Winner of the Imprint Mat

Head on over to Simply Staci Reviews to see who the lucky winner is!

Imprint Mat Giveaway

Wouldn't it be great to have one of these Imprint Mats in your house? Go to Simply Staci Reviews to find out how you can win one for free!

Saturday Stumbles

Here's what I stumbled this week: (and most of them are food!)

Smores Bars

 Pina Colada cupcakes

 White Chocolate Kit Kat blondies 

Zucchini Bites

 White Chocolate Blueberry blondies

 For more Saturday Stumbles, go visit Its Come To This.

Top Ten Tuesday - What's Kept Me Busy This Summer

This time of year is definitely one of the biggest perks of being a teacher!  My summer's are usually pretty busy.  I'm half way through my summer and things have finally started settling down.  So my top ten list is all the things that have kept me busy so far:

1. Camp Rocks

2. Brown-Looney-Thornton Reunion
     We haven't all been together in years.  They are very dear friends and we had so much fun spending time together.

3. Performing Arts Camp
   This is kind of like a vacation bible school but cooler!  The kids take performing arts type classes (drama, dancing, singing, acting, set design, etc) and work all week putting on a full length play that they perform at the end of the week.  Amanda and I taught several classes.  They were...uh...interesting.

This was our clowning class.  We loved it and the kids in it.  They cracked us up!

This class was a choreography class to one of the songs in the play.  This picture is crazy (kind of like the kids in it!).  The kids did really good with their choreography, but Amanda and I turned our backs for literally 5 seconds to discuss something and we turn around and they are literally climbing the walls.

4. Making my own deodarant
   After reading this post, I decided to try it out for myself.  I have to say that I'm happy with the outcome.  I left out the sea salt that she added, though because I don't sweat that much.

5. Movies
    I don't get out to see many movies unfortunately, but my old roommate and I (with her husband) went to see Date Night.  We loved it!  We laughed the whole time. 

6. Blueberry picking
   This was definitely a first for me!  My sister and I decided to go pick blueberries at Mercier Orchards and we loved it!  What we didn't love was the scorching temperatures.  Oh my gosh, it was so stinkin' hot!  The blueberries were delicious and they were huge!!  My little niece ate more than we picked.

7. Beach trip!
   It's not summer to me without a trip to the beach.  Our family goes to the beach every summer and we have been for over 20 years.  We always go with another family who I considered to be my extended family. 

8. Lots of pool time at my parent's house

So that brings me up to today.  I've got about another month left of my summer and still more stuff to do:
9. Two baby shower cakes and birthday cupcakes for my niece and nephew.
10.  Another possible mini vaca with one of my old college roommates!

For more Top Ten Tuesday, go visit OhAmanda.

Flashback Week

Today is the final day of Flashback Week here at Simply Staci.  For the rest of the Flashbacks, scroll back through the last 7 posts.  You're in for a real treat.

So this last picture is another birthday party picture that I actually threw myself!  I wanted to enter into my 30's with a bang!  And what better way than to do it disco style!

It was so much fun and guests were encouraged to dress up in their best 70's attire.  These are 3 guys that are all practically like little brothers to me.  In fact, the guy to my right, Wes, was in the first Flashback photo probably like 6 or 8 years old!

At my party, I had a photo op station, a kids area, and on the table were retro games like Connect 4, Etch-a-Sketches, Slinkies and Silly Putty.

Thanks for hanging out with me this week.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing some crazy pictures as much as I've enjoyed reminiscing.

Flashback Week

We're winding down Flashback Week here at Simply Staci.  Today we're gonna go back in time to the days of pirates and go-go dancers.  When was that?  Well, that was Halloween a few years ago!

This is myself and Amanda at our old church's annual Pumpkin Patch Party.  Don't really need any more description than that!  I will say, though, that I have gotten so much use out of those boots!  No lie!

Flashback Week

Today's Flashback takes us back to the college years.  To see earlier Flashbacks, scroll down below.

This picture was taken after a long, grueling, intense initiation for my sorority, Sigma Nu Sigma.

