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good sites
I discovered a few really good websites over the past week or so. You may have already heard of or even visited these sites, but I wanted to share them anyway in case there are some who haven’t seen them yet. Here’s the list ~ they’re all live links, just click on the website’s name and the site should open in another window or tab:
- Food with Kid Appeal (Attison is an extremely difficult/picky eater ~ this site has some great ideas for encouraging little ones to eat good foods)
- Grass Point Farms
- Kellogg Valley Farm ~ this family-owned organic farm is local to me, and they don’t have a website as far as I can tell so this is a link to their Facebook page
- Cascadian Farm
- Natural Pantry/Wholeliving.com
- Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
- Whole Foods Market
- Wheat Montana
- Sunfood
I have a lot more links to share, but I’m going to try to list them in groups ~ so more link lists are forthcoming. Enjoy these for now.
If you have any good links you would like to share that are relevant to topics I like to write about here on my blog ~ organic food/living, kid-friendly things (foods, coloring pages, games, websites, clothes, etc.), mommy interests, Christian interests, couponing/simple/frugal living, homeschooling, etc., please send them to me. I’ll choose some good ones and add them to my future posts.
sidebar changes and a prize
Over the next little while, you’ll probably notice that the items in my sidebars will be changing. I have some new items to offer you as well as a little cleaning up to do on those sidebars. I will always have my Archives link available, so don’t worry if you’ve missed some posts. You’ll always be able to access my previous posts.
I’m excited to get going on this project, and I’m uber excited (yes, I used the word uber ~ my kids will think I’m a dork, but that’s okay) to introduce some new items. 
One thing I’ll be unveiling is this:
UPS delivered a box from MyBlogSpark the other day. I’m thrilled with its contents ~ and I will be telling you all about it in the very near future (next week).
And, there will be an opportunity for you to win an INCREDIBLE prize ~ think spa in a box. More details will be in that post next week, so stay tuned!
right place, right time
Sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time….
A couple of days ago, I went shopping at Target to finish up my Christmas shopping. The night before, I made a list of the items I still needed (stocking stuffers and things like that), perused the Sunday ads to see which store had the largest number of the items on my list on sale, and went through my coupons and found all of the relevant ones. I found more coupons on Target.com and printed them out. I found some really great deals ~ several of the items I needed were on sale at Target, and I had a manufacturer’s coupon as well as a Target coupon for most of those items. Triple up on the savings ~ that makes it worth the trip. 
So, there I was at Target, checking items off my list and concentrating on getting the items I knew I needed to get ~ sticking to the list is usually the best way for me to get in and out of a store without spending more than I intend to spend. But on this day I think God just decided I needed a little extra gift. I was heading towards the electronics department when I passed the clearance rack at the back of the bedding section ~ and that’s where it caught me eye. On one of the clearance shelves was a boxed Simply Shabby Chic white decorative shelf. We’ve been slowly trying to redecorate a few rooms in the house, and one of the things I’ve been on the look-out for are good decorative items. This particular shelf was just the kind of item I had on that mental list. So even though I was on a mission to the electronics department, I stopped at that clearance shelf. And I’m glad I did!
I checked the box over, and there was no damage to it. So I looked at the price tag. Are you ready for this? The regular price was just under $56 ~ and the little red clearance tag read $6.84. WHAT?! There had to be something wrong with it. It had to be a return or something. But for $6.84, I was willing to snag it, take it home and check it out.
I finished my shopping, checked out (where the cashier commented on my adept combining of sale items and coupons, and my clearance shelf find), put everything into the trunk and headed home. I was still a little doubtful that the shelf would turn out to be as good of a deal as I was hoping it would be, but again I was willing to take the chance.
After I got home and put away all of my sale/coupon items, I carried into the house the box containing my “steal” of the day, the decorative shelf. I examined the box again, and still couldn’t find any damage to it. I opened the box, and noted that it did not appear to have been re-packed. You know when you buy something, get it home, take it out of the box, and realize there’s something wrong with it, and no matter how hard you try you absolutely cannot put it back into the packaging and make it look as good as it did coming out of the factory? Yeah, well, that didn’t appear to be the case here. So I carefully sliced the packing tape, opened in inner box, took out the directions, and found the package of hardware needed to put the shelf together. That hardware package contained 8 small packages of groups of hardware. I pulled out each small package and compared it to the individual package contents listed in the book of directions. None of the hardware packages appeared to have been opened, and every single piece of each of those 8 hardware packages appeared to be present in its package.
