponsors.

Cheap 8x10s
5 of 8x10 size photo prints at Art Cow for $0.99 shipped.
coupon code: FIVE8X10AT099 expires on 08/08/2008
I will admit I wasn't impressed with the last ones I got from there but I figured for a dollar I would try again.

Chick-Fil-A freebie
new promotion they are having for Labor Day. Wear a shirt with a football team on it, and get a free chick-n-strips on sept 1st!
SPONSOR: Chick-Fil-A ...
HOW TO PARTICIPATE: To receive one (1) free three-count order of Chick-n-Strips while supplies last, eligible participants should visit participating Chick-fil-A locations from 10:30 AM until close on Sept. 1, 2008 wearing atleast one visible article of clothing that contains any football team logo or collegiate logo and mention this Promotion. ...
ELIGIBILITY: Offer available only to legal U.S. residents of AL, AR AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY. Limit one per person.

Museum Day
Museums in NC
if you check this out you can see what all places participate and then you fill out a form and print a coupon for you and a guest to enter free. I choose Old Salem since I have wanted to see it for ages. If you aren't in NC then change to your state and see whats available. Its for Sept 27 2008

Background checks
This site doesn't show everything but its pretty fun to play with.
Background Checks

Saving at Food Lion

This month's All You magazine has some great coupons in it. Page 155 has some buy any 3 kraft product and get something free coupons. I got 15 packs of kool aid for $3.00 and got a large box of wheat thins, bottle of Kraft dressing, package of kraft sliced cheese, oscar mayer hot dogs, and a box of crystal light drink mix for free with the kool aid. I also had some Food Lion internet coupons for $1.50 off any Food Lion brand diapers or wipes, $1.00 off 3 cans of Food Lion tomato products and $1 off 2 cans of Hunts tomato products. I got the small travel pack of wipes for free and I got the small cans of tomato sauce and paid .05 for 5 cans of sauce. We use a lot of tomato sauce since we aren't that fond of spaghetti sauce.
I bought a can of Grands biscuits on sale for 1.00 so now for that $1 we are going hot dog blankets for dinner. You press a biscuit until its flat, lay 1/2 slice of cheese on one of the edges and then put a weiner in the middle of the cheese. Start rolling up the end that has the cheese and weiner on it and press the edge closed when done. Bake in at 350 for about 8-12 minutes and thats all there is to it. Kids love them and they are quick and easy to fix. This will actually end up being 2 dinners for us.

Daily contests

Here are a few of my favorite daily contests from Slickdeals.net

Sisterhood of traveling pants2
Open to all in the contiguous US, one entry per person/email address per day. Ends August 11, 2008 @ 11:59pm PT
Grand Prize: (1 winner) Earnest AM I jean, digital photo cube, BeDazzler stud-setting tool with assorted studs and crystals, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 soundtrack CD, tank tee, mini-tote, charm key chain, visor, lip balm lanyard and beach ball (ARV $299)
Runners-Up: (4 winners) Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 soundtrack CD, tank tee, mini-tote, charm key chain, visor, lip balm lanyard and beach ball (ARV $65)

Food network tools for school
21+, US, one entry per person/email address per day. Ends September 2, 2008 @ 5:00pm ET
Prize: (1 winner) $55,000 check

LG Rally
13+, US, one entry per person/email address every 24-hours. Ends August 30, 2008 @ midnight ET
Grand Prize: (1 winner) LG 32" 720p flat-panel LCD HDTV (ARV $949.95)
First Prize: (5 winners) Verizon VX9700-Dare, AT&T CU920 VU or Alltel AX830 Glimmer mobile phone (ARV $409-$449)
Second Prize: (4 winners) LG 8" portable DVD player (ARV $209.95)
Third Prize: (7 winners) LG Bluetooth wireless headset (ARV $79.99)

Its a glam thing
Prizes (5): Hot Pants Cosmetics Op Art Mineral Eyeshadow kit and Light Up Lip Gloss tool (ARV $156).
Open to residents of the U.S. 18+ daily per person ends Sunday, August 31, 2008


Halloween Dream Sweepstakes
Grand prize:
Two night stay at the Historic Grace Manor Inn in Richmond, VA
Two tickets for Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion
Two tickets to the Ashland Berry Farm Haunted Hayride
First prize:
A spooky getaway for four to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA
Four tickets to Colonial Williamsburg’s Legends, Myths, Mysteries, and Ghosts walking tour.
Second prize:
Tickets for four to the Haunted Hayride and Barn at Cows-n-Corn in Midland, VA
A Halloween Dream gift basket.
Sweepstakes ends August 29, 2008

All you giveaways
First Prize: Westinghouse Digital 16" flip-style LCD HDTV (ARV $329).
Second Prizes (5): BIC Mark-It permanent markers, highlighters, dry-erase markers, pens, pencils, and Wite-Out (ARV $65).
Third Prizes (10): Selection of Westcott school tools (ARV $30).
Open to residents of the 50 United States & D.C. 21+ daily per person
ends Thursday, August 28, 2008

winnings for July

I know that a lot of times, people think there is no use to enter contests online because they think no one ever wins. I thought I would post everything I have won in the month of July. I just started entereing contests again in July so I thought I had done really well this month for a beginner.

