Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Cepia LLC's generousity is AMAZING!! Random Acts of Zhu 2011 #RAZ2011

How many kids do you know who LOVE Zhu Zhu pets? Tons, I am sure! There is a little bit of everything in the Zhu Zhu hamsters line up - original Zhu Zhu pets, Zhu Zhu babies, Kung Zhu Zhu Zhu pets, Zhu Zhu princesses, Zhu Zhu puppies, and Zhu Zhu pets Safari! Plenty of choices for boys and girls alike.
Cepia LLC, the "parent company" of the Zhu Zhu's, has for the last couple years created an amazingly generous program where they donate TONS of toys to charitable organizations through bloggers. I was blessed in being asked if I would like to participate in Random Acts of Zhu 2011! #RAZ2011

One day the FedEx truck pulled up in front of my house and the driver asked where we wanted them, he had over 40 boxes (!) of Zhu Zhu babies, outfits, accessories, and playlands. Each box had somewhere from 2 to 6 products inside of them!
We were able to donate the Zhu Zhu babies that we had received to Lyon County Community Coalition, for the annual Toys for Tots drive. The program director was very excited because, as Zhu Zhu is such a hot toy item, they had received many requests for Zhu Zhu items!
Thank you Cepia LLC and Mom Select  for allowing my family to participate in such an amazing program! We were blessed by #RAZ2011 and have developed even more brand loyalty toward the Zhu Zhu line up because of their desire for every child to be able to have an amazing Christmas!!

We Made It!! And a quick update on everything...

It has been a while! Things are good, though. We made it to Billings, MT and are getting all settled in and cozy! We are in a pretty good neighborhood and are close to everything!!
The drive up here was surprisingly dry, the only snow that we ran into was a little bit around Idaho Falls, praise the Lord! The weather has, until very recently, been pleasantly warm. As you can see, we now have a little bit of snow and our temperatures have dipped below zero. Eeek.
The girls are loving it, they are excited to be able to wear and play in their snow suits and boots!

We are still "shopping" for a church but have found an AWANAs group for the girls, they love it! We are hoping to find the right church for us soon so that we can start being more involved in things, so your prayers on that are appreciated.
Of course we miss Nevada and our family there, but it is fun to be here and have the opportunity to be around family that we only got to see occasionally before. And to have snow that is heavy and wet enough to finally make a snowman!!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sometimes a Gentle Reminder Of What Could Have Been Is a Good Thing...

It is amazing how time changes things, very few things remain unchanged with time.
I was reminded last night how much EVERYTHING for me has changed in the last 8-ish years. I got a message from an old friend, a friend who has been through a lot with me. In the message she said that she is glad she found me still alive and actually doing good. That statement kind of took my breath away.
Had God not changed my life, I probably would not be alive today. If I were to still be alive in the life I was living, I can guarantee you that there are very few people who would consider me to be doing good.
I needed that reminder. The reminder of how awesome God it. How He can change anything, if we let Him. How much He blesses me with - I have an amazing husband and three daughters and actually have relationships with my family members.
Something that my pastor said in church this Sunday was that whatever we are going through now, God is using to prepare us for what will come next. I think that I appreciate my life now and the people in it more because of my past. I am not sure if that makes much sense, but it is true.
Looking at my life right now, things don't seem so bad. My little gripes about things, seem less important...

Have you had any gentle reminders, that seem to come at just the right time, to help put things in perspective?
Have a Blessed Day!!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

It's December Already??

My, oh my, time sure flies! It is already December!

My little Emily is going to be turning 5 on December 6 - she is almost ready to start school. I am not sure if I am ready for it, but this marks a BIG milestone in our lives.

It is the third of December, that means that Christmas is creeping up on us in just over 3 weeks, eek! For us Chirstmas is going to be a little different this year. On December 21 the girls and I are leaving to go to Montana. Zack has been there for a few months now and we are ready to be together as a family again.

I know that things have been few and far between around here, but I have been busy with school and packing. Ok, not as much packing as I should be doing, but what can I say, it is seriously crazy in our house. We have a total of ten, yes TEN, people living here right now. As much as I enjoy having the company, I am going to love the peace and quite when life gets back to normal...or maybe I will miss it, who really knows!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Affordable and reliable ... TracFone

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone. All opinions are 100% mine.
Value
Cell phones can be ridiculously expensive themselves, not to mention outrageous monthly plan rates. In the past I have had issues with overage charges and crazy fees, but with TracFone there is none of that! With TracFone you buy your phone -- for very reasonable prices! -- and you pay as you go. There are minute cards that start under ten dollars!!
One of my favorite features of the TracFone "plans" is that you can purchase what is called "double minutes for the life of your phone" for only $19.99, and some of the phones come with it automatically. That means that if you are out of minutes and only have ten or twenty dollars, you can not only get minutes, but get double the minutes that you are paying for!! nice way to stretch a dollar, huh!?
With school back in full swing, it is nice to be able to get a hold of the student in your life - or if you are the student knowing that you can have a cell phone for more than just emergencies without breaking the bank with TracPhone. TracFone has great reception and connectivity where ever you are!
If you have friends and/or family in other countries you will love that you can call them for the same price as any other call!! A unique feature of TracFone is that with the International Neighbors program, your friends and family in both Canada and Mexico can call your TracFone using a number that is local to them!!
Here are some short videos for you to check out and see more benefits of TracFone, enjoy!

