Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I pray that you will each experience a strong spirit of thankfulness with your loved ones today! I'm so thankful for my family, the way God has provided for us, and the way we were able to donate 4 meals for those that weren't able to afford a Thanksgiving meal. God is so good!

I woke up to a post in Google Reader about Anissa Mayhew. I'm so encourage by her progress and her family's faith through these hard times! Please keep Anissa and her family in your prayers and thoughts throughout this holiday season!

And, I think this is enough turkey for ALL my readers. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Image from The 2beerguys beer blog.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Holey Donuts Contest - Cinnamon Buns & More + $150

A couple pictures to entice you a little!



Holey Donuts just contacted me about a giveaway they are running until December 15. This is an awesome prize package and I encourage you all to enter!!

HOLEY DONUTS! WOULD LIKE ONE LUCKY READER TO WIN A Holey Donuts! Holiday Pack of:

1- Full box of Jumbo Low Fat Cinnamon Buns (4)
1- Full box of Our Awesome Jumbo Low Fat Blueberry Vanilla Buns (4)
1- Full box of Holey Donuts! Low Fat Cinnamon Bun Middles (16)

+$150 Holiday spending cash!


How can you enter?

Send an email to: info@holeydonuts.net with "Meandering Matt" in the subject line. Please only enter once. It's that simple.

If you will, please leave a comment here, letting me know you entered!


What's in it for me, Meandering Matt? For every one of you that enters the giveaway, I get an entry to win $650.

Special Discount Code!!

Buy 2 and get 1 Free!! All you have to do is place 3 or more assortments in your shipping cart, then at checkout, enter the code HGLL and click recalculate, and BAM! your 3rd assortment will be free (up to a $11.95 value)! Feel free to use for yourself or as a gift for a friend or family member anytime up until 12/15.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Unconscious Mutterings


From Luna Nina comes Unconscious Mutterings

  1. Marathon ::

  2. Debt :: Not good, paying off truck this month, Dave Ramsey

  3. Turn :: left, right, Monopoly

  4. Image :: Not too important, picture, avatar

  5. Sofa :: couch, recliner, sectional, cuddle

  6. Envelope :: letter, bill

  7. Cart :: groceries, pus pus (Bambara for push push - a push cart on a recycled car axel

  8. Process :: project management, CPU, service, application, calculation

  9. Question :: answer, inquiry

  10. Rumor :: gossip

Need Your Votes!

Happy Monday, everyone! My son and I are entered in a contest to win a years worth of Pork Rinds! Could you all take a minute to go over and vote for us? This is the picture I entered with. Please head on over to the Southern Recipe Facebook Photo Contest and vote for us!


Dad and Zac
Hot & Spicy for Dad...Original for Zac

Saturday, November 21, 2009

My Saturday

Saturday is almost always a day to relax for me. After working Monday through Friday, it feels good to just sit back and relax on Saturday. This is especially true during football season. Sunday is usually a bit busier with church in the morning and small group in the evening.

So, today, we were awoken by the construction equipment outside the house. I'm going to be so glad when they are done with this sewer line installation! I got up, checked email, read the paper and made a fairly light breakfast. Ok, there wasn't anything light about it. I cooked bacon and then fried some scrambled eggs in the bacon grease and covered them in bacon.

Today was the day of the big rivalry game...Ohio State versus Michigan. This is a huge game for any fan of Ohio State or Michigan. Michigan has had a rough couple of years since they got a new coach last year. The game was still pretty good! OSU pulled it off in the end 21-10. Go Bucks. My wife made a big batch of scalloped potatoes and ham for lunch while we watched the game.

After that, it was on to watch the Penn State versus Michigan State game. This game turned into not much of a game with Pen State winning 42-14. We watched a little bit of several other games and a little bit of the Nationwide Series Nascar race. Notre Dame and UConn went into double overtime. This was a pretty exciting ending. Notre Dame only got a field goal and UConn got a touchdown ending the game. Then I watched the end of the LSU versus Ole Miss game. This was another tight game with an exciting ending. I was rooting for Ole Miss even though I don't usually root for either team. Ole Miss held LSU in the end for a 25-23 win.

