where have I been....

yeah, so I let this blog fall to the wayside in a big way.  funny thing is that I thought about it just about daily but with all the stress of my normal day to day life plus the added stress of growing another human being it has been rather hard to want to do this.  I've been rather focused on my GPT sites as well because well, we need money.  so that's where I've been.  just busy earning money on various GPT sites so that we can afford a decent if modest holiday for the minions as well as pay some bills and get the needed gear for a new baby.  oh speaking of baby, I'm 20 weeks now and will find out the gender in a few days so long as the bean cooperates when I have the sonogram.

so since I've been so into my sites lately, allow me to share about the one that I've been most focused on.  it's called instaGC and it's just like it says, instant gift cards!  you complete offers , watch videos and the like and when you're ready to cash out, you get the code for your gift card instantly!  how cool is that?   they have so many choices too!  from amazon to walmart and starbucks as well as several game related options.  I have only cashed out for amazon or walmart because those fill needs I have but the choice of what of you get is all yours!  check it out, complete offers and get the card of your choice!  they have weekly and monthly offer and referral contests.  I actually got second in the offer contest a couple weeks ago.  it was so exciting! 

the picture up above shows cashouts for the month.  and the one to the side here is from me winning second place in the offer contest.  yes, I won 1,000 points which is equal to $10.00!  yes, I got an extra $10 just because I was blessed enough to have completed that many offers in one week.  so what are you waiting on?  come join me and see how quickly you can get to earning your free gift cards.

International talk like a Pirate day!

 

ah, it's International Talk like a Pirate day again!  yes, that annoyingly fun day where people make them sound even sillier than normal by trying to talk like a pirate even though let's be honest, we don't really know what a Pirate would have sounded like!  all we have to go on is what was shown to us first in B movies.

apparently in honor of that day, Swagbucks has decided to do a Swag Code Hunt! there's a map in the blog to help you find your codes.  ALSO they have made it Mega Swag Booty Day too!  that means it's MEGA wins!  I got an 11 early this morning and I saw lots of megas being won too!  so today is the best kind of day to be active with Swagbucks!  the first code is already out so get your hunting pants on and check that map!

weather

ah, I feel it.  I do!  it's slightly cooler weather.  I'm so happy.  instead of face of the sun hot it's bearable.  plus we have this rocking breeze happening.  I think it's gonna rain right now too but that is okay.

 I can't wait to be able to open up the windows and leave them open all day.  living in Florida that time seems so fleeting, so quick to disappear.  the summer just drags on and on and on.  I know that this "cooler" weather is probably just a fluke and we'll return to the sun for a while before fall finally makes an appearance for real.  but I am gonna enjoy it for now.

constant motion

sometimes life gets into such a pattern that it's hard stop it.  it's hard to stop and even catch a breath.  that's what my life has been like the last few months.  between flooding, a new pregnancy, my husband having an emergency surgery, starting a new year of schooling and a wicked case of insomnia I have lost a lot of things I intended to do.  this blog obviously fell to the side.  I thought about it daily but did nothing to try to make it happen.  so here I am.  I'm trying again.  I'm mapping out my mind which happens to be really uncharted and kinda scary territory.  I will make this happen!  I will get this going and keep it going and I WILL get followers who care when I drop off the face of the earth for a couple days let alone weeks.  not that my current ones don't but most of them know me personally on Facebook so they know I'm alive but busy.

so come on and get ready.  I'm gonna blow my own mind in the next month.  well that's the plan!

uh... oops

I haven't posted in a week.  I feel like such a failure with this thing.  I try.  I have great intentions but lack the follow through and frankly it's not real easy with four children and being first trimester pregnant.  in general I lie to myself and say I'll do it when the kids go to bed but then once they're in bed I am so tired that I just go to bed.  but here's the plan...  next week I start the new school year.  not that we ever really stop our schooling but I'm revamping how we do it.  so I plan on making time for me to blog part of the school day.  I think I can swing this.  pretty sure I can.  guess we'll just have to wait and see...