I didn't know these girls before that weekend, but going through everything we went through really bonded us in a way that I won't forget.  I absolutely loved being involved in a greek club at college.  I went to a small christian school, Lee University, so I know our initiation must have been a walk in the park compared to some of them out there.  We had so much fun, though!  Well, I can say that now that it's been almost 10 years!  Believe it or not, I actually still keep up with almost all of them.

Can you spot me?  I'm on the back row with the dark hair.

More Flashbacks headed your way!

Flashback Week

Moving on through the portals of time...

Today's flashback is a doozie!

This was my best friend's 16th birthday party.  We got all dressed (in dresses we found in the attic of our church...no lie) and went downtown to eat.

Sooooo many things worth commenting on in this picture.  We'll start left to right...

• This is yours truly.  Oh to be that skinny again!  The sleeves are so big and puffy I'm surprised I didn't take flight!  The hair...really?  I couldn't have done something with it?
• In the middle is Amanda.  Please notice her hemline...the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  The white hose that perfectly match the white complexion of ALL of us!  But I think the wide rimmed glasses top it all off!
• Finally there's Mandi.  The hairstyle is out of this world.  I need to get the name of that hairdresser!  Her and Amanda must have gone eye glass shopping together.  But the classiness is the brown hose with cream shoes!  

Ahh...we were stylin'!  Scroll down to see more Flashbacks and don't worry...there's still more to come!

Flashback Week

We are half-way through Flashback Week here at Simply Staci.  Scroll down to see the other days you've missed.  You'll be glad you did!

This picture is very sentimental to me.  We were at our youth group's Back-to-School retreat.  From left to right the girls are Mandi, Amanda, and me.  The man is Matt Willetts.  He was our church's associate pastor. 

Matt was not at our church very long, but in the short time he was, he took the 3 of us under his wing.  He was probably the funniest man I've ever met, and had us laughing all the time!  Matt passed away about 4 months later from cancer.  I think about him often and miss him deeply.

But I remember him every year on his birthday, March 4, because he said it was the one day soldiers hated..."march forth!"

More Flashbacks to come!

Flashback Week

This week I'll be taking a trip down memory lane in old pictures.  Scroll down to see yesterday's.

Today's picture is truly a blast from the past!  I remember this like it was yesterday.  It was my 16th birthday and my parents had thrown me a surprise party.  To this day it was one of my most favorite birthdays of all! 

Introductions:  From left to right we have Mandy, Kristen, Mandi, Amanda, Me, Bethany, and Becky.  We have all been lifelong friends.  That is so rare and that's why I truly love these girls!  With the exception of Bethany, the rest of us stay in regular touch with each other.  We go on trips, girls nights out, and have an all around good time!

Ok, now on to the picture.  There are several things to point out here:

• The hair - apparently dark hair was in.  Or maybe it was just au natural.
• The biggness of the clothes - The bigger, the better.  Nothing that showed you actually had shape!
• How high are my jeans??
• We all just look like we're having a good time! (except for Mandi's poor hand being crumpled up).

Stay tune for tomorrow's Flashback!

Flashback Week

If there's one thing I love, it's sharing old stories!  Songs, smells, sayings...all can take me back in a second and I have such great memories of growing up.

So this week, I want to share some of those with you.  Each day will be be a different picture...and you just might see yourself in it!

This is probably the oldest one.  It's Easter Sunday at my old church.  This picture wasn't actually taken at the church because we were in the middle of building a new church and in the mean time held services at a local high school.  Every Sunday morning, my dad and several other men of the church would have to roll out huge carpet rolls, set up chairs, sound equipment, choir risers, sunday school rooms...an entire church!

In this picture is me (pink dress with enormous pilgrim collar), my sister (in country blue with enormous ruffles) and my 2 younger brothers in front of us.  Clint is covering his eyes from the sun and Matt is looking off into space.  The other 2 boys are some dear family friends of ours.  They are practically like brothers to me.  Paul (in the back) and Wes (struttin' his stuff in the front).

Stay tuned for more flashbacks tomorrow!

Photo Meme Game

My friend Jenn from {delightfully.cliche.} tagged me in this fun photo meme game.

 This is me and my old roommate, Amber.  We were at Screen on the Green at Centennial Park.  It's where they play movies in the park during the summer.

Go to the 8th folder where you store your photos, select the 8th photo, post it to your blog and tell the story, then tag 8 other people to do the same!

