Free Money?

Yes, free money.

.

I got a Big Fat Check for $18.89 in the mail a couple of days ago.

.

And it was super simple & free! I joined Ebates a few months ago, but wanted to see if it really worked before I told anybody else about it. No sense in spreading hope if it doesn't pan out, right? BUT IT DOES!!!

.

(I have to preface this with this statement: I personally despise it when people advertise crap on their websites. Just a pet peeve of mine. But when I'm getting free $$$ to do basically nothing, I want others to know too!)

.

So this is how it works.

.

Join Ebates here

Email, address, simple stuff to create an account.

.

When you shop online, simply go to their website first & then to the store of your choice. They cover almost any shop or store on the Internet. For example, we got Andy's fancy smoker from Cabela's through Ebates. Once you're to your store's website, shop like normal. You shop, check out, pay, everything on Walmart.com, Target.com, wherever you're shopping. Easy, peasy.

.

Now here's the kicker- every time you do this, you get cash from Ebates. The percentages vary depending on the store and promotions, but you ALWAYS earn cash. Period. Every couple of months they cut checks & send them right to your house. I was totally surprised to get almost $20 in the mail this week. Awesome!

.

So try it out. If you're like me & don't shop online very often it can take a while to add the $$ up, but I KNOW some of you are online shopping masters. The $$ could REALLY add up if you order stuff online as much as much as my mom does!

.

And just 1 other little tidbit- you get paid $5 just for creating an account. Period.

.

Try it out!

.

I am totally cringing because this sounds like an infomercial or something, but just ignore all that & go see for yourself!

Stretching Myself

My time & patience have been stretched to the limit these past few months. For a number of reasons, I often feel like I have nothing left to give & nowhere to turn for rejuvination.
.
However, I have pushed myself quite a bit lately to extend service where I thought I just couldn't. It's been really easy for those I love, a lot harder for some that I sometimes struggle to show compassion & caring for. Sometimes I feel renewed & invigorated, sometimes it's more of a stretch to find the good feelings.
.
I was interested when I saw THIS POST on one of my favorite blogs. I considered it for a moment & then dismissed the idea- I'm too busy, too pregnant, too involved already, right? And so I moved on.
.
But then today I saw an elderly woman discreetly offer a small amount to the cashier to help pay for the obviously struggling young family in line in front of us. I don't know why it touched me so, but it almost brought me to tears right there in the grocery store. Maybe because I saw her counting out change to pay for her own bill, maybe because that young family looked a lot like mine not so long ago. Whatever the reason, it was a moment of epiphany.
.
I have a feeling that someone is trying to tell me something! No more feeling sorry for myself & wallowing in all of my "busyness." I need to stretch myself even more. I hope it won't hurt!
.
So I proclaim this on the blog, hoping that it will "encourage" me to stick to my commitment.

I'm going to do 31 acts of service in honor of my 31st b-day next month.

.

I'm sure that I won't be buying gift cards & leaving cash on people's cars, but I hope to do 31 things to brighten someone's day. Hopefully it'll become a habit that will help me feel renewed when it often feels that I'm drained to my last drop. And hey, maybe it'll help me forget how freakin' old I'm getting!

No Barnyard Animal Is Safe!

This year Andrew shopped for, selected, & ordered his own Father's Day gift. I was a little skeptical at first, but our whole family has come to LOVE the magic smoker box that now resides at our house.Very simple- just add one 2 in x 2 in chunk of wood & a couple of briquettes (if you want a smoke ring). Then plug it in. Even BBQ-challenged Mama can do that!Our magic box makes ribs that look like this. And it can take a hunk of meat that looks like this:
And turn it into this: Which when pulled like this:Makes AMAZING pulled pork sandwiches. (Can you say bark?)

.
Chicken? Check that one off the list too.Now Andrew is branching out. Last week we had --brace yourself-- bacon-wrapped, smoked sausage-meatloaf. Crazy sounding, I know, but my heavens it was good!

And his latest venture was dinosaur-sized beef ribs.

We are becoming quite the carnivores around here.But since all we've eaten for the last 4 weekends has been meat, meat, meat, we tried some smoked potatoes & corn. Freakin' yum! This weekend we're hosting the biggest meat-eaters I know- our nephews. That should be interesting!

.

We will certainly be hosting more families over for dinner as Andrew practices his newfound hobby. He's a man obsessed, really.

.

