may restaurant review

This month Matt and I tried Mastergrill. Since I have really been into coupons lately, it just kills me to go out to eat and not have a coupon. I was rummaging through our coupons and found a "Buy One Entree Get One Entree Free" coupon to the Mastergrill at the Firewheel Mall. Matt was super excited to go to this restaurant.

Mastergrill is very similar to Texas de Brazil except on a way cheaper scale. Entrees are about $50 a person at Texas de Brazil where at Mastergrill they are $25. ($22 on Sunday)

Our waitress said that the meal was a two step process. You start off with the Salad Bar and when you are ready for meat you turn over your Yes/No card. When your card says Yes, they bring you meat.

There were a ton of yummy things on the Salad Bar. I had some potatoes, salad, shrimp cocktail, tomatoes with mozzarella and basil, all sorts of cheeses. There was a lot more, but I couldn't eat it all.

When we flipped over our card, these "gauchos" started bring us meat.

This was definitely Matt's favorite part. I think we tried almost all of the 25 different kinds of meats. I wasn't a fan of much of the beef. I have never really liked steak. It all just tastes like rubber to me. Matt thought it was all pretty good though. His favorite meat was the Top Sirloin, and mine was the barbecue chicken or the chicken wrapped in bacon.

But our absolute favorite thing the gauchos brought out was Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple. It was to die for. It was warm and juicy and so tasteful. Mmmmm....I really want to find a recipe for it.

For dessert they brought out fried bananas that were coated with cinnamon sugar. They were so delicious.

2 Entrees ($22 for Sunday Price)

2 Waters

1 coupon for Buy1Get1Free

tip

$29

Two thumbs up from The Links.

We think this is definitely a fun date night place to go to! You should try it!!

relaxin' in the hammock

My Mom and Dad bought us this hammock in Mexico back in October. We finally got it put up the other day!!

It is amazing!! I can't wait to curl up in it with a good book my computer this summer.

I'm not so sure Izzie loves it as much as I do.

5 more school days until I can do this every afternoon!!

first etsy purchase

I made my first purchase on Etsy today!! I bought a camera strap slipcover. As soon as I get it mailed to me, I'll be taking pictures in style!!

Well...that is as soon as I figure out how to use my new camera!!

Outside fabric

Inside fabric

Isn't it adorable? Here is the Etsy store where I bought it.

dear mrs. link

Here is a note I got in one of my kid's folder today....

Dear Mrs. Link-

I did not bring "Little Johnny" to school yesterday because he was not feeling well. Please excuse his absence.

-"Little Johnny's Dad"

I guess he didn't get the memo that we don't have school on Memorial Day.

I wonder if his son was really sick???

I'm thinking probably not.

happy birthday ellie grace

Happy Birthday sweet girl!! Matty and I love you!!

Yesterday Matt and I hung out over at his sister's house to celebrate Ellie's 5th birthday! We had such a great time watching all the kids play at her Hello Kitty pool party.

I wanted to take my camera too play with so bad, but I don't have a case for it yet, so I was scared to bring it. And I wasn't sure that I wanted my camera's first outing to be a pool party.

I think I'm being a little paranoid, but I really don't want to mess this camera up. (I don't have the greatest record of keeping cameras in good shape. I wear them out pretty quick!)

After the party, all the family stayed for a traditional Memorial Day cook out. Hamburgers!! Yum, Yum!!

Seriously....who doesn't cook out on Memorial Day??

Hope you enjoyed your day off!!

i just robbed CVS

This morning I made a quick CVS run hoping to catch a couple of sales. Before I left, I carefully looked over the ad and pulled all the corresponding coupons. I was planning on buying 12 items, and I had coupons for all 12 off them. I bought the first 2 items I needed on one transaction and paid $3.31. I purchased everything else on another transaction. I had no idea that ticket that the ticket would look like this....

That has never happened to me. I feel like I had a coupon break through today!!

If I paid for all of this full price with nothing on sale, it would have cost me around $32. Let me explain how I got all the stuff pictured above for only $3.31.

