My Bath & Body Works Haul!!

Eeeek!!! I'm so happy right now!! Okay, so...part of how I'm able to afford to stay home with my kids is by taking surveys. I'm an active member of somewhere between 6-10 panels. Over time, I've received "Recruit" surveys, which are surveys that recruit you to online discussion communities where you have the chance to earn additional incentives for actively participating. Well, last week I won a $50 gift card from one of these communities for being named the September Expert of the Month. I chose the Bath & Body Works gift card because it's not often that I get to splurge on myself (I have this bad habit of always shopping for the kids, and never for myself).

In true frugal fashion, I actively made a point to make that $50 stretch, and to get the most for my money. I really scored!!! 😊 My goodies just showed up today, and I couldn't be happier!

I knew before I even got to the Bath & Bod Works website that I was ready to stock up on some delicious Fall fragrances. It's been a while since I've actually bought anything from them, so I wasn't exactly up to date on the different scents that they offer now. I was very pleasantly surprised!!

First, the mists and body creams were on sale for Buy 3, Get 2 FREE. For the body creams, I chose Salted Caramel Apricot, and Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte (I've already applied some Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte, and it smells truly DELICIOUS!!). For the body mists, I chose the Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte, Pumpkin Cupcake, and Warm Vanilla Sugar (This last one has always been my favorite).

Second, the lotions [Retired scents] were on sale for $5 each. I chose Brown Sugar & Fig, and French Lavender & Honey.

On top of the already great deals up above, there was a code for $10 off $30 on the day I placed my order. This brought my total down to $51.89 before I used my gift card. I only paid $1.89 out of pocket, plus I used Ebates to earn an additional $0.42 cash back on my purchase, so I really only spent $1.47!!

Great Deals Still Happening Right Now!!

• All 3-Wick candles are $10 off
• All Body Care is Buy 3, Get 3 FREE
• Hand Soaps are 6 for $25 or 4 for $20
• Retired Fragrances are Buy 3, Get 3 FREE
• Aromatherapy Body Care is Buy 3, Get 3 FREE
• Travel Body Care is 3 for $12.50
• Wallflowers Fragrance Refills are 5 for $23
• Scentportable Refills are 4 for $10
• Fragrance Melts are 5 for $15 or 3 for $12
• Concentrated Room Spray is 2 for $12
• Specialty Hand Soaps are 2 for $10
• PocketBac Bundles are $6 and up

Whether you need to restock on your own collection, or are ready to start on the Christmas shopping (My mail carrier told me she's using the sale for the Christmas shopping), now is the perfect time to catch some really great deals at Bath & Body Works!!

Returning to a Normal Routine

It has been a while since I've really had time to sit down and write a good post! Life's been crazy busy. First? There was summer vacation. I don't think it needs to be said about just how busy it can be with 3 kids home all at the same time! Second? We did go through an extended summer vacation, thanks to the flooding effects from Hurricane Harvey.

Things are starting to resemble "normal" again, which I'm so thankful for! My older 2 daughters finally started back to school on September 18. My 2nd grader is really having fun! She's really soared with her reading skills, and is loving the challenge of racking up AR points! She's also having fun with math 😊

My 4th grader still loves reading and math, but she's starting to realize how much extra time she needs to devote to her studies. I'd warned her that 4th grade would be a little harder than K-3, and she's seeing that now.

Before they officially started back to school, we made a point of having a nice, peaceful, day of fishing.

The girls had been bugging us all summer for it, so we took them during their last weekend of vacation. We didn't catch any fish, but we still had a great time! We got to make some fun memories, and the kids got to swim!

I really love that Gail is finally old enough to be able to enjoy these activities with her older sisters. She had a fishing pole in her hand right along with the other two (though not in this particular picture). It was so great to just be able to sit back and relax after everything our community went through!

I'm still an active Avon representative, even though I haven't posted any of those deals lately. I sort of took a break when Harvey came rolling through, but I'm ready to get back in the game!

While my division is technically in Campaign 22 already, the deals in the flyer here are still active! I love that Avon supports these causes. My husband thinks I don't need anymore makeup bags....but what he doesn't know won't hurt, right?? Haha! Actually, he's learned at this point to not fight me on my beauty and jewelry products 😉

If you like to support either of these causes, you can click here to shop for Avon's Breast Cancer Crusade items, and here to shop for their Speak Out Against Domestic Violence items. They're both great causes!

My goal from here forward is to make a point of making at least ONE (possibly more) weekly post about my family's adventures. With the school year here again, I'm hoping that will make it easy to squash the Writer's Block that tends to hit me a lot! I can say, however, that there will be a book fair and some reading adventures to write about soon, so I'm super excited for that!! 😊

I also bought my older two daughters a "Learn to Cook" cookbook shortly before Harvey swept through. They're both capable of reading it themselves and following the directions, so I'm going to let them try their hands at some of the cooking around here. I will be sure to share some of those adventures with y'all as well!

