First letter of your name meme

Thanks Mama Pajama for the tag! The rules of this are simple: just use the first letter of your name to answer the questions. They have to be real answers though, nothing made up and you can't use your own name as an answer. Here is my list with the letter M for Michelle. :)

1. Famous Singer: Manilow, Barry
   
2. Four Letter Word: Mine
   
3. Street: Moore
   
4. Color: Magna
   
5. Gifts/Presents: Money
   
6. Vehicles: Mazda
   
7. Things In A Souvenir Shop: Mugs
   
8. Boy Name: Michael
   
9. Girl Name: Mikayla
   
10. Movie Title: Mission Impossible
    
11. Drink: Mango smoothie
    
12. Occupation: Marine biologist
    
13. Celebrity: Mickey Mouse
    
14. Magazine:n Popular Mechanics
    
15. U.S. City: Milwaukee
    
16. Pro Sports: Miami Heat
    
17. Fruit: Melon
    
18. Reason For Being Late For Work: Moody
19. Something You Throw Away: Men (kidding!!) Maps
    
20. Something You Shout: Mail!! (I think I get too excited about this one)
    

If you haven't done this meme and would like to, feel free!

I like my light

One of our nightlights died, but we haven’t replaced it yet. I don’t use nightlights because I’m afraid of the dark; I use them so the girls can find their way to our bedroom in the middle of the night, and me to theirs, without walking into a wall. I like having enough light to see what I’m doing, no matter what it is. Even if it’s cloudy outside but you can still see indoors, my indoor lights will be on. When we buy our own home, you can bet that we’re going to have great home lighting. I like my light! :)

Any hunters?

Growing up and having six brothers, it’s not hard to realize that some of them are hunters. I’m not a hunter personally, but some of my brothers are and they enjoy it. When I got married, I came to find out that I had inlaws who were also hunters. My husband isn’t a big hunter, but he does like bow hunting. One of these years for his birthday, I’d like to get him a nice bow and probably some volcom clothing. He would love it.

A quick quack

Miss J, my eldest daughter, said the sweetest thing tonight after giving her and her sister dinner. She said "oh thank you Mommy for making us our dinner. You're so sweet!" Awww! Her sister, Miss A, does the same thing when I give her snacks. She will repeatedly say "thank you mama" until I say you're welcome. Double awww! It's moments like these that reaffirm why I love being a mom. I am truly blessed to be their mother.

Meaningful Five Meme

This is a tag from Natalie(thanks!) and it's called the Tag of Meaningful Five.

What to do:

1. Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given below (family, friend, yourself, your love and anything you like).

2. Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.

3. Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments.

Family CRD

Friend Busy Saturday

Yourself Halloween fun

Love It's the little things

Anything You Like A quick quack

I tag:

Nate

Gina

Richard

Mimo

Qtpies7

HockeyOverstock.com

In elementary school, I remember watching the “Mighty Ducks” with my classmates. Do you remember the film? It was one of my favorites because I love any film where people beat the odds. At the time, I remember telling myself that yeah, I could play hockey! Yes, I could go to the championships! lol When those movies came out, I think a lot of people felt the same way I did. Of course back then, no one had ever heard of Hockeyoverstock.com before. This website looks great and has everything you would need to play indoor or outdoor hockey. At this time in my life, I think I’d rather play outdoor hockey. I’m not that great on ice skates, but inline Hockey skates I could handle. Even if you personally are not interested in playing hockey, you can find great NHL apparel and support your favorite team. Hockeyoverstock.com has jerseys, hats, pants, shorts, polos, jackets, hoodies, and vests. There are some cute jackets in the women’s section too I noticed. The prices seem to be pretty comparable and if you place an order, be sure to use the promotional code ppp001107, and you will get an additional 5% off your purchase!

I'm feeling full

I've had way too much banana cream pie and pumpkin roll. I'm afraid to even get on the scale. lol Good thing the pie is gone but there's some pumpkin roll left. It's always the especially good things that are so bad for us. So not fair. I'm glad that I have a SIL coming up today and we might go running next week, so that should help, along with some workouts on the elliptical. I heard from the Biggest Loser last week that the average American gains seven pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. Yikes! It's so easy to eat a more than we should, so be careful!

