Are you still buying College Textbooks?

Are you in college? Have you ever heard of renting a text book? Yes it is true you no longer have to buy the text book that is required for a course anymore.  CampusBookRentals.com is a website where you can rent your college textbooks and save 40 -90% off bookstore prices. They even offer free shipping both ways. You can even highlight in the books you rent.
This site also offers a way that students can rent the text books they already own to other students too. What a great way you can make some cash rather than selling those textbooks back to the campus bookstore.  The website rentback.com tells you just how much your textbooks are worth.
With each textbook that is rented a donation will be given to Operation Smile. Wow.. saving money and helping out a child's smile, all at the same time, you can't beat that. I wish this was around when I was going thru college.  I have included a video that will sum up on how the renting process works.

Frozen Yogurt Grapes

I have seen this recipe float around Pinterest several times and I always wanted to try grapes covered in greek yogurt and frozen. Have you pinned something similar? I was thinking about making these and bringing them as a healthy snack to my daughters classroom on our day for snacks. This snack is very easy to make, but messy. I tried making it several ways. The first way, was to place the greek yogurt in a zip lock bag and add the grapes then place the zip lock bag in the freezer. The result, one big frozen yogurt grape mess. So I tried using a toothpick thru the grape, dipping the grape in the yogurt. Then placing them on a plate, that was placed in the freezer. This way worked great. The grapes did not come out looking like all the gorgeous pictures I see on Pinterest. I guess the pictures I looked at must have been photo shopped... lol. Anyways besides the prettiness of the yogurt covered grapes, they are fantastic and so addicting.
I have only two complaints about this snack. One complaint is that when they start to thaw the yogurt turns back into yogurt, which gets sticky and messy. The last complaint, they are very cold when you take them out of the freezer, not good to try on a zero below day. This would be a very good snack on a hot summer day, if you eat them fast.
In conclusion,  I don't think I will be able to serve this as a snack to my daughters class. I have got to get back to the drawing board for the snack idea.

Have you tried these yummy grapes yet? What was your thoughts on the grapes?




I have linked this post to the following sites:

Pin me linky party
Monday Fun-day
I don't like Mondays
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays


4 You With Love Party Thyme

Sunday FUNday
Bouquet of talent link party
Happiness is homemade linky party

Meaningful Christmas Ornaments

I have decided to finally take down the Christmas decor today, do to it being bitterly cold outside today. As all the ornaments were starting to be placed in boxes, it dawned on me that I have not wrote about my new Christmas ornaments this year, well for last year. Have you ever heard of a Memory Christmas Tree? I don't know how I started making my Christmas tree a Memory Tree, I just started buying ornaments that were meaningful to me and my family. It all started when my husband and I got married and I got my first Lenox ornament for a our first Christmas. Then when our daughter was born I bought her a Lenox ornament, along with my first mommy to be ornament. Since then, I have added way more meaningful ornaments. I try to get ornaments for events that happen in our lives. for instance like playing a sport for the first time, taking a trip where we have never been, or a life changing event.
This year was our first year ever getting to go camping in the wilderness with a camper. It was my daughters first ever  wilderness camping experience. 



This year we welcomed a new edition to our family.


Here is my mommy to be ornament for our newest edition for 2013. I wrote  on the bottom with a sharpie the year  and the words mommy to be. I love this ornament. The blanket the baby is wrapped in is blue and the stork is pink. 


Since we added to our family we needed a new snow people ornament with all of our names on it. 


As a family we took our first trip snow skiing. We went to Snowshoe WV. We really enjoyed this trip.  Just wished I would have gotten the chance to learn how to snow board, but I was still recovering from having our newest edition, so I just watched everyone have fun.


This ornament was for my daughter. While we were at Snowshoe, WV she took her first lessons on how to snow board. This ornament looks just like the outfit she wore. If only the pants were black and the gloves were pink. 


This year we went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, OH twice. Our first time ever going was also my daughters first trip getting to bring a friend along. The second trip was the last trip as a family of three. 

My daughter got to go to her first skating parties.


This ornament was made in 2012 and was given to me from my daughter as a Christmas present that was made in school. I will cherish this ornament the most.

Do you have a memory Christmas tree? If you do I would love to hear of the type of ornaments you place on your tree. I still have three more ornaments to find to represent my daughter starting kindergarten, a coaching ornament and a ornament representing our season passes to a amusement park. 

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide Detector in your home?

