With the current economy the way it is, it’s hard to know for sure what is the best investment. Some buy silver coins, some buy gold, some still buy stocks, etc. Whatever the investment is, it’s always wise to do a lot of study and research before investing. Nothing is a 100% risk free investment, but doing one’s homework and researching narrows the risk margin.
Welcome to Friendly Friday!
Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code
and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.
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 family-friendly 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! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.
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):
Maureen, a stay-at-home-mom to her young son named Collin, named her blog Are You a Mom? from a question often asked of her by a boy who would come in every week to the pet store where she used to work. When she was trying to think of a name for her mommy blog, his question seemed like the perfect name. Maureen loves her baby, enjoys sharing coupons, and offers giveaways on her blog.
Many people know Glenda as “Tootsie,” and so Tootsie Time is where she shares her love of gardening in Canada as well as her decorating ideas. She is a single mother of three, loves to fix up old pieces of furniture, does interior decorating, and grows things in her greenhouse. Glenda really enjoys her greenhouse and dreams of having one large enough to make a living from it one day.
Sheena at Sophistishe is one of the 19 Walmart Moms across the country who “represent the voice of moms,” so if you have any suggestions for Walmart then you can contact her. On Sophistishe, Sheena tells about her new hobby which is painting, their toddler son named Jayden, her reviews and giveaways, and about starting up a new blog with a friend called “She {Hearts} It!”
Spring Break was so nice! It was wonderful to have our son home from college. We went to visit my husband’s mom and although she’s in her eighties and has slowed down a lot, she went on a little day trip with us to one of her favorite places. My husband’s brother was able to come for a short visit, and the five of us were able to chill out, decompress, and enjoy the slow pace of life in the little town we visited. Having soda at an antique soda bar where they still mix the syrup with the fizz, looking through antiques in a couple of shops, and visiting with some of the shop owners provided a much needed, relaxed small-town pace where we enjoyed being with our family.
Tomorrow is back to work, back to the fast track, so now to think about a menu. I’m going to incorporate salads into our menu two or three days this week to help make up for the pecan pie, delicious peanut brittle, and taffy we ate several days while visiting my m-i-l. 🙂
Monday: Leftover Chicken & Pasta from the weekend
Tuesday: Chef Salad with Turkey
Wednesday: Chef Salad with Turkey
Thursday: Salmon Patties, salad
Friday: Maybe eat out somewhere?
Welcome to Friendly Friday! Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.
To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly 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! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.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):
Laura at Along for the Ride is just, well, adorable, and so is her blog. Laura’s a Christian and uses her blog as an outlet to share her faith as she writes about things she loves. You’ll find tutorials on DIY craft projects, giveaways, and a link to her etsy shop where she creates great clips and jewelry – the bias tape collection is especially charming.
Sassy Scorp at Single Mama in LA writes about her life with her daughter. She shares her day-to-day experiences and you can get to know her better through her participation in the “Meet Me on Monday” meme, along with posts about weight loss and even some heavier topics like being the loved one of an addict (especially relevant with all of the Charlie Sheen craziness going on lately). She also hosts giveaways!
Be forewarned – don’t visit Treat & Trick on an empty stomach, or before you know it you’ll be craving one of the delicious goodies the author shares! From cakes to more savory options, there are a ton of recipes provided for dishes from a variety of cultures. If you’re ever wanting to try something new, you can find Chinese and Indian recipes to throw into the mix. Just be prepared for an impromptu trip to the store for ingredients!
This picture was taken last summer while our son and I were visiting the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. This colorful piece of art was located in front of the museum and caught my attention because of its fanciful nature, while inside were many older, traditional types of artwork from well known artists. There were also relics from ancient Asia and Africa.
Although our son had to visit an art museum for an art class he was taking last summer and that’s really the main reason we went, we enjoyed walking through and seeing ancient treasures from the past as well as traditional paintings. It was an enjoyable afternoon.
I am SO ready for Spring Break! This past week was really busy (at school Thursday from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm), and the two previous weeks were stressful. Am I in the mood to cook? Not really! We’ll be playing it by ear, so to speak, this week so here’s a tentative menu and a possible answer for the age-old question, “What’s for dinner?”
Monday: Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli
Tuesday: Chicken tenders, corn, green beans, Pumpkin Custard
Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup
Thursday: Leftover soup
Friday: Eat out, maybe at Chick-Fil-A
Some day, I would love to have a garden again, even a small garden. While I was growing up, my parents raised a large garden every year. They grew so much produce that they would give some away to friends just about every week. When my husband and I were first married, I had a small garden where the tomato vines were the best producers. Since then, I tried doing container gardening a few years ago, but I became frustrated because many mornings I could see bites taken out of my green tomatoes while they were still on the vines.
