Hubby and I are trying to figure out what we want to do for our 10 year anniversary.  We want to have an enjoyable trip to some where neither of us have ever been.  After going through travel sites, we came up on Newport Beach.

What a beautiful area this is in California.  We found tons of infomration at http://www.visitnewportbeach.com and if you are looking for a vacation spot in Newport Beach, check out their website.

The website tells you whats hot in the area, where to stay, what to do and where to eat.  Things anyone needs to know about an area they aren't familiar with.  What I am looking forward on the "Things to Do" list is visit the beaches.  I hear they are some of the finest in the US.  They are also having a big celebration on July 4th.  That sounds like fun also.

We decided we will stay at Hyatt Regency Newport Beach hotel.  Its a a resort-style bayside destination on 26 acres and boasts 3-pools and whirlpools, shuffle board, ping pong, a 9-hole, par-3 golf course.  WOW!!  What a better way to spend our 10th anniversary then in luxury.  They are also offering a special right now.  Buy one room at full price, receive a connecting room for kids 18 and under at 50% off.  You know me.  I love deals to save money. 

Be sure to check out the video below to find out more about Newport Beach.

I would love to hear from you guys about what you think is great about Newport Beach. 

I can't wait to sit on the beach with my hubby and enjoy a beach picnic and watch the sunset.  Romance at its best.

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The postwoman brought me the best gift ever in the mail today!! 

After 4 months of taking surveys, making blog posts and earning shopping points,  I finally earned enough Amazon gift card credits to buy my Kindle Fire and screen protector for ZERO money out of my pocket!!!

For those who haven’t been with us long, you can read my last post on how I did this in more detail HERE.

The picture above shows how much my gift card had in it after I put in my last Amazon gift card number from doing blog posts.  I actually put more in my account than I needed, but we use that up when we buy gifts for the grandkids.  I don’t pay for birthday gifts for the 8 grandchildren by doing the same thing I did for the Kindle Fire.  I just keep doing the surveys and add the points to my Amazon gift card balance.

The next picture shows my actual purchase of the Kindle Fire for $199 and the screen protector for $19.99 for a total of $218.99.  I also selected FREE shipping and that saved me $9.97.  The free shipping is pretty fast anyway.  No sense wasting that money.  You can see where the whole purchase came from Gift Cards and the order total for me was $0.00!!

The cover I did buy using a Savemore sale they had a couple months back and paid $10.00 for a nice leather case.  They are normally over $30.00.   You can see what the cover looks like in the post link above.  I love the lime green color.

I know anyone can do what I have done the past 4 months and it really makes you appreciate the bonus at the end.  I knew I couldn’t pay cash for this item because it is a luxury item in our household.

Oh and I don’t pay for my books either.  There is a website I follow that releases Kindle books everyday.  They aren’t best sellers, but I know the ones I have gotten in the past with my old Kindle (which is now my husbands Kindle) I have really enjoyed reading.  And most of those you can loan out to friends.

My husband had thought about being a realtor many years ago, but decided not too and now that he is retired thought this might be a great way to bring in extra income.

His next thought was, “Where will I get really good mortgage broker training?”  Being you can find anything online, he did a little research and found a great place to start.

TrainingPro is a national leader in mortgage education and they also pioneered the National Cross Certification Program, saving their students time and money. If you don’t know about the mortgage business, you can’t be a good realtor.  This would also help if you would like to open your own Title Company or Signing business for loans.  We recently refinanced our loan because of much lower rates and the mortgage company came to our house for the signing.  What a great business to have.

A great advantage of an online education is that you are get to decide when to start your course and when to “attend” your class.  Great idea for mothers staying at home or just wanting to further your education at night at home while you work during the day.

I love easy pasta dinners that taste great. Here is one your family will love. Serve with hot bread and salad.

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
Cooking spray
3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (16-ounce) carton 2% low-fat cottage cheese
4 cups hot cooked penne (about 8 ounces uncooked tube-shaped pasta)
2 cups shredded roasted skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach, oregano, and black pepper; sauté 3 minutes or just until spinach wilts.

Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process until very smooth. Combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, chicken, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk, and soup in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Note: You can cook the pasta mixture in individual eight-ounce ramekins; bake for 15 minutes.

I love to redecorate, especially when it doesn’t cost much and sometimes, even the smallest little change will just shout, “I look good!!”

One thing I have done in the past is change out switches or wall plates and put new dimmers in to help the mooding of the light. I love that in a dining room especially.  It just makes everything look so nice.