1st Transaction:

Playtex tampons ($3.99) combined with

$1 off coupon and $2 extra bucks

.99

Toothpaste-($2.99) combined with

.75 coupon

2.24

Total Bill:

$3.31

earned $3 Extra Bucks

earned $2 Extra Bucks

2nd Transaction

2 Soft Scrubs (2/$5) combined with

Buy One Get One Free coupon and $1 off coupon

.75 each

Palmolive Dish Soap (.99) combined with

.75 coupon

.25

Cascade Dishwasher Detergent (2.99) combined with

$1 off coupon

1.99

2 Colgate Toothpaste (.88) combined with

.75 off coupon

.13 each

2 Colgate Toothbrushes (.88) combined with

.75 off coupon and $1 off coupon

.1 for both

2 Packs of Trident gum (1.29) combined with

.75 off coupons for each one

.54 each

All of this combined with my $2 Extra Bucks and $3 Extra Buck

Total:

$0.00

The only bum thing about this trip is that I could have walked away without paying a thing if I would have remember that I had a CVS giftcard (from a prescription transfer) with $10 left on it. Oh well....I'll use it next time.

Anyways....

The trick to shopping at CVS is only buying things that you have a coupon for AND they are on sale. If you have items that are going to earn you Extra Bucks, purchase those items first. Purchase all of your other items in a second transaction so you can use your Extra Bucks earned in the first transaction immediately. It takes a while to catch on to the CVS Extra Bucks thing, but you'll get it! It just takes some practice.

Hope this helps you "legally rob" CVS too!!

balloon fun

I helped host a Volunteer Luncheon at my school a while back, and we order helium balloons for some of the decorations. I took some home and let Izzie play with them. I think she enjoyed them!!


You can see for yourself....

easy snickerdoodles

This afternoon my sweet cousins came over to help me bake some cookies. We had so much fun, so I thought I would share the pictures I took and the recipe we made.

Here is Ashton and Kennedy with all the ingredients and as they said "reporting to duty" to make Snickerdoodles.

You will need...

• 1 yellow cake mix
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/4 C. oil
• sugar
• cinnamon

Mix the first three ingredients up in a bowl. You might have to use your hands to get it all mixed up.

Then mix the cinnamon and sugar together. You can put as much cinnamon as you want.

Roll the dough into small balls.

Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Be sure to get lots of cinnamon sugar on the top!

Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes. They won't look done when you pull them out. They will look doughy, but they will stiffen up. If you pull them out when they look done, they will be overdone. I'm just warning you!!

Let them cool on a wire rack for a couple of minutes.

Serve with a glass of milk.

i changed my mind

I know I said here that I wanted Adam Lambert to win, but I changed my mind.

I'm really glad that Kris Allen won. Adam Lambert definitely has an undeniably good voice, but he also does not live a life that I would want people to idolize. Not that I want people to idolize Kris Allen, but I think he lives a life style that idolizes our heavenly father. I think Kris is not only the newest American Idol, but I think that he is going to show people the true Idol.

I saw this video on another blog and thought it was neat. How cool is it that an ordinary guy who leads worship at a church in Arkansas won American Idol?

So when Kris Allen's CD comes out, we will definitely be buying it!!

new camera

I've been saying I was going to buy a new camera for a while now, but I've been scared to buy one because I don't know much a Digital SLR cameras. A little over a month ago I bought this book but unfortunately I haven't sat down much to read it because I am such a hands on person. Trying to learn about a camera without a camera is not that easy.

So tonight I just went and bought it. I must admit though, I am a little scared to touch it. I'm so afraid I'm going to break it or mess it up. Hopefully I will get over my fear and figure out how to use it quickly. I can't wait to start taking good pictures!!

for sale:

The people that lived in our house before us left this lovely water fountain. Matt and I can't stand it. It's right outside our bedroom window and we want it gone!! So we are trying to sell it.

You know you want it.

So tell everyone you know. We want it gone.

You can't have my pretty pink hydrangea though!!

i was tagged....

8 things I am looking forward to...
- The three day weekend
- Buying my DSLR camera this weekend
- June 4th....Last Day of School
- July 2nd....Last Day of Summer School
- Hanging out at the lake
- Learning how to digital scrapbok
- My house being totally decorated
- Starting a family (someday)

8 things I did yesterday...
- Worked out
- Did 3 loads of laundry
- Made/cooked/ate Chicken Poppyseed Casserole
- Watched the American Idol Finale
- Worked on stuff for next year at school
- Bought some shorts at Wal-Mart
- Blogged on my blog and my Sunday School blog
- Stayed at school until 4:30 (which is an extremely rare occasion)

8 things I wish I could do...
- Digital Scrapbook
- Make up recipes
- Eat and love eating only healthy food
- Teach a kickboxing class at a gym
- Keep my house clean and spotless with minimal effort
- Be a part-time wedding co-ordinator at my church
- Learn how to use my new camera fast
- Sew just like Mom

8 shows I watch...
- Biggest Loser
- American Idol
- Dancing with the stars
- Amazing Race
- Grey's
- Private Practice
- The Bachelorette/The Bachelor
- So You Think You Can Dance

8 people I tag...
- Brittany S
- Erin C
- Kristin F
- Ashley S
- Christie C
- Jodi C
- Carissa V
- Amber R

whiryball rookie

Have you ever played WhirlyBall before?