Does your husband steal the grocery ads from you to see what kinds of meat are on sale?

.

Didn't think so.

HAPPY 4TH BABY!

Yep, you read that right.

Not Happy 4th of July, but Happy 4th Baby!

.

That's what Emma & Frank yelled to all the family yesterday to announce the impending arrival of our #4 bundle of joy.

They're just a teensy bit excited.

.

So here's the details:

.

Mama is 17 weeks along

Baby is due on December 10- the day before Daddy's b-day!

.

We would've waited 3 more weeks to announce boy/girl info too, but Mama had to go to Girl's Camp last week & absolutely could not have made it through the week without spilling the beans. Seriously, it was a HUGE trial of faith & endurance for me to get through that. But I did, and here we are.

.

So watch out world, there's one more ridiculously beautiful brown-eyed baby comin' your way!

Why Squirrels, Why now? Or, I just about died.

KGUN 9 News- Tucson

Aired June 15, 2010
.

SAFFORD, Ariz (KGUN9-TV)-The Arizona Department of Transportation plans to spend $400,000 to help squirrels cross the road safely.

.
The squirrels are severely endangered Mount Graham Red Squirrels. They are only found on that mountain. A count taken in 2009 indicates there are only 250 left in the world. That works out to $1600 per squirrel.

.
ADOT will build 41 "canopy crossings", essentially small, rope or webbing bridges to help the squirrels avoid cars as they cross roads.

.
Dr. Robin Silver of the Center for Biological Diversity says researchers think cars kill about six of the rare squirrels a year but it is hard to be sure of that number because scavengers clean up the road kill so quickly.

.
9 On Your Side wants to know if bridges for squirrels, even endangered squirrels, is a good use of public dollars. KGUN's Craig Smith put that question to Linda Ritter of ADOT.
.

Craig Smith: "I'm just thinking of other things that have had to be set aside for the moment: rest stops closed, paving and road maintenance deferred, things of that sort and people will say, well, why squirrels, why now?"
.

Linda Ritter/ADOT: Why squirrels right now? The squirrels are an endangered species, the most endangered in the world and we do have a responsibility to mitigate the environmental impact on those squirrels."

.
Linda Ritter says the money is Federal dollars. ADOT has to use it for squirrels or lose it.
What do the squirrels' neighbors think of the plan?

.
Mount Graham camper Glenn Smith says, "Survival of the species is very important to me."
.

Craig Smith asked: "But balanced against the cost?"
.

Glenn Smith:"But again you have to think of the humans being employed first and their plight."

.

Safford resident Josh Boivin favors the plan: "I think it's a pretty good thing. I think if they can save the squirrels and keep the population alive for my kids to enjoy I think that'd be a real good thing. "
.

But Safford resident Silvestre Rivera thinks the money would be better used elsewhere. "That'd be kind of nice to just get that money and return it to our school systems vs. the squirrels. I'm sorry. I like squirrels but our children are more important I think."

____________________________________________________________________________________

I honestly watched this story with my mouth hanging open.

Many of you know that my family owns a cabin on Mt. Graham & let me just say- these squirrels are EVERYWHERE!!!

.

(This is an image I found of a "possum bridge" in Australia.)

So how does the squirrel know it's supposed to use the crosswalk we're providing?

Will we post signs that say "Squirrel Crossing This Way"?

And since we've taken all of the money from our schools to pay for this kind of crap, how exactly do we expect the squirrels to be able to read those signs?

.
Has anybody ever considered changing their name from "Mt. Graham Red Squirrel" to just "Red Squirrel"? Then you could find them anywhere & they wouldn't be endangered. Just a thought.

.

I CANNOT WAIT to see these contraptions go up. You should've seen the pictures on the news. They look every bit as ridiculous as the name "squirrel bridge" sounds. I only wish the news website had a copy of the video on their website so you could've all seen it. Crazy. Just freakin' crazy!

Blessings

Sometimes it's hard to see the blessings for the trials.

Like when your A/C goes out on the way home from church.

(A week before you're supposed to drive YW to girl's camp.)

.

But then I come home to these munchkins & it's a little easier to see why I was put on this earth..

My kids keeping me sane?

That's a little backwards, isn't it?

Two Words

Humiliation

Painful

Degrading

Whiteness

Tears

Confusion

Sweat

Embarrassment

Fear

Shame

Frustration

.

.

Two Words:

Swimsuit Shopping