Customize your holiday cards

I recently saw on Regis and Kelly that they are now accepting family Christmas cards. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, all you do is send them a copy of one of your Christmas cards with your family photo. I’ve thought about sending one in, but that would mean I’d have to actually make one. We do need a new family picture and hopefully we can get one soon. When we do, I’ll remember to look up the photo cards at vistaprint.com for help with my Christmas card. You can use one of their templates or one of your own. It would be a lot of fun!

It's a hot chocolate day

It was so cold when we left to do our shopping this morning. It's a bit warmer now, but not by much. We just left to do some exchanges and returns and we all were still shivering. I like it when it snows but I don't like having the frigid air without snow. Seems kind of silly. lol But thank goodness for hot chocolate! It's the only thing, next to a warm bubble bath, that warms me right to the core. And we had marshmallows so it made it even better. Mmmmm. :)

Making your body healthy

I’m always trying to find ways to make my body healthier. My love for ice cream doesn’t usually help but at least I’m trying right? lol I have heard about a variety of ways of doing a colon cleanse but have never tried any of them. Has anyone else tried doing this? The people I know that have, say it does wonders for them. But I guess I’m still a little undecided. What do you think?

Do you need luggage?

In just over a week, we are headed to my husband’s family Christmas party. It should be a lot of fun just being together, exchanging presents, and making gingerbread houses. We want to go see the lights on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The only part I’m not thrilled with about our trip is that we don’t have luggage sets to use. A few duffel bags are what we use, but actually luggage would be so much easier. One of these years we’ll get a nice set.

My Black Friday experience

I'm thankful my mom has been able to stay with us because she stayed with the girls this morning so hubby and I could go shopping. Getting up at four wasn't particularly fun, but running around was! We headed to Wal-Mart first and didn't find what we wanted so we ran over to Shopko. There were three huge lines outside but after only waiting 10 minutes for the doors to open we got through pretty quick. You should have seen us running to the back of the store. At one point I was behind a woman who was casually walking in. Who on earth casually walks around on Black Friday??

Anyway, we found the few items we needed and managed to get through checkout all in less than 10 minutes. Then back to Wal-Mart to pick up a few more things. The lines there were much longer but not terrible.

Our best deals included a vacuum for $25 (pray it doesn't fall apart because it was so cheap), a board game for $2, and a 100 piece potato head set for $10. It was loads of fun and we saved a lot of money! Did anyone else go bright and early this morning?

December fun

As our children continue to grow up, my husband and I have been trying to expand their horizons, if you will. We like to keep a look out for fun community events, family outings, or well rounded activities. Sometimes that can be hard in our relatively smaller city. But we try to do what we can and our children seem to love it. We have a Christmas event coming up next week that we’re hoping to attend. There will be a lot of Christmas trees decorated for the public to look at and I know our girls would have so much fun. If we lived in Florida, we would make a point to go to the St. Augustine Artwalk. It would be hard not to want to go when they are offering free parking, free sightseeing, and a free event. This artwalk will include showing of the finest collection of eclectric art. The event will take place on December 7^th and 8^th and then the first weekend of every month after that. With all the music and the exhibits, it is sure to be a fun family event. So if you are in the neighbor, you should pop on over and take a look and enjoy yourself!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful day today has been! We started cooking the rolls this morning so our home was filled with wonderful bready-goodness. Of course we had to watch the Macy's Day Parade and the dog show, both traditions. I realized I had cooked my pumpkin roll wrong arrgghhh! so I had to make it again. But everything else turned out great and now we have very full tummies. And apparently my youngest daughter loves deviled eggs.

Besides the yummy food, I'm so grateful for all of my blessings. We have so much to be thankful for! Our family, our home, food to eat everyday, clothes to wear and shoes on our feet, able to be in school, a car that works, good friends, the internet, blankets, movies and that's just the beginning. Not only for today, but for always, we need to remember our blessings and count them everyday.

