Finding Nemo Released in 3D this Fall

Just in time for Father's Day I learned one of my cartoon favorite movies is being released in 3D this Fall. Finding Nemo is such a sweet movie, starts out making me cry but good movies are a roller coaster like that. Its great to see a single Dad (fish) raise his little son to be a confidant and happy little guy. Finding Nemo in 3D I am sure will be a thrill. There are shark scenes that I know will be much more intense. The colors in this film are amazing.

Look for Finding Nemo in 3D this Fall in theaters and re-watch the original Nemo adventures with your little one this Father's Day.

Saving Energy and Money By Switching To GE Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

I am thrilled that so many people today are embracing the idea of living a life that is more "green".
I think we all want to do our share to help sustain our beautiful earth to ensure it's health for future generations.

One important way is to better manage our resources, including energy. Saving energy is great for our planet, and we can also find ways to save ourselves money at the same time.

I have been very concerned about the rising costs of my electricity bills in the last few years. They get higher every year, and I finally felt it was time to do something about it. How could I use less energy and save money at the same time? I found out that switching my old light bulbs to GE Energy Efficient bulbs would make an impact on my electric bill, and that I could start saving money right away!

So I went to Walmart to buy my new GE light bulbs. GE Energy Smart Bright From the Start bulbs are not like the old fluorescent lighting. New GE Hybrid Technology allows these bulbs to achieve full brightness and light the instant you turn them on. They use 75% less energy than regular bulbs and are guaranteed to last 5 years. That impressed me. And how many times have you had to pull out a ladder or chair to change a bulb on the ceiling? You certainly will be changing your bulbs far less frequently with these!

When I first walked into the lighting aisle at Walmart, I was a little overwhelmed by all the light bulb choices. I was used to buying the plain old incandescent bulb, and usually the ones that were on sale. But they burned out quickly and certainly didn't save any energy or money.

It took a few minutes to figure out all the GE Lighting bulbs and what I needed. I was so impressed that GE offers CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs) in so many different shapes and sizes, and that there is one for almost every fixture in your home.

Every bulb tells you specifically where to use it. This was so helpful in deciding which bulbs to buy. GE Lighting also tells you the wattage brightness, and the actual amount of wattage energy that will be used to give you the same amount of light. Using less energy is allowing us to keep more money in our pockets. Each package also tells you the amount of money you will save by using that bulb.

These are all the CFL light bulbs that I bought and I'm excited to go home and start replacing the old ones with these.

There are also lots of other ways to save energy and money. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Obviously, turn off the lights when you leave the room. But also only turn on the lights you really need. There are sometimes lots of lights turned on in the room where I am reading or watching TV that aren't even needed.

2. Only run your dishwasher when it's fully loaded. All that hot water takes a lot of energy to heat.

3.Use cold water to wash your clothes. Again, try to only do full loads to save energy and water.

4. Unplug all unused appliances and electronics. They are a huge energy drain. Even your plugged in battery charger for your cell phone is costing you money.

5. In the summertime, if you can, open all your windows early in the morning to let in all that cool air. This will make your house less hot and then you won't have to use the air-conditioner as much.

GE is making it easy to save money on light bulbs and even added a little humor. Watch the GE Lighting Video below for a fun way to think about saving money.

By replacing the General purpose lights in my home like overhead lighting, lamps and recessed lighting bulbs the GE Energy Smart Saving Calculator estimates I can save around $150 a year! I am sure even more as I find more lights in the home to switch to GE. The Savings Calculator is easy to use, give it a try and see how much you can save.

Here are the new Energy Smart Bright From the Start light bulbs that I am going to put up in that light fixture.  These bulbs are labeled for "General Purpose", meaning that you can use them anywhere that you would have used the old incandescent light bulbs. They don't look too much different from the incandescent and I know they will be saving so much energy. It feels so good to be more frugal about my electric bill. Maybe I'll spend the savings I will have on buying my grandsons something special. Great idea! #GELighting

I have put the bulbs in and now I just need to put the glass cover back on. Happily, I won't have to change these for 5 whole years!

