New Adventures!

Hey friends! It has been a REALLY long time since I have posted, I am not sure any of my followers will even remember me but a lot has happened actually.
In the 2 years that I have been MIA I was going through a separation then divorce. I really had no life, literally, I did nothing. When you do nothing you have nothing to blog about and I didn't want to saturate your blog feed with my ho-hum divorce updates.
But there is good news that follows, I am back! Well kinda.. I am back to blogging but I have started a new blog with a new direction and I would love for you to all join me there! My new blog is all about my love for my career as a nanny! I will post all things kids! I will talk about everything from crafts, nutrition, safety, development, naps, potty training and a little bit about what its like to be a nanny. My goal is to educate other nannies or moms with questions on these topics or just looking for a fun activity to do with your child. I am so excited for this new journey and to share some of the knowledge I have gained over my last 12 years in childcare and 6 years as a nanny.

I would love for y'all to follow my new blog!!
http://thenannysaga.blogspot.com/

Money Saving Apps

                                    **Click HERE to visit my new blog, the nanny saga!!**

As you all know I LOVE saving money!!!

I also love my iPhone, I really love being able to save money right from my phone!

I am going to share a few of my favorite money saving apps and websites with you!!

1. ibotta

on ibotta you can shop at just about any grocery store and make money back for things you purchase.

Here's how it works:

You can earn money back on groceries, movies, restaurants and more!

You can scroll through the different offers until you find one you want to use.

To earn the offer you might be ask to do a few different tasks like post it on Facebook, watch a short movie or answer a question, its super easy!

Once you have earned the offer you will purchase it then scan the barcode and take a picture of your receipt, once you have earned $5 you can put it in your Paypal account or request a gift card!

plus get a $2 Bonus when you sign up by clicking this link!

2.Ebates

Ebates is Awesome!!!

You can get cash back on purchases made online.. uhh hello who doesn't like getting paid to shop online?!?!

All you have to do is go to Ebates online and find the store you want to shop! You can get up to 25% cash back.

Almost every store you could think of is available on Ebates! They also offer all kinds of coupon codes!

Click here to sign up and get a $10 gift card or $5 cash back after your first purchase!

3. Shopkick

I love shopkick, you can earn free gift cards even if you don't purchase anything!

Shopkick uses points aka kicks and you can get kicks just for walking into a store with the app open, you can also get points for scanning items throughout the store, lastly you can get kicks if you link up your credit card and make purchases at the store and with the app.

Once you have enough kicks you can trade them in for gift cards like Target, Starbucks, gas, Macy's and more! You can also get digital cameras, handbags, perfume, even huge prizes like a tablet, Kitchenaide mixer and a cruise!!

Click here to get started and earn start earning!!

4. Groupon

I love groupon!! You can buy things like a $50 gift card for $25, discounted oil changes, spa treatments, weekend getaways and the list goes on and on!! It is perfect for trying new places!

When you use Groupon on your phone you will purchase the groupon then when you go to use it just pull it up and they can scan it right there from your phone!

Click here to get started! They have some great deals right now, like an otterbox for $15!! Hurry before they run out!!

5. Gas Buddy

Gas buddy has been great to help me save money on gas! You can choose to see gas prices near you or type in a zip code to find gas prizes in another area!

They also have daily drawings for free gas! You can enter on their website

Click here to download!

6. Plink

Earn points that you can trade in for gift cards!

When you sign up link your credit card to plink, add offers to "your wallet" and when you spend money at those restaurants and retailers you will get points and gift cards as a reward!

They also offer bonus rewards on certain things!

Click here to start saving!!

7. Shopmium

 Shopmium is very similar to ibotta but they also have deals where you can get a percent off or get an item for a designated price! Recently they had burts bees chapstick for $1 so if you paid $4 for it you would scan the barcode and receipt and get $3 back!

You get a FREE Lindt chocolate bar when you sign up!! Woo!

Click here to sign up and enter referral code MUUYMATV to get your free chocolate bar!

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Enjoy y'all!!

