Simple Soap

Aren't those beautiful?!?  

Just so you can appreciate my excitement over a simple thing like soap, let's step back.  

I love to find the simplest way to do something.  I also do not enjoy clutter.  So, if I can find something that will work for many things, I am there.  Enter this.

I had this revelation.  Why not just use this hand rejuvenation soap everywhere I have a soap pump? So, I use this at the kitchen sink, and both bathroom sinks.  I love that I can wash my hands and dishes at the same time.  And, I really love that I have just one bottle of soap to fill all of my soap dispensers. And, I have to say it. It's pink. :)  

But, I treat myself from time to time, especially at Christmas.  And TJ Maxx is the best for finding beautiful, yummy soaps.  So, my bathrooms are now decked out with this.

And this.

And, it lifts my mood every time I walk in the bathroom.  It's just a fun, little extra way to add some holiday cheer and smell!

I still have my hand rejuvenation by the kitchen sink, so I can wash the dishes.  Can't go too crazy, you know!

Coastal Living

I treated myself to a new magazine subscription.  Ahh, Coastal Living.  I pretend that someday I will live near the ocean, or at least in warm locale.  I really just want a palm tree in my yard.  Can we make that happen in the midwest?

I love the magazine so far. It is just fun to thumb through and see cottages, vacation spots, beach decor and fun recipes.  I stack the magazines on the shelf in the bottom of my bedside table in my beachy bedroom.  Fits perfectly and makes me smile when I see them!

COZI, my friend

I love keeping lists and calendars.  For years, I had a paper planner that I carried all around with me in my large purse.  Now, I have a small purse and a large planner will not fit!  But, no fear, I found the Cozi app.  We love the way it works for our family.  Shannon, Addie and I have it on our phones and can update whatever we need to and all of us can view/edit and get reminders.

Calendar at a glance.

As of now, we have the free version and it really works just fine for us.  I am sure that Cozi Gold could bring us a wealth of new stuff.  But, I like free, so for now, I am sticking with that.  I kind of have the view that if I don't know what I'm missing, it's not that bad.  Although, there may be a blog post down the road that I upgraded.  There are ads that pop up at the bottom, but that doesn't really bother me.  We have been using it for over two years and it's been great!  And now that there is finally a Windows app, Shannon can use it more efficiently.

Menu within app

The normal color of Cozi is orange, but it's like a little palm tree moment for me when they have sponsors colors on there from time to time.  The other day it was a lot of pink and purple and it made me smile so much!

Shopping List

I like how it will send reminders to whomever the calendar has listed for that particular appointment/meeting, etc.  I also like how you can have several different lists.  Shannon is pretty much the best husband because most weeks when he goes into work (he works 4 days from home and goes in one day) he goes to the grocery store on his way home from work.  I can add to the list; he can pull it up and get what we need.   

Just a little side note... we live on a farm and are about 25-30 miles from the nearest mall/Target/Walmart/large grocery store.  Side note within a side note, we are actually 14 miles from school, so yeah, we have to drive to get to anywhere.  So, to save time and gas we don't go but usually once a week to places like that.  And actually depending on the week, I might not get there at all.  Shannon picking a few things up each week is a LIFE SAVER for me.  It is pure joy, really.

One more thing that Cozi has that I use and enjoy is the journal.  I am really not very good at it, but I try very hard to record little things that happen that we want to recall and remember.  I like that it's not a huge commitment on here. I can post a single picture and then a story.  It then lets you share/send it at the end of the month if you would like.  Anyway, I like how simple it is, because that's just the best I can do without getting overwhelmed with that sort of stuff!

Cozi is that happy, little, functional thing!

Smartphone!

Back in the day, I fought having a cell phone for awhile.  Then I fought adding texting to my cell phone.  Then I got off our ridiculously expensive cell phone plans and just went with a tracfone.  It suited my purpose just fine.  So, I fought having a smartphone.  But my husband had been watching this new company, Republic Wireless for sometime.  They offered these amazingly simple, cheap plans.  After about a year of watching and reading reviews, we decided to try it out. 

We bought our daughter one for her 15th birthday, just to try it out.  We couldn't switch our phone number over (although many across the US can!), so I was digging in my heels on that.  Since Addie didn't have a phone or number yet, I thought I would try out one on her and see if I just thought I had to have one even if it meant a new number after 15+ years.  Well, I was hooked after test driving hers for two weeks before her birthday!  And, the rest is history.   And there are some old contacts that didn't need my new number anyhow!

I found a beautiful, bright pink case on Amazon.com.  It had great reviews and the price was right. 




My Moto G...can you see my wallpaper?  :)

Republic Wireless has two phones right now to choose from.  A Moto X and Moto G.  Moto G is the cheaper option and works fine for what I need.  I never had a camera with me, so the 5MP on this one is a huge upgrade for me since I get to take photos and videos now wherever I am.  That was honestly one of the main reasons I wanted a smartphone. 

Seriously, if you are tired of wasting money on your cell phone, check out Republic Wireless.  I am so glad I did! 

And now I have a palm tree with me wherever I go!

TERVIS!

Cups are left all over our house and while I'm glad my kids are drinking plenty, I'm tired of seeing the cups.  And they mainly use our red cups, so it was hard to pinpoint who was leaving it.  Although, depending on the location, I could usually narrow it down. 

