Sweet September $500 Cash Giveaway

I’m so excited to be on a roll with some awesome giveaways! Now that school is in full swing, it’s time to fill the wallet back up after all of the back to school gear that was purchased! Now’s the time to enter!

Welcome to the $500 Sweet September Cash Giveaway!

We have joined forces with a fantastic group of bloggers to bring you this great giveaway. One lucky person will win $500 cash.

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Enter to win $500 cash via PayPal.

Complete the tasks below to earn entries into this giveaway.

Refer your friends using your unique link to earn even more chances to win.

Open Worldwide.

Ends at 11:59pm ET on September 16th, 2014.

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This giveaway was coordinated by Giveaway Promote.
If you love entering giveaways, visit Giveaway Promote to find the greatest giveaways listed in one place.

Back to School with SOL REPUBLIC & Giveaway

Last year, Buddy got a pair of SOL REPUBLIC headphones for Christmas. I’ve been ever so slightly jealous of them since then. I got to try them before he did and knew they were comfortable and they’ve got great sound.

When I had the opportunity to get a pair of my very own, I jumped on it right away. The hardest part for me was deciding between in ear headphones or over the ear. I went with over the ear. Then they arrived and guess what? Doodle’s headphones started having issues. Gah! For real? So I let him use “mine” (interpret as “his”). I’m thinking I won’t see them again.

We got the SOL REPUBLIC Tracks AIR just in time for school to start. With all of the gadgets we have, mostly the boys have, and being in a one room house, headphones are a necessity.

Neither of the boys really likes to be plugged in unless they’re charging. That’s where the Super Power Wireless comes in handy. Doodle has a tablet and iPod so he’s using the new headphones with those. Buddy has his own pair of Tracks AIR and with his brand new smartphone, he’ll be able to be on the laptop and answer his cell phone at the same time. Have I mentioned how stinkin’ cool these are?

The one thing we’ll have to do is swap the color of Doodle’s headband. The boys like to be able to easily tell the different between their things and these bad boys will be NO different. I will nip arguments of who’s are who’s by grabbing a new color in the butt. I think Doodle would go with the Vivid Red because of their old school colors.

Turns out they’re great for traveling, too. First vacation was over Labor Day weekend and the headphones came in veeeery handy! Movies being watched, music being listened to, and games being played, all done with the Tracks AIR’s on and silence in the car aside from me listening to the radio!

For all you technical peeps out there who like to know the nitty gritty about your products, the Tracks AIR have Sonic Soft ™ Speaker Pads. And yes, they’re very soft and the padding over the head is comfortable, too. There’s a 15 hr battery life. You can be up to 150’ away from your wireless device for it to continue to get signal.

Now you have a chance to win an awesome pair below. Be sure to read the Terms & Conditions to make sure you qualify! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Update On My Daughter, The World Racer #11n11

Back in July my daughter, Smooch headed out of the country for a year. She became a World Racer and will be going with her team to 11 different counties. It’s just amazing to me what she’s doing with her life.

You’d think, oh my gosh, traveling the world as a 21 year old, seeing so many different cultures, hanging out with friends would be easy. Not so much. It’s been quite a spiritual journey for her so far. Can you imagine being in one place, feeling like you want to be somewhere else, doing something else, while knowing this is where God wants you?

Photo by Stephany Hernandez

At the beginning of July Smooch gave an awesome update on the work they’ve been doing and how God is growing her. She decided to give up chocolate so I joined her for the month of August and haven’t eaten chocolate for the month. I’ve thought about chocolate a lot, which has turned my thoughts towards my daughter lifting her up in prayer. Fred has been good about helping me remember. At our Lock-In for the young adults I stuck one of those frozen eclairs in my mouth and as I started to chew, remembered there was chocolate on the top, screamed, and spit it out. hahahaha

Photo by Stephany Hernandez

I wanted to share with you some photos of my daughter and her friends so you can see some of what they’re living.

I’m also asking for you to pray for her: her health (she’s been really sick because her body doesn’t digest oils well and she’s vegan), the team’s safety, that God would continue to use them.

Also, see the top right button on my blog? You can give a tax deductible donation to help her continue on this year long journey. She’s only half way to her goal and needs to have about $8000 more to stay with her team for the rest of the time. Yes, that’s a lot of money, but we have a big God who can do big things!

