Adventures of a Military Family of 8: December 2010

Ending the old year w/a BIG WIN #LovinLogistics way! $250 in giveaways

Being a Military Family is hard, you move away often and leave your friends & Family behind. One of the easiest ways to stay in contact is by phone or e-mail, even Facebook and Twitter for some of us right?
Do you want to know what I have found to be the best way to keep in touch with the world? Sending care packages ;) Not only to the US Soldier's I send cookies too every month, but to my friends and Family that I have left behind. Personally I LOVE receiving packages and I LOVE seeing the excitement on the kid's faces when they see a package has arrived. So I do what I can, to do the same for others. For ALL of my shipping needs I go to The UPS Store. Shouldn't everyone?

I love and support our Military as much as I can, and though sometimes it means only baking cookies and shipping baby wipes, I send what I can. Regardless on what I am shipping for our Troops, I only trust one store to help me pack and ship my treasures, it's the The UPS Store. Through years of using the UPS shipping services, I have grown to trust the company with all of my needs. As much as I have used The UPS shipping services, I hadn't realized that there was an entire world of services in their stores. So now, I go to The UPS Store about once a week, I can ship my packages, make copies, fax papers and all while the friendly employees pack my things for me. It's a love/love relationship ;) This picture is all the thanks I need for my baking ;)

Some of the services offered at The UPS Store:

Packaging, Shipping, Printing Services, Mailbox & Postal services, Moving Supplies, Additional products and Services, Corporate Retail Solutions.

It's amazing, it's an entire world of help!!! We are definitely going to The UPS Store for help with our moving ;)

Want to hear better news?!?!?! As a Brand Ambassador for The UPS Store I have been given the opportunity to give away $250 in gift cards so you can experience the jar of awesome-sauce that The UPS Stores are! Wether you will be shipping, printing, or even using their moving services, I am sure you will be a happy camper! SO, what better way to end the year than with a BIG giveaway right? Let's go! The prizes will be as follows:

ONE First Place Prize of $75gc
TWO Second Place Prizes of $50gc
THREE Third Place Prizes of $25

That's 6 WINNERS of a total of $250 in gift cards to The UPS Store!!!!

#FranksRedHot & #HamBeach slow cooker join forces...

Let me begin by introducing myself, I am Lily; the woman who only used a slow cooker/ crock pot for nacho cheese during a birthday party. Now that we got that out of the way, WOW!!! The things people make with the slow cookers are amazing!!! I seriously had no idea what to do with them, hence the nacho cheese; but now; hold me back!!!

I was going to write a blog post about something I was going to cook in my NEW Hamilton Beach 5qt Slow Cooker, but

One day it will all be over...

One day, and hopefully soon. Now don't get scared, I'm not talking about things ending in THAT way ;)
I am simply talking about all these bad things that keep happening. I know that you have noticed my blogging has seriously dwindled, I pop up once in a while and let you know new reasons why I am away. It has just been so much to deal with. I have been told by many friends to quit with the excuses and post about what's going on. They have shown me other posts, earlier posts, where I would "blog" and nothing else. I loved that part about me, I miss it. At the same time I have refrained from giving details of the things we are going through because in my opinion "why would anyone want to read about someone else's troubles right?" At that moment I realized that

Sharing & Caring the Smart & Final way #SFSmarties

If I had to categorize one store under "sharing & caring" it would definitely be Smart & Final. As I have made it very clear before, I LOVE the Smart & Final stores. Not only the stores, but what they do and stand for, at least in my eyes. Smart & Final graciously offered to host a Thanksgiving dinner for 25+ Service members at my house, they provided me with the gift card and spirits to put it all together.

Sears Toy Shop

With Christmas a few days away, many people are done with their shopping; and I am NOT one of those people!!! With our car breaking down last week, having all the kids home on vacation, Husband going off to Washington, trying to find a new place to move into in 3 weeks, and now a storm; things have been a bit on the hectic side. I feel like I could put an octopus to shame these days...

