Daily Bzz Star wars!

I love what BzzAgent is doing with the new Daily Bzz. I'm tossing in my super-dope post to try for <insert drumroll>

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Buuuuuh buh buh buh ba buh buh buh buh ba ba buh ba ba ba baaaaaaaah!!!!! 

 

  Ok, so the Star Wars theme in buh buh buh sounds way better in your head then it looks when you type it... But I know the theme by heart and I hum it while I do dishes xD 

We're huge Star Wars fans here.... 

AND we're huge Blu-Ray fans. So this is the best campaign in the world for me to get!

 

  My kids have always loved the Star Wars movies (all of them), and they watch the Clone Wars cartoon religiously. They've even gotten neurotic and obsessive about Star Wars. My son wore his Darth Vadar mask into the shower until he was 9. Refused to bathe without it.... My daughter wants to be a princess because of Princess Leia, I've even dressed up as Leia for Halloween... 4 times. We all have our own lightsabers that we built (custom FTW!) and we regularly stage fights with them in our living room (to the star wars theme, of course). Sometimes, my son even lets me wear his Darth Vadar mask and tell him that I am his father.... we all giggle over that. My husband has every movie memorized from beginning to end and can literally recite every movie. Anyway, we are Star Wars nerds through and through.

 

We're all also Blu-ray nerds (and we have a PS3 in just about every room xD). My son can tell you all the differences between Blu-ray and DVD from quality to disc size. I'm afraid he's going to grow up and be in infomercials. We all know that the quality of a Blu-ray movie is astounding, and we have a huge 62" tv with surround sound to watch ours. We'd love to see the Star Wars saga in HD with all our friends and family, and I'd love the opportunity to bzz about it!

 And for the record, I don't call shotgun, I call Chewie =P

Bounce it Off Millions

  Have you ever had one of those mind-blowing decisions that you just can't seem to make on your own? Are you trying to decide between white or black socks? Bounce fans can help you! This is your opportunity to Bounce it Off Millions!

  If you head over to the Bounce Facebook page, you can click on the Bounce if Off Millions tab and submit your question! Your questions will be turned into a poll and other Bounce fans will vote on it to help you make your choice. Its really great because you can use the poll to help you decide. Or as an excuse.... Like my question. "Should my husband have blue hair?"

My husband: "But honey, I don't think my hair should be neon blue!"

Me: "PSH! In a poll, 71% agreed with this decision. Now you HAVE to have blue hair!"

  I'm still fighting him over the blue hair. He doesn't understand that the decision has already been made and I WILL win.

  Not only that, to celebrate Bounce it Off Millions, four lucky users will be chose to win a grand prize: A chance to turn their big question into a Facebook-wide advertisement! If you win, over 150 million Facebook users can help you decide between your two options.

But that's not all!
If you head on over right now, fans can also enter a sweepstake for the chance to win two Bounce Dryer Bars (which are so awesome!). If you win, you get one to keep and one for a friend. They're picking 5, 000 winners but the contest ends September 19th, so go-go-GO! Bounce it Off Millions

**Disclaimer:
I do not receive any monetary compensation and all opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone.

Dreamlights!

BzzAgent is doing some really awesome things with this new "Daily Bzz". I love having the opportunity to get into a program that I normally wouldn't. I especially love Dreamlights. This is my "dope" post telling why I'm excited to join this campaign.






   I have been completely infatuated with fireflies since I was 6. I would catch them when I was camping and put them in a jar. I always kept that jar by my sleeping bag. Those fireflies were my night light until I started getting sleepy and I set them free. I did the same thing every single night. Never even got tired of it. I miss those childhood days. I miss seeing the thousands of fireflies gathered on wild blackberry bushes lighting up the night by the lake. I've tried recreating them at home with firefly magnets, firefly lights, and firefly candles, but its never been the same to me as camping all summer with my fireflies.

   Sadly, I live in an area where there aren't many fireflies, so I can't introduce my children to the wonder of a firefly nightlight or the beauty of gathering fireflies outside of the pictures from my camping trips. I can't watch them light up the bushes and trees like they did when I was a child. We see a stray firefly now and again, and my kids are enthralled, but its nothing like the magic and the wonder that I experienced during my childhood. I would love to bring this to my children, even if it is simulated. My daughter has the same exact wonder and joy that I was filled with as a child. I would love to see her eyes light up at this. I'm sure she's invent a story about the fairies that live inside the jar since fairies are her world.

   I love how the Dreamlights look very authentic. Its almost exactly what fireflies look like inside of a frosted glass jar. I love imagining the stories my daughter would make up. I love giving my daughter the power to believe in fairies and fairy tales. I love the warm feeling I could get just from gazing at it and recollecting those carefree kid days where I had nothing more important to do than catch bugs. These are all the reasons why I'm excited to join this campaign.



  As the days get longer, and the nights get warmer, people are venturing outside their doors and enjoying the moonlight. As they walk down streets and paths, the flickering lights of fireflies are hard to miss. During some summers, trees would light up with more fireflies than there were stars in the heavens, turning the whole sky upside-down. As kids, many of us ran through our parents' back yards, collecting fireflies in jars. They'd flicker inside, blinking out their little buggy code to each other. We would wonder what their bio luminescent blinking lights were actually saying. No - nothing that heady. In fact, their gentle flickering communicates their ability to mate and their location - the entomological equivalent of "Hey baby! Over here, good-lookin'! So where bugs fail us, robots fill in. These robots come in the form of tiny LEDs inside a frosted glass lantern. You can set them to glow as long as they have power, or only when you shake the lantern. Don't worry about harming the little fellas - they aren't real. Your karma is safe. So traipse across your moonlit garden again, like you did when you were a kid. Set it on your night stand to offer a soft soothing glow while you sleep, or just take a walk using the lantern as cool illumination as you go. The fireflies won't mind - in fact, they'll probably come to check out the hot little robotic numbers inside. 

Are your children scary?

My children are scary. My daughter is 8 (almost 9) and she acts like a teenage girl. My son is 11 and he acts like a teenage girl....
In the past, I've always tried to be rational and responsible when dealing with my children's outbursts.

For example:
"But, Mom! Everyone else is wearing make-up in 2nd grade! Why can't I??!!"
Because this is not "tramp training camp".
I don't say that, but I'm thinking it. Instead I take a deep breath and say "What other parents let their kids do is their business. You're my business, honey. Girls that are wearing make-up at 8 years old are trying to look and act older than they are. You're 8, Morgan. Try to be 8! You'll be older soon enough and you'll have the whole rest of your life to wear make-up."

"I hate you! You're the worst mom EVER!"
What I really want is to stick my tongue out and say "I hate you too, stupid head!".
Instead, I calmly say "You can hate me if you want, and I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I love you."

With my other child it's not much different:
"I don't want to put my laundry away! This isn't fair! You make me do everything!"
[inner voice] You do nothing. You don't even pick up after yourself. You play video games, leave butt-prints in my couch, and make my life miserable every chance you get....
 "Son, I'll gladly put your laundry away if you'd like to go to work for me, wash and fold the towels, sweep and mop, load the dishwasher, take the dog for a walk, dust, and cook supper. No? That's what I have to do today, so I don't think its much to ask for you to put your own clothes away after I kindly washed and folded them for you."

My children are the ones that make other people decide against reproducing. My kids make me understand why some animals eat their young. I'm torn between telling them the bald-faced truth, and being a mature, caring adult. Occasionally, I can diffuse a situation with humor, but more often than not they make my head explode. I've been known to use sarcasm.... heavily. I've been known to yell back. But, I always try to be mature when my kids act like spoiled brats. The fact that they act like spoiled brats kind of shocks me to begin with. They don't get everything that they want. I've tried to instill values in them. I've taught them right from wrong. AND I've always been a super-cool punk-rock mom!

How would they feel if I threw a fit because I couldn't have what I wanted. What if I refused to do anything? What if I hated them and slammed doors? What if I went out in public in a ripped and stained red shirt with yellow plaid shorts without brushing my hair or teeth?

Last week, I had enough of the door slams. When my son slammed the door, I proceeded to tell him he was doing it wrong. I then demonstrated the proper way to slam a door and made him do it the "right way" for nearly a half hour. I won and there hasn't been a door slammed since. Yesterday, my daughter started screaming and flipping out because she couldn't find her favorite shirt. I yelled gibberish and flailed my arms around. When she finally stopped her tirade and looked at me in shock, I calmly said "Now you know how ridiculous you look screaming like that."

Obviously I have to be just as obnoxious as they are to get my point across. I guess when I say what that sarcastic little voice inside my head WANTS to say, they get the point much better than when I try to be calm and understanding. To think that these are just the 'tween years. As teens, I'm probably going to have to resort to psychological warfare. I'm going to have to shave eyebrows and draw mustaches while they sleep. I'm going to have to drive them to school in pajamas with feet. I'm going to have to saran-wrap the toilet. I can't wait.

Do you have the same problems? How do you deal with your 'tweens?

