Trying Out MIRACLE‐GRO® EXPAND ‘N GRO

I am so excited for this spring time because I will be able to have my own flower and vegetable garden. Having our own place made this possible for me. We moved here in our house late summer of last year and I haven't had the chance to plant yet. But this time, I will surely have my own garden. I have been visiting home stores around our area and looking at the garden section. There are so many things that I love for the garden, and one thing I need to learn is what type of planting mix I need to get so I can have plants. Then I heard about Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™.

Upon reading the many good things about Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™, I cannot wait to try it for my future garden. I heard this is a concentrated planting mix that has a lot of benefits to include 3x flowers and vegetables compared to native soil; it can improve the soil for multiple years; a planting mix that will expand when you add water; feed for up to 6 months; and holds 50% more of water because of its natural fibers compared to other potting soil. Even if you only have a little bag of Expand ‘n Gro™ you can have more because it will expand when you add with water. You can still minimize your cost but you will have a great result.

I love the fact that this is very easy to use and even if you plant in-ground or in pots you can have great yields using Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™. I can't wait to start my garden. I am hoping for a nice weather so I can work outside soon. How about you? Have you heard about Miracle-Gro®? Check the video above and see how amazing this planting mix is. I am pretty sure all of the gardeners can now enjoy planting with this planting mix revolution.

Cloth Diaper Diaper Review

One thing I regretted since I have my two girls is not using a cloth diaper from the very start. I contemplated on using it when we first got pregnant, but I was so hesitant due to my schedule. I was working and in school at that time. I thought using a cloth diaper will just make it harder for me to balance my time from always washing and cleaning up. It wasn't just convenient for me at that time. Our second baby was the same. Although I have been staying at home until now but still hesitant of using a cloth diaper. I have a friend at church that uses cloth diapers for all her kids, and she really encouraged me of how money they save for not buying diapers.

Then lately an FB friend introduced Bunnzoo, an online store that sells handmade cloth diapers. I checked it out and I got smitten by the cupcake design cloth diaper. I showed it to our little one and she said she liked it. I ordered one and Michelle of Bunnzoo asked if I would love to do a review. Of course I said yes, and in return she gave me another item to review, the zebra print one.

First I want to say thank you to Bunnzoo for the fast shipping. I received the item within the time frame that they promised. Now my thoughts on the product:

The product, I love and it is very well-made. It is stitched very cleanly and you can tell that it is of good quality and durable. I like the fact that the outside layer is waterproof and the lining is an anti-pill fleece that is easy to care.

For the fitting, this zebra print have front snaps to adjust according to your baby's size. Our little girl is in the medium size so adjusting it is so easy. She is on the skinny side also and once you adjusted the snaps, it will just fit perfectly on her legs. It also comes with 2 liners. You can use one or both if your little one is a heavy wetter. I let our soon-to-be 2-year-old wear it at night time, and uses the 2 liners that comes with it. So far, we did not have any leaks, and our little one is so comfortable using it.

Our little girl sporting her fave diaper from Bunnzoo.

If you are looking for a good quality, made in the US cloth diapers, check out Bunnzoo now. You will not be disappointed. It is affordable, durable, and would surely last for a long time. They have nice prints too for you to choose from. I give this diaper a 4 thumbs up out of 5. I am a happy customer and thinking of getting another one for our baby.

Settlement Payment Options

Do you or anyone you know have some structured settlements or annuity payments to collect? I did not know that you can opt to sell it and just find a great funders or brokers then you will be assured of the money you deserve. I am not sure though how it works, but there are websites where you can get settlements quotes for free.

So if you want to go for this route, check out online for free quote services. I asked my husband how this works and he told me there are people who wanted to get the lump sum of the settlement account instead of getting payments periodically. I think this will work both the recipient to get the money all at once and the funding company to get some percentage off of the money for doing business with them. Hmm...I am thinking, maybe I can use this route if I when the lottery, take the lump sum instead of periodic payments. I wish!

