Infected Loser

Midnight walks

In order to try to lose some weight or at least get off my butt my husband has set up a little schedule for walking. Well, it really isn't a schedule more like a time block type thing. We walk at night. Now when I say at night I mean like almost midnight. In fact, it is 11pm and we have yet to go for our walk. I am sure though that we will be going quite soon. He is busy with a game map and I am dog tired. I hope he forgets tonight! I feel like a crackhead walking around so late at night with our dogs but it is really the only time that it cools down. We did get to see some nice lightning last night though.

myLifetime - it's about me

I admit it! I am such a sucker for anything on the Lifetime channel! My husband can't stand that I watch it but it is one of those things that a woman has to do! Ok, maybe not all women but you know you love the Lifetime channel. Did you know that they have a myLifetime.com? It has everything from holiday party ideas to articles about everything you can imagine. They also have daily updates of horoscopes and fitness advice! The fitness advice will help me since I am trying to lose some weight and the daily horoscopes are right up my moms alley. This is a really awesome website. Definitely one to bookmark and visit frequently.

You're joking right?

So a little bit ago we had a little excitement if you will. One of my brothers decided it would be fun to bring his friend into our house. That is not the problem because they come in here all the time. The problem is that we have three dogs that are very protective over their domain and that they were sneaking into the house. My sisters dog who loves everyone and anything even had her hackles up and was going after them. You don't sneak or play around like that in a house where you have two large dogs and a medium dog running around. It is a good way to get your friend bit and a lawsuit for your family. Just a "you're joking right?" moment!

Gimmees Promo Products

I have to admit when Shaina and I began talking about trying to do a baking business my thoughts first went to the different promotional products that we could offer to people to get them to come in and try a cookie or a cupcake. We could get a personalized pen with our company name on it and Gimmees offers it for a very good price. In fact, they offer a lot of different products that you are able to get for your company or even different events that you could be hosting. From pens to foam fingers you will find something awesome.

Latest Cupcake Try

I have no pictures of my latest cupcake try. Why? They did not turn out remotely well. The frosting did not fluff up and it turned out very oily or buttery rather. I think perhaps I will have to use real butter instead of margarine for the frosting recipe. That is the only thing I can think of. All the other steps went fine. I was trying the Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. I ended up trying twice and both went into the garbage. I also did vanilla cupcakes that turned out OK but they should have cooked longer. Chalk it up to learning. Next time I should be able to get something right.

My hips enemy

I think with a lot of women they have the same enemy as I do when it comes to my body. That enemy is chocolate! This is something that is so good that a lot of the times I just can not say no to it. I definitely can not say no to it when it is a Gertrude Hawk chocolate! For Christmas, special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, anything you can give a fantastic gift basket from Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. Share the joy! Have a look at the website and I am sure you will be wiping the drool from your mouth as well. Anyone want to buy some chocolate fudge for me?

Country Bob's has others beat

I have a little addiction when it comes to sauces, marinades, and condiments in general. I like to try everything and anything that I can in hopes of finding a keeper. So, trying Country Bob's All Purpose sauce was an exciting time when dinner rolled around!

When I first opened it I smelled it. It smelled great. Test one passed! You could smell all the spices and just smell the flavors in it. It wasn't super strong but it sure wasn't a weak smell. It was really mouth watering honestly.

Next test, tasting it by itself. I dipped my finger into the lid to try it out. It wasn't overly sweet like some barbecue sauces are and it wasn't bitter like some steak sauces are. I was actually really pleased with how flavorful it was and couldn't wait to try it out on some meat!

My husband and I went to the store and bought some Pork Sirloin to use the Country Bob's All Purpose sauce on. We cooked it on the foreman grill and I poured the sauce on top and bottom of it so that it would get the full flavor of the sauce throughout the meat. When it was done I poured a little bit more on the meat. You can see the finished meal with the sauce on it. It looks so good. I'm getting hungry all over again.

You know when you bite into a piece of meat that is just so flavorful that you just sit back with your eyes closed making the "mmm" noise? Yea, biting into our sirloins with this sauce on it was like that! Exactly like that! It is such a good sauce! When they say all purpose on the bottle they really mean it. I was ready the pamphlet that I was sent with the bottles and they had some recipes in there. There is so much that you can do with it like Baked Beans, a sauce for little smokies, and a lot more that if I listed all of them this posted would be a mile long.

I also used the sauce as a dip for corn dogs. Now, let me explain something that I am sure a lot of people run into while eating a corn dog with some type of sauce. When you eat it and the sauce you sometimes get a stomach ache from the sauce. It seems to overpower your stomach or something. I am unsure as to why but I can't eat a corn dog with ketchup, mustard, or BBQ sauce without getting a stomach ache. This sauce, no lie, did not give me a stomach ache or a sour feeling in my stomach at all. I was impressed and I didn't hold back on soaking the corn dog in it!

So, after all this testing and trying, the smell, the taste, it being cooked with I think that this sauce is definitely a keeper. It's an A+ sauce! The best thing I like about this sauce is that I can buy it online at Country Bob's website. There is also a couple other products from them that I really want to try out. Mainly the Spicy All Purpose sauce. Of course when I get that it'll be just mine because my husband can't eat spicy foods! More for me!