One of the lamps with the new bulb put in. It doesn't look any different to me, but I know the money and energy I am saving with the new GE light bulbs is significant. I am so happy I have done this and look forward to seeing my electric bill be less.


You can read my Google+ Story about my shopping trip to Walmart in an effort to be more frugal with my energy bill by purchasing GE Lighting products.

GE and Walmart have teamed together to offer a $2 off coupon for when you buy your GE Lighting products. Click on the coupon below to save.




I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and GE. #CBias #SocialFabric #GELighting http://www.collectivebias.com/

Mornings are Naturally Sweeter with Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss

After shopping at Walmart for the new Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss coffee creamer I was eager to rush home and try it. I also bought the coffee and sugar I use with my coffee. My new green mug I was excited about too. I like to buy coffee mugs. I find it fun!

As soon as my son saw the natural Kashi cookies I purchased at Wamart he grabbed one. He loves cookies so I have been trying to give him healthier cookies. Its a simple switch just like the Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss creamer. You get the same great taste its just a healthier choice.

My first trip to Walmart I purchased the Sweet Cream and Vanilla flavors. The Caramel one was all out of stock. I went back a few days later and found the Caramel one. I enjoyed a cup of coffee with the Natural Bliss Caramel on Mother's Day and it was creamy and sweet. So good!

When I had all three flavors purchased I decided to have an official test taste. I wanted to compare all the flavors to decide which one was my favorite. I made 3 cups of coffee and added the creamer. I noticed I did not have to use as much sugar to make it sweet like when I use the other creamer I have been buying. If you would like to try Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss you can get a $1 off two Coupon to redeem at your local Walmart.

I used less sugar than I normally do.

Vanilla was even good in a smoothie I made earlier in the week. Gave the tart fruit I had in the smoothie a nice sweetness.

Vanilla was great! It gave my coffee the flavor I have been missing with my other brand of creamer.

This was my FAVORITE! Wow good!

I have been using a Natural Coffee Creamer for over 5 years now and have missed having a flavor to my coffee. I love the flavor of great coffee beans but some days really want a sweet cup of coffee. Sugar cannot give a flavor just sweetness. Finally my quest for a Natural Coffee Cream with flavor is over! I can now enjoy a Coffee Creamer that has one 4 natural ingredients, milk, cream, sugar and natural flavors. #NaturalBlissWM

I was previously using Horizon Organic. It can be harder to find in stores. I have had to drive to a neighboring city to get it for my coffee. Just to have something natural but still no flavor. I had my husband try the Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss and he admitted it was nice to have some flavor to his coffee too. Hes a tough one to try to change his routine and him saying it was a nice change was great! I will totally be buying these creamers again. The vanilla and caramel both are ones I would love to go back and forth on. Oh the joy of having flavorful coffee again is well, BLISS! :)



You can read my Google+ Story about my shopping trip to Walmart to buy Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss and discover with me the other Natural items at Walmart.

*This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.
All opinions expressed in this shop are my own and your experience may vary. #Cbias #SocialFabric #NaturalBlissWM

Is My Apple Juice Safe?

 I enjoy drink juice. I find it refreshing and often a quick way to get some fruits and veggies. I have seen these signs all over the juice aisle and now wonder is it the brand over the sign or all the juices on this shelf. There is a store brand and a Natural brand on this shelf and I am not sure which one to buy. Lead in the juice and it can cause birth defects and reproductive harm. Seriously, and its still on the shelf? Its baffling to me that knowing it has lead they still sell it, just put up a little sign so they cant say we did not warn you. Its juice, kids are a main consumer of juice. Its also right next to a sticker that represents the CA nutrition program for kids and pregnant women. So do they endorse this juice? It does NOT seem like a good thing for kids and pregnant women to drink if there is lead in it. I LOVE apple juice and grape juice I now need to find out which ones dont contain lead. I am sure there has to be some, right???

Do you have these warning labels on the juice aisle in your state?

Life's A Beach

Here in Washington State people always think it's raining. We deserve the reputation of being a wet and soggy place to live because it does rain a lot of the time.

But when the sun comes out, there is no more prettier place for me. The water, the mountains, and the sky all add up to the word Gorgeous. We aren't called the Emerald City for nothing.

