Restaurant.com Secret Deal Revealed

I’ve had the opportunity now to enjoy a couple of really nice, new restaurants here in Virginia and Maryland. One of them I got to try out because I found a great deal using Restaurant.com. It was actually my first time (and certainly not my last) to try them out. It turned out to be an awesome choice!

Since I like to share the deals I find out about, how about a code  that will get you a $25 Gift Certificate for only $4? Yes, you read that right! But the kicker is, it’s for a VERY limited time…through the 15th!

Use the code: PADRAIG

If you’ve never tried Restaurant.com, you have GOT to check them out! They’ve got great places listed right where you are!

Why Not Pie? #MarieCallenders To Be Specific! Coupon and Give Away

My dad walked in tonight about 2 hours after we had eaten and the first thing he said was, “It smells like Marie Callender’s pot pies in here!” I was upstairs in my room when he announced that. Come to find out mom had told him on the way home the boys and I would be eating earlier than them and we were having Marie Callender’s for dinner.

I have YET to meet anyone who dislikes Marie Callende’rs…anything. When I went downstairs to finish my pie (I was STUFFED after dinner) he mentioned that he used to have a Marie Callender’s lasagna every Friday at work. Holy cow, this guy was serious. He loves their products.

When I was going through the check out lane, the cashier asked me if I’d ever had them before and I told her I had. She said she loves them and Chicken was her favorite.

My boys on the other hand? Not so much. When we do taste testing, I don’t really count their tastebuds yet. C’mon, we’re talking about a kid who hates chocolate and barely stands ice cream. lol See what I’m working with? I figured if I got them the one with bacon I’d stand a chance. Let’s just say tonight I had a #sonsfail

BUT…my brother, who (ahem) is about as bad as my boys tried the Cheesy Chicken and Bacon and really liked it! He probably would’ve eaten all of Buddy’s if he wasn’t waiting for mom and dad to get home for their dinner. I was actually really thankful for his response because it motivated Buddy to at least try the pie. Ok, maybe me telling him he wouldn’t get any of his apple pie was more the motivator.

I remember eating the Chicken and Broccoli pot pies when my girls were like 7 and 5 when we lived in Washington and that was a lifetime ago. They have always been an easy and tasty go-to meal! Real chunks of chicken and great sized vegetables, there’s no holding out on the good stuff here!

Well, even if my boys didn’t care for the Chicken pot pies, I devoured mine. Totally stuffed myself. I've never been able to just eat a portion of the bigger pot pies. Impossible to stop once you’re started. They’re just that good. Like I said, I’ve been eating them since my girls were little so my opinion here is based on over a decade of eating them! =)

Now, when it came to the dessert pies, since we’d already tried them once last month, I already knew what I was getting each of us. Thankfully I knew so when I walked in and both boys announced what they’d hoped I’d gotten each of them, I was a happy mom!

When it came time for dessert, both boys were much more willing participants. We hadn’t eaten dinner much prior to eating the pie so I had to save half for a late night snack!

I’m thinking that since both boys like these pies and math (blech), and I still have one Chocolate Satin Pie since 2 come in a box, I could buy Buddy and I a fruit pie for National PI Day on March 14th and celebrate with happy taste buds! It would be fun to do something with them since they blog like numbers.

I was also thinking that having a fun buffet of mini pies would be so sweet and wonderfully entertaining for Easter! I’d love to see a table with a spread of mini pies where everyone can just come up and grab whatever one they liked. Certainly different than having just one or two large pies to choose from. They’ve got a great selection and they’d suit every palate! lol I’m envisioning it now with a dessert table set aside for everyone to look forward to! =)

Be sure to use this awesome coupon for $1.50 off Marie Callender's products!

You have the opportunity to win a set of FIVE coupons for free Marie Callender’s pies!

*I have been compensated for this review & giveaway by TheMotherhood. All opinions expressed are my own.

Doing Dating Differently This Time

I have to say how blessed I am to be dating a Christian man who is taking on a leadership role in our relationship. To have a cornerstone of Jesus Christ for our relationship puts us leaps and bounds ahead of where he and I have been before.

One aspect that has been important to both of us is doing a devotion daily (when possible). We started off doing a devotion for couples, but it was often times geared towards married couples. And although we’d both been married before, we hadn’t experienced the same situations together that the devotion wanted us to discuss.

For now we’ve put that one aside and found another one that is leading us to journey in our walk with Christ together. It has us talking about heavenly things instead of relationship things, which we talk about plenty on our own. Both are important to our relationship.

This new devotion has really been a good one for us, especially this past week discussing Grace. How to accept grace from God and from each other as well as how to extend it to each other and others. It’s something I definitely need to work on!

