Thanksgiving Update and Moving into Christmas

For Thanksgiving we had dinner at my grandmother's home. It was great having all the family there. There were a few missing members but that is all thanks to my sister. I did not dwell on it though I made the best of the situation and held my tongue like a good girl.

We had turey and ham and dressing and al the fixings that go along with it.

My kids played with cousins (minus 2 of them) and had a great time. I already have my tree up and we are getting into the groove of things around here.

Stay tuned for more updates and maybe some more recipes :)

Cake Pop Update #2

Sunday, I did Alabama themed Cup Cake Pops. I did the bottoms in white and the tops in red. They looked a little plain and the white chocolate did not hug the sides like the dark chocolate in the Christmas ones I made before. I am thinking that if I do these again I will use some cute Alabama ribbon to make them 'pop' a little more but they turned out cute in the end.

Here are pics.. I even took pics of the process : )



Above you can see I was getting ready.. I made the balls, molded with the cookie cutter shape on bottom and was ready to dip.



All dipped and sticks are in, back to the freezer for a few minutes....this is what I meant by the white melts not holding like i wished they had... well they held, they just did not give the cupcake bottom effect.




All dipped in red now, cute, but still plain. At least this was good information to know for next time. Just strange to me how different they looked than the ones I did a few posts back, those were REALLY cute and I will be doing more of those tomorrow.

Here are a few more pics after I started getting them all done and wrapped up:

















More to come after the holidays. I will post my Muffin recipe in the morning and pics of my muffins. Yes, I am attempting homemade muffins... lord help me... : )

Broccoli, Chicken, Rice & Cheese Casserole

That's what we had for dinner last night. Before I could get a picture of it it was gone. Must have been good : ). I thought I would share the recipe with you all so you could try it out too.


Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves- cooked and cut up

2 cups cooked rice

1 can Cr. of chicken soup

1 can cr. of mushroom soup

1 packet of dry onion soup

16 oz of Velveeta cheese cubed

Broccoli Flowerets- about 2 cups.. more or less as you like


Directions:

Mix everything together in a large bowl- Cooked Rice- soups- onion soup mix- chicken- cubed cheese- broccoli and pour into 9 X 13 baking dish.

Cook at 375 F for about 20-30 minutes. Uncover for last 10 minutes of cooking.. to make the cheese nice.

I Have An Idea

Now, before you panic, let me say, this idea is a good one : )!!!

After watching the movie Julie & Julia I was inspired even more. I don't know if it's all about this cooking phase I am going through or what it is but I was so motivated!!

So my idea is: I want to start blogging about all the dishes I discover and try out. Now I know I have posted some new recipes I found on here already but it did not really hit me what I could do with my blog until I watched that movie last week.

My daughter and I were out last night picking up the things I needed for the Alabama/Auburn Cupcake Pops and we decided to go into Books A Million. I looked around for The Pioneer Lady- Ree Drummond's cookbook and ended up reading for an hour before actually making my way to pick up what I needed. The book is amazing I have to say.

So what I am going to do is, print out a ton of recipes that I would like to tackle and try to do one per day. Whether it be something sweet or maybe a meal for the family. I will take pictures of the process or the finished product or maybe both if I can remember that I do have a camera again!!

I just think it would be something great to keep me busy as well as help teach my daughter to cook seeing how they will be out of school quite a bit over the next few weeks for the holidays.

So off I go to start looking and planning. This will be great because I can add all of the new findings to my Recipe folder and maybe have them all made into a book for my daughter when she is older. With pictures included of us cooking together. Now how sweet is that : )!!!

Cupcake Pop Follow-Up

Ok so I know I promised pictures of my second attempt at Cake Pops since I did not have a camera for my first try, so here they are below. I think they turned out great!! I did some that were just Red and Green Cake Pops too... that little cookie cutter shaper for the cupcakes was starting to drive me insane. Take a look:














I had a great time playing with these little creations. This afternoon I will be making another variation of these little Cupcake Pops. My husband is a freak for SEC College Football, so I will be making Alabama and Auburn Cupcake Pops for him to take to work tomorrow to share. I will post pics of those too. Maybe I will take pics of the process this time if I can keep the chocolate off the camera : ).

Family Time Today

Today I got to spend some time with one of my sisters. Now, with that said there is a reason for my post. My sisters ( who are also twins) and I have not been speaking lately. By not speaking I mean not communicating at all for the last 6 months or so. They pulled away from the entire family for the most part. Not together but both in their own ways. It's been a rough 6 months I will just say that.