This is a photo from last weekend and we have been blessed with beautiful weather all week. That is a Washington State Ferry in the background. But the forecast calls for rain next week, so I'm hoping to go out today and soak up a little of this beautiful sunshine while it lasts.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Bass Pro Shops Go Outdoors Event and Online Sweepstakes

While reading Field and Stream magazine I saw an ad for Bass Pro Shops Go Outdoors events. I thought that would be super fun to attend and expose my little guy to the endless world of fishing gear. Then I realized I have not seen a Bass Pro Shop anywhere near here. I looked online to see a store near me and its very far way. I was super disappointed we could not attend the events. I also saw there is no Bass Pro Shop in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Utah and more states where people love to fish. I will look into it further as to why there is not one but until now we can Enter their Online Sweepstakes to win a trip to Maui.

If you live on the East Coast there will be a FREE Summer Kick Off Bass Pro Shop Go Outdoors Event on May 26th and May 27th. There will a Family Backyard Adventure Challenge to compete in, a photo contest along with FREE crafts and more. It sounds super fun!

For now I will have to shop at retail stores for my fishing gear for the summer but hopefully in a few years we can go to a Bass Pro Shop. After all I do live in Northern CA that has the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other side, there is tons of water ways to go fishing in!

Here is a link to the Bass Pro Shop Event and the Win an Outdoor Adventure Trip in Maui. NOTE: The giveaway to Maui does not start until May 22nd.

If your like me and there is no store near you there is a online promo code to get Free Shipping for Footwear or Clothing FSCLSH12. Great time to start thinking about Father's Day Gifts.

Monkey Love & Kohl's Cares

He has taken this monkey everywhere this week! Showed it off in line at the Redbox too lol

 Earlier in the week we went to Kohl's to shop for sunglasses. I could not find any I liked for my Mother's Day gift so I thought I would take a peek at the after Mother's Day sales. I found a super cute pair for $11! I had a $10 gift card so I only paid less than $2 after taxes.

While we were in line my son spotted a monkey stuffed animal on the Kohl's Cares $5 items display. He grabbed one and said "awwww monkey" and gave him a kiss. Oh it melted my heart! He has been talking about Monkeys since I bought him a pair of Curious George flip flops (only $1 for those!) His first and most adored pillow pet is a monkey and when he was a few months old I bought him a Monkey Halloween costume just to see how cute he would look in it. So we have a bit of Monkey Love around here. My older brother had tons of stuffed animal monkeys when he was a kid. I can remember two of them very clearly. One looked creepy real lol and the other was a baby one that could take a binkie. It must be a family trait to adore stuffed monkeys!

Normally I try not to buy something my son grabs off a shelf, if I did that we would own the whole store lol. But the sweetness in his eyes and the tender way he patted the monkey on the head and hugged him made me think this is the monkey he needs! We have been having house repairs done and its been hectic, he is not on his normal routine and he has been cranky. Knowing that the $5 we are going to pay for the stuffed animals goes to the Kohls Cares program to help kids in need made me feel awesome to buy it not only for my son but to help another child in the world.

When we left the store my son was smiling sooooo big! It was so beyond worth $5 to see that kind of a smile after the frustration he has been having this week with the construction at home.

Two little monkeys sitting on the couch.......

Easing My Back Pain With Help From Tempurpedic

A few years ago I found myself suffering from terrible lower-back pain. The pain came on suddenly and I couldn't find a way to lessen it.

Thank goodness I finally found some relief in easing my back pain with the help of a Tempurpedic pillow.
Millions of people a year suffer from intense, often debilitating back pain. To say that it changes your whole life is not an exaggeration. My daily routine of being a wife and mother was interrupted by constant pain.

Getting in my car to drive, bending over to pick something up, or just sitting on the couch became a constant, painful struggle. I had heard about how agonizing back pain could be, but it is impossible to understand it until it happens to you.

I went to my doctor but he couldn't find any explanation for my pain and recommended pain relieving drugs and heat therapy. I only took over the counter medicine and used a heating pad, which did not help. My pain continued on for about six weeks.