$25- Nokia/Verizon Joker's bag of cash,
5 song download from logitech,
$10 Esprit.com shopping voucher,
Get Smart Adult Movie Ticket from Subway,
High Sierra® Switch Blade 22" Sport Duffel Bag from Flavor Chase sweepstakes,
the other Boleyn girl dvd from sheknows.com

So keep on entering, you never know when the next winner could be you.

RIP Estelle Getty

news report

"LOS ANGELES -- Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84.
Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.
"She was loved throughout the world in six continents, and if they loved sitcoms in Antarctica she would have been loved on seven continents," her son said. "She was one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived."
"The Golden Girls," featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff's belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.
Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in "Maude," Betty White in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and Rue McClanahan in "Mama's Family." The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur's character. "

free songs

My daughter loves Willie Nelson so I got that one for her. Got this from Slickdeals.net

Zantac CD offer

UPC Codes:
681421031035
312547684101
312547686655

Get a FREE** Music CD
when you purchase any Zantac® product.

Choose from a series of "Best of" CDs featuring original recordings by these famous artists: Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Juice Newton, Robert Goulet, Glenn Miller, and Aaron Neville.




**Limit one (1) free music CD per person, per household, address, or e-mail address. Requests must be made by 11:59 p.m. EST on 8/31/08. Offer only good for current legal residents of the 50 United States and Puerto Rico who are 18 years of age or older. Offer rights not transferable. Void where prohibited. Allow 4-6 weeks for shipment of music CD. Requests without zip codes or with post office boxes cannot be honored. Not valid in combination with any other offers. Fraudulent submission could result in federal prosecution under mail fraud statutes. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Sponsor”) is not responsible for delayed, postage-due, illegible, mutilated, late, lost, incomplete, stolen or misdirected mail. Sponsor will not honor requests that do not include all requested information. Offer ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on 8/31/08.

Roomful OF Blues Talkin' To You Eye To Eye - there is actually a whole bunch of mp3s for free here.
Amazon download



Skinny Jeans

Winning Wednesday

I have been doing a lot of contests online. In 2006 I was entering contests all the time and won a lot of stuff. Went to a couple of concerts for free and a year of Netflix and a few little prizes. My biggest win was my Olympus camera, retail value of $300.
I have only been doing contests a few days and I have won a few little things like some chips from Subway but I also won $25 from a contest. Not major money but better than no money :)

Congratulations! You've won $25*!

Ah, why so serious? And why are you still here? You won your prize and Gotham City could use a few good crime scenes - so let's go pick a fight with The Dark Knight! Just clickety-click the link to Gotham City. It won't be long before we run into Batman, I'm sure!

Fight for Gotham City
DISCLAIMER: Your prize will be delivered to the address you provided at registration within 4-6 weeks!

I also won $16 on the powerball drawing last night. Since I had spent $16 for the ticket at least for a change I broke even and its good until the end of the month so maybe I might come in ahead for once.

Sunday Savings

Staples had a deal today that 8 pack pencils were 1 cent, sample size hand sanitizer was 1 cent, folders were 1 cent, and poly binders were a quarter. They also had some highlighters that were free after easy rebate. So for $1.22, I got 2 packs pencils, 2 hand sanitizers, 10 folder, 4 binders and the highlighters. (got up to limits allowed) I had my daughter go through the line also and she got everything but the highlighters also. I like to give the kids in the family back to school packs and these will go nicely in them. I went by Target on Friday night and they were having a clearance so I got pencil tins for .25, dry boards with marker, and pencils packs with 1 pencil, stickers, pouch and little memo pads for the boys all in Incredible Hulk for .25 each. I got the girls little Nemo dry boards with marker, little Mermaid diaries, small glitter glue, and little gel pens. I am hoping to find some paper on sale before taking the back to school packs to the kids. I also got my nephews some little supplies for camping, there is little splinter kits, sample first aid kits, water bottles, and emergency blankets. Going to take that stuff down next weekend so will probably take their back to school kits at the same time.
I also went by Foodlion because I needed cat food and saw they had some ham on sale buy 1 lb and get 1 lb free. I had a catalina for $2.00 off deli meat so for $4.37 I got 12.76 worth of ham.

The rest of the day I have been scanning pictures from my albums. We had a leak and quite a number of my picts got ruined so now I am scanning everything so it won't happen again. I am going to burn them all to cd but also upload them to photobucket so anyone in the family can get whatever ones they want also.

Happy 4th of July

What a wonderful holiday this is. I love being able to celebrate that fact that we are free. No matter what other people may say America is still awesome. Why else do you think people are still trying to get in? I especially love the fact that I don't have to work and its a 3 day weekend. But lets all remember to give thanks to those who made sure we were free and remember those who are away from home fighting for freedom's sake.