Bland

Wow. Total cereal is really bland. I added some cut up strawberries & Truvia sweetener to it, too & I honestly think a travel health insurance brochure would be tastier. I thought the days of healthy food not tasting good were over, but apparently they haven't, at least for the good folks who make this cereal. I eat a lot of healthy cereals, honestly, I don't really eat any other kind & this is the only one that I've found that not only had no flavor, but was so bland it seemed to suck the flavor out of the strawberries & sweetener, too.

Granted, it's really hard to find a good tasting cereal that doesn't have high-fructose corn syrup in it (and I refuse to eat or drink anything with that crap in it), but they're out there, just like other foods that don't have it. I've noticed lately that several companies are starting to advertise that they no longer use it as a sweetener, which makes me really happy. I buy a lot of organic products because they don't contain it & the ingredients list is nice & short. I love when I can not only pronounce everything on there, but know what each ingredient is & that they aren't a chemical or something else with no nutritional value.

Anyway, Kashi makes some great, healthy cereal. Wild Harvest (available at Albertson's) also makes delcious cereal. The price is pretty much comparable, considering that we'll actually eat the whole box of either brand, but I'm not sure this Total is ever going to get eaten. Blech.

Going Green

I recently found a web site, called Green and More that specializes in eco friendly products. They probably have hundreds of really cool eco products available on their site, from soapstone cookware (which is really beautiful, by the way) to organic baby bedding and everything in between. Green and more also helps support environmental charities, like Oceana & Healthy Child Healthy World, but more than that, this company lives their beliefs & doesn't use any plastic, offers recycled office supplies & kitchen goods and uses 100% recycled boxes.

The company also offers a learning center on the web site with tons of valuable information on living green & conservation from the sources like the EPA & the US Department of Energy along with a blog called GreenMusings, where the staff & public share their "going green" stories. Its a very interesting and informative wed site that I really think is worth a look, especially if you have any interest in conservation, the environment or going green.

Some of their shopping departments:

Gifts: They have a lot of really cool things in here, including a solar-powered messenger bag, so you can keep your electronics plugged in when you're on the go.

Air Purifiers: They have a bunch of really nice choices in here, along with some super-stylish ones, too.

Accessories: They have a solar powered tote bag in here if you don't use messenger bags. Pretty cool.

Gadgets: They have a ton of cool things in here, you really have to see this site to believe it.

Other shopping areas are baby, bath, bedding, energy savings, solar power, furniture, garden and so muchmore. Check them out, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

The Best Gift Ever

This year, I know that I got my best friend the best gift I've gotten for her. Its one she can (and will) wear every day, its also one that will make her cry. I managed to get in on a review opportunity for a company called Pictures on Gold. The make custom engraved jewelry like silver & gold lockets, but the coolest part, is that your photo is laser engraved inside, so it can get wet and not be harmed. They're really beautiful and come in tons of styles. The one I got is silver, which is great, because that's the only metal Dawn wears, and its a lovely heart with flowers one either side.

About five years ago, Dawn lost her youngest daughter, Whisper, to her ex through a custody battle. He had a lot of money & good lawyers and she had no money and a last-minute lawyer. Whisper was five & Dawn hasn't seen her since, because she lives in Maine now & Dawn doesn't have the money to see her or pay to have her come out here. She misses her every day and worries about her constantly. On the front of the locket, I had "Whisper, always in my heart" engraved and her picture put on the inside. Its the last one Dawn has of her & what she looks like in her memories.





(right click & choose "view picture" to see full sized)

On the back, it says To Dawn with Love, Dyane, Christmas 2007. I'm so pleased with my order that its super-hard for me to not drive over there & give it to her right this minute. I just know she's going to love this locket so much. I know that I will be ordering more of these as gidts in the future, they're just soi beautiful and a thoughtful and loving gift.

In the Dog House?

Shopping for my tomboy daughter has always been a challenge, especially when it comes to jewelry. She loves it, but it has to be something very special to her or she won't wear it or take care of it. When I was presented with an opportunity to review personalized dog tags. I jumped on it. At first I didn't know who I'd get one for, until I saw the color selection. They have a lovely tealish green that I thought would be perfect to commemorate Rhi's senior year & graduation. I gave them all of my information & a few days later they told me my order had been shipped. I got it today, and all I can say is that I love it & will order more as my god-children reach their senior years, because its such a special and unique looking gift:



I just know that she's going to love this, too and that she'll wear it all the time. I imagine that eventually, it'll hold a place of honor on her rearview mirror with her tassel from her cap. I can't wait until Christmas to give it her! The ordering process is easy, you can order more than one at a time, if you happen to be ordering for a group of people or a team (they'd be great to remember a family reunion with, wouldn't they?) and they have several colors and designs to add, too. I chose the symbol of victory for this one, because I look at high school graduation as being the first major victory of my kids' lives and I'm so proud when they achieve it. I'm even thinking of ordering a couple for Troy & I for our next anniversary, they're just that cool!

