swagbucks extravaganza TOMORROW!!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) Swagbucks is celebrating the month of January with a bunch of Swag Codes - if you can get them all, you'll have an extra 65 Swag Bucks at the end of the day!

They'll be happening all throughout the day at random times, so check their blog, Facebook and Twitter for potential clues.

If you have the new Toolbar installed you'll be able to check for Swag Codes all day long!

I've written several times about how much I love swagbucks, and y'all I promise it's totally legit! Through gift cards a large percentage of our Christmas gifts were FREE!

If you haven't joined Swagbucks yet, click any of the links in this post to join the fun and start earning reward points that you can exchange for free stuff like gift cards!

Use the code JANTASTIC during sign up - that way you'll start with 100 Swag Bucks instead of the usual 30. Enter the code exactly as it appears with no spaces.



  carry on :-)

recipe of the week: buffalo chicken stromboli

i originally published this recipe a couple of years ago, but that version contained some ingredients that i no longer allow in our home. so here's the much healthier, real food containing and yummier version that we eat now!


buffalo chicken stromboli

1 ball pizza dough from trader joes or your favorite pizzaria
1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 cup hot buffalo wing sauce (i use frank's red hot)
1-2 tablespoons straight up hot sauce (i use frank's for that too)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup fiesta blend cheese (i use whole foods brand)
1/2 a large red onion, diced
1 carrot, shredded
2 stalks celery, diced
your choice of dressing on the side (ranch is my preferred, naturally)

you guys, this recipe is so.stinking.easy. every time i make it i mean to take pictures of the whole process, so next time i PROMISE i will have them for you :-)

spray a baking sheet lightly with olive oil (i have a mister that i use...i definitely prefer real olive oil to any other nonstick spray substance)

while the chicken is cooking, roll out your pizza dough--it helps to be more oval or even rectangular for this recipe.

mix the chicken and the hot sauces together, and put down the center of the dough in about a 1-2 inch wide strip (depending on how wide your dough is)

top with the onion, then the celery and shredded carrots

put the cheeses on top of the veggies

then start "braiding" the pizza dough

it'll look something like this when you finish. i then mist the top with a little more olive oil so that it'll brown nicely

 bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes depending on your desired brownness.

and naturally, enjoy.

it's a great day for hockey to come baaaaaack!

so, there was this silly little lockout
{those are the nicest adjectives i can use to describe it. feel free to replace}

and now it's finally over. so, naturally we are having a gathering tonight to watch the first hockey game the preds have played all season.

until then it's the normal saturday cleaning, laundry, tv, cooking, errands run...

anything spectacular happening in your world?

thursday's ten or so: the january goals edition

so i've been a little lax on the blog this year, but that's ok. i've been formulating a new plan for what i'm going to be doing this year in terms of goals, and i've come up with a fun way to combine one of my favorite things (making lists) with another favorite (pinterest).  this year instead of having random goals that i can't really "track" i'm trying to do ten things a month that fall into the categories of:

1- try new recipes (because we all know i love the cooking)
2- improve overall health
3- do something creative
4- invest in relationships (God, husband, friends, co-workers, etc)
5- have FUN
6- organizations/improvements in general

so, i'm creating a board for each month (not all of them exist yet) of things that somehow fit one or more categories.  here is january's list

1 - start a "blessings" jar for 2013. more on that as it comes {creative, fun, relationships)
2 - create a vegetable soup recipe that both anthony and i will enjoy. i hope. {recipes, health}
3 - try the meat/egg in muffin tin recipe {recipes}
4 - recipe for tortellini spinach bake {recipes}
5 - recipe for hashbrown quiches {recipes}*
6 - get in a routine of exercising in the mornings {health}
7 - recipe for balsamic carrots {recipes, health, relationships (because it's mainly for A)}
8 - recipe for blt pasta salad {recipes}
9 - reorganizing the kitchen utensils/counters/drawers {organization}
10 - trying the mint tin storage solution {organization}
this month it's a bit recipe-heavy. hopefully the months will even out a bit...this was just my first attempt at a monthly goals board.  we're a little over halfway through the month, and i have done a few of these already! i'll post pictures/give an update at the end of january or beginning of february along with feb's goals! i think this is going to be fun :-)

