My Opinion Counts

Today felt like summer. My favorite part of summer is our trips to the ice cream stand. Today we hit the Dairy Queen. I had a Heath Bar blizzard. I try other flavors but that is my favorite. I hate to even try anything else. The only other blizzard that came close to my favorite was the the cherry cordial that was available around Valentine's Day.

When the weather stays hot we will make our trek to the local hard ice cream stand. My favorite item from there are the homemade waffle cones filled with chocolate mint chip ice cream. My favorite brand of ice cream is Atz. It has the creamiest texture and isn't grainy.

Can you tell that I enjoy eating ice cream?

I put off planning a vacation because I just hate to figure out the details of travel. First I have to figure out a destination. That isn't so hard because there are a lot of places I would like to go. I would like to go to Spain or Italy. I love the culture of those two countries. I would like to visit the old cities and taste the native foods. I would like to return to Hawaii. We didn't have time to visit a volcano or go deeper into the back country. I have seen pictures of fantastic waterfalls. I would like to see if we could find those.

I have discovered a wonderful site that makes travel so much easier. At Hotel Reservations website I can play around with all of the variables such as location and amount of time available. Then I put in the information like the number of people, dates and accommodations and see what comes up. Right away I have a price and know what is included in the package. I can also see what discounts are offered.

Whether you are planning a vacation for leisure or business you will love how this site can help you put it all together. They have information about the extras you might need like a rental car or transportation to and from the airport.

The website offers so many types of packages. They have information about Bed & Breakfast lodging, resort areas and even vacation rentals like condos and private home rentals.

I have this site saved in my favorites. I think I am in the mood to travel after finding out how easy it is using Hotel Reservations. I feel more secure in knowing that experts in the field of travel will be helping me plan a wonderful vacation.

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A bee walks across a cell phone Tuesday at the Blackhorse Apiary Beekeeping Center in Woking, England.

I finally found a drink that I like at Starbucks. It is the vanilla bean frappaccino. It is yummy and probably has 1000 calories. Oh well, I have eaten horrible this week so what's another 1000 calories?

Today I made a trashbag/pin cushion for my mom's sewing table. It is cute! It is a little cloth bag that is connected to a pin cushion. The pin cushion has sand in it so it is very heavy. It is very handy to have when you sew. It took me all afternoon to make!

We had to make another trip to the fabric store this evening. We had coupons that were ready to expire! LOL We can't stand to let them go to waste. Joanne Fabric has a lot of their wall hangings and nick nack type stuff from 50% to 70% off. I have to remember to never buy anything there before the season. It just kills me to see something selling for half the price I paid for it right before a holiday. Grrrr.

PayPerPost is up to something again! Just when we start getting used to how things are going and start to settle in, they announce that they have something new in the works. Today I read where next week they will announce that they have acquired a company. Now, does anyone know what company that is? Will it be a company who works with us posties?

I am not worried. The CEO of PayPerPost loves his company. He has our best interests at heart and is only going to acquire a company who will benefit our ability to write online ads. He only wants to see us succeed.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to ruffle feathers with words? On the Internet it is especially easy to come across in the wrong way because people can't look at our faces and be able to judge whether we are being sarcastic, rude or just plain mean. Meaning of a word can be taken wrong. If someone told you that they thought the paper you wrote was the next Jaws movie, what would you think they meant? Would it mean that they thought the paper was so great that it would be as popular as the movie Jaws? Or did they mean it was so bad it should be shredded? Vocabulary influences how others perceive you. When you say, "I seen the car go by," it lowers the listeners opinion of you because you are using seen in the wrong context. When you spell there instead of their when talking about something that belongs to someone, it looks like you don't know how to use the proper word. Or that you are hurrying and misspell things like I do! In everyday conversation I try to overlook poor grammar because I for one am not perfect. I am not even close! When it comes to applying for a job or being interviewed, I would be sure to take my time to spell correctly. In an interview I would pause long enough to double check what I was going to say to make a good impression.

Addiction is a hard thing to beat. It is harder to beat it alone. There is a hotline available to get information about drug rehabilitation. You can get in touch with trained experts who can help you. At 4rehabilitation they have the tools and resources available that will assist you in making an informed and beneficial decision. Let them help. Call them with this toll free number Call 877-84-SOBER (877-847-6237).