So, I tag...


~Lauren from Walk with me on this journey called life
~Aishlea from Excursions of the Spurgins
~Kristin from Deeply in Love 
~Leigh from HopefulLeigh
~Josie
~Rebekah from Rebekah's Bits & Pieces
~Sarah from The Stephens Family
~Jayme from Stripes, Dots, & What Nots!

Saturday Stumbles

Here's what I stumbled this week:

Make Some Tracks: Next time your kids say they're bored, this will be the perfect cure!

Flag Cake: Easy trick to design any cake.

Birthday Book: Love this birthday book idea for your kids each year.

Memory book: Cute book to chronicle the year.

Survivor Party: How fun is this Survivor party for you and your friends?!

Linked to Its Come To This.

4tunate $4 friends

If you're not reading Jen Murray and her adventures over at 4tunate, then you are missing out! If you think your life is crazy or out of control, just click on over and read about what it's like raising quadruplet toddlers!

Anyone who can parent 4 toddlers, raise over $2,500 to support March of Dimes, give to others when she doesn't have much to give, and still have time to skype, blog and tweet with her friends...

...IS AN AMAZING WOMAN!

Recently, she and her family have experienced some trying times.

Her family was riddled with illness. Can you imagine trying to take care of 4 toddler boys while you weren't feeling well?  Her mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer, progressive breast cancer. They wait for news on what is next. And it was discovered that her father is having a relapse with prostate cancer. 

We all experience tough times. Perhaps you are going through them right now yourself. And when your friends have gathered around you with prayers, support and encouragement you know the uplifting effects it has on your life.

Some of Jen's friend want to rally around her and help make things a tad bit easier.  Click below to read more awesome posts about Jen!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links...

If you're interested in helping this amazing woman, we're collecting $4 donations...that's it.  FOUR DOLLARS.  ALL money raised will go directly to Jen and her family! If you can swing $4, please click on the "Donate" button below!

Guest Post

I'm so excited to be guest posting over at Impress Your Kids today!  It's part of their "2 Weeks of Summer Camp" series.  Go check it out!

Dating Diaries

Being a single, christian girl in my early 30's poses some challenges on meeting people to date.  I'm not going to meet someone at a bar...mainly because I don't go!  It's hard to meet people at work because I'm a teacher and most of the people there are women.  So, internet dating is an option.

I didn't say it worked, it is just an option.

I've tried lots and lots of dating sites.  To no avail.  I'm currently on a free dating site and let me just say that I'm getting what I pay for!

I wanted to share with you some of the emails I've gotten.  I wish I could share the pictures that go along with these, but that might be crossing some lines!

• Hi Mariah, just kidding but you look a lot like her with the difference that you look much better.

          [Mariah Carey?  Really?  Oh brother...fishing for something there for sure!]

• A good friend of mine inadvertently summed up online dating with a simple euphism "If you stick to the truth, you will never have go far to remember your story". So with that being said, I would like to tell you a little bit about me. I am a dedicated and devoted Christian that loves playing games that not only encompass board games but video games with my friends son as well. I have plenty of kids that I have kind of adopted, much to their parents relief when I show up. I love shopping (seriously) especially at the mall as well as browsing for specific items with other people. There's something about the thrill of the hunt.... But enough about me, I would like to know more about you. I must admit that I am mildly envious about the summer break but the respect I have for someone who teaches far outweighs that. 

           [Call me old fashioned but I don't think I want my man to "love shopping".  And a 38 year old playing video games?  Hmmmm....]

• awesome profile... i love the games line... unless its a real board game, awesome!! but what seems the most remarkable to me is that you have a masters degree, very set in what you want, an obvious Godly woman, very pretty and you're single!!how do you shew away all the guys in XXXX GA, lol? that is the big mystery to me, lol... anyways, would love to chat sometime..:)

          [Umm...yes, I do love to play real board games.  Way to read my profile, buddy!]

• Hi I have question. Do you bake the cake or just decorating the cake? P.S There is answer for your question about girl next door: I do not have next door on my right side or left side or front any Girl who can by the girl of next door :-( so I can not heard of the girl next door :o)

          [So is it a deal breaker if I just decorate the cake and not bake it?  And I promise I did not alter this email.  It is really that broken of english.  We would probably have a communication problem!]