One brand we have used in the past is Renu. Great product and craftsmanship and we can always depend on them.  What is really neat about Renu is the color choices you have.  They are available in 20 color choices.  Really nice way to coordinate with any room decor.  I first used Renu when we use to flip houses.  You can see Renu used on the DIY network.  Love those shows.

The Renu® collection includes:

-Switches
-Combination switches
-Wallplates
-Dimmers/Remotes
-Tamper Resistant Outlets
-Tamper Resistant GFCI Outlets
-QuickPort Connectors

My kitchen in the picture above has the typical white plates and I would love to replace them with the Renu Red Delicious color plates.  That would really make my rooster decor pop!!

Be sure to check out Leviton next week while they  host 3 twitter events and the dates and times are as follows:

Wednesday, April 18th 9pm EST
Thursday, April 26th 9pm EST
Wednesday, May 2nd 9pm EST

All you need to do is follow Leviton on Facebook and #Renu for the twitter events and participate and they can possibly win some Home Depot gift cards!  Be sure to check out the Leviton website for all their products and color choices.

We have really grown in the two years that we have been open as a small business. What started out as two employees in a one-room office, has grown to 12 employees in a 8 room office. It has all happened so fast, and really things have gone so well, they’ve exceeded all my wildest expectations. I’m ready to start looking into different set ups that will allow even greater growth for my company. My fellow owner recommended we look into setting up a system that involves Chicago T1. We have a high frequency of calls coming through at any given time, and she believes this change would allow us even greater productivity and speed. I tend to leave these decisions up to her because she has always been the one with the keener eye for the business side of things, while I’ve been more on the people and HR side of things. Together, we really seem to make a great pair and balance each other out. Clearly that is the case when you look at how well we are doing.

I just love working in the yard, seeing things grow and bloom.  And living in Florida, you can have blooming plants all year round!!  And after 6 years of trying to figure out Florida weather and what things I can grow down here, I think I have finally figured out what to do.

One new product that I will be trying in order to keep my plants flourishing is Scott’s new Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix. According to Scott’s, with Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix your plants will benefit from:

• Up to 3X the Flowers and Vegetables (vs. native soil)

• Improved soil quality for multiple years

• Feeding for up to 6 months

Expand ‘n Gro Concentrated Planting Mix is different from basic potting and garden soils because it contains a unique combination of Miracle?Gro plant food and coconut coir fiber, a lightweight, all?natural material derived from coconut husk. Due to the lightweight consistency of coir, Expand ‘n Gro is not only great for improving your soil quality, but it’s also easy to transport and store.

I love the idea of this potting soil improving the quality of my soil since I do have plants growing all year around.  This will be a great product for my area. What What an easier way to grow plants in pots at your home.

The all natural fibers in Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix hold up to 50% more water than basic potting soil and the mix expands up to 3X when water is added.

Expand ‘n GroTM is only available at lawn and garden retailers in the Midwest, Northeast and Texas as of right now, but you can win a FREE sample.

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas

1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell’s Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
1/2 cup Pace® Chunky Salsa or Pace Picante Sauce
1 cup rinsed and drained canned black beans
2 (4.5 ounce) cans Swanson® Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained or freezer chicken10 (8 inch) flour tortillas

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Heat the soup, salsa, beans and chicken in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

3. Place the tortillas onto 2 baking sheets. Spread about 1/3 cup soup mixture onto half of each tortilla to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Brush the edges of the tortillas with water. Fold the tortillas over the filling and press the edges to seal.

4. Bake for 5 minutes or until the filling is hot. Cut the quesadillas in half, making 20 pieces.

TIP:  I usually use chicken that I have cooked and shredded and is in the freezer.  If there is a good sale on canned chicken, I will use that also.

Be sure to check out the Coupon Database to find coupons to make this recipe.

As we get older, many of us are struggling to keep or lose those unsightly extra pounds. We try to hit the gym, but as always, procrastination defeats us. Also, media denotes that beauty is being thin and fit. Of course, being fit is difficult if we live sedentary lives. Most of us will turn to a diet pill or diet plan as the last resort.  Next step.  Trying to find the best plan that will fit you.

I was recently reading about the phoenix weight loss plan and found it very interesting.  I am looking for a plan that will help me not only lose the weight, but keep it off.  I know it would be a way of life from now on.

My main reason for weight gain is my age and how my body is slowly slowing down.  Even though I still work out and don’t eat as much, its just part of life.  This program has some great ideas and things to do for women my age.  Hormone replacement may be your answer.

They also have many other health problems they can help you with and I am talking about for men and women.  The Pain Management is something I am going to have my husband check out.  He is in pain daily because of old sports injury.

A great site of information and maybe you can find your answer there.