My Blackberry Does It All.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

It is no secret. I love my Blackberry. I love all the features like the internet and email. I love that I have access to my email at all times. I can even update this blog if I want to and I get my comments that people leave on the blog. Nice.

Do you have a Blackberry or another smartphone? If not here is a great chance to pick one up. Boost Mobile is offering great Blackberry smartphones along with incredible phone packages and no contracts.

The Re-Boost program allows easy ways to make your payment each month. You have the option of paying online, on the phone or in person. You can use automatic payments so will never forget to pay your bill. You can also use you debit or credit card if you so choose. Also if you are busy you can have a friend or family member make that payment for you.

Besides receiving email and text messages, you can use your Boost phone to update your favorite social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. I use mine to update when I am not near a computer.

As I said before I love my Blackberry and all of its features. So if you are in the market for a new cell phone, you might want to consider trying out a Blackberry from Boost Mobile today. I am sure you will be as happy as I am.

See How My Garden Grows – Summer Series

I have to preface this a few words – I am tired of living in HELL. I spent countless hours trying to grow my garden and I barely get anything out of it. Numerous hours watering, tons of time planting and care taking and this is all I get

Two cucumbers and three tomatoes, that should be bigger. Those are supposed to be Beefstake people! Yes, the cucumbers are big, but why can’t the other veggies grow. I know, I live in HELL!!!

Sorry, just venting a bit. I usually do this post on Saturdays, but once again, life gets in the way.

Yea, sure it looks lush, but where is the veggies!

I decided to thin out the cucumber since they tried to take over.

The peppers have plenty of flowers and hopefully they will actually turn into peppers.

Here is a photo of one of the cucumber before harvesting. I think they are on steroids.

They sunflowers are very happy. But I can not eat them.

Hey, Lady Red, if you are reading this check out the aloe you gave me. It’s green. At least I am doing something right!

I spent a good amount of time hoeing weeds and riping out the dead corn. At least Lucie, my big red dog enjoyed the fruits of my labor. My back sure did not the next day. She even enjoyed part of a cucumber. What can I say? I am a pushover.

That is it for this week. I just checked the garden and I have three more steroid laden cucumbers growing. If you do not hear from me in a few days, I suggest checking the garden and more pointedly, the cucumber section.

Please Pass The Burritos.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Mission Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of my favorite foods to eat is burritos. I am a big fan of Mexican food in general anyway, but burritos are my favorite. You can make a burrito out of just about anything. Have leftovers? Throw it in a tortilla and you have tomorrow’s lunch or a quick snack. They are great for an after school snack for the kids. You can whip up a Quesada within minutes and your kids will enjoy this healthy snack.

One brand that I use often is Mission Tortillas. They are cholesterol free and have 0 grams of trans fat per serving. They come in three different sizes, 6”, 8” and 10”, which can be use for many types of dishes.

At this time, Mission Foods proudly supports Share Our Strength, a company focused on ending childhood hunger. Help out by visiting www.MissionMenusChallenge.com. This summer you can enter the Mission Menus Challenge to compete in a Cook-off and get a chance to win a $10,000 dream kitchen makeover and other weekly prizes. Visit the Mission Menu Challenge site and watch as Chef Sara Moulton speaks about the benefits of healthy and inexpensive recipes for families on a budget.

The grand prize winner will receive an all expense paid round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations and will attend the Cook-off on September 10, 2010. You can submit your original recipes until August 9 online, which must include Mission Flour Tortillas. They also must feed a family of five people for $10.00 or less.

So hurry and get your recipe in and you might find yourself at the Hard Rock Café in Los Angeles on September 10.

You Capture – Summer

I have not posted on You Capture for a couple of weeks because, well life just gets in the way sometimes. This week’s challenge was a little hard for me because here in the Desert Southwest summer is equated with misery sometimes. It is hot. Every day and every way. That being said here are my photos of what summer is to me here. I wish they were of a tropical beach somewhere, but that is not to be.

Planting and growing sunflowers.

Bird of Paradise in bloom.

These lovely shrubs bloom such pretty purple flowers in the summer. They are all over here. This one is in my front yard.

Enjoying the fruits of your labor (or veggies as the case may be.)

But the best thing in the land of “It’s a dry heat” is the summer Monsoons. Relief from the heat and a drink for the garden.

When the storms blow away, we are left with this. And coolness.

Me Hose Popped.

I went out to water the garden today and after a few minutes, I heard a loud noise and turned to see that the hose had popped. Lovely. So we got the scissors and sniped that sucker off.

I could not use this thing when watering.

Yeah, definitely will not work.

Guess I will be visiting our local home improvement store for a new hose. And more corn seed to replant. Since as you can see. My damn corn is dead. Stupid evil sun. You probably killed the hose too. Do not try to deny it. I am hep to you.

See How My Garden Grows – A Summer Series

I have learned much this summer. I live in a very hot and arid climate. I learned that I can not plant in a normal way. Tomatoes and peppers need to go in when the mesquite tress are green. Corn and snap beans, after the heat of summer. Definity do not plant cucumbers and zucchini together. Monster plants.

I am going try gardening year round to find what works best. I will gather information hopefully I can come up with a better plan. My corn is basically shot because the sun burned it up. I surprised it did not start popping itself.

There are a few stalks that seem ok, but not many.

The aspargus is very happily climb the bean polls.

The cucumbers have taken over. I fear I will outside someday and be swollowed whole. I better keep a better eye on my Chihuahua.

More pepper flower that have since I too these photos have turned to little pepper buds.

The zuccini has plenty of yellow flowers, but so far no zuccini emerging. They are also threatening a takeover.

The tomatoes are giving it their best shot.

