Last Chance to Vote!

This is my last ditch effort in getting votes for my ugly couch. The contest ends tonight at Midnight.

Please take a minute and vote for our couch, the steps are down below. Don't forget to enter for a chance at free ad space for 30 days, voting for my couch isn't necessary but it would be super sweet of you!

http://bit.ly/UmrWYR

My husband broke it down into these super easy steps!

STEP #1- Go to Allen wayside furniture superstore's facebook page and like it!

STEP #2- Once you have liked the page click on "ugliest couch contest" and view entries.

STEP #3- Scroll through until you find Leslie's name and click "vote"

STEP #4- Allow the "offerpop" application to run (it doesn't download anything just tallies the votes)

STEP #5- click vote again and watch the number rise and our couch get closer and closer to the dumpster!

 

Please share with your friends!

THANK YOU!

 

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Feature Friday #5

 

TGIF! Are you with me on this? This week seems like it has taken forever. I think it is because I am looking forward to my mom's annual cookie day on Saturday. Yay!

This Sunday our fabulous co-hosts will be...

Jessica from Southern Ramblings

Elisabeth from The Beekeeper's Granddaughter

So excited to have these lovely ladies wi us on Sunday!

Make sure you check who Lanaya featured for her picks at Raising Reagan.

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Now it is time for the fun part! My features from Sunday's Raising Imperfection.

My first pick is from Deborah at Three Dawg Lady Designs and her first attempt at making a sock monkey. She thinks it looks like a cat but I think he is pretty darn cute.

Second feature is from Paula at Call Me PMc and her spicy Italian nachos. I never in a million bajillion years would have thought to make Italian nachos and now I can't wait to make them!

The last feature I couldn't resist featuring. Anne from The Pink Momma and her adorable little girl's 10 month update. Look at that sweet girl! Love the flower and tutu!

The most viewed link this week is from Jenn at Finding My Sunshine in Life and her lovely post about wind chimes.

Thank you for linking up such amazing posts! See you all on Sunday for Raising Imperfection #6.

Tag! You're It Christmas Style!

Lanaya from Raising Reagan came up with this fantastic idea of playing Tag Christmas Special so we can learn more about our blogging friends and their Christmas traditions.

You play by answering the five questions asked by the blogger who tagged you and then you tag 5 other bloggers and ask them 5 different questions.

Lanaya asked me these five questions...

1. What makes Christmas such a special holiday for you and your family?

Christmas is without a doubt my favorite holiday. Growing up we had our traditions. My most memorable is that before we went to my grandparents house to celebrate with my aunts, uncles and cousins on Christmas Eve is that my parents, brother and I would stop at McDonald's for dinner. Seems silly but it was our thing and we looked forward to it every year. My dad even mentioned this year how he would love to do that with Violet one year. With that being said, I am so excited for Violet's first Christmas this year and am looking forward to the traditions that we will have.

2. Were you told the truth about Santa Claus by your parents or did you find out another way? And...do you plan lying to your kids?

I asked my mom about Santa at some point. I think I believed longer as I had a younger brother. I don't see it as lying even if it is technically lying. Santa is a tradition that I will pass down to Violet.

3. Real tree or fake tree?

I had a real tree my entire childhood but now we have a fake tree. It is just easier and cheaper. Real Christmas trees have gotten so expensive!

4. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve, morning or both?

Christmas morning.

5. What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch? Christmas song to sing or listen too?

Surviving Christmas, I love it. My favorite song the last few years has been Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey, I think I just love making the donkey noises.

 

Here are the Five questions I am asking my tagged bloggers...I am going to answer these ones as well.

1. What is your favorite Christmas memory?

My brother one year was on the fence about Santa and I had asked for an American Girl doll that year. My mom kept telling me over and over again not to get my hopes up, they were too expensive. On Christmas morning my brother rushed into my room and exclaimed I was going to be so happy (Santa didn't wrap the present from him) and sure enough there was my American Girl and Tim believed for a little bit LO her.

2. Do you have a favorite Christmas ornament, and why is it your favorite?

I have a few...one is Marc and I's first Christmas ornament, it has a picture and it is a porch swing with a laptop on it. We met via a dating site so the laptop has a special meaning. My second one is my first Christmas ornament that is a little blue doll. The third is one from last year that has Violet's ultrasound picture on it.

