Fall Drinks- Compliments Of Your Keurig

Posted on by Mandy

Fall is in the air, and Green Mountain Coffee has just the flavors from its Green Mountain Naturals line to welcome the crisp, cooler season.  This month I was sent two fabulous, fall-inspired drinks to try out in my Keurig, and I just know you will want to sample these for yourself.

GREEN MOUNTAIN NATURALS

 

keurig hot apple cider
When I think of fall drinks, apple cider is right up there at the top of the list, and Green Mountain Naturals Hot Apple Cider is absolutely delicious.  This drink contains no artificial colors or preservatives – just honest apple goodness with a hint of brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon.

Want a cooler drink instead?  Green Mountain Naturals Lemonade is the first ever lemonade in a K-Cup pack, and I love the fact that I can have lemonade that tastes as great as fresh-squeezed made in my Keurig!

Learn more by visiting Green Mountain Naturals on Facebook and Twitter (@GreenMtnNaturals)

I’m excited to share this month’s promo code at Green Mountain Coffee for 15% off all Green Mountain Naturals K-Cup® packs.  Just enter GMN8162 at checkout. The Promo code is good until October 3, 2012.

Happy Fall, Y’all!

 

I was sent the above products to facilitate my post as a Keurig/Green Mountain Coffee ambassador. All opinions are my own.

Stains Are No Match For My Maytag Bravos XL (#MaytagMoms)

Posted on by Mandy

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Let’s face it…when you have a little boy who comes home daily from school with lunch stains on his uniform shirts and a husband who drives a truck and often comes home with grease stained clothes, it’s a must that you have a dependable washer and dryer to help fight those stains and help keep those clothes looking fresh.  This is my toughest laundry battle, and I am thrilled to report my new Maytag Bravos XL HE washer and dryer are living up to those expectations when it comes to making laundry time a breeze.

 

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I have to wash my son’s uniform shirts in cold water because they are a dark color and I hate for them to fade.  However, I often wondered with our old washer whether or not they were truly getting clean enough.  I could never get those “clear” looking grease stains out of his shirts and it was frustrating because those shirts are not cheap.  I am simply amazed at how clean his uniform shirts come out of the wash now and they look just as great as when I took the out of the package.  The cold wash cycle on the Maytag Bravos XL gives you the performance of a warm wash cycle with the energy savings of cold water.  The Bravos XL also uses 76% less water and 78% less energy making it an Energy Star qualified model.

Speaking of Energy Star, according to a survey they conducted, the average household washes 400 loads of laundry per year!  That’s quite an impressive amount of laundry!  I can honestly say I only have to wash clothes three times a week now with my new Maytag Bravos XL washer, as opposed to the 5 or 6 loads I did with my old washing machine.  It has the ability to clean 21 towels in a single load!  I don’t own 21 towels, but can you imagine what a time saver this washing machine could be for a large family?  Look how deep this machine is!

 

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Yes, I stuff as many towels as I possibly can into a load.  I am also really, really guilty of letting clothes sit in the dryer overnight.  With towels, this really isn’t an issue, but with our clothes, they just become a wrinkled mess.  However, the steam cycle on the Bravos XL dryer is my new best friend.  I simply set the dial to the steam cycle, push a button, and our clothes come out fresh and wrinkle-free!  I don’t iron, so this is my absolute favorite part of the dryer!

As you can see, I really depend on our Maytag Bravos XL washer and dryer to keep our clothes looking great and save me time.

You can check out all of Maytag’s products here and also on Facebook.

See what other Maytag Moms are saying here and join the conversation!


I wrote this post as a #MayTagMoms Dependable Laundry Ambassador through mom Central Consulting on behalf of Maytag. I was provided with the Maytag washer and dryer set to facilitate my post.

Smithsonian National Museum Day- September 29

Posted on by Mandy

smithsonian free

 

Are you looking for a fun family activity?  If you’ve ever been to any of the Smithsonian Museums, you know that they are incredible and FREE, so in the spirit of that free resource to everyone, Smithsonian Magazine is sponsoring Museum Day Live! on September 29, 2012 and offering 2 FREE ADMISSIONS PER HOUSEHOLD to any participating venue from coast to coast! 

You can visit the link here to find participating museums near you offering free admission.

FREE IN MISSISSIPPI:

If you live in Mississippi, the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Mississippi Petrified Forest, and Tunica Museum will be participating in this eighth annual event celebrating cultural education through the nation’s wide array of museums and institutions.

 

Just passing along information.  No compensation was received for sharing this.

Adaptu Financial Shape-Up Giveaway

Posted on by Mandy

Adaptu's Financial Shape-Up

 

My family and I have been participating in the Adaptu Financial Shape-Up Challenge since August and I can’t rave enough about how helpful all of the financial tools and articles have been in helping me try to get a handle on a solid budget our family can live by.  Budgeting has never been one of my strong points, but I’m learning more and more as I go and Adaptu has been the best tool in helping me achieve some financial peace of mind while also helping our family save towards a vacation for next summer.

What Is Adaptu?

Adaptu is a personal finance website and app (for both the iPhone and Droid) that not only helps users manage their money, but showcases how upcoming expenses will affect their overall cash flow, as well as a host of other great features, like spending reports, bill reminders for when life gets super busy, and even modules to monitor your investments. If you participate in mileage and point rewards programs, Adaptu can keep up with all of that, too!

I hope you will join me in setting a financial goal and checking out Adaptu to see how it can help you reach the goals you want.

WIN IT:

Do you have a financial goal you are working towards? Sign up for Adaptu (it’s free to get started!) and leave me a comment telling me what your favorite Adaptu feature is. One lucky reader will win $50! Giveaway ends September 30, 2012 at 11:59 PM Central. 18+ and void where prohibited.

I am participating in a compensated blogger campaign for Adaptu. All opinions are my own.

Adaptu Financial Shape-Up- September Check In

Posted on by Mandy

Adaptu's Financial Shape-Up

 

Well, September is nearly over and it’s time for another update on our journey to saving for a family vacation for next summer.  As I mentioned in my last post, we had a couple of financial hurdles to tackle in August, and that really slowed our trip savings down quite a bit.  We’re back on track this month, but saving is still a slow process and I think I’ve concluded that this is just a time of the year where extra expenses are going to be a fact of life.  We’ve been spending on school uniforms, school lunches, gas for my commute to work, and school supplies.  Getting ready for school can definitely put a dent in anyone’s budget.  I’m also looking ahead and seeing some major car repairs (yes, again) and wonder if saving for a family trip when there are other bigger priorities is even reasonable.  Yet, I can’t help but remember all of the wonderful memories we made this summer and I want that for us again next year.

Obviously, budgeting is the way to go, but it can be overwhelming when you have so much to think about saving for.  I sometimes don’t know exactly where to start, but I found this wonderful article on Adaptu entitled, There’s Too Much To Save For:  Picking Savings Priorities, and it really helped me to understand how to prioritize our “wants and needs” and plan to save accordingly for those.  I’m so glad I found this article because I feel so much more organized and confident as we forge ahead in our financial journey.  If you’re feeling a little stuck with your finances (perhaps you are in debt and don’t know what to do next or maybe you have a tough time making a budget), I encourage you to check out Adaptu and all of the amazing services offered and create your free account today.

Dollar General/ P & G Everyday Heroes Giveaway

Posted on by Mandy

I shop at Dollar General every week, and one of the things I love most about DG is that they are a company that believes in giving back.  I’m especially loving the fact that as a new school year has started, Dollar General and Procter & Gamble have partnered to celebrate schools and honor teachers with the “Everyday Heroes” Campaign.

As an educator, I can attest to the fact that teaching is a tough job.  To be appreciated feels wonderful and I’m so excited Dollar General and Procter & Gamble are focusing the month of September on teachers as being “Everyday Heroes”, because as a parent with a school-aged child, I know they truly are.

This month, Dollar General is offering the opportunity to win money for your school through its “Write to Win” sweepstakes. Customers ages 21 and over may visit www.dollargeneral.com to submit a brief essay about why their school deserves to win. Three essays will be selected and the winning schools mentioned in those essays will win $10,000 each.

 

GIVEAWAY:

I have a “Back To School” Prize Pack, courtesy of Procter & Gamble to give away to a lucky blog reader!

dollar general prize pack

The prize pack includes:

  • Tide PODS
  • Prilosec OTC
  • Cascade Action Pacs
  • Ultra Downy
  • Scope Outlast mouthwash
  • Dollar General cosmetic bag
  • Dollar General reusable sandwich container

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway ends Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM EST. US Only. Must be 18 or older. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was provided with a prize pack to give away and one as a thank you for posting this information.  All opinions are my own.

Why Have Kids?

Posted on by Mandy

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As a parent, I want the best for my son.  I’m sure it’s a feeling I share with many, many other parents.  I can remember bringing my son home from the hospital and wondering if I was a “good enough” mom when it came to choosing how to feed him (breast or bottle?) and I questioned my decisions an awful lot.  Perhaps it was first time mom jitters, but I wanted to appear that I had it all together, even though our lives had changed drastically, but for the better, of course.