Now one of them has come to her senses. She has no kids so I really wasn't as worried about her so much so and the other one who has two kids. I am still worried and drive myself insane abut her but I know that if I just have faith in God he will show her the way in His own time.

It was an awesome day today. Alabama football and my sister and my Dad all here at my home together. It almost felt like old times again. It was a great game and great family time I have to say. We cooked dinner for everyone and afterwards my sweet tooth reared again and I was back in the kitchen making sweets to share.

I made chocolate covered pretzels. They were so yummy! I changed the type of chocolate I was using and had picked up some Wilton's melting chips during my trip to Wal-Mart this week and it made a total difference in dipping things and the way it covered. I knew it would secretly but with my cake pops before I just could not wait that long to make them. I know the next cake pops will be amazing!!

Here are the pretzels, well, what is left anyway:






And I also tried doing chocolate covered marshmallows with some marshmallows my son had left after he raided the bag while we watched the game, haha, he is just too cute!! They turned out great as well, and also were eaten up as fast as they could harden on the wax paper.

Here they are:




So here they are together:




I am going to be making the cake pops again soon but did not want to dive into that with company here tonight. Maybe tomorrow, I still have to pick up some styrofoam to stick the sticks into.

Now a question- I don't know if any of you can see it in the pictures but when the chocolate hardened it left a white look to them like spots on the chocolate.... is that normal??? Can it be fixed? If so, how do I keep it from doing that?



: )

NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!!!!

I got a new camera FINALLY!!!! Now I can finally take pics of my baking adventures and show you all what they look like afterwards!! Yay!!!


In case you are wondering I purchased the Kodak EasyShare c182. It is a 12 mega pixel camera with 3X zoom and large display window on the back. Love this little camera. What I did not realize at first was that I needed a memory card.. no big deal though, I grabbed an 8 gig card for 20 bucks!!


Ok so I am looking forward to taking lots of great pics!!


:) :) :)

Sweets Coming Up

I have a couple of sweets I plan to finish up in the next couple of days. I bought the ingredients at the store tonight. Cake Pops and Chocolate Coated Marshmallows.

Ok so the first round with my Cake Pops did not go like I wanted them to. So I am going to do them again, some Vanilla coated and some Chocolate coated. This time I have sucker sticks, maybe this will make a difference when dipping and coating.


Also, I was in Wal-mart over the weekend and as you know they put out bakery items on sale every now and then for half price. Well, they had the chocolate coated marshmallows in bags for sale and I thought well, I can do those myself!!!

So I am armed with more chocolate bark coating, marshmallows, cake ball ingredients and I even bought pretzels to dip in chocolate!!

My Husband comes in and says "I don't know what has gotten into you lately but I like it!" : ) Yay me!!

So stay tuned for more on those ventures, and anything else I may come up with between now and then.

Wednesday Dinner and Dessert

I have been on a cooking kick for a few weeks now. Tonight I tried yet another new meal I have not done before and a new dessert.

Cheese Lover's Pasta Roll-Ups courtesy of Kraft Foods Food & Family Magazine



Ingredients:


1 egg, beaten

1 container (15 oz.) POLLY-O Original Ricotta Cheese

2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Italian* Three Cheese Blend

4 green onions, chopped

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce, divided

16 lasagna noodles, cooked

1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese



Directions:



HEAT oven to 375ºF.

MIX first 5 ingredients until well blended.

SPREAD 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Spread each noodle with 3 Tbsp. cheese mixture; roll up. Place, seam-sides down, in dish. Top with remaining sauce and Parmesan; cover.

BAKE 40 to 50 min. or until heated through, uncovering the last 10 min.


Tips from Me:

1. I would recommend using only 2 green onions instead of 4 as it seemed to overpower a little bit.

2. The directions called for 16 lasagna noodles yet when I got done I still had 3 noodles left and no more mix... so either go very light on the spread or make a little more spread than it calls for.

Other than those two things it tasted absolutely delicious!!

NEXT up DESSERT!!!


Peanut Butter Cup Pie also Courtesy of Kraft Foods Food & Family Magazine:





Ingredients:


1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter, divided

1 cup cold milk

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

2-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided

1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.)

3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate


Directions:

BEAT cream cheese and 1/2 cup peanut butter in medium bowl until well blended. Add milk and dry pudding mix; beat 2 min. Whisk in 1 cup COOL WHIP; spoon into crust. Refrigerate until ready to use.

MEANWHILE, microwave remaining COOL WHIP and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after each minute. Cool completely.

SPREAD chocolate mixture over pudding layer in crust. Microwave remaining peanut butter in small microwaveable bowl 30 sec.; stir. Drizzle over pie. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.

