It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost one week since the Newtown, CT tragedy.  It honestly feels like months that I’ve been grieving for these children I don’t know, for their families who I’ve never met.  I’m a mom and a teacher.  My heart feels the pain in so many ways.

#26Acts

My way of coping is to carry on with life as normal.  I’ve always been this way.  After I had a miscarriage a few years ago, I had to go back to work right away because that was normal.  Avoiding the issue may not be healthy, but it helps me to move on and deal.  You might have noticed that I didn’t stop the blogging as many other bloggers did.  It’s just not my way.  I had to carry on with life until my soul was ready to face the pain.  After watching the news and reading all of the heartbreaking stories for several days, I felt that it was time.  The biggest reason is that I finally felt some glimmer of hope.  Thanks to Ann Curry’s #26Acts movement, I feel like there’s something more coming out of this senseless horror.

How do I tell my kids that there really ARE monsters in the world?  There are people who seek to hurt others, people who don’t accept society’s rules of right vs. wrong regarding murder. How do I explain to my children that these monsters don’t stand out with green skin, twelve eyes, or claws…..instead, the monsters are the people we least expect them to be.  Real live people who live in our neighborhoods, who shop in the same stores as we do, who smile at use while we wait in line at the post office?   I finally have an answer for my kids.   Yes, there are monsters in the world but there are a LOT more people who are fighting those monsters.  There are helpers who race to danger to save the lives of others.  There are heroes who sacrifice their freedom for our own.  There are kind, good hearts who look for ways to make a moment better for someone else.   Instead of focusing on the monsters in the world, let’s celebrate the good people in the world.  Let’s BE the good people in the world.

I started yesterday with my #26Acts.  I noticed an elderly woman who was struggling with her cart after unloading her groceries.  I offered to take her cart to the cart corral for her.  Although she declined, saying she could do it, the smile on her face showed how pleased she was that I had asked.   Who knows, maybe no one had talked to that sweet lady all day.  Either way, we both left feeling a bit happier.  No, that doesn’t change what happened at Newtown.  But maybe, just maybe, if we each try to make every day a #26Acts day, we can change what happens from now on. To me, it’s not just a way of paying it forward.  This time, it’s about being able to do something kind for someone on behalf of those 26 lives.

I read this verse in Acts 26 (verse 16) and thought it was applicable to the idea of standing up for what is good and right in the world.

 ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

If you’re jumping in the #26Acts thing, please share your ideas!  I’d love to have some new things to try.

Be still my heart, check out this lineup!  Okay, the world CAN’T end on the 21st, because there are some movies on this list I really want to see.

March 8: OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

May 3: IRON MAN 3 (Marvel Studios)

June 21: MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (Disney/Pixar)

July 3: THE LONE RANGER

September 13: THE LITTLE MERMAID 3D (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

October 4: DELIVERY MAN (DreamWorks Pictures)

November 8: THOR: THE DARK WORLD (Marvel Studios)

November 27: FROZEN (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

December 20: SAVING MR. BANKS

I am SOOOO excited, especially to take my daughter to see The Little Mermaid in 3D!!   Normally I am not really interested in 3D movies.  However, Ariel has been my daughter’s favorite princess forever.  It would be so wonderful to get to watch it with her on the big screen.

Which movie are you most excited to see?

If you live in or near Greeneville, TN, heads up!!   I just got an email about a mystery shopping assignment in Greeneville that pays $8 for the shop, bonus of $13, and up to $30 reimbursement!  That is a total of $51 for one mystery shop.  I like to think of this as free money—-think about it, you could purchase a gift or something for your home and then be reimbursed for it.  It’s like getting paid to shop!   A similar shop assignment (with same or similar payout) is available for these TN cities: Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Oak Ridge, Sevierville, Cordova, and Memphis.  If you’re interested in learning more, please email me at savingsinseconds @yahoo.com.  I’ll forward the information to you from there.

Have you heard of mystery shopping before? I don’t get to do it often due to our busy schedule, but mystery shopping is one of my favorite “free” activities.  Basically, you accept assignments and observe the employees, products, displays, and other features of a business.  If it is a restaurant assignment, you will usually be able to take a guest with you and as long as you follow the guidelines you will be reimbursed for the entire meal.  If it is a store or other business, you are usually required to make a small purchase.  Shops typically take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour (I prefer the shorter assignments!)  Afterwards you complete a survey and submit your receipt.  The mystery shopping company reimburses you for all or part of your expense, so it pays for your time, and you get to keep whatever you bought.

Awesome deal on Disney Just Dance for Wii — enter code DANCEMOM at checkout and get $10 off! It works on Just Dance 4, too (although you probably grabbed it when it was even lower-priced a few weeks ago.)

Here is my checkout page:

Go, go, go!!

Get FREE SHIPPING with delivery by Christmas Eve from 1,500+ online retailers on Mon., December 17.  Over a thousand retailers are participating. If you’ve waited to do your Christmas shopping, don’t miss out on this great opportunity!  Click here to see a list of stores that are participating (there were 1638 on the list when I checked!)  Some retailers have a minimum purchase amount required for free shipping.  I also noticed that several offered an additional discount ON TOP OF the free shipping.  If you end up taking advantage of this offer, be sure to let me know that you saw it here!

This is my affiliate link.