3. What are some of your Christmas traditions?

My very favorite tradition we have is driving around looking at Christmas lights.

4. Do you have a big Christmas dinner? What do you have?

Yes! I look forward to it every year. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, bacon glazed carrots, broccoli and cheese, mashed potatoes and dinner rolls. Yum!

5. Do you put candy canes on your tree?

No, because I will eat them all.

 

The bloggers I am tagging are....

Mel from Mellywood's Mansion.

SEL from Growing, Laughing and Loving in Life.

Amanda Kate from Raspberry Beige.

Tiffani from Tiffani Goff at Home.

Jenn from My {Not So} Glamorous Life.

 

I can't wait to see your answers!

 

My Ugly Couch

I have a horrible hideous couch. I mean, it is really bad....see for yourself.

 

 

So why would I post horribly embarrassing photos of my hand me down couch? I want to win a new one!

We are only 13 votes behind first place! I am 13 votes away from a new couch. We are so close that I can already see a new couch in my living room.

http://bit.ly/UmrWYR

My husband broke it down into these super easy steps!

STEP #1- Go to Allen wayside furniture superstore's facebook page and like it!

STEP #2- Once you have liked the page click on "ugliest couch contest" and view entries.

STEP #3- Scroll through until you find Leslie's name and click "vote"

STEP #4- Allow the "offerpop" application to run (it doesn't download anything just tallies the votes)

STEP #5- click vote again and watch the number rise and our couch get closer and closer to the dumpster!

And since you are being nice and helping me out, let me help you out! I am offering free ad space on my blog for 30 days! Just enter the rafflecopter below and please vote.

Voting for my couch is not necessary to win the free ad space but it sure would be super nice of you if you did vote.

Please share with your friends!

 

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Busy Baby Sweatshirt

Violet loves shoelaces, zippers, buttons, ribbon, string, Velcro....pretty much anything that she shouldn't be chewing on.

My mom and I came up with a solution together, I brainstormed and my mom did the sewing. We based it off of the dress me dolls, we couldn't find one anywhere so we made a variation ourselves.

A note on this project, always supervise your child while they play with this.

Supplies:

• Sweatshirt or long sleeve tshirt
• Pillow
• Various ribbons
• Velcro
• Buttons
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Jingle bells
• Plastic packaging

I don't have pictures of the putting together part but I think it is pretty self explanatory. Here are my pictures and directions.

 

Violet adores her busy pillow and we had everything on hand except the pillow so it was an inexpensive project as well. This is a fantastic idea for the little one in your life this holiday season.

Ribbon tastes so good Mama!

 

 

 

 

 

Raising Imperfection Link Party #5

Welcome to Raising Imperfection weekly link party!
I hope everyone has had a great week, celebrating Thanksgiving and spending time with your family. If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving I hope you had a great week too!
Did you see the Feature Fridays posts this week? My Features are here and Lanaya's Features are here.
Our Party Rules

1. Please follow your hosts Raising Reagan and Violet Imperfection via Facebook and/or Twitter, Bloglovin, Google + or any other form that works for you!

If you are new to the party, please leave us a comment so we know to follow you back!

2. Please follow your co-hosts~

Kim from Two Martini Lunch

&

Charlotte from The Life of Mummy Rawles

3. Link up your DIY projects, cooking disasters, parenting successes and fails, funny stories, kid photo bombs, etc.

Please DO NOT link up your main blog page, giveaways or other link ups. Those entries will be removed.

4. Visit some of the other blogs in the link-up and even follow them! {comments are always recommended and appreciated}

5. Tweet about the Raising Imperfection Linky Party to help spread the word!

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If you would like the chance to co-host Raising Imperfection with us, make sure you enter the Rafflecopter down below!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

Burlap Thanksgiving Banner

 

I originally posted this tutorial over at Sugar Bee Crafts for Mandy's guest posting extravaganza. I love it so much that I had to share it with you here too. Even though it is so close to Thanksgiving.

Supplies:

• Burlap
• Fabric (in at least two patterns)
• Popcorn kernels
• Jute Twine or ribbon of your choice
• Green Ribbon
• Card stock
• Hot Glue or bonding of your choice
• Mini Clothespins
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Permanent Marker

The first thing I did was make a stencil for my burlap flags and cut them out. You can get creative and cut out any shape, triangle, circle, rectangle, etc. Set aside.

