1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school?
Thankfully, I have never done this. But for the longest time, I just had one child to keep track of. Now I have 3! So there is still plenty of time to have major Mommy Fails! 2. Where did you go on your very first date? (Like...first first, not first with your spouse or current significant other!) Wow. You know...This sounds REALLY bad, but I honestly do not remember. I don't even remember who my first official "date" was with! You see, I started dating pretty young, but almost all of my "dates" weren't really dates at all....They mainly consisted of a group of friends all hanging out at the mall or at someone's house. They were rarely one-on-one back then. So it's quite possible that my first true date WAS with my current husband....Only it would have been 17 years ago. Wow, Did I do that math right? I will be 30 in June, and I first dated Dan when I was 13....Oh my goodness...I am freaking OLD! But yeah...I am not sure where my first "real" date happened or even who it was with. Call it senility, but I just don't know. I DO remember where other firsts took place, and who they were with,though,lol...Just not the whole first date thing since there were usually several people around and we never really did anything memorable! 3. What's your "silly" fear? (We're not talking water and heights.) I am a wuss. Plain and simple. And the vast majority of my fears are horribly irrational. (Hey, at least I can admit it!)But oddly enough, I am NOT afraid of the usual suspects, like snakes or spiders. They don't phase me one iota. However, I am deathly afraid of the following things, silly as they may be:
I HATE confrontation. I am a "people pleaser", and I often have a hard time saying no or speaking my mind, in fear that I will upset, offend, or hurt someone's feelings. I am the type that will bottle things up and tolerate a lot, but once you push me to a certain point or cross a certain line, you will simply cease to exist to me. I don't get in peoples' faces. I don't yell and scream. I ignore. I move on. I know that sounds awfully callous, but let me say that I am a very giving person. I would do anything for the people I care about. I am loyal, sometimes to a fault. But there are just certain things I do not tolerate, like attacks on my family, attacks on me regarding certain things, and if you break my trust in any BIG way more than once, good luck ever getting it back. I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to toxic people. If you're hurting my life over and over, I won't confront you. I will be an adult and walk away rather than play into any ridiculous high-school drama. So rather than confront, I simply ignore. If there truly needs to be a confrontation, I *CAN* do it, but I try to avoid it first. 5. Wood floors or carpet? My house has both. And I LOVE carpet, but I HATE our carpet, as it is white. With a preteen boy, a toddler, a newborn, a dog, and a husband that works in the automotive field, white carpet is NOT a good thing!! <img border="0" width="1" height="1" alt="Advertise with my Blog" src="http://linkfromblog.com/img.001.006379.gif"/>
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We have already talked about how positive, physical interaction outside of the bedroom promotes a healthy and active sex life by releasing that feel-good hormone, oxytocin. Oxytocin is the culprit behind some wonderful phenomenon, such as the "warm-fuzzies" or butterflies in the stomach, as well as the high one experiences when falling in love. It's also partially responsible for that wow-ee feeling one experiences during orgasm. So yeah...Touch can be a powerful thing! But have you ever felt that your partner ONLY wants to touch you when they're trying to get lucky? Thankfully, I don't have this problem. My husband is a total, self-proclaimed Snuggle Bug. He is such a snuggler, in fact, that he begged me for months to get him a Pillow Pet! (Which I was fortunate enough to win from an awesome blog, and I even pulled the ultimate prank in giving it to him....But that's a story for a different post!) But many couples I know DON'T really touch one another regularly. They don't hug or kiss or flirt. To me, that's sad. But I understand that not everyone is as touchy-feely as we are. Especially after years of being together and dealing with the ups and downs of daily life. Sometimes it's hard to want to touch someone who leaves the new roll of toilet paper resting on the holder ON TOP of the empty cardboard roll. It's not so easy to want to kiss a man who can belch the entire alphabet and cocks his leg up to fart and giggles like a child at his flatulence. There are times that Dan annoys the living daylights out of me with his antics. But lucky for HIM, I still want to touch him. Part of what made me fall in love with him was his silliness, and while it can be rather obnoxious, it's one of the things I cherish about him the most. Okay...maybe not the farting. He's a work in progress, and I vow to teach the boy some manners yet! So anyway, Day 6 of the K-Y Brand Intimacy Experiment is simple. And effortless, at least for us. You see, we don't need to do anything out of the ordinary at all. In a previous post, I stated that the hubby and I are that sickeningly sweet couple that