Here's to hoping you all have a wonderful week! 😀

Brief Update

Harvey has things on hold. I promise I'll be back to regular blogging soon! We've finally started getting mail delivery again (and I'm hoping the newspaper will finally be delivered Sunday). Things are finally starting to resemble "normal", though my community has a long way to go. Thank you all for your patience!

HSI Glider Ceramic Flat Iron

If there's one thing I love, it's the ability to try out new beauty products. I always love it when I get to try new hair straighteners!!

I received the HSI Glider Ceramic Flat Iron free in exchange for my honest review, and all opinions stated in this post are genuinely my own!

The straightener I used before trying this one was still fairly new, and I thought it did the job well, but I was proven wrong after using this HSI Glider!

You can't see it well in the picture, but the plate on the straightener that says HSI is actually a very pretty gold color. I really like the sleek but simple design. Additionally, I love all of the little extras that came with this flat iron!

The HSI comes with a pretty red pouch to store it in, which is a very nice touch! It was a little wrinkled straight out of the box, of course, but it's an easy fix to get the wrinkles out. Along with the storage pouch, I also received a heat resistant protective glove (YAY!!!) and a sample of HSI Argan Oil conditioner. I thought these were all very nice touches!! ALSO, inside the box was also the warranty certificate. The HSI comes with a 1 year warranty, which is another plus (Especially if you have young children who like to accidentally break things on occasion). So there are truly a lot of perks that come with the HSI Glider. Another thing I really liked (and sadly not pictured) is a small booklet that was included to showcase other HSI products.

This is another product that came with the flat iron!! I honestly feel like it's a very important "must have" when using the flat iron (The bottle says that it also works on extensions). I sprayed some on my hair before I started straightening it because it's supposed to help with protection from heat. I also sprayed some on my hair after I finished straightening it. It helped to tame the few flyaways that were still there afterwards, and it really left my hair super soft!!

My old hair straightener definitely could NOT do what this one can. It works so well that it actually cut the time down on how long it usually takes me to straighten my hair. It used to take me at least 30 minutes to straighten my hair, but the HSI Flat Iron got the job done in less than 20!!

This is not the CLEAREST picture (It was taken with the webcam on my laptop), but I love how my hair looks after using it! It was actually raining and humid here while I was doing my hair, so I'm pleasantly surprised at how great it turned out, considering!!

So if you're curious to try this yourself, or curious about other HSI products, be sure to click here! 😊

Natrogix Bliss Top 9 Essential Oils Set with FREE E-book!!

So I started using essential oil about 2 years ago. I was reluctant at first. I thought people were just over exaggerating when they'd go on about how well they work for health & wellness purposes. One of my best friends gave me a bottle of Lavender oil, and I was hooked! That's why I was super excited for the opportunity to tell y'all about this Essential Oil GIFT SET!!! (Which I did receive for a discount, but I truly love the amazing benefits offered by essential oils!!!)

The Natrogix Bliss Top 9 Essential Oils Gift Set (Which you can get here) comes with the top 9 oils used by essential oil lovers.

The oils include:

• Tea Tree Oil: Used as a lice repellent. Also works well for on the spot treatment of pimples, fever blisters, warts, etc. (I use this in a spray for my daughters' hair as a preventative, and have used it for those random painful pimples that pop up out of the blue!)
• Frankincense: This oil can be used as an anti-depressant and works very well at reducing anxiety and stress. It also has antibiotic properties and can help in relieving things like congestion. My husband and I sometimes use this in our diffuser at night to help with sleep!
• Lemongrass: This is personally the first time I've ever had this one in my collection of oils! From what I've read though, the benefits are to my liking! Benefits include helping with the relief of muscle aches, anti-fungal properties, and helping to ward off insects. It can also help to reduce fever and kill bacteria.
• Eucalyptus: This is another first for my collection. My aunt has told me great things about it! So has my best friend that got me hooked on oils in the first place. It works as an expectorant to help fight the cold & flu. It can be used for a myriad of respiratory issues, and can be used for treatment of small wounds, among other things.
• Peppermint: This one is one of my favorites just because of the smell alone!! It can also help sooth stomach aches & nausea. Peppermint oil is also another lice repellent! It can also help sooth muscle aches and other pains caused from long term conditions.
• Rosemary: This is one of my favorites to use in a sleep blend at night (I like to blend Rosemary, Lavender, and Patchouli) which makes sense because one of the benefits is that it reduces cortisol levels. It's also used for hair growth, memory improvement, and can be used for different detoxifying purposes to help different organs in the body.
• Sweet Orange: I love love LOVE the scent of this, and it has such an uplifting effect!! It does help as a mood booster, which I love! It's also used as a natural antibacterial, pain reducer, acne fighter, and many other things.
• Lemon: This one can be used as a natural cleanser, can help digestion, help with weight loss, be used for cough relief, and many other things. This is another one my aunt and friend are adamant on using in their diffusers whenever they have cold or allergy issues! 
• Lavender: This one is my favorite because it smells pretty, and it's so calming!! I diffuse this in the room when my kids are home because it helps to calm their ADD. I also use it as one of my "must" oils in my sleep blend at night. Lavender oil can also be used to help relieve headaches, improve eczema & psoriasis, and can help with healing small burns and wounds.

