Sparkling ICE Raspberry Iced Tea Recipe

I love the Sparkling ICE beverages because they are low in calories and taste delicious! Besides drinking them straight from the bottle, you can mix them up with other ingredients to come up with some unique beverage, cocktail and dessert recipes.

The great folks over at Sparkling ICE sent over this Raspberry Iced Tea recipe for me to share with all of my blog readers. I think it looks absolutely delicious!

Sparkling ICE Raspberry Iced Tea Recipe

1 bottle of Black Raspberry Sparkling ICE
4 mint tea bags
5-6 limes
Mint sprigs
Honey or agave nectar (optional)

Directions:  Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Remove from heat and add 4 bags of mint tea. Steep for 10 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator for about 3 hours. Approximately 8 teaspoons of lime juice, also chilled. Mix 1 cup of the chilled mint tea with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the lime juice in a chilled glass. If you would like your tea extra sweet add in some honey, agava nectar, otherwise skip to the next step.  Add ¼ cup of chilled Black Raspberry Sparkling ICE to fill the glass. Add crushed ice and stir. Add a lime wedge and mint sprig for garnish.

I Took The #ZzzQuilNight Challenge! #spon

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of ZzzQuil for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I usually have no trouble sleeping.  With crazy busy days like I have, usually when I lay my head down, I am out.  But there are a few nights that I have difficulty falling asleep or I have to get up in the middle of the night and those are the times I find myself tossing and turning.  I am not one to take sleep aids normally, but sometimes I wish I had one!  It is great to know that there is a product from a manufacturer that I know and trust that has a non habit forming product that I can use occasionally.

ZzzQuil is made by the makers of Vicks NyQuil, for when your only symptom is occasional sleeplessness. It’s not for colds, it’s not for pain, it’s just for sleep. Nice!  Its active ingredient, diphenhydramine HCI, helps reduce the time it takes for you to fall asleep when you have difficulty falling asleep, so you can sleep soundly and wake up refreshed.  Plus it comes in a Liquid (Warming Berry flavor) and LiquiCap® forms.  I like having a choice.  It is intended for adults and kids over 12 so you know it has to be safe when used as directed.  Plus it is from Vicks, so I feel good knowing that they have delivered effective relief for years to me and my family.
I received a bottle of the liquid to try out. It is in the familiar triangular packaging we know and love. The other night it was very warm in my room and I could not get comfortable so I was tossing and turning. I thought - perfect time to try out the new ZzzQuil.  The flavor is what you expect from a liquid of this type. Kind of medicine tasting, but not as horrible as some I have had to take.  I took the recommended dose and lay down to wait.  I did not have to wait too long. Soon, I was feeling relaxed and I was asleep pretty quickly... maybe 20 or 30 minutes later. I don't really know, since I was sleeping. lol  In the morning, I woke up feeling good.  I slept all night and I had no medicine head hangover.  That is a huge plus!  Not bad.
If you have occasional sleeplessness, ZzzQuil might be something that you would want to try out. Take the #ZzzQuilNight Challenge and tweet about it using the hash tag #ZzzQuilNight.  We want to know how you felt using it.  Also stop by the ZzzQuil Facebook page and give them a like and a shout out.   More information about ZzzQuil is available at www.zzzquil.com.
Hope this helps you to get a good nights sleep too!  Let us know!

Trash to Treasure - New Scrapbooking Paper Organizer

A few weeks ago my hubby and I went down to the local flea market looking for some items for our new house. While walking around at the flea market, I spotted this really old and ugly wooden paper sorter or mail rack sitting underneath a table. (above photo shows it in an ugly puke green color)

The seller told me that it was 50 years old and that it was once used in an office to sort mail and papers. I measured the slots (cubby holes) and they are the perfect size to hold sheets of 8 1/2" by 11" scrapbooking paper. The wooden piece is really solid but had a lot of scratches and was painted an ugly puke green color.

