MMMM Cherries...

My favorite blog love Nicole has awarded me with this adorable "Cherries on Top" award and I'm so excited! She's the sweetest if you don't already follow her definitely go check her out you'll love her blog!




So the rules to this cute award are list three things that you love about yourself, and pass it on to five more bloggers who are extra special.

So hmmmm three things I love about myself?

• I love my creativity & imagination

• I love my huge kind heart

• I love my passion for life and the people in it

It's very difficult every time to choose the blogs to pass on the awards to because I love you all! here are the five I've chosen this time...

• A Day in the Life of a navy Wife

• Confessions of a Sailor's Wife

• Musings of an Army Wife

• Being a Better Wife

• Married to a Sailor: The journey of a Navy Wife

Recipe Exchange?

I had an idea this morning because I love to share my recipes with you, and I'd love to try out some of your favorites too! So I was thinking about doing some sort of recipe exchange. What I would like to do is start a book, like a scrapbook for the recipes, and pass it around to any of you who would like to join in. The book would come to your house, and then you would add your favorite recipe or recipes, and pass it on to the next person. You can copy all the recipes from the book before you pass it on! I'm very excited about this so please let me know if you would join in the fun with me if I get enough people interested I will get started on the book and let you all know more details.

Thursday Five

I love Thursdays don't you? I also love Thursday Five! Have no clue what I'm talking about? "Thursday Five" is a super cute little thing that is held over at "MannLand5" go check out her blog, and join in the fun! All you have to do is post FIVE things that have made you

Happy

Giddy

Joyful

Excited

Appreciative

So here are my five for the week...

I am happy to have his sweet kisses for almost three more weeks

I am giddy because I found this table

 

I am excited about my new hairstyle

 

 I am appreciative for living on the beach and seeing this anytime I want

I am joyful because I live downtown and love taking pictures like this

 

Dinner and a Movie

Today has been a great day, I slept in for once after hubby left I was just really tired for some reason and didn't wanna get up. Finished the chores early, and patiently waiting for my hunnybun to come home. It's nice sunny outside and it feels great! I'm off to finish a few things and make dinner before he gets here, then we have the night to ourselves tonight, we will be lazy and watch movies. I can't wait. I wanted to share with you all the amazing recipe which we will have for dinner tonight it is SUPER delicious make sure you try it out! I have served it with "Cheddar Mashed Taters" which are also amazing!

Brown Sugar Meatloaf:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & lightly grease your 5x9 inch loaf pan with butter.
2. Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup. 
4. Sprinkle more brown sugar on top of meat.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.  

 

Cheddar Mashed Taters:

 

Ingredients

• 8 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1 teaspoon minced chives

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water; cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain and mash. Add sour cream, butter, salt and pepper; beat until smooth and fluffy.
2. Transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese, bacon and chives if desired. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. 

As for the movie we just got in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" from Netflix, I haven't seen it before but I've heard it's an awesome movie so I'm excited to see it!

 

 

Did you know?

That by even making a small purchase from Gambizzle Jewels, such as these adorable Peace Sign bracelets for only $5.00 and come in a variety of colors like purple, green, black, orange, white, or turquoise...

or any of these gorgeous earrings for only $6.00 I have almost every color & also custom make for no extra charge...

There are also the cute bracelets available...

with just these small purchases you will gain FIVE entries to my giveaway in which you will be entered for a chance to win one of three prizes! Click here to enter & see the prizes! For more jewelry options or pictures you can email me at MrsGambizzle@yahoo.com I ship to anywhere in the USA and you can pay by check or credit card. I also offer a military discount on all other jewelry items!

Another Haircut?!

I know, I know I just cut it, but I got bored of it already so I grabbed the scissors again. I haven't had my hair short since I was little, and for good reason. When I was four I had REALLY long hair, but I was very tender headed. My mom used to sit and brush my hair and I would cry because I would get it so tangled. So she decided enough was enough and she had it cut VERY short, almost boy short. I was so upset. So ever since then I have hated short hair, but lately I've been seeing these super cute short hairstyles.

Anyway, I'm thinking I want it choppier (if that's even a word) than what I have, and I really want some highlights, but here's what I did last night. 

and here's the previous for all my new followers...

