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To Do List This Week
I am feeling pretty overwhelmed right now. I have so much going on that I feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. I have started working every other weekend at the request of the owner of the company that I work for. That means one week I will be working 6 days and the next I should be working 4 with a 3 day weekend. Well right now because of the trip I am planning to Michigan next month I have to work the next 3 weekends in a row so that I can have the time off in July. I am not going to lie I am not looking forward to it. So while I am working more hours the next 3 weeks, I still have to find time to get everything done in my life that needs done. Nope not enough time in the day.
I am going to have to make a list of priorities and hopefully I can get to many of them and still find time to rest. My boss is thinking of changing the office hours a little with summer upon us and starting the technicians out a little earlier in the morning and getting them in earlier in the afternoon before the worst heat of the day sets in. I am all for it. Starting an hour earlier at 7 a.m. means I will get out at 3 p.m. I could go to the gym in the afternoon now and start building up my stamina for a Walt Disney World that we are planning for next May. We’ll see. I could use the additional hour a day every afternoon outside of work so I am really hoping that they decide to do it.
This week I really have to get to the following things:
Give both dogs a bath
Make liquid hand soap (I need to make 4 bottles)
Menu plan meals for the week
Chop several of the heads of romaine lettuce that I got in our produce share this weekend
Make several salads for the week for my lunches (using the cleaned romaine)
Cut up the last canteloupe from our produce share
Make chunky cinnamon applesauce (I have alot of apples from my produce co op from the past couple of weeks)
Boil a dozen eggs
Make meatballs and stick in the freezer for later in the week
Pick up milk and dog food later in the week (my Smiths grocery store was out of fat free milk yesterday when I was there)
Make a large pitcher of sun tea
Make a large pitcher of water and slice lemon and cucumber to put into it and store it in the refrigerator
Research freezer meals (prep for whe I got to Michigan I have to make a bunch of meals for my mom’s freezer)
Research containers on amazon that can be used in the freezer and also in the microwave for my Mom
Decide on exact dates for my trip to Michigan
Research plane tickets
Research rental car prices
Figure out which airport I will fly into
Research diets and dietary restrictions for my Mother’s health problems so I can make sure she has healthy meals that are appropriate for her health needs.
Call my brother after he takes my Mom to her heart doctor appt this week then call my other brother and his wife for translation (she is a nurse)
Find time to do some reading (for relaxation)
Catch up on the laundry (towels and blankets, etc)
Start writing down recipes for Michigan
Address Katie’s announcements and get them into the mail
Make several blog posts
Get the oil changed in my car
Place my order for our share of produce on Monday
Start figuring out what home items my Mother still needs so I can get them on order from Amazon and have them start being delivered before I get there.
Figure out why I haven’t received our health insurance bill yet for this quarter
That probably is enough for this week. Hopefully I can cross off a bulk of the items before next Sunday. I hope if you are reading this and have any tips for me, please share them. I would welcome any tips or advice.
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My Magazine Sharing Network: Simple Truth® Mega Mission Level 2
This Simple Truth box is another sample box I have received recently from My Magazine Sharing Network. These items were sent to me free of charge in exchange for me trying the items and leaving an honest review of the products in the box. This program is through my local Kroger affiliate store. This program is amazing. I receive many full sized and sample sized items as well as money off coupons for the products in the box in case I love them enough to want to continue to purchase them.
The first item in the box is a Simple Truth paper towel roll. I was pretty impressed with this paper towel. I have always found that environmentally friendly paper products are generally thin and really can’t hold up compared to a few of the name brand products like Bounty, Brawny or Viva. I hate when I use a paper towel to wipe up a spill or clean up spray cleaner from my counter tops and my hand goes right through the towel. This product was fairly good in this respect. I did find that the sheets are a little smaller than other towels, which really isn’t a game changer.
