Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce-Review and Giveaway

I was excited when I was contacted by County Bob's to review their sauce. My husband LOVES all kinds of sauces and even mixes them together at times. He loves to dip anything and everything. So how perfect is that?
They were kind enough to send me 2 bottles of their original all-purpose sauce to try along with brochures that had some recipes to try inside. When they arrived, my husband wanted to open a bottle and he smelled the sauce and tasted a little. He said the sauce was pretty tasty.
So we planned for a cook out the next day with my parents and his mom. This way we could all try out Country Bob's Sauce together. We made some hamburgers and I added some garlic powder, some dried minced onion and some Country Bob's. We grilled the patties and added some more Country Bob's under the cheese we topped them with. I topped mine with lettuce, tomato, a little red onion, a little more Country Bob's, and a bit of mayo.

Looks good huh?

On my first bite, the sauce kind of squirted out, but it was so fabulous tasting! We have a winner here folks! Everyone thought the burgers were so tasty, my mother-in-law even said she thought they were better that her favorite local burger joint! Perhaps that burger joint is merely missing the key ingredient: County Bob's All-Purpose Sauce!

My dad enjoying his County Bob-i-fied burger

I also prepared the Abercrombie Sauce recipe from the website. I think I will be smothering some chicken in it later this week and grilling it. I will be posting on how that turns out as well.

And it gets even better! Country Bob's would like to send TWO of my readers TWO bottles of Country Bob's to try for themselves. Tasting is believing!
Would you like two bottles of Country Bob's? To enter, please visit their website and tell me a recipe you'd like to try OR what you would top with this fabulous sauce. I'll even accept telling me something you think is interesting about the company. You MUST do this first!
Then for additional entries you can:
1. Follow my blog
2. Subscribe to my feed
3. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway. (Please tell me your Twitter name also.)
For each entry, please leave a comment telling me what you did. Also, remember to leave contact email so I can get in touch with you! I will be randomly choosing 2 winners on Friday, May 1st at 8pm EST. EDIT: I decided to extend the time until Sunday at midnight. That gives everyone more time to get here and enter. They will be contacted and given 24 hours to respond before another winner will be chosen.

Feel Good Friday

Today is Friday and that gets a big Wooo Hoooo from me. This means that we are almost to the weekend where I get to hang out with my husband (and most likely our parents at some point as well). I don't know what it is about Friday that makes me so happy. Really since I am still unemployed it is no different than any other day for me, but the promise of getting to be around the ones I love makes it a little better than other days.
On another note, I am trying to get myself a little healthier. I have been trying to exercise at least 3 times a week for 30-60 mins each time. Not too shabby. I just read in my Weight Watchers magazine that to lose weight you should exercise for 60 mins 5 days a week. Seems like a lot huh? But really, you don't have to do it all in one shot. As long as it averages to that, you are doing great! So after I get this 3 day thing down, I will keep adding on. I normally say I want to get skinny, but I have changed my mind a little on that. I want to feel good! Here is why:
1. I have been having heartburn for a few months now. When I was down about 10 lbs from what I am now, I never had this problem. I know weight is a factor. I also hate feeling like crap at night when I lay down and the burning starts. I guess I should also see a doctor, even though it frightens me a little bit. I am not fond of tests or needles. I guess I can hope I don't need either of these...
2. My knees have started hurting. I am 27. This to me seems ridiculous. I want to be able to go for a long walk and not start feeling pain. Did you know that when you walk, you put three times the weight on your hips and knees? That means that for 10 lbs you loose, that is 30lbs of pressure off your knees! So a little bit really can go a long way!
3. Ditto on my feet. My heels hurt, but this is nothing too new. Its only when I stand or walk for a long period of time.
4. If/when we decide to have children, I want to be healthy. This way, there is a better chance that the pregnancy and birth will go better. Plus, I want to be able to teach my kids how to stay healthy and how can I do that if I am unhealthy?

So there you have it. They say that if you commit something to writing you are more likely to stick to it. I hope that is true. My progress so far is that I have done 2.5 hours of exercise this week and will be swimming tonight for my additional time. I may even exceed my own goal! YAY!
So do you have any advice at how to stick with an exercise plan or just tips on getting healthy? Please share! Have a wonderful and fun weekend!

And PS I will be doing a review early next week and it includes a giveaway. Make sure you check back!

Twitter Demystified

So like tons of people out there I have begun to tweet updates on Twitter. And I love it. I have had fun tweeting back and forth with others and just seeing what the Twitter world is up to. But there is one thing that has me all sorts of confused. That would be the lingo. So in an effort to educate myself, I am sharing my findings with all of you. Yes, I know you love me. :o)

The @ symbol is used for 2 different things: at replies and mentions. An @ reply starts with the @twitterid Blah Blah Tweet Tweet Blah.
The mention looks more like Giving props to @TwitterID for an awesome blog post, or something like that.

RT = Re-Tweet, meaning someone has already tweeted about this topic, but is tweeting again cuz it is such an awesome tweet, like this one:

And the symbol I was most confused about: #
What the heck does the hash mean? It is a way to tag your tweet for that word. So if I post #lifewith4purrs it will track the tweets with that in them. For more info check this out.
And thanks to Jessica for tweeting me back and answering my Twitter questions. Jessica, you are way smarter than me! And much more Twitter-vanced. You rock!

And for more info on Twitter and how to use it, check out their help menu. They've got people. They are also smarter than me.

St. Martin

So I realized I didn't put up a post about the fun we had in St. Martin! So here is a recap, I'll try to be brief.
In St. Martin we went on the Golden Eagle Catamaran Sail and Snorkel. Oh what FUN! The Surfer and I love to snorkel. In fact it was our favorite thing we did on our honeymoon. My parents came too for fun, even though neither of them got in the water.