The goal of drug rehabilitation is long term permanent withdrawal and promotion of a healthy substance abuse and dependency life. Getting the best drug rehabilitation program is the number one step in ensuring a successful recovery. Please call so one of their trained counselors can help in your situation. When you use the resources they are trained in you are taught to focus on the cause of your addiction. You are not lumped into a category but treated as an individual who needs help. They will help you find out what it is you need to do in order to get sober and maintain sobriety.

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Have you heard of the 3-D video game called Second Life? Please comment and tell me if you have played it and like it. Is it easy to figure out?

It is a virtual world where you can set up your own world and do everything. Build a house, be an entrepreneur or anything you can imagine is at your disposal. I have been reading in the National Federation of Independent Business magazine that business are jumping on the band wagon and incorporating their names into the virtual world. Marketers like American Apparel, tech companies like Dell and now such traditional brands as GM and Toyota are being attracted by the virtual game. In the game, a Toyota Scion costs $2.00. LOL

I got the recipe for the scrumptious artichoke entree my sis made the other night.

Spirals with Garbanzos, Olives and Artichokes
12 ounces Eden Organic Kamut Spirals, 1 package, Eden Flax Rice Spirals, or any Eden Spiral Pasta

1/4 cup Eden Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 cup onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, diced

1 cup artichoke hearts, water packed, quartered

1 medium yellow pepper, chopped

2 cups organic vegetable broth, or soup stock

1 cup pitted black olives, drained, whole

15 ounces Eden Organic Garbanzo Beans, 1 can, drained

28 ounces Eden Organic Whole Tomatoes w/Basil, 1 can, drained, chopped

1/2 teaspoon Eden Sea Salt, or to taste

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Serves 6

Prep Time: 0:10
Cook Time: 0:20

Nutritional Info
Per serving 425 Calories, 14g Fat (30% calories from fat), 17g Protein, 58g Carbohydrate, 0mg Cholesterol, 501mg Sodium
Directions

Cook pasta as package directs. While the pasta is cooking, place olive oil, red pepper flakes and onions in a skillet, sauté over medium heat until golden. Add garlic, artichokes, yellow pepper, and sauté until browned. Add broth, olives, garbanzos and tomatoes. Gently simmer 5 minutes. Place drained pasta in a large bowl, pour the sauce over and toss. Season to taste with black pepper and garnish with parsley.

(Really Simple Syndication or RSS) is a way for web sites to share their current news or headlines via a frequently updated xml file. It can also be a way to read your favorite blogger's new posts in one place. You subscribe their site to your RSS feed and it is like saving them as a favorite.

There is a new bookmarking service called BookmarkAll. It is the first online bookmark manager to provide RSS bookmark service. I am so excited about this service because it will allow me to see all my favorites through their site whether I am on my desktop, laptop or at a friend's house.

I am obsessive about putting things in their proper place. BookmarkAll has categories called topics. I will be able to save my church friends blogs in one topic, my message board blogs in another and so on. This is going to make checking my friend's blogs so much easier and faster. It is so easy to use BookmarkAll to save a blog when you find that you are enjoying it. If I am looking at a site about quilts, I can use BookmarkAll and put it in a topic category called quilt sites. Then when I want to look at it again, I know where to find it. It is the same as saving it in your favorites. The only difference is that BookmarkAll.com is also a feed service.

By installing BookmarkAll’s Tool Bar in your IE/Firefox browser, you will be able to bookmark your favorite links and save them to your online bookmark account quickly. This is going to make organizing my hundreds of favorites so much more convenient.

A nice thing about the Davis Mercantile building at Shipshewana is that they have a puppet show that your kids will love. It is called the Mousetrap Puppet Theater and features marionette type puppets. The puppeteer is very talented and will amaze you. There is a small admission fee.

If you are planning to apply for a mortgage loan you really ought to go to a helpful mortgage news site. Mortgages can be a terrifying loan to apply for so it is comforting to have some good, concrete, information before you apply. 43 Must-Know Tips (and Resources) for Every First-time Home Buyer, is a wonderful source of information on how to budget and how to educate yourself on your rights as a home buyer. They offer information concerning the best times to buy a home. There are many more interesting facts and suggestions to guide you through the process. Check them out before you buy and after. Sponsored post.

Yesterday, as we traveled to Shipshewana, we saw many Amish farmers out in the fields. They had their massive horses hooked up to plows. The farmer stood on the plow and off they went. We saw one farmer who was using 6 horses. His were lined up in pairs. Another farmer had six horses and his were lined up with all 6 being side by side. It was beautiful to see. I saw a couple foals in the pastures. They are so cute. At the restaurant where we had lunch, there was a horse hooked up to a buggy. It was so long that my sister called it a limousine. Standing next to that horse allowed me to see how big they are. Oh my goodness! That horse liked to have his nose stroked.