If you were like me, I had no idea what WhirlyBall was until I played it last Friday with my Sunday School class.

WhirlyBall is an exciting combination of basketball, polo, and hockey, played in specially equipped bumper cars called "WhirlyBugs." There are 12 people playing at once and the games last 8 minutes

All the girls sat out for 2 of the games at the end. We let the guys have some real competition, while the ladies chatted and laughed at how funny the guys looked crashing into each other!

Here is Matt in his "WhirlyBug." He was just a little competitive in the game.

Overall it was a fun night....except for the 3 bruises I came home with!!

spell check

I was checking my student's journals today. One of my little boy's journal said....

"I wit to the dnist and I got a crayola."

Since I can read "Kindergarten", I knew that it said, "I went to the dentist and got a crayola."

I told the little boy that I used to love getting going to the dentist and getting a sticker or digging out of their bucket of goodies.

He looked at like I was crazy. He said, "No, Mrs. Link. It says, I went to the dentist and I got a crown."

Too cute!!! He looked at his crayons (pronounced as crowns, to him) and just copied it!!

modeling debut

My Mom has recently started selling her stuff on ETSY. For the longest time she has only made personalized denim diaper bags and bibs, but now she is now making lots of other cool stuff.

When she got ready to post her stuff on her Flickr photo website, she needed someone to model her cute aprons. So of course I took her up on the offer!!

i love this guy

Just thought I would let you know!!

please sign here

I just found this website where you can make signatures for your blog for free. Who doesn't love free stuff!!


It's really easy. Just go here and click Start Now! Enjoy!!



Update: Here are directions to make your signature go to all future posts....

• After you make your signature, click on "Want to use this signature?"
• Click on "Generate HTML Code"
• Click on "Generate a code for my handwritten signature."
• Copy and post the HTML code.
• Now go to your blog and click on "Customize in the top right corner.
• Click on "Settings"
• Click on "Formatting"
• Scroll all the way to the bottom. Paste the HTML code in the "Post Template Box"
• Click on "Save Settings"
• Any time you click to make a new post it will be there!!

Hope this helps!!!

wordless wednesday

the magic blanket

When I was a kid, I used to spend the night at my grandma's house all the time. She had 3 extra bedrooms in our house, but we always asked for her to make a pallet by her bed.

I am very cold natured, and Nonnie always kept her house FREEZING. When we laid down on our pallet, Nonnie always had to pile on a couple of blankets to get me warm. After she put 2 or 3 blankets on me, she would always put on the same quilt last. It was called, "The Magic Blanket". It didn't matter when she put in on, it always magically made me warm! Or atleast that is what I thought when I was a kid.

Recently, I have found that I am now carrying on the tradition of the "The Magic Blanket". Izzie has always been allowed to jump on the couch at my parents house, but we decided she wouldn't be allowed on the couch at our house. It just killed me not being able to snuggle with her on the couch, so I decided to bend the rules. If I put the "Magic Blanket" on the couch, she knows that she can jump on the couch, no questions asked. It's so cute!!

let the countdown begin

There are 17 more days of school left!! I could not be anymore excited about our summer break!! Getting a summer break is one of the best perks about being a teacher.

Unfortunately, my summer break won't officially start until July 3rd. I decided to teach Summer School again this summer. The money is great and it's really easy. I did it last summer while planning a wedding, so I can do it again. I would probably find ways spend lots of money if I was home all day, so I figured I'd go make some money!! It's only half day and and there's only 17 days.

So today marks...

17 more full days of school

and

17 more half days of summer school

I can do it!!

yard work: before and after

Matt and I have been working on getting our yard back into shape this Spring.

Wait....let me rephrase that.

My sweet husband has been getting our yard back into shape this Spring, while I watch and complain about how I hate yard work!

The only part I like doing is planting the flowers. It's not hard, and you get to see all of your hard work in bright colors!!

Those are purple vincas, and I'm still trying to decide what I want to put behind them.

These are purple vincas and yellow marigolds!!

The previous owners of our house had some really good landscaping in the front, but the side of our house was just out of control. We decided to just wipe the majority of it out and start all over.

Let's do a little before and after pictures, shall we?

Before:

(this picture was taken last summer. Over the winter, our big tree was almost touching the ground and all the other stuff was even more out of control than it it in this picture.)

After:

(We also got our fence stained!)