This one is amazing. Just enough peanut butter. It sort of reminded me of the Peanut Butter Fudge Shake you can get at Sonic : )

Hope these are enticing to you as they were for me, I enjoyed making them and hope that some of you will as well.

Trick Or Treat

Just a few quick pictures from Trick Or Treating...

Husband - Lacey and Sara my step daughters and in front-- Whitney and Dylan.



Dr. Whitney...



Bumblebee from Transformers.... : )



They had a great time!!

Free Samples on Products That We All Use

Hi All, You can click the picture below to sign up for free samples of products that we all use. Coupons via email and via regular mail. I know every little bit helps these days.





I just got finished registering and hope to start getting cool stuff in the mail soon. Seeing how I started on my new baking adventure LOL. More on that coming soon as well.


: )

Cupcakes for Everyone, On A Stick, or Not

I was looking around yesterday at all of the blogs I am a subscriber of and as you know when you start blog hopping you can find lots of very cool and interesting things out there.

I found Bakerella's website!! Her site is just the coolest thing ever! She makes all sorts of beautiful colorful treats not to sell but for fun as lots of us do. I had read about her on another blogger's website- - She posted a picture of Cake Pops that she had made and explained they came from Bakerella's website. I just had to check them out.

I was amazed when I started looking at all of the treats and reading the comments. People are going crazy over these tiny little bites. Well that lit a fire. As a cake lover myself as well as having 3 children in my home I knew that if I made a go at these it would not be a waste, so off to the store I went : ).

I followed all the directions given by Bakerella, and it was so easy to do. Why has no one thought of this before?

They turned out great and the family loved them. If I had a digital camera I would post a picture but here is a picture from her website:



Click HERE to go to the instructions page. Or you can click HERE for another post with a little more instruction. : ) Hope these help!!

I have to say these little treats were DELICIOUS!! We absolutely loved them. The only thing I don't quite understand is how to make the chocolate a little bit thinner so that there is not so much pooling on the wax paper while hardening. Other than that they were awesome. They even looked great when I did them, just a little picky I guess about the thinner chocolate. Then again, maybe it was the brand of chocolate bark I used. I just got a basic brand at the local grocery store to 'practice' on this run. Next time I will use the Wilton's melting chocolates and that may make the difference.

Ok, what are you waiting for? You know you want some of these for yourself, get busy!!

Silly Bandz- The New Kid Craze

My kids have literally gone nuts over these little bracelets--- rubber bands--- called Silly Bandz. I don't know who started it but these things have taken over the school!!



If you have a child this is definitely something you can put down on a Christmas list. See the video:




You can get Silly Bands by Clicking HERE.

Or as I have been told my my 10 year old daughter- you can get them at Hibbet Sports or at Academy Sports and a few other locations.

Taco Bake

Ingredients:

1 lb.- Hamburger Meat

1 1/2 Cups- Salsa

1 Box- Macaroni & Cheese (not powder)

1 Cup- Sour Cream

1 Package- Taco Seasoning

1 Cup- Shredded Sharp Cheddar


Directions:

Prepare Hamburger meat as if making tacos, draining after cooking through, then add taco seasoning.

Also prepare macaroni & cheese as directed on the package.

Mix sour cream into macaroni & cheese.

Place half of mac & cheese mixture on bootom of casserole dish- follow with meat mixture.

Sprinkle half of the shredded cheddar on top of meat mixture.

Top with the rest of the Mac & Cheese mixture.

Now add the salsa on top then sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

** I made this and LOVE it!! I do add a little more cheese to the top and use a little more hamburger meat, but overall it is a great recipe. Kids love it too!!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

4 Cups- Cooked Cubed Boneless Chicken Breasts

2 Cans- Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Packge- Frozen Mixed Vegetables

1 Package- Cheese Cubes

1 Can Cresent Roll Dough


Directions:

Boil and cut up chicken and set aside. Make sure vegetable are thawed- by rinsing under warm water. In large bowl mix together the vegetables, both cans of cream of chicken soup, and the cut up or cubed chicken. Pour mixture into a 13x9 baking dish.

Take the package of cubed cheese and layer on top of the mixture.

Roll out the cresent roll dough and place in one sheet over the top to make the crust.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cresent roll topping is browned.


** I made this dish last night and it turned out great!! I actually bought a package of 8 large drumsticks then pulled all the meat from the bones and used that instead of using chicken breasts. It was more chicken for a better price. The kids LOVED it!! I will definitely be making this one again.

Sterling Silver Jewelry for LOW Cost!!!