GPT funny

so GiftHulk posted this picture earlier today on facebook.  I thought it was pretty awesome and wanted to share it!

This sums up being a GPT aka Reward Site user pretty well.  if you're not using a GPT, why on earth not?  it's money just from doing things you do anyway.  why not try out GiftHulk?  it's pretty easy and has a cool treasure box.  I like the treasure box.  the treasure box was actually enough to convince my hubby to join too.  yes, he's easily amused.

Happy National Lasagna Day!

oh yeah!  now this is a day I can get behind!  I love love love lasagna.  well, pretty much anything Italian really. 

this is a pic of my three oldest helping hubby make lasagna on Thanksgiving a couple years ago.

my favorite lasagna recipe is made in the crock pot though.  it's not a recipe so much as I just kinda throw it all in there and viola!  in just a few hours I have lasagna!  so easy.  you can google a recipe of course or I'm sure there are tons on pinterest if that's your cup of tea.  the way I make it though, there's no precooking of the noodles.  be still my heart!  easy easy!  so, get to it!  make yourself some lasagna!!!!

coke reward bonus codes!

if you use my coke rewards then you need these codes!  they're worth 10 points each and can be used daily!  the codes reset each night.  FREE stuff is cool! I've gotten a bunch of free 12 packs of coke from there as well as a few magazine subscriptions.  it's worth it!

 

10095913378567

10096071476917

10096122897198

Plate filling fast

so there are just a few days left for the thing where we're seeking donations for my family.  we're raised $95 which is not bad all considering.  but as the time has ticked by the punches have continued to roll in... 

---last week I found out I am pregnant with my fifth child.  a little reminder of Tropical Storm Debby as it were. 

---this morning I woke to my husband in a terrible amount of pain.  he's had an umbilical hernia for a long time.  he had it repaired about three years ago but it quickly came back in a different location and has continued to grow to the point we found ourselves this morning.  his intestines had pushed though and were strangulated.  in case you're not familiar with something like this, it can cause death.  last I heard he was being prepped for surgery.  I cannot be there because of the children and lack of anyone to watch them while I go.

---due to him having to have surgery we're going to lose even more work aka finances.  the type of work he does has no "light duty" so it will be a while before he'll be able to fully return to work as an ASE certified tech (aka mechanic but the kind with papers saying he KNOWS what he's doing).

honestly I hate begging.  I really do but I've never been in a place like this.  I've never sat on the edge of losing everything.  that my friends is exactly where I sit right now and trust me when I say it is a terrifying place to be.

if you feel like helping I would be so grateful.  even if you just click the link and share it on your social network sites.  anything is a help!  anything.  and thank you....

ninjas!

I don't know why but I am suddenly on a ninja kick.  so I went carousing on google and found some pretty cute ninja kitty pictures!  I've been posting them to friends walls over on facebook.  I'm cool like that!

cleaning

I've been cleaning and look what I found!

someone should be ashamed!

Raindrop's World (a review)

Raindrop's World by Carl Pettit

Come on in!  This is Raindrop's World!  A world of leafcutter ants, dung beetles and a very old and wise tree frog.  You get to meet Raindrop and Pollen, both leafcutter ants in the rainforest.  There's also Little Clay the dung beetle who lives among the ants.  These three are going to climb the tallest tree in the rainforest to find the Guru who just happens to be a very old tree frog.  Of course as sometimes happens, they get sidelined by a few things so the plan has to change.  Little Clay presses on and does find the Guru and has an interesting talk with him that leads him away from the leafcutter ants on another adventure!  

The book is split into three short stories that all blend together into one full story.  In each installment you meet new inhabitants of the rainforest.  It has heart, adventure, drama and lots of fun too!

My six year old son thought it was really great and the other children liked it as well.  We had lots of fun researching the amazon and rainforest creatures after reading it.  They are anxious to see more from these characters.  Personally I liked it too, especially Little Clay. 