Tag, you're it!

sorry for the delay, we lost internet connection yesterday due to the storm
Welcome once again to

Tag, you're it!"

We are on our 45th week!!!
a weekly meme where you can sign up ALL of your sites to gain new Friends & Followers!

Blog, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs,

Twitter, Facebook, Giveaways, Votes, Holiday gift guides,
Etsy and OpenSky Stores
and even your own meme's & Blog Hops!

My readers are my friends...

Being in social media means always being in a fast paced world. Networking, socializing, anything you can think of, all happening at the same time. I never thought in the 4 years that I blogged anonymously that I would ever do it publicly; let alone make real friendships. I started publicly blogging in Nov. 2009 and immediately things were different, I was me! No longer hiding, I was open and it felt great.

This year has brought so many different challenges in my life, as a Mother, a Wife and as an adult. I have lost Faith in many people, met new friends, lost loved ones, and been through what many have described as H.E "double hockey sticks". Many times I have not thought I could make it through certain things, of which I will gladly blog about in the future.

Winning Wednesday!

Hi and welcome to my first Winning Wednesday post!

Every Wednesday you can come here and link up ALL of your giveaways and/or enter giveaways as well!!!

That's it!

No rules, enter your links, enter giveaways, and have fun!!!

I will do my best to continue to post about this on Twitter throughout the week. The more you help get the word out, the more entries and giveaways will be available for you as well ;)
If you would like to place the button anywhere, let me know and I will post your blog on the following week's post!

Do you have any Wednesday giveaway hops? Add them here

Do you have any other Wednesday meme's? Add them here:

Tag, you're it!

Thank you to
Mommying on the Fly
for choosing me as The Co-Host of the week!!!

stop by and check out her meme as well!!!
========================================================
Welcome once again to

Tag, you're it!"

We are on our 44th week!!!
a weekly meme where you can sign up ALL of your sites to gain new Friends & Followers!

Blog, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs,

Twitter, Facebook, Giveaways, Votes, Holiday gift guides,
Etsy and OpenSky Stores
and even your own meme's & Blog Hops!

For our new "Taggers" here's the link to the post with instructions: http://bit.ly/aBfRYz or:
Add your information to the spreadsheet ,
"Tag" everyone you want from the list
(Tag = add/follow the person and leave "Tag, you're it!" comment)
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends (list is open all week)
(remember to add/follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment=Tagging back is OPTIONAL)
OR
for those of you who already know how to play, just go directly to the: sign up form

Have fun!!! Spread the word!!! The more players, the more "Tags" you get ;)

Thank you to
Cammo Style Love
and
Mama to 4 Blessings
for adding my button to your Blog Hop list ;)

Remember that "Tag, you're it!" is open ALL WEEK, and a new list starts on Tuesday's!!!

Here's the link so you can share it: http://bit.ly/hbzRh9

Mrs. Prindable's Triple chocolate caramel covered apple...YUM!

Are you often at a loss for ideas and especially time when the calendar shows you someone's special occasion? I know that for myself I usually run around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find a gift and make it to the post office all by closing time. I was asked if I wanted to review a Mrs. Prindable's gourmet apple.

I was excited, since I had never tasted a caramel apple before, let alone a chocolate covered caramel apple!
The post man rang our doorbell, and the kids ran like my own personal greeters. I was given this nice sized heavy box, so I knew it couldn't be an apple! We opened the cardboard box and inside was a styrofoam cooler. OH! how the curiosity was growing now! Then the kids opened the cooler and inside was a bag with dry ice packs inside. At the bottom you see a big purple box, so I get to open that; inside? bubble wrap with something heavy inside. After we unrolled the last part, we see this beautiful BIG chocolate covered caramel apple.

