BzzAgent: Afrin PureSea

I've talked on my other blog often about being a BzzAgent.

What's a BzzAgent?

A person who receives free products in exchange for talking (or bzzzzing) about those products. I've been doing this for over a year and have received some great products. I've tried new things I wouldn't have purchased otherwise and because I was able to try them for free I now love the product and will gladly purchase it!

The latest product I am bzzing about is a perfect example. It's called Afrin PureSea Nasal Rinse.
I am a long-time allergy sufferer but I have never gotten into nasal rinsing. Ewwww, the thought of it just disgusted me (and I was a little afraid of "choking" to be honest - thinking the rinse would go down my throat.) When I received the email that I had been selected for this particular campaign I kind of laughed to myself and accepted anyway thinking I would give the product to my husband or my mom.

Well, after I returned from Hawaii my allergies were working overtime and I couldn't get a handle on it. I had received my kit in the mail while I was in Hawaii so I opened it up and started reading the directions...it actually seemed easy enough. I'm a big girl! Surely I can handle this!

Let me just tell you I DID handle it and I had instant relief! I loved it! This rinse is extremely easy to use. I used it the next couple of days and I quit sneezing, sniffling...everything.

I am so excited too because right now CVS has these on sale and they are giving back $3.00 ExtraCare Bucks on each one so I am going to stock up on these while I can - it's a monthly special (limit of 5)
What's in this Afrin PureSea?
Nothing but purified sea water!
In fact, the purified sea water in Afrin^® PureSea^™ comes from the Bay of Saint-Malo in France. The powerful currents (so strong that you can't swim there) constantly renew the sea water and regenerate its mineral and salt content.
The people at Afrin are so sure you are going to love this that they offer a money back guarantee.

If you are interested in learning more about becoming a BzzAgent, check out their website.

Wordless Wednesday: Grandson likes to hike

My daughter & I hiking to a waterfall in Hawaii. She had her 3-month-old son in a pack on her chest while we hiked.

He kept peeking around at me and chuckling.

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

I wanted to let all my readers know about this important challenge going on right now that you can participate in with your children. I copied this information (below) from the Reading is Fundamental Newswire website... click on the image above to be taken to the website where you can sign up to join the challenge.

The 2008 Read with Kids Challenge achieved overwhelming success in its first year with more than 16,000 participants logging 3.8 million minutes of reading. This year, the challenge is climbing to new heights with a goal of collectively logging 5 million minutes spent reading with children from April 1-June 30. Participants can register and log their minutes online at www.RIF.org/readwithkids.

Registrants can join individually, or new for this year, create a team of three or more adults. All participants will be entered to win a grand prize drawing of a Walt Disney World^®; Resort vacation package from US Airways Vacations, US Airways gift cards, and other great prizes. The team determined by random drawing will win the opportunity to select a featured RIF program, as well as a school in their community, to receive a special children's book collection.

"US Airways is proud to team up with RIF to help children throughout the country discover the joy of reading and provide them with a better foundation for success," said Doug Parker, Chairman and CEO of US Airways.

US Airways—the official airline of RIF—is also encouraging customers, employees, and readers nationwide to support children's literacy by making a donation to RIF. Donors can receive a special edition of Off You Go, Maisy!–a children's book by best-selling author Lucy Cousins-and be eligible to receive up to 5,000 US Airways Dividend Miles.

Recipe: Philly Cheese Steak Pizza

Image by camerasutra via Flickr

I went grocery shopping Friday. While there I purchased some deli roast beef that had been sliced up and was put out at a greatly reduced price because it needed to be sold by Easter. Today I decided to use most of it by creating a Philly Cheese Steak Pizza. It was delicious!!

I should have taken a picture, but I didn't think about it before we ate it and most of it was gone by the time I decided to post about it so I only have my "tweaked" recipe for you. I say "tweaked" because I looked up a couple of different recipes online to get the general idea and then did my own. :-)

1 med onion - sliced
1 med green bell pepper - sliced
sliced mushrooms - use however many you like on your pizza
olive oil - 1 TBSP
Roast Beef - shaved, (or in my case it was thinly cut and I cut it in strips) - here again, I just used a handful, no measurements, just get what you want to put on your pizza.
ground black pepper
Pizza Crust (I had a tube of Pillsbury Refrigerated Pizza crust that I used)
olive oil
minced garlic, or garlic salt, or garlic powder
Shredded Parmesan Cheese, Provolone Cheese
I used Parmesan and Colby/Monterey Jack because that's what I had

Pour 1 TBSP olive oil in skillet and Saute vegetables until limp; add roast beef.
Cook for about 3-5 more minutes
Add pepper; stir and remove from heat.
Brush prepared pizza dough with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt or powder
Top with light layer of parmesan cheese, then meat/vegetable mixture
Top with the other cheese covering as much as you want.
Bake according to Pizza dough directions.

This was so yummy!!

Toon-ful Tuesday

The Word of God is like a mirror that shows us what we look like on the inside, and shows us where we may need to clean and tidy ourselves up spiritually.

