It’s Pizza Night!

August 25, 2016

School began this week and that relaxed spell we were in all summer just went *poof*!

I feel like this week has been nothing but go, go, go! The last thing on my mind when I get home from work is a “What’s for dinner Mom?” Needless to say that usually falls on me anyway, and I am always looking for yummy, and easy meals to make.

One of our favorite things to make is a homemade pizza. It’s so easy, and usually takes less than 30 minutes to prep and cook. Connor usually helps me pick toppings and it’s something we can do together after school on a weeknight.

Here’s our favorite pizza:

We use Mezzetta Authentic Pizza Sauce. The sauce is light and fresh, and is a great base for our pizza. When it comes to Mezzetta’s Marinara, they know the best tomatoes are grown in the sun-drenched soils of the San Marzano region of Italy – so that is where they source every single tomato for their ultra-premium Marinaras.

This fall, Mezzetta is celebrating their food sourcing adventures: They’ll tell you the stories of their sauces – how they source ingredients from California to Europe, how they create the sauces (hint: incredible ingredients from truffles to chilies!), and all the ways anyone can experiment with the sauces in the kitchen.

Add the Mezzetta pizza sauce:

Add your toppings and enjoy!

Mezzetta wants you to Discover Italy and is giving away their biggest prize yet!

An all-expenses paid trip: Insight Vacation’s Country Roads Puglia & Neapolitan Riviera Tour – a 10 day tour PLUS a bonus day for touring a tomato farm in San Marzano. This Italian adventure includes round-trip coach air transportation for 2, hotel accommodations, a cooking class, and the farm tour.

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About the Mezzetta’s Explore Italy Sweepstakes: One (1) Grand Prize Winning Entry will be selected. The Grand Prize consists of a trip for Winner and one (1) Guest to attend culinary experiences (cooking class and farm tour) in the San Marzano region of Italy and explore other cities of Italy. The Grand Prize trip consists of the round trip coach air transportation between the major commercial airport nearest winner’s residence and Rome, Italy, the culinary experience and tour of Italy.

School Lunch with Pearls Olives-To-Go

August 22, 2016

This post is sponsored by Pearl’s Olives to Go. All opinions are my own.

Oh my gosh school starts TOMORROW people!

I’m over here like…

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I pack Connor’s lunch for school every single day. He’s gotten a lot better since Kindergarten, but he has always been a picky eater. Then again, sometimes I’m surprised what he likes. A lot of days it’s the same thing over and over again…so we like to switch up our routine with something different every now and then.

Last year we tried Pearls Olives-To-Go and they are soooooo great for school lunches people! There is no pitting, stuffing, or chopping. That adds extra time to my mornings and allows me to spend time on more important things. (Like maybe an extra 5 minutes of sleep! Ha ha!)

There are four different Pearls Olives-To-Go varieties to choose from.

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Packing lunches is so easy & I know Connor is getting a fresh fruit in his lunch!

We are so excited for first grade tomorrow and thank you for a yummy lunch Pearls Olives-To-Go!

Enter to win the Pearls Facebook sweepstakes:

#BetterWithPearls Mini Moments, where you can enter to win a weekly prize pack or the grand prize, a Mega Moment prize pack valued at $1,000. The sweepstakes runs from 8/15-9/9/16.

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Our Week with Zippy #DriveMazda

August 19, 2016

We had another opportunity to try out a car a couple of weeks ago. It was the Mazda CX-3 in a sparkly blue finish. She was a beauty and I named her “Zippy”! It’s fun to name cars… because honestly I talk to mine all the time! Ha ha! 13975498_842811609152856_8465715733679036090_o

I had a blast driving Zippy around for a week. She had all the latest and greatest gadgets. I was able to fit all of my camera gear in there and all in all it was just a FUN car!

The interior was decked out with all the safety features and let me just say it was super stylish. I loved the leather and trim.

This pop-up navigation and satellite control radio feature was probably my favorite. I have decided I need a backup camera in my life. When I got back into my normal car I missed it so much! Also, the center armrest was a great feature because I like to rest my arm while driving. So comfy!

Plenty of room for Connor in the back and all of my stuff too! Zippy, aka my Mazda CX-3, was so easy to park and get in and out of places because the size is just perfect.