*swapped this one for another salad type recipe that i realized i'd rather have in warmer weather! perhaps the low 20s this week made me reconsider!

join me?
or at least share some of this year's hopes/dreams/goals with me!

thursday's ten or so: the holiday edition

since i'm still kind of in a holiday coma (and more to come since we haven't celebrated with my family yet!) i thought it would be fun to share a few holiday memories from this year. please feel free to respond in the comments or write your own post with these memories and more!

most awkward moment
a toss up between playing a dirty santa game that half the room wasn't into and when we all had to be silent while an aunt read the weather report from...louisville?

most satisfying receipt of a gift (for me)
anthony's reaction when he realized that i had bought him the complete collection of calvin and hobbes. 

most satisfying receipt of a gift (for us)
we made anthony's mom cry. twice in a row :-) first for a cashmere scarf and second for a family photo from our wedding we had printed and framed for his parents

most surprising gift (for me)
anthony got me a new tv!

most surprising gift (for us)
anthony's aunt bought us the sound of music on bluray, which was on our list. only she got us a limited edition collector's set. it's pretty amazing...and TOTALLY above what we would have ever expected!

most gobbled part of the main meal?
we had prime rib and sides...not surprisingly the prime rib was number one on the "like" list (at least at our table). however, the twice baked garlic potatoes were pretty freaking awesome too!


most fun stocking surprise?
for me? pretty sure it was the OPI bondettes mini set anthony stuffed in there. for him? i think it's a toss-up between the ninja-bread cookie cutters and the om-nom (character from cut the rope) plush. he might tell you differently though ;-)

most pleasant surprise?
that instead of everyone ripping into their gifts at once there were several of us who watched for the reactions of everyone else...that made it last slightly longer, but certainly made it more fun.

most fun new tradition?
we added to an old tradition (that of everyone gathering to watch a christmas movie for 3 or 4 nights) but offering to bring dinner one of the nights. tomato basil soup and grilled cheese is now officially "the" meal for the viewing of white christmas :-)

so. how were your festivities?

even so...rejoice.

oh come Thou Dayspring come and cheer
oh, Papa, do we ever need your peace. your cheer. your arms to wrap around us.

our spirits by thine advent here
we wait. we dare to hope again. we dream.

disperse the gloomy clouds of night
the clouds this week have have been more sobering than before

and death's dark shadows put to flight
remind us that death, even senseless, tragic, angering death does not win

rejoice, rejoice
give us the strength, the faith, the will to rejoice again

Emmanuel
God is with us. GOD is WITH us.

has come to thee, oh Israel

thursday's ten: the non-suggested 5k edition

times i wouldn't suggest running a 5k

when you've been sick with the flu 3 out of the last 5 days.
when because of your back being injured for 6 weeks followed by the flu, you haven't trained even once in the last 2 months
when it's classified as an off road adventure
when your asthma is acting up
when you stayed up until 3 am with a girlfriend eating junk and watching tv
when you are used to temperatures over the mid 60s (in tennessee) and you are now set to run in 40 degree northwestern kentucky weather
when rain is also predicted
when your tennis shoes are so old they aren't really great for running on any surface anymore, much less non-paved surfaces
when you forget to take your inhaler until halfway up the first hill (thank GOODNESS i had borrowed a spibelt to carry it in and was able to remedy that quickly!)