What I found a bit irritating was that the perforation isn’t great. I have to hold the roll with one hand and then tear with the other otherwise the towel rips into pieces and doesn’t follow the perforation. Again, it isn’t a big deal but you can’t put the roll on your paper towel holder and tear it one handed with good results.
The second full sized item was a dispenser of Simple Truth all purpose cleaning wipes. The wipes in my opinion are just like any other all purpose cleaning wipes on the market only these ones are made with safer ingredients. The scent is a little strong, but I always think that all cleaning wipes have a strong scent. All in all these wipes were great. They are a safer alternative to conventional wipes and I will purchase them in the future.
Along with the paper towel and the cleaning wipes the box included a package of money saving coupons for Simple Truth cleaning items. I will be redeeming the coupons and trying several other items. I have found that the Simple Truth brand has amazing quality and I haven’t been dissappointed in any of the items that I have purchased whether it is food or household items.
* This post does not contain affiliate links.
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My Magazine Sharing Network Is On Fire
Seriously, if you are not a member of My Magazine Sharing Network and you have a Kroger affiliate store in your area you really need to join this site! I am not kidding.
I made a post here, that explains a little about the program. Basically the Kroger grocery store chain has a program where they are looking for honest feedback on items that they sell or are considering selling in their stores. Once you sign up you will receive notifications of new missions that you may or may not want to participate in. You just log into your dashboard and accept what ones you are interested in. The number of missions you are sent depends on how active you are. The more you participate the more you can qualify for.
I am not kidding when I say they are on fire. In the past 2 weeks I have received numerous boxes from them of things to try like this:
Yesterday I received 4 coupons for Hormel Natural Choice Bacon. 1 coupon is for a free package the other 3 coupons are for $1.00 off a package. Free bacon, who wouldn’t want free bacon (well maybe a vegetarian, which I family is not).
All I have to do now is head to my local Smith’s grocery store, redeem the coupon for the free Hormel Natural Choice bacon, cook it and serve it to my family (or friends) and then log into my dashboard at My Magazine Sharing Network and complete the tasks they request. The tasks are super easy and quick. Things like share a picture on instagram, make a post on facebook, post my opinion of the product in their group discussion post, etc. They are looking for honest answers and even if you didn’t love the product they really want to hear it, they want to know why you didn’t enjoy it, if you did like it be specific and tell them why. That is it. Simple as can be.
The stores in the Kroger chain that look like they participate are Kroger, Ralph’s, Dillions, Bakers, Fry’s, Smith’s, King Scoopers, Fred Meyer, City Market, QVC and Gerbes. If you have any of these stores in your area you need to check out My Magazine Sharing Network.
I will be making several posts to show you more of the items that I have received to try. Watch for them. I have received some great products.
*This post does not contain affiliate links
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No Bountiful Baskets This Week
This week we did not purchase out share of Bountiful Baskets. My daughter graduated from college today so we knew ahead of time that this week we wouldn’t participate. That means that we had to purchase our produce at the grocery store. After the graduation ceremony and our lunch out I decided to go to my local Smith’s grocery store. With tomorrow being Mother’s Day, I decided to have a nice relaxing day at home tomorrow and not have to worry about grocery shopping.
I did still have some produce left over from last week, but not much. I have alot of corn on the cob, green onions, broccoli & canteloupe. So I needed quite a bit to get us through the week until I pick up our produce share next Saturday from Bountiful Baskets. This is also a great opportunity for me to share the value of Boutiful Baskets compared to a regular grocery store. I know that every grocery store’s pricing will not be the same as mine, but Smith’s is one of my normal grocery stores, so it is a great guide for me.
This week I picked up: 2 personal watermelon’s, 8 apples, 5 oranges, a 3 lb bag of halo’s, bananas, 2 lbs of strawberries, 4 potatoes, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, 1 english cucumber, 1 head of cauliflower, green beans, mini sweet peppers, 1 lb bag of organic carrots, 1 bag of baby carrots, & a large container of sliced mushrooms (normally I would buy whole mushrooms but these were on sale for 99 cents for a large container, coudn’t pass them up).