With some of the coldest weather knocking on everyones doors here soon, I want to remind everyone to make sure they have a Carbon Monoxide Detector that is working properly on every floor of their home.  I am reminded of the post I wrote on January 25 of last year, when our furnace lost it's up draft, malfunctioned and poured carbon monoxide into our home. With this cold weather coming our furnaces will be working overtime. Take care and stay warm.

Friday, January 25, 2013

I thank GOD today that my family is alive.

Today I want to give thanks to God. Last night I was awaken by three alarms going off in my home. As I was getting up to go check them out, I thought to myself I hate those detectors, those things are out of batteries or malfunctioning again. Low and behold they were actually protecting our lives. When I made my way to the basement I could see the numbers on one of the Carbon Monoxide detectors was not flashing zero like the time before. My eyes grew big, when I saw the number flashing 188. The other detector I had downstairs which is just a plain circle detector was going off too. I knew this was not a malfunctioning or battery problem. I rushed back upstairs to my main level and the detector there was reading below 100, but still beeping. I knew we had a problem, but I still had no clue what to do. I went to my trusty Google and searched for carbon. All I remember is reading turn off furnace, call fire department, leave home. But there was still one more problem after I read that.What number do I call? My problem was not really a 911 urgent issue, but I did not have the direct number to our dispatch either. So I called the only number I knew for our city and from there the nice lady directed me to our Metro Safe and gave me that number. Remember I am still in the high level carbon home, with the kitchen door standing wide open, letting the house air out while I make my call to the fire department.  During all this commotion I had to take my daughter next door to Grandma's house so she could be safe. The firemen came with their sirens and lights. I am assuming it woke up all the neighbors. My sweet daughter missed it all, because I made her go to Grandma's. The firemen did detect that there was Carbon Monoxide in the home. They made sure the gas was turned off and that the levels were safe for me stay in my home.
Bright and early this morning I called the plumber to come out and the furnace company. Come to find out my furnace was not working properly. I could write a whole blog page on this rant about the furnace issue when we bought the house, but I am going to chalk it up to, live and learn and be thankful the furnace is fixed and I did not have to buy a new one.
As for Carbon Monoxide detectors I hope and pray you have one for every floor of your house. There nothing wrong with having two on every floor. Please check these often. Because these detectors saved my daughters and my life last night. I also will stress to make sure you get your furnace cleaned every year. Please protect your family from this silent killer. All I can say is THANK YOU JESUS for putting your love and protection around my family.

Beef Tenderloin

Happy New Year Everyone! The start of my New Year began with sickness in our house, my husband was unfortunate to receive the flu and I ended up with a sinus infection. Besides that our holiday season was filled with blessings and firsts.
Have you ever cooked a Beef Tenderloin before? Christmas Eve was the first time I ever cooked one. I wanted to cook something other than a turkey for Christmas Eve night supper for my family.  I was  nervous on cooking this type of meat because it was so expensive. But I soon found out how easy it was to cook and how good it was. If you always wanted to cook this, don't be afraid you can not mess it up. Just follow these simple instructions. Bake 3 lbs of meat at 400F for 40 minutes, season with black pepper and salt or any type of seasoning you want. Let rest before cutting slightly covered for at least 20 minutes. Want to know how I cooked this beautiful, juicy piece of medium raw meat?

To cook this wonderful piece of meat you will need:
Beef Tenderloin (3 lbs is pictured)
2 table spoons of Olive Oil
1 teaspoon of Salt
1 teaspoon of Pepper
2 teaspoons of Minced Garlic 
1 teaspoon of dried Thyme 

Make sure you let your meat come to room tempature before cooking it. I left mine out for about 40 minutes before cooking. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and brush on meat. After you brushed the seasoning on the meat, place the meat in a roaster pan or any pan that has a rack in it. Preheat your oven to 500. Place the meat in the oven uncovered. As soon as the meat is in the oven turn the oven down to 400. Cook the meat for 40 minutes. The temparture of the meat should be at 135F for medium rare, if you want medium the temperature should be 130F. When meat is done take out of oven and let the meat rest for a minimum of 20 minutes lightly covered. Letting the meat rest, lets the juices redistribute thru the meat.  Cut and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. Let me know if you try it. I love hearing from my readers. I also would like to know if you added or did anything different. Remember to not be afraid to try new things this New Year. Happy New Year.


I have linked this post to the following sites.







Wow us Wednesday's

Pin me Linky Party