There's also a website for the book which is cute and a work in progress but worth a look! 

a way to help

  an awesome friend set this up for me and my family.  the storm may not have taken our house but  it took our way to make a living for now.  every day the water doesn't go down is another day we're falling into the hole financially.  any help, prayers and shares of the campaign are much appreciated!

under water

we had a tropical storm visit us.  her name was Debby.  she left the place an utter disaster area.  I haven't heard if it's been declared a state of disaster yet but it will be.  I am sitting in my house and I cannot leave.  I can drive about a mile before I have to turn back because all the roads are either under water or no longer there.  we had a couple eaten by sinkholes and a couple wash out.  at least we have our power!

here are some pictures of the area.  no, they're not ones I took but others did and posted them on facebook and the like.  this first picture was taken by my brother-in-law up the road from where we all live. 








this was a bridge.

and this...  this is the road we take to the dump.  that bit of white you see sticking out of it is a full size truck.  that had to be one scary ride down!  the person is in all honesty most likely not from this area.  cause most of us knew that there was a sinkhole in that field not too far from the road so we were avoiding it because of the rain.  we're guessing this person was trying to find a way out.  a way anywhere.  sorry, there's no way out.  we're stranded.  we're stuck.  there's no telling when we'll be saved either.  it's so bad that the lady a few houses down called 911 because she needs to go to the hossy (she really does, she's soooo sick and frail) but was told "sorry, we can't make it out to you."  this statement irks me.  I live three houses down from her.  they could bring a chopper our here and land in my pasture.  there's a dairy farm that backs up her property but noooooo, they can't make it out here.  sure.

BUT on the bright side.  we have power!  we have food.  we have stored water!  we will survive!

one last pic...  my yard yesterday as taken from my back door.  yes, that's my seriously overgrown bantam house in the pic...  ignore that and focus on all that water!  yes, that's water...

chicks

this is seriously silly...

Literary Addicts Kindle Fire Giveaway!

Welcome to the Literary Addicts Kindle Fire Event where we have teamed up with 10 Amazing Authors and several awesome bloggers to celebrate the

Grand Opening of Literary Addicts a Community for Book Lovers!