is always kissing and hugging that makes a lot of people want to puke. Well, we are. So that's why today's challenge is easy as pie for us. You guessed it! Today's experiment is one all about TOUCH. How often do you touch your partner, affectionately, throughout the day? And no, I don't mean nookie, and I don't mean a dry peck on the cheek. Reserve those for your grandmothers! (The dry pecks, not the nookie, please!) We touch constantly. I get literally dozens and dozens of kisses a day. It's the first thing he does when he gets home, and he continues to kiss me randomly throughout the day. Heck, I even have some artwork above our bed that says "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" that serves as a good reminder to us to do just that...even if we're tired...even if we're angry...even if one of us (him) ate some nasty, smelly onions....We ALWAYS kiss goodnight. And hello. And goodbye. And good morning. And then there's the "Oh, I am passing you in the hallway so you'd better grab a kissy" kiss, and then the "I'm gonna sneak up behind her, wrap my arms around her and kiss her while she's cooking dinner" kiss....and many, many more where that came from! You get the idea. We're so kissy I sometimes nauseate myself!And then there are the hugs. The nice, lingering embraces. I get tons of those, too. There will be times that we're sitting on the couch and I will be entering giveaways while he watches TV and he will randomly crawl over to me and wrap his arms around me and just hug me tightly. He does this a lot, and I love it! Unless, of course, he makes me lose my place and I don't remember which entries I have completed,lol. Then I might get just a tad annoyed, but only for a second. Who can stay mad when they're getting a nice, big hug? Not me! Here are some good ways to incorporate positive, physical touch into your relationships:
So I am telling you from personal experience, touching in a non-sexual way throughout the day DOES help lead to other things once the lights go out...Or stay on, depending on the day and how much fluid I feel I am retaining! Hey, we DID have 2 babies in the period of 12 months. All that non-sexual physical contact leads to some steamy action in the bedroom. And lots of it. I have a 14 month old and a newborn that are living testimonials of that fact! Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 7 of the K-Y Brand Intimacy Experiment! For more information about the Intimacy Experiment, make sure to check out K-Y Brand’s Facebook Page, Couples Place. Disclosure: I wrote this posting while participating in a blog campaign on behalf of K-Y® Brand and also received product samples to help facilitate my review. In addition, K-Y® Brand sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate. All thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own, and were not influenced in any way. Okay, as you know, the K-Y Brand Intimacy Experiment is all about finding new ways to connect as a couple and bring the magic back into our relationships. Day 5 is all about FUN! That's right! Today's day time activity is to find new activities to participate in with your partner, where you can unwind, relax, and get your goofiness and silliness out. Couples who can laugh together (and AT each other) have much better relationships then those that are always serious and take life too seriously.
I am married to the world's biggest goof. He is always doing things to make me laugh. He once paraded around in my pink, fuzzy Eeyore PJ pants, and he has been known to randomly break out into spontaneous dance. He's not afraid to look ridiculous, and normally, he can have me cracking up in a split second! Unless, of course, we're in public...We have been walking through WalMart or Target before and he has just started grooving in the aisles to whatever cheesy muzak happens to be playing through the overhead speakers. He has also been known to go down the toy aisle and press ALL of the buttons on any toys that make noise. In these cases, rather than laugh, I quickly walk away from him and pretend that I don't know him! But all in all, my husband is a fun guy, and we have a great time together. He is good at reminding me to stop thinking (or worrying) too much and just enjoy the moment. Today, the K-Y Brand Intimacy Experiment has instructed us to think of some new activities that we can do together as a couple. This is going to be pretty challenging, because we rarely have any time to ourselves. With a 10 year old, (who will be 11 tomorrow!) a 14 month old, and a 1 and a half month old, it's very difficult to have any couple time at all. Most of our family lives in other states, so it's not like we have tons of grandparents offering to give us a much needed break from the kids. Plus, being a one income family, we can't really afford a babysitter. So what are some things we CAN do, even if it's limited to the confines of our own home? Well, obviously, we're not going on any romantic getaways any time soon, and we can't go out and shoot pool, since I doubt the folks at the pool halls would want babies in their establishments. But here are a few things we CAN do:
