How To Have A Great Spring Break Weekend On A Budget

Since I learned how to super coupon a few years ago, I have learned many ways to save money in almost every area of our lives and have a great time.  Our spring break weekend this way is a great example.  Our hotel that we are staying at this weekend I am receiving a discount of over $30 a night because of a rewards/discount program available by mentioning where I am employed at.  It is always beneficial to check out what types of discounts are available to you depending on where you are employed.  We will also be saving money, because the hotel we are staying at includes an evening reception and full breakfast at no extra charge.  This is very important to us traveling with a family of 5.  This means that in the evening we can go down for evening appetizers/snacks and 2 drink tickets for each person staying in our room.  It is one of the things that our boys get most excited about because they get to hang out and drink rootbeer.  My husband and I can enjoy an adult beverage or choose to have soda too depending on what we feel like.  In the morning we get to enjoy a full breakfast bar with cereals, yogurt, pastries, waffles, sausage, fresh cooked potatoes or hashbrowns and a chef to make custom omelets.  This means we get to fill everyone up on a fantastic breakfast before we get to enjoy a great day out.  This saves us buying breakfast out that for a family our size saves us about $50-$60 each morning.  Usually everyone fills up enough that we can either have snacks or a very light lunch.  Plus swimming in the hotel pool is always fun for the kids while my husband and I can soak in the hot tub at the end of a fun filled day.

I also sign us up restaurant reward programs where from time to time I am emailed a deal for a meal.  This time we have a voucher for a free full meal at Fuddruckers. 

Another great restaurant that is a great treat for us to eat at is Tucanos.  The food is amazing and the kids can pick and choose what they do or do not want to eat.  Children age 6 and under are free (this saves us the price of 1 meal) and they also have a birthday club that I sign each member of the family for.  They then send you a card the month of your birthday that gives  you a free adult meal.  You take the card with you and this saves you the price of one of the adult's meals which will save us and additional $21.95.

I then purchased gift cards for Wahooz Family Fun Zone at a discount that is going to save us an additional $24.

 

I have also printed off coupons for Chuck E Cheese for gaming (I think we might skip here this time, but have the coupons printed just in case).

We also have coupons for Build A Bear. 

Each year our weekend varies slightly depending on the mood we are in and depending on what activities fit best with the weather.  However, I have found their are always reward programs to sign up for, discounts and coupons available and other great ways to save money available.  You really can make a couple nights away and family fun activities affordable if you do a little planning.  Our boys cherish this annual tradition and we have a ton of fun.  Oh, and of course, mom might get to do a little shopping!
 

 



 

Tria Age-Defying Laser - End Of Level 2 Treatment

Tria Age Defying Laser

Tria Age-Defying Laser - Being Chosen For Their Ambassador Program

At the beginning of February, I filled out an application that Tria  posted on Facebook to be part of their Ambassador program for their new Age-Defying Laser .  You can imagine my excitement when I received an e-mail on February 7th that I had been chosen as 1 of 5 out of over 100 applicants to be part of their Ambassador program.  Being chosen meant that Tria was going to send me their Age-Defying Laser, along with their Priming Cleanser and Finishing Serum.  What an amazing opportunity!  In doing so, they asked that I follow the recommended treatment protocol over 12 weeks, take pictures before starting and then each week in the same lighting and position not smiling (they say not smiling shows your wrinkles and the results over time better), and share my experience/results with everyone.

So what is the Tria Age-Defying Laser?  It is a handheld anti-aging laser for personal use at home that is FDA approved.  I point out that it is FDA approved because that is very important to me when it comes to safety and it means a lot to me that a company believes in their products to go through obtaining this approval.  The at home part is significant, because many people spend thousands of dollars seeking in-office professional treatment.  I am a frugal person and so the option of being able to do this in the comfort of my home at a fraction of the cost is a great opportunity.  The Age-Defying Laser is supposed to work to promote a natural collagen renewal to help diminish fine lines and wrinkles and achieve a more radiant, smooth complexion.  So far, reports are showing that up to 83% of users say that they have found the Age-Defying laser to be as effective as professional laser treatments.  Plus, once you own it, it is yours to be able to repeat 12 week cycles of treatment as you feel is necessary (they do recommend though that you take a 1 month break between 12 week cycles).