I can describe the packaging very well, but I can not describe the taste to you at all! It was delicious!!!!
It was a complete fest of flavors, the apple, the caramel, the milk chocolate, the white chocolate, WOW!
Look at the size difference between a regular apple and Mrs. Prindables' apples:

Visit Mrs. Prindable's website and see the delicious items for sale. You have to go no further than your desk to be able to send someone the perfect gift! I am definitely a customer now, and can't wait to try the other flavors!

All opinions and excitement is my own, I received a Mrs. Prindable's triple chocolate covered caramel apple for review.

A Girl's night with delicious Cold Stone Creamery hot cocoa

Today we had a very hot day here in San Diego, Ca. The weather was that of a perfect California day, for the summer!!! It was a whopping 87 degrees! While it was perfect for the Holiday party we attended at Boomers, it was in no way going to work out for my Girl's night tonight with some Cold Stone Creamery hot cocoa.; or so I thought ;)

By the time it was time to go home, it was chili and perfect for my night's plans. Of course being at the top of a Ferris wheel didn't influence that at all! We stopped by and picked up some Cold Stone Creamery hot cocoa. My Walmart carries all 4 kinds!!! Since we are moving out in a few weeks, I thought it would be nice to get together for a while. Even the kids helped set up everything.

We tasted the different flavors and added some of the toppings the kids left out for us. Towards the end of the evening, the kids suggested we play the chore game. It's a game we play where we hide a piece of candy in a drink or dessert, or a bay leaf in the food. Whoever finds the item in the food either does the dishes or something of the sort. My friends were excited to play and even chose the candy to be used, as well as choosing what the winner/looser gets. Red gumdrop means you wash the mugs. White gumdrop means you have the next Cold Stone hot cocoa night at your house. We all stepped out of the dinning room and the boys put the red gumdrop in someone's mug; next it was the girls turn. When we were done with our drinks it was time to find the winners/loosers. It was so much fun to see who won/lost.
Look at the whrrl to see our story, and to see who's washing dishes and who's hosting our next Girl's night, it had a super funny twist.

Go visit Cold Stone Cremery hot cocoa on Facebook and always have an ample supply of ideas and recipes from everyone!
Follow #ColdStoneHotCocoa on Twitter as well.

Have you tried any of the 4 flavors of Cold Stone Cremery hot cocoa? if so, which ones? Do you have any special ways you and your Family drink it?

All ideas and opinions are my own, Collective Bias sponsored my shop, and even the kids had a wonderful time.

Thanksgiving, Dinner, Troops, Family, Miracles & Thanks... part 1

I have a wonderful story to tell you about an amazing store called Smart & Final. Without asking for anything in return, they offered to provide everything for our Thanksgiving dinner for 25+ US Service Members. Such a beautiful story needs every detail, so let me first begin with a little bit of history...

Everything starts at the beginning...

Ever since I was a little girl, I can remember my Father always telling me to be thankful and appreciative to/for our Military. Anywhere we went, he thanked them, he would buy them little things, like a coffee or something of the sort. My Father passed away when I was 5 years old, but a lot of his loving nature has stayed with me throughout my life. My wish while in Junior High was to join the Marines when I "grew up", but changed my mind due to severe migraines. In High School, I tried to follow my dream again, but I had to drop out of school to care for my mother. There ended my dreams but not my Love. Throughout the years I volunteered with anything I could that involved supporting our Military.

In 1999 I met this guy, annoying and silly, a story of which I will tell later ;) I ended up marrying this guy 2 months later, and 1 month later he left on his 1st deployment. I had no idea what the lifestyle was like. Then I found out 1 month into the deployment that I was 6 weeks pregnant. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions! I was alone, pregnant, and with my husband in the middle east, I was a wreck! I got phone calls from my husband telling me about how lonely it was over there, and how the majority of his friends would get no mail; so I started baking once a week and shipping packages to them. It felt so great to hear about how happy my cookies were making everyone. Then I found Soldier's Angels. I signed up, not for my Husband to receive letters and care packages, but for me to be able to make other Soldiers feel some love as well. Ever since 1999 I have been adopting Service members. I send letters, care packages, and ship home baked goodies. I have never sent a care package with enough for one Service member, I always make sure I send enough for the entire unit. It's only right, right?!