Christmas is Over

Wow, the most awaited time of the year is over and we are only few days before the new year rings in. It is amazing how our family celebration only lasted for a few minutes minutes but it took many hours of preparation. Don't you agree?

This year we really did not cook a lot. I learned from the past that we just wasted food for cooking too much when there are only 5 of us to partake it. I was also able to convince hubby not to over spent this Christmas. He tends to cook up a storm during occasions like this. This time he cooked 2 main dishes, chicken marsala and stuffed cabbage. I did 2 side dishes, rice and roasted mixed veggies. The girls baked the fudge brownie and I baked apple pie for our dessert.

We had a great dinner and celebration, though I still wish we have more families over here to spend time with at this time of the year.

Content Insurance

Back in 2004 I was able to travel to UK and stayed there for almost 7 months in my cousin's house. It was their first house in UK and they were very excited to become a homeowner there. Before I came there, she already told me about the big difference of the lifestyle as well as on how you take care of your stuff. I think wherever you live house insurance is a must if you own a property. But she told me that you can also purchase contents insurance to secure your belongings in case something happened.

I was really ignorant about it back then. When I first learned of it, of course I thought it was neat. Now that I am here in the US, insurance providers also carry those services. Most home insurance also cover contents of your home but there are some restrictions I believe. This is really a great deal since you will have peace of mind knowing that you can still recover something in case of any loses.

Aside from the insurance, we also purchase extended warranties for big appliances we have. Just recently, our microwave handle have some chipped on it. My husband called the company and since it is under warranty, they replaced the handle at no cost. I like how fast the services also. This is why we are happy with our decision about securing not only our house but the contents of it as well.

Our Tree this Christmas

I thought we can get a real tree this Christmas, but we decided to make use of our artificial one instead. So after Thanksgiving we had the tree up and we're working on the decors. I have red and gold for color theme this year for our ornaments as well as other house decorations.

I was at the store to get some Christmas bows but I am aghast at how pricy it can be. One bow will cost you $5. So I went to youtube and watched some instructions on how to make one yourself. I found a good how-to video which is very easy and voila I did my own Christmas bows. I had fun doing it. I utilized my old wired ribbons for my trial ones. It came out good and from now on I will do my own Christmas bows.

This time around I did not buy too many gifts for everybody. I just picked out 2 each for our girls and also for hubby. Our DD1 also picked out something for her teachers at school that she gave to them on their last day before their Christmas break. In all, I think for next years to come I will do a 2-color theme for decorations. It looks neat. I can recycle one color a year and pair it with another one for next year. We'll see if I can keep it as our family tradition as well.

Last Week of Christmas Shopping

One week more and it's already Christmas day. If you are not yet done with your Christmas shopping, then this is the last week to do so. For those who are buying electronics or any gadgets for make sure to check out coupon codes so you can save money. I know most stores are having their Christmas sale. With their sale going on and the coupon codes that you get through the site like geek alerts.com, I am pretty sure you can score a great deal.

A friend of mine was thinking of getting another laptop and I told her about MacBook Air sale that she can snag. If only I have enough savings for another laptop, I will get one for myself as well. I will just hope by the time I am ready to buy one, I can still get a coupon code for it at geek alerts.

Geek alerts also have another great savings for electronics at best buy. Get the best buy coupon code and see what great deal you can snag from them. Every little penny counts this time. Be a smart shopper.

Watching Television

How many hours of television time you should let your toddlers watch in a day? I have read in some books that you should not let them watch telly over 2 hours in a day. I am so guilty of this because I let my kids watch their show on PBS or Nick channel more than 2 hours a day. I just don't have other means of bribing them to stay away from me to do my school work.

I let them watch television once they get bored playing or doing art work in their toy room. My consolation is that they are watching educational shows anyways. I know, it's my bad but I got to give them something to occupy them. Most of the time, even if they are watching telly, they are still bothering me. If this happens, I can no longer be in front of the computer, I need to be with them because the concentration blows out of the window already.