I started my week one of treatment on the training level 1.  It is recommended that you do your treatments in the evening so that if you have any redness from the treatments that can diminsh overnight and allows the skin renewal to begin overnight.  I used the priming cleanser to clean my face as they say this helps to remove makeup, sunscreen and any other impurities that may be clogging your pores and make the treatments less effective.  I would like to point out that I have very sensitive skin and find that there is very few products on my face that don’t cause irritation so I was a little nervous.  I was happy to find that the cleaser was very mild, but effective and that I have not experienced any irritation with it.  I then turned the laser onto level 1 and treated each “zone” of my face for the time I was supposed to (30 seconds to start out).  There are specific directions that show you each zone and the laser makes it really easy because it times each zone and beeps to let you know to move to the next zone.  When the last zone is complete the laser shuts off.  Then you apply the Finishing Serum to help soothe and hydrate your skin. During the treatment I felt little warm pricks or tingling that were not painful, just slightly uncomfortable.  When I applied the finishing serum I was in love immediately!  It is not greasy at all, but feels more silky.  My skin felt so soft and wonderful.  That first week I noticed that any redness and tingling I experienced was gone within an hour or two of treatment.

The first week is meant to help you get into a routine and get used to using the laser.  You treat for 5 days and then take a break for 2 days.  I admit that it was hard to wait the 2 days to start the next level!  The main thing that I noticed the first week was my skin feeling softer and smoother.  I would also like to mention that they recommend using sunscreen in the mornings to help protect the benefits, maintain results, and help prevent new damage.  This was always part of my routine in the mornings when I put my makeup on

The second and third weeks I moved up to Level 2 treatment again treating for 5 days and then taking a break for 2 days.  On level 2, each zone is 60 seconds for a total treatment time of 4 minutes.  On level 2, I found the pricks or tingling to be just a little stronger, but again not painful.  I noticed a little more redness to my face after treatment, but again it was gone within a few hours.  What I started to notice during these 2 weeks is that the creases, or laugh lines around my mouth are less noticeable, the creases in the center of my forehead are lessening and looking more shallow and an age spot just below my left eye looks like it is fading.  My skin feels great (and I think looks great).  I am excited for the next 8 weeks on level 3 which I am thinking the results are just going to get even better!

I will post my pictures and links to the youtube videos I have done and hope you will follow me.  I would like to point out that Tria gave me the laser and product to use, but are not paying me anything and simply asking me to give feedback on my experience.  I am not personally selling these products, but there is link on the side of my blog that you can use if you are interested in purchasing.

Getting ready for my first treatment.

Before

After week 1

After week 2

After week 3

 

I would like to point out that I am not good at taking selfies and that to me these pictures really don't show the results the way I am seeing them.

Spring Weather And Footwear

Hopefully for most of us, it is looking like spring weather is here or coming our way!  For many of us this means excited about moving out of boots and working towards sandals.  However, our feet may not exactly look ready for sandals (cracked heels, toe nails not done).  This is where I have a confession: I hate wearing socks!  The only time I wear them is in the winter requires them because of cold temperatures and/or wearing boots.  This means I am always excited about switching into footwear that I don't have to wear socks for.  Until a couple of years ago, this translated to sandals as I never really felt comfortable not wearing socks in regular shoes.  That was until I discovered TOMS.  I received my first pair of TOMS as a Mother's Day gift from my boys.

I would say that this is the pair of shoes that changed my whole outlook.  They felt like they fit like the most comfortable pair of gloves that molded around my feet!  While they can seem pricy, I have found some ways to get deals on them along the way and due to their comfort, totally feel they are worth it.  The other thing about TOMS, is that for every pair you buy, a pair of shoes or boots is given to a child in need.  Today TOMS sent out a coupon code for $10 off of an order of $65 or more: MADMARCH .  If you sign up for their newsletter, they will send you updates and deals from time to time.  I also find that googling for available coupon codes helps too.  Zulily usually has a big TOMS sale twice a year.  I recommend going into a local store that carries them to try them on and figure out your size before ordering.  They do tend to stretch with wearing so it is good to get a snug fit.  Locally we have Hudson's shoes and Zumiez that carry them.  I love these shoes so much, that I barely even wore sandals the first summer I had them.  I now have a few different pairs that I can alternate between depending on what I am wearing.

This is a pair my husband got me for Valentine's a year ago.  Looking at them, I was skeptical about how they would wear and how they would last, but they have proven the test of time.  I have even washed them on cold in the washing machine and let them air dry.

Last fall we took a family trip to Disney World.  These are great to pack because they take up very little space and are very light.  The only concern that I had was how my feet might do with long days of walking.  I wear a pedometer and we were putting in 12-13 hour days of walking 23 000- 25 000  steps and I can tell you that my feet did great and did not get sore.  In fact, at the end of the day, my legs were more sore/tired than my feet!