CEO's of Easter 2009

Since we don't have any little ones around anymore our Easter was pretty laid back and mellow. I woke Dakota up with a chocolate bunny staring him in the face...but that was all the candy I would give him because of his "little" belly he has starting to pooch out there again and I knew he would get a basket full of candy from his grandma (which he did!)
We had a record attendance at church, more than exceeded our expectations! I sing in the choir so I could see the greeters in the back of the church as they continued putting chairs out for 20 minutes while we sang during worship. People just kept coming in!

I wonder what it is that makes people CEO's of church? Those are the Christmas & Easter only attenders. I guess they figure they are paying their dues for the year?

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." It's unfortunate that the CEO's of church are missing out on this bigger picture - the encouragement, love, acceptance, and family you receive when you are involved in church full-time and year round.

We have the greatest church family! I sometimes don't know how I could function without the love and support I get from them. I feel sorry for people who don't have that connection with a local church because they are truly missing out on one of God's blessings.

Then Sings My Soul Saturday - I've Just Seen Jesus

This is one of my all-time favorite songs by Sandi Patty. Since tomorrow is Easter I figured it was a good time to listen to it again...


For more inspirational songs, visit:

from Signs, Miracles and Wonders.

and the answer is.....

Rambutan

This is the answer to my question the other day about the strange looking food picture I posted.

It's a fruit. You actually peel all that goofy outer layer off and this is the inside that you eat! LOL
It's a cross between a grape and a pear with a pit in the middle of it - tasted good.

Bailouts and Bonuses

Image via Wikipedia

AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac...must be nice to receive a huge bonus from the company you work for after the government hands over billions of dollars to keep the company from collapsing. I couldn't believe it when I heard AIG was doing it and now I hear Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are following suit.

Sure, why not?!

According to CBS News
... no one's stopping AIG from paying millions to some employees in its new retention program. The company has told 168 employees they'll receive between $92,500 and $4 million per individual if they stay with the company for one year

Wow! I thought companies paid their employees WHEN they made a profit. I really am not familiar with what exactly it is that AIG does, but I do know that a $4 million bonus in light of the NON-PROFITABLE business AIG has managed is extremely selfish.

Only a few million dollars are involved in the Fannie Mae bonuses -- the highest single award is just over $600,000 -- oh yeah, that makes it so much better doesn't it? ONLY $600,000!

At the end of March, Postmaster General John Potter asked Congress for bailout money. Know what Potter's salary is? His salary is set by Congress and it is $263,575. According to Potter the Postal Service was $2.8 billion in the red last year and is expected to be even worse this year...hmm, must be bonus time at the Post Office too, huh?

Do you know what this is?

Okay, bear with me for a moment....last post about my food in Hawaii (I promise!) In my post about food yesterday, I completely forgot this one!

Do you know what this is?


I am going to wait a few days before I tell you what it is, but yes I did eat it! LOL

Toon-ful Tuesday

Tried any new foods lately?

I do not consider myself adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. After spending the last couple of weeks in Hawaii with my daughter and seeing all of the interesting foods she has tried I have to give kudos to her that she is able to do this. I would NEVER be able to eat some of the things she has!

When I went to Brazil a couple of years ago I tried some new foods and I did try some new stuff in Hawaii but my weakness is meat. I'm not a big meat-eater anyway so I get queasy just thinking about putting something in my body that I have no idea where it came from, how it was cleaned, how it was prepared, blech, blech blech....sorry no thank you!

I did try some new things that I really liked though and I am now going to try to find a recipe to make my own or find a store in town that sells International Foods and see if I can purchase some of this stuff. Here's some of my favorites -

Mochi Ice Cream
This is a Japanese confection made from mochi (pulverized sticky rice) with an ice cream filling. Comes in chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, mango and green tea.

Ube Ice Cream
This is a Philippine dessert made from purple yams - delicious!

Mixed Arare
This is a tasty rice snack mixed with soy sauce, sugar, seaweed and sesame seeds. I bought a package of this at Walmart and brought it home for the family to try.

Chicken Musubi
BBQ Chicken wrapped with rice in seaweed - yummy!

Kalua Pig and Cabbage
I was hesitant to try this because I don't normally eat cabbage but since I love pork so much I gave it a taste. I didn't even taste the cabbage - the pork overwhelmed the cabbage - it was wonderful.

Unagi Sushi
This was the worst thing I tried - actually ruined my whole meal. Unagi (I found out after I choked it down) is Japanese for saltwater eel. We had gone out to eat sushi one night and Felicia kept encouraging me try something new instead of my usual sushi favorites I eat at home all the time. I reached over to the rotating sushi carousel and grabbed this because it looked good - boy that was a mistake! After I ate this and watched her choke one down since she said she would try one if I did (LOL) we both got a piece of cheesecake to get this terrible taste out of our mouth. Unagi was eww-icky!