Here is a little cucmber trying to stay hydrated.

That is about it. I have me some dead corn to pull up.

The Old Days.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine.

I do not live in a small town, but I would like to. My parents came from a small town in Nebraska and I loved visiting when I was a child. I thought the buildings and homes were charming and a stark contrast to the modern architecture of today.

I liked the cafes and diners. You did not see chain restaurants like today. I always find it amusing that you can go to big cities all over the country and see the same restaurants, bookstores and drug stores in the same strip malls.

In big cities, you do not see many single-owned businesses like in past years. The good thing about these single-owned family businesses was they operated solely in America and the profits stayed in America. Now some big businesses outsource many jobs and the profits end up in another country.

There are however, some companies that do not outsource. One is Ramblers Way Farm. They make fine woolen apparel by growing, producing and employing people here in America to make their apparel. They also located to small towns that where economically challenged and have helped these towns recover financially.

Ramblers Way Farm epitomizes the term Made in America. These days it is hard to find many products manufactured solely in the United States. Finding products produced here should be important to every American. Especially since these are tough economic times.

It is possible that if more companies committed to producing only domestic product and employing only American citizens to manufacture the product, maybe the economy would rebound sooner.

Lucie Tails.

Hi! My name is Lucie and I am juliannah’s big, red dog. I always see juliannah play with the red rectangle thing that lights up, so I decided to see the what the fascination is all about. You see, I secretly know how to get out of my crate during the day when juliannah leaves every morning in the little gray thing that looks like bubble cut in half. She actually makes me get in it sometimes. She forgets I am a BIG, red dog.

Boy, am I glad I did because that red thing is a window to another world. Did you know that there are millions of people out there writing about their lives and taking tons of photos? Well there is. Even juliannah does it. And sometimes she talks about me!

So, I decided to do it too! So, as I said, my name is Lucie and I am one and a half years old. I am part Shepard and part Lab, I think. I have short red hair and big brown people eyes. I like to smile, run and play. I love to torture Angelina, juliannah’s cat. I also like to finish up Buddy’s leftover food. Hey, cannot let it go to waste right? Buddy is the little Chihuahua that thinks he can bite my ankles. I can fit your whole head in my mouth Bud so I wouldn’t try it.

I try to stay out of trouble, but I am young dog and I get very tired of lying around all the time. Like I love to go in the bathrooms, steal the tissue out of the trashcans, and then chew it to pieces. See. Apologies for the blurry photo. Buddy had to jump up on the couch and then push the button on that little silver thing with his nose.

I do not see the problem with this, but when juliannah sees me with the tissue, she chases me around the house until she catches me and then rips the tissue right out of my mouth! Geez, I could keep all the trash cans empty you know! I also get the paper towels that Corvette leaves on that side table every night. These usually taste like last night’s dinner. Yum!

I am not allowed on the couch or bed. Again, why not? I am warm and cuddly. I secretly think that juliannah would let me, but, Corvette, big stubborn boof, will not let me. Sometimes though when juliannah is watching TV in bed I jump on the bed and step on the remotes because I cannot stand to watch on more episode of Wipe Out and those dumb people try to get across the big, red balls. None of them ever makes it so what is the point?

Well, I think I hear the little gray thing coming so I had better get back in my crate. Maybe I will come back next week and thrill you with some more of my adventures.

Lucie, the big, red dog.

Win 50 Laptops For Your Child’s School.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Charter. All opinions are 100% mine.

Would you like to win 50 laptops for your child's school? Maybe you know a child that would benefit from winning 50 laptops for his or her school. Charter has announced it's laptop-a-day giveaway and you can enter to win a Lenovo G555. There will be a winner a day through September 20^th.

Charter has given away other great items like a Chevrolet Camaro, a hybrid car and an HDTV-A-Day. Charter wants to do something for the community now, so that is why they included the 50 laptops for two schools.

The laptops have a 15.6 inch screen with 160GB hard drive and 3GB of ram. That means plenty of ram for your photos and other important documents. I will enter even though I have a laptop. Can't have to many laptops right?

Go to http://charter.com/laptop to register the school of your choice. August 12^th is the deadline to register your school and voting begins on August 16th through September 20th. The winning schools will be announced on September 27th.

Also at this time if you order any Charter service you are automatically entered to win and will get a $300 cash back. There is no purchase necessary to register online to win the laptop. Go to Charter on Facebook and like Charter to get more updates.

So do your child or a child you know a favor and enter their school. Help some deserving children to have a chance to win 50 laptops to enhance their learning experience.

See How My Garden Grows – A Summer Series

Well, the ongoing battle with the sun is still waging. I managed to figure out a way to shield my veggies from the sun, but I do not know how well it is working. Anyway, the plants seem to be thriving, just not bearing. so here are the latest results.

My zucchini and asparagus want to choke off everything else by attaching themselves to the other plants in my garden. I. Don’t. Think. So. So, I inserted a few bean poles and as you can see. the asparagus immediately attached their sinewy feelers to the pole. The zucchinis, not so much. Their newest strategy it so go under the cucumbers. Sneaky.

Corvette informed me about this bell pepper. How did I miss it?

Tomatoes are a nice shade of red. Since they are Beefsteak, I hope they will get larger.

The beans are giving it their best shot.

Of course, Lucie, my big red dog is oh so helpful.

Here is another cucumber. Can’t find the three from last week. I am afraid I will wake up one morning and the cucumbers will have taken over the whole yard!

Lastly, a shot of my corn. Tried to look at it mom, but I was not succesful, just hoping for the best.

If you are looking for me, I will be the one doing the rain dance, washing my car multiple times and generally begging the gods for rain.

At least this sunflower is happy.