Angie Rambles

It's time for Menu Plan Monday. Kev and I were up late last night and I almost forgot to do the menu plan so we whipped it together. Not sure if we'll change anything but at least there is some type of plan. Monday- Pork chops, black eyed peas, veggies Tuesday- Tuna sandwiches, Lentil soup Wednesday- Chicken Creole Thursday- Spaghetti w/ground turkey, biscuits Friday- Mexi Turkey burgers Hope you have a great week!

Some people just irritate me, ROFL! I'm pretty easy going and I don't get bothered by things much but there are some people that just DON'T GET IT . If you park your car right next to the cart corral it's really not that hard to just take 2 seconds to put the darn cart away already. This lady was parked right next to the corral today at Wal-Mart, loaded her van and drove off leaving the cart in another parking spot. Geesh! And if you are going to drive, please AT LEAST drive the speed limit and not under. It took me forever to get where I needed to go this afternoon because there was no way to pass this woman. Oh and here's a little pet peeve while I'm at it. If there is a driveway next to the main road, don't block it. Same with streets, c'mon, if you are stopped in traffic leave space for other cars to turn. It's really not THAT hard is it? OK, vent over LOL Guess it's time for some relaxation eh? Great timing for Mom Dot's ...

I haven't done a Weekly Round Up in quite some time so I thought I would post today. List two things you are proud of yourself for this week. I am most proud that I got the home page of my healthy weight loss website, Losing It and Loving It done. The whole website needs work and I am working on it bit by bit with the help of my business mentor, Lynn Terry of Click Newz, an Internet marketing blog. She's the best! The other thing I am proud about is that I listened to my body and made some changes with my weekly exercise routine. I have been having some knee issues and needed to slow down a bit and I did that. You can follow my updates about this on my weight loss blog. Were you able to work on getting your goals accomplished? (if you met them or not) Yes Share something you learned this week. I learned that I just need to take action and that it is OK to make mistakes. That is how you learn. How was your week? Hope you have a great weekend!

I love handbags! You can never have too many so I entered to try to win one from Hand Bag Planet. I hope I win (and you too of course). I chose to enter to win the green handbag, you can't miss it LOL Go enter and then tell me what bag you chose. There are a lot to choose from!

It's once again time for menu plan Monday. I have the basics on the menu but we'll play the sides by ear. Laura at Organizing Junkie is having a Family Favorites menu edition this week so be sure to check it out. On to our menu: Monday- Pork Chops/Veggies Tuesday- Tuna & Soup (?) Wednesday- Chicken/Veggies Thursday- Mini tortilla pizzas w/turkey sausage and veggies (Survivor premier night) Friday- Breakfast for dinner (we'll try this again, decided to order in last Friday) Whatcha having? Make it a great week! Angie

I wanted to post a review on some awesome products I just received from Suzi at Suzi Home Maker. Suzi offers custom embroidery on a variety of items in her store. She has quite the selection of items for children and baby gifts, items for the home and more. You can see many neat products in her product gallery. I personally got the Super Snack Square and one of the Travelers. I think they are adorable AND Suzi was able to take a special request and make it happen. I took some pictures for you to see. Aren't these adorable? In the first two pictures, the traveler is on the left and Super Snack Square is on the right. The handles of the Super Snack Square have flowers on them. The last picture is the inside look of the Super Snack Square. You all know how much I love Jamaica so that inspired me to get the beach design with the saying "Life's a Beach" on each bag. You'll notice the palm tree and hibiscus are only on the snack square and the flip flops on the...