•    hi there :) cam i have the honor of knowing you better if you think that things can work out :)   

           [The subject line of this email was "duddette where is my rib?"   Seriously.]          

•    What church do you go to? You look very sweet and you like to bake is a serious plus. You bake it and I will come.

           [Ok, so this one made me laugh a little.  The one liners can be kinda cheesy.]


I know, I know I can be a little cynical and picky.  But like I said, if you could see the pictures that go along with the comments that would make all the world of difference.  I'm sure there will be more of these delightful nuggets in the future.

Top Ten Tuesday - Blogs you should read

I am tired!  Between working a week of summer camp, a trip to the lake, and a week of performing arts camp...I am just too tired to come up with anything clever.

So here are the top ten blogs that I think you should be reading...in my humble opinion.

1.  It's Come to This >> I guess I am a little biased because she is my sister and because she has the absolute cutest kids ever!!  She tells it like it is.

2. Once a Month Mom >> Genius!  Freezer cooking at it's best!  Go check out her summer menu that involves NO cooking!

3. Diaper Diaries >> She has such a fun writing style.  Reading her makes you feel like you're best friends.

4. Vanderbilt Wife >> She's an everyday kinda gal!  And she's writing a book...how cool!

5. The Violet Fig >> You never know what you're going to get with the Fig.  It could be a cool recipe or her experience with baby birds!

6. i Dream of Clean >> A master of clean!  I mean, there's no one better on how to clean every inch of your house and everything in it!

7. 4tunate >> A mom of quadruplets!  It's amazing to read her adventures.

8. Impress Your Kids >> Want to really make a difference in your kids' lives?  This is the site for you!  All kinds of fun stuff!

9. Churchchickie on the Move >> Such a sweet girl with uplifting posts...except now she's back in school studying to be a nurse so she's sharing all the cool things about our bodies.

10. And because I'm selfish like that, Simply Staci Reviews >> Go win Yancy's new CD, Rockin Happy Heart.

For more Top Ten Tuesday, go visit Oh Amanda.

CD Giveaway

If you're looking for some good music for your tween, then this is the giveaway for you!  Yancy's "Rockin' Happy Heart" is a fun, upbeat, encouraging collection of songs that give glory and honor to Jesus!

 

I used to lead praise and worship in children's church and our middle school group.  It was so hard to find music that appealed to kids.  Most of the music I found was in between "The Wheels on the Bus" and "How Great Thou Art".  

But Yancy does NOT disappoint.  "Rockin' Happy Heart" will keep you movin' and groovin' all 15 songs.  There are several things I love about this CD:

• Yancy writes her own songs - There's just something encouraging knowing that the songs that the artist is singing come from an actual encounter with Jesus.  How inspiring!
• The rocking beat - Seriously, this CD will get you moving!  This is NOT your grandma's christian music.  Every time I turn it on, I find myself dancing around my room.  Thankfully, none of you can see that. Yikes!
• Encouraging and uplifting lyrics - Call me crazy, but I don't think kids should be listening to music that says "I can't be tamed...", "Got me all twisted with your lips like this so tell me, tell me are you gonna kiss..." or "And baby when its love if it's not rough, it isn't fun..." 

So, by now you're probably asking yourself, "how can I get my hands on this CD?"

[Go ahead...ask yourself!]


Well, you can order it off of Yancy's website...
...OR...
...you can WIN IT HERE!

Just leave me a comment!  Simple as that.  I'll draw a winner on Friday, June 25.  (Here's a hint on how to double your chances...go enter on my Simply Staci Review blog, too!)

I was given 2 CD's to review and give away.

Top Ten Things YOU Should Try

As a teacher, the arrival of summer brings a much needed break. But it also brings a sense of adventure...well, in an organized, safe kinda way! I guess a better way of saying it is that it makes me want to try new things.

So here are 10 things that I think you should try:

1. Patricia Wexler's Sensitive Skin Soothing & Renewing Night Cream

 A nightly moisturizer that makes your skin feel like silk!  Read a more in depth review here.

2. Cosmedix's Pure Enzymes

This exfoliating mask really works!  I could tell an immediate difference.  Read more about it here.