Thank you #DriveMazda for a fun week with Zippy! I would HIGHLY recommend this vehicle if you are off to college- in my mind this would be perfect for a college student and would fit all their stuff. It has awesome gas mileage and is just an all-over reliable car.

Terence and I drove the CX-3 on our 15 year anniversary date to dinner and the movies. 🙂

Aren’t these flowers so pretty that my honey sent me? I love you babe, and thank you for 15 beautiful years. And thank you to DriveShop for making our weekend extra special!

Back To School with Pearle Vision

August 17, 2016

School is TWO weeks away! Can you believe it? A few weeks ago I shared about our trip to Pearle Vision. Make sure you check your kiddo’s eyes out before school starts. Nothing is worse than feeling self conscious and unsure because you can’t see. It affects how a child learns and so much more!

We loved our visit to Pearle Vision, both Connor and I both got our eyes checked and we are good to go!

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Connor didn’t need glasses this visit, although he sure did have fun trying on some different styles. I, however, did get a brand new pair. One of my favorite things to do is read books. I knew I was due for a new pair and everyone was so helpful. I chose a trendy tortoise shell style.

Here are my new rims from Pearle Vision, I love them so much:

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I know glasses are probably in Connor’s future, but it’s nice to know he’s good for now and ready to start first grade. If you are searching for an Eye Doctor I encourage you to check out Pearle Vision. They were super nice and answered all our questions….we’ll definitely be back.

Pearle Vision has close to 600 eye care centers located throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, Pearle Vision is built around a doctor-centered business model with a primary focus on delivering genuine eye care to patients. It has become a trusted source for all my eye health needs.

Don’t forget to enter the contest to win a $100 Visa Gift Card!

Follow Pearle Vision on Facebook & YouTube for the latest news.

Also, I shared with you all on Facebook LIVE today a countdown calendar for school. I’ll leave the free printable here. Remember, you can pick and choose what you want to do on your countdown calendar….and getting an eye exam would be a great item to put on your countdown list 🙂

Would you get your kids eyes checked?

Entry Instructions:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1 Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2 Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#Sweeps” and “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3 Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4 For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 8/17/2016 – 8/28/2016

Be sure to visit Pearle Vision’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Lately (An Update) + A Trip to Branson to see MOSES!

August 10, 2016

So much has happened lately and my blog here has taken a back burner…yet again.

BUT….

WE GOT A HOUSE!!!

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It’s only took about a year and a half and over 25 home offers, but I think we finally found a winner! I can’t wait to share more with you and show some of the plans we have for our new home. We still have appraisal to get through, and are praying that everything works out. Connor will still be able to attend the same school as last year and stay with all the friends he made 🙂

Terence and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary with a movie and dinner. I cannot believe it’s been 15 years! I feel like time is just flying away from us. I love you babe forever and always.

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I drove to Arkansas a couple of weeks ago to visit my family. My Mom, Nannie, sister, and the boys all went to Branson. My Nannie has been wanting to see Moses for a while now and let me just say the show was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Here’s me and Bon road tripping with the boys 🙂

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I couldn’t bring my big camera into the show. It was so, so good y’all. There were real live animals in the show and the boys just loved that. They are so interested in learning about the Bible, so they had lots of questions afterwards. I welcome that! The production followed the life of Moses from the time he was a baby until he was old.

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My beautiful family

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Me and Connor watching the wonderful story of Moses unfold…. ajfdlkfj

I grew up visiting Branson, Missouri every year. I have probably seen about every show on the strip and this was the BEST show I’ve seen by far! If you’re in Branson and want to go see a show, I highly recommend Moses. Your heart will thank you. My boss is going to see the show too and he’s never been to Branson.

And best of all the boys got to experience a special time with their Grandma and Great Grandma. Thank you Sight & Sound Theaters!!! We had the best time and made wonderful memories. nancon

I’ve been super busy with my photography and I’m already booking CHRISTMAS sessions! It’s crazy & I am beyond thankful to you all for supporting me & coming back year after year. It’s a blessing to my heart to be able to capture all your memories.

Some favorite recent shots:

Back to School in Style with Mini Boden + Enter to WIN a $500 Boden Shopping Spree!