Since our family is working toward becoming debt-free, it’s no big surprise that we are Dave Ramsey fans.  We’ve been working on our debt snowball for what seems like years……..we do backslide but are trying to make it back to paying down our big bills.  Our major plan this year is to eliminate our credit card debt.  I don’t feel as bad about having our student loan debt, only because it’s what enables us to have careers, but that credit card debt is like a scorpion sting every month.   I’m really excited to get to try the new and improved Financial Peace University.    Although I never went through the original program, I have friends who have used it and only have good things to say.  I’m planning to get really into this package over Christmas Break and figure out where we can make some big changes in our lifestyle.  It’s now a 9-week course and claims to teach everything you need to know about money.  I’d love to pay off our credit card debt in one year, and I know it’s possible to do with a big plan and a good budget!  If someone on your Christmas list is struggling with finances (who isn’t?) Financial Peace University might just be what they’ve been praying for. [Read more…]

A few months ago, my husband and I were discussing his dissertation.  He recently had it published and it has sold a few copies.  Our daughter overheard and said, “Daddy, you’re an author?!”   My husband was taken aback for a moment and finally said, “Well, yes, I guess I am.”   Our daughter was clearly impressed.  She exclaimed, “Daddy!  I didn’t know you have a REAL job!”

After we stopped laughing, we realized that she truly had no idea what her daddy does at work every day.  Work was a nebulous word that means Dad drives away, is gone for several hours, and then comes home.  At the time, she was an intelligent second grader so she understood that people do different kinds of jobs.  She just didn’t know what her dad did at his job.

Author Walter Wally created a book to help ignite these conversations between youngsters and their fathers.  His children’s book What Did Daddy Do Today? is a bedtime story to help build a bond between father and child.  It helps children to develop an imagination while at the same time understanding where Dad goes all day.  You can purchase your copy directly from the author’s website ($15.99, hardcover). To get $5 off your purchase price, enter code 5WDDT at checkout!    Reading together is an important time to foster relationships between parent and child.  With this book, that time becomes even more important because it helps a child understand that Dad is important at his job.

I recently had the happy opportunity to select a Ban T-shirt to review.   I had such a hard time choosing, mostly because I kept finding shirts that would make great gifts for the quirky people in my life!  Ban T-shirts has a great variety of political, environmental, sports, and other themed shirts.   I finally settled on the tee above for my own.  When it arrived, I was amazed at the softness of the fabric.  It is organic cotton and absolutely like wearing a cloud.  The daisies on the top are linked together to form a peace sign.  In the small print below the peace sign, it says “Stop the war on Mother Earth.”  Such a great statement to make.

You’ve just gotta check out Ban T-shirts.  I can just about guarantee that you’ll find at least three or four shirts that you want to order, if not for yourself then for someone on your Christmas list.  I really liked the uniqueness of the themes. There were several that I have never seen before.  Be aware that the sizing runs small, especially on the women’s shirts.  You’ll probably want to size up.

This is the one I want to get next….I know my daughter would love it.  I’ve never heard of the butterfly effect before, but I totally believe in it.  Are you in the dark, too?  Read the info at the top of the page to learn what it is. And while you’re there, fill up your cart.

Yeah, I’ve seen the Bento box lunches.  I’ve even pinned them.  They’re on my board for things I’ll never do.  It’s not that I don’t want my kids to have a cute lunch…..I just don’t have the time or patience to assemble a sandwich that belongs on Cupcake Wars.  But then Fun Bites came along.  AHA!  Now there’s a bandwagon I can catch up with.  Fun Bites makes it easy to cut out cute shapes and let kids play with their food.  This bad boy is going in my stocking this year.

Fun Bites work with just about any food that I make for my kids. Grilled cheese sandwiches are a bit harder to cut through because they’re thicker. I try to stick with the separate elements—bread, cheese, etc.—and then let the kids combine them. You can also make it a challenge for your children. Consider cutting out a variety of foods and inspire your children to create a mosaic. You might use the heart-shaped Fun Bites and ask your kids to assemble the food into the heart puzzle shape. Whatever you choose to do, it’s fun to give children the freedom to enjoy their food in a creative way. Additionally, I found that my kids were more willing to eat new foods when I made it fun for them.

Fun Bites are BPA Free and can be put in the dishwasher. Easy peasy. And by the way, you don’t have to save the Fun Bites just for your kids. Consider using them to cut out appetizers, cheese squares, and make a Valentine’s Day fruit tray with them!

Connect with Fun Bites on Facebook and Twitter.

My kids always ask for new books for Christmas.  This  year I wanted to give them each a read-together book that was new to all of us.  I was thrilled to see the Bookworm deal on Plum District— $12 for $25 in books from Bookworm.com.  This is a sister site of Soap.com.

The two books I chose were Fairy Lies (by E.D. Baker) and Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon (by Ruth Stiles Gannett.)  Both books have excellent reviews.

To get free shipping, I added something from CASA that I’ve been wanting to buy—-an expandable bamboo flatware tray.  I’ve had my eye on this for a while.  I used code CASA30 to get 30% off this item.

My total was $57.27, but I paid only$22.96.  Add in the $12 for the Plum District voucher and my total was $34.96 — still well below the $57.27 total!!  Plus I went through EBATES to get 4% cashback on Plum District and 2% cashback on Bookworm.

What I figured out after some experimentation is that each site only allows one code.  If you make purchases across different sites, you CAN enter multiple codes.  So I was able to apply the $25 Plum District voucher plus the CASA discount.  If you need another code, you can enter code DIANNAG at checkout to see if it gives you 30% off one item.  You can also decline adding extra items and opt to pay shipping for the books.  Before you do that, though, be sure to check Amazon to see if the price might be better that way.

These are my referral links.  I’d love it if you posted yours in the comments below so that readers can use yours!