At this point I thought to myself, “Self, you may have just found the deal of the week!” I took a picture of the box just to show you (because I know how much you love when I share my big savings finds with you) ~ here it is:
I took a couple of pictures of the little red clearance tag that reads $6.84, but they didn’t turn out well. They’re too blurry to read. I’ll try to get a good pic with my better digital camera and post it ~ I need to put a picture of this box with the readable tag in a scrapbook or something! LOL
Despite my intention to be in and out of Target that day, buying only the items on my list, I’m thankful to have noticed this gem of a deal. Now, I haven’t put the whole thing together yet, so there’s still the possibility that the shelf (cabinet) may NOT turn out to be the deal of the week. But you know what? At this point I’ve had my $6.84-worth of pleasure from this item, so if something is wrong with it my heart won’t be broken!
coupons, rebates and savings galore
I am not a fan of the holiday shopping season. A lot of people are, and that’s great if it’s something you enjoy ~ but getting up at 4am the day after a holiday to fight the crowds just to save a couple of dollars is not on my list of fun things to do.
I am, however, a fan of shopping online, and I’m definitely a fan of big savings. Do you know how many web sites there are that will help you save some serious money while doing almost all of your shopping online? About a gazillion. Seriously. A gazillion. Recently I became a member of several of them ~ all free memberships ~ and already they’ve paid off (literally).
I have needed a new mixer for a while now. My in-laws gave us a Sunbeam stand mixer as a wedding present over 20 years ago. Earlier this year I started noticing that electrical smell that small appliances give off when they’re about to quit working. I let Roger know we were going to need to get a new mixer soon, and outlined the benefits of a couple of different brands I was interested in possibly purchasing. I won’t go into the debate over whether a Bosch is better than a Kitchenaid ~ that’s one of those things you’ll have to decide for yourself.
A few nights ago Roger and I were talking about what we would like for Christmas. We’ve been married for a long time now, and quite honestly getting a nice appliance I know I need is no longer offensive to me. Roger spent the first 17 or 18 years of our marriage giving me nice jewelry as gifts, because he knows how much I like pretty, shiny, sparkly things I can wear. He has proven he truly does understand that giving your wife a vacuum cleaner or a mixer for her birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or any other day that it’s conventional to give a gift to one you love is NOT okay. I’ve trained him well.
This year I asked for a new mixer. Roger was a little taken aback by that, and he questioned me over and over to make sure a new mixer really was the thing I wanted for Christmas. I was finally able to assure him that I WANT (not to mention NEED) a new mixer, and that buying me a small appliance for Christmas was not something that would go on the “Hold Against Roger Forever List” (unlike buying a $500 dog ~ that I didn’t even want ~ on our 14th anniversary. Sorry honey, but that is one I don’t intend to ever let you live down!)
I did all of the research, and decided for my purposes a Kitchenaid would be a very good investment. If I were an everyday bread baker I would probably have asked for a Bosch ~ and again, I really don’t want to get into that whole debate ~ but since I bake bread only occasionally, and I’ve never needed to make more than one loaf at a time on any given day, the Kitchenaid has the features I was looking for. The spoiled little girl in me wasn’t willing to settle for the lesser Kitchenaid though. I wanted the big mama of the Kitchenaid family ~ the professional 600 series mixer. Try as I might to get rid of her, that spoiled little girl inside me always seems to reappear. This time, however, I was able to satisfy the spoiled little girl in me AND the grown-up in me who really would like to get the most for my money.
I joined Ebates because I have heard people talking about it and have read quite a number of posts on blogs and Facebook by people who love shopping through Ebates. Then through Ebates I was able to find a store that had the mixer I wanted on sale, and they were offering free shipping with the purchase of $100 or more. I also had a coupon code for that store for an additional 20% off. The store’s page for the mixer had a link to a rebate form I could print out and receive $$ back from Kitchenaid. On that particular day, the store was offering rewards dollars (basically a gift card that can be used at that store for a future purchase), and the cash back value on Ebates on that day was higher than it usually is. Wow.
All told, I bought a mixer that normally sells for $500, and I paid a little over $200 for it. There’s a possibility that if I had continued looking around for a couple more days I may have been able to save a few dollars more, but I’m VERY happy with the deal I got. My time and effort are worth more than the additional $5 or so I might have saved if I’d waited and done a ton more research.
If you’re not a member of Ebates, you really should check it out. The membership form doesn’t take long to fill out, and you don’t have to give them any kind of credit card or bank account information.
