No Stranger Sunday: #5

Welcome to No Stranger Sunday, where every Sunday I will try to post an interview of a different blogger from around the blogsphere. Take the time, get to know these people. Visit their blogs.This week's featured blogger is Natalie from The Adventures of Paul & Natalie! Now, if you want to talk about a sweetheart.. then I know that you must be talking about Natalie! She' really great, has wonderful posts and she's easy to talk with. She's not just one of those "Look at her blogs and go to the next.." -- she's a "Leave a comment, she'll talk to you; and you keep coming back for more.." :) Take a few minutes, get to know her.


Tell us a bit about yourself:
Do you live in a city or a more rural area?

I live in a city that is pretty big and it's very busy here!

Are you married? If so, how long?

I am married! I've been married for 1 year.

Do you have children? If so, how many?

I don't have any children yet.

Any extra family members? (i.e. pets)

I have 2 cats, Kitty and Rocky. I also have a Schnauzer dog named Lucky. They are all saved animals and I'm so thankful for them!

What food makes your mouth water, just thinking about it?

My favorite food is spaghetti! Yum! My favorite baked good is freshly baked chocolate chip cookies!

What is your favorite book?

I don't have a favorite book. I love to read, but nothing in particular. I don't save myself enough time to read much!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to quilt, read, blog, go walking at the park, and etc.

Tell us a bit about your blog:
Is there any certain reason that you named your blog "The Adventures of Paul & Natalie"?

My blog started out as a blog that I wanted to just write stuff about my husband and I! It turned into a blog where I posted giveaways I found. Then finally it turned into a blog that I host giveaways.

When did you start blogging?

I started in August 2009.

What is something that you love about your blog?

I love that it has brought awesome people to my blog that I wouldn't have met otherwise. It has been really fun!

Did you design your own blog? If not, who did?

I didn't design my blog. It is designed from LeeLou Blogs. I was lucky enough to win a blog makeover.

Are there any topics that you LOVE to blog about?

I like to post about stress reducers, sales, discounts, giveaways, and etc.

Any topics that you really try not to blog about?

Nothing comes to my mind.

How many blogs do you currently use?

I only have 1 blog!

Do you have any tips for other bloggers?

I don't think I'd be the best tip giver because I'm still learning! For the giveaways, I'd say to keep on trying because the winning numbers are so random! Do as many entries as you can as well for a better chance to win!

Is there anything you'd like to say to the readers?

I just want to let everyone know how thankful I am for the support of my readers! I have felt so blessed in the little time I have started to host giveaways which was in December.

Natalie, thank you for being a part of No Stranger Sunday! I've enjoyed being able to learn these things about you and I'm sure that others will find it just as neat!! You're a joy to talk to and I look forward to speaking with you more!! :) Your blog is always filled with different things that interest me - from the giveaways to the personal posts.

If you'd like to be featured on my blog for No Stranger Sunday, just e-mail me or sign up on THIS post.

Saturday 9: #12

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Your Smiling Face

1. No matter what's going on in your life, what always makes you smile?
When Joshua does his "Her is so pretty; yes her is!!" voice to me! :) I love it.

2. What's the biggest lie you've ever told?
Uhm. There's really no telling - not that I'm a big liar, but even still, there's no telling.

3. Do you hold a grudge?
I do. No lies. But I try not to.

4. What is the worst job you've ever had?
I've only had one (on the books) job - and I liked it.. I just didn't like my boss. Creep!

5. What would be your dream job?
A singing career; even still, I'd blog :) :)

6. What is the happiest event you've experienced?
Hmm. I'm not too far in life yet. However, engagement was wonderful; as was graduation.

7. What is the saddest thing you've experienced?
I know this may sound dumb to some of you (and yes I've had deaths in my family) - but the saddest for me was whenever my dog died. We had her from the time I was in 1st grade all the way until my Junior year - my best friend. RIP Kitty (yes, I named my pitbull Kitty & she liked it.)

