5 of My Favorite Things Birthday Edition

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It's my birthday month, and I'm starting to have freebies come in from all over the Internet.  To celebrate, I wanted to give one of my readers a gift of one of my favorite things -- an Amazon gift card!  There's so many wonderful things on Amazon.  A few of my favorite things lately are:


Kindle Unlimited.  I call this "The Netflix for Books".  Seriously, what can be more fun than to download a new book every time you finish one for one monthly price?  Only certain ones are available on this service, but I'm finding no lack of stuff to read!

How to win a Blog Giveaway

If you have been reading blogs for any amount of time, I'm sure you have come upon what is called a blog giveaway.  These are individuals hosting a giveaway and because it's on a smaller platform than a national sweepstakes, often your chances are better of winning.  How do you increase your chances even more?

First, as with any giveaway or sweepstakes, read the rules.  Make sure you are eligible.  Sometimes these are open worldwide, sometimes only to a certain country (usually the USA, Canada, or Australia.)  I even have seen one where the marketing agency the blogger is working with was
willing to accept winners from Canada, but the service they were giving the code away for was not able to be used in Canada.  That would be disappointing if you spent time entering that only to find out you couldn't use it.  Otherwise bookmark their blog.

8 Tips for Listing Your Items on eBay

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I've been an eBay member since 1998 and have been selling most of that time.  That's a long time, and I'd like to share a few basic tips for anyone who would like to sell a few things.

Book Review: The Life We Never Expected - Parenting Children with Special Needs

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In The Life We Never Expected, Andrew and Rachel Wilson write the book they wish they could have read at the beginning of their journey of raising two children with special needs.  Their son and daughter both have severe autism, and this book is both hope to the special needs parent as well as the story of how they have learned to cope, find joy, and keep their faith through this unexpected part of their life.

I don't have children, but am related to both an adult and child with autism so this was an interesting book for me to read.  I really enjoyed the layout of the book.  There were five sections, which they called "cycles".  Within each cycle, there were five sections relating to thing that special needs parents can relate to -- weeping, waiting, worshiping, witnessing, "and breathe".

Get Free Money With the Qricket App!

I signed up for Qricket a while back but wanted to wait until I cashed out to write a review about it.

What is Qricket?  It's an app found both in the app store and Google Play that allows you to earn spins by watching ads.  With those spins you can try spin the wheel and see if you win free money.  I do this when I have extra time -- such as when I'm cooking, waiting on my husband, or even in the bathroom!  

Book Review: Un-Ashamed by Heather Davis Nelson

When I was asked to review Un-Ashamed Healing our Brokenness and Finding Freedom From Shame by Heather Davis Nelson, I was at first reluctant.  Shame is an area I have studied, and I didn't think I would find much more on the topic than I already had encountered.  I am happy to say, though, that I was mistaken.

This book was a fast read for me.  I wanted to devour the information.  Usually when I read a book that quickly, I tend to then re-read it so I can absorb it completely.  This book begins with an overview of shame, how it differs from guilt, and then talks about what it is like to live without shame clouding your world view.  (Can I hear nearly everyone say, "Wow.  Wouldn't that be great?")  Then this book transitions into shame in more specific relationships.

Why I Donate Through eBay For Charity

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eBay for Charity was created after 9/11.  Originally, eBay only had things set up to donate to the Red Cross and the program was called "Auction For America".  After that time, it began to develop into what it is today.  For a while it was called Giving Works, and now it's "eBay for Charity".  I have been using it with my eBay listings since about 2008.  For the 2016-2017 year I am giving 10% of all my eBay sales to charity.  Here are a few reasons why.
 Let me explain with an example from November 2013. . .

On Being Bullied: A Letter to 13 Year Old Me

Dear 13 year old me,

I know it's hard right now.  I remember and I hurt for you.  So much of my advice would sound trite, but please know you have two choices.  You can believe them and wither away or you can remain strong and find a solution.  I know you.  I know which path you choose, and you are going to do amazing things, things you could never begin to imagine.

Keeping Your Family Safe on the Internet

I am a member of the U.S. Cellular blogger Brigade, but all opinions are my own.

U.S. Cellular offers a FREE PRINTABLE Parent Child agreement to help you discuss safety of the Internet, cell phone usage, limits, and courtesy with your teen or tween.  You don't even need to be a U.S. Cellular customer to access this, although I have been for 10 years and highly recommend them. 

I think back and wonder what it would have been like to have today's technology when I was growing up.  In some ways, I am glad we didn't.  I was bullied in school, and I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if cyberbullying had existed.  Yet, I can't help but think of all the photos I missed out on by not having a phone with me, fishing around for coins so I could call my mother and let her know Drama Club practice had let out, and friendships that faded away because of time and disconnect.