This is why you can wish you have someone to watch your kids even if you are at home. We don't have the luxury of that here, so I need to deal with it and improvise. I know in the end I can see the fruit of my sacrifices.

Travel Website

Do you use the services of a personal travel agent to arrange your travel or you go online to check great Travel deals and compare prices and book? With us, we always do our research both online and with travel companies in our area. That way, we can compare and get the best deal. There are lots of well-known and reputable travel sites online but I also heard there are bad ones.

Travel deal is what we always want when we go for vacation. One travel company that I know that have re-launched their site is the travel co uk. They are now on the roll again and if you check out their site they have deals for all your traveling and vacation needs all over the world. If you decide to go on a cruise, a luxury beach vacation, see the mountains and do skiing or snowboarding, or even see the tallest building in the world, they can arrange it for you at a reasonable price.

One thing that I like most when I search or navigate a webpage is the how easy and clear all their options are as well as how they lay out their different type of services. This travel site I mentioned, in fairness, is so easy to navigate too. They have wide selection of holiday deals as well. So if you are planning of holiday, check them now and see if there is a much of what you need from their selections.

Weekly Recap

First week of December is over. I like Friday because weekend will be spent with family with Daddy not working and DD1 not in school. This coming week will be the last week of our DD1 in school then off for their Christmas vacation.

My daily routine is really like most of the stay at home Moms; taking care of the kids, the house chores, cook, errands, etc. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings will be a lot more busy since I have to drop and pick our DD1 to and from school. In addition, I have my school stuff too that I needed to do.

This morning I was able to get the presents I was planning of getting for hubby. I already wrapped it and now under our Christmas tree. For the little ones, I will wrap it later when they are both asleep. Hubby came home before 5pm and we had dinner early. I am just glad that hubby always helped in taking care of the dishes and clean up the kitchen after dinner time. Now I am doing my weekly laundry to get it out of the way.

While waiting for the laundry, I will be doing some online tasks and bloghopping as well as work on my school stuff. I need to finish one more PD so I can submit my AMT Orthopedic Dictations and work on my 2nd test. Good luck to me!

Car Shipping

I remember back in 2007 when we move here in Washington from Georgia, we had a hard time looking for a reasonable and reputable car shipping companies. We have two vehicles and the Army do not shoulder the cost of the vehicle shipment if within the US mainland only. You have to drive it and you are given per diem and allowances for it. So, we drove the truck and shipped my car. It took couple of weeks before the car gets here in Washington state.

My husband found the Car Shipping company online when we searched for it that time. We compared rates for shipping and check out the reputation of the company that we used to ship our vehicle. Good thing we found a really good one at a reasonable price as well.

As a word of advice to those who are planning or looking for Car Shipping company to ship your vehicle here in the US due to military move or address move, make sure to get a company that is licensed, bonded, has a good reputation, dependable, and safe to entrust our price possession. There are companies that are scams and only wanted the money and deliver a very lousy service. Verify the information of the company and make sure they are legitimate and trustworthy to do business with.

Christmas Plans

Wow, the time roll by so quick. I have so many plans for the month, but I haven't been able to do one and we are already on the second week of the month. If we don't act fast and do what we needed to do, this month will already be over.

One of the things that I really need to do this month is to submit 2 tests for my online classes. I did 1 test already but not yet submitted. There are interruptions too. On Saturday there will be the Fil-Am Christmas party. On the 16th, Friday, will be our daughter's school Christmas party, and there will be cookie exchange. Now I need to find a good cookie recipe to bring to school. Then on the 16th some of my friends are planning another Christmas party, where we will have exchange of gifts. I hope with the intermissions along the way, I will still be motivated to do school work first.

I know this time of the year we have so many activities. This also make our day go by faster. It's like you wanted to do all the plans but your time is not enough. The most important thing though is we need how to prioritize. Do what is the most important thing first. Once the important tasks are out of the way, then the rest will be easy peasy to do.

