That right! You have three easy ways to enter the contest and you can enter three times per person using each type of entry! Easy Peasy!

Want to know what you have a chance to win? You are going to love these fantastic prizes.

BluGamer: The Ultimate Gaming Package is an Xbox 360 Elite Gaming System combined with a Rock Band 2 bundle.

Happy Blu-Year: Win a New Years Eve trip to NY

Blullapalooza: Win a trip to Lolapalloza in Chicago

BluStreak: Win a Richard Petty Racing Experience

XtremeBLU: Win a trip to the Winter X Games in Aspen

Who is sponsoring this fantastic contest?

BluFrog! The good for you, healthy, energy drink.

I want to win that trip to New York City! I have always wanted to be a part of the excitement I only watch on television each year. Which prize would you choose if you won? Let me know in a comment.

How about you? Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. It is so easy to enter. I am going to be so embarrassed when I win. I always scream like an idiot when I win something. You have heard those people on the radio. The ones who sound like blubbering idiots. LOL That will be me!

I can’t wait to see everyone who is coming for the wedding. That is the fun part of weddings; seeing people and catching up. I just hope I remember to ask Katie why they moved and who is watching my nephews tanning shop. Important stuff!

Two more sleeps to go and I hope they are restful ones.

I hate to mention it but it seems as if my wedding posts breed spam. Please, if you sell wedding candles, seat covers or travel brochures, do not leave a comment on my blog. I will not advertise for you. Your comment will be deleted or changed to suit me.

I had no idea that there was such a thing as “Mom Jeans.” I didn’t know that you aren’t supposed to wear jeans with a waistband around your neck and that are not flared. Those are the type of jeans hanging in my closet. I need help.

Enter Mr. Armani! His style is going to be my redeemer. The most amazing styles and prices can be found at a terrific online website, Armani Exchange. I was expecting to pay big bucks for a quality pair of blue jeans after all; I plan on wearing these jeans everywhere and for a long time. Armani Exchange has new “Premium Denim” starting at $98! I have been with my daughter when she shopped for jeans at the mall. $98 is a great deal. As a plus, if you spend $100 or more on a full-price pair of denim between July 7, 2009, and July 19, 2009, you will get a $20 gift card off your next $100 or more purchases from July 31, 2009, to August 31, 2009. Purchases made in the actual store or online at Armani Exchange qualify.

I am trying to win a pair of denim every day for the moth of July by texting the keyword “DENIM2″ to ARMANI (276264). You can get all the details on the A|X Blog or the website. Click on text A|X for more information.

You have no excuse to be out of style!

But look at all the great choices the Smart Car will give us!

and last but not least

Speaking of gospel entertainment, the 1st Annual Branson Gospel Music Convention, is coming to Branson July 14 to 17. The convention will be held at the Branson Convention Center, which is adjacent to the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel. Groups featured include The Blackwood Quartet, The Chuck Wagon Gang, Florida Boys, The Stamps, and The Paynes.

Perhaps golfing is your idea of relaxing vacation. You will be thrilled with the Payne Stewart Golf Course. The course is built with the features that exemplified Payne Stewart’s sense of humor, style and experiences. The course incorporates natural rock outcroppings, waterfalls and creeks and wooded areas into the design features. Widely known for his wardrobe of traditional golf knickers or plus fours and a tam o’ shanter cap, Payne Stewart was a champion and one of Missouri’s own. Tragically, his life was cut short when at the age of 42, Payne Stewart was killed in a plane crash.

A stay at the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing will be one of pure enjoyment. You will be pampered and feel rested from your visits to shopping areas, nature hikes and the like. Let Branson be your vacation spot.

The first thing that popped into my head is from the movie The Exorcist. Do you remember the scene when Linda Blair’s character, Regan MacNeil, did a head spin? It was the beginning of the cult type films. Very scary stuff!

Linda Blair said, “It was always very strange for me when I was young and would meet someone who geniunely seemed to be afraid of me. They couldn’t separate me from the monster I became in a movie. You wouldn’t believe how often people ask me to make my head spin around.”

Join us at Heads or Tails!

The album is available now but by ordering on the 3rd, you can save on your purchase through their Amazon MP3 “Deal Of The Day.”

The album includes many of my favorites, which include The Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America, God Bless the USA, and America the Beautiful. Feel your heart swell with pride as you listen to this wonderful album. The music is played by the famous 100 Strings Orchestra, known for their lush, soothing sound qualities.

Get your patriotic cake baked, hang out your flag, don your red, white and blue t-shirt and listen to “A Salute To America!”

* 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
* 3 cups sugar
* 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
* 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 3 cups flour
* 1/3 cup cornstarch
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:

* 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
* 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
* 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To assemble:

* 2 half-pints blueberries
* 3 half-pints raspberries

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan.

There is help available for those who are seeking skill improvement for a particular job profile. Learn.com provides online training courses in many fields. They also offer compliance courses that will have you in a skilled profession with the training of which you can rely and able to apply for jobs in that field.

Learn.com makes it easy to learn new job skills that will help you get back into the workforce or help you get a promotion. I was recently asked to review their site and was able to go through the motions of the choosing a course and checking out my skill score. A Skill score is calculated for each job profile based upon the completion and passing of exams for each course that is prepared for a specific job profile. The Skill score gives me, as well as a potential employer, the key to know if I have the qualifications or need training for a profession.

After I registered at their site, I chose from a list of job profiles. There is a whole library of job profiles covering jobs in business, management and administration as well as marketing, sales and service. I chose the business category since that is my field of expertise. I manage a business and wondered how I measured up in their executive secretaries and administrative assistants job profile.

The courses are varied from beginning math and grammar skills, of which I can certainly use a refresher course, to business ethics. Learn.com also offers accredited courses from some very exclusive online degrees from impressive universities. The College Network, George Washington University, Boston University, and eCornell are listed as part of an extensive list of universities with courses offered through Learn.com. There are telephone and written communication courses as well as computer use courses. I am excited to see all these subjects. These are things I have had to learn on my own. What a fabulous resource for those wanting a complete training course that they can do on their own time.

Okay, time to calm down and actually choose a course. I am choosing Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Fundamentals. I am off to do some studying and will be back to tell you how I did.

To be continued….

Everyone needs to refresh their minds or learn new information to keep up with today’s technology. It is important during these economic times when our jobs are not as stable as we once thought. Be prepared by taking control of your circumstances. Learn new things at Learn.com.

Since this is TAILS your summertime memory needs to be a real memory of yours. It can be a childhood memory, a memory from teens years or later. It can even be from last week.

One of my favorite summertime memories is making picnic lunches for my kids and letting them eat their lunch outside. I had old lunch boxes that I would pack with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and koolaid. We would put a blanket in the yard and eat our lunch. Something simple like that sure did make my kids happy.

Another memory I have of summertime is from when I was in the 7th grade. We lived with our grandmother in Washington state while my dad was in Vietnam. Many kids worked in the fields as their summer job. I picked cucumbers and strawberries. I felt rich at the end of summer!