Challenge Update


**Disclosure: Although I have entered the program and received complimentary product and ZonePerfect promotional items, I am free to comment about ZonePerfect in a positive, neutral or negative fashion and all opinions are of my own. 

Once again, we are all coming to the point where we will say "where has this year gone"?!  Admit it, we all say it this time of year and it's true, the years just continue to fly by! Our initial post before starting with Zone Perfect Bars you can find here.   We are revisiting that to see how we are today compared to then.   One of my goals this year was to exercise more.  I'll be the first to admit, I'm far from where I want to be - with not only this one, but with all of them.  With my husband having unexpected major surgery back in April and having to deal with that until now, threw us way off course.  That was something unexpected that we just had to "deal" with this year.  Now that that is finally coming to a close, we are starting to re-evaluate our goals.  And first and foremost is becoming closer to God.  I have started to read the book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible"!  Yes, lol sounds funny, but I really want to dig into it and learn as much as I can, healing from the inside out. 

Next big one is the food we eat.  For the last seven months our second home has been the hospital.  Between that and everything else, our eating habits have not made a turn for the good, in fact I think that with everything going on, that caused us to eat out a bit more than normal.  Since coming home from the hospital last week, we have started with a plant based diet.  Instead of just jumping in, we have started off with just cutting out meat, chicken and fish.  That's a huge step for us!  If you know us, you know that we love our meat!  This is where the Zone Perfect bars come in handy.  I like to snack on one either in between lunch and dinner or after dinner as my "dessert".   I hope in the next couple months as we continue on our vegan diet, we continue to take the steps needed to improve our health and well being.  I hope you all will continue with me and join me as we strive to get more healthy!!

Operation Smile & How You Can Help!



**Disclosure:  This is a paid post with information and photos provided by campusbookrentals.com

Do you have a child in college?  If you don't already have a child in college, eventually you will and it's never too early to start planning!  I remember when I attended college, the cost of books was outrageous, so I can only imagine that that has not changed.  Have you ever thought of renting the needed college books? Not only can you save 40-90% off of bookstore prices, you get free shipping (both ways), are allowed to highlight in the books AND for each textbook rented, Campus Book Rentals donates to Operation Smile!  Can't get any better than that!  Most college books you aren't going to keep forever anyway, so why save costs, rent them and help a great cause!

Operation Smile is an incredible organization that forever changes children's lives through reconstructive cleft lip surgeries.   The long-term improvement in quality of life for the children that receive these surgeries is almost incomprehensible. 

I also wanted to tell you about RentBack!  A new initiative that allows students to rent the textbooks they own - to other students.....which is Awesome!!  It helps to make them 2-4x more money compared to what they'd make through buyback options!  (selling their books back at the end of the semester)  Isn't that awesome!?!





An Exciting Update!


Great news to share with everyone today!! My husband, successfully had his colostomy reversal surgery yesterday! After having to reschedule twice, this was so exciting, especially for him.  Even though he will have weeks of recovery, at least he is at the point where he is finally on the way to a full recovery!  It's been a very exhausting past seven months.  Emotionally and physically on us all.  Our entire family have given up so much these past seven month and I know that was especially hard on the kids and Michael this past summer.  They are all summer people, love the sun and the water!  I know my husband and know that he will try to push it, but now is the time to take it slow, relax and just to let the body naturally recover.  Thank you for all your continued prayers and support!! xoxoxo

Get Ready for the Cold with Lands’ End


Get Ready for the Cold with Lands’ End
#LEOuterwear #traveltuesday Twitter Parties
 
Great Outerwear options, Travel Tips and Giveaways
 
Cooler temperatures and changing leaves means it’s time add a layer or two for warmth to celebrate Outerwear season, AND give people a chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime Winter Getaway.  Lands’ End will host a series of #LEOuterwear Twitter Parties on #traveltuesday from October 7 through November 11, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT.  During the one-hour Twitter events, participants will have the opportunity to receive outerwear style and shopping advice, travel tips and the chance to win great outerwear giveaways.
 
#LEOuterwear #traveltuesday Twitter Event Highlights
Each week a travel or style expert will join us to discuss outerwear, travel tips, and how to get ready for the cold.
 