Photo by Emily Arzani

Photo by Emily Arzani

Photo by Emily Arzani

Photo by Emily Arzani

Photo by Emily Arzani

Photo by Emily Arzani

Photo by Emily Arzani

That’s my girl and her team! I’m in awe of her and so proud to call her my daughter. To God be the glory!

You can give:

Smooch: http://ambergallaway.theworldrace.org/
Emily: http://emilyarzani.theworldrace.org/
Stephany: http://stephanyhernandez.theworldrace.org/
Gabby: http://gabriellehobbs.theworldrace.org/
Abbie: http://abbiebauer.theworldrace.org/

Dorm Rooms Benefit From NewAir Water Dispenser

I’ve had two girls head to college so far. I’ve got two boys going in the coming years. Knowing what the kids will need is important. Thinking about what would come in handy that isn’t usually on the list is easier now having gone through it twice.

I learned that if you can accessorize in small dorm rooms with awesome products, the college days can go a lot smoother and end up saving money in the end. What college kid, or family, doesn’t want to save money during these years!

One item that belongs in any dorm room is the NewAir Water Dispenser! The WCD-110SS model is great because it has hot and cold dispensers. Your college student can fill up a water bottle any time of the day, warm up a bowl of instant oatmeal on the run to class in the morning along with a cup of coffee, and heat up a bowl of ramen noodles for an afternoon snack all in the blink of an eye.

Let’s talk about the dispenser itself. It’s a pretty light appliance. I was able to carry it myself, no problem. The 5 gallon jug was another story. That bad boy was heavy so Fred brought that into the house. It was a super easy set up. It comes with a Quick Start Guide so you can pretty much start using it right away.

Overall it went well with everything else that is stainless at Fred’s house. It definitely fit in. It would look great in any dorm room. It takes up very little space and that’s the biggest bonus. We’ve even brought it back to my little house and it’s currently sitting next to my stove. This house is tiny and it is in the spot our case water bottles used to take up.

The buttons on the front seemed like they could be of a better quality. They were just very loose when I pushed them. Above the hot water button is a safety switch. You have to slide that safety switch up to be able to push the hot water button. The water can get extremely hot (176°F to 203°F), so this is a necessity.

We went through the process of the set up which takes about half an hour. We flowed water through the cold and hot water spouts to see how well they poured. We turned the switches on in the back (they make the water hot and cold). Because dust can accumulate during shopping, they recommend flushing it after you’ve had the water bottle on for half an hour. We took the bottle off and emptied the taps. After the taps were emptied we drained the remaining amount from the back.

This has been a great addition to the kitchen. It would fit nicely into any dorm room because it’s so slim and would tuck away easily into any available nook. There’s also the bonus of saving money because you’re not buying bottles of water any more and you’re going green by reusing the large water bottle!

What one thing couldn’t you live without in college?

Heading to Middle School with Master Lock & Giveaway

Last week I took my youngest to middle school for the first time. It was an open house and he’s never been the middle school here. It was quite the experience. The middle school is currently sharing it’s space with the elementary kids while their school is being rebuilt.

We brought along Doodle’s new Master Lock padlock to try out on what could be his future locker. Oh, and speaking of the word “Doodle” while we were walking around, I started to say his nickname out loud, “Hey Dood…dude, check this out.” As soon as I said it, I thought to myself, “he’s going to kill me.” And sure enough, a moment later, he came up to me and whispered, “Can you not call me that in front of people?” Sigh…a little piece of me died.

Moving one, we had a tour of the school. We went to the 6th grade wing and got to see the classrooms. The rooms are pretty decent sized and it was a pretty large wing. We headed to the lunch room and gym. Looks like they’ll be pretty closed off from the big kids. Makes me happy to know that!

After we finished the tour, I had DOODLE (cuz I can say that on my blog still) practice putting his padlock on the locker. He spent quite a bit of time practicing the directions to click. These are so much easier than remembering numbers, going right, going left and going right again. Hoping that you land on the right numbers each time and that it opens. I always had a little bit of stress when I was in school and having to remember a new combo every year.

I’m loving this new Master Lock padlock. It lights up in the direction that you click. Once you have the code right, you hear/feel the click and the center circle turns green. Codes are, in my opinion, much easier to remember than numbers back and forth.

We’re really excited for the school year to start and not having to worry about memorizing a combination on the first day is a relief!

Now through September 7, 2014 visit http://www.MasterLockPhotoHunt.com for a chance to win back-to-school security items, and create a wish list for easy shopping with the Master Lock Photo Hunt Challenge.

Be sure to enter to win the Master Lock dialSpeed padlock below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway