I won the 2012 Marlboro "Rock the Ranch" sweepstake!

      Omg! Omg! Omg! This is the biggest win I have ever had, way better than the atari I won last year. Yesterday morning between getting two different product party packs (which I will post about later) and a box of free cookies from bzzagent.com delivered by my wonderful mailman who probably dislikes me because he has to carry large boxes to my door every other day, I got a knock on the door from the fedex man who handed me a large urgent express envelope.....I wasn't expecting this....when I opened it there was a pretty envelope that said The Marlboro Ranch Pre-Trip Documents on the front and inside was a letter saying Congratulations you are a potential winner for a 4 -day/3 night ALL expense paid trip for you and a guest to a ranch in Montana! 

     There were all kinds of forms and release forms to fill out and have notarized and a prepaid express return envelope. This all sounded too good to be true and 5 minutes after opening it I had to rush to the dentist for an appointment making me wonder if it was true which made my deep cleaning seem like it was taking forever. When I got home I did some quick research and realized this is for real. I quickly filled out my paperwork and had my husband fill out his guest forms then we went to a notary (where I mumbled a lot and looked like a stroke victim because they had numbed one side of my mouth at the dentist) and signed it and then strait to the fedex store and sent it back. 

      Now I just have to wait 2-6 WEEKS for them to confirm my age and info then set up my flight and trip info. I have seen a lot of the people that are winning the 2012 Marlboro winter ranch trip got an email with an rsvp number. I didn't get an rsvp email I remember getting a postcard type ad in the mail with a reference number on it to enter the sweepstake that I remember calling in and thinking I'm not gonna win but it's worth a try eh. to be continued.....

....... CONTINUED ........

       The first letter said that the background check could take up to 4-6 weeks but luckily I didn't have to wait that long. I got my second set of forms exactly two weeks from the day that I had gotten the first and sent it back. And of course I also got this delivery mere minutes before my second dentist appointment. Upon opening this fedex envelope I found a letter of congratulations along with more forms to fill out asking me to rank which activities I would like to participate in most. These activities are zipline adventure, snowmobile intro, snowmobile adventure, archery adventure, and dog-sledding. I am so afraid of heights but I also really want to do the zipline adventure for some reason. When in Rome I guess. The other form asked about my smoking preferences and hat, shoe, and jacket sizes. From what I have heard from previous winners they hook you up with some great gear. This is awesome for me now that I live in Idaho with snow that I am so not used to or prepared for so it will be great for me to get some good cold weather gear that I really didn't want to spend the money on for myself. ( I really have to stop wearing flip flops to take my daughter to school in the mornings now that it is getting down to 16* but old habits die hard.)
     In my letter it says I will be departing for Montana on January 15, 2012 and returning January 18, 2012 and I should receive my plane tickets and a check for $750 to cover the taxes from winning by the beginning of January.  EEEEKKK! I am so excited! This is really a dream come true to be able to take a vacation like this with my husband and not have to worry about any cost.
      For those of you that are reading this because you got a letter delivered CONGRATS and I found a facebook page here for the 2012 winter winners to get together and share and ask each other questions........ TO BE CONTINUED...............

Spooky Halloween Tortilla Chips

It's almost Halloween and I am planning for my daughter's third birthday party. I just did a practice run on a party recipe that I will be using this year along with my mummy dogs. These are my spooky tortilla chips and essentially this is a great idea for any holiday or occasion because they are so easy and cheap to make into any design.

All you need is :
a cookie cutter
package of corn tortillas
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lawry's season salt
1 teaspoon paprika
salt

mix oil, season salt, and paprika in a small bowl
cut out your shapes and align on a cookie sheet in a single layer then brush or spoon and spread the oil mixture onto both sides of tortillas then bake at 375* for 5-10 minutes until crispy then ad a pinch of salt to taste. These are great for dipping.

Be the Chef with Chef Boyardee house Party

Last weekend I hosted a Be the Chef with Chef Boyardee house Party from signing up at houseparty.com (my all time favorite website) where you sign up for free and apply to host product parties where you simply have fun with friends and family with the package they send you if you are picked to host. This doesn't cost you anything they just want you to spread the word about their brand. Personally this method of advertising gives me a greater respect for the brands that choose to work with houseparty and other like websites that allow me to truly test a product and not just take some actors word for it on a commercial that I may just fast forward through anyway.

houseparty.com currently has a Halloween party that you can apply for now that looks like a ton of fun. I am excited about this one because I already know I am getting in on it because almost a year ago I was chosen to do a survey through their facebook page about google and after I completed it I was awarded with a VIP party pass to be used on any one party and I waited until it was almost expired in hopes for the perfect party to snag without chance. We all know how much I love Halloween so I used it right away now I just have to wait till they start selection and send out the monster green boxes. EXCITED! They also have some other cool parties you should check out such as Zumba on the wii and Just Dance 3 if you have an xbox kinect. Who knows you might win a party too. Do you have a favorite deal website? I would love to know.

