Reviews

Minted: Christmas Card Ideas and Inspiration

November 14, 2014 by Sandra 4 Comments

Thanks to Minted for partnering with me on this Christmas card holiday blog post.

Christmas is right around the corner.

So why not get a jumpstart on your Christmas cards before you start feeling like your schedule is overcrowded with all the time-consuming holiday goodness that’s coming?

When that happens, you may feel like you’d rather forgo sending out holiday cards altogether — and then hold out hope that no one notices. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll procrastinate sending out your family’s Christmas cards and then feel guilty receiving beautifully created holiday cards in the mail from friends and family members who’ve obviously thought ahead. 😉

Does that sound familiar?

Truthfully, last year, I had a reason not to send out holiday cards, and it was because David was constantly in and out of the hospital. We actually spent most of the month of December in the hospital so that David could receive his bone marrow transplant. We spent Christmas there, too.

It was a rough time. But do you know what blessed us tremendously while we sat in that hospital room day after day?

Christmas cards.

They were sent to us by family, friends, schoolchildren and people we didn’t even know. They brought us so much joy!

Christmas Cards Ideas

This year is very different than last year… in a good way. And we will be creating Christmas cards to share with others. 🙂

I’ll be using one of the beautifully crafted designs on Minted.com to make our cards. I can’t wait! I’ve been purchasing my business cards from Minted for a long while now, and I always get compliments on how great they look. I use one of the unique designs on Minted’s website and love not spending extra time in Photoshop creating my own design.

Back to Christmas cards — there are so many lovely holiday designs on Minted; it’s going to be hard to choose which design wins!

Here are some of my favorites:

In this first one, I love the playfulness of the fonts. I adore the different styles, too.

Here’s another card with a fun font.

I’m sure you already know this, but these are photo cards. You get to personalize them with your family pictures. 🙂

This next card has a shape that’s different from traditional cards. It’s just one of several distinctive shapes offered by Minted.

I love this one in the shape of a wreath.

These cards are made with real foil which give them a brilliant shine. So pretty!

Here’s a non-photo foil pressed card. It’s called “Oh Holy Night Sky.”

The elaborate design on this card is eye-catching. I love the way everything flows together.

Here’s another one along those same lines but simpler.

I’m a big fan of the color teal, and I love the use of it in this next card. The fonts go well together, too.

And finally, I love this last card! It pretty much sums up life right now. 😉

I hope these holiday cards have given you some great ideas for when you sit down to create your own cards. Me? I’m going to get started on our Christmas cards next week. (It’s on my calendar.)

I think I’ll be going with that last card.

Because even though life isn’t perfect, it is perfectly wonderful.

Do you create Christmas cards every year?

Six Flags Great America, a Crazy Funnel Dog, and the Peptocopter

November 8, 2014 by Sandra 4 Comments

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go out on a date with my husband and very attached 2-year-old daughter, Elisabeth.

That’s right.

We’re a party of three on dates at the moment. And while it’s true that Elisabeth is almost 3-years-old, she’s terrified of staying home with anyone except for me or Ruben. So she always comes along whenever Ruben and I get the rare opportunity to go out on a date.

We’ve pretty much always practiced attachment parenting, but we may be taking things to a whole new level these days. 😉

Or maybe, this is just a perk of being the youngest of five. Either way, she enjoys her solo time with mommy and daddy!

Six Flags Great America

I went to Six Flags as a blogger, but only to have a good time and not for anything work related. I’m writing this wrap-up post just to share about our experience. 🙂

And that happened to involve trying a crazy-weird funnel dog and seeing what’s known as the “Peptocopter” in action.

Because Elisabeth was with us, we decided to focus on riding things she’d enjoy (another baby-of-the-family perk!). So we rode the carousel over and over and stuck to going on child-friendly rides. She loved it!

The Frank’N Bacon Funnel Dog

We’ve eaten food at Six Flags in the past and enjoyed the typical amusement park foods offered like chicken tenders, fries, pulled pork sandwiches, and funnel cakes.

But this time was different. WAY different.

This time we tried the Frank’N Bacon Funnel Dog.

And, yes, it looks as crazy as it sounds.

To be completely honest, I knew this particular funnel dog would be one of the most unhealthy foods I’d ever eat in my life. I knew that.

But I still wanted to like it.

Because when you’re indulging in unhealthy food… it usually tastes good! 😉

Um, that was not the case here.

I disliked this funnel dog — a lot.

I think it was the actual hot dog inside that was the unpleasant part of it. It simply didn’t have a good taste to it. Perhaps, if that part of the Frank’N Bacon Funnel Dog had been different, I might have a different opinion.

In case you’re wondering, Ruben felt the same way. An he regretted eating as much of it as he did!

We ended up sharing a funnel cake later that day. And the funnel cake indulgence was much better than the funnel dog. 🙂

The Peptocopter

All this talk of unhealthy food brings me to the Peptocopter: a helicopter that drops off Pepto-Bismol to those who go a little overboard on unhealthy foods and need some quick relief.

And, guys, if you eat an entire Frank’N Bacon Funnel Dog, the Peptocopter might just become your best friend.

If you look closely, you can see the Pepto-Bismol secured to the bottom of the Peptocopter.

Ruben and I watched as the Peptocopter sprang into action and delivered some relief to a waiting Six Flags guest. It was pretty entertaining.

And I think it’s a fun way to tackle overindulgence at an amusement park. 🙂

Our little date turned out great! I even enjoyed the long drive there and back. It gave me and Ruben the chance to have a conversation without constant interruptions.

That was nice. 🙂

Have you been to ever been to Six Flags Great America, tried a Frank’N Bacon Funnel Dog, or had a look at the Peptocopter?