Post-snorkel: SO much fun!

We saw some neat fish, sea stars, and brain coral. Then we went to a beach and swam for a while. This was also an all you can drink sail, so rum punch was had by all, not to mention that we were served by men in bow ties (no shirts, just bow ties) We had a great time!

Party with Country Girl, City Life

To celebrate her 21st birthday Kati is doing four awesome giveaways. How sweet of her is that?!?

She is giving away some of her favorite things: movies, cleaning products, snacks, and a favorite things box. Again, how totally awesome is she?

Want to help her celebrate? Head on over to Kati's blog by clicking the banner above!

Spread the Love

So I totally missed out on this last time and am SO excited to be able to participate in Mamrazzi's Favorite Things Swap 3! YAY!

It is an awesome opportunity to meet fellow bloggers and spread the love. Seriously, you all should join up! Your package needs to contain $20-$30 in your favorite things (not including shipping) which you send to your partner and then they send you their favorite things at the same time. Pretty sweet huh? Not sure which of my favorite things I will be including, but I've got some really great ideas. Don't want to ruin the surprise ;o)

So what are you waiting for? Get over to Dandelion Wishes!

St. Thomas USVI

I'm a bit late posting today, because I went to visit a close friend. She is expecting her first baby (a girl) very soon. In fact, they will be inducing her on Friday. She has been on rest for a little more than a week. Please keep her and baby in your thoughts and prayers as her time quickly approaches. I can't wait to meet her little bundle (hopefully this weekend!) and try to convince the Surfer that we should make a wee bundle of our own soon ;)

Getting back to the islands: Our second stop was at St. Thomas. What a beautiful view!We rode the Sky Ride up to Paradise Point, home of the Bailey's Bushwacker. It is a tradition that my parent's started the first time they went there, so we had to partake!

The Bushwacker consists of seven (yes 7!) different alcohols! And it tastes kinda like a chocolate shake, but different. You'll just have to try one. And Paradise Point has the "original" so might as well cruise there and enjoy!My mom would love to join you!

We also got to see a cute bird show with several kinds of parrots and tropical birds. One could even add and subtract by ringing a bell for the answer! I asked the Surfer if I could get a bird. He said "No!" Go figure.

This bird could ride a bike! Later he did it on a highwire!

We also saw some cool lizards, including an iguana. This is where I was reminded how stupid people can be. There were people petting the wild iguana and it was hissing at them. I don't know if it bit them, but if I were the lizard I would have given it my best shot!

I asked the surfer if I could get one of these lizards. He said "No!" Go figure.

It was a wonderful day topped off with a beautiful gift from my parents. They went jewelry shopping after leaving the Point and bought my a necklace and earrings made of black coral. They are peices by Bernard K. Passman and I LOVE them! The earrings are so dainty and the whale's tail pendant (not shown on the website) is so beautiful. I have always been in love with the sea, especially whales and dolphins, so this was very meaningful to me. My parents are so wonderful and thoughtful! Again I will say I am SO Blessed!

Thus ended a perfect day...

Where I was last week at this time

Last week, on my wonderful vacation, the Carnival Glory was docked at Nassau, Bahamas. We chose not to do any excursions here, but next time I will save my pennies. I want to swim with the dolphins so badly!
So here are some of the sights:I think I took 15 pictures of the lighthouse. I just loved the way it looked like the perfect postcard!A picture of Atlantis. I would have loved to check out this new resort. They also have a dolphin encounter and swim option, but since we had a tight budget we decided to save that for another trip...someday. They also have several aquariums and lagoons with stingrays and sharks and tons of fish. But I only know this from looking it up on the net when I returned. I think I may need to work there someday!
And when I move there I will need this huge boat, complete with accessory sail boat! Yep, can't live without that!

Check back later this week for more info and pics of the trip. St. Thomas and St. Martin were more exciting for us. And don't forget our fun days at sea!

Happy Easter!

I know I haven't been my usual chatty self this week. Getting back from the cruise was a real downer, especially when the reality sank in. When I left I had a possible job lead and when I returned all the positions at the staffing agency had been filled. So that was a little disheartening. My student loans are coming due again very soon as well, so this is a huge dark cloud hanging over me. But with all these struggles I am reminded of how one man was willing to sacrifice His life for me!

And I am rejoicing for His gift! If there is one thing I learned last week, it is how truly blessed I have been. I have a loving family who always supports me! I have a roof over my head! I have food to eat everyday! I am able to feed and care for four wonderful (and sometimes obnoxious) furballs! And I have fabulous friends IRL and in the blogosphere! And look at this view I saw last week! My blessings abound and for this I give thanks!

I hope that each and every one of you take time to count the blessings He has given you and know that when I count my blessings, I count YOU!

We have a winner!

Since I only had 7 entries, I decided I'd make picking a winner fun for me and the cats as well. They love to play with paper, so I wrote everyone's name on a small piece and placed them on the carpet. In a few minutes I had an audience and the first piece that Bunnie went for had Jessica's name on it! So congrats Jessica!
Please email me to let me know your mailing address so I can get your surprise to you! And thanks to everyone who entered!

I'm Baa aack!

Helloooooo! I have returned from what I think was one of the most wonderful vacations ever and will be choosing a winner shortly. I have tons of stuff to do first though: unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping. All the fun stuff I escaped from! So I will have The Surfer pick a number tonight and announce the winner tomorrow. And I'm still not telling what I am giving away. I think it will be more fun for that person to get a surprise. And I can't wait to share pictures and stories of my trip! If you ever get a chance to take a cruise, do it!