For the word Thankful you need 8 flags, 4 turkey handprints and 4 corn cobs.

For my turkey handprint I traced my Violet's handprint, no easy task for a 8 month old.

I used paper for my stencil, I pinned the stencil to the fabric and cut around. I cut the turkey hands facing in two different directions. For the letters I printed out the word "THANKFUL" in the font I liked and cut them out the same way as the turkey handprints. As you can see I don't have a machine for cutting so it is good ol' scissors for me.

Set your turkey prints and letters aside and it is time to start working on the corn cobs.

I cut a rough shape out of card stock for the corn cobs, I used yellow card stock in case any of the kernels showed through. I used hot glue as my bonding agent and I found if I started on the outside edge and went around the kernels laid out more evenly. The key to using hot glue is to lay just a little glue down at a time or it will dry before your can place your kernels.

To attach the green ribbon I folded the ribbon in half and found the middle and glued that directly onto the bottom of the corn cobs. Next I glued the ribbon to each side of the corn cob. I twisted my ribbon to make it look a little more rustic to my eye.

The next step is to glue the corn cob to your burlap. After the corn cob is glued down, I glued the ribbon to the burlap. I twisted it again as I glued. Glue all four corn cobs onto your flags in the same manner.

I found an easy way to glue the turkey handprints and letters as they were a bit floppy being made out of fabric.

Pick one end to start at, glue a small piece and attach to the burlap. Make sure you don't glue to your work surface....speaking from experience here.... Once I placed the glued end down, I would glue small sections at a time to make sure the letters and handprints lined up the way I wanted. With a permanent marker I drew legs and a beak directly on the burlap for the turkey handprints.

Next is the fun part, at least for me, attaching your flags to your jute twine. I used mini clothespins to attach mine, you could also use a wider ribbon and sew. I prefer glue gun crafting to machine sewing,

Now it is time to admire your handiwork. I think it will be easy to store since I can take the squares off the line and put them away stacked instead of bundled up on the line.

Close up of the turkey handprint and corn cob.

I have so much to be thankful for this year! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Resolutions in Motion Progress Update

It has been two weeks since Resolutions in Motion started so it is time for a progress update.

I have lost 1.5lbs in the two weeks. I am happy with the loss, the scale is moving down in the right direction.

 

I know I could be doing better, I have been making better choices eating wise and I did get out for three walks last week. If those walks taught me anything it is how much stamina I have lost. I won't lie that the realization of how far I am from where I was weight loss wise - roughly 70 lbs and exercise wise - easily able to walk 4 to 5 miles - made me really sad and frustrated. Which in terms of making healthy choices usually leads me to over eating and feeling badly about myself. I have to force myself to focus on the positive and set goals.

The Positive

• I have gotten outside for walks.
• I am making healthier choices most of the time.
• I downloaded the my fitness pal app and have started logging my calories.
• I am weighing out my food for portion control for most meals.
• I feel better, not 100% but I am in a better mood and getting more stuff done around the house.

Mini Goals

• Log calories into my fitness pal 6 out of 7 days, giving myself Sundays off
• Drink 8 glasses of water a day
• Walk 3 times per week, at least 15 mins each walk
• Brainstorm healthy snacks to have in the house

Don't forget to go link up to the Resolutions in Motion GFC hop today, it is open to everyone.

 

Artichoke Crusted Chicken

I am not going to lie, I am pretty impressed with myself for making this recipe. I am not a confident cook, if there are too many ingredients or if I think the cooking technique is too complicated I will avoid making it or convince Marc to try cooking it, he is the chef in our family.

That is why I put try ten new recipes on my 31 before 31 list, here is #1.

Doesn't it look pretty? It is the only picture I have. I was so focused on making it that I didn't take pictures.

I adapted the recipe from a pin of course, Sugarlaw's Recipe. I did tweak it a little so make sure you go check it out, she made the recipe so easy!

Ingredients:

• 12oz of chicken breast, I used tenders so I didn't have to pound them thin
• 1/4 cup of artichokes - I used a little over this & marinated artichokes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese - Sugarlaw's used white cheddar
• Salt & Pepper

See, few ingredients, nothing too exotic.

 

Salt & pepper your chicken breast and sauté in the olive oil. I did all of my pieces at once and where I was wounded. I was a little too enthusiastic in my flinging the chicken in the pan.