The seller was asking $10.00 for it but I talked him down to $4.00 and brought it home. I knew it would be perfect once painted for my scrapbooking and craft room to hold all of my scrapbooking paper. Ewwwww! Look at that ugly green color! Photo above shows it before I hit it with the sander and paint!

The photo above shows it drying after I hit it with the white paint & the clear acrylic sealer. Much better looking now!

Once we got it home, we cleaned it and sanded it with a palm sander to remove the old paint finish and scratches. We then sprayed it with a white primer and left it dry overnight. The next day, I painted it with matte white paint and left it dry overnight again. The following day I sprayed it down with a clear acrylic sealer to seal the paint.

Once it was all done, I had hubby hang it up in my craft & sewing room so that I could store all of my smaller sized scrapbooking papers in it. It's nice to have them all sorted by color hue, types of print, etc. Makes finding the right paper a lot easier now when I sit down to scrapbook!

This entire project took me 3 days to complete and for a total cost of $9.89. I love Trash to Treasure bargains like this one! Yay! Now to hit that flea market again next week :)

Happy Crafting!

My New Amish Crafted Porch Swing Arrived



I purchased a beautiful Amish handcrafted porch swing from Amazon.com back in early April and it finally arrived! A few hours after it's arrival, I had my hubby and his employee Tom out in our back yard assembling and hanging my new swing!

Back when I was a little girl...my aunt and uncle put up a swing for my brother and I to play on. It has been over 20 years since that metal swing holder has actually held a swing! Now that hubby and I bought the house and moved into it...we sanded off all of the old rusty paint and repainted it blue to match our house trim and window shutters.



It took the two guys about 30 minutes to assemble the swing and another 5 minutes to get it hung up. I spent a good 40 minutes outside that very first night just sitting on my swing and enjoying the nice Spring weather we have been having.

While sitting on the swing, I realized that I can see both of our side yards and our back yard all from that swing and I spotted two new bird's nests and I think I finally have residents in my one handcrafted wooden birdhouse. I am going to check on that tomorrow!

Another positive to having this new swing....my little grand daughter Princess Gia loves coming over to Nanny's house and swinging with me! Yay for that!

Beautifying My Front and Back Yards with Scotts Gardening Supplies

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

During the Spring, Summer and Fall season, hubby and I spend a lot of time outdoors. We have 2 flower beds in our front yard, a flower bed in our back yard and 1 small & 1 large vegetable garden bed. We love being outside and this year we are really excited about expanding and beautifying our outdoor spaces.

Our Spring flowers are doing really nicely this year and the only thing left to do is add some mulching. I need to get out to my local home improvement store and pick up some additional gardening supplies as we want to try some sustainable gardening this year.

My brother lives in Florida and is interested in using the Scotts Florida Select Natural Eucalyptus Mulch which sounds really cool. This Natural Eucaplyptus Mulch is substainable, natural and grown in Florida. It is substainable because it grows back 4 times faster than Cypress. It is made from plantation-grown Eucalyptus trees and is guaranteed to be free of waste and fillers.

What is really nice about this type of mulch is that it helps to keep weeds away, concerves soil moisture and helps to moderate your soil's temperature. Since it is locally grown in Florida, it helps to support the local and national economy and buying U.S.A. made products is important to me.

It's really easy to use and all you need to do is spread it 3" deep. They do recommend that you don't put it up against your house foundation, tree trunks or other wood structures. You can use it near those things but don't put it up right against them.

You can use the mulch around trees, in your flower beds, around your bushes or in your vegetable garden after your plants have sprouted out of the ground. I had never thought about using it in my veggie garden but that is a great idea for sure!

A 2 cu. foot bag will cover the following area: 2" depth it will cover 12 sq. ft. of bedding, 3" depth it will cover 8 sq. ft. of bedding and at a depth of 4" it will cover a bedding area of 6 sq. ft. I love that I don't need a truck load of mulch and can just buy a few bagfuls of it as I need it.

