Photo provided by Outback Steakhouse
Yesterday I was honored to be invited to a lunch at Outback Steakhouse in order to honor some of our amazing troops from the area. Operation Homefront put together this amazing lunch and had a special guest show up. As you can see from the picture above, the special guest was Tim McGraw.
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It was so nice to see the military honored in such a way, and I wish they could have invited more people to honor! I was thinking that my friend Manny should have been there at the lunch. Had I had a way to invite him, I would have! Tim McGraw was amazing. He made sure he visited and spent time at every table, even ours, even though we were not any of the honored guests at lunch. I like that he took the time to make everyone feel special.
Yesterday I was honored to be invited to a lunch at 
When I go to Outback I always get the same things, so it was kind of nice to step outside of my usual for once. I realized when I left that I never got any of my favorite bread from the, though. (I also missed having a Wallaby Darned, which is my favorite alcoholic drink of all time!) For lunch they served us the famous Bloomin’ Onion, Crab Stuffed Mushrooms (which I didn’t try), Blue Cheese Pecan Chopped Salad, Filet Steak Flights with Green Beans, and Cake Pops. I actually REALLY liked the salad. I normally get their tangy tomato dressing, but next time I’ll have a difficult choice to make when I go. The steak flights are a new menu item and you get a choice of four different sauces to try on them. I chose the brandy peppercorn and the bernaise sauce. I thought the steaks and sauces were good, but I did not care for the potato pancakes that they were served on. Also new to the menu were the cake pops. They have three different flavors for those: cheesecake melba, chocolate peanut butter and carrot cake. I loved the cheesecake pops followed by the carrot cake. I wasn’t a fan of the chocolate one, because it tasted like it was dark chocolate to me. Overall I really enjoyed the lunch and was glad I got to try something new off their menu.
If you are a member of the military (#MilitaryMates), you get 10% off of your bill until July 4. I think it’s a great, small way to honor our troops! Thank you again to Outback, Operation Homefront, and Tim McGraw for our awesome lunch!
Note: I was invited to the Operation Homefront event at (and sponsored by) Outback Steakhouse. I received lunch and a gift bag on the way out but was not financially compensated for this post, and writing this post was not a condition of attending.
There are many inexpensive ways to spruce up your kitchen. One thing I did was to cover all of the outlet and switch covers with a fabric that coordinates with the colors of my kitchen and I coated it with Mod Podge so that I could wipe them down when they become dirty. You can also buy coordinating hand and dish towels; you can usually find them pretty cheap at your local Walmart or Dollar Store. Under counter lighting can really bring a kitchen together. We originally tried using those stick up lights that you can press on and off with the touch of a finger, but the adhesive didn’t stick well to the bottom of my cabinets and they kept falling. Unfortunately, one fell and it stuck very well to my counter, which peeled the paint off my counters.
You can always add inexpensive accents such as fake vines and flowers, framed photos and art, hang a fruit basket and a spice rack to complete the look in your kitchen. I have a painting hanging in my kitchen that my sister painted for my mom when I was very young. When she came over once she told me to take it down because it was so old, but it’s a piece of my childhood!
The cheapest way to beautify your home, though, is to keep it clean! Bacon grease will get caught up in your exhaust fan and make your kitchen look like a dust magnet. There are plenty of grease cutting detergents that you can use and it takes only a few minutes to clean it off. Wipe down your counters and cabinets. My white cabinets show everything. I swear that I’m wiping them down AT LEAST once a week! If you have a glass top stove, invest in the cleaner and clean that thing off at least once a month. You can also use baking soda and vinegar to clean it. If you have a gas stove, soak the traps once a month to clean out all the icky food that gets dropped down in there. Clean out your refrigerator! I don’t just mean that you should get rid of old food (yes, you should do that) but also wipe down the shelves and bottom at least once a month. Try to stay on top of it when you see something spill so it doesn’t get stuck on and take forever to clean. Make yourself a monthly cleaning list for your kitchen and break it down into daily/weekly tasks so you can focus on one thing at a time to keep it pretty.
My kids would spend all day paper crafting if I would let them, so when I had the chance to check out the new 
If you look where the stems come into the dirt, you can even see the seeds that the flowers came out of. She is very detailed with all of her drawings. My first day home from my trip, Little Man pulled out some paper and the 
1) Berries- Fresh berries can be great to eat, but they can sure leave behind some pesky stains. Spritz your counter with lemon juice or vinegar for an eco-friendly cleaning and odor removal alternative if you choose not to use a harsh cleanser. Lemon juice can bleach out many stains. I personally use a vinegar/water spray to clean the majority of my house.
We took a shuttle from the Emerald Grande over to Norriego Point where we spent the morning in the cove: splashing, dancing, and chatting. I had an urge to make a sand castle but never did make one.
We visited 
We also had the chance to check out jet skis from 
Contest Closed 