I had been doing yoga and walking around my neighborhood before my back pain started, but that was impossible now. I only moved as little as possible to avoid experiencing pain. Finally one of my daughters told me that she had read that walking was the best cure for the pain. Slowly I started a little walking each day, and began feeling a little better.

I went to a family member's house to visit for a few days and told her about my back pain. She has experienced back pain before too, and gave me her Tempurpedic pillow to sleep on. Sleeping on this pillow for a few nights made all the difference. Each morning I woke up pain free. The pillow conforms to every contour of your head and neck. This allows your neck and shoulder muscles  to completely relax and help relieve the pain.

I had been tensing up these muscles during the day, contributing to the pain, but at night when I slept on the Tempurpedic pillow, they were allowed to relax. Using the pillow, walking, and slowing starting my yoga practice again all contributed to my back pain finally going away.

I haven't had a recurrence of back pain, thankfully. But if I ever do, at the first sign I will go right out and buy myself a Tempurpedic pillow. Or better yet, I think I'll start looking for one now so that I can keep my back feeling good.

*This post brought to you by Healthy Back

Simple Changes to Eat More Naturally: Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss Creamer

 Coffee is my favorite thing to drink. I enjoy it morning, noon and night. I have brand preferences and types of coffee I enjoy at what time of the day. Its my indulgence and it keeps me happy! For many years I have been a label reader. I check ingredients to make sure certain items are not in my food, including HFCS and other artificial flavors or colors. It can be tough at times on a budget and with availability in the stores I shop at. If you take a little extra time to look for Natural and Organic products you will find them almost anywhere. I shop at Walmart a lot. I have found they carry many food products and even household brands that are natural.

For the last 5 years or so my husband and I have been drinking an organic Coffee Creamer for our morning cup of coffee. We both felt that something we drink all the time should be one of the products we make sure contains natural ingredients. We searched for a coffee creamer that contained only natural ingredients and found that they have no real flavor to add to the coffee. I love a sweet cup of coffee and with our regular creamer it made the coffee light but required too much sugar to make it sweet. Plus it did not have the flavors I wanted in my coffee. 

As soon as I heard about the Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss I knew I had to try it. It comes in 3 flavors, Vanilla, Sweet Cream and Caramel. The awesome thing about Natural Bliss is that in contains only 4 ingredients of Milk, Cream, Sugar and Natural Flavors. Nothing artificial, no HFCS, no man made chemicals to sweeten it, just pure simple sweetness. 

If you are looking for a first step or more ways to pick more natural and healthier foods in your diet starting with your morning cup of coffee is a perfect choice. When you start the day more natural it will help you think about other food choice you make. Maybe swap a regular cookie for a all natural brand or a regular potato chip for all natural popcorn brand. Small steps like that can make a difference in the way you think about food. I know we cant all make sure everything we eat is all natural but we can buy certain items like All Natural Coffee Creamer to make simple changes. With Walmart prices on Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss creamer we can afford it too! #NaturalBlissWM

You can find Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss near the other coffee creamers.

I found 2 of the 3 flavors. I will keep my eye out for the Caramel one.

Right now is a great time to try Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss since you can get a $1 off two Coupon to redeem at your local Walmart.

My son being silly in the Dairy section of Walmart. .

*This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.
All opinions expressed in this shop are my own and your experience may vary. #Cbias  #NaturalBlissWM

New Cookbooks I Want to Cook From

 I won a these 3 Cookbooks from Sasquatch books on Facebook. I was so excited to win since I want to try to make at least one new dish a week. I want to find some new go to recipes that I can add to my food rotation. We seem to be in a rut and I want new. They are great books, exactly what  I was looking for. One is about fish, which I love, the other is a Farm to Table cookbook, I love farming and support buying local grown produce and the last Rabbit Food looks like a good one too. I cannot wait until our kitchen is done being remodeled and I can get to cooking!

I told myself that I would cook the first page I turned to in one of the books. I grabbed the Rabbit Food one since my son has been talking about Bunnies all day from a book we read. The first thing I turned to was Potato Leek Soup. It sounds delicious. I have not made a soup from scratch and I look forward to it. I will post an update on how it goes when I make the dish.

What new cookbook you have gotten recently?