I had seen people rave about Tervis tumblers. They keep things hot when they need to be hot and cold when they need to be cold and they don't sweat USUALLY.  I have found when we had super hot weather, that they will sweat just as much as another cup, but maybe not as quickly!  We love our Hydroflasks, which have all the same features.  And while those are great for sporting events, in our backpacks down at Disney (they actually do not sweat even in the muggiest of temps in Florida!!), etc., I wanted glasses that we can drink out of throughout the day when at home or on the road. 

So, I went online, saw the 20% off Dads day discount and everyone picked out which one they wanted and we ordered them.  They came just a few days later!

Guess which one is mine?  :)

Tervis tumblers are guaranteed for life.  Plenty of people have confirmed that claim.  They sent in their defective/broken tumbler and got a replacement.  When there is that kind of guarantee, it makes spending money on the product a lot easier.  We could buy cheaper stuff, but this makes more sense to me.

Love sipping water from this all day ;)

Discover!

Just got my new Discover Card in the mail.  I mean I have had this credit card since college, but they have so many new fun designs...guess what I picked?  Drumroll....

So this isn't my actual card, but I am pretty sure it isn't safe to post my credit card number out there even though I shop online all of the time and enter it there...Oh well.

They also had this design, which is also quite pleasing to the eye, but I ended up choosing the one with MORE palm trees. 

5% off Disney Gift Cards

Here is my running stack of Disney gift cards!

Using my Target Red Card to buy my Disney gift cards at 5% off.  No, it may not seem like a lot, but what we save will pay for our gas for the trip down to Florida and back for our Thanksgiving Disney cruise.  In my mind, that is totally worth it!  Plus it makes me so happy doing two things at once that I love...saving a buck and planning a Disney trip!  I have a few more to buy before the cruise, but it's fun to order them online and run into the store and get some.  Addie and I just bought some tonight after her ortho appt. 

It may seem like a lot of work, but I actually enjoy getting onto Dreams Unlimited (travel agency) and logging into my reservation and applying these one by one.  I'm actually really fast at it now, clicking and typing in just all the right places.  Then seeing the "total due" drop. 

Ahhh palm trees and flip flops!

***Update:  We canceled our cruise!  But, in it's place is a summer trip to Walt Disney World with my in laws!  Shannon and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary and his parents will be celebrating their 50th!  We thought it would be great to spend 9 nights/10 days at the happiest place on Earth.  But financial wisdom required that we cancel this cruise.  I am posting this update on November 23...the day we were supposed to be boarding the ship.  :(

YNAB

YouNeedABudget.

I love a good budget. I love plugging in numbers.

I love seeing our savings increase whether it's for an upcoming vacation or a new vehicle or something else fun we see in our future.

I also really love trying to keep our numbers low in the other areas by finding bargains or doing without.  It's really like a game to me.  A fun game. 

And with YNAB, I always seem to win, and we seem to sock more money away.  It keeps us on track and we can totally see where all of our money is going and adjust where we need/want it to go. 

YNAB logo.  I pretend it's a palm tree.

I've tried a lot of other things like basic pen and paper or other online/downloadable budgeting tools and this just seems to work best for me.  We've had it for about 10 months now and after a small learning curve, I am so hooked.  Addie and Reece even have their own budget set up within it and they actually LIKE it!  It really helps to see where your money is working!

Yummy Shampoo/Conditioner

We didn't really need shampoo and conditioner, but Addie is really into roses and she convinced me we should get this stuff while we were at Target the other day. 

I used it once and was hooked.  It smells so good and Addie and I find ourselves sniffing each others hair.  It has the faintest flowery, clean, fresh scent.  I wanted to use it for awhile before I deemed it palm tree worthy.  But it is in fact.  I find myself wanting to wash my hair more than I need to!  I love my showers anyway, but this just gets me there faster!

So delicious and yummy...no, I do not drink it! :)

Clarisonic Mia 2!

So, I had been eying these for quite awhile, but who would pay that much to wash their face?  I used to say that about electric toothbrushes as well, and now I don't think I could go back to a regular toothbrush.  But, I digress.

So, I saw there was a 20% off deal one day on Clarisonic's website and wouldn't you know it, they had a couple models discounted because they were the "last seasons" colors/patterns.  Who knew?

 So, I bought one for myself for mother's day and I got one for Addie just for having a darn good freshman year.  We have enjoyed cleaning our faces :) 



The box top had the same design as the actual unit.  Bonus!!

Island coconut

I'm not a huge coffee drinker.  As a matter of fact, I have some coffee with my milk and sugar.  But this kind gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling when I drink it (still with plenty of milk and sugar!)  It's a limited edition so sometimes it is hard to find depending on when you are looking.  Imagine my delight when I was in Target the other day and was in the aisle looking for something else and Island Coconut caught my eye. 

Maybe it's because there is a palm tree right on the box...just looking at the box brings a smile to my face!  And I LOVE the smell of coconut anything, so double joy!

Retro Wallet

So, I love Disney and I love Retro.  I had my eye on a wallet for some time.  When we took our girls Fall trip to WDW, I basically knew what souvenir I was going to buy...

Love the Retro Disney signage!

Once I bought it, I couldn't stop looking at it and rubbing my hands all over it.  No buyers remorse whatsoever.  I will love whipping this out of my purse whenever I need it!

There is even a purse to match, actually a couple different styles, but I wasn't in the market for a purse. 

I will love whipping this out of my purse whenever I need it!