!Deal Alert!

This week the Disney Store online is having a great deal! You can take off an EXTRA 25% from all clearance items when you put in the coupon code ---->    SALE25     I just checked out the clearance section and they have a few of their beautiful princess nightgowns on sale, and I must say that I personally love these and wish they came in adult sizes. both of my daughters have princess nightgowns from the disney store and they are quality made and better for playing in and cheaper even than the crappy play dresses you can get at most other stores. 

Greetings from Idaho

We did it, we up and moved the family to Idaho and it was a long hard ride but I feel I am getting settled in now and I really love it here. The people I have met have all been so friendly, not something I am used to from my old neighborhood where 2 days before the big move some hoodlum stole my bicycle and sold it to a thrift store at the end of my street for $10 bucks and I had to actually buy the bike back because I didn't have proof lying around that it was mine, uhg anyway, finding a house to rent from 1800 miles away was hard because they couldn't hold anything for more than 2 weeks and we had to be super fast in getting an application in and we got disappointed several times but finally found a great 2000 sq ft 4 bedroom house in a culdesac at an incredible price with a great back yard that opens up to a huge common area park that we got first dibs on.
       My husband, the dog and his dad drove the Penske moving truck and drove strait though while I had my 6 and 2 year old and my 11 and 17 year old step kids plus my mom for moral and driving support oh yeah plus my 2 old cats in the back of the minivan. The plan was to drive as much as possible straight through but with so many people the bathroom stops alone took time but we were doing pretty well and two days in decided to stay at a place in Wyoming because it was getting very dark and we were in the middle of nowhere so when we did find a motel we took it, then set out the next morning and just after entering Utah I lost control of the van and manged to get carefully off the road thinking I had a flat tire but it turned out that my wheel bearing crapped out on the back and the tire was just wobbling side to side ( and we were in the middle of nowhere) so I called my insurance and they located a tow truck that could take us BACK to Wyoming (let me add this was a Sunday morning) so we waited on the side of the road and waited then this crazy tow driver shows up and as odd as he was he was very nice and helpful because I was afraid of how the 6 of us and 2 cats were going to get there because we all cant fit in the tow truck and we wouldn't be able to walk but the man told us he would tow us to Ogdenville, Utah so we would be closer to Idaho and that we could ride in the van on the truck (scary) but it was our only option, so for an hour we held tight going along the mountain edges.
       The driver dropped us off at the Kia dealership in Utah and as he began unloading the van the tire just fell right off and as we were deciding how we would all get to the nearest hotel the driver offered to take us in two trips and the only way to get both my cats in their carriers was for them to ride on the back of the flat bed which was my scariest moment of the whole ordeal because I could picture them going over a big bump and falling off in the busy road (and boy were they mad at me for the next two days) but we all made it and the next morning I got a rental and drove everyone to our new awesome house in Idaho and then drove all the way back to give away all the money we had saved up for new furniture to get the van fixed. But that's just life and I love it here so far.

It's time to start...growing my own Mango Tree

My brother in law and his wife recently sent down some of the yummiest mangoes I have ever had from a tree they have in their yard in Florida. They sent several that my family devoured but while cutting open the very last one I thought hmmm I wonder if I would successfully grow a tree from this seed. See I have always had this idea that while renting I would at some point start growing a tree from seed and hopefully by the time we are able to buy a house of our own we could plant it in the back yard to flourish. Well, after watching several youtube instructional videos some helpful and some just weird, "no homo" <------ quoted from a instructional video. I found that I needed to crack open the seed casing which I always thought was the seed itself to get the seed from inside. Most people said to wrap the seed in moist paper towel or put it in a cup of water but I went ahead and immediately planted it in a planter with soil and watered it then placed plastic wrap over the top and put it in the kitchen by my window. I was getting worried that maybe I should have done more because I checked about a week ago to see if it was rooting yet and I could pull it out of the soil then I checked four days ago and was not able to move it because the roots began to grow so I was pretty excited. Three days ago it started to sprout :) I decided that moment to set a timer on my phone so I can take a photo everyday so I can make a slide show later on. The only problem is that if I were staying in Texas my chances of growing my tropical tree are better than if I move to Idaho because they don't do well in cold so it will have to be a potted tree for a long time so I can bring it in for the winter. Who knows, I might be back in a few years or I can always bring it back on a visit and plant it in my parents yard.