Well, I'm sitting here getting ready to find out who our OSU Buckeyes will play in the Rose Bowl. Will it be Oregon or Arizona? We'll see. I've picked Oregon in my fantasy picks.

That's my Saturday. Did anyone do anything more exciting?

Friday, November 20, 2009

Golden Moon Tea Review + Discount


I'm sitting here drinking a cup of Golden Moon Madagascar Vanilla tea! Golden Moon sent me a tin of their tea to try and review here on my blog. I chose the Madagascar Vanilla because I'm a huge fan of anything with a vanilla flavor. Golden Moon says this about the Madagascar Vanilla tea:
Madagascar mixes rich black tea with slices of real vanilla bean to produce a deep flavor that incorporates notes of dark rum, sweet earth and tropical flowers. Both smooth and exotic, this loose leaf tea is great served with buttered toast as a special morning treat.

This is a very smooth tea with a great aroma of vanilla beans. I get a light hint of vanilla in the tea. I think I'd describe it almost like the flavor of vanilla bean ice cream (you know, the kind with the little flecks of vanilla bean throughout it). Golden Moon lists this as having a caffeine level of "medium". I don't think it has all that much caffeine in it. I was nervous to drink it in the evening, but it hasn't kept me from sleeping at all.

I really like Golden Moon's web site because of all the great ways to search for a tea and the great products they have. You can search for a tea by origin, cuisine, time of day, mood, caffeine level, and even price per cup. At Golden Moon, you can find green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and flavored tea. They also sell everything you need to make a great cup of tea, including kettles, pots, and cups. Another great thing I'm considering is their tea clubs and gift sets.

Don't forget that Golden Moon Tea is offering all of my readers a special discount of 10% off all orders through Christmas by using the discount code: "MeanderingMatt" at checkout.

Disclaimer: Golden Moon Tea provided me with a sample to try in exchange for this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Thursday Thunks



1. If you won a brand new house in a Dream House Giveaway would you move into it, sell it to pay the taxes and make a profit, rent it out or give it to a family member/friend who might need it?

I think it depends on the house. I'd say if the Dream House was MY (or my and my wife's) dream house, I'd definitely move in. If it wasn't designed by us and was missing a lot of the main things we want in a house, I'd say we'd see if a family member wanted it or something. I'm not sure I ever want to have to deal with landlord/tenant relationships!

2. Are you good at billiards?

I'm not good at all. If I'm playing with people of equal skill, one game could go on forever!

3. Does anyone on the planet really want to see Levi Johnston naked in Playgirl (other than when Bristol Palin did)?

I have no interest in seeing any guy naked...

4. Is your phone ringing right now?

My phone isn't ringing and since my wife's at church tonight, I probably wouldn't answer it unless it was someone in my family or my wife. I don't like using the phone!

5. Do you think man has eaten or tried to eat every type of animal on the face of the earth at one point or another? If not, what don't you think man has tried?

After watching Bizarre Foods, I'd say man has tried eating just about everything, animal or plant. I have to say that even though I love meat, there are just some things I don't think I'll ever try. At the same time, if I'm on a missions trip or something, I will always at least try what I'm offered.

6. The new movie Avatar has been showing sneak peeks and been hyped to the max. Will you see it?

This really doesn't sound like my kind of movie. I might see it after my father-in-law buys it on DVD, but I don't have any plans to see it before then.

7. If a slightly bigger fish eats a small fish, then a bigger fish immediately eats that one, then an even bigger fish immediately eats that fish and then finally a huge fish eats the one that just ate that fish and it gets caught by you... how many meals will you have from that one fish?

I am not sure that most fish chew their food. If that's the case, I'd say 5 if the first (small fish) wasn't too small. Wow, can you imagine filleting a fish and finding out you have another meal inside it...and one inside it and...

8. If you had an appointment with the doctor and all the plants in the office were dead, would you still see the doctor?

I would still see the doctor. After all, we know the nurses are supposed to take care of the fish tank and plants...lol.

