In honor of Mother’s Day, Armstrong Cabinets is having an amazing giveaway for the entire month of May.  One lucky and deserving mom is going to win a $10,000 makeover for her kitchen!  Now, if you want mom to win, first go “like” Armstrong’s Facebook page and upload a photo of her kitchen.   Then, gather help from all of your Facebook friends and your mom’s friends too, because the photo/mom with the most votes and who shows the biggest need for a kitchen makeover is going to be the winner!  The promotion started on May 1st and will end on May 31 – so get going!

This post is brought to you by Cyndy from Mama Does It All!  I’m glad to feature her experience using PayPal and Coinstar as I personally have used PayPal pretty much since it started and I’ve used Coinstar here and there when I have a bunch of change.  I love, love the fact that Coinstar is now offering a way to put all of your loose change into your PayPal account.  It definitely makes it more appealing to for me to use!

I have used both PayPal and Coinstar for several years. It was not until recently that I used them together. Earlier this month, I found out how easy it is to add funds to PayPal using Coinstar. Today I experimented with the reverse and I like how it worked. It was super easy too! My 4-year old daughter did most of the work and it only took a few minutes.

I use my PayPal account regularly, primarily to be paid as a blogger. If I request a transfer from PayPal to my local bank account, it takes about 3 – 4 business days before the funds are available to me. I also have the PayPal debit card to be able to get my funds faster, but I think that this may be a better solution for me – especially in a pinch. The fee on the Coinstar machine ($3) is comparable or in some cases less than ATM fees.

All of the Brookshire’s stores near our home feature a Coinstar machine so I can grab a few groceries after I grab the funds from my account. That is what Gwen and I did today. We tried out the Coinstar machine. withdrew funds from my PayPal account and picked up a few groceries. Sadly, I forgot my coupons at home (shhh, don’t tell anyone), but I did have the all important rain check for my daughter’s favorite Lunchables. And yes I know that Lunchables are frowned upon in some circles, but it’s her guilty pleasure and everyone should have one.

There are limits to how much you can withdraw per month using Coinstar, but it seems like it will be a great way to get funds from PayPal more quickly when needed and/or in a pinch. I honestly can see me using this on a regular basis – especially at the grocery store! I can’t ask for much more than the ability to quickly withdraw funds with just a few swipes of my finger.

You can see just how easy it was for Gwen and I to withdraw funds from PayPal on Google+. Admittedly, she is an incredibly bright 4-year-old, but she honestly did most of the work to withdraw the funds. And, even without remembering my coupons, we managed to stay in control and stay under budget – cold medicine and all!

PayPal and Coinstar continue to make it easier for us to access our own money. You can learn more about both by clicking on any of the links below:

Coinstar Website ♦ Coinstar Facebook ♦ Coinstar Twitter

Paypal Website ♦ Paypal Facebook ♦ Paypal Twitter

I have been paid (at Coinstar’s request) to try and blog about Coinstar’s products/services as part of a Collective Bias shopper insights study. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been counting down the days since I heard Greenling was coming to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  They are finally here and with an amazing deal to boot!  If you haven’t heard of Greenling yet, they are an Austin, TX based company that offers organic, local and sustainable groceries delivered right to your front door.  I never manage to make it to the Farmer’s Market on the weekend and I’m fed up with the produce that’s being offered in the grocery stores with is just part of the reason I’m so excited about Greenling.  The best part, in my opinion, is that not only do they deliver, but delivery is FREE.  Woohoo!  I’m SO over-the-moon-excited that I can get great food delivered right to my house and not have to go to the store at crazy hours and/or drag my children with me.  Anyway, they have a Groupon right now where you can get $50 worth of groceries for $25 with, of course, free delivery!

*This deal has ended, but you can still get 10% off your Greenling order if you use the code: TAMCHE200

Just for a little evening fun I’ve gotten together with a few bloggers to offer you a quick $100 cash flash giveaway!  Just enter on the Rafflecopter form below and do it quickly; the giveaway goes from 5 PM EST tonight and ends at 12:01 AM EST on February 3rd.  That equals 7 hours to get your entries in!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Deals4Dummies for organizing and hosting this giveaway!