Ok, so I know I have posted this before but wanted to do a reminder. You can get Sterling Silver Jewelry for only shipping and handling just in time for Christmas. Or you can order from the catalog at a discounted price. Either way it's a bargain. I have some of the pieces myself and they are great for you or to give as gifts. Just click my banner below and go check it out!! Hope you enjoy!!



Happy Shopping!!

Recipe: Pork Medallions with Peas and Sauce

Ingredients:

6- 3/4 inch Boneless Pork Chops

2 Cups- Frozen Peas

1 Cup- Italian Dressing

1 Jar (10-12 oz.)- Heinz Turkey Gravy

1 Box- Stove Top Stuffing- Chicken Flavor


Directions:

Place Pork Chops into large skillet with tablespoon of Oil to brown. Brown both sides, approximately 7-10 minutes.

Start the water boiling for the stove top stuffing- fix as directed on the box and set aside.

Once chops are browned on both sides, add in Italian Dressing and Heinz Turkey Gravy, let that come to a boil.

Once mixture is boiling add in 2 cups frozen peas. Continue to boil for 3 minutes then reduce heat to Simmer. Cook until peas are tender, approximately 15-20 minutes.

Place the stuffing that was set aside in portions on plates then put chops and the peas and gravy mixture on top.

** I made this for dinner despite the strange mixture of flavors and it was AMAZING!! Even the KIDS ate it and wanted more!!

Menu For The Week!!

Monday- Pork Medallions with Sauce and Peas- One skillet dinner

Tuesday- Chicken Pot Pie- Done Easy!!

Wednesday- Taco Bake

Thursday- Vegetable Soup

Friday- Eat Out Night!!


I will post some recipes for some of these meals and link them in when done!! Hope you enjoy if you try any of them. : )

Fall Has Arrived

Fall is a great time of the year. The leaves are starting to turn, county fairs are popping up all over. The air is cooler and the breeze is no longer full of humidity. This is one of my favorite times of the year. It's not too cold and it's not too hot.

It's the time of the year when we want to make Veggie Soup and Chili. Check out my recipes for those by the way, (I will hyper link those when I get the recipes posted).

I am excited about all of the Halloween projects I want to do with the kiddos. I woudl love to post pictures but well, my camera has broken. I will work on getting some pictures posted when I can. One project will be cupcakes of course because they can be hands on in the kitchen. Another would be making a whole cake that looks like a pumpkin.

Carving a pumpkin is also on our list of to do's for October of course. What's Halloween without a pumpkin. Trying to decide at this point if we will do one for each child or if we will just do one really big one. Probably one for each and a big one : ).

Stay Tuned!!

Happy Monday!!

So today I am on a conference call with an ex-client, the one who still owes me money by the way, and he asks if I will help him out. It's kind of one of those if you scratch my back I will scratch yours type conversations. I basically put it to him this way- I work on this project with you - you pay me ON TIME IN FULL.... and he said ok.

I work on the project for a little over an hour and I get a message saying that if I want the project for my own it's mine if I want it. This project is for over 250 hours of work, of course I will take it.... with stipulations... I want payment for the first half, Second half when the project is done... I don't think it's a bad deal, I think it's only fair.

I also have a couple of other projects I am working on as well so at least I have something to fall back on. If you read this- keep me in your prayers, I am seriously hoping this gets me out of this hole I am in, though I have to say I am slowly but surely seeing the light of day again!!

This Week's Menu Plan

This is subject to change but this is the plan so far:

Monday: Spanish Rice

Tuesday: Pot Roast

Wednesday: Chicken and Rice

Thursday: Pork Chops ( Grilled or Baked undecided as of yet)

Friday: TBD- Will be something easy or either leftovers from the previous nights. Probably will end up being Pizza.


As always with any menu this is subject to change lol. But I wanted to participate. :) Happy Dinner!!

Lazy Days

I can remember when I was a kid in school, I loved Saturday because it meant I could sleep in. Not much has changed, I get to sleep in on saturday still :).

I don't have many plans for the weekend, just getting the house in somewhat of an order again from the past weeks goings on. I am going to try and post my menu for the week for next week Mon- Fri. Hopefully I will get that put up sometime tomorrow. I am going to try and look around the net to see what kind of deals I can find to share with you all so keep checking back. :)

Playing Catch-Up

We survived Day one of school and this was Day 2 of school. Dylan's first two days were great!! He loves his teacher and there are couple of friends in his class he has known for a while from church so that is good. He loves being a big boy and carrying a back pack and taking his lunch. He has no problem going to bed at 8:30. LOL Yay!!! Things are finally looking up it seems.