8. Do you tend to exaggerate or underestimate?
Not too much, I try to be accurate - but sometimes I get excited. :)

9. List the cars that you have owned. Give us just a few words about each one.
Saturn - my only car. :) :)


Free Box of Popsicles & Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce! (3/31)
HeaterMeals - 3 winners, 2 meals each! (3/16)
BeltsDirect - Winner chooses prize! (3/09)
Gimmee Jimmy's Cookies - Assortment of 20 cookies! (3/08)
Fairytale Brownies - Assortment of 12 Brownies! (3/08)

Also, don't forget that I'm hosting an Easter's Blogger Swap!

Please join up - all bloggers welcome.

Aloha Friday #10

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life – The home of Aloha Friday. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

My Question:

You're in a relationship - a solid relationship. So, do you keep your exes around or leave them behind? What if they've always been a great friend?

My Answer:

Well, I have one ex that I've stayed friends with - we've been great friends since my freshman year & dated my sophmore year. Now, although we're still friends - I feel like I should walk away from the friendship all together - because I don't want Joshua friends with his exes. I know, I know.. not too wonderful, but atleast I'm honest.

UPDATE: I have completely cut all forms of communication with the ex. :) -- so now, it's his turn. hehe

Also, while you're here - check out my awesome giveaways!!

Free Box of Popsicles & Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce! (3/31)
HeaterMeals - 3 winners, 2 meals each! (3/16)
BeltsDirect - Winner chooses prize! (3/09)
Gimmee Jimmy's Cookies - Assortment of 20 cookies! (3/08)
Fairytale Brownies - Assortment of 12 Brownies! (3/08)

GIVEAWAY!!

Okay everyone - Dick's Sporting Goods is recruiting 10 people to review products, take exclusive surveys and more! I would love to be a part of their new team, as I love doing outdoor (sportsy) types of things!!
Keep reading, and I'll get to the giveaway portion of this post.

What does it mean to be on the “Starting Lineup”?

• A chance to try out and preview new products
• A spot on an online panel of experts for one season (for approximately 3 months)
• Access to exclusive online surveys
• A chance to sound off on all things sports

For your chance to be on the “Starting Lineup”, or to nominate someone else, you will need to do the following.

• Follow Dick's Sporting Goods on Twitter, http://twitter.com/dickssportcmo.
• Recruit people to follow @dickssportcmo on Twitter and have them vote for you by Tweeting @dickssportcmo your Twitter ID and stating why you should be nominated.
• Vote for yourself by Tweeting @dickssportcmo with your Twitter ID and stating why you should be on the “Starting Lineup.”
• You can only vote for the same person once per day, but you can vote for multiple people in the same day. In other words you can only vote for yourself once per day, but you can also vote for your friends and favorite bloggers once a day too.

Here are a couple of examples as to what you could tweet:

“@dickssportcmo I nominate @(TwitterID) for the #startinglineup because...”
OR
@Dickssportcmo I nominate @jerricapuck for the #startinglineup because she gives reviews that I trust.

Easy enough, right?

The person you nominate must have a Twitter ID, so if your spouse, significant other, friend or family member wants to be nominated they would need to have a Twitter account.

The contest to be on the panel ends on March 31, 2010. To learn more about the contest please CLICK HERE.

Now for the giveaway.

WHAT YOU WIN:
1 lucky winner will recieve the following:
a coupon for any FREE Popsicle product. (Not just one Popsicle, but a whole FREE box - ANY FLAVOR!)
AND
a coupon for 1 FREE bottle of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce!

TO ENTER:
Required: On twitter, vote for me to be part of the #startinglineup. The tweet must be set up like the ones above. (Leave link)
Leave your Twitter Username link and e-mail address in a comment for your entry.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
Vote for me daily, for daily entries into my giveaway. (Leave link)


**ALL comments require an e-mail address.
To better your chances of winning, be sure to leave a seperate comment for each entry that you complete.
This giveaway will end Tuesday, March 31st at 11:59 p.m. (Central Time). I will contact the winners within 24 hours via e-mail and will also write a post announcing the winners. The winners will have 48 hours to respond, after that, a new winner will be chosen. Contest open to Continental U.S. citizens only.
I did not receive any form of payment or product for this post. This post is for the knowledge of my readers, and in hopes that my readers will vote for me.