Let me start this with, if you aren’t using Pinterest, you should be.  It’s a wealth of ideas and inspiration that you can curate however you like.  Valentine’s is only a couple of weeks away and I’ve been collecting my favorite ideas to share with you.  Today – awesome handmade Valentine’s cards!  In a few, I’ll share a post with my favorite Valentine’s treat ideas and one with my favorite decor too.  Just click through the source under the picture to see more information on how to make the Valentines.

Have a ball this Valentine’s Day
Adorable for both boys and girls and love that it’s a candy-free option!

Source: themcclenahans.blogspot.com via Tamara on Pinterest

I chews you
A fun play on words and really, I’m just a sucker for awesome packaging and this tube full of colorful gumballs is a winner in my book!

Source: love-the-day.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Our class would knot be the same without you!
Cute little paper circles with a fun border and another candy-free option – win!

Source: dandee-designs.com via Tamara on Pinterest

I dig you!
So very cute and if you are thinking of it at the end of summer, I bet you could stock up on the shovels for super cheap if you search the clearance racks.

Source: thefryfamilyblog.blogspot.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Robot Valentine
This one doesn’t have a catchy saying but isn’t lacking in cuteness – just wrap up a fun-size candy bar to make the robot’s body.

Source: bhg.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Kids holding lollie pops photo Valentine
This is the second year I’ve seen these floating around the internet but they are still a totally cute idea. Take a picture of your child holding a fist out in front of them and then cut little slits above and below their hand and stick the handle of the sucker through the picture. Easy, personal and adorable!

Source: Uploaded by user via Tamara on Pinterest

Kids photo Valentine with candy
Another great idea for personal photo Valentine’s and you could make quick work of it with some glue dots and candy hearts.

Source: andreaburnsphotography.com via Tamara on Pinterest

You rock Valentine!
Cute packaging for a package of Pop Rocks. Simple and fun!

Source: asmallsnippet.blogspot.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Valentine’s Butterflies
Simple enough, but adds a little extra cute factor with googly eyes and a pair of wings for these lollie pops!

Source: skiptomylou.org via Tamara on Pinterest

You make my heart glow!
Love these! One more candy-free Valentine idea that is fun and inexpensive. Again, if you are thinking ahead, before Halloween they had packs of 10 glow stick bracelets for $1 in the Target dollar section. I bet you could find them at a party store too for a reasonable price.

Source: theteacherwife.blogspot.com via Tamara on Pinterest

You’re just write for me.
Cute and practical! Pencils make a fun Valentine for classrooms or a great gift from a teacher for her students.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Tamara on Pinterest

I never “tire” of your friendship!
These would be fun to enlist your child to help you make. I bet they would have fun helping you create the tire tracks on the cards! I know they make molded chocolate cars but you could make these candy-free if you wanted too with matchbox cars.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Valentine, you color my world
Use a silicone mold to melt down broken crayon bits and form them into new heart-shaped crayons. I’ve seen this idea here and there but I love the cute cards and stamps that Heather from WhipperBerry came up with to finish the presentation!

Source: whipperberry.com via Tamara on Pinterest

I’d snap at the chance to be your Valentine!
These gators are SO cute! They make use of pillow boxes for the alligators body – you could stuff them with whatever you like.

Source: skiptomylou.org via Tamara on Pinterest

You’re a blast!
What a fun idea that only involves a few small pieces of paper and some candy!

Source: familyfun.go.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Feel free to check out my Valentine’s board on Pinterest for more fun ideas and links to free printables if DIY just isn’t your thing!

It’s that time again – A Blogtastic Extravaganza!  Five days filled with awesome giveaways from amazing blogs.  I’m having Spring fever right now.  I’m ready to open the windows and clean everything out and start fresh.  So I thought, what better than a “Refresh Your Nest” giveaway!  I’ve chosen two of my favorite places to shop, Anthropologie and Amazon, and I’m giving away one gift card to each place.  (No worries though, if Anthro doesn’t work for you for some reason I’ll let you pick something else in its place.)  Just enter on the Rafflecopter form below and then hop on over to another blog in the list to enter their giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When I found out that I got to try International Delight Iced Coffee earlier this month I was so excited, but even more so, that I got to share the love with another blogger.  As a part of this fun campaign I got to choose another blogger to surprise with all three flavors of iced coffee and a to-go cup, just like I had gotten.