If you decide to join Ebates, please use my link. You and I will each earn a $5 credit to our accounts from Ebates just for you signing up and becoming a qualified member! Really it’s a win-win situation. The next time you need to buy something, look it up on Ebates and buy it through their site. Ebates will give you a percentage of your purchase price back ~ so what have you got to lose?!
a woman inspired ~ ministry:online
If you haven’t signed up for A Woman Inspired’s Ministry:Online conference, there’s still time. Go here and sign up ~ the line-up of speakers looks great, and any sessions you may have to miss can be downloaded and listened to when it’s convenient for you. (This “conference” is an online conference about getting your ministry connected through avenues available online. The topics include Facebook, Twitter, blogging, finding your passion, and beginning a ministry from scratch. Good stuff!)
I attended the first conference, and will definitely be there for the second!
exciting stuff
There’s some really exciting stuff coming this way ~ and soon! So hang on to your hats ~ A Joyful Heart is going to be on a wild ride for the next couple of months.
If you’re on Facebook and we’re not “friends” yet, please send me a friend request by using this link.
If you’re not receiving updates to A Joyful Heart either in your email box or on your news reader, please click on “RSS” in the navigation bar at the top. That way you won’t miss out when I announce the BIG news!
misplacing god
Have you met my friend Joanne Heim , author/blogger at The Simple Wife? She’s a fantastic lady, and she has written a book that has just been released. Misplacing God : And Finding Him Again is available on Amazon! The Amazon link says it will ship in a month or two, but I’m pretty sure it will ship before that.
I will be doing a review of Joanne’s book Misplacing God: And Finding Him Again here on my blog as soon as I get my copy. And maybe, just maybe, I might have a copy to give away!
If you’re not subscribed to my feed, please sign up with the link below, the RSS link in the navagation bar at the top of the page, or one of the links in the sidebar. That way you’ll receive updates in your email box anytime I publish a new post. And you’ll know when the goodies like giveaways come along!
win a new hand bag!
I just signed up to win a free hand bag. You can, too! Just go to www.handbagplanet.com to register!
author chat on abunga.com
I haven’t posted any book reviews in a while. I was taking a bit of a break from reviewing, since it seemed like my life just sort of exploded (albeit in a good, God way) in February. I received a press release from Abunga.com today that I feel is worth sharing. I’m in the process of reading My Soul to Keep by Melanie Wells, and since she’s the first author to be interviewed at Abunga.com, I feel it’s appropriate to post the press release here:
ABOUT WHAT LIES BETWEEN THE LINES:
Melanie Wells Joins Readers on Online Bookstore Chat
| WHO: |
Melanie Wells, author of the critically acclaimed Dylan Foster series – “When the Day of Evil Comes,” “The Soul Hunter” and the newly-released “My Soul to Keep.” Wells will join the family-friendly online bookstore, Abunga.com, to discuss her insights on the fiction series, writing, building story lines and using one’s creativity and imagination to shape character development.
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| WHAT: |
“Authors at Abunga” Chat with Melanie Wells
Wells’ Dylan Foster trilogy is packed with both humor and suspense. Each thriller tracks the mayhem surrounding Wells’ unlikely heroine, college psychology professor Dylan Foster. Wells, who is also a psychotherapist and accomplished musician, will provide insights into her writing style, how stories are created, and where characters come from. |
| wheN: |
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
11 a.m. – Noon PDT / 1 – 2 p.m. CDT / 2 – 3 p.m. EDT (LIVE) At www.Abunga.com/AuthorsAtAbunga |
| DETAILS: |
Wells is the first author to be featured on the newly-created “Authors at Abunga” chats by Agunga.com. A Texas native, Wells is an accomplished musician (she’s a fiddle player) a licensed psychotherapist, and the founder and director of Dallas-based LifeWorks counseling associates (www.wefixbrains.com).
Beginning with “When the Day of Evil Comes,” each of Wells’ novels weaves a gripping tale in which the quirky, likeable Dylan Foster wrestles with her own personal demon — Peter Terry – “a spiritual and emotional stalker,” Wells says, ”Peter Terry is a compelling character who rings true for all of us. He is a metaphor for the opposition we all have in our lives. And we can all relate to Dylan, who often feels like she’s fighting forest fires with a squirt gun.” More info found at www.Abunga.com/
Abunga.com is an online bookstore founded to provide families a protected shopping environment. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., Abunga.com offers more than 1.6 million family-friendly books, savings through distributor-direct prices and support to nonprofit organizations by donating 5 percent of each transaction to a customer-selected charity. For more information, visit www.Abunga.com.
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free language program
Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! This is a $219 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they’re included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program — in the language of your choice — copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post — then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!