Wordle

I saw this on How To Eat A Cupcake and thought I would give it a try for my blog! It's super simple, all you have to do is type in your blog's URL, RSS Feed, or some words and they make a word cloud that looks similar to mine. So say you type in travel supplies then you would get a whole bunch of words that have to do with the travel supplies in a big word cloud I guess. I thought it was pretty neat.

My goal!

I have a goal and this shiny little mixer on the side is it. Sure, I have a stand alone mixer right now but it isn't like one of these. This one is only $170 and is just what I want. My current mixer doesn't mix the whole bowl like the one I'm showing you. What do you expect for a $20 one right? I love it but I want one of these.

So my plan is to save up for it very slowly. If we need the money that I save (which we probably will and the mixer will be put back on hold) then I will use it for what is needed. If I can get up to about $180 (I think that's enough to cover shipping) then I will get the mixer! Present to myself!

Getting Cisco training

My husband, Jamie, has wanted to do a number of different things during the time that I have been married to him and have known him. It has been a wide range of different things but most of it has been around technical and internet things. You see, he is rather a whiz at the internet, programming languages, html, php, all that stuff. I on the other hand am a total goon when it comes to it. I leave it all to him.

Cisco certification is something that he has talked about in the past. It is something that he wanted to accomplish and possible getting a job with the ability to work on the hardware and help other companies out. In fact, he used to have a job where he did basically just that. The only thing he needs to work on right now is getting his certification and tidy it all up.

I just found The Cisco Learning Network which could give him a lot of the information and means that he would need to get his certification. On this website you are able to talk with other people in their forums and
read the different articles that are in the news and that they have posted on this website. There is a ton of information that is available to everyone that is interested in taking a job in his field. They also have different network certification programs listed on their website which range from entry to specialist. Now is a good time to get Cisco certification and landing yourself a good job. Money is tight right now but the IT areas are nice to get into.

Jamie's birthday cupcakes

So my husband's birthday was yesterday and instead of a cake I decided to make him cupcakes. Not a huge difference but a lot more fun for me to make. Since I have been trying to learn different things to do with cupcakes (there is a ton) I wanted to try my hand at adding cream on the inside of it. So, here's a picture of some of them that just got done with the cream:

Sadly the cream didn't stay white or cream-like. In fact when we bit into them you couldn't even tell there was cream in it. sigh Chalk one up to experience. Use different recipe. Have to mess up in order to get it right I guess. I'm pretty happy about the presentation of the cupcakes though.

I think they looked pretty. Of course the above is the best looking one. I really need a cupcake stand so I can showcase all of them at once.

The Super Bowl of the Rodeo

The lights are bright and the crowd is loud and decked out in their finest attire. The smell of dirt and animals is in the air. Looking around you will see grown men and women that are watching from their seats with the look of excitement on their face. The look that you would see on a child on Christmas morning! What event are they at? The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo of course! Where the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association puts together the premier championship rodeo event.

Find a pair of Wrangler National Finals Rodeo tickets on my desk one morning would be the best surprise ever. I would love to be able to feel the excitement of the rodeo. See the Cowboys competing to be the best. It would make an awesome Christmas present as the Rodeo is during the first full week of December. The rodeo consists of seven events and they are Bareback riding, Steer wrestling, Team roping, Saddle bronc riding, Tie-down roping, Bull riding, and Barrel racing. I love watching Rodeos on television and being there in person would be awesome. Bull riding is the one event that I would like to see in person the most. The animals are magnificent and the Cowboys are fantastic in what they do. So, will you be attending?

My hand at homemaking

I've been having a lot of fun with my current sim family. They are the Younces. I have no idea how I came up with that last name, but I did. Anyway, in the beginning it was Patricia and Barbara. Then their family grew to having Patricia's new husband. Three people were alright in the house that they currently had.

While out in the garden Barbara became a PlantSim. My first PlantSim too! Well, while fooling around with her she produced a spore! Four people in their current house was a stretch. Especially since I was planning on turning both PlantSims back into regular Sims but they needed their own beds (PlantSims don't sleep! Fun fact!).

I checked to see how much money they had as a household ($90k!) and off to make a big house. I made this house:

Keeping my eye on the cost of the house and not furnishing kept costs down. They were able to move into the house with about 7k to buy the essentials. Right now they have finished the kitchen and began working on the downstairs bathroom. I haven't taken screenies of that though! I will tonight! So this was my first seriously made house that I spent a long time on. I think it looks nice.

What's your life plan?

Debt consolidation. Debt help. Debt relief. These are all words that you may hear throughout your financial life. These are all things that at some point you may want to look into getting. I know I will and have prior to learning about the BillsIQ test. You are able to take a free IQ test for your Bills and financial areas of life to find out and enlighten you on just how much you know and just how much you are ready for your future.

When I took it I got about a C. Which is obviously not failing it but not knowing and not being prepared enough either. I know for a fact that I have debt problems and I need to find consolidation for my debt or just get some help in general. With the tips and information that Bills.com gives me I am able to start getting ahead of all the debt that I have and get back to my life plan which is to retire well and before that be able to build a house with Jamie, my husband. Fortunately, this is a website and test that you can take information from and learn as well as use their services for bettering your life.

Jamie's Birthday

Today is Jamie's birthday and since our birthdays are so close together we weren't going to have separate cakes. Instead though (like there's a huge difference) I am going to be making him cupcakes! They're going to be strawberry with cream cheese frosting. Hopefully they'll be pretty yummy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!