BUT

if you choose to still do the 5k after ALL that?

it may be awesome
it may be fun
it may be the worst time you've ever had because you ended up HIKING in the woods on a single file trail instead of running a 5k (guess that's what they meant by off road)
there may be gorgeous scenery

you may feel an enormous sense of accomplishment just for surviving
it may be something you want to do again, at least once in awhile :-)

coming out of my (you guessed it) sick fog to post some exciting swag news

seriously, i'm sick again. although i'm on the upswing now, i've been running a lovely fever and having general flu-like symptoms for the last 3 days.

BUT i just read this and had to come post it quickly.

Starting on November 1st, the Swagbucks Swag Store will be bringing you lower prices and limitless rewards. (and they even make sense now. $5 gift cards are 500 swagbucks, $10 gift cards are 1000 swagbucks, etc, etc. the only exception is amazon $5 cards which will still be 450 swagbucks!

You can now snag even more rewards, because the old monthly redemption limits (except the $5 Amazon.com Gift Card which bums me out slightly) will be gone. You’re still limited to 2 rewards per day, but you can get as many repeat cards as you want! 

this means i may actually get a $10 and $25 amazon card or two each month in addition to my normal 5 $5 cards. this means christmas shopping just got WAY easier. and free-er.

um, if you haven't signed up for swagbucks yet, you really should. click on any of the links in this post and (a) you'll start earning free gift cards by doing very simple things and (b) i'll get referral bucks when you search on sb!

oh, and there's a new program where if you go to stores you normally shop at (like itunes for example...) and purchase something you get swagbucks. it varies how many sb you get per dollar spent,  and you don't get instant gratification. but i just got 18 swagbucks in my account for using an itunes gift card (therefore spending NO money) to buy a 8.99 album last month. check out the shop and earn tab to see what stores are featured!

monday's memory: in the details, He is there

be encouraged -- God sees you, knows you, and loves you
{-me :-)} from this post on august 23

and little did i know that hours after writing those words i'd have an example

because of my scheduled time to arrive at work (9.30 am) there is rarely traffic on my way in. therefore, i rarely consult the traffic app on my phone before leaving my house.

on august 23, however, i did.

and what i saw made me pause. my normal route to work was clogged, apparently. and the secondary way i would have normally chosen was not the recommended way to go. instead, a third way that i wouldn't ordinarily consider popped up as the way i should go.

at first i dismissed it.

but the nagging thought (read: Holy Spirit) kept pressing that i should go that way after all.
and so i reluctantly pulled off the exit. after the light turned green i made my left turn.

and that's when i knew something was wrong.
heart pounding i pulled slowly into the first gas station i could spot
and stepped out of the car to see if my suspicions were correct

sure enough, i had a flat tire. and not just a flat tire that needed a bit of pumping up...a FLAT tire. as in, i'm not even sure how i had made it this far on it, surprised my wheel wasn't damaged, flat flat tire.

and then i had to laugh just a little.

you see, this alternate way that i would have never considered?
the gas station that i had abruptly pulled into?
it happened to be just down the street (about a mile) from where my husband's office is

so he was able to come within moments, drive me to work, and then wait with my car for the AAA guy.

all ended up well
(hello brand new set of tires)

but it could have been the opposite.
my normal way to work? interstate the entire way. i don't even want to think about the ramifications of what could have happened given HOW flat my tire was.

that morning i was prompted to open an app on my phone that i ordinarily would have ignored
i was nudged to follow the instructions on the app even though ordinarily i would have dismissed them and gone a more familiar route

a few hours after all this happened a friend tweeted these words, and i had to smile (and retweet):
"God has never stopped being interested in the details of our lives. so why do we worry?"

i'm sure some people would argue that God isn't interested in the details of our lives
i'm sure some would say that i am imagining the hand of God in this.

and all i can say to that is that i hope they have experiences (as i have) where it is undeniable that God is working even in the tiniest areas of their life. living in disbelief that you are radically loved by God is one of the saddest things i know.

because knowing that the God of the universe, the One who speaks and mountains move is personally and intimately interested in every detail of your life?

it's life-changing, my friends

oh, how He loves us so.