Here is our menu for this week's Menu Plan Monday. I can't believe it but I'm starting to really like having this done and not having to worry during the week what we'll have. Monday- Chopped BBQ Pork & Rice Tuesday- Turkey Sausages & Veggies Wednesday- Baja Chipotle Chicken & Veggies Thursday- Breakfast for Dinner (can't believe we aren't having spaghetti LOL) Friday- Hamburgers/Hot Dogs, Potato Fries Saturday- Chicken Creole Sunday- Play it by ear Hope you have a great week! Angie Check this out:

This past Monday, September 8th was my hubby Kevin's ONE YEAR NON SMOKING anniversary . That is very exciting. He made it one year and I'm so proud of him. Thanks to Chantix , a prescription medication, he was able to quit smoking for good. I shared this milestone with my online friend Dr. Sally Witt who has a Stop Smoking With Dr Sally program that I wish we would've known about sooner for Kevin. But that's OK because I'll still share it with you here. Dr. Sally has been there and kicked the habit so she's now sharing with others how they can too. I think that is awesome. Visit the Stop Smoking With Dr Sally website and you can see a quick welcome/intro video and a free e-book offer (I'm having an issue with the link for the e-book so I have sent an email to Dr. Sally). Then you'll be taken to a page with a lot more information about the product, the price, etc. If you are a smoker or know one, I hope you'll take a few minutes to check it ou...

I'm looking forward to the Mom's Affiliate Expo this Thursday-Saturday. There is no charge for this expo, there will be freebies and a chance to learn how to make money with affiliate marketing and if you have products to offer, you can also learn how to find great affiliates to promote your products. The Friday night lead speaker is my personal mentor, Lynn Terry. Lynn is someone you really want to get to know and follow. Lynn is REAL and she shares information freely on her Internet Marketing Blog and also has a ton of great info on her website where you can learn Internet marketing strategies free. And if you are in the beginning stages Lynn is sharing how you can be starting a free online business in no time. Follow her and you'll be glad you did. If you will be attending the Mom's Affiliate Expo, let me know. Here is an affiliate marketing article from Kelly that you might like to read. Affiliate Marketing – What’s Stopping You? Once upon at time, and it real...

Today I came across the Mommy Chronicles blog and Lindsey, the owner is giving away a custom blog design for a Blogger blog. Oh you all know how much I need this LOL so of course I'm going to enter. But I really think her blog design is so adorable and I would love to have a design done by her. Be sure to check out her cute little blog and enter the giveaway too.

It's Menu Plan Monday, what's on your menu for the week? Monday- Portabella Mushrooms with Italian Chicken Tuesday- Red Beans & Rice w/hot turkey sausage Wednesday- Baja Chipotle Crockpot Chicken thighs Thursday- Spaghetti and homemade sauce w/Italian seasoned ground turkey Friday- Tuna and Soup (I think!)

Last weekend I had a great opportunity to meet up with two online friends, Patty from Inspired Web Works and Lauren from Greeting Card Workshops and Mom Chats. We had a blast at The Rainforest Cafe (I just love that place!) and we talked, ate, talked, ate, you know the drill. These ladies are so much fun. I'm so glad that Lauren and I were able to meet Patty before she moves. And of course Lauren and I plan to meet again really soon before the snow arrives here in IL. I think we'll plan to bring the hubby's along next time. That should be fun. Lauren and I had met once before and also had a great time. You can read about our 1st meet up in my March blog archives. If you ever get the opportunity to meet your online friends, I highly recommend it. All of us have known each other online for over 5 years so it's not like we just met online yesterday LOL. I want to thank Anita from Mommy's Helper Community for having such a wonderful forum where we could all co...

Here we are on the last day of the blog trip. It has been fun getting to know so many of you. Today we are exploring our city. My favorite thing to do, that we do about once a year and I hope to change that is spend the day at Six Flags Great America . I love all the rides and could go on them over and over. Hubby and my stepson are not so much into the spin type rides so I have to ride those alone. Oh well! We went there a few weeks ago and I had a blast. My favorite rides were Vertical Velocity, Superman and Revolution. Do you like amusement parks? If so, please feel free to share your favorites and where they are located. I would love to one day be able to visit them all over the world. How fun would that be? Next on our trip is the zoo. You definitely don't want to miss the Brookfield Zoo on your trip here. I haven't been there in a long time but would love to go soon. I love animals and they have quite the variety at Brookfield. I like Stingray Bay , Seven ...