T'was the Night Before The First Day Of School

I have been so busy this past few days I have neglected my readers. It is Back To School time for my 3 kiddos and it's has been like a mad house with all the school shopping and getting everything in order again.

I found jeans for my daughter at Old Navy for $10, which was great. Then I went to JC Penney and used a $10 coupon they had sent me in the mail along with a 15% off survey coupon I printed off the net and I ended up saving almost $200 on clothes for my boys. I spent $56 at JC Penney and bought 3 pair of jeans for my oldest son, 4 shirts for him, 5 shirts for my youngest son and 2 pair of shorts plus one pair of cargo pants for him. I think I did great!!!

Thursday is their first day of school and I am still awake watching the live BB11 feeds and can not sleep. I think it's because I will not know what to do without at least one kid here 24/7. I will finally have a few hours a day (even if I do have to work while here) where their will be no "Mommy..." HA!! So this is what it's like when they start to get older. Whatever will I do with myself???

I will post first day of school updates tomorrow evening!! Stay Tuned!!

Family Movie Night

We had a family movie night tonight after church. We watched 'Aliens In The Attic'.

Very cute movie and it's great spending time with family enjoying a movie that we all enjoy watching. If you haven't seen it yet then I would recommend it. Too cute. Better than 'G-Force' in my opinion.


:) Heather

Crayola Giveaway at 'The Neat Things In Life'

Jammie from The Neat Things In Life is having a giveaway on her blog for a Crayola Pack. She gives details about this on her recent review on her blog. Please do go check it out and see what great things she has to offer!!

Contest Ends August 9th so go get your entry in fast!!

Oh and OHHH and Don't forget To Read My Articles for me PLEASE??

Here is the link to my profile on AC so you can read them all. Thanks so much!! :)


Click Here: Heather's Articles on AC

ZuZu's and Spagito's

Kids can come up with some crazy alternate names for things. The two that stand out the most with my kids were ZuZu's which was my oldest son who is now 12. When he was around 3 and 4 he liked to play with ZuZu's. Now I know you are dying to know what a ZuZu is, so I will tell you. It's a lizard. Yep that's right, a lizard.


It was the funniest thing I had ever heard at the time. I still laugh everytime I think about it.

My yougest son and I were sitting on our porch waiting for Dad to come in from work and he kept saying that Spagito's were everywhere. It was the craziest thing I had ever heard. He is 5 by the way. He kept saying it and saying it and I was needless to say confused. Then it hit me all at once. MESQUITO!!! Ha!! I thought I was going to fall out of my chair laughing so hard. Then when I could speak again I said no it's a mesquito, and he said "Yea that" and started laughing with me.

I just had to share that!!! :) Kids are the sweetest.

The Time Traveler's Wife

OK So the new movie coming out "The Time Traveler's Wife" has me so excited. It is supposedly a great love story. Seeing how I can not yet watch the movie I purchased the book in my outting this weekend. We were at BooksaMillion looking around and I saw this book and bought it. I paid more for it than what it is listed for on Amazon but that is just because I did not want to wait for it. I wanted it right then. MInd you I have not bought anything for myself in ages, and of course after I am done I can do a book trade or sell it to a new reader. So anyway, I think it would be great if we get a group together and read the book then post the reviews on our blogs or I can post your review here. Either way I just think it would be great to hear what others think.

Again here is the order link for Amazon:



And it will stay on the sidebar of my blog during this process.



So here is how it will go: You can either buy the book as I did from a book store- or you can click the link on the sidebar of my page and order from Amazon. I don't care how you get it but if you decide you want to participate please do add your name to the McLinky below so I can keep up with how many we have. And of course so I can read and comment on your blog udring the meantime. I would say the date of the review should be September 5th. That way everyone has enough time to purchase or order the book and recieve it and then read it. Happy Reading and I look forward to meeting a lot of new people as well as reading some great new blogs!! :)

Elephant Ears Project

So while at my Aunt's house this weekend (I was trying to focus my mind somewhere besides on my oldest son) I noticed that she had some very large elephant ears in a pot on her back porch. Now when I say large I am talking 6 feet tall. I love these plants and had not planted any this year. Well I asked her how she got them so big and she said that they started in a small pot just one stalk with a leaf about 6 inches tall. She had taken it from a bed of them on the other side of her house. She fertilized it and she said it just took off and started sproutng more stalks. She took it from that small pot to a bigger pot and kept doing the same thing until before she knew it she had them 6 feet tall in this large pot on the porch.