Trash to Treasure Tuesdays

I have decided to start my first little "segment" on my blog. I'm going to call it "Trash to Treasure Tuesdays". It's been inspired by all of the things I have seen people throw out, I love eclectic style. Finding things like this and making them my own, so everything in our house is a little bit personal. I grew up in a family who did not always have money to spend on buying new things. So I was taught from an early age how to make things last, or revamp and make new. My mom taught me a very important lesson in life I like to think, and it was that you don't have to have a lot of money to have nice things, just some creativity and imagination. Which I like to think I was blessed with both. So for the first trash to treasure I discovered this very awesome dining room table, and FOUR perfect chairs with not a single stain, scratch, or the smallest imperfection! They were sitting out next to our recycle bins.

As you can see the only thing that's wrong is it does not have a glass top... easy fix. Hubby and I got a peice of plywood from the hardware store, a plain white table cloth, fresh flowers, and...

 VOILA!

An adorable, romantic dining set for the cost of carrying it upstairs and about $20.00 of supplies! Can you believe they just threw it in the trash?! I;m amazed by all the things people just throw out...

So much to say!

Oh what a weekend it was! It was amazing... we were one of the lucky ones who got a four day weekend so that explains why I haven't been blogging for a couple days! I missed you guys! Anyway Friday we were completely lazy and just hung out all day at home. Saturday we went to see The Last Airbender movie which was pretty awesome. When we got out of the movie hubby surprised me and took me shopping and I got some SUPER cute stuff just check it out...

Super cute dress, top, and jeans from Express

Then I got this ADORABLE bathing suit from Charlotte Russe

Enought of shopping though, Sunday turned out to be an even better day, we had a party at our house and made some delicious burgers. Between four girls and three guys we finished 6 pitchers of margaritas, and two cases of beer, we had a little too much fun the proof is in the pictures! We walked down to the beach later that night to watch the fireworks it was pretty amazing. 

 (Check out my adorable new bikini)

(My favorite girls)

(hehe I was trying so hard not to laugh at my friend)

(I had a little too much at this point)

(I was walking and trying to take pics at the dame time, but I think they look pretty cool)

Monday was the last day of our wonderful weekend, and we decided to pull another lazy day since we were pretty exhausted from all the excitement the night before. We took the dogs to the park, and I got to see an old highschool friend who happened to be in the city for the weekend, he's a marine and he lives a few hours away in North Carolina. He was one of my best friends in school and it was really great to see him. 

I also have another new haircut to share with you pictures will have to come later it's way too early for that now! Yes I know I just cut it a couple weeks ago but what can i say, I like change. It's SUPER short now well for me at least I haven't had it this short in I don't know how long.

Finished Products

So far have finished two of the custom designs from the giveaway and wanted to share them with you all in case anyone else is interested, we can work something out hehe

Here's the first place winner "My Life as a Sailor's Princess" check out her blog to see the full design!

 

and the first of the custom headers are finished and belongs to Kelsey at "Far From the Safe Harbor"

"A Day in the Life of a Navy Wife"

Here's the last one for Jen @ Preparing to Surface the first ever completely hand drawn graphic hehe :) Hope you enjoy it Jen!

    

Gambizzle Jewels Giveaway

Since my complete makeover giveaway ended today I have decided to keep things rolling with another fabulous giveaway. Yep. That's right! More fabulous jewels! I love giveaways and I am slowly getting better at them, so for this giveaway I have come up with more chances for you to win, and even more ways to win! Awesome right? So I bet you are wondering what the prizes will be? I have chosen three this time around.

First Place 

This set "Tangled Up In Your Love" which includes a silver bracelet & 

earrings that match and have a little "Love" charm hanging down.

Second Place 

This adorable "Wish Upon A Star" necklace

Third Place 

"Hope You Come Home Soon" charm bracelet.

 

Buy Them!

First I would like to mention you can purchase any of my handmade items from my Etsy shop Gambizzle Jewels and you are always welcome to add me on FB I'm under Betty Gambizzle and all of my items are available there as well. I offer a 10% discount to all military! You can also email me for custom orders and Pet jewelry as well.

Win Them!

Now for the fun stuff! All the ways you can enter to win one of these awesome prizes! For this giveaway I have decided to go by the person who gets the most entries will win first prize, second prize, and so on. So you will have to do a little work but it will be worth it! 

• First and MANDATORY you must follow me publicly in order to enter the contest!

• For 5 entries purchase something from my Etsy shop or from my items on FB or email me!

• For 2 entries "Like" Gambizzle Jewels on FB & leave a comment saying you were there

• For 2 entries blog about my giveaway (2 entries for each blog post & must include a link to my blog) please leave a link to the post in your comment so I can find it easily post must be at least a paragraph (4 to 5 sentences)

• Gain 3 entries for each follower you bring to my blog who leaves a comment saying you sent them the comment must be on this post to count I can't go searching for their comments everywhere when its time to choose the winner.