Since I don't live in or near Florida, I am looking to purchase the Scotts Nature Scapes mulch which comes in 3 colors: black, red and deep forest brown. I think we will go with the deep forest brown as I think that looks more natural. This mulch is natural and comes in a variety of textures. It helps to maintain moisture, prevent weeds & create a nicely looking groomed landscape all year long! Fantastic!

As you can see from my photos today....my flower beds still need some work! The flowers are beautiful and my blooming trees are beautiful but they definitely need some multching done. I think I will add that to our gardening to-do list for this weekend.

Do you like to garden? If so, are you a flower garden, fruit garden or a veggie garden type of person? Do you use mulch and if so, do you have any mulching tips to share with us?

Wagering Whiskey Pop Cocktail Recipe



The time has come for horses, bourbon and completely ridiculous looking hats – that’s right, The Kentucky Derby is just a few weeks away! Whether you’re rooting for the number one horse, Orb, or number 52, Little Jerry, there’s one thing that everyone can agree on…Derby Day Cocktails from Voga Italia.

Wagering Whiskey Pop Cocktail Recipe

1 Sugar Cube
4 drops of angostura aromatic bitters
1/2 shot of bourbon whisky
Top it off with VOGA Sparkling

Polish the sugar cube with bitters and drop it into the glass. Pour bourbon whisky into a chilled glass. Top it off with VOGA Sparkling.

Disclaimer: Photo and recipe is courtesy of Voga Italia. You must be 21 years of age or older to consume alcohol. Please drink responsibly.

Happy 27th Wedding Anniversary to my Husband!



It was 27 years ago today that I married my high school sweetie Sam and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Many thought that our marriage wouldn't survive because I was only 18 years old and he is 8 years older than me.

With that said...we made it! It was a long and hard road at times...but we did make it and I can honestly say that I love him more today, than I have loved him in the past. As time goes forward, my love for him grows stronger and I am proud to call this man my husband!

Today I have been getting spoiled beyond belief and I admit...I love being spoiled!

I have had 2 sets of beautiful roses delivered to my home from two different companies. The cleaning lady was here earlier today and she cleaned my home! Yay! I also got some gourmet Mrs. Prindables apples which are my favorite and tomorrow...he is taking me out to dinner and shopping. I am looking forward to spending MORE of his hard earned money! LOL (oh yeah, I am worth every dang dime too!).

Anyway, Happy 27th wedding anniversary to my awesome hubby Sam! wootwoot!

Tired of the Dog Crap in our Yard!

We finally moved into our new home back in January of 2013 and ever since that time...we have watched the neighbor's 3 big dogs come over into our back yard and take their daily craps! We are so stinking tired of it!



(Neighbors dog crap! I have been taking pics and documenting this mess)

Back in the Fall when we started remodeling the home and making arrangements to move into it, we told the neighbors that they needed to keep their dogs out of our yard. They have 3 very large dogs and we noticed over 50+ crappy land mines sprinkled throughout our yard. Matter of fact, we have told them several times in the past 6 months to keep their dogs in their own yard!

Well...they haven't listened to us at all and we are fed up with!

We have tried sprinkling Cayenne Pepper Powder down our property line to keep the dogs out of here and that hasn't worked! We then bought moth balls and threw those out along the property line and that hasn't worked either!

A few days ago we went over to Lowe's and bought a canister of dog repellent granules which cost us $19.00 and threw those along our property line (the entire length of our property that borders their property) and guess what? Their 3 freaking dogs are still coming over here DAILY (sometimes twice a day) to take their crap!

We have tried ever "natural" thing that we read online to keep those dang dogs off our property and nothing has worked...NOTHING! We are so fed up with this because we have NO dogs and if we did, we sure in heck would not let them go over and crap in the neighbor's yard! ugh!

Does anyone know of anything we can do to keep these dogs off our property? I really hate to call the police and the township about this but we want it stopped! We are planting a veggie garden and some flower beds next week and we don't want these stinking dogs shitting up our yard anymore!

Any suggestions? Advice? Something?????