August 7, 2016

This post was sponsored by Boden as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.

School starts in a few weeks and my baby is going to be a FIRST GRADER! Somebody stop time for me okay? I mean seriously how cute is my lil’ guy?

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When I was a little girl my Mom would take my sister and I back to school shopping and it was the best thing ever! My Mom always made it a fun event shopping for school supplies, backpacks, shoes, and clothing.

I want Connor to look forward to going back to school too. A few weeks before school starts I start getting Connor excited about getting a new backpack or lunch box…and CLOTHES! I know how I felt on the first day of school walking into class with a new outfit on. There is just something about wearing a new outfit that makes you feel a little bit more confident.

This year Connor and I picked out clothes from Mini Boden. I’ve always loved the prints and British styles that Mini Boden offers. The clothes I’ve bought from Mini Boden have lasted & lasted throughout the years. It’s one of my tried and true children’s clothing brands. The styles that Mini Boden offers are so adorable! And don’t worry about buying from across the pond, Mini Boden provides worry-free shipping (free shipping & returns over $49).

Here are some of our favorite outfits we got for back to school from Mini Boden:

I just adore these jeans, dress shirt, and shoes:

These Super Soft T-Shirts are a fall staple:

Connor is really into dinosaurs right now so of course we got this adorable Jurassic Stripe T-shirt!

No outfit is complete without a pair of shoes 🙂 We chose these Suede Desert Boots that can go with just about anything- dress up or down with a pair of jeans for khakis.

Connor is going to join Cub Scouts this fall, so he’s going go camping! Nothing is better than a nice cozy pair of jammies when camping. Mini Boden has the cutest styles and prints when it comes to pajamas!

I’m super excited about first grade and I know Connor is too 🙂 Thank you Mini Boden for sending us back to school in style!

Influence Central is hosting a contest for the new Mini Boden Back to School line at Boden through which your readers can enter to win one of three $500 shopping vouchers to Boden/Mini Boden

Contest opens on August 1, 2016 and closes August 22, 2016

I-C will randomly select 3 winners from all program entries and will handle fulfillment of the winning prizes.

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Get 25% off your purchase at Mini Boden today HERE!

Follow Boden on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for the latest styles.

Baskin Robbins Blessings + National Ice Cream Month

August 2, 2016

Did you know last month was National Ice Cream month???

Yes Ma’am…it sure was! I know I’m a little tardy for the party….but, I don’t need a special month to tell me to have ice cream, but because we are celebrating and all….

Baskin-Robbins celebrated National Ice Cream Month with the launch of their new Polar Pizza. A couple weeks ago Connor and I got to go to Baskin-Robbins and create our very own Polar Pizza. Oh my goodness it was AMAZING!

Choices….choices….

Look at those chocolate dipped waffle cones covered in sprinkles!

We got to pick our very own toppings for our Polar Pizza. There are also Polar Pizzas ready and available in the grab-and-go freezer.

We chose Reeses Cups, M&M’s, sprinkles, and the flavor of the month OREO® Birthday Cake! It was soooooooo good!

My all time favorite Baskin-Robbins treat are the Clown Cones. My Dad used to take my sister and I to get Clown Cones as a special treat 🙂

Now that is a happy ice cream loving boy right there!

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I’m so honored to support a company that sends donations to support the United Service Organizations or (USO) and the introduction of a new ice cream flavor.

The donation program and new ice cream flavor are in honor of the military nonprofit’s 75th anniversary and steadfast commitment to supporting our nation’s military throughout their service. Being a former military family ourselves, this means a lot to us!

I went to Baskin Robbins the other day and I bought several people in the store their ice cream. I told my friends I felt so HAPPY and excited to do a random act of kindness! We were given gift cards in exchange to talk about this promotion, but really you guys, I am so blessed to work with companies like Baskin-Robbins who give back to others. That’s exactly what I wanted to do….and the looks on all those people who were given something as simple as an ice cream cone was priceless.

We’ve already been back for more Polar Pizza. It’s so incredibly good, and I am a sweets connoisseur, so I know good desserts! Ha ha! This is a winner in my book. Choose from either a brownie base, or a chocolate chip cookie base. Pick your ice cream and toppings and there you have it….the perfect dessert!