Ecological Imbalance

The news about our ecology is no longer balance is really alarming. There are too many pollutants that affects our land, water, air, reserve areas, endangered species, and even affecting us, humans. The problem of global warming as a result of these environmental and ecological problems made us experience different weather catastrophes. As responsible inhabitants of the earth, we should remember to do our part to take care of our environment.

All over the world, many private and government organizations are trying to come up with solutions and bring awareness to people about the impact of not taking care of the environment. In UK, one ecological consultancy company that specializes in giving ecological advice to those who need it is the Total Ecology consultancy. If you are in UK and in need of such services to assess any risk for your lands, habitat surveys, protected species surveys, environmental stewardship, and the like, they can do it for you.

This type of services can really help to assess what are the steps needed in order to safeguard the ecological balance and not compromising the environment. This company live up to their promise of an excellent ecological consultancy firm. I know clients who are in the business of planning and development should also seek a reputable consultancy firm to get advice especially in combining development and environment.

We cannot just think of development but compromising the environment. This is why a lot of products that people uses will go through scrutiny to make sure that it will not harm the environment. In as much as we want to have a green environment, it cannot be denied that environmental problem of the world is huge. I just hope that come the next generation, they will still have a great place to live in.

Color Purple

Our DD1 loves the color purple. When we moved here in our house, she already told us she wanted to paint her room purple and pink. So, she is really the girly-girly type. Every time we visit home stores and check out the paint department, she will get color sample of the purple and pink combination. We decided that we will paint her bedroom purple and pink.

As their Mom, I also noticed through the years as being the Mom that, I too, love purple :-) I think she got it from me then. I don't know but I am attracted to it, especially if I am buying clothes for my little girls. The picture above is one of the evidences that we love the color dearly.

With my daughter's love for the color purple, even doing her art work at school she always use the purple crayon or paint. When they were asked to color the pumpkin, she color it purple instead of orange. I asked her why, she answered, "Because I like purple, Mommy"!

Visiting the Land Down Under

My sister and her husband is now currently in Australia. They are going home though this month to the Philippines since my brother-in-law will be done with his schooling. I have cousins who are also living in Australia, and I wish that we can visit them there one of this days. My husband told me we will definitely visit there when we have the time as well as enough money for that trip.

My cousin told me that living in Australia is really great. They came from United Kingdom and just moved there couple of years ago. They like the place so much, the weather, and they can do a lot of things especially visiting beautiful places.

They recently purchased a house and their vehicles. Of course they also had the insurance for it. But I will still ask her if they were able to get a good premium for their insurance. If ever they wanted to get another insurance, she can get insurance quote and see which insurance companies can give them the best value for their money.

I have read that a large insurance company in Austarlia like the CGU Insurance can give the residents all the insurance they need. One can also get insurance quote from their site and see how much premium one will pay for a certain amount of insurance or for anything that one wanted to insure for. For our family here in the US, we have one insurance provider for all our insurance need. We wanted it that way so we can track our expenses in just one company, and it is very important that you trust your insurance company as well.

I learned more that CGU Insurance is trusted in Australia, having millions of policy holders in there care. They have all types of insurance from personal, business, and corporate. If you live in Australia and in need of trusted insurance provider, you can check out CGU Insurance company.

Anyways, I hope one day our plan of visiting the land down under will pushed through. I heard so many things about the place and I want to experience is grandeur as well.

Affordable Eyeglasses

I was in my kid's school this morning earlier than my usual time to pick her up. I went to the pharmacy after I dropped her off and instead of going home I went to her school straight. There were other Moms already their waiting at the nursery along with siblings of my daughter's classmates. One of the Moms mentioned about her expensive bill from her eye doctor. She had her eyes checked recently and was prescribed for a new eyeglasses.