Thrifty Thursday Link Up!!



Welcome back to another week of Thrifty Thursday!
 I have a confession..
I am slightly obsessed with Extreme Couponing on TLC
I have even been an "extreme couponer" before, but I was not as extreme as the ones you see on TV
Although I think couponing is great and saves loads of money (even if you only did it for toiletries and cleaning supplies) I know that not everyone has the time to coupon, because of this I want to share another super easy way to save money without coupons!
Price Match!!!
Every Sunday I look through all the ads and take note of which items I want, then I go to Walmart with my list and when I get to the register with my items I tell them I am going to be price matching some items and tell them how much the item is advertised for at the other store, they put that price in and ta-da!! You saved money! So easy!
The other day I price matched at Walmart and got
4 boxes of cereal
a 4lb bag of oranges
6 boxes of pizza rolls
some frozen dinners and pot pies
frozen burritos
(I am going to be out of town and my hubby needs to eat so frozen food it is! haha!)
bread
3 bags of frozen veggies
I spent less about $20 on all that stuff!!

HELLO!!?!?!
If you are not price matching you are throwing your money away!
Happy Thrifting y'all!
 



Steak and Being Thrifty (A New Link Up!!)



If you read my recipes you will probably discover that I'm a cheapskate thrifty shopper, so I am just as shocked as you are that I made steak for dinner last night.

 

EVERY time I go to Kroger or Walmart I check out the meat section to see what they have discounted.

I NEVER pay full price for meat. Ever.

Well one day while I was at Kroger probably just running in for milk I stopped by the meat section and to my surprise they had Angus steaks marked down! YIPPEE!! Kroger usually has a lot of pork market down but every once in awhile you can find something great!

I grabbed 2 of those suckers and did the happy dance all the way home! Ok not really but we can pretend.

I put all my meat in the freezer until I am ready to use it, this is especially important if you buy mark down meat because it may be close to expiration, I have never had an issue with the taste being off because of being frozen.

With my first piece I made beef stew.. Sadly I didn't document that :(

But last night I made steak with roasted potatoes and green beans.
I used this recipe.

Yum.. Makes your mouth water doesn't it?

 

Mmm.. Perfect.

 

I used a mix of potatoes and sweet potatoes, cut them and put them in a large zip lock bag and marinated them in Italian dressing and Italian seasoning, right before I put them in the oven I added some basil and garlic powder. I think I cooked them for about 40 minutes on 400.

 



Mmm.. I want more!

This whole meal cost about $5

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Thursday!



Wow I seriously cannot believe its already Thursday, this week has flown by!!

This has been a very exciting week for me because some of my Mary Kay girlfriends and I are giving away 2 $100 Visa Gift Cards!!

Everyone that calls and listens to a woman's 15-20 minute rags to riches story in Mary Kay will get entered to in 1 of 2 $100 gift cards!! I am so excited because I have already had 12 people call in and more will call in the next few days!!
What does that mean?
 At least 12 of my friends will have a really great chance in winning $100 AND when I have the most people call I get $50!! WOOO!!!

I also have a new team member! Yay! She will get 5 entries into the giveaway since she signed up!

I am just so excited to see what this business does in my life and the lives of all the woman I touch through this business. I absolutely love this business and all it stands for!

If you want a shot at the $100 comment below and I will send you the details!!
check out my new Instagram sjhenrymkgirl
and both of my Facebook pages Mary Kay Page and Blog Page

 

Love you all! MUAH!!
 

My Weekend

It is really hard to write about my weekend when I really didn't do much.

On Saturday I went to Kroger then had a Mary Kay party and that is about the extent of what I did haha!

Sorry my life is so lame right now, but Jason's brother was in town visiting so we kinda just hung out at the house with him all weekend.

Here are some pictures from my weekend.

Do I still live in Ohio? Or did we someone get transported to Alaska??

 

Seriously! Mountains of snow everywhere!!

 

Mmmm Pink Lemonade and cucumbers with salt! Has anyone else ever had cucumbers and salt? I picked this up from my mom.