Needless to say I ended up with baby elephant ears to bring home. I am going to give this a shot and see if I can get mine that big. I definitley need something to focus on that does not involve noise.

Well I have also just realized when I was trying to take a picture of my new plants to post on here, that my digital camera is broken.... great.

Just another day...

I have managed to get out to get a little bit of school shopping done, still not anywhere near finished yet. My oldest is starting Middle School and there are so many fees to be paid, workbooks, locker fees etc. It goes on and on.

We came up with a budget for bills but still don't know how we will manage to get the rest of it done. I have decided it is going to take a miracle from God. I am praying that the ex-client I spoke of a few posts back gets me paid in full this week and if that happens then it will all get done. So for now I am just on a fence.

I am stressing so much right now it's not even funny. My oldest has found himself in a bit of a predicament, (boys being boys) so please say a prayer for him when you can.

FREE SAMPLES!!!!!!!!!

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That's all I have for now. I will try and do this each week if I can find at least 5 items each week. If any of you know of any please do leave me a comment!!

I can not gaurantee that the offers will still be available when you get to them but they worked for me :). If any have been closed by the time you click the links please let me know so I can edit accordingly.

:) Heather

What's Going On ....

Ok so I have been super busy lately and I have missed a few posts but I am going to continue my 30 days of posting it might just take me a little longer than 30 days :).

The past few days I have been working on a few different things all at once. I have been working on articles for AC as well as two other projects that I have going on.

I finally got a few of my articles submitted and 2 of them have been published. If you would like to take a look at them I will post links to them at the end of this post. I do ask that you read them and leave me a comment under the article to let me know you read them :).

In other news, I had a former client contact me and ask if I would be interested in doing some work for him again. Now mind you this client is one who did not like to pay on time and the last work I did he has still not paid me in full for. He emailed me and asked if he paid me in full if I would be interested in working with him again. I told him the only way I would work for him again is if he would pay me upfront for any work he wants done via Paypal only. (He bounced a couple of checks on me which took him forever to make right) I am still not sure if I will do the work but other than the pay issue I had no other problems. I think if he pays me upfront then there shouldn't be a problem right?

I will keep you updated on that one.

Ok so here are the links to my articles as promised. When anyone reads my articles my page views go up and in turn it makes my offers go up for articles so any of you who would like to support me in my writing all you have to do is read :) and It would be much appreciated!! And if there is anything in turn I can do for you I will try my best to do so!!


Links here:
Back To School Shopping Tips

Tips On Being MOre Active

OK So I know I am behind a Little

I have been super busy with some other things and have not forgotten about my blog posts--- they are in drafts... and I will publish shortly... :)

Thank You All for the Comments!!

I just want to take this moment to thank you all for stopping by my blog and being supportive. This has been so much fun meeting all of the new people out there, and reading such great blogs. My posts will be short for this weekend, but next week I can't wait to get back to some great posts!! Thank you all!!

:) Heather

Day 3: Date Night

So I decided to combine the post for Day 3 with Date Night. My fiance and I went out last night to a great little Italian place that we had heard about but had never been to. The food was great and the atmosphere was great too. We have kids at home and it has been months since we had a 'date' night. We took the plunge and decided to go out to dinner instead of cook. Best decision we have made in a while :). It was nice to rekindle that romance that we have been lacking for a while being so busy with the kiddos. Let us have that time to spend together and just talk without interruption, which is so nice. It wasn't anything fancy just the two of us spending some much needed quality time together. Hope I can post another one of these very soon!! Because last night was like we were 'dating' again. But I guess that's the point. LOL :)

Welcome Hoppers!!

Glad you could stop by and hope you can make it back!! I look forward to reading some of your blogs as well!! Let's keep hopping, this is exciting!!

30 Days 30 Posts #2: Toddlers & Tiaras

Ok so I am sitting here watching T.V. while I work on some freelance articles for AC. I have never watched this show but I though it would be interesting to watch since my daughter likes to do pageants from time to time. Boy was I wrong...

Now before I get flamed for bashing pageant kids or their moms: I AM A MOM OF A 10 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WHO LIKES PAGEANTS: with that said what the hell is wrong with SOME of these moms???? I mean seriously? One mom has 5 daughters who do pageants, ok no problem. Not only does she have 5 daughters but the oldest two are actually twins. Now, still no problem with that. The problem I have with it is that this lady is on NATIONAL T.V. saying that one of these twins is prettier than the other and that's why she wins more.