Easter's Blogger Swap

As I told some of you that participated in my Cupid's Blogger Swap - I'm holding an Easter Swap , as well.

<a href="http://jerricapuck.blogspot.com/2010/03/easters-blogger-swap.html"><br /><br /><img src="http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/jerricapuck/easter.jpg" /></a>

(Please place the Easter's Blogger Swap button on your sidebar.)

Name: Easter's Blogger Swap
When to sign up: Now, in the comment section (please include e-mail address)
Deadline to sign up: March 12th
Swap Date: March 25th.
What's going on?: I'll send out a survey. You all fill it out and send it back to me. I'll assign everyone partners. You'll send your partner (which is the same person that will be assigned to you) a package of Easter goodies. (Spending limit $20)

During my last swap, we all had a great time!

HeaterMeals Review & Giveaway (3 winners)

Do you enjoy camping? You know, getting away from the hectic, busy tiresome life and just going for a few days with peace and quiet in the woods. I know that I really enjoy camping – I always have! And dont get me wrong, I love eating "camp" food. However, after the second night or so, I’m burnt out on water, KoolAid, hot dogs, and burnt hamburgers. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore now that I’ve been introduced to HeaterMeals!

A Bit About the Company: In 1990, our company developed the Flameless Ration Heater (FRH) for the Department of Defense for use in the Meal, Ready-To-Eat MRE field ration for the U. S. Armed Forces. To date, we have manufactured and shipped over 1.5 Billion MRE Heaters for use by the U. S. Military.
In 1994, we began marketing a self-heating meal for the general public under the trademark name, HeaterMeals® designed to allow civilian consumers to enjoy "A Hot Meal, Anytime, Anyplace"™. HeaterMeals Self-Heating Meals come in an assortment of seven, great tasting, shelf stable entrees, a utensil pack, a pouch of water to start the food heater, and our patented Innotech Food Heater Pouch. Our meals are sold to our original target audience, truck drivers, in over 1200 truck stops across the country, and to other key consumers like hunters, fishermen, outdoorsmen, boaters, construction workers and people "on the go" in select sporting goods and other retail stores.
We make four types of self-heating meals - HeaterMeals Entrees, HeaterMeals Plus Complete Meal Kits, HeaterMeals 3 Meal Kits, and HeaterMeals EX Entrees, Designed for EXtended Storage, as well as the new Cafe2Go Self-Heating Beverage Kits.

HeaterMeals are really great. Although I talked about wanting to use them for camping, I ended up having a different experience whenever I used them. It just so happened that I received my package from HeaterMeals the day before my power went out for a few days due to a bad snow storm! (Maybe HeaterMeals had my power cancelled so that I could get a “real” experience? Haha.) At any rate, I received two meals, one Green Pepper Steak n Rice AND one Home-style Chicken Noodle in Gravy. Joshua and I shared the Green Pepper Steak n Rice – it was delicious! Although it came with a seasoning, it didn’t need it; however, I did use the seasoning to be able to review it and it (surprisingly) made the HeaterMeal even better. We chose to save our other HeaterMeal, as they have a pretty long shelf life (the meal that I have will not expire until December of 2011). You never know when I may need another.This is a picture of the HeaterMeal Entree cooking inside of the heating bag that is supplied. You can see the steam coming out. It was awesome to watch. However, it did not smell too tasty while it was warming - I recommend setting the meals outside while they warm up or in a seperate room.