The internet

   I truly feel like the internet is a wonderful place. Its a constant learning experience. I've been everywhere on the internet. Company/Brand websites, social networking, forums, download sites, upload sites, blogs, the list just goes on. You name it and I've been there. From the faces of Facebook, to the depths of FatWallet, even to the farthest reaches of GaiaOnline. I love the internet. I love to hate the internet. 

There are ups, there are downs.... all in all its like a neurotic high school "I love you, I hate you" roller-coaster relationship for me.

  There are things I've learned from the internet that I would like to share. Those of you that know the internet as I do may shake their heads. You may laugh. Those who don't should take (most) of these words to heart. You may agree or disagree, but this is my internet experience over the years.


1. Google knows everything. EVERYTHING. If you need to know something, ask Google. (Warning: if Google does not know, this may be the end of the world as we know it, government censorship, or some other conspiracy!)

2. Everyone on the internet is completely prepared for (and even anticipating) a Zombie Apocalypse. They even sell "self defense" tables that break down into a club and shield to defend yourself if you are surprised by an attack. In case of a Zombie Apocalypse, proceed to the nearest PC for survival advice and always remember to remove the head.

3. The internet is a little like school. Except that you don't have to be in the same grade, school, state, age group, race, sex, or country to have someone threaten to come to your house to beat you up because you disagreed with them. 12 year olds, 30 year olds, even 72 year olds are magically transformed into 6'5"- 300 pound professional street fighters by the internet. I've seen people get seriously mad and carry on in real life over an internet fight with a total stranger. Sometimes fighting on the internet is like trying to grab the last pink Zhu Zhu off the shelf when you're surrounded by other moms packed in an aisle in Toys-R-Us at the Black Friday sales. Someone is going to win, there's just going to be a lot of hair pulling and yelling first.

4. The internet has the best T-shirts, and the best demotivational posters.

5. People of all ages go to the internet to unlearn most (if not all) proper english and punctuation. Dropped vowels, intentional misspellings (and not-so-intentional), CAPSLOCK screaming, run on sentences and abbreviations are the language of the internet. Learning "chatspeak" and "leet" is like visiting a foreign country and trying to learn the language by repeating what you hear. If Google didn't know everything, there would be a serious financial gain to "internet speak" lessons.

6. There are tons of witty comments and comebacks everywhere on the web. You find witty responses in some unexpected places. Some are great, some are not so good. My research suggests that "your mom" is still one of the most popular comebacks of choice. 

Ironically, even moms are using it.

7. There are many links on the internet. Some of them go to relevant sites, some of them take you to horrible, sick, scary places that are best not spoken of even in the worst of all nightmares. It is always best to check where a link goes before you click on it. You wouldn't want a virus, or some random man/lady parts popping up. Trust me. It happens. A LOT.

8. Animals are incredible. People's pets are making Facebook accounts and playing Mafia Wars. Cats have their own websites and YouTube channels. Birds have their own online comic. All my dog does is lay around. My fish kinda just float in their tank. I've realized I must have raised my pets to be lazy and unproductive. I'm a terrible pet-parent.

9. Not everyone is as technologically advanced as others. Occasionally, explaining to the "technologically disabled" how to do something as simple as clearing your cache turns into a 3 hour conversation that leaves you beating your head off your desk. Instead of explaining, you should refer them to Google as Google knows everything.

10. Social networking is AMAZING! I have friends that update and post pictures when they go just about anywhere. To New York. To the hospital. To the bathroom. To the pool. To the zoo. To get sloppy drunk. Its great to be able to keep up with everyone and hear all about every aspect of their lives. I also learned that social networking sites probably have privacy settings for REALLY good reasons.

11. Online gaming and MMORPGS are huge. If you're not on Farmville, and you're not playing WoW, you don't understand the sheer importance of PC gaming. You probably don't know how very incredibly rare that neon red pig with the pink, blue, and orange spotted stripes is. You have no idea how important someone's level 200 Arcane Mage is. You have no idea how significant it is that they can teleport to Tol Barad, warp the flow of time, and transform an enemy into an animal. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. These people are very passionate about their gaming, which is great on the internet. Beware the person that randomly launches into a 3 hour conversation about their farm in person. Note: When someone starts talking about their new pole dancing job, you may want to ask to which game they are referring to. You don't want to launch into a lecture about strippers when your sister is talking about Second Life.

12. Funnier things happen on the internet than in your life. Things you never thought could happen to anyone in a million years is on YouTube. For the record though, its not polite to laugh at the poor boy up the street that rode his bike into a parked car. Its not nice to laugh at the crazy cat lady that has 38 cats crammed in the back of her tiny Geo Metro in the parking spot next to yours (complete with litter box). Unless you see it on YouTube. Then it is appropriate to not only laugh, but to also share it with all your Facebook friends.