Now we just need an "after, after" picture. Hopefully that will be coming soon. We have a blank slate to work with, we just have to figure out what to plant. It gets super hot on this side of our house, as it gets the afternoon sun. Any ideas??

taste of addison

Friday night Matt and I headed over to Addison for their annual Taste of Addison. This was our first time to go, but I think we will be making it an annual thing for us.

There were tons of restaurants there serving food. It was hard for us to choose. We started off the evening with some Crab Rangoons, from Jasmine Uniquely Chinese.

Our next stop was some honey BBQ wings from Buffalo Wild Wings.After our first two appetizers, we got some nachos from The Blue Goose Cantina and listened to some live music by Green River Ordinance. Green River Ordinance is a band from Fort Worth. I first heard them in College Station. They quickly became a favorite of mine, as they were in College Station often for shows. I bought their new CD. I'm excited to listen to their new music.

In between GRO and the Old 97's I stopped at Topz Healthier Burger Grill to get some baked sweet potato fries. Matt stopped and got a corn dog. I laid down on the grass during the Old 97's and took a wonderful nap. Matt didn't think I was being all that fun taking a nap,but it sure was nice.

We ended the evening with some ice cream from Marble Slab and some live music by Jack Ingram. What a fun night!! I hope we make this an annual tradition.

kids say the darndest things

Today at school I did a Mother's Day activity where I asked my kids questions about their Moms.  

Here are some of my favorite answers.

My Mom is  _____years old.

13

21 

86

My Mom's job is ________. 

work

soccer

keeping me and my sister fed 

My Mom's favorite thing to do is __________.

buy me things

clean the house

take me to my favorite places to eat

And here are the funniest answers of them all....

My Mom's favorite thing to wear is ________.

her wedding dress

she likes to just wear her shirt around the house without pants......pause.......and sometimes she sleeps.......pause and giggle.......without her panties.......giggle giggle.  

Note to parents:  Remember that your Kindergarten children children tell their teacher everything.  Even things you probably don't want them to know!!

phone conversation

Me: Ty Murray must have a big fan base. I'm surprised Lil 'Kim got kicked off.

Dad: I know. He must be getting a lot of votes. I like him though. He's my favorite.

Do you know what my Dad and I are talking about??

That's right. My Dad is obsessed with

so blessed

After fighting a sore throat, cough and congestion for a whole week, I woke up Sunday morning and realized it was time to go to the doctor. I took a sick day yesterday, but I didn't have sub plans, so I had to run up to the school. I got to the school and I had not just one, not two, but three co-workers offer to help me get things together for my kids.

I am so blessed.

I found out I had strep throat, not the flu or even the swine flu.

I am so blessed.

I pretty much felt like crap on Monday. My throat was killing me, my head felt like it was going to explode, and my body was aching all over. All I wanted to do was come home and crash. My sister in law text messaged me to see if I needed some food or a Sonic drink or anything. Then my Mom stopped by and brought me and Matt some dinner.

I am so blessed.

I stopped by the pharmacy to get my prescription, but it wasn't ready. So my husband stopped by the store on his way home from work to pick it up. When it wasn't there he went to a different pharmacy to get it, just to find out that it was at the original pharmacy. So basically he drove all over town to get my medicine. And he didn't complain one bit.

I am so blessed.

I warmed up our dinner, we ate and then I started to clean it up. My sweet husband told me to not worry about the dishes and go to bed and rest.

I am so blessed.

When I realized that I wasn't feeling well enough to go back to school, I called another Kinder teacher to tell her what my kids could do tomorrow. She told me not to worry about and that her and the other teachers would get my plans together for me.

I am so blessed.

As I was getting ready to go to bed, my husband grabbed some pillows and a blanket and told me he was going to sleep on the couch so I could get some good rest. (We had both not had a good nights sleep the night before. I was tossing and turning and apparently snoring, which kept both of us up.) So I curled up in our bed by myself and slept wonderfully.

I am so blessed.

I woke up this morning and definitely started feeling better. My Mom came over to visit with me and asked me if we wanted to eat dinner with them tonight. She didn't want me to have to think about cooking dinner tonight.

I am so blessed.

Seriously, I am so blessed. I have a wonderful husband, family and friends. I know that I can always count on them, especially when I'm not feeling so hot.

baby chicks ducks

Look at what we have in the pond behind us!!

I've been calling them baby chicks all week. When Matt heard me call them baby chicks, he made fun of me. Then I couldn't think of what baby ducks are called, so I felt really dumb. I teach Kindergarten, and we teach a farm unit. I should know that.

We have ducklings!! And they are too cute!!