That year, as my Husband was overseas I decided that I was going to do what I could so that other Service members didn't feel as lonely as him. I cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at our little apartment, I adopted Sailors through the USO and had them enjoy a day of relaxation and food. Ever since that year, we have always cooked and invited any Service members that we know of, that don't have Family out here, for every Holiday.

Last year was the hardest for us, we couldn't even afford a Thanksgiving day dinner for our Family, the paycheck didn't come in on time. We made the best of it, we ate sandwiches, watched TV, and made crafts. We still enjoyed ourselves but felt bad that we couldn't invite anyone else from the base. That Sunday after Thanksgiving, we received our paycheck, bought turkey on "clearance", invited a few single Military members we know, and had a double reason to say Thanks; we had our Thanksgiving dinner on a Sunday ;) This year, my husband and I had already spoken about this Thanksgiving. With us having to move in 45 days and with absolutely no money for 1st month's rent and a deposit, there was no way we were going to be able to host a Thanksgiving dinner for our Military again.

This is where it gets "mushy!":

The Friday before Thanksgiving week I got a call. On the other side was an "Angel"! What? You didn't know they have phones? They do! I was told that Smart & Final heard what I did for our Troops and wanted to help me! Little ol' me!!! I was beyond words, She told me that I was going to be receiving help to be able to host our ENTIRE DINNER!!! She also told me that they were going to provide EVERYTHING I needed, from food to paperwares!!!! I cried, I was so happy, I couldn't believe it, what a Blessing!!! She informed me that it would be enough for me to host 25 Service Members. She was so lucky, see if this had been a face to face meeting, I would have "professionally" jumped over the table and tackled her with a hug, the same would have happened to anyone that would have been at that meeting ;)

Not being able to have a Thanksgiving dinner at our house with our Family would have been a tiny bit sad but we would have been okay, not being able to give some Service members a home cooked Holiday dinner and just some Family company was the only thing we were ALL concerned with. I am definitely going to post EVERYTHING about that night and leading up to it, but I had to start from the beginning, after all; every Miracle has a beginning right?

This has been such a wonderful experience to show the world how such a large company can make Miracles happen for the tiniest of people ;)

Dummies guide to leftovers...

What a great idea right? A dummies guide to leftovers! I was asked to add a recipe my Family uses with leftovers and it was an easy find. Especially the week after Thanksgiving, our kids LOVE to eat our turkey sliders.

Check out my Whrrl story to see how I make these bad boys ;)

There you have it, a fast, easy, and delicious way to deal with those boring leftovers!!!
The best part, is you can do this with just about anything else, chicken, ham, the possibilities are endless ;)

What are your favorite things to do with leftovers?

An easy and beautiful way to show off my Nativity set #CanYouTopThis

I am not the craftiest person in the world, but I do love to make crafts. I found out about an awesome contest being sponsored by Elmer's, it's called "Can you top this?" you can find tweets about it on Twitter under #CanYouTopThis 6 Bloggers were chosen to host a "Can you top this" project on their blog. They made a project with an Elmer's tri-fold board, used Elmer's products, and will be giving away 5 $100 gift cards away from each blog! That's 30 chances to win. Now i have to apologize because I had my dates wrong, I thought that the contest ended on the 4th, so I was taking my sweet time, this afternoon I read that it ends tonight. So like always, I'm rushing!!!

Here is my project:

More check-ins at Walmart #2291

It was so easy and looks beautiful right? ;)

I am submitting this post as an entry for the can you top this challenge.

I used:

Elmer's tri-fold board, Elmer's multi-purpose spray adhesive. For the record, on my title it says #canyoutopthis but because of the special font, it doesn't show when you open the page. It shows when posted to twitter though.

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