3. Curel's Targeted Therapy Foot Cream

Just in time for summer!  A cream targeted just for your feet.  Read more about it here.

4. Annabel Karmel's "Top 100 Finger Foods"

A great way to get your kids to expand their palate.  Also great party food!  Read more about it here.

5. Weight Watchers Apple Pie a la mode Yogurt

Yummy little summer time treat.  Read more about it here.

6. Weight Watchers Blueberry Pie yogurt

If you like blueberries, then you'll love this!  Read more about it here.

7. The Container Store's Click and Pick Up program
      Who doesn't love The Container Store?!  One thing, however, is that it can be overwhelming walking into the store.  It's like Target...you walk in for a tube of toothpaste and you walk out with a buggy full of bags.  Anybody with me? What's great about this is you place your order online and then go pick it up at the store.  You choose the store and even what time you want to pick it up.  If you call ahead, they'll even bring it out to your car!  Curb side service!  I tried it and it was great.  My order was there waiting on me.  I was in and out in 5 minutes...literally.

8. Beater Blade

I blogged about my affection for this earlier, but it bears repeating.  If you're a baker, you NEED this!

9. Healthy version of comfort food
If you live in the South, you've probably had your share of Chicken Casserole.  While it's not the most figure friendly recipe, it is some GOOOOOOOOD stuff.  Now you can have it AND maintain that figure!  My little sis has modified the recipe.  Go try it.  Seriously.  Go try it!!!

10. Umm...ok...I'm one short.  How about YOUR suggestions to me!  What is the one thing you think I should try???

For more TTT, go to Oh Amanda!

For numbers 1-6, I was sent the products to review, but the opinions are all mine. 

Camp Rocks

This pretty much sums up my week.

Last week, I served at Camp Rocks where our theme was True Story. We learned that the Bible is God's true story.

This was our 9th year of Camp Rocks and while it is the hardest, most tiring, draining and exhausting week of my summer it is also one of the most rewarding weeks of my summer. God always shows up and refills me to overflowing.


The true story is simple: He loves us. Period. The Bible is His story of a love that pursues us so passionately it's willing to go to the depths of Hell. And that's exactly what He did for me...and you.

Growing up in church all my life, it's easy to become numb to that. But this past week at camp I got a fresh reminder. The last night of camp is a time for campers to share what God has done for them that week. For a lot of them, it's practical things like helping them get to the top of the climbing wall or some other hard task that they were able to accomplish. For others, it's realizing that they have tasted a glimpse of God and want more of Him. Regardless of the testimony, it's amazing to see kids respond to God's goodness. It's a reminder to this 33 year old that I need to be more like them.

Saturday Stumbles

Here's what I stumbled upon this week.  Most of them have to do with food...go figure!

Strawberry Vanilla Flavored Water

Holy Huevos Rancheros - A yummy looking recipe from Scribbit!

Taco Pasta Toss

And because you want these yummy foods to look good as you serve them, try these stylish disposable dinnerware from Branch.

For more Saturday Stumbles, go to It's Come To This.

Saturday Stumbles

Here are the good things I stumbled recently:

• Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas 

            They're from The Pioneer Woman...'nuff said.

• Foil lined cupcake wrappers

           Don't you hate it when you find the cutest cupcake liners only to find the cuteness you bought them for disappears when you cook them?  Then you'll love these!

• Create your own cereal

          Just like it implies.  You go to the website to build your own cereal!  Crazy!

• Birthday Wreath 

         What a cute, fun way to celebrate a birthday!

Go to Its Come to This for more great links.

Friday Favorites - Beater Blade

I bake...a lot!  One of the things I hate is when making icing, it gets stuck to the sides of the bowl.  When I saw this bad boy, I knew I had to have it!

It's called a beater blade.  It has little spatula surrounding the blade that scrapes down the sides as its mixing.  GENIUS! 

You can also get it in pink!  How fun is that?  You can order them at my friend Tricia's site: Once a Month Mom

For more Friday Favorites, go visit Hillary at The Other Mama.

Things I'm Thinking About This Moment

It's 9:06 on Wednesday night.  I want to update my blog, but nothing's coming.