So as you can see, the Natrogix Bliss gift set comes with all of the best oils you can find if you're just starting your collection. It's also great even if you're NOT new to essential oils!! The gift set also comes with a small booklet that has a few recipes for homemade oils blends, as well as a link to a free e-book that has 200 recipe blends! There's also a link in the booklet that includes a discount code for the Natrogix Bliss Totem diffuser.

So if you love essential oils, you know this set is something worth getting!! If you know someone who's just starting out with oils, this would be the perfect gift to get for them! 😊

Earthen #InstaPeel Instant Peel!!

Things have been crazy busy for me in recent weeks!! Not only did our family just finish celebrating my youngest daughter's THIRD birthday, but I have been busy trying some great products that I'm really excited about!!! 😊

The Earthen InstantPeel (which you can get here) is a product I'm actually very pleased with!

Some things to note: This peel is most effective when used in a steamy shower with a damp face so that the pores are really open and the face is more easily able to absorb the peel.

For my first time using this, I was in front of the camera, therefore I had to improvise with a damp rag to keep my face damp. I was still very satisfied with the results though!!

The peel is designed to remove impurities from the skin, and (more importantly) dead skin cells. It is safe for all skin types. I honestly didn't realize just how much dead skin I had on my face until I used this.

You can see some of the dead skin on my fingers, but this picture doesn't do justice to just how much skin fell off throughout the process of using the InstantPeel!!

The frequency of use really depends on your skin type. For oily skin, it's recommended to use the peel once a week. For moderate skin, it's ideal to use once every two weeks. For dry skin, use less often (maybe once a month).

If you care to get a better idea of how well this works, you can check out my YouTube Video 
It should be noted that I was not aware until afterwards that my face wasn't always fully viewable in the camera (Oops!)

I did receive this product free in exchange for my honest review, and all opinions are genuinely my own! I can't explain how soft and smooth my skin was after using this...I was amazed!!!

Another Summer Update

It's been a few weeks since I've written a general update about life, and our family's adventures! We've had a strange combination of "busy" and "lazy" going on at our house (that's what I love so much about summer vacation).

The girls finished off their summer track season a few weeks ago!! They didn't place in their final meet, but did great at the previous one! Maddie got 5th place for her division in the softball throw, and Kay got 3rd place in her division for the same event. They were both super happy when they found out the results!!

While they may not have placed in all of their meets, they had fun during track season, and that's what really matters. I love that they were able to start learning some of the essential track skills for when they get older. I also love that the summer track season gave them the opportunity to build stronger bonds with their friends (even if they didn't like how hot it was outside....none of us did for that matter).

They're sad that the season is over, but they're ready for their next set of adventures (we are still deciding on what those will be). I love seeing them bloom with each new set of endeavors they take on! It's so amazing to be able to see them grow, and to see them each blossom into their personalities, who they are, what they like. The possibilities are endless with these two, and I'm truly blessed to be their mama!!

Life has been busy for me also. Back in April (I think), I made the decision to start my own home business, and signed up to become an Avon Representative.

I've been a fan of Avon since I was around 12, and I was tired of never being able to find a local rep, so I figured why not become one!? Not only do I get to offer people great quality products at an affordable price, but I get to splurge for myself also with the representative discount 😉

I could have chosen one of the numerous "popular" direct sales companies that I see plastered all over social media all the time, but Avon is what was in my heart to do. I see so many companies, and while I would love to try their products, the price tags aren't always suited for the working class who live paycheck to paycheck. Avon offers great products that don't break the bank, so that was a huge motivating factor for me. I am truly enjoying the journey so far (even though my house is drowning in Avon products these days)!!

So now you know a little of what our family's been up to in recent weeks! I'm hoping my next update will have more fun adventures packed into it! For now though? It's Avon order day, so I'm hopping off of here to get back to business. I hope you all are enjoying your summer so far! 😊