I entertained the idea of a greenhouse, but then there’s still the problem of pests. I’ve read a little bit about hydroponics and a tiny bit about aeroponics. If I were to start a garden again, I might be interested in something like that. That way, I wouldn’t be bothered by hungry animals taking bites out of my plants and pests would be greatly reduced.
My whole family is geared toward working with technology. Our son, who is a sophomore in college, is majoring in Information Technology with an emphasis in web design. He has a knack for doing that type of work.
My husband is actually the first one who got us started using computers back in the 1980’s when he purchased a Tandy 1000 computer. Our daughter, who was four at the time, loved to play computer games and write stories on “Alphabet Zoo.” It comes as no surprise that she is now a multimedia producer and uses a photo editor to help produce her work. Having used photo editing programs in college, this type of work is something she enjoys.
Now as for myself, I’m the one in our family who was last to get on board with technology. About eleven years ago, I discovered the convenience of emailing when our daughter went off to college. That spread to doing searches for information, and eventually led to blogging and running two websites (with help from our two kids). With this being the computer age, it’s a good thing that all of us are comfortable with and enjoy using the computer.
Welcome to Friendly Friday!
Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.
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 family-friendly 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! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.
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):
Something that every woman needs is a little inspiration – which is exactly what you’ll find at Praises of a Wife and Mommy. A place to follow along with April’s journeys as a Christian, wife, mother, volunteer, coupon-clipper, and deal finder, you’ll find everything from reasons to be thankful to how to find a great bargain. Come say hello and don’t forget to congratulate her on her upcoming baby boy!
Are you hungry? If not, you sure will be after you see what Denise at Creative Kitchen has cooking! With a passion for using wholesome, real foods while she cooks meals from scratch for her husband and 3 girls, you’ll find a huge list of delicious recipes (including mouth-watering pictures) that you’re going to want to run out and try. Hint: start with the flourless chocolate cake – YUM!
A 23-year-old college student mama, Shakeeta at Life with B & Baby M will make you smile with each of her posts, whether about her dream to be a doula or her steps in working towards greener living. Together with her husband, they have a gorgeous 1-year-old diva of a daughter that is the light of their lives. Now is a great time to stop by, as Shakeeta is finishing up a 30 Days of Me series where you can really get to know this fun mom! Continue reading
With Spring Break occurring this week for some and next week for others, there will be a lot of people traveling. When planning a trip, most people think about what clothes to pack, what all they will need on the trip, etc. But I wonder how many plan what they would do if they needed emergency assistance far away from home? It’s good to know that there is help available. So while packing toothpaste, shampoo, and everything else needed while traveling on a trip, it would also be good to pack emergency phone numbers.
If you’d like to join in Wordy Wednesday, too, just head on over to Frugal Novice.
Whenever we would travel over 800 miles in our minivan to visit Grandma, Christi always got the back bench seat where she could sleep to her heart’s content. Her younger brother always sat in the middle section.
When I think back to this memory, I realize how fast time has flown. So take time with your little ones! They are more important than a spotless house. They are more important than all the things on a “To Do” list. Babies grow up and move away, but housework and “To Do” lists remain. Take time to rock your baby, to read that extra story to your child even though you’re so tired (one day you’ll wish you could read it to them), to do the little things that are important to your child that make them feel loved. I don’t regret not doing certain things so I could spend more time with our kids.
If you don’t know exactly what is important to your older kids then I recommend reading “The Five Love Languages of Children” and “The Five Love Languages of Teenagers.” They are worth the time invested in buying and reading these books!
We received something in the mail this past week from Krogers. It was a recipe for “Italian Chicken Pasta Bake” plus four coupons to use on four of the ingredients. The coupons total $2.40! I thought that was a great marketing strategy on their part. The recipe sounds like something we would really like, so I plan to fix it Friday evening to have when our son gets home from college. Here’s the recipe:
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…………………………………….Italian Chicken Pasta Bake
INGREDIENTS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray.
Heat large skillet over medium-high heat and spray bottom with cooking spray (I’ll use olive oil). Add onion and garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add mushrooms and zucchini and sauté for 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir to combine.
Remove from heat, add chicken and 1 cup cheese. Stir to combine. Spread uncooked borsetti pasta evenly in bottom of baking dish. Top with chicken and vegetable mixture, making sure all pasta is covered. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes on center oven rack until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
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Monday: Chicken tenders, broccoli, corn
Tuesday: Leftover tenders, salad, baked potatoes
Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup (we didn’t have it last week after all)
Thursday: Leftover Chicken Tortilla Soup
Friday: “Italian Chicken Pasta Bake“