Door to Door Organics Review and Giveaway! (Three Winners)

October 30, 2014 by Sandra 16 Comments

Thanks to Door to Door Organics for partnering with me on this review and giveaway.

These days, I could definitely be classified as a homebody.

I like being at home and not leaving the house unless I have to or unless we have some fun family adventure planned, which doesn’t happen too often. I’ve really always been the type of person who enjoys just being at home, but now much more so because of everything that’s happened with David and the desire to protect him as his immune system continues to recover since his transplant.

So, ~~since it takes a crowbar to pry me away from home these days~~ in light of this, I was very excited when the opportunity came up for our family to try a food delivery service called Door to Door Organics.

It’s a service that allows you to have organic fruits and vegetables delivered right to your front door. For us, our “front door” is technically my in-laws’ front door because our house is just out of range of the delivery area.

With our last move, we traded closeness to shopping centers for a backyard and a single-family detached home to accommodate our family of seven. That means we had to move a little “further out” to find a home within our budget.

But anyway, my husband simply stops and picks up the box (or boxes) on his way home from work or while out running errands.

Click here and enter your zip code to find out if Door to Door Organics delivers to your area. If they don’t, see if they deliver to a friend or family member, and perhaps you can arrange to pick up your box of healthy goodness from their home.

More Than Just Fruits and Vegetables

Not only does Door to Door Organics deliver high-quality, organic fruits and vegetables, but they also offer lots of other grocery options that can be dropped off along with your produce. When I placed my very first order, I took my time and shopped around (online) for other items my family either uses regularly or would enjoy trying.

I was pleasantly surprised at the huge selection of other grocery items that we could choose from. There’s even a sale section!

Ruben and I both added several items to the online shopping cart, and among them were almond milk, which we use all the time, and organic salted caramel coffee syrup, which I thought I’d try. 😉

What My Kids Think

To tell you the truth, my three younger kids don’t understand why daddy brings home a box full of fruits and vegetables every week, but they do know that it’s full of good stuff. And they’re super excited to eat what’s inside! They love the apples, oranges, grapes, and bananas.

My two older kids have enjoyed more of the vegetables, and Breanna, my 12-year-old daughter, liked the pomegranates in our last two boxes.

Would you like to try Door to Door Organics? When you go through my referral link (or any of the Door to Door Organics links in this post), first time customers get $10 off their order.

What I Think

Overall, after using the service for three straight weeks, I can say that I love it! And I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the produce. Very impressed!

And Now… an Opportunity to Win a $50 Gift Certificate!

Now that you know about Door to Door Organics and how wonderful and convenient it is, how about the chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate?! 🙂

That’s right! THREE of my fabulous readers will win a $50 Gift Certificate to use on fresh fruits and vegetables delivered by Door to Door Organics!

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until November 7th, 2014 at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winners will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winners an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winners must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end. Otherwise, I will have to draw a new winner(s).

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.S. Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll be sharing a delightful and sweet pumpkin pie recipe.

Connect with Door to Door Organics: You can get social with DTD Organics on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

How I’m Using the Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone to Make Workouts and Eating Healthy Easier

September 1, 2014 by Sandra 4 Comments

I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Sprint. I received a sample device to facilitate this review and a promotional item to thank me for participating. #SprintMom

For the past three years, I’ve been working on losing weight and eating healthy.

It’s been quite the journey…full of failures and successes. I have loved my scale and hated it. I have been at my lowest weight in about 14 years — only to gain 10 stubborn pounds that simply wouldn’t budge.

Sure, I can blame the weight gain on the roller coaster that life has been the past year, but when the roller coaster became a lot less unpredictable, I found myself with no more excuses. It was time to focus on my health again and lay off the unhealthy foods, especially now that I have the time to make good-for-you food at home.

A Tool for Workout and Healthy Eating Success

I’ve said in the past that I’m NOT a fan of counting my calories. When I was a young girl, I enjoyed keeping track of the calories I consumed, and I actually lost 30 pounds doing just that. This was before I had children.

After my first baby was born, I tried to count calories like I had in the past, but I failed. Every time. I’d forget to write down what I ate, or I’d just plain be too busy and let the whole thing fall by the wayside.

Fast forward to today, since Sprint sent me Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone, I feel like I’ve discovered “calorie counting” of the future! It’s true. The features included in this particular smartphone create for me a very powerful lifestyle tool that’s not only helping me to begin losing weight again (after a long plateau), but also motivating me to get back to strength training.

That’s right, the resistance band is out of retirement. 😉

Smartphone Features to Love

There’s so much that I love about the Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone. For instance, there’s the Sprint Fit Live feature that makes it super easy to access your fitness apps or simply get up to date on the latest health news that interests you.

Then there’s S Health, which happens to be the app I use to track what I’m eating and the amount of calories that are in the foods I consume.

It literally takes minutes (or seconds) to record foods in S Health and see how I’m doing as far as my calorie intake for the day. I love the way this particular app does most of the work for me and allows me to save foods that I eat regularly as “frequent” foods.

Super easy.

Now MapMyFitness is an app you may already be familiar with. I’d heard of it but never used it myself. Now that I am using it, however, I can see how helpful it is because of the way it allows you to track workouts and your calories burned. I’ve used it to record some of my walks on the treadmill, and I’m still working on learning more about the good stuff in this app.

DID YOU KNOW? You can have more fun during your workouts when you use the Sprint Framily plan and get 3 months of Spotify premium for free!

So there you have it. I’m using the Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone to get back to a healthier lifestyle.

And it’s working. 🙂

Do you use fitness or healthy living apps?