Have a happy and safe holiday everyone. :)

Give the gift of time

There is a watch I have, but can’t wear, because the battery is dead. It would be nice to get it fixed, but we keep forgetting to take it in. I like wearing a watch and knowing what time it is. I admit, I check the time quite frequently. But I like knowing whether we’re ahead of schedule or behind. My husband picked out my watch and I love it. I’m not picky so a Hamilton watch would have been just fine too. As long as I have something.

Let the cooking begin!

After I finish up some homework, I'm off to start cooking for our Thanksgiving dinner! I need to make a delicious pumpkin roll and some normal white rolls. My eldest daughter is really looking forward to helping me and keeps asking when we're going to cook. I'm not hurrying fast enough. ;) We're going to have fun and I love to cook for the holidays. I will post some pictures of our activities a little later. Have a good day everyone!

Comparing internet providers

In the five years I’ve been married, we’ve gone through three different types of internet service providers. We started off with cable internet because we could and I was always on the computer. But it became too expensive for us so we had to switch. We chose to go with dial-up because it was inexpensive and that was all we could afford. We’re now using DSL because my husband and I are in school and needed a faster connection to do our homework at home. At different times in our lives we adapted our IP to our situation. You may be looking for more information and which provider to choose for you and your family. There is dial up internet access from Net Zero, People PC Online, Earthlink or Juno that you could choose from or maybe you’re looking for DSL options. Whoever it is, read more information on each provider at getisp.info. They can be very beneficial!

Egg nog is the good stuff

I'm so proud, my eldest daughter has tried and now loves egg nog! Woohoo! She's definitely ours because we love egg nog too. I honestly didn't think she would like it, but it came from my glass and apparently my glass has the good stuff in it, so she took a sip. Her eyes widened as she started to drink and then my glass became hers. Funny girl! The only downside I can see to drinking egg nog, is all the saturated fat in it. Why does the good stuff have to be so bad for us?

Police gear

Christmas is coming and presents is one of the things that comes with it! So whether you're shopping for your parents, siblings, family, or relatives, make sure you get started soon as time is running out. Is there a policeman in your family you need to shop for as well? Make sure to look at 511tacticaloutdoors.com to find some great gifts. They have Galco holsters, tactile pants and shirts, TDU uniforms and everything else you might need!

Playing Monopoly

Is it sad that my husband and I have had a sealed Monopoly game for four years? I guess we never really got around to playing it until last night. I had forgotten how much fun it can be to play and how viscous. lol My husband made the comment that we were playing so nice together and how honest we were. Yeah, he didn't last very long with that. lol

It was fun to see what pieces we each liked. He always chooses the battleship or the car. I like using the dog, thimble, or hat. Which ones do you like to use?

Presents for him

Every Christmas, every birthday, ever anniversary, my husband usually asks for the same thing, tools. What can I say, he loves his tools and loves to have more. I don't blame him, there are some even I want! lol But now we're at the point where he has a lot of tools and needs more room for them. These storage bins would come in really handy. His love for tools makes it easy for me to find a great presents. But sometimes it's hard to find gifts for guys so remember to look at carguygarage.com to get that manly present for that man in your life. He'll love it!

I'm going to sleep

It's almost 10:30 and I'm wiped. I haven't done any homework today, but it can wait until Monday right? Speaking of which, we have all of next week off for Thanksgiving break. But I still have a load of homework?? Who in the right mind calls it a break if you still have to do homework? It should be like this:

No class + no homework = no stress = break

But I think the university sees it this way:

No class = break = more homework = stress = more stress = insane amount of cookies to cope

It will be nice to be home and the girls will love it, so I'm grateful for that. :)

Make your holidays a little better

I love being able to try a product before having to buy it because a lot of times you end up with something you don’t like. Earlier today, my family received some Insta Snow Fake Snow Powder to try. As you can see from the above picture, we put it in a bowl, added water, and POOF we had indoor snow! Our girls loved it and I admit I did too. The smell wasn’t great but it was fun to play with. This snow came from Vat19 along with their Color Flames Colored Candles, and Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencil. My husband also wants their Ambient Fire Video Fireplace DVD and the USB Heater Mug and then we’re all set for the holidays! Any of these products would make a great present, so be sure to take a look!