I decided that Jayme from The TaterTwins would be a great recipient.  She is a military wife and a busy mama of many, including 3 boys, 2 girls and a set of twin toddler boys.  I knew she would appreciate the coffee.  She blogs about a little bit of everything, just like I do.  Only she’s probably funnier.

I did let Jayme know that she could be expecting the surprise package to arrive before hand – I know she’s busy and would have hated to have the package sitting there spoiling.  I figured if she knew it was coming she could keep an eye out for it and get it in the fridge quickly after it arrived.  I was waiting in anticipation to find out what she thought about it after I found out it arrived, so I sent her a tweet.  I was so glad to hear that she loved it  - so much so, that she said she almost drank an entire carton in a day!

I’m glad that the wait is over and January 15th has come and gone and now International Delight is finally in stock at Walmart.  I’m going to make sure to look for it in the refrigerated dairy section next time I’m there.  Now that I’ve run out I’ve realized how nice it is to have a carton of it ready and waiting in my fridge – Iced Vanilla Coffee here I come.  It was so fun to get to try a new product that’s delicious and even more fun that I got to share it with a fellow blogger who ended up loving it too!

Disclosure:  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias  As always, all thoughts and opinions (even ones on #icedcoffee) are my own.

If you’re looking for more information about SOPA and how it effects you check out this article from Mashable.

I’m not one for New Years resolutions but I am all for making goals and finding a way to make them happen.  For quite a while now I haven’t been feeling my best and if you follow along you might have seen me mention dealing with depression.  It’s been rough and lonely and I’ve been desperately wanting a way out.  I’m exhausted, depleted, anxious, stressed out, foggy-brained, and all around unhealthy – mentally and physically.  Now, I’m not here for a pity party, but I am ready to make some changes.  I think I’ve known all along what it all comes down to is food and exercise but for some reason it’s taken a while for that light to really come on, for it to click.  I generally don’t write about these things, not because I’m afraid to discuss them, but more I’m afraid if I put myself out there and fail, and then my failure will be public.  And no one wants to admit failure.  (Especially not a depressed, anxious perfectionist.)  But, I’m human and I’m putting it out there.  I don’t like who I am anymore and I don’t even want to get back to the old me.  I want to get to the even-better me.  The best me.  The happy, healthy, clear-thinking, loving, kind, energetic, calm me.  She must be in there somewhere.

I happened to come across a movie called, “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.”  (Yeah, that’s about how I feel.)  It’s a documentary about two guys who go on a juice fast for 60 days to reboot their systems, clean everything out, and start over on the right track.  I’m not one that thinks there is only one way to do things but rather that there are many right ways and you just need to find the one that works for you.  I’m a perfectionist, a details person, and a lot of the time if I can’t do something exactly the way I think it should be done then I just don’t do it at all.  That’s mostly how I feel about food.  I like it, in fact I love good food, but I also hate it… because it confuses me.  I want to do it “right” but my brain goes on information overload and then it’s all too much and I just stick with what I’ve been doing.  Which is clearly not working.  But juicing, for 15 days, 30 days or maybe even 60 days.  I think I could do that.  It’s simple.  Simple is GOOD.  Maybe in that amount of time the fogginess will lift and I can focus enough to find a way to eat REAL food.  Take it one step at a time and begin a journey to finding that even-better me person.

I know it’s not going to be easy and there’s a good chance I might turn into a crazy, crabby, mean and moody person when I first start.  Convincing your body to give up the caffeine and processed food it’s addicted to, letting go of that overstuffed feeling, dealing with hunger and cravings – yikes!  I think that’s going to be the biggest hurdle.  But I’m so done.  I don’t want to feel this way anymore and I’m ready to do what it takes.  A juice fast for 15-60 days might seem totally crazy and extreme but to me it sounds simple and simple is really what I need right now.  I can’t wait to feel good.

I know to get started I need to get a juicer (obviously) and I’m thinking I’m going to get the Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juicing Machine.  (Unless you can recommend something better.)  I know I want to get a book, or a few, with recipe ideas in it too but I’m not sure which one yet.  I’m going to start out with a goal of doing a 15 day juice cleanse, see where I’m at and how I’m feeling and go from there.  If any of you have experience juicing I would love to hear about any tips, juicer recipes, sites, or recipe books that you’d like to share!