Monday, November 24, 2014

Letters to Santa

It's that time of year, children are writing (or have already written) their letters to Santa.  As we all know, this time of year is meant to be about more than just presents, but this can be a challenging lesson for children to learn.  Even with my daughter's young age, I have sometimes struggled with how to balance her "wants" with her "needs" when it comes to Christmas gift buying.  



Don't worry, I'm not going to go on a huge rant on the commercialization of Christmas.  But, my daughter is still young, and I try to stay away from an overwhelming amount of toys.  When she does a list for Santa, we tell her she can pick 3 things to ask for, and one of them is usually an "experience", usually a family trip.

I've also started bringing my daughter to volunteer events to help emphasize the importance of giving back.  I organize a blood donor clinic a few times a year in memory of my dad, who passed away in 2013.  Although the concept of "blood donation" is difficult for a 5 year old to understand, my daughter gets the basic premise that people are there to help people who are sick or hurt.  She helps me organize the snack counter, and she often chats with donors as they come get a snack after their donation.  She enjoys it, and is exposed to a valuable learning experience.

How do you make the focus of Christmas about more than "just gifts" in your family?


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Holiday Savings & Coupons Giveaway

It's the most wonderful time of the year, a time where we can all go shopping without guilt in the name of "holiday spirit" lol. The number one thing about the holidays in most people's mind is their family EVEN those family members that drive you crazy you enjoy them that much more . If you're anything like me you wait until there are AWESOME coupons, discounts and deals... so many holiday savings. We know that there are many last minute shoppers SO hurry over and check out all the savings AND get all those gifts for the family that you love! No need to wait for Black Friday or Cyber Monday, just check out the coupons and deals on Your Life After 25's coupons & discounts page. 

NOT only are we spreading the word about all of those amazing deals we are also giving you the chance to Win: Your Life After 25 Holiday Savings and Coupon Giveaway!

Whether you're shopping for a new mom or babies, looking for the right present for the kids or trying to find something for co-worker or in-laws, you're sure to find coupons and deals to help! And the savings isn't just for the holidays, we've all watched or seen those extreme couponers who save TONS of cash on groceries or every day items... you can do the same just start clipping coupons now :)

*Coupons open to USA, coupon codes open to USA/Can*


I love bargain shopping, I check flyers, websites, and social media to find the best sales, and use coupon codes when possible!


Your Life After 25 Holiday Savings and Coupons Giveaway


• 3 Prizes Available; Grand Prize: $100 Amazon e-gift card + $20 The Pocket Sous Chef e-gift

• 2nd Prize: $50 Amazon e-gift card + $20 The Pocket Sous Chef e-gift

• 3rd Prize: $50 Amazon e-gift card + $10 The Pocket Sous Chef e-gift

• Open to US & Canada. • Winners will be chosen at random through Giveaway Tools. • Giveaway ends December 18th at 11:59pm ET. • Winners will be notified via email or Twitter DM. • Mom Powered Media & associated bloggers are not responsible for prize fulfillment. • Each winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. • Must be 18 years or older to enter. • Unlimited Entries • Void where prohibited. • Entering the giveaway means you agree to terms above. 

• Good Luck!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Cash for Christmas Giveaway!

MLA - Tammy Creative K Kids - Tammy

Tammy from My Life Abundant and Tammy from Creative K Kids have gotten together with a few of our bloggie friends to have a giveaway!

Cash for Christmas Giveaway $250 

We are so excited to be giving away $250 in cash prizes for you to use starting Thanksgiving weekend.  Here are the prizes:

1 - $100 Amazon Gift Card
1 - $50 Target Gift Card
2 - $25 Walmart Gift Card
1 - $20 Kohls Gift Card

Amazing. Right? Well, whats a gift card and getting up early, early to shop if you can't focus on your shopping.   So how about we add a $5.00 Starbucks gift card to each one of the prizes above!!

But wait. There is one more prize.
1 - $5 Starbucks Gift Card

Now its time to meet our wonderful co-hosts who have made this giveaway possible.

cfcCollage600

Starting at the top row we have:
Kim of KidPep | Jody of Mom 'N Daughter Savings | Penny of Penny's Passion | Jeanne of Home Garden Joy | Leticia of Desafio In The City | Barb of A Life in Balance | Tricia of The Good Mamma | Mary of Your Designer Dog Blog | Alecia  of Detours in Life, Family Vacay, Family Time Travelers | Katie of The Ramblings of an Overtired Mama | Michelle of On A Wing and A Prayer | Lauren of Heart of Deborah | Christine of Your Strong Tower | Lindze  of Interior Fun | Michelle of The Happiness Blogger | Stacey of A Moment in our World | Nikki of MBA SAHM | Paula of Beauty Through Imperfection | Sarah of Mommy of Two | Scarlett of Scarlett's Excellent Adventures

Please stop by and say hi to these wonderful ladies and their blogs.

The giveaway will end midnight on Wednesday, November 26th, the night before Thanksgiving.  You will have 48 hours to respond to the email claiming the prize.  If you respond right away, we will get you the gift card promptly so that you can shop with it on Black Friday!  If we don't hear in 48 hours, we will choose another winner. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, November 3, 2014

Planning our Florida Vacation - Part 1

There are lots of things I love to talk about, but one of my favourite things is to talk about Florida vacation planning!  I know, some people hate planning, but, for me, it helps build the excitement of the trip.  We are currently planning a trip to Florida in 2015, so I thought I would do a blog post series about the planning, as I often get lots of questions about what things I look at when planning our trip.



This year, we're travelling with my husband, my daughter, brother in-law, mother in-law and father in-law.  We all have different interests, but we always seem to come to agreement with most activities in Florida.

