Sometimes as humans we may feel like our life is a mess, or we might feel alone, or maybe we’ve let opportunities slip by or made mistakes that we regret, maybe we feel that circumstances are just too much to bear. Times are hard for a lot of people right now and sometimes life just gets us down and there doesn’t seem to be much hope…but there is hope!
Some days I look in the mirror and wonder where all my wrinkles came from. It seems like they increased a lot this past year. I may need to look for the best wrinkle cream or facial moisturizer, but for now I’m not too concerned about it. There are other things at the top of my priority list right now. I would like to use something to minimize them, though. What do you use?
Welcome to Friendly Friday!
Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.
To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other!
When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!
Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers!
We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select three blogs at random and will feature links and a write-up for those blogs in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight some of those each week. Say hello to the lucky chosen 3 for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love)…
Who doesn’t love to read about delicious food, find new recipes to try and drool over their pictures? At One Crazy Cookie, Tiffanee offers ideas for every meal, from appetizers to freezer meals to desserts, with a dose of money-saving tips thrown in and a menu plan every Monday for inspiration. You can’t go wrong and you’ll love her warm writing style! Now, please excuse me while I go back to yearning for those Cream Cheese Brownie Bites…
Niky at Design It Chic loves everything pretty and chic and fills her blog with an assortment of thoughts and questions, some of which are both humorous but still thought-provoking. I mean, what do you do when your socks rip? Each week Niky shares a little about herself in her answer and you’ll have a great time getting to know her this way. Plus, she’s right – no one wants neighbors who shovel at 5:45 am!
With the motto “One life = 1000 things left to try,” Mayra at In Lovely Heels provides a place to find inspiration. Whether it be for your home, family, sweet tooth or life, she encourages readers to pursue their dreams and surround themselves with happiness. You’ll find great ideas for home decor and fashion, as well as be able to follow Mayra’s wonderful journey to discover her passion for baking. When do I get a Pink Crafty Room?
Here’s a great buy from Central Market which has eight Texas locations.
Buy one pound in-store roasted turkey breast (from their awesome deli – no nitrates or nitrites in their meat) and receive these two items FREE:
The two free items are valued at $6.98. These are the makings for some delicious sandwiches!
Memorial Day is right around the corner, and many people will probably be cooking out on the grill, whether it’s an electric grill, gas grill, or maybe even a little hibachi grill. I have a feeling that our daughter and son-in-law will probably be cooking out hamburgers and hot dogs. We haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet, but I can imagine it might be hamburgers. We don’t eat beef that often, so it’s a treat when we do.
This is a great deal! Go to Get Spicy Chicken, enter your zip code, and the Chick-Fil-A locations in your area will come up. Choose the location you want, choose the date and the time, and then make your reservation. Hurry because they have a limited amount of free sandwiches at each location, and some locations do not have any reservations left. Free sandwiches will be served during the week of May 31st through June 5, 2010.
Did you hear about the American Academy of Neurology’s analysis that eating chocolate may lower our risk of having a stroke because of the flavonoids? Probably not. I wouldn’t have known either except I got an email that had something about it. Those who did the study say they need to do more research because it may be that healthier people just tend to eat more chocolate. Hmm…I think most people like and eat chocolate whether they’re healthier or not, that’s my opinion. Whatever their conclusion, it sounds like a good reason to eat dark chocolate to me. Although the article didn’t state what kind of chocolate, it’s well known that dark chocolate has the health benefits and the flavonoids, so it would be safe to assume they are talking about dark chocolate. As you can see in the picture, I’ve already stocked up on dark chocolate that I use to make a healthy and tasty trail mix.
I read two interesting articles from the Hersheys website about preserving cocoa flavanols during cooking and baking and another article about the polyphenols in cocoa. Did you know that a serving of dark chocolate has more antioxidants that blueberries and that “Dutch” cocoa uses a process called alkalinization which reduces the amount of flavanols in the cocoa. So it’s best to use natural cocoa which is non-alkalinized.
There are many great brands of chocolate such as Godiva, Ghirardelli, Dove, and more. But you know what, for the price Hershey’s is a good buy, tastes great, and the chocolate chips are so versatile to use. Remember that whatever brand you choose, just a little chocolate goes a long way as far as health benefits.
*Note – I was not compensated in any way by Hersheys for this post. This is strictly my opinion.
Hi! I’m Charla, and I’m the blogger here for those of you who are new to Healthy Home Blog. Since Friday Follow ended this last week, Christi at The Frugal Novice , Xenia at Thanks Mail Carrier and I have teamed up to create something new for each Friday called Friendly Friday. We wrote Lynn at Midday Escapades and she’s wished us the best with this new venture. We hope you’ll participate so we can continue to get to know more of the great bloggers that are out there! There’s still something fun to be a part of every Friday and still an opportunity to meet more awesome bloggers and make new friends, which is what it’s all about!