Luckily, we have fun together, even when we're not doing much. We're always laughing and joking, and I think it really does help keep us close. Sometimes I might feel like the only adult in the house cause my hubby is such a silly guy, but hey...That's not such a bad thing! Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 6 of the K-Y Brand Intimacy Experiment! For more information about the Intimacy Experiment, make sure to check out K-Y Brand’s Facebook Page, Couples Place. Disclosure: I wrote this posting while participating in a blog campaign on behalf of K-Y® Brand and also received product samples to help facilitate my review. In addition, K-Y® Brand sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate. All thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own, and were not influenced in any way. Well, today is day 4 of the K-Y Brand Intimacy Experiment, and I have to say, if we were to actually be graded on this assessment, we would get a big, stinkin' F. Yesterday we talked about how you can settle into a relationship and as time goes by, the "new love" feeling fades away to a degree. Well, today was about assessing things that we tend to do in front of our partners that we may not even think twice about because we're so darn comfortable with them that may be hindering things in the romance department. I'm sure that anyone who has ever been in a long-term relationship is guilty of at least one of these things. (Or several, if you're anything like us!) Apparently, part of the fuel for lasting sexual desire is to keep some novelty and mystery as part of the relationship. Yes, you may consider your mate to be your best friend, but do you really NEED to clip your toenails in front of them? How about leaving the door open when you use the restroom? These are just a couple of the things we are guilty of, by the way! But the real question is, would you have done these things in front of your partner in the beginning of your relationship? I have to say that Dan and I were immediately incredibly comfortable with one another, even in the beginning. Probably because we got along so well and have known eachother for a very long time. So none of these kinds of things ever really phased me, nor did they kill the desire. Maybe it's different for everyone, though. Who knows? Anyway, according to the manual, here are some of the obstacles to a smokin' sex life that many couples (including us) are guilty of. I will post after each item on the list whether or not these are offenses that we, as a couple, are guilty of partaking in. Feel free to check off the items that describe your life. Do you:
Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 5 of the K-Y Brand Intimacy Experiment! For more information about the Intimacy Experiment, make sure to check out K-Y Brand’s Facebook Page, Couples Place. Disclosure: I wrote this posting while participating in a blog campaign on behalf of K-Y® Brand and also received product samples to help facilitate my review. In addition, K-Y® Brand sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate. All thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own, and were not influenced in any way. This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
First and foremost, I must state the following fact: I am a carnivore. I LOVE a thick, juicy steak...Or a nice burger...Or a roast...Or maybe some tasty grilled chicken. That's right. We eat meat in this house. I know a lot of you may be vegetarians, which I applaud, but that's just not us. I actually tried to give up meat once for the health benefits of being a vegetarian, and I lasted all of a week before I broke down and HAD to have a slice of deep-dish pepperoni pizza.I just couldn't give up the meat.Call it lack of willpower, but I am and always will be a meat lover. So this post will involve tasty critters. However, this sauce is an amazing addition to veggies and Boca Burgers, so my plant-eating friends, please stick around. Have you heard of Country Bob's? If you're an avid blog reader like me, I am sure you have seen the name Country Bob's all over the place, and have been curious about what makes their sauces superior to the myriad of sauces available at your local supermarket. In the past several months, I have read about their famous sauces all over the blogosphere, and everyone seems to rave about how wonderful this sauce is. Being the foodie that I am, I contacted Country Bob's and asked if they'd be interested in working together, and if I could sample what has been described as the Holy Grail of condiments, their Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. Actually, the great thing about this sauce is that it is MORE than just a condiment. It can also be used in recipes as an ingredient. It definitely lives up to its name as an all-purpose sauce. Here is some info about the company, from their website: In 1968 Country Bob perfected the sauce of his dreams. After years of giving the sauce to friends and family he began to sell it in 1977. The reaction was overwhelming just as it is today. Almost everyone who tries Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce becomes a lifelong user. And why not, it is the perfect complement to practically any meal set on your table. It was actually October of 1982 when Country Bob, Inc. became the company, which remains today. Bob Edson, Terry Edson, Al Malekovic and Reed Malekovic formed a corporation with equal ownership. Since that time Country Bob's distribution has magnified regionally in all directions from our corporate office located in Centralia, Illinois. Even with the tremendous growth we have not forgotten where we came from, continuing in our relentless pursuit of product excellence. Along with our All Purpose Sauce we have expanded our product line to include BBQ Sauce, Seasoning Salt and Spicy All Purpose Sauce. With our fully automated bottling line we also have the capability of producing Private Label products for stores or restaurants. It would be nice if we could claim responsibility for the success of the company, however, credit must be given where credit is due. Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." We have placed true ownership of Country Bob, Inc. in the hands of God. "Christ is our CEO" and He is an Awesome Boss! I received 2 bottles of their famous All Purpose Sauce to review. My sauce arrived quickly, and was very well packaged. I was so excited to open it up and try it out! I even made a special occasion of it and headed out to the store to buy some rib-eyes to try it out on. (I am super-frugal, and steak is a rare occurrence in my household, unless it's on sale for some ridiculously low price.) Needless to say, the hubby was thrilled to have an excuse to eat a nice, juicy steak, and he was even more thrilled to be able to try Country Bob's with it! I am usually against coating a steak in sauce, as I feel that all a truly good steak needs is to be seasoned in some freshly ground sea salt and some coarse black pepper, or even marinated in my secret (delish) concoction, but for review purposes, we sauced the steak. I kept it simple and just hit the rib-eyes with some salt and pepper, and I pan-seared it and then finished it off in a 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes. I was afraid we would be ruining the steaks by saucing them, but much to my delight, they were amazing! I made some red-skinned baked potatoes, a Swiss cheese and veggie casserole that included broccoli, cauliflower, squash, zucchini, and carrots, and some parmesan garlic bread (not pictured) to accompany our steaks. We devoured them! And the Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce was a flavor explosion. It kind of reminded us of A-1, but not really....Or maybe of BBQ sauce...But not really. It was reminiscent of flavors we already know and love, but with an extra something that we couldn't quite put our fingers on. It is a perfect and harmonious balance of sweet and heat. It ended up not only on our steaks, but on our veggies and potatoes as well. Yep, it's really THAT DARN GOOD.
Since our first taste test, we have continued using our Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce on pretty much everything! I have been adding it to my roast beef sandwiches and have used it as a dipping sauce for fries and mozzarella sticks, and my very picky 10 year old has even been using it on his hot dogs. That's a statement in itself, as my son never eats condiments, except for ketchup. (He drowns things in ketchup!) He is opposed to mayo, mustard, even jelly! But he LOVED Country Bob's! He even wanted to use it on his ramen noodles, but I had to tell him no, since I wouldn't want to insult the sauce that way,lol. I think I will make my much-loved Monterey chicken, or as the hubby calls it, Bacon Chicken, using Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce rather than the usual BBQ sauce. I bet it will turn out wonderfully! All in all, I am in love with this sauce. It is delicious, and it is gluten-free, for those with dietary restrictions. and this sauce is one of the most versatile I have come across. It always seems to leave us wanting one more bite! I am already planning to order more of their sauces to try out, and they even have a cookbook that I would LOVE to get my hands on! I have a feeling that Country Bob's will become a staple in my kitchen! You can order Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, as well as their many other yummy products here at their website. But wait! The very generous folks over at Country Bob's are offering TWO of my lucky readers 2 bottles of their famous Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce to try for themselves! And trust me, once you taste it, you will buy it! So for your chance to win 2 bottles of this amazing sauce, please follow the following instructions: PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU MUST LEAVE A VALID E-MAIL ADDRESS SO I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!! MANDATORY ENTRY: Follow me publicly on GFC and leave your follower name AND visit Country Bob's website and tell me what other product you would love to try or something you learned about the company that I have not mentioned here. (1 Entry) BONUS ENTRIES:
Disclosure: I received samples of this product from Country Bob's to facilitate my review. I did not receive any other form of compensation, and my opinions are 100% honest, and have not been influenced in any way. |
PR Friendly Mama!
I'm Brandy, a happily married, proud Mom of 3 amazing kids. If you're interested in building a working relationship, please feel free to e-mail me at: NewlyCrunchyMamaOf3@gmail.com Links We Love :Archives
June 2023
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