Oil blow back all over my wrist, arm and tshirt. Smooth Leslie, real smooth. I will be honest I have never ever sautéed anything in oil. Besides the unfortunate oil splatter it was easy! And yummy. Wow, I learn something new everyday. Set aside your chicken after cooking.

Mix the mayo, cheese and chopped artichokes together in a bowl. Spread the mixture over the cooked chicken. Broil at 400 degrees until cheese is bubbly and the coating is golden. I was über vigilant with the broiling and it took forrrrrreeeeever in my oven. Just keep watch, you can burn this in a blink of an eye.

Shall we admire my artichoke crusted chicken again?

It was delicious, I will be making this again for sure. In fact I am wondering if my parents would enjoy it for their birthday dinner in a few weeks.

I rate this recipe 4 out of 5 oil spatters, easy to assemble and I gradients that don't break the bank or intimidate me, a very important factor. I feel accomplished, 1 recipe completed, 9 more to go! Oh and to brag, I even cooked my first risotto, from a box of course to go with the chicken. Move over Suzy Homemaker!

 

Raising Imperfection Linky Party - Week 4

Welcome to week 4 of Raising Imperfection! I am excited to see what everyone will be linking up this week. Thank you so much for joining us again and if you are new to our party, Welcome!

Don't forget if you would like a chance to be a co-host enter the Rafflecopter down below for you chance to co-host Raising Imperfection next week.
Our Party Rules: 1. Please follow your hosts Raising Reagan and Violet Imperfection via Facebook and/or TwitterIf you are new to the party, please leave us a comment so we know to follow you back!2. Please follow your co-hosts~This week’s awesome co-host and winner of last week’s giveaway is:Sara ~ Sara Sherrell Rockin' Oily Mom3. Link up your DIY projects, cooking disasters, parenting successes and fails, funny stories, kid photo bombs, etc.Please DO NOT link up your main blog page, giveaways or other link ups.Those entries will be removed.4. Visit some of the other blogs in the link-up and even follow them!{comments are always recommended and appreciated}5. Tweet about the Raising Imperfection Linky Party to help spread the word!
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Campus Book Rentals

One of the things that I thought was crazy about college was the amount of money you had to pay for text books. So when Campus Book Rentals contacted me to do a blog post I had to check them out. My verdict? Super awesome option for those of you who need text books. 

Here are some of the perks to renting your text books from Campus Book Rentals.

-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices

-free shipping both ways, you receive a return envelope so no shipping costs

-can highlight in the textbooks

-flexible renting periods

-donation to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

-if you decide to keep the book you are able to with paying the difference, so it is risk free

-return your book risk free within 30 days for any reason for a full refund

One more thing I love about Campus Book Rentals....you don't have to be a student to rent books. For the history geek in me I am seriously considering renting one, I know I am a dork.

Here is an example of a book you could rent, Everyday Life in Early America. I told you I was a history geek.

So if you are in the market for text books or are a book geek like me check out Campus Book Rentals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was compensated for this post but the opinions are my own.

 

Feature Friday #3 ~ Raising Imperfection

Yay! It is finally Friday, man, it was one of those weeks for me, never ending, counting down the hours until my husband got home from work each day. A teething baby bites...ha.

Make sure to check over with Lanaya at Raising Reagan to see who she has featured! Don't forget to grab our Feature Fridays button if you are one of the features on either of our blogs.


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My first feature is from Evelyn at My Turn (For Us) and these yummy looking fish tacos. I have never had fish tacos before but I have been wanting to try them for a long time. Yum!

 

My second pick for a feature comes from Haley at Team Ibrahim and the most clever couples costume I have ever seen! Look at that! They even had the little stick figure baby. Make sure to check out Haley's post to see what other neat idea she did,

 

I decided on three features this week because there were so many awesome posts linked up. My number three feature is from Jen at That's What She Read and her lovely birth story of her son Ryder. I am a sucker for birth stories even more so since Violet was born. Jen's birth story is beautifully written, make sure you go read her story.

 

 

And now for our most clicked entry.......

Is it time to have "The Talk"? From Colleen at Mommie Daze. Super cute spots about having the Santa talk with her son, go check it out if you haven't already.

 

 

Another week wrapped up! I hope we see all of you again on Sunday for Raising Imperfection and a chance to win a spot as one of our co-hosts!

 

Happy Weekend!