Please check out the Fantastic authors bringing the Kindle Fire Giveaway to you! Don't miss out on these great reads even if you don't have a kindle yet. You can download the kindle app for you phone, desktop, or ipad HERE. All of these books are less than a Starbucks Coffee! Immortal Voyage Before the time of the great pyramids, there was a place like none other, a city of glass and metal rising from the depths of the ocean. Shrouded in mist, the island of Hy-Brasil and its capital Atlantis lay hidden from the rest of the world by its people, a race of long lived, interstellar nomads. Read more and purchase for only $2.99     Give Me - A Tale of Wyrd and Fae All she wanted was a vacation - but Dumnos offered a new life. Lilith Evergreen has always lived in the California desert, but when she receives an antique ring as a gift, she dreams of a castle by the sea, a magnificent tree at cliff's edge, and a mysterious woman who bids Lilith to come to Dumnos, a land of mist and rain. Read more and purchase for only $3.99 Paperback   Slow Boat to Purgatory (Slow Boat to Purgatory #1) Gaspar De Rouse, an immortal Knight Templar, a man murdered by his brothers for the secret he possessed, resurrected and given a second chance at redemption. Dominicus Bureau, a renegade priest, torn between his vows and the secret he pursues, a secret protected by an immortal. Alex Donovan, a modern day warrior thrust into an ages old war, a war between good and evil, heaven and hell.Read more and purchase for only $2.99 Paperback     Mark of the Witch (Boston Witches Book 1) Magic flows through Jillian Proctor's veins as surely as blood, but so far her life outside Boston has been peaceful. William Morgan blows into Jilly's life like a hurricane, unleashing her magic and sending her out of control. Unknowingly, William brings an enemy who only wants to posses the power of the witch. Jilly must learn to harness her magic before she loses it - and everything in her life is destroyed. Purchase for only $2.99 Paperback   The Marriage Bargain Camille Chandler is a tabloid journalist whose career is right on track--until her boss sees a curious ad in the L.A. Trades. Wanted: Single actress for an extended gig abroad. France's mega-rich playboy Julian de Laurent is up to something and Camille's boss expects her to find out what. Who knew the eccentric gazillionaire was looking to hire a temporary wife? Read more and purchase for only $2.99   Descended by Blood (Vampire Born #1) Brooke Keller is a high school junior who has never spent much time living in one place. She is finally in a town long enough to almost snag the boy of her dreams, until her life is threatened after killing a fanged man in his attempt to kidnap her. Brooke begins a dangerous journey in an effort to find out who is after her and how to stop them. In a world with powerful and prejudiced vampires, Read more and purchase for only $2.99 Paperback     Dirty Blood I killed a girl last night. I did it with my bare hands and an old piece of pipe I found lying next to the dumpster. But that’s not the part that got me. The part that scared me, the part I can’t seem to wrap my head around and still has me reeling, was that when she charged me, her body shifted – and then she was a wolf. All snapping teeth and extended claws. But by the time I stood over her lifeless body, she was a girl again. Read more and purchase for only $2.99 Paperback   Taming the wolf (anna avery series, #1) Attacked by a wolf while hiking in the mountains, Anna Avery's life just got a little hairier. Living in the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming, with a group of werewolves who are more animal than human, Anna must try to hold onto her human side. It's not easy when the alpha continues to persuade her into his bed, while another wolf is chomping at the bit to become her mate. To top it all off, dead bodies are showing up and ..Read more and purchase for only $2.99     Fearless (Kings Series) Tasmyn Vaughn didn't expect much when her dad’s job moved them to a small town in Florida; it was just another new school. But there is more to King than meets the eye, and soon Tasmyn’s ability to hear other’s thoughts is the least of her worries. Entangled in a web of first love, quirky and secretive townsfolk, magic and blood rituals, she discovers the town’s secrets aren’t just bizarre, they’re deadly. Purchase for only $3.99 Paperback   Secrets (Guardian Trilogy) While Olivia Martin observed life through her camera, the Abyss gazed back at her. She discovers mysterious men follow her around, people close to her are dying, and her dreams are no longer her own as she falls head over heels for a perfect stranger. A chance encounter leads to an obsession that could destroy everything she has ever known or loved. Olivia is about to find out there is a lot she doesn't know and sometimes what you don't know can kill you. Read more and purchase for only $2.99   These fine authors are bringing you this Kindle Fire Event via Promotional Book Tours and Literary Addicts This contest is open Internationally! Please fill out the form below to enter. a Rafflecopter giveaway

kindle fire giveaway coming!

oh yeah!  get ready for this one!  on monday I'm gonna be part of a cool giveaway for a kindle fire!  

I honestly love love love my kindle fire.  it's awesome and perfect for someone like me...  flighty.  I can play games, watch movies, surf the net and read tons of books all on the same device!  now even my hubby wants one.  so do my children for that matter.  I share....  sometimes.

so get ready to get your entries in! 

YEAH BABY!

I got my computer back!  I got my computer back!  we were able to get a new power supply thanks to Calyp.  it was relatively cheap but when you live paycheck to paycheck, even $30 is a lot of money!  so anyways, I got it now.  it was actually my hubby who got it for me.  see, he signed up for Calyp too!  this was his first month getting paid and he wanted to do something for me since I am always the one doing for others.  I thought it was awfully sweet of him.

so anyway!  expect more postings from me in the coming week!  I am playing catch up right now.  nearly a month without a proper computer, my computer, was hard and I am so far behind on things now!

Gotta Giggle!

I could not agree more with this! 

eclectic I am

so here's a total shocker...  I am eclectic!  I was trying to see if I could pin myself down to a type or genre in regards to what I read.  yeah, it's not possible.  I mean you can take a peek at my amazon reviews and see how off the wall different many of the titles are.  there's everything from horror to romance and Christian fiction to Jewish books.  there's no putting me into a box.  I just do not fit!  but I'm okay with that...  I was just trying cause I thought it'd make this easier on other people and myself but oh well...  I am what I am and that's all that I am :-)