9. Have you ever seen the number 666 in a dream?

No, I don't think I've ever seen it in a dream. I do try to avoid this number as much as possible, though.

10. "At 20 years of age the will reigns, at 30 the wit, at 40 the judgment."~ Benjamin Franklin
So what happens at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100?

Boy, I could potentially retire at 49 (although they're changing the rules soon), so I'd say that retirement reigns from 50 on. Of course, God reigns supreme ALL the time, so that could be the answer. Or maybe the government since they seem to want their hands in everyone's pockets these days...

11. Would you want your phone number to be (area code) 123-4567?

I suppose it wouldn't be so bad. I'm not much of a phone fan anyway, so it doesn't matter to me. I screen all my calls anyway!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Drury Hotels

This is a completely unpaid review of Drury Hotels. They are adding some new free services to their amazing lineup of free stuff. I just wanted to take some time to share with you about their hotels!

We've been staying at Drury Hotels as much as possible when traveling for about 5 years, I think. We really like their hotels because of all the extras that are included in your reservation price. My favorite thing besides all the freebies is the two-room suites! It's great to travel with our three year old and let him sleep in one room (living room/pull-out sofa) and us in a king bed. We can stay up watching TV or whatever once he's asleep in the other room!

Drury Hotels offer the following extras as part of your stay:
  • Free wireless high speed Internet access

  • Free soft drinks and popcorn in the lobby

  • Free breakfast (A big win in my book) - usually including eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, etc.

  • Free long distance calling up to 60 minutes per night

  • Three free alcoholic beverages per guest per night


Soon, they will be adding a 5:30 Kickback. This means, you will be able to get free hot food with your free evening drinks! I'm really excited about this. You can have appetizers at the hotel between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. and go out for dinner if you'd like later in the evening! Depending on the night you stay, they'll be serving food like chicken strips, egg rolls, meatballs, chicken wings, hot dogs and chili, baked potato bar, and salads.

I've always gotten great service at Drury Hotels. The rooms are always clean and there is plenty of space in the rooms to stretch out and relax. Most of the Drury Hotels that I have stayed at recently have flat screen TVs that make it easy to sit back and watch a movie or your favorite TV program. I also always enjoy the hot tub and, occasionally, the exercise room. My wife and son like the pool.

If you are planning a trip, I'd highly recommend looking to see if there's a Drury Hotels near your destination and give them a try! I think you will find it's a great hotel just as I have! Happy traveling!

Disclaimer: This is completely my opinion of Drury Hotels. I was not reimbursed in any way for this post.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Ewwwwwww

Well, we have a sewer pipe under the house that's had a small leak, so I decided to go under and try to repair it tonight. It was a little bit nastier than I expected, but at least it wasn't ALL over. I had planned to just seal the pipe up real well and see if it would hold. I had a sealer that was supposed to work per things I'd read on the Internet. I also had mortar to mix up if it was needed. The ground's pretty damp down there, so I dug around the pipe and prepared it to be sealed. I squeezed as much of the sealer as possible into the joint. It was supposed to create an instant seal, but I couldn't get it completely into the whole joint. The pipe began leaking worse.

So, I came back out of the crawl space (which isn't all that easy to crawl or breathe in) and mixed up mortar. I went back under and the hole around the pipe had filled up with water now (Oh great). I figured I would just stuff the mortar around the pipe real well and let it harden to seal off the joint. I think the water in the hole might have softened the mortar a little too much, so I may have to redo it tomorrow night...

Hopefully, the mortar will harden up and seal off the pipe.
There are just some things about owning a house that I consider disgusting. Working with a sewer pipe is one of them!!! Hopefully I can get it fixed quickly and not have to deal with it for a long long time!!

Eden Fantasys $25 GC Winner

I just chose the winner of the Eden Fantasys $25 Gift Card!



Dee over at Two of a kind, working on a full house said... 50
I like the Studded chiffon babydoll set

I've sent an email to you letting you know you are the winner!