Best Buy Gift Card; The Best Tech Gifts! #OneBuyForAll #shop

Shopping for two of the guys in the family is as simple as finding gift cards. Yep, my dad and brother are the two men who are the easiest to to buy cool gifts for. I say easiest because for the guys, heading to Best Buy gets me in and out in the blink of an eye. Ok, that is, if I don’t take my boys with me.

My boys are techy and I’m sure they feel like they’ve died and gone to heaven each time we walk in. Oh, and we’re rather partial to Best Buy since they’re headquartered in Minneapolis. BooYah!

Looking at my boys list as well as the list my mom sent me, I could do at least 1/4 of my Christmas shopping at Best Buy. That’s typically how it goes every year! You can see, at the beginning of November, mom and I started getting our lists together for the whole family. We need time to plan because lately we haven’t been buying present throughout the year.

Last weekend after church the boys and I headed to Best Buy to get gift cards and I needed a few more ideas to give to mom for the boys. Bringing the boys to the store with me and then letting them take the lead as to what we look at is my sneaky way of getting ideas.

Oy, yes, first stop was at the tablets. These boys are seriously dreaming! hahahaha They may have the tech bug from my dad. If it’s 6 months old, they need something newer! When I was a kid…Are you at all like my dad who keeps up on what’s trending in gadgets? I have a sneaky suspicion my boys will follow suit! You can watch what what Best Buy has trending on Twitter, too!

These boys have each been begging for headphones and holding the off hasn’t been easy. hahahaha We’ve had several long trips over the past month and each time, either before, during or after, they’ve both said how much they “need” headphones. Well, they’ll be getting them and it sure was helpful that they liked the ones they’ll be getting as evidenced by them playing with them at the store. You can’t try on headphones online, hence why I like going to the store.

It was time for mama to show the boys some ideas! I usually buy presents for myself from my kids, but it’s nice to give them the ideas as to what I might like. What I typically do is show them what I want and then let them choose from those things and we stick their choices in the cart and off we go. =) I mean, I’m a single mom. lol There aren’t a lot of options.

After we walked around the store and got some ideas, we headed to the gift cards up at the registers. Doodle must’ve been paying attention to some other shiny because by the time he was standing with us at the gift card tower, Buddy had already chosen four gift cards! Oy, these boys in Best Buy is like herding cats! Of course, he was indignant that he didn’t get to choose 2 of the gift cards so we gave him a minute to choose.

It was good to get two people off the gift list from the kids. The boys will give their uncle a gift card and so will my girls. Then they’ll each, as pairs, give their grandpa a gift card.

A bonus to buying Best Buy gift cards is that at the bottom of your receipt you’ll have some numbers that you can use to enter the Give It To Win It card promotion! You could win: (1) Grand Prize: $10,000 Best Buy gift card, (5) First Prizes: $500 Best Buy gift card, (10) Second Prizes: $100 Best Buy gift card, (40) Third Prizes: $50 Best Buy gift card! Doing it online, I was able to have all 4 of my gift cards entered with the one number! You can enter December 11-24th.

Now, if you’re still trying to figure out some last minute ideas, Best Buy will be partnering with Google on 12/17 for a Google+ “shoppable hangout” Broadcast hangout with a host and 10-12 participants. You can view the hangout on a YouTube page or your Google+ page.

I need a few more stocking stuff ideas so I’ll have to see what suggestions they might have. How are you doing with your Christmas shopping? Are you done?!

2013 Holiday Event Reviews & Giveaways

I’m so excited to share with you the companies I’m working with this year for the holidays! For the month of November and possibly into December, I’ll be doing reviews and giveaways and I can’t wait for you to join me!

If you’re a company seeing this and want to participate, you can contact me at mnjesusfreak @ gmail . com!

Are you one of my readers and want to see a company on this list? Let me know who you’d like to see or the type of product you’d like to see and I’ll see what I can come up with!

SnorgTees Hoodie Giveaway 12/12

 Powerdecal Review

Cynthia Jones Trinity Necklace Review

Emerson Creek Pottery 2 Onion Soup Crocks 11/28

ToiletTree Face/Body Scrub System Giveaway 12/7

DayCase and 3 Inserts Giveaway 2 Winners! 11/18

Bracelet and Earrings Giveaway 11/21

MyNameNecklace.com

 

Eli’s Cheesecake Giveaway 11/29

$50 Whimsees Gift Card 11/30

Bridgewater Candle Company Inspiration for Life Set 12/5

Hallmark LEGO Yoda Ornament 12/13

Gaither Homecoming Bible 12/6

Battle of Cedar Creek

In October, the boys and I headed back towards my parents to experience a Civil War reenactment. Living in this area, there are reenactments everywhere. Thankfully, the one we were going to was not too far from their house.

We were so excited to pick up an extra special person on our trip, Lgirl. She’s from Minnesota and is Doodle’s age. They went to school together and right now they’re out here with her sister’s deployment. I figured we needed to snatch her up and spend time with her while we had the opportunity!

Off we went in the direction of Winchester to spend the weekend at my parents and experience the Civil War with Lgirl in tow!

When we got to the reenactment, there were people dressed up in Civil War era clothing and there were white tents as far as the eye could see. It was amazing that so many people are so into this kind of thing. The guys got something to eat and Lgirl and I went to the front lines to see if anything had started.

People were walking on the field so I figured we could do the same thing, right? I wasn’t sure what we’d see, but how cool to walk an actual battlefield. They had the fencing up that would protect them as they battled. As luck would have it, as we reached the fencing, we saw the Union soldiers marching towards us. Turns out most of the battle happens near the Confederate camp. No one told us to leave, but as soon as I saw the horses from the Confederate side beginning to block off our exit, we decided to hightail it out of there!