My mind is flowing with random thoughts.  Most of them are impending to-do lists that I have pushed back and back and they're all about to come to a head.

Here's a few things that are on my mind:

• Fantasia is on American Idol.  I don't like her.  Don't like her pants, her voice...none of it.
• Want to try and get to The Container Store this weekend to get some stuff to organize my pantry.
• Need to catch up on some reviews.  Need to write a disclosure policy.  Any advice?
• 7 more days of school!
• HAVE GOT TO GET BUSY WORKING ON CAMP ROCKS STUFF!
• Wondering why my date last Friday didn't get back with me.  Thought we had a good time.
• Have printed off i Dream of Clean's Spring Cleaning plan...need to DO IT!
• Dad informed me I should get my tires rotated.  Need to make that appointment.

And so you can tell that my life is one big exciting mixture of "shoulda-coulda-woulda".

Come back for more!

New site!

I'm going big time! 

Well...in my mind anyways.

If you haven't seen the sticky post at the top, I'm now at

www.simplystaci.net

Change your feed so you don't miss a single drop of juciness from me!  Ahem...

Also, go check out my new review site.  There's a great last minute Mother's Day activity if you're in the Atlanta area!

Top Ten Tuesday - Garage Sale Tips

This weekend, I helped my sister with her neighborhood garage sale.  There's 2 main reasons I love garage sales:

• I get rid of junk
• and that junk adds up to money!

It wasn't the most successful yard sale I've ever done, but I did walk away with $100 more than I started with.

This was not my first garage sale.  I've been doing them for a long time and the only way I know how to do them is ORGANIZED!  So here's some of my best tips:


1. Signage is important.  Bright colors, big letters, clear message.

2. Tags are important!!  I, personally, hate those pre made already priced stickers.  They stick to the item and don't come off of the product easily.  All the garage sales I've been involved in have been with other people so we needed to differentiate between our stuff.  I've heard of all different methods such as keeping track during the sale and as people check out just write down on a chart of some sort who's stuff sold.  The best method I've found is the numbered tag system.  What you do is cut up a bunch of index cards into about 1" x 3" tags.  Each person contributing to the sale is assigned a number.  That number goes at the top of all your tags.  In the middle of the tag goes a brief description of the item.  This is important for several reasons.  If the tag gets separated from the product you could easily find it and re-attach it.  The other reason is some products are difficult to tell what they are and some customers may not want to bother asking you what it is, but if your tag tells them what it is, you probably just sold the product!  When the customer is ready to check out, just remove all the tags and dump them into a bag.  At the end of the sale or during some down time, separate the tags according to the numbers at the top.  Easy peasy!

3. Be truthful on your tags.  If it doesn't work, say so!  Doesn't mean you can't sell it, someone could be able to fix it or use it for parts.  Just mark it down really cheap.  Also, list if it's missing any parts.

4. If you're making tags for clothing items, put the size on the tag. 

5. Group like items together.  This makes for easy shopping for the customer.  Some basic categories are: kitchen, holiday, electronics, books/music/videos, baby, toys, etc.

6. Put your bigger items out front.  This is what draws people in.

7. During down times, tidy up your tables.  Consolidate as you go.  This makes your tables look not-so-bare and more full.  Also makes you look like you have more than you actually do.  What we did, was toward the last few hours, we actually moved all the tables up closer to the road.  What this did was take all our stuff that was spread out over a larger area (the turnaround in the driveway) and concentrated it into a smaller area which made it seem more full.

Mandi giving us a little wave!

8. Typically garage sales last 2 days.  Consider making the second day "Half Off" day.  Meaning all items would be half off the price tag.  If not the whole day, you could do "Half off after 12:00".  Whatever works for you.  The second day of our garage sale was calling for rain.  It was cloudy and actually misting in the morning.  We knew that would detain some people so we put a sign up in the yard that said "EVERYTHING HALF OFF".  It worked!  We had a stream of people pretty much all day...despite the weather.

9. Have spare bags (shopping bags, grocery bags, etc) and boxes available for those customers who buy lots.  Having something to put their loot in makes it easier for them buy more stuff!

10.  And lastly...don't let your 1 year old niece help!

 

Top Ten Tuesday is being hosted this week by Its Come To This.