 Day 1

Day 2











Have you ever grown a tree from seed?

Our first real family road trip

      My oldest step daughter graduated high school this year and she lives in Boise, Idaho where my husband is from so we packed up the kids the dog and 2 kittens and set out for our destination. I made some healthy snacks and packed fruits and drinks and baked a batch of cowboy cookies (oatmeal and peanut butter chips) and we set off for the long trip through upper Texas where we made it out just before the crazy tornadoes but not before the high winds shredded our car top carrier to pieces. We did get to see some awesome dirt devils though. Then we went through New Mexico with a short trip down route 66 then to Utah on to Idaho. It was great to get all the kids together in one place and it was so lovely in Idaho with the cool fresh breezy air as compared to the sweltering humid heat of Texas. We went to several of the parks in Boise including camel back park which is set around what I being from Texas consider a small mountain but there they call it a hill. I got convinced to climb to the top of it where once I reached the top it began to rain then while trying to keep my screaming two year old from gleefully sliding down the steep front because while she is fearless I am very afraid of heights. so about halfway down it began hailing on us, just my luck, but I made it down in one piece. I let my husband know how much I was enjoying being there and it was all fun and games until he announced to me that he was offered a job position at the Boise hp location. So now I really had to think about this because I have grown up in Texas my whole life and I would really miss not seeing my parents when I want but then I also have to consider his kids who don't get to see his as often because of distance. So at the end of our 2 week stay we packed up our stuff, the dog, no kittens because we found them homes and two more kids and headed back toward Houston eating junk and fun foods such as indian fry bread and the best beef jerky in the world from Centerville, TX. Now I am working out the details to move the family to Idaho. I think my husband lucked out on asking me now because when I got back home after being in 70* weather and had to deal with 104* My mind was made up and I set out on craigslist to find free packing boxes.

Imperial Tattoo Company

    The shop has now been open for a little over a month and is doing well. We had a great grand opening and our business partner had got us a free morning radio spot on one of the top Houston radio stations that went really great. With the new location we are getting a lot more walk in tattoo business which is awesome but for some reason we are getting less piercing business because we are closer to the "cheaper" shops to put it nicely. Or we get the people that walk in and get all crazy loud and say "you can't just pierce my tongue fo 20 dollas!? I can just go down to (insert ghetto shop name here) and they will do it for $20!" hmm well no I can't just do it. It costs me more than that plus I know what I'm doing! so go on down to that other shop and I will be here to fix it in a week. We don't use cheap jewelry and we don't cut costs on sterilization or anything else. Sigh, but I'm not too worried because we will build up our reputation all over again in time. Anyway I need to get some sleep now because the bar next door to Imperial is having a huge crawfish cookoff in the parking lot all day tomorrow and we are doing a raffle and it seems like it will be another busy Saturday. whew :) I have also been getting a ton of free stuff and sponsored product parties in my free time that I will post about soon and how you can get in on it. so easy. I'm going to try to do my first giveaway soon too.

OMG why have I never tried Nutella before?!

I was recently given an opportunity to host a Nutella party from mommyparties.com and they provided us with a large jar of Nutella spread. I was really excited because I have been seeing a lot of commercials for it lately but have never tried it before. At first I thought it would be kinda like peanut butter, but to my surprise it was beyond delicious and chocolaty  to no end. Mmmm I want more just thinking about it. The kids (and I) loved it most on a warm toasted waffle. So what is Nutella? you ask....it is a tasty unique spread made from the combination of roasted hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. Nutella® has no artificial colors or preservatives and does not contain or come in  contact with any peanuts. It can be used on a wide variety of breads. I have also seen some recipes online of it baked into muffins that I haven't tried yet but most certainly will try in the future.

Our Primrose Family Dance Off

   As much as it seems there is sometimes too little time in a day there is no way that I would not make the time to kick back and have a dance party with my girls and when we decided to enter the Primrose family dance off contest it made it that much more exciting for everyone especially my 5 year old who practiced for days before we broke out the camera. The Primrose Family Dance-off  supports Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals, which collectively treat 17 million children annually for every illness and injury imaginable, and Primrose Schools are the leader in educational child care with over 200 preschool facilities nationwide. This contest is for a really great cause and the Primrose Schools will donate $65,000 to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in the top three winning families’ hometowns which would be the Texas Children's Hospital for us. so click here to vote for my girls { The Edwards Family} or upload your own family dance video for a chance to win at this link ----> http://ow.ly/3G1iO 

Disclosure: I was entered for a chance to win a gift card in exchange for this blog post.  No monetary exchange took place.