I also received a Cafe2Go. A Cafe2Go is a self-heating beverage kit – the only thing that you need is water. This package of goodies is so neat! There are two types of Cafe2Go's: one is strictly for coffee, and the other is a variety pack. I received the variety pack.This kit provides 18 hot beverages including 12 cups of NESCAFÉ® TASTER'S CHOICE® Coffee, 3 cups of NESTEA® 100% Leaf Tea, and 3 cups of NESTLÉ® Hot Cocoa Mix. The kit also has 18 packets of sugar, 18 creamers, and 18 stirrers for the coffee. And let me just tell ya, this invention is awesome! The cups are average sized and the packets of drink mix are just like the ones that you buy at a store. The main difference is that if your power goes out, you can still have a nice warm drink for those cold nights.

Products that HeaterMeals offers:
»HeaterMeals Entrees
»HeaterMeals Plus Meal Kits
»HeaterMeals 3 Meal Kits
»HeaterMeals EX Entrees
»Cafe2Go

WHAT YOU WIN:
3 lucky winners will each win 2 HeaterMeals Entrees! Yes, I said THREE winners; 2 meals EACH!

TO ENTER:
Required: Visit HeaterMeals Entrees and leave a comment with what 2 flavors you'd choose if you won (including the breakfast choice). Choose carefully because your choices in the comments will be what you'll receive if you win. (1 entry)

EXTRA ENTRIES:
*Follow Me on Twitter. (1 entry)
*Tweet the following; MUST leave link in comment (1 entry): I just entered to win 2 HeaterMeal Entrees from @jerricapuck http://tiny.cc/Jwe1L ENDS 3/16
*Friend Me on Facebook. (1 entry)

*Follow my blog on Networked Blogs - use the widget. (1 entry)

*Share my giveaway on any other social media sites: Facebook, Technorati, etc. (1 entry)
*Enter any of my other giveaways; tell me which one(s). (1 entry each)
*Sign up for Swagbucks using My Referral Link. (2 entries)
*Grab My Button. (2 entries) NEW
*Subscribe via e-mail. (2 entries)
*Follow my blog publicly. (2 entries)
*Blog/Blurb about the giveaway, include a link back to the giveaway. (5 entries!)

**ALL comments require an e-mail address. This means that even if you include your e-mail address in the required entry and then do all extra entries, you still need to have your e-mail address in each extra entry, as well. If an e-mail address is not provided in a comment, I will delete the comment. The only exception, is if you have a blog & have your e-mail visable on your profile or have the e-mail button on your profile.
To better your chances of winning, be sure to leave a seperate comment for each entry that you complete.
This giveaway will end Tuesday, March 16th at 11:59 p.m. (Central Time). I will contact the winners within 24 hours via e-mail and will also write a post announcing the winners. The winners will have 48 hours to respond, after that, a new winner will be chosen. Contest open to Continental U.S. citizens only.
I received 2 HeaterMeal Entrees and a Cafe2Go to review. All opinions of this product are entirely my own. I am not responsible for the loss/damage of any products.

Alice in Wonderland!

I'm sure that most of you have seen Alice in Wonderland.. but that was just the beginning. On March 5, 2010 (THIS FRIDAY) the new Alice in Wonderland will begin playing.
But, this movie isn't just a remake of the older movie -- no, this is the continuation.
PLOT: 19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.

CAST:
Johnny Depp ... Mad Hatter
Mia Wasikowska ... Alice
Helena Bonham Carter ... Red Queen
Anne Hathaway ... White Queen
Now, I'm not one of those girls that "oohh" and "ahh" over Johnny Depp's appearance - that just isn't me. BUT I do "oohh" and "ahh" over his acting skills! I love his movies - mostly all of them. And let me just tell you, I'm sooo excited that he's going to be the Mad Hatter. I don't think that they could have found a better actor to fill this position!!

I don't usually go to opening night movies - too many people. However, I will be going to see Alice in Wonderland! I'm not sure if I'll be there Friday, Saturday or Sunday -- but I'm going to see it! And in all honesty, I really can't wait!! :)
Anyone else going to see the new Alice in Wonderland?