• For 1 entry grab my cute button and add it to your page & make sure I know where to find it

• Please leave your email in at least one comment it's much easier to reach you that way.
  

• ANY ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WILL NOT BE COUNTED

•  YOU MUST LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENTS FOR EACH ENTRY (EX. if you buy something from the shop for 5 entries you must leave 5 comments)

This giveaway will run until Saturday July 16, 2010 I will contact you via email so it's very important that you leave it in a comment if you don't respond in 48 hours then the person with the second most entries will be bumped up to first place.

and the WINNER IS....

I am so excited about this giveaway and that I got so many entries! 

I used this site to choose my winners. I will do another one soon since it turned out so well! 

So here are the winners of my "Want a Blog Makeover?" giveaway...

First of all the winner of the complete blog makeover which will include 

a custom background, header, button, and signature is...

My Life as a Sailor's Princess

Congratulations girl you deserve it! Now I also said I would choose three more people who I would desiagn a custom header for and those people are the following...

KELSEYC from FAR FROM THE SAFE HARBOR

MISS BRITTNEY at A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NAVY WIFE

& last but not least...

JEN at PREPARING TO SURFACE

You girls have 24hrs to email me so that I can have you answer a few questions about your designs and such!

MrsGambizzle@yahoo.com

Congrats ladies!

Sharing

I know I was having a bad day yesterday but it got better. Once hubby got home I told him about my day he gave me great big hugs and kisses, and then we decided to just spend the evening together. We watched a movie I haven't seen in YEARS... The Fox and the Hound which I love it's so adorable.

Then we ended our night with some boxing & bowling on the Wii, and with a nice little work out downstairs in the gym. This morning I have come across several things I want to share with all of my lovely readers, I can't say ladies anymore I now have a man follower! Check out his blog HERE he's pretty awesome! 

Anyway the first thing I wanted to share with you all is this amazing blog I came across called "Joining Together" please, please go check it out if you have a chance. It's a blog dedicated to prayers for families who are going through hard times and such. I think it's such a wonderful idea and I'm so glad to see people out there dedicating their time to something like that, who couldn't use a little extra prayer?

I also wanted to share with you a heartbreaking story I came across, and ask you to join me for a moment of silence today July 1st for baby Cohen who passed away at eleven days old from a congenital heart defect. His family needs your prayers today, for they are having his memorial service. You can read more on his story here at his motherrs blog "In This Wonderful Life" & here at "Send Love to Cohen"

Do you know anyone else who needs a little prayer? If so leave a comment with their name and why they need prayer and I will be sure to pray for them.

Please pray for "It's something Beautiful" she has been going through a lot and could really use it. She has a lot of stressful times coming so go check her out, let her know you're praying for her as well!

The last thing I came across that I wanted to share is the Riggs Family, if you haven't been to their blog please go check it out, they are a wonderful family who adopt orphans from third world countries. They have a daughter names Abby who has leukemia & a life threatening infection. This amazing family has been nominated for an extreme home makeover and truly deserves it after all they have been through. Please go visit their blog "Where Laughter Lives" and answer a few questions as to why they deserve this makeover to be sure that they get it!

Thank you so much for reading and helping out with what I have shared with you, it is important to me to be there for people in a time of need, just as I would hope they would do for me. 

What a Headache

Today has not been the greatest day for me & I feel like doing what he's doing in the picture. Last night I had a dream about my hubby dying again. I don't want to get into it, but it wasn't pretty at all. I hate dreams like that, they don't come around often but he has had a couple oft hem too. They used to be more frequent when we first got married, but have lessened since we live together. I've looked in various dream books, which seem to say that I have some sort of insecurity with our relationship, and with the "Big D" coming closer and closer who wouldn't. I woke up with a huge headache this morning which nothing seems to be able to ease. So I've been struggling with that while trying to go about my daily laundry and such. Hubby has been asking me to fill out some paperwork for a few days and like the procrastinator that I am I have put it off until today of all days. I pulled it out of the drawer and took a closer look to find that it was an EDF which for those of you who aren't military affiliated is an Emergency Data Form which is all the info they need in case your spouse is killed or injured while they are deployed. So I sat down to fill it out and it just got to me, after the dream last night, so I decided today isn't the day for it. I instead decided to take the "kiddos" downstairs for some air, and to check the mail, and what do ya know... there was a form in the mail from the social security administration saying that my hubby is now eligible for social security if he were ot die this year!!! WTF is up with all of this...all I have to say is this is freaking me out.