As my son grows, those thoughts turn to different choices according to different seasons of our life.  Should we make him play sports?  Is he eating healthy enough?  Am I still a good enough mom, even though we don’t play sports and I work out of the home?  Thankfully, these thoughts don’t consume me, but I see parents I know making themselves almost crazy with chauffeuring to after-school sports and activities and trying to be the perfect parent.  While it’s admirable to strive to be a great parent, are we doing a disservice to ourselves and our families trying to keep up with an impossible ideal that we think equals happiness?

If so, why have kids?

This is the thought-provoking question posed by Jessica Valenti, author of Why Have Kids? A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness.  Released this month, Valenti’s book explores problems with modern parenting and offers solutions to social and political issues that can bring back the joy to parenting instead of striving to live up to an impossible ideal that conflicts with the reality of parenting, which leaves everyone involved feeling disappointed and miserable.

BUY IT NOW

WHY HAVE KIDS? A New Mom Explores the Truth about Parenting and Happiness

by Jessica Valenti

On Sale: September 4, 2012· Amazon/New Harvest· 208 pages
$23.00 Hardcover · ISBN: 978-0-8050-9412-1
$9.99 Digital List Price· ASIN: B008L4KT6W

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jessica Valenti is the author of three previous books, including The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. She is also the founder of Feministing.com, which the Columbia Journalism Review called “head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media.” Jessica – called one of the top 100 inspiring women in the world by the Guardian – speaks at universities and organizations in the U.S. and abroad about feminism, activism, and media. She lives with her family in Boston, but remains a New Yorker at heart.  Follow Jessica on Twitter @jessicavalenti

 

This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. I received a copy of Why Have Kids? and compensation for my time investment and work on this campaign.

Does Crafting Burn Calories?

Posted on by Mandy

crayons melt

 

My 20th year high school reunion is next weekend.  Anyone know how I can drop 75 pounds in a week?  NO?  Nobody??  Didn’t think so…..

Shopping for something to wear to said reunion has stressed me out.  Calling being short “petite” doesn’t make it any nicer.  I can’t ever find pants to wear right off the rack.  I always, always have to have them hemmed.  Short people got no reason to live.  I’m kidding.  It’s a SONG.  (And a crappy one, at that!)

I’m finding a ton of decorative inspiration for my library from so many amazing teacher bloggers.  I’m also quite in love with this site, where teachers sell worksheets/posters/file folder games/etc. that THEY create.  It’s like the Etsy of education! 

Speaking of Etsy, I also discovered digital scrapbook paper and Mod-Podge. I am so not crafty, so clearly something is wrong with me.  I’m sure it’s a phase and all of my supplies will join the rest of the ceramic paints, rubber stamps, and scrapbook stuff in the “craft crap” box I’ve been adding to since 2001.

I’ve also been reading a crap ton of YA Fiction (that’s young adult) on my Kindle.   I have no idea why, but I have to say that the characters these days sure do seem more “grown up” (and do more grown up “things”) than the Sweet Valley High bunch I grew up reading about.  I’m also reading Holes and My Teacher is an Alien.  That is purely because my students at school had to read them over the summer and I need to brush up on what they are required to read.  And while all of this reading is to stay “in the know” about what kids and teens are reading today, it sure is a breath of fresh air to read some light and funny things compared to the non-fiction I mostly read.  But the paranormal teen romance stuff is just really, really weird.  I don’t think I will ever “get” that.

I now have a stack of magazines almost 15 deep that I am behind on reading since school started. 

My husband has lost 30 pounds since May.  He looks amazing and I am so proud of him.  He’s proof that the only thing that stands in the way of what you really want is excuses.  THAT is what I have taken away from watching his transformation.  Now I just need to do something about myself.  I’m sure all five of you who read my blog faithfully can probably guess that I broke up with Jillian Michaels.  It wasn’t her…it was me.  And that crappy sinus/bronchitis thing that totally wiped me out for three weeks while in the thick of my workout enthusiasm.  But I have to admit she was becoming quite a bore, so maybe it was her a little.

E.B. is still mining and doing great in school so far.  He’s also trying to pull a fast one on me by checking out books like Goodnight Gorilla and My Friend Rabbit from the school library.  These books have very, very few words at all.  I’m waiting to see if he brings home something similar this week before I cue him in on the fact that his mom just happens to be an elementary school librarian and I know what he is up to. *snort*

Sorry for the giant ramble.  I’m playing catch-up this week on my blog.  I am SO looking forward to the holidays when I can blog and read blogs at my leisure.  I just really, really need some leisure.