S.M.A.R.T. Habit Saturday!

I'm here again for SHS! I know I've been sparse recently due to our crazy schedule, but I wanted to pop in. I'm still working on my goals and some are going to be habits really soon, yay! My list is pretty long so I won't be adding any new goals right now. I can say that our life is changing for the better by striving to improve ourselves and our home. Happy SHS everyone!

Habits:

*Don't spend money before it gets into my account

*Brush/floss everyday
*Entering in receipts
*Getting girls to brush/floss their teeth

Need some work:
*1 - More patient/understanding

*2 - Prayers
*3 - Teaching my kids to work
*4 - Exercise at least three times a week
*5 - In bed by 11:00pm or sooner
*6 - Smarter eating habits
*7 - Thinking before I speak/speaking less/softer tone
*8 - Positive thinking

Check out Lara's blog if you want to join in SHS.

Free checking accounts

I know there are some people who don’t have a checking account but I can’t imagine not having one. I love the versatility of using my debit card or writing a check as needed. Having to carry around a lot of money or keep that kind of cash in my home doesn't sound appealing. Wamu.com offers free checking accounts in my state and I like what they have to offer. Through them I can get free checks for life, one free overdraft or bounced check refund every year, and free ATM cash withdrawals. My own bank doesn’t offer all that! Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What was your first “real” job?

*I was an early morning janitor.

Soup
Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity?

*I would go and find a waterfall, sit far enough away I could hear myself think but still hear the sounds from the water, and still be able to see the beauty all around me.

Salad
Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when…

*I get simple concepts mixed up.

Main Course
What values did your parents instill in you?

*One of the biggest things I learned from my mom was in the value of service. It didn't matter where she went or what she was doing, she was willing to help anyone and everyone. Her heart was always in the right spot. I try to do the same.

Dessert
Name 3 fads from your teenage years.

*Well I wasn't a teenager for the first two, and one the last one doesn't deal with fashion, but I included it anyway. Anyone remember slap bracelets and pogs? :) The third fad, I remember when corduroy was totally in. I think I finally bought a pair of pants, but by then, they were going out of style. lol

To join me, visit Friday's Feast home.

Christmas gifts for children

Personalized presents are becoming more and more popular as the years go by. Any show on TV that talks about gift giving will mention how you can make your gift more personal. I love the idea and I try to do that myself when I give away a gift. I especially like to do it for my children. I think Personalized Gifts for Children make them a little bit more special. Something that they can cherish and remember. Identitydirect.com has a fun selection of Christmas gifts ranging from Disney to Sesame Street. So personalize your gifts this holiday season!

Thursday Thumbs

Thumbs Up:

The Sandpiper - This is a local restaurant. We had a gift certificate and decided to use it for a date night. The prices were insane (around $16 a plate) and the food wasn't great, but the dessert was delicious! My husband had the New York cheesecake and I had apple pie with ice cream. So good! We'll go again just for the dessert! lol

Thumbs Down:

"Batman Begins" - This movie was dark and had some parts that were super creepy. I wouldn't recommend it. It was one of those that I should have walked out of the room instead of finishing it. Live and learn.

TT is hosted by Mimo, over at her This and That blog. :)

Compare car quotes

With our school schedules becoming more and more hectic, my husband and I have been thinking about getting another car. It won’t happen anytime soon, but we’ve been looking into it. We’re partial to Hondas, so we’re always looking for a Honda Car Quote. We will probably end up with a Honda Civic at some point, which would be great. It’s nice to have places online like carsblvd.com to help us find good car quotes and allows us to compare quotes. Better yet, it’s the dealers who compete for your business instead of you doing all the hard work. So that makes it nice too.

If it's not one thing, it's another

I think we've finally solved the train problem. It's improved anyway. I decided to put a small fan in the girls room and the white noise has mostly drowned out the train horn. Our youngest still hears it every now and then but she mostly sleeps through it. Which means I mostly sleep through it too. Yay!