The other brand of shoe that I want to share with you is Sanuks. My friend told me about them last year as her daughters and her love them.  I just got my first pair a couple of weeks ago and after wearing them a few times, think that I am going to love them just as much as my TOMS.  I tried them on locally to check sizing and then got a really good deal on Amazon.  I have seen that 6pm also has good deals on them from time to time too.

Sassy Water

Have you heard of Sassy Water? I hadn't until about six weeks ago.  We have all been told how it's important to drink lots of water (8-10 glasses a day) for our bodies to function properly.  In the morning I love my coffee and again mid afternoon, but I always try to make sure that I'm drinking enough water as well throughout the day. Some days are easier than others, and with being raised in the country with  well water, I do not like drinking city water.  As you can see above I made my first batch in a large jar.  I was amazed when I tasted it at how refreshing it was and I immediately began drinking a lot more water.  Because of the items in it it may also have other health benefits which I find interesting.

To make a batch of sassy water I use: 1 medium lemon, 1 medium lime, 1 small cucumber peeled, 12 fresh mint leaves, and 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger. I have found that as the batch is getting low I can refill my jar or container and let it sit and use the same batch I've chopped up for about a week until I start fresh. I learned the hard way that it is important to peel the cucumber as I made my second batch without doing this and it had a bitter taste to it. You can see from the picture above that the lemon,lime, and cucumber are thinly sliced.

You can imagine how excited I was when I found the jugs below at Costco two weeks ago with the basket to use to make my sassy water! It came with two jugs with the basket as well as another netting for making tea for $24.99.

I alternate the basket between jugs. Every time I fill one jug up fresh, I let it sit for at least eight hours to let the flavor infuse. It is great because this allows me to have one jug ready and another one sitting infusing for when I'm finished the one that I'm drinking.

Some of the added health benefits that sassy water may have are as follows:

1) Added fiber to your water and diet because of the ingredients.

2) Soothe your stomach and help digestion because of the grated ginger and mint leaves. As well these items may help decrease bloating in your stomach.

3) It may increase your energy levels because you are staying hydrated.

4) It may aid weight-loss as drinking lots of water helps you stay full on less calories.

5) The cucumber and lemon tend to act as natural diuretics.

How To Deal With Those Cracked Heels

How many of us women have dry, cracked heels? Especially as we transition from Winter to Spring and have had our feet covered in socks?  Many are thinking about getting ready to switch to sandals.  Lets face it, we are constantly on the run and often don’t have a lot of time for ourselves. If you are like me, you want to be able to slip on and off shoes as quickly as possible, but it can be daunting when you have to look at those nasty cracked heels. I have to start out by saying that the cure I am going to share with you is not my own. It is one I read on another mom blog a few years back and so I am just passing it along.

The only two things that you will need are Eucerin (or a generic version), and some old socks.  The best time of day to do this, is in the evening or right before bed.  All you have to do is slather the Eucering on thickly all over your feet and put your old socks on over top.  The socks will help it to soak into your feet and save the mess of getting it all over.  Starting out you should do this every night for 1-2 weeks to get on top of things and get those cracks under control.  Don't give up too quickly and stick with it.  You will be amazed at the results and will eventually be able to go to doing this one or two times a week for maintenance.  I find I have to remind myself during the winter when my feet are covered and I am not looking at them so much. 

    

Miss Mom Speak Has Returned!

Miss Mom Speak has returned!  I'm not sure if some of you remember, but a few years ago I wrote a "mom" blog for a local newspaper that was called "Miss Mom Speak".  However a new editor came on board changing the design of the newspaper and must have decided that the blogs did not fit his/her vision.  Without any notification (at least to me), the blogs were taken down.  Everything I ever wrote for them was just simply gone.  At that point I was pretty busy with life and just decided to take a break from blogging.  However, in the last month or so,  I have had something tugging at me to start again. Since I was allowed to choose my name for the blog I wrote for the paper, it has kind of stuck with me and become part of who I am and explains why I have chosen to keep the name for this blog.

I would like for this blog to be a place for women in general.  I think I will be posting about many things that will hopefully help and be enjoyed by many women on a broad spectrum of topics including: mom related, my soapbox, spiritual/faith based, household tips, and beauty/self care as women.  We will see how things evolve and hope you will follow me!  You will also find and be able to follow me on Twitter as @MissMomSpeak .