Ok so maybe I am overracting but come on!!! I could never in a million years say that ever about any of my children. Especially on national T.V. Now mind you not only does she say this but the daughter actually says she does not like competeing against her sister. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture? I mean really? Am I on a soapbox?? Please someone tell me I am not insane.

Ok so not only does the MOM say these things but while they are getting ready for the pageant the 'prettier' one says that her sister was bad when she was on stage. Then the mom actually says were you just talking bad about your sister. OMG!! Sorry for the abbreviations but the MOM just said earlier in the show how bad she was and that the other one was prettier and better in pageants and then she is going to scold the child for saying this about her sister? Seriously???

Well I guess I can watch to find out what NOT to do if my daughter WANTS to enter a pageant. Or maybe I should just change the channel and not watch anymore?

EDIT AFTER THE SHOW WAS OVER: So, I am just laughing out loud at the mom was fussing about. Turns out the so called 'pretty' one threw a fit before the talent competition and Dad removed her from the pageant. Mom was very down on the other twin left in the pageant saying she did not think she would win and they should just leave and guess what? THE OTHER TWIN WON THE GRAND TITLE of the ENTIRE pageant, eat your words Mom... Looks like she is the prettier one afterall. Hahahaha

New Article on Associated Content

I just posted a new article on AC about the movie nights in Shelby County, AL.

Go here: Free Movie Nights

Success is a Journey not a Destination....

This is something I heard a few nights ago while I was cooking dinner. The T.V. was on in the other room and I am not sure what program was on but I heard this quote being said and it stopped me in my tracks, Success is a Journey not a Destination. It made so much sense to me all of a sudden.

We are all determined to be successful, but do we really 'get' that it IS a journey to be taken and NOT a destination? I mean afterall, if we were to reach Success, does that mean it's the end of the road? Of course not, success is ongoing, therefore it's a journey and not a place to 'be'. I know I for one would like to be successful, and I am seeing that it is a journey to get there I just did not realize it in this way before.

We learn so many new things everyday in life. Or at least I have, especially lately. I am learning what I want to do with my resources and where I want to go, and right now as far as I can see, there is no real destination ahead. There is only a long winding road with many doors to open and explore.

:) Heather

Speaking of Back To School

If any of you out there know of any great deals please do share!! I know there has to be coupons somewhere I don't know about or tips on how to get more for less. If you have any ideas or know of anything let me know!! I look forward to all the great responses!!

And if I come across any in my 'Back To School' journey in the next few weeks I will be sure to let you all know.


:) Heather

Back To School

Here it is the beginning of another school year. Where has the summer gone so quickly? I remember my school days when the summers seemed to go by so quickly and then we could not wait to get back to school and see all of our friends and catch up on what we had missed.



With that said I have 3 starting this year. have our school systems gone mad? I go to print out school supply lists and my mouth hit the floor. Since when did kids need all of this stuff?? I mean really, I remember needing a notebook and pencils. Now there are all sorts of fees for books and classroom fees, and art fees, and computer fees. The list goes on an on. I guess that goes with the times, you know the age of technology and all.





So for the next few weeks we will be busy getting ready for the big 'Back To School'. I have 18 years of thsi left to go..... pray for me lol!!!

Blog Title

Ok so I am having a hard time giving my blog a title. I know I have the address for my blog but for some reason I can not for the life of me come up with a good title. I will leave it as is for now but if anyone has any suggestions please do send them my way.

Tired

But aren't moms always tired? Whew, it's hard work being a Mom, wife, and working all at the same time. Guess that's why they say women have the babies, because the Men can't handle it. HA!!

I watched Facing The Giants yesterday. It was an amazing movie. I watched Fireproof a while back and cried through the whole thing. It is amazing what the Lord can do in our lives. Now if only I can get back to the place where I once was and let God handle the problems I can't on my own. I am working on it. I know there are just so many things I want done here and now and have little patience for wiating for things to happen. I guess we can't always have what we want, when we want it.

So I have come to a conclusion. While I wait for my prayers to be answered I will blog, and write articles. At least then I am being productive until He shows me the way in which he wants me to go. I have to do this for my health I believe.

About two weeks ago I started to have chest pains, it was scary. I did not know what it was and still not 100% sure, but I do know that I have to stop stressing about work and finances etc. So I will be venting alot, and posting here about my progress as far as work and the website and any other random posts I may think of.

:) Heather

So I Have Noticed

I have noticed that most of my friends from high school have also found the blogging world. I guess we all get a little bored from time to time. It is interesting to see though who is getting married, who is having children. It is so cool how it feels like we are all at school again talking about our weekends etc. yet we are all over the USA posting our lives on the internet in hopes of staying connected to everyone in some form or fashion. I think maybe I need to revamp by blog soon. Just give it an update and maybe post some pictures.