But our newest bedtime trial, (parents seems to have never ending trials lol) is keeping said child in her bed. Last week we converted her crib into a toddler bed and we're lucky enough to play the infamous "let's see how many times you can put me back to bed before you pull your hair out and dive into a tub of ice cream" game. She thinks it's hilarious. Little stinker. I *think* it's getting better, but that could be wishful thinking. lol

The other problem with the conversion, is that the toddler bar has two little bars (space in between them) that supposedly prevent the child from rolling out. They apparently didn't have my daughter in mind, because she flops around in the middle. Which means she falls out through the middle opening. Poor girl, scares her to death. I may just take the little bars off and put up our normal bed rail-thingy and see how that works. Maybe I'll ask my husband to do it, I need a nap. lol

Narrowing your search in the dating world

Dating is never easy, no matter who you are. I went on a few dates in high school and there was only one that turned out great. Of course for me, I didn’t have online Dating Services to help me find a good match. But now there are hundreds you can choose from. But how can I tell which sites are right for you? That’s where primedatingsites.com comes in. They have reviews for many of the online dating sites, such as Perfect Match and Friend Finder. These reviews can really help save you time and hopefully keep you away from those bad dates. So be sure to check them out!

Tackle It Tuesday

I finally got to a project that I kept putting off. My girls have a play kitchen that has needed some serious love, but I never wanted to do it. Today I had some time and decided to tackle it head on. I washed it top to bottom, and it looks great. I didn't get to washing their play dishes, but hopefully tomorrow. It just feels better to have them play with clean toys and I don't have to worry if anything goes in their mouth. Anyway, glad to have it off my to-do list!

Tackle It Tuesday is hosted by 5Minutes for Mom - so join in!

Run into money trouble?

Does it seem like things keep coming up at all the wrong times when it comes to money? Lately I've felt like that. We needed new tires on our van and now a new vacuum is in order. This isn't how I planned on spending money around the holiday season, but I don't have much of a choice. I need tires and I need a vacuum. It's days like these when Payday loans sound like a good idea. These are short-term loans that can give you up to $1500 cash to help you get through these unexpected expenses until your next pay day. Sometimes it's the only thing you can do given the situation.

Couples need more date nights

It's true. If you're married and you're reading this, you probably need one. Really, when was the last time you and your husband/wife went out? No, taking the baby (or any child), does not count. If it's been awhile, it's time to schedule one.

My husband and I know how easy it is to get count up in "everything else" and forget about time for just the two of us. Sure we study together and watch TV together after the children are in bed, but it's not the same as actually going out of the home. We had a date night tonight and it was so nice to hold hands instead of one of us holding a child. Not that we don't love that, because we do, but it was nice to have our time.

We went out to dinner, then went and looked at Christmas displays. I actually ended up buying me two new pairs of pants and some socks, that have been overdue for a long time. As a whole, it was a great evening. After living with family, working two jobs, and going to school, our relationship has became a bit lost. No, we're not in any trouble, we just realize that we need to make our relationship a priority instead of putting it on the back burner.

Ultimately, if we're not in harmony, our lives won't be either. I feel that's true for all couples. So go schedule your next date night. It's worth it. :)

Need a new mixer?

After my first daughter was born, we had a family get together for lunch. My sister-in-law made these rolls for sandwiches that were to die for! Everyone was asking her for the recipe, including myself. I was surprised how easy they were to make and how the recipe didn’t call for many ingredients. Now I make these rolls all of the time and my family and friends love them. When I do make them, it reminds me of that special time when my oldest was just a baby and we were spending quality time together. The recipe is posted below, feel free to copy it and make these in your home. I promise you won’t be disappointed! The only problem I’ve had is that my mixer can’t mix it up the dough very well. I have one of those dinky hand held mixers that struggles mixing up even a small batch of cookies. What I need is an Eclectrics® Mixer. This Hamilton Beach® Mixer has 400 watts of power and 12 settings. With this, I know I could make my rolls in no time flat. I love the way it looks and my husband and I agree that we’d go with the UltraMarine Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer in a heartbeat if we had the money. As soon as ours dies, we’ll be looking them up!