Mmmm Blueberry Pomegranate Tea

 



I got so excited to eat and started chowing down before I remembered to snap a pic.. So here is my half ate dinner lol, its smoked sausage cooked with onions, peppers and mushrooms, a can of tomatoes thrown in the food processer along with some various Italian seasonings and thrown on top of spaghetti YUM!!

 

 

Hope you had a great or more productive weekend than me! 

Hey Y'all

Wow where do I start?? I stopped posting on my blog for a little while and I have missed it and all of you so much!!

My husband had been working 12 hour shifts so most days he was either not home or sleeping in the morning when I would post, well he left that job and there was a little bit of time before he got another job. I was so used to being home alone all morning and all the sudden he was here with me! As you can guess my blog got put on the back burner because I was so thrilled to have that extra time with the hubby.

Well hubby now has a new job and wakes up and leaves before I get up.. I tried getting up with him a few times but my body didn't appreciate that.. I like sleep! lol

I also started my own business as a Professional Image Consultant with Mary Kay! That has also taken up some of my time, but I think I have learned a good balance and I hope to be able to post more often! I might not post every day but I won't be MIA like before :)

 

Go like my new Mary Kay page! facebook.com/mksarahenry

 

XOXOXO

Talk to you soon!!!

Weekend Update

Hey Y'all, Sorry my weekend update is coming a little late but I have been super busy and I will share all about that in this post.

For starters I am super excited to share that I am now a Mary Kay beauty consultant! I am so excited to start my business and see where it takes me!
I got my starter kit the other day and even the box is super cute! I got over $450 worth of stuff for just $100!!

 

 

So cute!! This gray organizer bag is what you put all your stuff in then you put it in to the black bag you see behind the gray one. This ain't your grandmas Mary Kay ladies, I think the company is more fashion savvy then I am! Lol

 

On Saturday I went shopping and to lunch with my mom and when I got home Jason decided he would make dinner.

Yum! He made chicken with carrots, broccoli, rice and cheddar cheese.

Hubby is really starting to up his game in the kitchen!

 

Talking about food.. He also made this delicious zucchini lasagna

 

It doesn't sound like I did much more than eat this weekend but some how the time just slipped away and all the sudden it is Tuesday!

 

One last thing before I go, I have a challenge with Mary Kay to have 10 people listen to the marketing plan. This week only there are some calls that you can listen to, to hear the marketing plan, not only will you be helping me reach my goal, but you will also get entered for $100 Visa gift card!!

All you have to do is listen to the call and email me with some answers and a password and you will be entered to win!

If you can't see it very well the times are 10AM and 8PM

my email is sjhenry@marykay.com

 

Love you all!

 

 

What I wore

I am so exciting to be participating in what I wore Wednesday again.

As mentioned in a previous post, I went to my best friends baby shower this Sunday.

I wanted to wear something nice but not to fancy, and also cute and fun.

 

Here is what I wore

 

 

I love that this dress is so versatile, I can wear it by itself during the summer or add tights, a cardigan and boots for the colder weather, but this is basically the story of my wardrobe, I only buy something if I can think of at least 2-3 different was to wear it.

 

Dress: JC Penny Cardigan: Target Belt: New York and Co.

 

 

I have a confession, I wore this outfit twice this week.

I loved this outfit so much that I decided to wear it again last night.

This time I decided I needed to fix my cardigan, see how it moves and you could see my skin? That annoys me.
I decided this time I would wear the belt over the cardigan.

 

Sorry about the messy bathroom picture. I took this picture to send to my sister to see if she thought it looked ok with the belt over the sweater. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, and when you grow up with 2 older sisters and a mom who tell you if your outfits look ok.. well.. you're kinda lost when you are married and need fashion advice.

 

I definitely liked it better with the belt over the cardigan because I didn't have to about it moving out of place.

 

 

Hope y'all have a wonderful day!

Weekend Update

Hello, I hope you had a great weekend.

 

Saturday was fabulous, we opened all the blinds and had a ton of natural light and could see all the beautiful trees.