On another note, I am agressively building my website, Sides Marketing. It's been a long time coming for me actually. I am sick of being ran over by all of the marketing companies I have worked for recently and have decided to finally take the plunge and do it on my own. This way I can be the one calling the shots instead of consulting everyone else and they run projects in teh ground. Seems like a great idea, for now anyway :).

Another Day....

OK so I have been really stressed out lately and have not been updating as I should. I am in search of a new 'job' or project I should say. I won't go into detail but there are things goingon with the company I was with that just don't quite add up... sad really as it not only affects them but all the employees/contractors and their families as well but the owers don't really seem to care. Oh well...

So anyway, I had a long weekend.. for the most part it was good. My nephew turned 1 on Friday :). I wish I could spend more time with my neice Abby and Nephew Will, but right now not many in the family can do that. Thanks Sis.. for screwing it up for not only yourself as a mom but for us as family. So I guess I am a little crabby lately. Sorry, it's the stress I am sure.

I think what I really need is a closer relationship with God. I had it once but over the years I have strayed and I know that is my own fault. I can say I have been busy but it's no excuse. Maybe that is my problem. The devil is testing me because I have drifted into the 'unknown' so to speak.

I have so many ideas and thoughts but can never seem to bring them out into fruition. I always get sidetracked or I am also known to procrastinate I am told. It is time for me to pull myself up by my bootstraps and get busy with what needs to be done.

Update....

Ok so I am being lazy again. Can't help it. At least I am not overeating I guess... So the next few days I will be very busy and will try to journal everything i eat and see how that goes. Wish me luck...

Ok I am a Slacker afterall....

No need to tell me I have been slacking. I know. So the past week i have actually maganed to walk all but 2 of the last 6 days. OK I am getting there. Slowly but I am. I also plan to quit smoking but one thing at a time I guess. Or I could just go all out and quit while I get healthy.. would probably make more sense. Update soon... :)

Smoking... or lack of...

Yes, I also stopped smoking.... well.. for about 24 hrs. so far. And I wake up this morning and my hip is KILLING me. Must of slept wrong. You know how you sometimes wake up and your neck hurts? Well, it's like that but it's my hip. This really sucks. On top of it all its RAINING!!! AHHH...



Heather

Ok So Sue me..

Yes I know that I skipped yesterday. That's because there was not much to say. I did not do the workout yesterday morning. I was being lazy... yes I know that won't help me in any way.

What I ate yesterday: About 10 chips, a pork chop and hmm.. I think that was about it. Was not feeling very good and did not have much time because I was working. Mother nature sucks sometimes. :(

Hopefully today and tomorrow will be better. Stay tuned!! :)


Heather

I Have Decided

Yes, I know I probably have said that before, but this time I am serious. So, here's the plan. I am starting this blog to track progress and be a journal of sorts. I will track what I eat each day as well as, blog about my morning workout. This is going to be a very long, hard road ahead of me. After 7 years of sitting at a desk for 6-10 hours each day, any type of movement other than standing up and sitting down is going to be rough!!

Ok, so I figured better late than never right? We all make those New Year's resolutions, and very few of us keep them. Well.... I am a couple of months late.. but I think I am motivated more so than I was in January. I went for a walk at the park today with my children and to see them so happy and full of energy was amazing. I was also surprised how motivated I felt to want to give this a shot, finally. I have been procrastinating and I have decided NO MORE!!!

I will update this blog EVERY day with workouts I did for the day and my food intake. Hopefully having to be held accountable will help motivate me even more to pay attention to what I eat. So here goes nothin' anyone else want to join me?

OK so what did I do today? Well, as I said above, we went for a walk at the park. I also took my dog Sadie, which is more work that it seems. I probably walked for a good 20 minutes and the other 20 minutes I was running behind her :)

What did I eat today? Hmm.. let's see, I did not eat anything for breakfast- I know... bad idea. I ate half of a sandwich that was left over from Subway the day before. Subway is supposed to be healthy right? Then I had a hotdog and some chips for dinner. I ate a piece of white chocolate afterwards. Yes I know... that was not healthy, but I did it anyway. OH!! I cooked brussell sprouts for tomorrow :) That's good right? Ha!

Ok so tomorrow I need to get up and have a decent breakfast to get my metabolism moving and then do my 30 minute workout with Denise Austin- I picked her because I have done her workouts before and she totally kicks my butt every time.

It's late... so I should probably go. Will be back tomorrow to update!!!

Heather :)