Getting my Life Back

I've recently come to realize, due to some things in my life that I feel powerless over, that I need to take control of my life and my happiness. I've just let life happen to me for too long, I think I need to start happening to my life, you know? Towards that end, I've been listening to the first CD in a series by Clay Nelson, a life coach. The series I'm listening to is called "Getting Started," and its supposed to help me reclaim the right to have a say in how my life turns out and quite frankly, I really need that right now.

Clay Nelson offers you more than CDs, he also has a radio show called the Clay Nelson Life Balance Hour that airs Wednesdays at 2:00pm Pacific time, on 1290 AM in Santa Barbara, or you can catch it on live streaming audio through his website. Really, if you feel like me and your life is out of your own control, check out the website, listen to the radio show and think about ordering one of his CD series. What he has to say is uplifting and empowering. You are your own best investment, after all, make yourself and your life a priority. I know that many times we let our own needs slide in the busy years of raising children and building careers, but you can listen to CDs anytime, right? You can start to rebuild your life while you're doing all of that driving we all have to do everyday and that can only help you and your family.

Interoffice Harmony

You all know that I don't work out of my home, or have to deal with any of the stuff most of you do, but my husband does, and he talks about most of it when he comes home. He works for a pretty large corporation (in size more than employees) and its spread all over the place. The awesome things that helps facilitate communication between the supervisors and their employees is intranet software. Today's software pretty much does it all, from business email to group scheduling, EPazz works with businesses from start to finish. Troy loves their system, it helps out so much with collaboration and really has improved the workflow from department to department out there.

If you have a business that needs intranet software, EPazz is currently offering a FREE 30-day trial of their software. Just go to website & contact them to get that setup to see how much it helps your own business every day.

Real Reviews from a Real Person

Do you like to hear what real people say about products, TV shows and movies? I know that I do, and I've read a lot of web sites that specialize in reviews. My current favorite is Lisa Reviews. She gives no nonsense reviews about things I watch and products that I'd like to use. The website is easy to navigate, her reviews are well-written and easy to understand, and she generally provides a link so that you can get more information if you need it, or just want to read up on it a little more.

She does a lot of reviews for products for babies and young children, and since I have friends who are just starting their families, I take the time to read about them, because I love to buy things for those kids, and I want them to be happy with what I give them. I use the information on babies to share with Morgan, so my grand-daughter can benefit, too.

One review was really awesome for me. I have been looking all over the internet to try to find out what the SciFi series Eureka is about. I got a few brief overviews about it, but nothing that really persuaded me that I was missing out on anything. Until I found a review of it on Lisa Reviews. She gave a great synopsis of what the show is about, and now I'm really sad that I missed the first season. I guess I'll have to use the link in her review to pick it up!

Updating the Bedroom

Last Summer, I bought a new comforter set, in Moroccan style stripes - it has burnt orange, plum, deep red & beige in it. I really love it & it brightened up the room so much. In December, my grandmother gave me her four-post bed, and it has a cinnamon colored stain & a nutmeg one, with inlays and such, its a gorgeous bed. Recently, I ordered a beautiful set of wooden blinds for the window near our bed. The ordering process is super easy, they have pointers for measuring everything and links explaining almost every step of the process. Today I received them, I got them in a nutmeg stain that matches my bed perfectly, and the cloth tapes are a mulberry color that's really close to the plum in my comforter.

This is what my window looked like before we installed them:


Pretty ghastly, wasn't it? We had no privacy right there because the mini-blinds that were here when we moved in were broken, and we just never got around to doing anything about it until today. So, we set about updating the way it looked. Troy brought in his cordless screwdriver, we measured where the mounting brackets went, marked it & Troy started to work. Less than 10 minutes later, the blinds were securely in place & he was mounting the beautiful matching valance.

Even with them up, its a huge improvement to that area. They were so easy for Troy to install, and he was really impressed with the way everything went together and how easy it was to figure out. They have instructions for installation on the web site, but by the time I started reading them, he already had it figured out & was ready to start.

I am so pleased with my new blinds, I just can't say that enough! They made my whole bedroom look so much better and we even have privacy now. Troy works nights part of the month, and now he'll be able to sleep better in the day, because we can close the blinds and block out the sunlight. Thank you so much Blinds Chalet! I can't wait to show them off to everyone I know!

I Love to Read

I'm a reading fanatic, I have been ever since I could read. I can't go to sleep at night unless I have a book to read. Sometimes, I have nothing new to read and have to go back and reread old favorites, which isn't a big deal, but I really do love reading things I never have before. I recently joined an online club, called BooksFree, where for different rates per month, you can receive paperback books or audiobooks in the mail. I signed up for the $9.95 plan, where I can receive 2 books at a time, read them & then send then back for free and get two more, all month long.

I ordered a couple of books from them, and received them a few days later (I'm not sure how long it took, I was busy with Faire setup and such and paid no attention). The website has a huge selection of books, in many different genres and is super simple to use. You just pick out books you want to read, put them on your list and they send them to you automatically. I love that I can just get my mail and have new books to read and I don't have to go out and hope they have what I want at my library (they rarely do) or at my local bookstore (even more rarely), all for the cost of just a little more than one new paperback a month. If you like to read and want the convenience of automatic delivery, check them out!