One thing I am certain, though, is if I had a cell phone when I was 13, which is the average age kids receive one, my parents would have made sure I truly understood how to be safe with it.  My husband and I plan on foster / adopting, and before we even think of allowing a child a cell phone, we will sit down with them and go over U.S. Cellular's FREE parent child agreement.  I will also go over this with my child's school and teachers.

Being Financially Smart Sometimes Requires a Backbone

I remember waking up one day when I was about 12 or 13 years old, and while I expect my parents saw it coming, I was shocked that that day we were poor.  The day before nothing was said about money but instantly, I was hearing "We can't afford it."

I will say my dad was never one to budget.  He also was self employed and since he sold tombstones, they were pricey.  He never took into account the wholesale cost of the stone, the time it would take him, or the cost of labor to hire someone when he set it in the cemetery.  For the next 10 years, my parents were in a lot of debt.  Add in that Dad was hit by a drunk driver on Dad's way to work, and all medical expenses came out of our pocket for years.  I had to drop out of college until the legal process was over because it looked like our family had more money than we did because so much was being spent on surgeons, doctor visits, and medication.

June 2016 Adoption and Goals Update

Can you believe another month has passed so quickly?  I've been super busy.  I've been finishing up the Elite Blogging Academy course, trying to get things ready for the work group who are going to help us install the windows, AND I was in the hospital overnight in May.  I had a severe dental infection, and the dentists were perplexed as to what to do, and decided to admit me for observation and to give me IV antibiotics.  Needless to say, I felt out of commission for a little over a week so not as much got done as I had hoped.

How to Win Twitter Party Sweepstakes And Giveaways

It seems that there is no lack of opinion among people who enter sweepstakes about the phenomenon known as twitter parties.  It seems they are either loved or hated.  Personally, I enjoy them although I don't win as often as I would like.  But, the one down side of them is they are live.  Sometimes I have things planned during that time, and it means I miss out on the party.

First thing you need to do is be very active on your twitter account.  You don't want to have your account restricted for tweeting too much during a party.  Believe it or not, I have actually seen that happen to a sponsor of a twitter party.  The slang for this is "twitter jail", and it basically means you can't tweet for a certain amount of time after your account has been flagged by the computer as spam.

Thoughts on One Year of Marriage (Or What NOT to say to the Happy Couple)

This week marked one year of wedded bliss for my husband and me.  We celebrated by baking a cake the same flavor as our wedding cake once the tradition of year old wedding cake was deemed "gross" with the freezer burn forming puddles of water on top of our actual wedding cake.  We also went out to eat at a restaurant where we had won a gift certificate.  There were a couple kids screaming that had they been drunk adults they would have been asked to leave.  (In fact, most drunks I have ever seen have behaved better than these kids did.)  We killed two bugs at our table, and had mediocre food.  We have decided that after our wedding night in the ER and then later a trip to a resort that looked like it could have staged a 1970s horror film or 1970s porn movie, we're not going to try to do anything special for our anniversary again.  

Making Travel Easier with Your Smart Phone

**This post was sponsored by U.S. Cellular.  I am part of their Better Moments Blogger Brigade.**

U.S. Cellular offers a FREE PRINTABLE Parent Child agreement to help you discuss safety of the Internet, cell phone usage, limits, and courtesy with your teen or tween.  You don't even need to be a U.S. Cellular customer to access this, although I have been for 10 years and highly recommend them. 

I love going on overnight  and weekend trips.  Unfortunately, my husband and I don't get a chance to do so as often as I'd like.  We live in an area that within six hours or less we can be visiting his family, travel to Canada, Washington D.C., or a number of other destinations from an area with some of the best geocaching in the United States to Amish country.

That Week of the Pantry Eating Challenge where I landed in the hospital

A month ago, my pantry eating challenge started.  The whole idea was we would eat things we had in the house and not buy groceries. Seems simple enough, right?  Especially for a couponer who has a pantry that screams that is a hobby of mine.  When our house insurance agent did a walk through, she took asked me without prompting how long I had been using coupons.  It surprises people when I say twenty five years because I just don't look old enough.  But I digress.

Using Credit Cards to Your Advantage

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As much as I appreciate the financial advice contained inThe Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey, I disagree with him on one thing:  I never pay cash when I can pay for something with a credit card.

Granted, this is only good advice for someone who has the discipline to pay off a credit card each month, but although I have heard Mr. Ramsey say that no one has ever gotten rich using a credit card, I have received some wonderful reward items including:  thousands of dollars in gift cards and cash back, an airline ticket to New York City, an airline ticket to Grand Rapids, an airline ticket to Nashville, and nearly a month's worth of hotel stays.

Week Three of the One Month Pantry Eating Challenge

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This week was harder with the one month pantry eating challenge than the previous two weeks.  This was because we haven't had much fresh food in a while, plus our town's water had a yellow tint to it one day, and was muddy the next.  So we had to buy some stuff to drink, and we opted to eat out as well.