Today’s grand total was $39.90! That is absolutely crazy! My produce share from Bountiful Baskets is $18.00. This is confirmation that Bountiful Baskets is an amazing deal for your money. I can’t wait for next Saturday. I love being surprised by what my baskets will contain. I love getting fresh produce for an amazing price. It makes feeding my family healthy food a wonderfully affordable alternative.
Check them out at here. -
Who Wouldn’t Love Free Items
Does your local grocery store have a program for their customers that allows you to try products and then provide honest feedback on them? Programs like these are free to members. I am a member of My Magazine Sharing Network, which is a program sponsored by the Kroger corporation, where I have the opportunity to receive free full size items to try and leave feedback for the items. I can also participate in discussions with other shoppers about the products I have tried or other general topics that Kroger is interested in finding out opinions on. I am even sometimes given product coupons that I can share with my friends so that I am not the only one who benefits from a great program. You can also be featured in their My Magazine (their store magazine).
This program isn’t difficult. First you need your Kroger store rewards number or alternate I.D. then you sign up and fill out your personal profile as completely as possible. Complete your Introduction Mission, and complete any survey on your dashboard. They use your profile & answers to your survey’s to start assigning missions to you.
It is recommended that you connect your social media accounts to your profile at My Magazine Sharing Network. You earn points for sharing pictures and reviews and posts about the items that you will be receiving. The more points you earn, the more opportunities you can receive for furture product trials.
In the past I have reviewed things like herb and spice rubs, potato chips, snack crackers, received coupons to try their private selection line items and received reusable shopping bags.
reusable shopping bag Today I received my Simple Truth Mega Mission Level 1 box and it was loaded with great items for me to try and also share with friends. I received:
One Simple Truth reusable shopping bag.
Simple Truth Reusable shopping bag One box of Simple Truth Organic Strawbery Fruit & Grain Bars (6 count).
Simple Truth Organic Strawberry Fruit & Grain Bars One Simple truth Organic Moisturizing Lip Balm Srawberry Lavender variety.
Simple truth Organic Moisturizing Lip Balm Srawberry Lavender One Simple Truth Organic Roasted Almonds single serving size
Simple Truth Organic Roasted Almonds One Simple Truth Organic Coupon Booklet filled with a variety of coupons for Simple Truth Organic products
Now that I have my box of goodies. Next thing to do is to try the items included in the box and take my coupons to my local Smiths grocery store and redeem them for more items to try.As I try the items I will take pictures of the items and write up a review of each item. The reviews really need to be honest. I don’t have to love each item, I just need to try it and write what I thought. I have tried items through this program that I really loved and other items that I know I would never purchase because I really didn’t like the item at all. They love to know why you loved it or why you didn’t like it. All honest opinions help them to develope new items or additional flavor varieties.
Once I have my pictures and reviews then I go the the My Magazine Sharing Network website and start clicking through each item on my mission like post a picture & post to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, blog post, and join in the discussion on the website. I will earn points for each item I participate in and in turn the more points I earn the more my chances increase for more mission opportunities.
As for this Simple Truth mission. I have tried my Simple Truth Organic Moisturizing Lip Balm already and it smells amazing. The balm feels like it is softening my lips without feeling waxy. This is a product I would definitely purchase outside of this mission. I use alot of lip balm and this one seems to be a great product.My Simple Truth reusable shopping bag will go with me every Saturday morning for my produce co op pick up. I have to bag my own produce at the co op and I can always use a nice bag for that. I am also hoping that people will see the Simple Truth logo on the bag and in turn start purchasing the organic foods from Smiths. The more people that purchase the more in demand the items will be and hopefully Kroger will continue to develope more organic items. I am a huge fan of the Simple Truth line and have been for years. Kroger’s quality is great and they are trying to make organic foods affordable for the normal every day shopper.
*This post does not contain any affiliate links.