Icebox Butterhorns

1 package (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water (110̊ to 115̊)
2 cups warm milk (110̊ to 115̊)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
Additional melted butter

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add milk, sugar, egg, and salt; mix until completely smooth. Add 3 cups flour and continue mixing until no lumps remain and it’s completely smooth. Stir in melted butter and continue stirring until all of the butter is incorporated (you don’t want to see any of the butter floating on the sides, it should be completely incorporated) and the dough is smooth. Add remaining flour; mix until all the lumps are out of the dough. The dough will be sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Punch dough down and divide in half (I actually like to divide the dough into thirds). On a floured surface, roll each half (or third) into a 12-in. circle. Cut each circle into 12 pie-shaped wedges (it’s okay if your wedges aren’t exactly the same size; some rolls will just be slightly bigger/smaller than the others). Beginning at the wide end, roll up each wedge. Place rolls, point side down, 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 350̊ for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately brush tops with melted butter. Yield: 2-3 dozen.

Christmas Giveaways!

I'm stoked over 5 Minutes for Mom's Christmas Giveaway! From today until November 24th they will be giving away many great prizes! If you've never signed up for a contest, now is the time to do so. 5 Minutes for Mom always has the most amazing giveaways and I'm going to signup right now for their first one. :)

I am so thrilled!

You're all going to be jealous. This is so exciting I can hardly contain myself. Are you ready? Drum roll please.......

We need a new vacuum and new tires on our van. Woohoo!! Aren't you just as thrilled as I am?? I get to spend at least $100-$200 for a new vacuum because mine killed over. Plus, we have less than a millimeter left of tread on our tires so there's another $250+ we get to throw around. I'm so ecstatic that we get to spend all of this money around the holiday season! I love that we're just loaded with money right now being college students. We've really hit the jackpot this time people! Can I get a hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Come on, everybody!!

*Disclaimer: Heavy sarcasm intended.*

It's a bit Musty around here

Now here is a new product that has all the right looks of the future. These are products by Mutsy and they will blow your mind away. If you take a look at their stroller selection you will see precisely what I mean. These aren’t your ordinary strollers, oh no, they take strollers to a whole new lever. It’s interchangeable! That’s right, you can change it from a bassinet to a regular seat to a car seat or even a fun seat. Isn’t that neato? I thought it was pretty cool. I’d never seen anything like it before.

My desk is clean

And I feel so much better! Lately our desk has been the dumping zone for papers, clutter, and whatever else. I hate having clutter but didn't have the time to do anything about it. Until today! I took about an hour, but now it looks great. There's a stack of papers to file, another one to shred, and yet another to make phone calls about. Ok, so it's not spotless, but it's organized! Tomorrow I'll file some away and do some shredding and then we'll be set. Hey, it's a little accomplishment, but it made me feel good. :)

November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month

Did you know that November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month? I didn’t until just today. I am familiar with the disease Alzheimer’s, because my grandmother had it. It broke my heart to see her in the state that she was. Her condition was hard on everyone, especially those she lived with. I remember sitting at the table eating and hearing her frequently change the subject to random topics. One minute she half recognized me and the other she had no idea. I always felt bad for her because I couldn’t imagine myself having to deal with that every single day. I’m not sure if my grandmother had a memory screening test done early on to see if she had the disease or not. But where this is the month to raise awareness, I want to tell you that you can get a free screening test done this month. Call it a holiday gift, one that could really help you better prepare for the future. To find a site near you to do the test, go here. If you are having problems with your memory now, take a look at this article called “Successful Aging.” It has a list of tips that can help you live a healthier life and hopefully lessen your chances of memory loss. Some of the tips like, visiting your doctor, treat depression, and exercising daily, are easy enough to start working on right now. Right now there is not a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but many people are working hard to find one. While we wait for that to happen, if you are able, please take a moment and donate to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America so they can continue to provide the best possible care for those with the disease. This cause is a noble one and it needs our help. All of us.