To begin the planning, we survey the group as to when we would like to go.  Typically, we have traveled in February in years past.  This year, my daughter is in school, so we are trying to plan around Spring Break.   We're tagging a couple extra days on the trip, but she'll only be out of school a couple days.

We've stayed in the same property the last couple of times we've traveled to Orlando, and it's fantastic!  It's called the "Disney Magic Villa" and the owners, Julie and Steve, are so easy to communicate with, and when we're there, they have a fabulous property management company that takes care of any issues you may be having at the house.    Check out the Disney Magic Villa for some pics and information: http://www.disneymagic-villa.com/.  I will share more about this fantastic property in my upcoming posts.




Once we had determined our travel dates, I checked the Disney Magic Villa site to see if the property was available, and it was!  Lucky us!  We were quick to get in touch and book our dates.

Our next step is narrowing down our activities during the vacation, but I will save that for my next post.

Planning a vacation to Florida?  Have questions?  Feel free to ask in the comments below and I'm happy to share the tips I have.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Product Review: Timothy's Dulce de Leche

I know, I've been doing a lot of product reviews lately, but when I find things I like or that I'm interested in, I want to write about it!

Today I'm going to review Timothy's Dulce de Leche hot drink.  I came across a 3-pack of the K-Cup version of this drink.  I was intrigued, because I absolutely love most all things caramel or butterscotch related.  So I decided to pick up a pack and give it a try.

I grabbed this pack at Wal-Mart and the price was $2.96.  So, approximately $1 a cup.  A little more than I like to pay for K-Cups (I'm a bargain shopper), but I thought I would give this little treat a try, and I'm so glad I did.  

Each cup is a creamy delight with a caramel taste.  So yummy!  I love hot chocolate, but this is even better.  It's not a coffee drink, just a yummy treat.  It's sweet, so I wouldn't recommend more than one at a time.  And it's a nice evening treat, especially on a cold night.  

I recommend running it through the smaller cup cycle on your Keurig (6 oz cup), it gives the drink just the right texture.

Check out the Timothy's website for more details, and you can also order a box there:  http://www.timothys.ca/products/product-dulce-de-leche.php  

Have you tried Timothy's Dulce de Leche?  What did you think?  Let me know in the comments!


Note: I was not compensated for this post.  These are my own views and opinions.  And yes, that is my coffee mug, and yes, I am a Coronation Street (Corrie) fan.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Win with SingleJo Coffee!

If you're anything like me, you must be a coffee lover.  I love the warmth, the way it tastes, and the way it smells.  Well, now I'm sharing a contest where you can win a pretty awesome prize.  My friends at SingleJo coffee are giving away a "Margaritaville® Bali™ Frozen Concoction Maker" with self dispenser and Margaritaville single serve coffee.  This prize has an over $400 value!  Check out the link below for contest details, and you too can be a winner!


Enter here:  http://bit.ly/1DRdZeq



Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Product Review - Jamberry Nails

I love having my nails done.  I don't just mean the luxury of going to the spa for a manicure, I actually love the way my nails look when they're decorated, whether that be gel nails, polish or nail stickers.

I've tried a lot of different nail polishes, treatments, stickers, etc, and I had a number of friends asking me to try Jamberry, so I thought I would give it a go.

I had tried similar "stickers" before, and when I say "similar", I mean, ones that you apply and file off the excess.  I had some good luck with some, and bad luck with some.  What intrigued me with Jamberry is that they are "heat activated".  So, I went "all out" and bought myself one of their little heaters.  They do indicate that these heaters are not necessary as you could do it with a hair dryer, but I liked the idea that these heaters stand on their own, so there's no figuring out how to hold the hair dryer while getting ready to apply the sticker.

This is how the Jamberry nails work - you have a sheet of stickers, enough for a manicure and pedicure... maybe more if you're creative and don't make any mistakes.  They come in an oval shape, in various sides, so you cut them in half and use them on the fingers they fit on.  Once you have determined the size you need, you heat them for 3 to 5 seconds and apply them to the nail.  Then you take small scissors and clip off some of the excess and file off the rest.  Then you put your nails back in front of the heat to have it bond to the nail.  I will admit that this process took a little longer than I expected, and I think that probably with practice, it wouldn't take so long, but to do all of my nails, it took approximately half an hour.  But once I had them all on, I loved them:


I've had many compliments on my nails as well.

Even after a week and a half, they were holding strong:  


You can see in the picture that there's a little bit of lifting at the tip of the nail, but it was nothing that affected the look of them particularly.  

I will also note that they recommend cleaning your nail before hand with alcohol, however, I didn't do that step.  I had clean hands, but I didn't specifically clean the nail.

My nails lasted about 2 weeks and then they started to lift near the nail bed, and at that point I removed them.

Next, I decided to try the Jamberry Juniors on my daughter.  She is 5 years old.  I had heard some good things about this product.  So, I followed the same application proceedure as I had with my own nails.  Unfortunately, it didn't quote turn out for us.  This is a picture once we were done:


The stickers started lifting almost immediately, and after about half hour, she got annoyed with them and took them all off.

Now, I know everyone's nails are different, so it may just be that her nails don't take to this product.  We will try them again sometime to see if we have a different result.

So ultimately, a big thumbs up from me for the adult ones!  Not so much for kids.  Have you tried Jamberry nails?  What was your experience?

Note: These opinions are solely my own.  I was not provided any compensation for my review.  

7 Tips for Summer Travel on a Budget

Winter is over (although, I know for some, it feels like it's still here).  We are now approaching summer.  We're on the "downw...