Optimistically Blogging

I have only participated in the craziness known as Black Thursday/Friday twice in my life.  The first time was three years ago and the other time was this year.  Both times found me in a chaotic store filled with people but only this year was a more pleasant experience.  The first year I went to a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania and since I was on vacation there was nothing that I really needed.  I picked up a few DVDs in the Black Friday section of the store and helped my Aunt and Cousin shop for their family.  When it came to checkout time the line was only about 10 minutes long.  I stepped up to make my purchases, as I had the least amount of stuff, and the cashier rang them up.  The DVDs that I had picked out rang up incorrectly, I politely told her the correct price and she immediately got hostile insisting that I was wrong.  I she rang for a manager, and he told me the same thing even though the DVDs were featured in the store's advertisement.  I politely told them that I didn'

This is a common theme in television, will they or wont they?  We have all fallen in love with a TV couple at one point or another, each week waiting for the next episode to see if they were going to finally be together or not.  When you step back you think "why do I care about these fictional people?" but regardless we get hooked.  I am going to dedicate this blog to some of my favorite "will they or wont they?" situations.   Warning: This post contains spoilers, if the show is off the air and you haven't finished it do not read that paragraph (unless you are like me and enjoy spoilers) 1) Sheldon and Amy "Shamy" (The Big Bang Theory)  - This is the hot TV couple right now.  They are currently broken up and it is breaking fans of TBBT hearts.  Something that is common with these fictional couples is that they are absolutely perfect for each other (they were written that way), and we all love to see the perfect couples.  This couple is perfect bec

This story started two years ago.   I came home from work and prepared the cat food for my kitties.  My oldest cat, the little kitty love of my life, refused to eat and went and hid under a bed.  He was a fat and happy 10 year old kitty and turning down dinner wasn't in his nature.  I tried to get him to eat to no avail, so I took him to see the vet.  They ran lots of tests that were inconclusive and did an x-ray, they thought it was a urinary tract infection and treated him as such.  His health was deteriorating and I brought him back and they figured out that his   BUN/creatinine ratio was very high and diagnosed him in the beginning stages of Feline Kidney Disease (renal failure), we were told he had about 6 months to live.  At this point we switched his food to the prescription kidney disease kitty-food and bought him a waterfall water dish so he would drink more water.  Also, the vet gave us medication to give him but it didn't work as he wouldn't take the pills.  I

I found a great deal today on shutterfly.com.  They are giving away a FREE 8 x 11 custom calendar, all you pay for is shipping.  The costs is normally $24.99, make sure to enter coupon code: SAVE365.  In addition they are also giving 40% off everything else you purchase.  This deal lasts until Monday, November 23rd so make sure and take advantage.  What could be better than a free calendar with all of your loved ones pictures?  It will make a great Christmas present. Details:  Ends Mon, Nov 23  Save 40% on everything + free 8x11 calendar Code: SAVE365

This recipe was given to me by a good friend and her husband.  She would bring this into work for lunch and I would drool!!  So I changed a few things and then I started eating it all the time. Sausage and Peppers What you need: 4-6 Sausage Links (I use the 6 pack of Hot Johnsonville Sausage) 4 Bell Peppers (I like to use one of each color - Red, Yellow, Orange and Green) 3 Large Portobello Mushrooms 1-2 Broccoli Crowns  6-8 oz of Pasta (approx. half a box) 1 clove of Garlic 1 TBSP of Olive Oil 1) Clean and cut all of the Vegetables - Cut the Bell Peppers into strips; Cut the Mushrooms into little cubes; Make sure the Broccoli pieces do not have large stems. 2) Place the Broccoli in a pot of water, cover and leave on medium temperature 3) Take the Sausage out of the casings and place in a large skillet add garlic and olive oil, Cook until no longer pink 4) When Sausage is cooked add the cut bell peppers (turn on medium heat),

Lately I have had more free time at home and have noticed that we had a lot of projects that we have been putting off for quite some time.  The paint on our house was peeling, our roof is bare in spots from wind damage, we haven't ever serviced the A/C (I didn't know we were supposed to do that), and then our faucet in the kitchen and garbage disposal started leaking large amounts of water.  Before spending more time at home I never knew about any of these issues, I was blissfully ignorant.  I have had countless people out to our home in the past few weeks and everything that needed fixing will be fixed by the end of today, but it just reminded me how much goes into home ownership.  Lots of extra expenses.  So I have come up with a small list on great ways to save money on home repairs. 1) Home Warranty - We have a home warranty and I was always unsure if this was a good idea, it is.  You spend roughly $500 a year for the service but if something in your home dies they come t

I ask this question to a lot of my friends, James Bond: Superhero or just a Government Agent? The reactions are mixed, lots of people who grew up on comics and reading Ian Fleming's books tell me that he is just a government agent and doing her majesty's work, he is just really good.   So I ask what makes a superhero?  When we think of superheroes, we tend to think of Batman, Superman, Spiderman, the Avengers; so what makes them superheroes? Batman & Ironman - In the cases of Batman and Iron Man we have playboy billionaire orphans who have a mission.  Their mission is to fight injustices that are happening in their jurisdictions, Batman has Gotham City and Iron Man well he has everywhere.  These two superheroes have technology that aids them in their quests.  Batman has lots of help, primarily he has Alfred, Robin and Wayne Enterprises always there assisting him with his inventions and schemes.  These inventions are what helps him be successful in his crime fighting wa