Today is Day 4 of the blog trip and it's all about shopping. Although I prefer to shop online, there are still some places that I don't mind going to around town. As far as groceries, the two biggest chain stores around here are Dominicks and Jewel/Osco. We prefer Dominicks although it's a bit more expensive and further away (but we get a discount on gas there, see blog trip Day 2). We also shop at Island Foods (which you might have seen in one of the videos from Day 1) especially for vegetables and fruit. I love this mom and pop store so we try to give them our business as often as possible. Last week on my weight loss blog I asked for input about Whole Foods Market. We went there for the first time last weekend. I'll be posting about my Whole Foods experience over on that blog soon. But I will say that my two favorite 'healthy' grocery stores are The Fresh Market and Trader Joe's, hands down. If you want to visit a quaint little town when stopping ...

We very rarely go out to eat anymore since starting a more healthy lifestyle (you can follow more about that on my weight loss journal) but I will share some of our favorite places to eat. I would have to say my two all time favorite restaurants would be the local Chinese buffet and Hooters . Here are some local restaurants you should try when you drop by for a visit. Nancy's Pizza Pick up or delivery, this little pizza joint has some yummy food. And all of their appetizers are baked. Yum! I'm bummed they no longer have their Marco Polo salad though because it was my favorite. But they do have great tasting pizza (thin for me) and the Chicken Club (oven baked breaded chicken tenders, fresh bacon, melted mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and creamy garlic sauce served on their homemade garlic bread) is a favorite around here too, for my step son and myself. Hubby's favorite is their "GODMOTHER" sandwich (oven baked breaded chicken tenders with red sauce an...

Today is Day 2 of the Mommy Community blog trip. Tried to take a picture of the price of gas last week but you can't really see it (it was $3.99 at this gas station) Yesterday in one of my videos, we quickly passed a gas station and I mentioned that gas was $3.97. It varies all over, just down the street it was $3.94 and some places as low as $3.84. Wish they would quit playing games. Luckily we shop at a grocery store where you get a discount on gas depending on how much you spend. Three cents off for just having a grocery card and ten cents off when you spend over $50 and we do that a lot so Kev and I are usually set with discounted gas (if we make it that far LOL). My car has been having gas gauge issues and the other day I was on my way home from the gym and didn't stop to get gas because who knew I only had a mile left of gas ROFL. So I just luckily glided in to the most expensive gas station around OF COURSE. As far as what I do to save on gas, not much really. We h...

It's time for a quick intro and a few videos to show you around our town. I'm Angie (36), step mom of two, 26 and 24 and hubby I live in IL. I'm originally from Virginia. Hubby and I like to work out together, hang out at home and travel. I like to read, love amusement parks and I'm a Reality TV addict. I am also getting caught by the blogging bug. This is more my personal blog but my main blog is my weight loss journal where I share my progress and healthy weight loss tips. I'm a newbie at video so hopefully these videos you are about to see here today are OK. Not quite used to using my RCA Small Wonder video camera and it's my first time using You Tube. Ready or not, here we go. **So I tried to view these videos on You Tube and the video stops every so often. It didn't do this while viewing from my computer so I'm not sure what the problem is. I apologize for the inconvenience if the video cuts out for you too** Around Town Around Town 2 We hav...

Time for Menu Plan Monday. Monday- Boneless Sirloin Pork Roast, potatoes, green beans Tuesday- The Fresh Market's Chicken Portabella, asparagus Wednesday- Lemon Pepper Swordfish, veggie Thursday- Spaghetti w/homemade sauce (probably with hot/spicy turkey sausage), biscuits Friday- Hot & Spicy BBQ Chicken breasts, brussel sprouts