Just a little something to brighten your day!

When the snow just keeps falling, we need all the help we can get!

I am a busy mom.  I work full time and recently went back to school.   Even with all the things I’m busy doing, I like to provide my family with good, wholesome meals.   Yet I am always looking to make dinner quick and easy, especially on school nights.  

One product that is helping me do that is Ore-Ida Steam n’ Mash Potatoes.   I can’t stand fake potatoes.   The Ore-Ida Steam n’ Mash are found in the frozen food section of your grocery store. These potatoes only take 10 minutes in the microwave.  

Pull them out out of the microwave, toss them in a bowl, mix with milk, sour cream and butter.   Ta Da…mashed potatoes in less than 15 minutes.   Same great taste as when you spend 40 mins boiling potatoes.  

Wednesday night, I prepared a meatloaf.   Grandma picked up the boys from daycare, so I had her put it in the oven.   I got home and whipped up the potatoes, steamed some frozen corn.  Dinner was on the table in 20 mins  Delicious!

Drawing class is way outside of my comfort zone. But for some reason when your a graphic design major, they want you to be able to draw.   Its been about two weeks now and the panic attacks induced by my this class have subsided.   I guess I’m finally getting comfy outside of my comfort zone.

We were finally given some directions and methods to help us draw.   How to measure size, proportion, angles, etc.   I am actually starting to enjoy this class.   At first I thought ”ok its just things that have straight lines and angles”, I’m a dork who takes calculus for fun so I understand angles. 

But this week we started drawing a old ride on toys – a green horse that you push and a wonderhorse.   And my drawings actually turned out pretty good.   I’ll have to photograph them tonight.   I’m suprised our teacher doesn’t have to give me much advice.   I’ve even gotten a “nice job today”.  

I guess my hesitation and panic was due to confidence.  Each week I feel a little more confident in my abilities.   I’m actually starting to enjoy this creative outlet.

Its might be the time I get to spend being creative.

I recently gave my blog a makeover.  Ok its still in progress but the major reconstruction is done.  I’m very happy with it.  I’ve done simple websites before but it was my first attempt at wordpress code.  

Actually I was toggling back and forth between the code and the design so much that the paisley is burned into my retinas.   So after doing this I’ve been sitting an pondering my design choices.  

Why was I drawn to this design?
I would call paisley a classic design usually associated with drapery, sofas, and Ralph Lauren skirts.   But this vibrant purple paisley had a bit of whimsy and fun. 

Whats with the name?
Last year, I started doing DVD slide shows for graduation slide shows.  They showed the passage of time from little babies to young adults.   So I came up with the name Time Slides By. 

What is with the clothes pins?
I first started with the film strip but thought it was a little over done.  I found the pictures on the clothes line on my favorite free stock photo website Stock.XCHNG.  I’m still deciding what pictures to put on it.  I really wanted to animate it and make the closes line move to the side.

So that is my blog.  So I am now posing the question:

How well does your blog template represent you?  

This dream is still fresh in my mind.  I had it right before I woke up. 

It was like we were on a work retreat doing some of that bonding, team building stuff.   Some one asked me and whoever I was with to go get ice cream.  Next thing I know we were hiking back through the woods with ice cream.  But then there was snow all over the ground.  We hiked up the hill and there was the most beautiful sunrise (at first I thought it was a sunset, but since the sky was still very dark and the orange was just coming up, I’m assuming it was a sunrise.  Very low on the horizon, beautiful orange and it was casting a reflection on this calm crystal clear lake.  But the way were were standing it looked like you were high above this lake.   Then I noticed a bench.  But I woke up before I could sit on it.

So lets check out Dream Moods to interpret it.

Ice Cream - To see or eat ice cream in your dream, denotes pleasure and satisfaction with your life. You need to savor the moment and enjoy it. It is also indicative of good luck and success in love.

Snow - To see snow in your dream, signifies your inhibitions, repressed/unexpressed emotions and feelings of frigidity. You need to release and express these emotions and inhibitions. You may also be feeling indifferent, alone and neglected.

Hiking – To dream that you are hiking, represents progress and achievement. With perseverance and strong-will, you will make it far in life.

Woods - To dream that you are walking through the woods, signifies your return to an aspect of yourself that is innocent and spiritual.