While on our discussion, I had mentioned to them if they checked online for affordable prescription eyeglasses. I know that there are lots to choose from if you are just diligent enough to research. One good example of this is Zenni Optical. With my research online since before, the brand ZENNI really stood out for their quality, high fashion, and affordable eyeglasses. It will not cost you an arm and a leg to get one. I mentioned this to her and she told me she will check it out.

I learned through my research for affordable eyeglasses also that the affordability of Zenni's eyeglasses is because they manufacture their own products. They do not compromise quality even if their prices are low compared to other providers. Aside from manufacturing their own products, they also have marketing strategy to bring out their product directly to the consumers. They also make sure that their products are of great quality and last long as it is a health necessity aside from just a fashion statement.

I know I will also be needing a reading or prescription glasses soon and I know where to get mine. I already checked their site and found lots to choose from. I am glad this provider of eyeglasses is just a click away, you can get one at the comfort of your house.

Our Growing Girls

Our DD1 had a school photo session earlier last month. I was told that we can have our DD2 join the photo shoot also with her sister or by herself, so I let her wear her nice dress, courtesy of Tita Coleen, and brought her with me to her sister's school. They both look nice in their dresses. The photo shoot went well. It took a little longer because DD2 won't look at the photographer. She is distracted by people and things around her.

When we got home I tried to take pictures but I have to bribe her with a lollipop to pose for me. Looking at them together just melt my heart. They grow up fast and such sweet and adorable little girls. I can't thank God enough for the two of them in our lives. I can't imagine living without them. They are my priceless treasures!

Focusing on the desserts for this year's Thanksgiving

Guest post written by Rebekah Winters

Even though I'm hosting this year's family Thanksgiving, I'm not entirely trusted with the food preparation. I guess that you burn a dish one year and you're never trusted again. But I don't mind. I'm already having to go to the trouble of doing all the cleaning anyway. The food that I'm left to handle is the desserts, which is actually my strong point when it comes to cooking and baking.

I've been researching some really good recipes online to fix for the dessert table and while I was online doing that not too long ago, I ran across some info on internet providers by zip code. I showed it to my husband and we agreed that we should switch over our home internet service to one of the providers for our area listed on there.

I know that I'm definitely going to fix some apple pie and chocolate cake. Now I just have to come up with some other dessert to fix that seems appropriate for the season and the holiday. It might just end up being pumpkin pie, after all.

Holiday Saving

This time of the year is somewhat the most expensive. Starting with celebrating Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas. If you are not careful and watch what you are spending, you will find yourself in the pit of financial burden. This is why I learned to shop wisely. After Thanksgiving all stores will participate in Black Friday where you can score good deals on almost everything you need. I surf the internet and check websites that offers coupon codes or deal alerts. I love the Cool Gadget News and Discount Coupons at geek alerts for cool gadgets. You can find lots of great deals and coupons through this site for any electronics you want.

Geek alerts also offers 1800Flowers promo codes if you want to send special flower arrangements and holiday baskets to your loved ones. If you like free flowers and free shipping you can also check out this great offer of FTD coupons, still at geek alerts.

Using coupons and coupon codes can really help to lower the cost of what you need for this holiday. I love coupons and bargain shopping. I am thankful that you can find websites like geek alerts that can help shopper like me to score great deals when shopping. They offer promotions and deals for almost all stores. This promotions and coupons are really big help for my family especially in this time of financial hardship. So check out the links above and score great deals too while you shop on Black Friday.

Thanksgiving Celebration

Thanksgiving is here again. Of course it is time to celebrate and be thankful for all the blessings that we all received through the years. It is not only this particular day that we give thanks but every day in our lives.

I am so thankful for everything that I have right now; my family, friends, and relatives. I am thankful that God continues to bless us with good health and sound mind to do our daily tasks and decide rationally. I thank God for the ups and downs that He let us experience in order for us to be strong and courageous to tackle the odds of life.

This thanksgiving we will celebrate it here in our house. This will be the first time that we are going to celebrate in our home. This is one of the things that we are most grateful for this year. And I am hoping to celebrate more years of Thanksgiving here with my family.