Portuguese Malasadas
My last night there, Felicia said there was one thing we had not tried yet (she had not even bought these yet) and she wanted to go get some. The boys were asleep and Will was home, so we jumped in the car and ran out to a small little Portuguese bakery where they make these malasadas. They are doughnuts without holes. We got cinnamon sugar ones, some stuffed with banana and some stuffed with chocolate. They were hot and delicious! YUMMY!

Image via Wikipedia

Tip: Saving Paper

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to Carrie for this money saving tip -

See how long you can go without purchasing (or opening a new ream of paper for your printer.) I use so much paper to print out coupons, driving directions, receipts, mystery shopping questionnaires to take with me on my jobs...the list goes on and on. None of it has to be printed on "good, clean" paper though.

Carrie gave these tips on where to get the paper to use in my printer instead of purchasing a new ream. As soon as I read this, I went through my recycle trash can and pulled out a large stack of paper that I can now use in my printer! Where did it come from?

• Anything that I have received in the mail over the last few weeks that is blank on one side can be used on the other side. I can print out coupons or whatever on the blank side.
• Flyers from church or that I have picked up various places and junk mail flyers that are in a multitude of colors can be used to print on the blank side.
• If you have children in school they probably bring home papers with announcements or newsletters. Copy down the dates and important information onto the calendar and then use the blank side of that paper.

You'll be amazed at all the paper you can recycle when you really start looking for it!

Luau

One of the last things I did in Hawaii, before flying back home Saturday, was go to a Luau. Felicia and I got a babysitter for her two older boys and we took baby Shawn with us and off we went. Her husband Will ended up having to work late and couldn't join us...kind of a bummer since she had already purchased his ticket BUT she got them for an awesome price so she didn't lose too much money.

FYI - If you plan on attending a Luau in the future, try to hook up with someone in the military and let them get your tickets - you will pay about 75% less than if you purchase directly through the people hosting the Luau!

We went to Paradise Cove Luau at the Ko'Olina Resort. It was a beautiful night and an amazing resort. For about an hour and a half we walked around and participated in activities they had set up on the grounds: polynesian tattooing, hula dancing, making lei's, and Hawaiian games. While this was going on we had to listen out for a man blowing into a conch shell

Image via Wikipedia

and announcing additional activities: shower of flowers, bringing in the fish nets, and the raising of the pig (which we ate for dinner.) It was hard to see and do everything! Felicia has been to one other luau so she let me lead the way to what I wanted to do next.

Felicia working on her bracelet of flowers.


My completed bracelet - we wear it on our left wrist to show we are married.


I wanted to make a headpiece to wear next. Felicia didn't like them - she thought "they were goofy looking!" but I made her wear one anyway!! LOL
I am making my headpiece...


All done!


Felicia's headpiece - isn't she adorable!?


The view was beautiful...


My pretty girl...


Some of the dancers -


Our sunset picture

Word(ful) Wednesday - visiting the set of LOST in Hawaii

While visiting my daughter in Hawaii the last two weeks, she decided we should drive over to the North Shore and try to sneak a peek of where they are filming the popular tv show LOST. She follows the show - I gave up after the first season when they changed the night to Wednesday night and it interfered with church AND that was pre-DVR in my house.
She looked it up online to find out where they were filming and got some EXCELLENT directions (complete with pictures and where to park!) from a fan who likes to scope out all the LOST film-spots around Hawaii. We had no problem finding our way there, parking and walking a short 10 mins down the beach to the LOST campsite.

It's pretty much torn down right now but guarded 24/7 by security. We spoke to the security guard (very friendly by the way) who said they have to continue to guard it because they bring a lot of the Dharma stuff there and people go crazy for that stuff. He told us that about another 10 mins down the beach was where they were going to be doing acutal filming and we should walk down there. I snapped a few pictures before continuing our journey down the beach...



My daughter was thrilled with all this LOST stuff. I was thrilled with this!!!
I absolutely LOVE SEA TURTLES and have collected them forever - for as long as I can remember. These sea turtles were everyone in the water rolling in the waves and I almost walked right over this one, mistaking it for a rock!!! She just looked at me like "Hello! I'm sitting here if you don't mind!"

We did find the new set of LOST a little further down the beach (and this is it behind my daughter) but the sound guys were busy setting it all up for filming....the next day. Awwww, man - too bad! There were buildings and things in this picture that they were covering with big palm tree fronds and stuff - it was pretty cool to see how they were setting it all up and laying out the sound equipment.
We stood on this point for over an hour watching the turtles rolling in these waves. There must have been 50-75 right here - it was just amazing! I could have stood here forever watching this.
This little guy got washed in with the waves right at my feet...then he turned around and started making his way back out to the water...After we walked back to our car and were leaving the North Shore we were sitting at a stoplight and in the traffic headed towards us, my daughter spotted this...(of course it wasn't on fire!) but she said "LOOK!! LOOK!! A DHARMA VAN!!" As it got closer, sure enough it had the Dharma symbol on the front...my daughter's day was complete! LOL

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit 5 Minutes For Mom.