Have you ever spent hours on the internet searching for a product and trying to find the best price for that product? There is a website that can do the looking for me and find the best price possible It is called umanSearch Shopping At UmanSearch they encourage you to beat the price. Post your find using the BEAT THE PRICE button and they'll buy that product for you and have it shipped directly to you. I would have loved to use this site when I was searching for Greg's Bluetooth ear piece. If it was in their featured product I could have tried to beat the price. Using the Monitored products feature, if I find a price lower I just follow their directions and using my receipt I can get back 10% (up to $20) of my purchase price.

UmanSearch offers to provide visitors to their site multiple options to track prices and become a more educated shopper. They have teams of price researchers. That is a job I know I would enjoy! The researchers and store moderators direct visitors to the best stores on the internet. Their catalog lists the best stores that carry the best products with the best price! I don't think it can get better than that!

Check out www.umanSearch.com today.

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Over at PayPerPost they are offering the $1000 Tuesday. There are some big money opportunities put out that total $1000. Last week there were 5 $100 ops and a $500 op. Can I just tell you that I have felt paralyzed all day? I have not even wanted to go to the bathroom. A $100 op for $1000 Tuesday came up and the minute I saw it I clicked but I was a milasecond too slow. LOL It is so exciting but I don't know if I can take it! It is too stressful.

It was so much fun when we bought our new truck. I have been looking at Car Classifieds and it made me remember how we drove around looking at car lots hoping to find the one hubby was looking for. I see from this website, how much easier that could have been. I know that my husband enjoys looking at cars but I don't enjoy it at all. I see one I like and get my hopes up only to find out that isn't what he had in mind. LOL I would much rather surf the internet. This website is so easy to use! Our truck is a Ford F150 and I see lots of them! I am so glad things are easier because of the internet.
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Do you eat artichokes? My sister made a wonderful recipe that had black olives, green peppers, onions and artichokes in it. All of those ingredients were prepared and put over rotini noodles. She served baked chicken with it. It was so good. I will have to get the recipe.

I hope that everyone knows to drop a vitamin in water to check its absorbency rate. If it doesn't dissolve within 20 minutes it is not a good vitamin. It won't go into your system and be valuable to your body. Another problem people have with vitamins is the size of them. Usually they are so big that it makes it difficult to swallow one. A 12-in-One MultiVitamin is so much easier to swallow and works fast as it absorbs into the body. 12-in-One Multivitamins are formulated with beneficial plant-based nutrients that make them a quality vitamin. Be sure you use the best vitamins for your body.
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I have almost finished the placemats to go with the napkins and table runner I made. I thought I lost my card to the digital camera but I found it. I was frantic searching for it. I wish things like that, car keys and glasses had beepers on them so I could find them. I'll put a picture up in a bit.

I was born in Las vegas. While I have not been there for many years, it holds a special place in my heart. Las Vegas real estate is something I like to spend time looking at. It is fun to dream of owning a place in a beautiful state. Nevada has so much to offer. My hubby would really love to live in Vegas. I feel better when the sun is out. I think I have a seasonal disorder. I require sunshine to motivate me. Do you feel better and have more energy on days when the sun is shining? I also like to stay up later because it stays light so much later now that we are on daylight savings time. I don't like to get up in the dark tho. I am looking at the homes offered through the Million Saver Homes website and have found a few that I would love to live in.

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There is a terrible situation going on at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia near Roanoke. There have been two separate shootings. There are people dead. I cannot imagine how the parents of students attending that college must feel at this moment. They don't know who is doing the shooting or why. What is happening to our world?

My friend fell the other day. She happened to be at the hospital accompanying her daughter to an appointment. I don't know if my friend misjudged the step or her knee gave out on her again but down she went. I think she might be looking at knee replacement surgery. That type of surgery has improved vastly in the past few years. Dr. Gustafson is specialized in the field. As founder and director of Gustafson Orthopaedics, Dr. Gustafson gives a thorough evaluation and accurate diagnosis of joint pain. I hope my friend will go and see what his recommendations are. She might not even need knee replacement surgery. He might recommend other treatment options that would be effective. I hope she does something before she falls and breaks something. I will rest easier.

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