We made it back to the guys just before the battle started. Once the battle started, we were pretty much all fascinated with the scene unfolding before us. It was so amazing how involved these men get into the battle! I have no idea how long they prepare for the battle, but they were extremely well organized! They yelled commands, ran into battle, and fought proudly!

After quite some time of standing and watching the battle, a lull came and I asked Lgirl if she wanted to go walk around the tents and see what “goods” were there take home for a memento. There were cool dresses, plume hats, toy rifles, everything you could possibly imagine from that era.

Lgirl had so much fun trying on the hats and playing with the toys. Turned out the boys had decided to go look around the tents as well. Of course, they wanted a gun. Thankfully we already have our Daisy rifle with us so we don’t need a toy one!

After we got done looking through the tents, we walked around the camp. These people seriously live like they did back in Civil War days. They embrace this life while they’re reenacting it! They also stay in character while they’re walking around their camps. They eat from food cooked on campfires, sleep on cots, and sleep in tents.

After we got done looking through the living quarters for the Confederates, we wanted to head back and watch more of the battle. We were surprised to find more troops coming to the battle right in front of us. They were marching and chanting marching calls. Again, so cool to see it happening so up close!

One cool element is the ladies holding down the fort while the men are out battling the enemy. When men come off the battlefield to rest, the women will meet the men with food, like apples. Once the battle is done for the day, the men can also go replenish their supplies that are available for free!

We grabbed the boys up after they got done with their game of checkers and headed back to mom and dad’s for dinner and a relaxing rest of our weekend.

Oh, and the boys went home with their first Jacob’s Ladder. They’d never seen one before. How that’s possible, I’m not sure. They were, and still are pretty fascinated! One of the things I wish I had done was price compare because there was another Jacob’s Ladder about $3 cheaper in another tent. Seems you needed to do price comparisons back in Civil War times.

We had a really great time and I’m hoping we’ll get to experience more next year! Have you ever gone to a reenactment?

Blue Nile Infinity Bracelet Giveaway

One of the things I’m getting for Christmas (because I already bought it for myself from my kids) is a new jewelry box. I never really considered myself much of a jewelry person, but I realized when we moved that I had more pieces than I realized.

Blue Nile has a beautiful selection of fine jewelry with a wide variety of price points, which is important to me! I could get a beautiful pair of earrings, which I’m sorely lacking, or get my oldest daughter a locket that she’s been asking for.

I received a beautiful Infinity Chain Bracelet. It came in a beautiful Blue Nile box wrapped with a silver ribbon. Is anyone else like me and you like to keep certain jewelry in the box it came in? lol I like the box so much, I’d put my bracelet back in the box every time instead of the jewelry box. =)

I brought the bracelet with me to my sister-in-law’s over Thanksgiving knowing I could use one of them for my review. Turned out my niece was the perfect wrist model! The bracelet is very delicate on the wrist. Made of sterling silver, it has a double cable chain with a lobster claw clasp.

Of course, while I was at their site, I figured I’d take a look around at some of their even “finer” jewelry…aka engagement rings. Hey, a girl has the right to look! I may have even glanced at men’s wedding rings! Ha! I’m a chick, it’s my prerogative!

I really like that you can choose your setting and cut of diamond for the engagement ring and they will also give you a suggestion as to wedding band to match the engagement ring. I love the one I found in the top right picture at the top of this post. =)

I actually gave the bracelet to my sister-in-law as a thank you for letting us stay with her for the Thanksgiving weekend and for flying my daughter in to spend the holiday with all of us. We were so blessed.
So excited you have the chance to win the Infinity Bracelet!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Heat Holders For The Cold Months: Holiday Review

The cold months have shown up and with this rental house we’re in, we need all the help we can get staying warm. We’re learning very quickly (although not quick enough) that we need to layer ourselves here because the electric bills are outrageous!

I’m a person who typically walks around the house without socks or slippers. That has all recently changed. Like I said above, this house is stinkin’ cold. Doesn’t help that it’s 30+ yrs old and not insulated well. So, the obvious thing to do is find ways to keep ourselves warm while keeping the heating costs down.

Heat holders…I had never heard of them before. When they reached out to me to see if I’d do a review, I figured, “why not.” We could always use a new pair of socks or two, right? Let’s just say, these aren’t ordinary socks.

I put the first pair, the Wellington Boot Socks Mullberry Feather, and didn’t want to take them off. They are so thick and comfortable. The inside is what sold me! They’re soft like you wouldn’t believe! You can actually see the difference of the outside and the inside with the texture. I like the Wellington Boot Socks because you can also roll them over the top of your boots!

I took a couple of pictures with them on and then took them off to try on the purple pair. It doesn’t take long to get pictures so when I took the pink ones off I felt a temperature difference. My feet and legs had already started keeping heat in! It was a surprise to feel it!

Thinking it was just in my head, I took a couple of pictures with the purple socks and took them off as well. Same thing happened. I wanted to do nothing, but put them back on! Unfortunately, they’re going in my daughters’ Christmas stockings because in Minnesota, oh yea, they will seriously appreciate them!

Wondering why I felt like these were so crazy warm? There’s something called a Thermal Overall Grade and with Heat Holders being 2.3, that makes them 7x warmer than cotton socks and 3x warmer than other thermal socks.

I have no doubt my girls will love getting these. I need these to be on my short list for winter, not just for Christmas! They would make the warmest stocking stuffers though. =)