Five Lesser Known GREAT Christmas specials

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1.  Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.   I remember when I
was really little, in the 1970s, in the days before VCRs we used to have to try and watch for this to be on.  And the public broadcasting station always interrupted it for their fund drive, which seemed to be FOREVER.  This is another I watch every year.  Oscar the Grouch scared Big Bird about how Santa can deliver all the toys in one night, Big Bird camps out on the rooftop without telling anyone and all of Sesame Street is searching for Big Bird.  The Bert and Ernie rendition of O'Henry's classic Gift of the Magi story is fun.  Even without kids, you will find me watching this every year!

Book Review: Take Your Life Back by Stephen Arterburn

FTC disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All opinions are my own.

I have been a long time fan of books by Stephen Arterburn.  In a world of too many Christian psychology books giving pat answers, I love his approach combing true therapy answers with faith.  Take Your Life Back:  How to Stop Letting The Past and Other People Control you was once again a breath of fresh air in a genre where it seems all too many books give the answer "pray".  (While I'm not saying you shouldn't pray, there are studies and discoveries that can enrich our lives with their knowledge.)

Bible Journaling and Scrapbook Stickers from Faith That Sticks!

FTC disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links.  I received samples of the products from the company for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.

I have been a sticker fan since I was a child.  I can remember counting my stickers by the hour to see how many I had in my collection.  So whenever there is a new sticker product on the market, I want to try it.

I've tried my hand at Bible journaling, and while I love the creativeness of it, my art skill are somewhat lacking.  I often stick to coloring Bibles or when I do Bible journaling, just doing fancy lettering of the Scripture in the margins.

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers and Faith that Sticks,  I had the opportunity to review their coloring stickers and Bible journaling stickers.

Preparing for Black Friday And Cyber Monday: Christmas without debt

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If you have been following the Christmas without debt series, you should have some money saved up this month for buying the things you want to purchase for others as gifts.  But hold on, let's save money money while we're spending, don't you think?

First off, have a list of everything you want to buy.  Check prices NOW, before Black Friday and Cyber Monday and jot down prices at three stores.  So now you know what price you want to beat.  Sometimes the sales over Thanksgiving weekend aren't the best deals out there and that's not what we want.  We want to save money.

Connecting Caregivers With Mobile Technology

This is a sponsored post from U.S. Cellular.  All opinions are my own.

While I used some apps when helping to care for my mother who was on dialysis, there are many more available these days.  One of the best things is as long as everyone who is a caregiver has the password, each person can access the information on their Apple iPhone 7.   Back in 2012, we primarily used texting and phone calls.  My mother didn't have a smart phone, so I tracked everything on mine, and my health was bad at the time, so there was a lot of use of my cell phone!

Ellie Claire Bible Journaling Kit Review Giveaway Ends 11/20/16

FTC disclaimer:  I received a free product in exchange for a fair and honest review.  This post contains affiliate links.

When I was offered the opportunity to review the Bible Journaling Kit by Ellie Claire, I was excited.  The kit includes:

• 4 sheets of word stickers
• 4 sheets of alphabet stickers
• 24 "tab" stickers
• 8 twistable coloring pencils
• 1 journaling pen
• 1 pouch with adjustable strap
• 1 ruled page protector mat with tracing lines

I am not very artistic when it comes to non-fiber arts, but I do enjoy coloring and some Bible journaling.  With my Bible journaling I often just recreate Bible verses with lettering, but still this kit seemed perfect for me.

How I am saving on Home Improvement Costs

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My house was built in about 1890.  The carpet in the living room is from the 1960s with layers of padding, carpet and linoleum underneath.  It needs replaced.  The entire house is paneled except for one room.  When we moved into this house in 1986, I was a teenage girl, and of course I wanted to paint my room lilac.  My dad wanted paneling in my room.  After a lot of going back and forth, I got purple.  Obviously paneling went out of style soon after that.

When there was the earthquake in Virginia a few years ago, it damaged part of the roof in the house, which caused some other problems in the room where the damage was.

I've decided it's time to get these things fixed.  Being the frugal person I am, I want to get the best price possible for home improvement supplies.

How to Win a Skill Contest

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My favorite type of sweepstake or contest is a skills content.  The reason is, the more creative and off the wall I can be, the more likely I will win.  These are usually fully judged.  Sometimes they are judged and then go to voting.  You can read more about how to win a voting contest, but in this post I am going to concentrate on how to win a skill contest.

As we learned in the basic of entering contests and sweepstakes,  be sure and read the rules.  I have seen all kinds of unique rules ranging from no animals may be in a photo to no people may be in a photo to people and/or animals required to be in a photo.  Just make sure whatever you submit follows the rules because if it doesn't you won't be able to win.  If it's an essay contest, make sure you say within the word or character count.  No matter how good your entry is, it will likely be disqualified if you go even one word over the amount allowed.

The Zendure A3 External Battery Charger Review

FTC disclaimer:  I received a complimentary Zendure A3 in order to faciliate a review.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

It was four years ago today that Hurricane Sandy hit my town.  The superstorm piled a massive amount of snow on my area.   If you think that would be bad enough we lost power.   Plus my mother was on dialysis.  And there was a utility line down in our driveway we needed to make sure it was not a live wire before we attempted to drive under it.

Needless to say we were in a matter of life and death.  If my mother couldn't get to dialysis, she would die.  The only communication we had out of the house was my cell phone.  But we had no power to charge it.  Suffice it to say, I was in an all out panic mode because I knew I had to figure out a solution before my battery died -- or my mother would too.  I was able to, but it was a lot of added stress to an already survival mode situation.

Book Review: RESTORED! God's Salvage Plan for Broken Lives by Dan Schaeffer

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A while back I  read the book by Dan Schaeffer entitled “Restored! God's Salvage Plan for Broken Lives”.

When I saw it was using the Biblical book of Ruth to make his points, I was a bit skeptical as I had never heard Ruth taught in this way, but I enjoyed his insights and how he wove practical application into this book while providing examples from the Bible.

It is the rare person who hasn't had some major loss or hurt in life, so this is a book for everyone. Each one of us has reason to do as Naomi did and asked to be called Mara. (In the Hebrew this means bitter.) We can take a look at our lives, the broken pieces, the shattered dreams, and the disappointments and say “My life is a mess. Nothing will ever improve.” and eventually become bitter ourselves.