Speaking of “work on”, I have found myself very intentional working on my side of the relationship lately with Fred. Remember how I had talked about dealing with trust? Yes, well, it’s still hard, but God is bringing me/us through it. It’s not easy and I have moments of “WHAT?” lol and Fred simply explains and we move on.

One thing about myself that I have been working on is trying to wait until the end of the day to discuss something with him. Before, and I know it will still happen, I would react in the moment and it just made for a miserable conversation. Working on our communication has definitely been key! Being able to talk to him and say, “This is what I need,” or, “This is what I was expecting and this is how I felt when such and such did/didn’t happen,” has actually been very freeing for me. It also allows Fred to not have to respond defensively. He can listen to me as I calmly (key word here for me) explain these things to him, we can discuss it, and grow!

It’s amazing how light and joyful my heart is to be dating a man who desires to love me as Christ loved the church. It’s very evident in the way he treats me and communicates with me. Is he perfect in that? No. Neither am I, but we desire to work on it together, to strengthen our foundation and to grow spiritually together, something neither of us had before.

At some point I’m hoping we can begin to build strong friendships with couples who are building up their marriages so we can learn from them in our dating relationship. Fred and I both want God’s will for our lives individually and together. Finding those relationships will be really important for us as time moves on, as we move towards a future.

I’m so very thankful that God has chosen me to share my time with this fantastic guy! I pray that I will continually remember to live that out in my life.

Microsoft Mouse Give Away

Ok, so let’s just say I can be reaaaaally slow in my reviews and giveaways sometimes. Especially if there’s not a regulated time in which I have to get something done. Case in point…these two Microsoft mouses…meese…mice?

Got ‘em last year, started using the one I loved and had the other two sitting on my kitchen counter…for-ehver! Then we moved and of course I brought them with me.

Hmmmm I forgot…I’ve been using two different ones. The first one was super cool! It’s different than most mice because it’s ultra thin and flattens out when you don’t want to use it. It’s called the Arc Touch. No “off” button. You flatten this baby down and it turns off. The USB also magnetizes underneath it!


Then I got this super cute Limited Time Artist Series Persson model (which is no longer available) and loved it because of the colors and design. It’s wireless and I have to be honest, because I was using my Arc mouse, I wasn’t using this one. Then I got my laptop and used the mouse pad for the longest time…until I had to use it for work and then I tried the mouse on a whim. hahahaha where has that been all of my life?

I always leave the USB in the side of my laptop and drop my mouse into my backpack as needed. I use this baby every single day and you know what grand habit I’ve gotten into? Turning it off every night! I’m planning on saving battery life. Now to get my boys to do the same with the Arc mouse!

Speaking of the USB, if I ever want to take it out and not worry about losing it, I can easily slip it into the bottom of the mouse and away we go! Love it, right?

So, I’m going to be giving away these two mice:
The Tchmo Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500:

and the White Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 (which I don’t even see available on their website! Booyah)

There will be two winners and the first winner will have the choice of which mouse they’d like. Yay! They retail at $29.99!

*I received these mice last year (yes, last year), but was not asked to do a review or a giveaway. You’re welcome! =)

My Bucket List #31DayMarch

This may seem a bit corny, but I actually checked off something from the bucket list (the one I’ve never made) today. My dad taught me how to change my oil. Laugh if you will, but I’ve ALWAYS wanted to learn how to do it. It was awesome and the first time my dad and I have ever done anything together.

I’m not a bucket list person, BUT, I realized last week that I want to make a bucket list for a specific category: Concerts!

I love concerts, but until now, have never really had the opportunity to go to many. They were either too far away, too expensive, or I didn’t have anyone to watch the boys. Next Saturday, Fred and I are going to see Crowder up in PA. Needless to say I’m pretty excited.

Fred is huge about concerts. He takes his kids to lots of them!

So here’s my bucket list of who I want to see in concert:

• MercyMe
• Jeremy Camp
• Casting Crowns
• Christ Tomlin
• Meredith Andrews
• Third Day
• Tenth Avenue North
• Laura Story
• Sidewalk Prophets
• Matt Redman
• Brandon Heath
• Matthew West
• Jason Gray
• Mandisa (saw her with Women of Faith)
• Hillsong
• Francesca Battistelli
• Big Daddy Weave
• Keri Jobe

That’s all I can come up with for now. Fred will have an entirely different bucket list of concerts to go to than me because he listens to…mmmmm other Christian music. Let’s just say, he usually has to send me a link to a site that will tell me what the words are to the songs he shares. =) Gotta love him.

Do you have a bucket list? If so is it a specific list or just general?