We’ll post the link list each week at 11pm on Thursdays CST. Include your link in our list, start blog hopping and be sure to comment and follow through Google Friend Connect. This is a great way to show blog love and get to know each other. By the way, I’m new to Friend Connect, and I appreciate everyone who follows me. I will follow you, too! We bloggers need to help and support each other.
If someone from Friendly Friday comments on your blog, be sure to return the favor and follow them back. I like to remember the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This way, everyone gets traffic and followers. We all help each other out. If you’d like to make a Friendly Friday post, you can include this with a link back to Friendly Friday.
Also, each week we’ll select three blogs at random and will feature links and a write-up for those blogs in the next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many awesome blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight some of those each week. I’m excited about that!
We hope you’ll be a part of Friendly Friday and spread the word to your friends! We look forward to getting to know you and provide a great way for bloggers to support each other.
Here’s a little bit about the three of us:
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I’m Christi. I’m 28 years old, and have lived in Texas all my life. I’m a Christian and love the church family we’ve found in our town. I do advertising sales and design, and do a lot of freelance work on the side. I’m married to Brian, a graphic designer, and we have two adorable little boys – J, who will be 3 in August, and C, who turned 1 in April. My other “baby” is our 6-year-old miniature dachshund, Josie. I love spending time with my friends and family, baking, crafty things, shopping (for bargains), and working on fixing up our 1972 house bit by bit. I’ve had a family blog since 2007 when J was born, but started The Frugal Novice more recently after my mom encouraged me to give it a try. I love blogging and all the friends I’ve made through the process. I started my blog focusing solely on ways to save money, but quickly decided that if I’m going to write I want it to be about all sorts of different things I love, so it’s expanded a little since its start.
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Hi everyone, I’m Xenia. I apologize right off the bat that your brain is wondering how in the world to pronounce my name, but I’ll just blame my mom for wanting me to be unique. Try not to let the X throw you off, it’s Za-knee-a, with the stress on the second syllable. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, it’s nice to meet you! Over at Thanks, Mail Carrier, my wonderful husband, 3 and 1-year-old daughters and I love the vrooooom sound the mail truck makes when it heads down our block. Who doesn’t get excited about receiving mail and wouldn‘t like to know what the best products are that they could have their mail carrier deliver right to their door? I love knowing that the information I give to readers helps peak their interest and hopefully aids them in becoming a better consumer and I take a lot of pride in my thorough, honest reviews of items of all kinds. When we’re not trying out great new products, my girls and I love to spend time with good friends and fit as much laughter into the day as possible. Stop by anytime and say hello!
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Hi! I’m Charla, definitely the oldest of the three. In fact, I’m Christi’s mom, and I can tell you that it’s such a blessing to have a daughter who is also one of my best friends. Here are some things about me: I’m not only a Christian wife, mother of two, mother-in-law, and grandmother to Christi & Brian’s two precious little boys, but also a teacher. I taught school in the Texas public school system for 19 years, and this past year I’ve been doing substitute teaching, hoping to get a full time teaching job again in the fall. I was encouraged and motivated by our son (a college student) to start blogging back in the summer of 2007, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, the money helps out, but what I value most is the connection to all my blogger friends. My favorite thing to do? Spend time with my wonderful family!
Now, on to the fun part – add your link! Thanks so much for being a part of the very first Friendly Friday!
Many people in today’s world are going back for additional job training or maybe even switching to a whole new field. Some are going to medical assistant school, some to get their alternative certification for teaching in the public schools, some to get training in computer skills, etc. People are trying to get an edge in today’s competitive job market by increasing their level of skills. Going back to school is a good way to do that.
I was just thinking how Father’s Day is just around the corner. What do you get a guy for a gift? Girls are usually easier to shop for, but sometimes I have a hard time coming up with a creative idea for my husband. There’s always something for his car like door mats or some kind of accessory. Maybe I should have him make a list and then choose from that.
When it comes down to defragmenting my computer hard drive, I usually never think about it. That’s bad, isn’t it! Fortunately, my husband does it for me when my computer starts running slowly, etc. I just don’t think about hard drives and what needs to be done to keep my computer healthy. Instead, my mind is on what ideas I have for writing posts and trying to get the ideas written down in my “Blog Notebook” so I don’t forget. I’m thinking about creating on the computer rather than the maintenance of it!
Well, my menu planning has changed from planning for two people to planning for three now that our son is home from his freshman year in college. No longer will a rotisserie chicken last for three meals, but now it will be for two meals which is still great. I will also be incorporating some of our son’s favorite dishes from time to time. Plus he may cook every now and then. Here’s our menu:
Monday Crock pot creamy chicken breasts with veggies
Tuesday Left-overs from Monday
Wednesday Rotisserie chicken with salad and veggies
Thursday Rotisserie Chicken Tacos (using left-over rotisserie chicken)
INGREDIENTS:
Heat chicken in EVOO and sprinkle with Fajita Seasoning. Heat black beans and taco shells. Fill shells with chicken, black beans, avocado, tomato, lettuce, and shredded cheese. Add salsa if desired.
Friday Home-made Pizza