  • October 7 – Packing with Outerwear – Travel expert and senior editor of Travelocity, Courtney Scott, will join us for great outerwear packing tips.  Follow: @courtscott
  • October 14 – How to pick the Perfect Coat – Experts from Pure Michigan Travel will offer tips for taking a great fall trip and how to pack.  Follow: @PureMichigan
  • October 21 – How to pick the Perfect Coat  – Instagram Takeover Blogger (to be announced) – Get great fashion advice from an expert fashion blogger who will be taking over the @LandsEnd Instagram handle ahead of this event.
  • October 28 – Fall Family Fun – Expert mom blogger Nicole Feliciano from Mom Trends will have ideas on where to go and what to do with your family this fall and winter.  Follow @Momtrends
  • November 4 – Planning a Winter Trip – Pure Michigan Travel will be back again to talk about winter getaways AND how participants could win a dream winter getaway. Follow @PureMichigan
  • November 11 – Holiday Travel and Packing Tips – Travel expert Courtney Scott will offer her tips on surviving the holidays when planes, trains and automobiles are involved.  Follow: @courtscott
In addition for the chance to win outerwear giveaways during the #traveltuesday Twitter Parties, Lands’ End is partnering with Pure Michigan to give customers the chance to win the ultimate winter getaway trip!  One lucky winner will have the chance to win a trip for five to Boyne Highlands – one of Michigan’s premiere all-season resorts.  Winners will have a chance to ski, snowshoe, and even winter ziplining at this winter-loving destination. All the details about this once-in-a-lifetime winter getaway can be found here: http://www.landsend.com/snowdays.

SoCozy Hair Products



**Disclosure: Our family was provided with product to help facilitate this feature.  All pictures and opinions are of my own.  

My daughter has beautiful hair!! She takes after her Mom with long, thick and shiny hair! I love my hair!! I did not use a lot of chemicals or dyes growing up, so my hair has stayed pretty healthy as I've aged.  Now since I did not do a lot with my hair, I'll admit that I'm not great at styling or coming up with ways to put my daughters hair up - I'm a clueless Mom when it comes to that!  With the start of school, she (and secretly I) wanted her hair to be beautifully done everyday.  But I needed two things.  One - a good detangler, because let me tell you, our hair tangles quit easy!  Number two is some kind of guide that would help me / show me what to do step by step.  That's where SoCozy comes in to the rescue!  We have tried different detanglers before, even name brand, high end stuff.  When my daughter tried the SoCozy Cinch Detangler + Leave In Conditioner, she loved it!  My daughter just turned 10 and I always have her brush her own hair so that she learns to become independent and do it on her own.   She told me that this was the best one she has tried yet!  She was really happy with it now looks forward to brushing her own hair instead of it being an issue.

Now it was time to style!  Along with the products, we were sent Cozy's Complete Guide to Girls Hair - which is full of great tips for girls from the best cuts for face shapes, to instant fixes for bad hair days and five minute styles.  Just what I needed!  We looked through the book together and chose a french braid - something I always wanted to try but was always so intimidating.   Below was my first attempt at a french braid, guided by the book.


Not bad, huh!! I was pretty proud of myself for it being my first time! Another thing I love about their products is they feature extracts from natural ingredients like hops, rosemary, arnica flower, and aloe which are good for both hair and scalp.  The products are specially formulated to bring salon-level quality to kids hair care, and contain no nasties like harmful chemicals, toxins or parabens.   Totally Mom Approved!!!

The following products below is what we got to sample and just fell in love with!  My daughter was so happy with them and they seemed to work really well.
  • 2 in 1 Shampoo + Body Wash in Guav-o-rama ($11.95 for 8oz)
  • Cinch  Super Hydrating Conditioner in Berry-Whip ($11.95 for 8oz)
  • Cinch Detangler + Leave-In Conditioner in Fruity-tutti ($11.95 for 8oz)
  • Behave Styling Mouse Medium Hold in Peachy-keen ($11.95 for 6oz)
  • Cozy's Complete Guide to Girls Hair ($15.95)
Connect with SoCozy on the following platforms: 

Become a Boxtroll for Halloween



This weekend marked the arrival of the long-awaited family event movie, The Boxtrolls!  With Halloween fast approaching, I thought this would be fun to share as this will be a huge hit this year and it will be fun seeing all the different Boxtrolls out there!