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Wordless Wednesday - Tea Party Time!! {{linky}}

Every year when Uncle Blake comes to visit he ends up having a tea party with the girls, this year was no exception!
Hope you have a great Wednesday! Link up your posts below:


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

SwagBucks - Halloween Collector Bills - Collect & Earn!

SwagBucks is great any day! You search, earn, win, and spend without paying a dime!
There are times when SwagBucks is even better than their regular wonderfulness, one of those times is happening right now!! While you are searching, you can earn collector bills.
Search & Win
There are five Halloween-themed SwagBucks that are randomly awarded FOR SEARCHES! If you are able to collect all five varieties, you will be awarded an extra 13 Swag Bucks!!
You don't have to try to remember each collectible buck that you earn, you can just log into the "My Swag Bucks" area under your account. :)
If you have not signed up for SwagBucks, what are you waiting for?? Click here and sign up to start earning now and you will receive 30 SwagBucks for signing up!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Winner!!!

Congratulations to @CallieNicole7 who is the winner of the My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software!!
For anyone else who is interested in digital scrapbooking or know someone who is and think it would make a great Christmas gift, the coupon code STMMMS71005 will give you $10 off the purchase price of the My Memories Suite software and will also give you a $10 credit in the My Memories store (where there are many beautiful packages!!)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - A Reason To Wash Your Produce {{Linky}}

I bought some raspberries to make jam the other day, and when I was washing them I found this little guy:

Yes, it is a snail...on the raspberry. No, I'm not adding it to the jam!! :) No extra protein needed!!

If you have a Wordless Wednesday and would like to leave a link, please do so below!!
Have a blessed day!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Quest For Zhu -- The New Zhu Zhu Pet Movie!!

We love ZhuZhu pets, seriously there are more squeaky little hamsters with attitude running around my house than there are children! So naturally, when we were given the opportunity to get the movie and have a little premier party, my kids were ecstatic!!
Synopsis of Quest For Zhu:
The heartwarming tale of four lively young teens (who just happen to be hamsters) on a quest to find the Palace of Zhu, where they believe all their dreams will come true. Join the feisty and lovable Pipsqueak as she gets swept away to the other side of the Zhuniverse. On her adventure, she befriends Chunk, Num Nums and Mr. Squiggles, and when they arrive at the Palace of Zhu, they realize it is just the beginning of their remarkable journey. A mean-spirited and controlling reptilian creature, Mezhula, tries to stand in the way of making all of their dreams come true but, by working together, our true Zhu heroes save the day! Pipsqueak realizes she already had everything she ever dreamed of and all she really wants is to find a way back home.

For our party we were sent a copy of the DVD The Quest For Zhu, some limited-edition figurines, posters, twizzlers, and some fun themed recipes and games. We decided that we were going to have "Pipsqueaks Pizza Bar" at our party, and we each got to make our own pizza -- ok, the kids each got to make their own half! It was fun!!
We also made "Quest For Zhu Kettle Corn" and that went over very well, with us all!!! It was a great treat while we were enjoying the movie!

The kids and I had a couple friends over and everyone enjoyed the movie! The kids who were watching the movie ranged in age from about 2 to 6. A couple parts of the movie could be considered "scary" if you have a fairly sensitive child, but overall it was a great family friendly movie. There is a great theme to the movie -- the power is inside of you! Throughout The Quest For Zhu the hampsters, Pipsqueak, Chunk, Num Nums, and Mr. Squiggles learn some valuable lessons while having fun. A couple of times in the movie there are some songs, which my kids are very into! The music videos can be found on the menu at the end of the movie as well.

One of my daughter's favorite things about The Quest For Zhu is the music videos - she likes to dance along with the "hams." I think it's super cute!! Here is Emily's thoughts that she would like to share on The Quest For Zhu:


This movie comes out on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 (tomorrow!!)
I am sure that you will be able to find it at your favorite store, or you can preorder/order it from Amazon now! If you have little kids or any zhu-natics(!) this would definitely be a great movie for you....or a great Christmas gift!


Disclosure: I was sent a movie party pack and received products for free to host this party. All opinions are mine/ours.

Thank you for stopping by, have a blessed day!!