Lake – To see a lake in your dream, signifies your emotional state of mind. You feel restricted or that you are unable to express your emotions freely. Alternatively, the lake may provide you with solace, security, and peace of mind. If the lake is clear and calm, then it symbolize your inner peace.

Sunrise – To see the sunrise in your dream, represents new beginnings, renewal of life and energy, and fulfillment of your goals and purpose. It may also denote that you are about to embark on a new adventure in your personal life.

Bench - To see or sit on a bench, signifies your tendency to procrastinate and put things aside. It also suggests that you often take on a passive role instead taking initiative.

No not me….my blog.   Its not complete yet.  I need to add photos to my header.  But I’ve gone live with it.   Let me know what you think!

I’m going to go rest now my head now hurts from staring at code.

I’ve come to the conclusion that motherhood really sinks in when you look forward to grocery shopping.   Usually, I the one to go.  Just me.   It use to be my Friday night out.  But hubby started bowling, so it got moved to Saturday afternoon.  But I actually enjoy  grocery shopping.  I’m by myself.  I take my dear old time.   I have my coupons.  I search for the best deals.  Then when I get to the checkout I’m geeked when I see $30 come off my bill from coupons.   I am such a geek now. 

So on Saturday, hubby suggested that we go  grocery shopping -  WE – as in all four of us.   What was I thinking?   Saturday afternoon at Walmart.   I lost my effing mind.  

After we almost get hit three times by clunkers in the parking lot, we gather the boys into two different carts.   Ev wanted to ride in the buggy (not the seat).  So I decided I would push him.  That would let me put my purse and coupons in the seat.   Ok still nice and calm.   Hubby goes to wait in line at the deli.  I cover produce and the meat section.  

Thats when it started to go down hill. 

Ev started whining.  Hubby would just start going down the aisle throwing stuff into his cart.  So that left me behind.   “Did you get this?,” “How many did you get?  Because my coupon was for two.”  Repeat this for every aisle.  Then  “Where the hell did he go now?”   This whole experience wouldn’t have been bad if Hubby stuck with me.   But no.

I think I made it to the cleaning supply aisle.   After cruising down the aisle, Hubby had actually stopped at the end to wait for us.   By then Ev was having a melt down.  I whip him out of the cart, give him to hubby….”here.”   Then go back down the aisle to get what I would have gotten in the first trip if I could have paid attention.    I would have been perfectly happy to just leave hubby there with the kids and finish the frozen food and dairy section.  But hubby looked a little pathetic holding Ev and trying to push a cart.  

I managed to hold it together for the rest of the store.   I sent hubby off to the other end of the store to find soap.  Then I was able to got through my coupons.  

Ok so since you’ve put up with my lengthy venting.   Here are some great resources for grocery shopping:

• Grocery List in Excel Format – I’ve laminated my list and use a dry erase marker to circle the items we need.  Wipe them off when you get done.
• SlickDeals.net forums - Maximize your coupon usage by matching them up with the sales.  This is free service moderate by the users.
• I <3 CVS.com - great resource for CVS deals.  She also offers a great spreadsheet to keep track of how much you saved on your CVS purchases.

To end on a positive note – before we left to go shopping, I did get a good laugh.   Hubby tells Ev that we are going grocery shopping.  Ev’s reply “Let me get our coupons!”.  I’ve trained him well.

Label Daddy is an personalized label company.  Their labels are microwave safe, dishwasher safe, and washer/dryer safe.  

But did you know that Label Daddy loves bloggers?   

The generous folks at Label Daddy have teamed up with one of the best Mom Blogs - MomDot.com to help send a few lucky bloggers to BlogHer 2009.  Label Daddy realizes how important bloggers are to getting their name out there.  So in addition to sponsoring Sara from Momma Findings and hotel fees for the MomDot.com  girls, they are also sponsoring the ”Label Daddy BlogHer 09 Sponsorship“ contest.   They will sponsor 2 bloggers convention fees (worth approx $200 a piece) and one full ride to BlogHer for a lucky blogger (including plane, convention fee, and hotel cost). 