We had nothing to do on Saturday so we enjoyed it by lounging around all day and eating ice cream.

My nephew was born at 3:30 AM Saturday morning, Elijah Thomas Duncan, I can't wait to go meet him! Go check out his mommas blog @ The Diary of a Real Housewife.

 

Saturday also consisted of playing cards and Xbox and a yummy dinner of pork chops, homemade mashed potatoes and broccoli, yum!

On Sunday I went to my best friends baby shower, it was so much fun!

 

Also, hubby was so proud of himself and he wanted me to post about this meal that he made all by himself

Cheesy pasta with chicken and zucchini.

 

I will end with this beautiful picture, I just love fall!

5 Things I'd Rather Do Than Celebrate Halloween

I am not a huge fan of Halloween, maybe as a kid or college student I was but now there is really nothing to be excited about.

I couldn't think of anything to write about so I decided to link up with Erin @ Living in Yellow.

Here are the 5 things I would rather do tonight than celebrate Halloween

 

1. Eat Candy. If I am going to buy candy I will eat it myself, no reason to buy candy for some others persons kid. Just Sayin.

 

2. Buy Clothes rather than costumes. The only outfit I want to pay a fortune for and only where once is my wedding dress, I don't want to buy an expensive costume that I will wear once and never wear again, because we all know you can't wear the same costume 2 years in a row.

 

3. Watch a not scary movie. Back in the day I enjoyed going to haunted houses and watching scary movies but deep down the only reason I liked doing those things was so that I could be scared and the guy I was with would "protect me" or hold me while we were both scared. Now a days I don't need a scary movie as an excuse to cuddle, the hubs and I cuddle while watching any movie!

 

4. Hide in a bush and scare some kids. Ok I would never really do this but it sounds like it would be fun! Haha

 

5. Although I kinda already said this, I would rather cuddle with my hubby and watch TV or a movie.



So there you have it.

Now you know what I will be doing tonight and this weekend instead of dressing up or passing out candy.



Loaded Chili Baked Potato

I have said before that I like to play a game where I see how cheap I can make a meal, well this meal is one of those.

I came home one night and didn't feel like cooking so I came up with a great idea.

I would make loaded baked potatoes, but with chili!

I made some baked potatoes (in the microwave) and heated up a can of chili.

Chopped the potatoes.

 

Topped the potatoes with chili.

 

 

 And last but not least, top with cheese and sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)

 

 

Yum! This meal was really delicious and it was perfect for a night that I didn't want to cook a big meal!



Weekend Update and a Link Up!!

 **Click HERE to visit my new blog, the nanny saga!!**
Hello Lovelies

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Jason's brother came to visit for the weekend and on Friday he decided to buy us some food for me to make for dinner, he is so sweet!

We had Stir-fry and fried rice! Yum! This was my first time making fried rice and it was delicious!

On Saturday was the Henry family annual fall gathering, usually at Jason's parents house but we had it at our new house this year.

We also celebrated Jason's birthday since all of his family was here.

His birthday is actually today! Happy birthday Jason!!! I love you!

I also want to share a quick recipe with you since I am Co-Hosting the Monday Meal Plan Link-Up with Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife.

Lately I have been trying to drastically reduce our grocery budget and well sometimes I just enjoy being thrifty so much that I like to challenge myself and see how cheap I can make a meal. I  am talking a real meal, not ramen noodles, I mean real food with nutritional value.

Which brings me to the bean taco!

To be honest, I came up with this idea and was kind of dreading making them because I was not sure how they would taste.

After rinsing a can of black beans I heated them up with some tomato and chiles, corn, onion and cumin.

I had some left over rice that I reheated with some salsa, cheese, "sour cream" aka Greek yogurt, and salsa to put on the tacos.

They actually turned out really good! Jason and I both had a second taco!

And now for the Link-Up!



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2. Grab a button! Post it and link back here.

3. Make sure your link is some kind of recipe, food idea, or meal planning ideas!

4. Meet other bloggers! Go visit others and say hi!