Welcome to the Spring Into Books giveaway hop hosted by Literary Addicts.

Since this is a book giveaway, what better prize could there be than an Amazon gift card?

I give these for just about any occasion and everyone always loves them!  The great thing about Amazon is the Prime shipping. Don’t feel like you’re limited to buying your books on Amazon….it’s an amazing superstore online.  I’ve been known to order simple things like snacks, toilet paper, and meal kits on Amazon.  Knowing that my box will be on my doorstep within a day and I won’t have to go to the store is a huge relief, plus the savings can be amazing!    Toys are also a favorite on Amazon.  We get a lot of our kids’ birthday presents there because I earn free gift cards from Swagbucks.  Amazon often sells toys for way below retail price, plus the free shipping can’t be beat.  Of course, you can always use your gift card to grab a book (or two!)  [Read more…]

I’ve said it before and will probably say it at least 100 more times……love the cover of this book! It just appeals to me. If you’ve lived in the south, you’ve probably traded a few of your own secrets over a good cup of sweet tea. By the way, the tea must be sweetened at the time of preparation with good old-fashioned sugar, absolutely never with sugar packets when you’re sitting at your meal. Otherwise it’s not sweet tea, it’s tea with sweet sand floating around in it. NOT the same thing.

Secrets over Sweet Tea is a wonderful, heartbreaking, laugh-out-loud book that really expresses the heart of being a Christian mom and pastor’s wife.  Scarlett Jo is an old soul who reminds me of every good friend I’ve ever had, in different ways.  The way that she runs through town and doesn’t care what others are thinking of her.  The way that she prays constantly, with earnest, for those whose homes she passes.  The way she talks with her kids.  Everything about her makes me love her and visualize her as the girl I’d call at the end of the day and say, “What’s up?”  [Read more…]

Welcome to the Showered With Love Event! This giveaway is hosted by the Blogging Mamas Network.  April Showers bring May Flowers, and 50 bloggers have come together throw a huge Shower of our own – a virtual Baby Shower!  You can enter the Showered  with Love giveaways from April 1-15.  After entering my giveaway, be sure to hop around to each blogger in the linky at the bottom of the page.  Then check out the fabulous Baby Shower Grand Prize, including a Boba Wrap, Red Charlotte Doll Carrier, a $50 GC to Walls Need Love, AND 6 pocket cloth diapers from Little Monsters – worth over $300!

Our sponsors for this giveaway are Bows ‘N Ties and Mabel’s Labels. [Read more…]

Welcome to the Relish Reusable Giveaway Hop.  This event is hosted by Measuring Flower and Eco Crazy Mom.   The participating green bloggers worked together to bring you lots of fun, eco-friendly, and reusable giveaways worth a minimum of $25 each. After you’ve entered the awesome Savings in Seconds giveaway below, be sure to “hop” on to the next blog to enter that giveaway as well. You can find a list linking to all the other blogs towards the bottom of this post.  Make sure you enter the event’s big grand grand prizes, including $200 of reusable products donated by Reuseit.com!

There has been a change in sponsor for this event. Savings in Seconds is so excited to work with Grow It Now to bring you a prize package valued at over $25.  [Read more…]

Welcome to the Fool for Books giveaway hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not a Writer.  I won’t play a joke on you in this hop, don’t worry!

In this giveaway, five winners will each receive a screen cleaning cloth to keep that e-reading device sparkling clean.  [Read more…]

I never thought of myself as a food snob before. True, I have certain tastes and textures that I prefer as much as the next person, but generally I eat pretty much everything (as evidenced by the state of my thighs.) When it comes to fresh veggies, though, I must admit that my garden has me spoiled. My parents had a small garden plot when I was very young, but once we moved to a basement apartment we had no greenery other than a few meager houseplants.   As far as I knew, cucumbers were always green, potatoes were always white, and tomatoes were always red.  I should have known that there was more variety in the world than that limited rainbow!  Now that I have a home of my own, I really enjoy having a garden filled with many varieties of our favorite veggies.  Here is a pic of one section in my garden last year:

Many of my friends have commented that they wish they could have a garden, but…Insert your favorite excuse here.   My question is, what’s stopping you?  There really is NO good reason for not getting your hands dirty and growing some delicious produce of your own if you’re interested in trying it. [Read more…]

Finally, sunshine!  If you’re local to the tricities in TN, have you been enjoying the great weather?  We just returned from a quick trip to visit family and came home to a beautiful spring day.  I can’t wait to get in the garden and get my hands dirty.  The kiddos need to take a nap first though!  So while I’m waiting, I wanted to share a couple of great deals with you.

First, have you seen the awesome deal on Stephanie Meyer’s books on Amazon — today only (3/30)? If you didn’t win my Kick Butt characters giveaway, you should check out this deal. The Host is such a great book and even if you didn’t like the The Twilight Series (or maybe especially if you didn’t?) you should give it a try. I downloaded The Host even though I’ve already read it. I gave my copy to my mother-in-law and I’d love to read it again. I was thrilled to see it for only $1.99.  The movie is coming out and I wanted to re-read it before watching the movie. I’m weird that way. [Read more…]

My mother-in-law told me that a successful parent works herself out of a job. It’s so true!  I’m seeing it now with my daughter.  She no longer needs me to tie her shoes, pick out her clothes, or pack her lunch.  Yes, I can still do those things — but if the goal is to teach her how to become a contributing member of society, the first step is to teach her how to become a contributing member of our household.  My son is no longer a baby either.  He is only three years old yet he wants to do everything — everything — himself.  Sometimes that is hard for me to accept, especially when I can do something faster without him.

The book What a Son Needs From His Mom reminded me to stop and consider what my actions say to my son when I say, “Just let me do it.”  Am I instilling confidence in him?  Am I teaching him that he’s worthy of time and effort?  Do I build his self-worth?   [Read more…]

Shoe shopping is always fun, but when I’m shopping for spring and summer shoes, it’s almost as good as a day at the beach!! Add a coupon and the whole experience almost like skydiving. It’s such a rush to get a pair of adorable shoes for a great price. A brightly colored pair of strappy sandals or cute wedges with a summer dress is the perfect outfit for me.  It’s also a great excuse to work in a pedicure!  After all, those toesies need to look beautiful in the sandals, right?!   If you’re headed to Famous Footwear, be sure to print off this coupon for 15% off your purchase.  Just click the picture below.  For me, that discount covers tax plus some, which is always nice.  Even if you don’t think you’ll be shopping for shoes soon, go ahead and print off the coupon.  Pass it on to your friends, too.  You never know when the shoe-mood will strike!  This offer expires 3/31 so you still have a few days to take advantage of this deal.  It’s also good for online purchases, so you can even shop from home.  Actually, you could even go shoes shopping while sitting in the doctor’s office.  Now that almost makes it worth having that yearly appointment……

but those would have to be some seriously fabulous shoes.

Disclosure: I received free products. Opinions shared are mine.

If your books are on an ereader, you probably get sick of seeing fingerprints on the screen all the time.  Even if you’re just using a tablet or smartphone it can be difficult to keep those screens from getting smudges and dirty.   My kids use all of our devices, all the time, so there are always traces of Doritos or some other substance on my screens. Gross!  Of course it’s a no-no to use cleaners, but sometimes it’s just inevitable.  Having a screen cleaning cloth on hand was a lifesaver.  [Read more…]