So how to you get in on this great opportunity:

• First, visit the best Mom Blog  -  MomDot.com for the official details.
• Next, blog about the contest, anchoring “Label Daddy BlogHer 09 Sponsorship” to links to MomDot.com  and Label Daddy 
• Then, put out your sponsorship plea in 500 words or less – answer this question: Why is the BlogHer convention important to you and how would this sponsorship assist you?
• Lastly, visit Label Daddy  to enter the full sponsorship contest and visit Momma Findings to enter the additional contest for partial sponsorships.

OK its now time for me to go work on my desperate plea for sponsorship!

So I’ve been slacking on my posts over the weekend and yesterday I had a busy day at work.  It was just an routine weekend.   Everything was kind of ordinary.  Not much to tell.  So I’m was just going to post this just to get something up.  But then as I went through the list I found it kind of interesting.  I guess I really have done alot.

You’re supposed to bold the things you’ve done so readers can find out how you’ve led an awesome life so far.

Here’s what I have done in bold…

1. Started your own blog (just did this in November)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (DisneyWorld – twice…when I was 3 my parents lost me.  I was swimming in the fountain with Chinese tourist taking my picture)
8. Climbed a mountain (well we rode part of the way but we had to climb the rest.  I was to the top of a dorman volcano in New Zealand, beautiful)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I guess I’m kinda doing this now…Drawing 101)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked ( I guess hitching a ride from one end of Panama City Beach on Senior Spring Break counts)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (eye hand coordination have never been my strong suit)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (I took 4 years of French in high school, can’t speak a lick now)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (backup on Love Shack, at someone’s house, never at the bar…too many people)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (I’ve had it drawn so does that count… at Montmartre / Sacré Coeur in Paris)
48. Gone deep sea fishing (I don’t recommend doing this after a night of drinking…it was four painful hours…all we caught was a view of the side of the boat)
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (in the Great Barrier Reef, I got to swim with a sea turtle)
52. Kissed in the rain (why did that Billie Myers song start playing in my head)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China (I didn’t take advantage of this one.   My brother lived in China for 3 years.  I had just gotten married and was pg.  My mom and aunts went but I didn’t.  I’m kicking myself)
57. Started a business (I’m working on this)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (I was a campfire girl instead)
62. Gone whale watching  (we saw whales on my Great Barrier Reef trip)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma ( I tried but passed out when they pricked my ear)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (I still have my American Girl dolls and Barbie dream house)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (100+ with the friend of a sorority sister, I had no idea what his name was)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (leased?)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (the local paper but it counts)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

41 things…I guess I’m doing pretty good.

I know I’m a newbie, but I’m in love with the blogging community.   Since starting my blog, I’ve am learning how to open up and connect with my readers.    I’m gaining new readers every day and its encouraging.   In 2009, I am looking forward to growing my blog and working with amazing companies such as yours.   In order to expand my blogging horizons, I would love to attend the BlogHer 2009 convention in Chicago, IL.

I am currently looking for a sponsor (full or partial).   If you are looking for a blogger who would be completely indebted to you…I’m your blogger.  I am looking for sponsorships to help with hotel for the stay, gas/megabus fare, and conference fees.  I’m nearby in Detroit.  So travel expenses will be minimum.  As a bonus, I recently returned to college to pursue my graphic design degree.   I would be able to attend at the Student rate of $75 instead of the full conference pass of $198.    If you are attending, or would like to sponsor my attendance, I feel this would be a great benefit to our working relationship.

How can this benefit your company?

With our future relationship, attending to BlogHer will allow me to learn more about how I can help your company even more. With the helpful knowledge that I will gain from BlogHer, I will be able to assist your media relations in promoting your products to the public.

What is the BlogHer 2009 Convention?

Building on the momentum of four consecutive sold-out annual conferences, BlogHer ‘09 will bring bloggers from every corner of the blogosphere together for hands-on learning, rich discussions, opportunities to meet with the brands that support them and plentiful networking opportunities. BlogHer ’09 will take place on July 23-25, bringing over one thousand attendees together to celebrate 2009’s theme: “In Real Life”.

One of the number one reasons we all attend BlogHer every year, whether coming for the first time or as an old-timer, is to meet our online community “in real life”. So after five years we think it’s a great time to celebrate the fact that our blogging, whether personal, professional or political, has brought us real work, real friends, real satisfaction and is most definitely a significant part of our real life!

Please contact me. I would love to talk to you about the BlogHer sponsorship and how we can grow our relationship in the next year! I truly appreciate your kindness in your consideration.