  These are the things I have learned from the internet. I'm sure there's more I've learned. Just as I'm sure I'll learn a whole lot more in my life time. These are just the important bits that stand out the most. Perhaps this is just my tired rambling as I'm typing this out on my laptop at 4am. Maybe I'm more perceptive than my mother ever hoped I could be. Whatever the case may be, the internet has surely educated me in many ways.

 Has the internet taught you anything today?

Healthy Food Fight!

I'm sure we all know cooking and eating healthy can be kinda tough.

Through SheSpeaks.com I heard about the Aetna Healthy Food Fight

Aetna is providing healthy tips from a nutritionist, cooking and eating tips from Bobby Flay, among many other things. They have tons of recipes from Bobby Flay, The Culinary Institute of America, and everyday people.

Visit the Aetna Healthy Food Fight and explore all the wonderful recipes and other helpful features of their site.

I particularly love the "Healthy Recipe Analyzer". You can enter your recipe/ingredients and it'll rate how healthy your recipe is! You'd be surprised at how many recipes aren't as healthy as you think they are.

Another great feature is Aetna's "Fast Food Alternatives". Unless you're like me and you get sick just thinking about calories and fat, you probably grab fast food now and then. I personally have a hard time cramming down any "fast food" beyond Subway, but my husband has no issue eating a Double Whopper with cheese *shudders*.

If you're on the run a lot and you have to grab fast food, this tool is for you! Not only do they recommend a healthier alternative to some of your choices (such as getting vegetable pizza instead of deep dish), they also include the calorie count AND tell you how long you'd have to walk to burn off those calories!

You can also submit your own healthy entree recipe to compete against others.

Three top qualifiers from each region will travel to the Semi-Final recipe cook-offs.

The Semi-finalists will cook their dishes in front of a representative from The Culinary Institute of America and local VIP judges. The winner from each region will receive an all-expense-paid trip to New York City to compete in the Final Cook-off judged by Bobby Flay. Four Finalists will be competing before Bobby Flay and other VIP judges. The winner of the Final Cook-off will receive a grand prize of $10,000 worth of groceries donated by Recipe.com!

So, if you have a great healthy recipe, join the fight and submit it! If you don't have a healthy recipe, check out the Healthy Food Fight recipes and try something new.

While you're there, you can also enter for a chance to win a set of Circulon gourmet cookware!

I'm hoping some of the tips and recipes Aetna has provided will help my family be a little healthier. They're all junk food addicts and its hard to get them to eat anything that could possibly be good for them. If your kids are the same, give this healthy alternative to Fruit roll-ups a try! No dehydrator needed. My kids love fruit leather!

Apple Spice Fruit Leather
Yields one 11”x17” pan of fruit leather
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 5-8 hours at 170°F

INGREDIENTS
1 25-ounce jar of applesauce
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

INSTRUCTIONS

    Preheat oven to 170°F.
    Line an 11”x17” jelly-roll pan or lipped cookie sheet with greased parchment paper (wax paper will smoke in the oven) or a silicone baking mat.
    Spread the puree until it’s about 1/4” thick. Pick up the pan and tilt back and forth until it’s evenly distributed.
    Bake in the oven for 5-8 hours. Rotate the pan halfway during the baking time to ensure even drying. Timing will vary depending on the fruit used. It’s ready when it’s smooth and non-tacky.
    Let it cool, then cut in strips with scissors or a pizza cutter. Stack or roll them and store in an airtight container or a zipper storage bag. I roll them with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they "peel" like real Fruit Roll-ups.

Tip: Store in a cool, dry place. You can store fruit leather for up to a year in the freezer, six months in the refrigerator or a few weeks at room temperature.

Other ideas/alternatives:

• Spread a thin layer of melted caramel over the fruit leather and allow it to harden a little before rolling.
• Cut fun shapes with cookie cutters, stack on parchment paper and tie with a ribbon to make a unique hostess gift or a lunch box surprise.
• Spice up a can of pumpkin with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves for another twist on fall-inspired fruit leather.
• Puree a can of peaches or other canned fruit in the blender for a quick option that requires no washing and slicing.
• To sweeten fruit leather, add a couple teaspoons, or to taste, of vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, honey or maple syrup.
• You can adjust this recipe for just about ANY kind of fruit! All you need is fruit puree (seasonings can make a difference!), sweetener, and a little tweaking of the recipe cook time (some fruits cook faster than others). Feel free to experiment and share! My favorite is plain strawberry (pureed fresh strawberries, sweetened to taste). Mixed berries are great as well.

**Disclaimer:
I do not receive any monetary compensation and all opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone.