Yard Work – Round 5

Hi friends!  Exciting news is in store for this post: our backyard is about 95% complete now. We just have to add the plants and we’ll be all done.  Maybe we can find some neat things from CSN Stores to go in the backyard, or even in the house.  As you know, they have everything from fountains and outdoor furniture, to console tables and cookware.  All stop shopping is what I call that!  CSN Stores has given me another opportunity to review a product, so keep an eye out soon for a product review.  What will I pick this time… :)

Can you believe that it’s September 30th already?  You know that song by Green Day called “Wake Me Up, When September Ends?”  Well, I feel like I should be singing “Keep My Eyes From Missing Anything as September Goes Flying By!”  Anyway, I’ve started my travel season for work this month, so that is what’s causing me to neglect this blog.  But on top more important things…

Grass!  Glorious, glorious grass!  Well, glorious, glorious, fake grass…but it’s still grass.  And we have it!  In our backyard.  For real.  Check out the pics.

 

Taking a break.

 

Diesel wasn’t quite sure what to make of this grass…  

He wouldn’t even put his butt down on it…

But eventually, we convinced him…

 

And he loves it!

 

Plus, we love it too! 

CSN Stores Product Review – Food Storage Set & Wood Turner

About a month ago, the generous people at CSN Stores contacted me to see if I wanted to do a product review.  You mean, received a free product and then blog about how I like it?  Sign me up!

CSN Stores are great to work with and in the past, they have allowed me to host my dog-gone giveaway, my gift card giveaway and my cooking giveaway, plus I’ve done one product review in the past.  They  have millions of products, so if you’re in need of something new, head on over to their website and I’m sure you’ll find what you need.  And now onto my review…

I had a certain amount that my product could cost, so using my frugal shopping skills I selected two different items.  Woo hoo!  The first thing that I selected was the Fresh Keeper 31 Piece Citrus Organizer Set with Lid.  Jeremy and I always use storage containers for leftovers and lunches, but our current collection is a smörgåsbord of containers.  Until now!  These Fresh Keeper containers are awesome.  They come in a variety of sizes ranging from 8 cups to 3/4 cups.  Plus, they are so cute!  Look at the fun colors.  But perhaps the coolest thing is the rim of the containers…I couldn’t get that close of a picture, so you’ll have to believe me when I tell you that along the rim are little tick marks and the months of the year.  Coincidently, there is a little arrow/point on each lid.  Therefore, you can align the lid with the correct date on the container, and just like magic, you know when you put those leftovers in the fridge!  Isn’t that cool?  Really, you should have seen how excited I was when I figured that out.  These containers are freezable, microwavable and dish washer safe.  Love them!

My second item was the Paula Deen 2 Piece Slotted Wood Turner Set.  I only have two wooden spoons, so when I saw these I thought that they would be a good addition to my kitchen tool collection.  I’ve been using these mostly to break up and brown meat and they work great.  I like how they are flat and more like a spatula, than a spoon.  Plus, they are very sturdy material and I’m not worried about them breaking while I’m stirring/cooking something (true story, it happened to me before and I had to dig through the food looking for the missing piece of wooden spoon!).  Love them!

So, there you have it.  Two great products and a great opportunity from CSN Stores.  Thanks for the opportunity to do this product review!

Yard Work – Round 4

I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, folks!!  Last week, we had our patio torn out and stamped concrete poured to make a new one.  We also added a path way out our side gate and a border to the drive way.  It looks great.  The only thing left is to put in the grass and we’ll finally be done…hooray!!!

 

Pathway out the side gate.

The patio.

 

Border of the driveway!

Yard Work – Round 3

Progress has been made on the yard!  Here are the most recent pictures.  Brick work has been done on the fire pit and planters, plus the whole yard has been leveled.  We’re getting closer to being done!

 

Close up on the fire pit.

Close up on a planter.

   

What’s in this picture…

That is not in this picture?

Taking a break.

My family stopped by…so we put my dad to work!

  

All the dirt that was removed in the leveling process.

Diesel and I stayed inside and supervised the whole process. (P.S.  He’s not usually allowed on the couch, but he sneaked up there…so I had to take a picture!)

Book Review: Flight to Heaven

Hi friends!  I’d like to introduce a new feature to the blog: the book review.  I like to read.  Actually, I really like to read.  It’s enjoyable for me.  I always say, “It’s like watching a movie in your head.”  Jeremy makes fun of me sometimes, but that’s okay. 

Within the past six months or so, I’ve discovered book blogs (isn’t it amazing how many different blogs there are our there?).  Apparently, publishing companies sometimes send readers books to review and promote!  Why didn’t I ever know this?  Well last month, I received my very first book to review and I’m really excited to share my review with you all.  I hope that I’ll be able to do some more book reviews in the future!

A few notes before we begin:

1.  I had such a hard time reading this book.  Not because it wasn’t good…but because I kept leaving it places!  We went to Las Vegas and I left it in my backpack…which I left in our hotel room and it took us a week to get it back.  Then, the next weekend, I went to California and I left it in my car, which was in Arizona.  Ugh!  Maybe with the next book I review, I’ll tie a string to it and put the other end around my wrist, so I won’t have this problem.

2.  As most of you know, I graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and I now work there.  I studied Aviation Safety and I talk about aviation to perspective studies all day long.  Though I don’t proclaim myself to be an aviation nerd, I do enjoy it and when I saw that this book was available to review, I was very intrigued.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present, my first official book review:

Flight to Heaven
by Dale Black
Copyright 2010
Bethany House Publishers
192 pages
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0794-5
Non-Fiction

From the Publisher:

Imagine getting a glimpse of heaven, a preview of life in God's presence. Could life here ever be the same?

Capt. Dale Black has flown as a commercial pilot all over the world, but one flight changed his life forever--an amazing journey to heaven and back.

The only survivor of a horrific plane crash, Dale was hovering between life and death when he had a wondrous experience of heaven. What he saw, what he heard, and what he learned there continues to ripple through his life and touch others.

Against all odds, Dale miraculously recovered from his injuries and learned to fly again. Now, with his life as a testament, he shares his inspiring story--offering hope and encouragement for those dealing with serious injuries or the loss of a loved one, and those looking for assurance about this life and the next.

My Review:

This was a great book!  I’ll admit that I was a bit disappointed to begin with because I assumed that Dale was the lone survivor of a commercial airliner crash, as opposed to a smaller aircraft (again, I studied aviation safety in college, that stuff just interests me); however, I found myself quickly caught up in the Dale’s story.   It is hard to to imagine that he survived a crash that the FAA classified as “non-survivable;” but not only did he survive, he overcame his injuries and continued on to become a commercial pilot.  

Dale’s journey to Heaven made him a changed man.  The plane crash literally broke him and he had to rely on his faith in God numerous times during the healing process.  I loved that his goal was to fly over the crash sight, by himself, as the pilot in command, by the one-year anniversary of the crash.  There were moments of difficulty and frustration when things weren’t going to Dale’s plan, but finally when he put all his trust in God, miraculous things started to happen.

Dale’s story is full of courage, emotion and faith, and I found myself teary eyed at parts.  I’m very glad that I was given the opportunity to read it.  Thank you to Bethany House Publishing for sending me this free book to review!  Sara’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

CSN Stores and Yard Work – Round 2

If you’re a long time reader of my blog you’ll remember that in the past CSN Stores has allowed me to do a giveaway.  Well, they have recently offered me the opportunity to review a product.  Awesome!  But what should I pick?  They have a TON of products on their website from dinnerware sets, to dog supplies to even garden decorations (this could come in handy with all the yard work we’re doing!). 

CSN has a variety of products at a variety of prices and I’m looking forward to doing a product review.  Stay tuned to see what I select!

So, Jeremy and I went on a little vacation last week to Las Vegas (post/recap to come soon), which is why there hasn’t been anymore yard work until this weekend.  Funny story: apparently, I’m a space cadet because when we checked out of our hotel I left our camera in the hotel room.  Well, actually, not just our camera, but also my laptop.  Well, to be honest, not just our camera and my laptop, but 4 books as well (2 which belong to the library!).  I left this all in my backpack.  On the opposite side of the bed, where I couldn’t see it.  Dumb, right?  Thankfully though I remember about an hour away from the hotel!  We called them and agreed to ship it to us, so our camera (and other items) came back into our possession yesterday, just in time so I could take pictures of the yard!

The brick work is being done this weekend.  So, projects include: raising our brick fence, building 3 planters, building the fire pit and building the step into the lower portion of the yard.  Here is the progress:

Jeremy searching for stuff in the garage.

Working on the step.

Fire pit construction.

 

Weather tent.  Last time the yard was worked on it was a million degrees out.  This weekend, it’s rained everyday.  Go figure.

Diesel likes to help out too!

Yard Work – Round 1

We started working on the yard this past weekend!  Well actually, Jeremy and his dad started working on the yard, while I stayed inside away from the dirt and sweat. :)  So far, the gate has been replaced, the rocks have been removed, the drainage system has been put into place and a few other things have been done…but I don’t remember what.  Here are pictures of the progress:

 

New gate!  Oooh.  Aaah.

 

Shoveling rock.

  

That’s a lot of rock to shovel.

Diesel helped too.

Almost finished.

The rocks are all gone, so Diesel ran around up and down the yard, in the dirt, like a crazy dog!

Stay tuned for our continued progress…