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Life In Texas

Life In Texas: March 2012

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Paypal Cash Giveaway with Random Bloggers

   
     Winning merchandise is great. But, who doesn't want to win cash?

     Right now, a group I'm a member of on facebook called Random Bloggers is giving away $35 via paypal (thanks to our fearless leader, Sadie). Entering is easy and fast. But this giveaway is only open until April 1st, so don't wait!

Good luck!



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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Blogging from A to Z Challenge


   

     Who doesn't love a challenge? I am always looking for new and interesting ways to improve my blog. In doing this, I stumbled upon the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

     Short version, people that sign up for this challenge are going to blog everyday in April, except Sundays. As we work through the month, we will also work through the alphabet. For example, April 1 (which is a Sunday, but we will post) I will post a topic themed with A, the 2nd will be B, the 3rd will be C, ect. The last post will be Z on April 30th.

     So far, 1288 bloggers have signed up for this Challenge. If you want to sign up, you have until April 2nd!

     Wish me luck! And check back for my alphabet themed posts.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Why are tattoos still taboo?


     I have always known that a lot of people aren't fond of tattoos. In my experience, it's been mostly older people, but some younger people are against them as well. I have one (so far). Below is a sample of the things I have heard since then, and my response to them.

1. You know that's permanent? No, really?!?! I thought that if I scrubbed really hard with alcohol, it would come off. Seriously, yes, I know that it's permanent. I put a lot of thought into it and it has meaning.

2. You're going to regret that one day. Yeah, I might. But right now, I love it. If in 50 years I'm not so fond of it, it's easily covered. Heck, I got it in August and there were some family members that didn't even know about it until after Christmas.

3. You're destroying your beautiful skin. No, I'm pretty sure that cancerous skin cells and various dermatologists destroyed my skin more than a tattoo did.

4. If God wanted that there, then he would have put it there. This is my favorite because the people that generally say this have altered their appearance in some way. Let's talk about a few of them; hair color, earrings, makeup. And here are two that people usually skip; glasses and hearing aids. Using their logic, if God wanted them to see and hear, they wouldn't need glasses or hearing aids.

     Now, according to the New York Post, the most recent Harris Poll shows that 1 in 5 American adults have at least one tattoo. You would think that at some point, people would just accept that all kinds of people are getting tattoos. Not everyone with a tattoo is a drug user, an ex-con or good for nothing.

     What are your thoughts on tattoos? If you don't like them, do you make comments like the ones above?

     Here's a picture of mine. My mom loved teddy bears. She passed away in May, so my teddy bear is an angel.


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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Ducks!!!


     Every year, around this time, the feed stores in the area will sell baby birds (chicks, ducks, geese, turkeys, etc). I would always joke that I was going to buy one, but I never did.

     Then, we went to my nephew's birthday party last week. One of his presents was a baby duck. My cousin and I decided that we were going to go to the feed store and look at the ducks.

     When we got there, they only have 4 baby ducks left. My children and my cousin's son were begging for a baby duck. To make a long story short, we bought all 4 baby ducks (we couldn't leave one there all alone, could we?). The best part? We still had a 3 hour drive home.

     The ducks didn't like being in the boxes so they were loud almost the entire way home. However, once they were freed from their cardboard prisons, they were much calmer and quieter.

     The girls love their ducks, which they have named Shiloh and Cece. Cece will follow Thing 2 around like she's her mom. Shiloh doesn't care where he is, as long as he can see Cece. Scout says that they're like infants, all they do is eat, poop and cry. But overall, they're pretty cool pets.

Thing 1 with the ducks

Thing 2 kissing Cece

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Monday, March 19, 2012

100 miles with Slap Dash Mom


     My friend and mentor, Sadie, is attempting to ride 100 miles on the bike before her birthday (April 9th). If she doesn't make it, she is going to giveaway her birthday present on her blog, Slap Dash Mom. So far, she has done 19 miles.

     To show my support, I am going to join her (with a slightly smaller goal). 

     My goal is to ride 50 miles before her birthday. With 21 days until her birthday, this only averages to 2.4 miles a day. I know that it's a small goal, but I also know that I am running for 30 minutes, 3 times a week. Also, I will be pulling my 2 children in their new bike trailer. I'm sure that they will enjoy it, but that's an extra 80 pounds I'll be pulling around (Ugh!).

     So, wish us luck! To follow Sadie's progress, click on the 100 miles icon. You can follow my progress here or on my Facebook page.

3/20 - 5 miles. Around mile 3, I really started to feel the weight of the kids.
3/22 - 5 miles
3/26 - 8.5 miles. I rode the recumbent that I forgot I have at home. It was so much easier without pulling the kids!!!

2 weeks left until Sadie's birthday and I've ridden 18.5 miles! Only 31.5 more to go!

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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Sadie Bakes

     I love to bake. Some of my earliest memories with my grandfather are baking chocolate, chocolate chip cookies in his kitchen.

     There are a lot of recipe sites out there. But, I have found a baking site (with more than just baked goods), that is more than recipes. It's called Sadie Bakes. The authors often add their thoughts and recipes that they actually use.

     What's better than that? An occasional giveaway maybe? Sadie Bakes has introduced me to several products that I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

     Currently, they are giving away Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour. Be sure to stop by and check it out!

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Monday, March 5, 2012

Lil Lady & Me Review & Giveaway!



     Although my daughters are very "girly", I have been a little hesitant of the tutu craze. Recently, I was introduced to Lil Lady and Me. It only takes two seconds to see that her tutus and hair accessories are absolutely adorable.

Thing 1 in her tutu
Thing 2 in her tutu

   






 









     The entire experience with Lil Lady and Me was enjoyable. All of my emails were answered quickly and no questions went unanswered. She went above and beyond to make sure that I was going to be happy when my tutus and bows arrived. She continued to amaze me. My package arrived exactly a week after my order was completed. That is the fastest that I have ever received quality, custom-made items.




Thing 1 Tinkerbell hairclip
Thing 2 Tinkerbell headband

 












       The big test, of course, was going to be how the tutus held up with my super busy kids. I am pleased to say that they wore them to play t-ball and running around the park and the tutus still look as good as new!

     Overall, I would recommend Lil Lady and Me to my friends. I plan on ordering from her again soon. Be sure to check out her Facebook and Twitter pages.

received these products free of charge in exchange for an honest review.




     Now for the exciting part. Thanks to the generosity of KeaShay from Lil Lady and Me, one Life in Texas reader is going to win their very own custom made tutu with up to three colors and matching hairclip/headband.

Edit to add: The first two entries (follow Life in Texas and like Lil Lady & Me on facebook) are mandatory entries. If you want to do only one of those and only have 3 entries, that's fine. However, you will not be able to access the additional entries without doing both. If you click to open the additional entries without actually following or liking, you may be disqualified. Thank you for stopping by!

***The winner is Mellissa Hanks! Congratulations, Mellissa.***

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Friday, March 2, 2012

One of those weeks...

     Have you ever had one of those weeks where it seems like everything you attempt just fails? Yeah, that's the week that I've been having.

     Tried a new craft - fail
     Filled out 32 party invites with the wrong date - fail
     Put bleach in a load that had a blue towel - fail
     Apparently, we had a slow leak in an outside pipe. I shut the door and it made it a not-so-slow leak - fail
   
     You get the idea. Unfortunately, because of the massive fail that this week has been, my poor blog has been neglected. :-(

     But, I have some big plans for next week. Next week will be better. The girls and I have a few crafts planned.

     I hope that you all had a better week than I did. Have a wonderful weekend!

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