It's giveaway time!

So here we at the end of January. Hasn't this year already flown by? lol
As we come into February I hope you are finding lots of joy and blessings in 2013 already. 
Want to enjoy some more awesomeness then get your hands all over this months giveaway. I have paired up with my friend Kelly. She is a Thirty-One consultant and enjoys it very much. 
Kelly and I met in 2011 when she moved in a couple houses down and we became friends. So read on below and meet her yourself and enter this months giveaway! (Please note in order to be entered into the giveaway you must join her group page (unless you are already a member) and either comment on the blog link or the blog comment box. Thanks!)

My name is Kelly Bowen and I'm the wife of a Marine.  Oh what a life!  We have 3 children; ages 12, 9, and almost 2.  To make a long story short, I've been in the Jacksonville area for almost 3 years.  I was a medical transcriptionist for 6 years and worked the night shift from home… didn't have many opportunities to meet people and make friends.  When my husband deployed last year, I quit my job and became a full time stay-at-home mom.  About half way through deployment I decided to go back to college.  Now, I am an independent consultant for Thirty-One! 

My "why" for joining the thirty-one family was an easy one.  I had been interested in the products for quite awhile and went to a home party where I learned about the business opportunity and all the benefits of being a consultant, prayed about it, and joined!  I love being a part of the thirty-one family!!  Thirty-One is a faith based company inspired by Proverbs 31.  We believe in encouraging, celebrating, and rewarding women.  With thirty-one I've been able to bring in my own little income, get tons and tons of bonuses, meet lots of women all over the area, and have made new friends.  Exactly what I was wanting!  Since my husband came home from deployment, he has supported me and encouraged me to keep going!  This year I am 31 and it's thirty-one's 10th anniversary, so I decided to give my everything to thirty-one this year!!  Thirty-One has tons of products to help organize anyone's life with totes, bags, purses, hang-up organizers, and so much more!  As a consultant, I throw home parties for hostesses and their guests showcasing our products, play games, and have fun!  I also help with online/catalog parties for those who don't want to have a home party.  Hostesses can collect orders from anyone… even thousands of miles away!  The hostesses earn awesome rewards; free products and half-off products and hostess exclusive products!  My personal goals for 2013 are to have at least 1 party every month and to become a senior consultant (have a team of 5) by the end of the year.  There is soooo much to say about thirty-one because it is such an amazing company!  I could go on and on about the benefits of being a thirty-one consultant, the unique and beautiful exclusive thirty-one prints, the reputable products, too too much to brag about!  I love Thirty-One!

I have a facebook group where I post product pictures, the monthly specials, specials that only I offer, and more.  Please join my group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/KLAMS/  I am going to give away a thirty-one Littles carry-all caddy in the pattern of your choice (retail $12)  to a random person just for becoming a member of my group.  Here is a picture:

In addition to that… if you book/hold an in-home OR online/catalog party with me in February, March, or April, I'm giving away a $10 thirty-one gift certificate!! 

If you want to join my team and indulge in all the awesome benefits of being a thirty-one consultant, then you are awesome and should contact me!  Thirty-One is having a special Feb 16th-April 1st where new recruits can get a $99 rebate making your enrollment kit FREE!!  Contact me for more details!

For anything and everything thirty-one, please contact me!! 

ph# 863-670-1603  Email:  klams121@gmail.com

View our thirty-one Spring catalog online at http://www.mythirtyone.com/KLAMS/   

Blessings,

Kelly

Good luck to you all and we'll catch on the flip side. Winner will be announced next week in my blog posting and link :)

What's cookin?

I don't like the cold, I don't like it too hot, I hate the humidity. Do I sound like I can't be pleased? Haha, oh I can be....and a good meal is just the trick (and diamonds, flowers, and surprises too). With this cold weather that has come to visit and not wanting to leave I have dove into cooking (since I don't want to leave my house). And man I have dug up some soup recipes that are pretty amazing. So I wanted to share them with you all :)

Since we all battled sickness (with a vengeance) it seemed only traditional to make some chicken noodle soup. Here is a the recipe I use:

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or add left over chicken or turkey at the end)

1 teaspoon celery salt
1 onion, chopped
2 qt. water
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 large carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon onion salt
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 teaspoons salt
Boil above ingredients for 1 hours. When chicken is tender, remove from broth and cut into 1 inch pieces and set aside(I like to tear mine so it’s in big chunks). If the liquid has reduced to much you can add some more water at this point. Add 2 cups of uncooked noodles and continue to boil for 20 minutes.

Cream Sauce
¾ cup butter
1 cup flour
4 cups milk
Melt butter in large sauce pan. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened (get it pretty thick). Add salt and pepper. Add cream sauce to broth/noodle mixture. If the soup is too thin after adding the cream mixture, continue cooking until desired thickness.

Next I love tortellini and this has become a quick favortie in our house. I introduce you to:

Tortellini and white bean soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 2 ribs celery, sliced 
• 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 8-oz. package fresh cheese or meat tortellini
• 1 15-oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
• Salt, optional
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add celery, tomatoes and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until celery begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, 2 minutes longer.
• Stir in broth and bring soup to a boil. Carefully add tortellini and beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until soup is heated through and tortellini are tender, about 7 minutes. Season with salt, if desired. Divide soup among 4 bowls, sprinkle each with 1 Tbsp. Parmesan and serve immediately.

And last but not least I have a find my hubby made in Rachel Ray's Everyday magazine and it was amazing! 

Beef and barley stew

1 pound lean ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 14 1/2 ounce can  diced fire-roasted tomatoes

1 teaspoon oregano

6 cups beef broth

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds

3 ribs celery, sliced

1/2 cup pearl barley

1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, cook the ground beef over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it starts to brown. Stir in the onion and garlic, lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef is well browned, 12 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and oregano and bring to a simmer over high heat. Stir in the broth, carrots, celery and barley and return to a simmer. Lower the heat and cook until the barley is very tender, about 1 hour. Stir in the parsley; season with salt and pepper.

I hope you enjoy these (granted you actually try them). I am gonna make it habit to share my recipes I conquer  (or destroy, you might have better luck) on a regular basis. XOXOXO

I stood up for myself! (go me)

I’m a firm believer that high school is a peak into our lives as they will be. Every social situation in your adult life is presented to you in high school with an extra dose or hormones and drama just to make it that much more fun.

Whether you're the quiet type or the outgoing say what's on your mind type (like me), it is a vicious cycle that sometimes is just entirely unavoidable.

And so it does not surprise me that bullying is a problem in my adult military spouse life, just as it was in civilian high school and just as it can be at any work job or in any social setting everywhere.

Instead of being shoved into lockers or openly mocked and degraded, adult bullying is a little more subtle, a little more backhanded and a little bit easier to just dismiss as “personality clashes", “differences in opinion,” or “she’s just hormonal.” Because hormones are an excuse for everything.

I have recently been put in a situation where I had to put my big girl panties on and stand up for what I believed in. I was questioned, I was mocked, my motives were questioned, and well it got me nowhere (at least not yet). 

I find that the military spouse community dishes up adult bullying with a unique and potent intensity that you are unlikely to encounter elsewhere in the adult world thanks to our unique circumstances and stresses. Sure, mean girls (and guys!) are everywhere but our lifestyle forces us to sort through a cross section of people groups, types and cultures  that we would be unlikely to encounter in any civilian setting and that can be far outside our comfort zones. That can bring to head a lot of personal insecurities. Add the stress of deployment, reintegration, injury and death to that and you’ve got a big bully pot ready to boil over.

Think you've never encountered a MilSpouse bully? You may be surprised:

This is real life!  Things that have been said to either people I know or, in one case, to me. 

We know from discussions surrounding our kids (and perhaps our own memories of being bullied in school) that such behavior is a form of power play. Child bullies are often riddled with personal insecurities and put others down as a way of building themselves up and making themselves feel better.

This is also true of adult bullies. But where we expect and even actively wait for kids and teens to act out, adult bullies can take us by surprise. Encountering someone who is genuinely backhanded and mean, especially in a community where there is strength in numbers and we hope everyone is on our side, can be downright shocking.

The goal of an adult bully is “to gain power over another person, and make himself or herself the dominant adult. They try to humiliate victims, and show them who is boss.”

When we teach our kids how to deal with bullies with tell them to walk away and, especially when the behavior turns vicious and violent, report it to an adult.

But how do you deal with a bully when you are both adults? 

STAND UP FOR YOURSELF!!!!