I am a little late this week, but I still want to post one of my favorite recipes. This is a simple lemonade recipe but every time I make it for guests they go wild over it.   What you need: - 68 ounce glass pitcher (that is just the size that I use - I purchased mine at the Container Store) - Citrus Juicer (I have a stainless steel one from Williams-Sonoma) - 4 Large Lemons - 1-2 Cups of Sugar  - Water 1) Clean the Lemons. I like to make sure that I have cleaned the outside of the lemons so nothing nasty gets into my juice.  I like to use a Norwex Fruit and Veggie Scrub Cloth.  This is an example of what an apple looks like after using this cloth. 2) Cut the Lemons in half 3) Juice the Lemons on your Citrus Juicer 4) Pour the Juice from the Lemons in your pitcher 5) Fill the Juicer with Water to pick up the extra little bit of juice you have left - add to pitcher 6) Fill the Pitcher with water until it is 7/8 filled 7) Add 1 Cup of

It's definitely Monday today and I am dragging.  I had a hard time coming up with a great blog post today, so I thought I would share some easy ways to save money that you may not think about.   1) Use your local Library - I don't care where you live, your library is a wealth of resources and it is FREE!  (well other than taxes, but I digress)  Two years ago I decided to check out my local library to see what they had to offer.  I walked in knowing that it was very small so I didn't think that they would have much, I talked to the librarian and she told me that they were connected to a huge library network and I could request any movie, book, or audio book that I could possibly imagine.  I listen to a lot of audio books as I commute and they are expensive, so when I could get anything I wanted, for free, in a matter of days I couldn't believe I hadn't gone there sooner.  Also, if you have books or movies that you will never read or watch again, donate them to your

Doesn't it seem like every time you go to the store they ask if you want to round up to the next dollar or flat out add a dollar to your total for a charity?  They put you on the spot and it makes you feel bad if you don't say yes, as there are usually customers all around who are listening to you.  I want to tell you in this blog post that it is okay to not round up your change and give into the pressure.  Here is my logic behind this: 1) Charity - You should donate to charity.  Find a cause or causes that you are passionate about and donate.  It isn't right to donate to the cause that the grocery store tells you to, unless you know about that organization and you feel comfortable giving.  For example, I always give at Pet Smart (in addition to other charities), as I know about Pet Smart Charities and their adoption services that they offer.  I don't really like the way they ask for money, the little credit card machine lights up and says "Do you want to donate

Good Morning! I wanted to post today about my weekly (weekend) habit: Food Prep!  I have a love/hate relationship with cooking. I love to cook, but I hate to come home after a long day of work and have to cook.  A while back, I decided that I would devote time on either Saturday or Sunday (right after shopping) and cut up vegetables/meats/fruits for the upcoming week so we can just grab and go or make a quick dinner.   When I first started doing this, it was before I knew about Norwex products and it  would take me about 4 hours of precious weekend time, because I would have to pull out the chemical cleaners multiple times throughout my prep now I am down to just 2 hours!  My Norwex products have cut my time in half!!   My Norwex prep must haves are:  1) Dish Cloths/Towels/Enviro (any of these work, as they have the BacLock and clean the surface throughout the process) I usually have a couple on hand  2) Fruit and Veggie Wash! I love this stuff, it is completely chemical free and

Good Morning everyone!  I wanted to post some of my favorite recipes on this blog, so Recipe Tuesday it is!! About a year ago I was at my Grandma's house and she was searching for a recipe.  She knew what it was supposed to be but didn't know the exact ingredients, we spent a couple hours combing through her recipes until I finally thought to google it and we came up with something very similar.  The end result was amazing, she always make food 10 times better than anyone else, but this is actually one recipe of hers that I can replicate and it comes very close.  This recipe is very easy and anyone can make it! Puffed Apple Pancake 2 Apples(I like to use Gala, because they are my favorite to eat, but Granny Smith or Golden Delicious would work very well) 4 TBSP (1/2 stick) Butter (original recipe calls for unsalted, but I wouldn't ever have that in my house, haha) 1 Cup Milk 4 Large Eggs 3 TBSP Sugar 1 TSP Vanilla Extract (I just use a lid full of it) 1/2 TSP

I posted the other day about customer loyalty and today I experienced another big payoff!!   I talked about discounts in my other post and briefly mentioned buying gift cards to earn gas rewards .  In the past month I have earned over 19 /10 cents off a gallon rewards.  How have I done it?  Have I spent $1900 at the grocery store?  Nope, not at all! I've been researching discounts with my local grocery store (a Safeway company), and I noticed that they double and/or triple your gas rewards if you purchase gift cards there.  My husband and I decided we would try and buy gift cards for stores that we go to regularly.  We purchased $100 in PetSmart gift cards (we have three cats, that is one visit), and $150 in groceries (total before coupons for two weeks).  This equaled 90 cents off of a gallon.  The gift cards we purchased were the featured one that week so we earned more than normal.   This brought our gas to: $1.31/gallon, it was so exciting and weird to fill my tank for less