My Crazy Week, Things for You to Look Forward to

I just wanted to reach out and say hi to my new followers.  I have noticed that there are a few of you out there and I so enjoy knowing that someone is actually reading the things that I post.  I love writing and it has been a dream of mine to be read for a while.

I have one heck of a busy week ahead of me.  I am starting some new things in my life too.  Shane's mom gave me a very nice new Bible for my birthday and I am determined to get some use out of it so I am starting a daily devotion today.  I have the Busy Mom's Devotional and this is what I am going to be using.

Recently I have been waking up with some horrific cramping and pains in my joints and they last all day long whenever they start.  I know that I need to lose the excess 70 lbs that I am carrying around on my frame and that this is going to help me immensely and I know the other thing to do is to get out and get moving.  So I am determined to do daily yoga and to walk at least five times per week.  Today I walked a mile.  I will be doing yoga before bed tonight.

Today was a really great day so far.  I have only had my oldest two home with me as my youngest two went home with grandma and grandpa last night.  I miss them both but it is horrible being away from the baby.  She is so attached that it is crazy for her to be gone.

So this week is going to be crazy.  Tomorrow is the last day before Andrew starts school, oh my!!  I can't believe that he is going to be a 4th grader.  Sometime I have to drive to Peoria to pick up Althea's birth certificate so I will probably do that on Wednesday afternoon after lunch.  The idea of going to the court house with three of the kids is rough but she needs it for school.  We have so many ohter things to think about with soccer practice, fishing with grandma and grandpa for the oldest, Andrew. 

Soon we will have dance for Althea and tumbling starting for Huxley on top of Andrew being in soccer.  I am trying to finish up my first book, so exciting for me, hoping that I will be published by the end of the year.  So there is a ton going on with my freelance work and with all of the things happneing on the blog.  So here is what you can expect this week on the blog.

Reviews--
1.  Tupperware
2.  Choco Venyl
3.  Brenda's Bows
4.  Sew Wickedly Sweet
5.  Khloe's Boutique
6.  Being Made New
7.  Iko Plus
8.  Abby's Fabrics
9.  Thirty One Products
10.  Tommee Tippee

Giveaways--
1.  City Stic

Shopping Opportunities
1.  (for one week only) Initials Inc!

Host Your Own Old Navy Cardi Party with Free Cardis!

Have you heard about the Old Navy Cardi Party??

It is this is awesome opportunity for you to get free cardis for yourself and a few friends.  All you have to do is join Crowdtap and complete some quicklinks, I completed enough to have aboaut 2600 points before I was given the opportunity to apply.  Then when you have the opportunity it is going to pop up in your missions. 

The quicklinks are quick and once you hit 5000 points you can get a free $5 Amazon gift card.  Honestly after doing Swagbucks and everything else this is by far the quickest way to earn free Amazon money as well.

Check it out through the link below and let me know if you are lucky enough to get chosen to host a cardi party.

http://bit.ly/OQEgmY

Giveaway--$20 Gift Card to Firegypsy Vintage

One of my favorite things in life is old stuff.  I love vintage goodies and I especially love vintage clothing.  I get way more excited about a great vintage piece than I do a whole box of new things for myself.  I don't quite know where my love for vintage, specifically the 1950's-1970's, goodies came from but boy do I have it. 

One great Etsy shop that I found when I was on the hunt for vintage was Firegypsy Vintage.  I loved all of the unique items that she had.  I ended up with this amazing dress from the 1970's that has adorable owl details, is in a camel color and has orange detailing as well.  Sadly I was not able to wear this amazing dress yet I am still a bit too chunky but as the weight comes off this is one of the things that I am most excited to be able to wear.

Now of course this would not be a fun giveaway if you didn't see some of the items that you can get with the generous $20 gift card that was offered.  There are so many things in Firegypsy Vintage that I would personally like to own that I think if I were the right size I would buy the entire shop.

The $20 gift card could easily be applied to the purchase of any of these wonderful items.







You could use the $20 gift card to purchase any of these.







If you are interested in purchasing vintage you should go to the shop now because she is offering 15% off of everything in the shop.  This means that you can save quite a bit of money.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Reasonable Mark Ups

So I'm curious after seeing some crazy mark ups lately...what do you think is reasonable for a mark up?

I'm going to take the high road here & not call out any businesses but I was on FB the other day & saw where a children's boutique had a one day only sale & was selling adorable owl aprons for $19 each. I have been planning an owl 1st bday party for Adeline & knew that these same aprons were on Oriental Trading for $16 per dozen. What do you think, ok or too much of a mark up? Obviously since the $19 was a special sale price they have been selling for even more.

The only thing it did was make me not want to do business with this shop in any way.

I am very interested in hearing what some of my readers have to say about this!

Check Out The Great Deals From Initials Inc

So I did a review of Initials Inc a while ago.  If you are intersted I have a party open now and will be accepting orders through the 20th.  You can check it out at the above links.

There are some great products, all are personalized for FREE and all are reasonably priced.

For those kids that are into sports, there is the sports duffle for just $35.



I'm personally loving the new Metro Tote for just $68!!



If you spend $35, you can get the lunch lady for 1/2 off...that would make it just $12.50.  Not only does it work for lunches but also for mommy milk, or even make up!  So cute and such a great deal for you breastfeeding mommies out there.



Please feel free to email me if you would like to get hooked up with Abbie, my lovely creative director to host a party or even sign up to sell this lovely line on your own.

Initials Inc makes great gifts for those of you who are into early Christmas shopping.

The Big Day is Tomorrow

So tomorrow is the big day for me to get a haircut.  I know that this might not sound like a big deal to all of you but I am donating my hair so it is going from being halfway down my back to being very very short.  I am pretty nervous but I know that this is for a great cause and it will make some child very happy.  I was originally going to be donating to Locks of Love.  I know that they are a great organization and I think that anyone who feels compelled to donate to them should. 

I have however chosen to go with Children with Hairloss which is a little bit different and allows the donations to be a bit shorter which will give me a bit more length which is personally a bit better for my needs. 

I am encouraging my readers to donate their hair.  If you donate or if your child donates please email me at amandatroike@gmail.com with the subject: HAIR DONATION (all caps please).  I would love to spotlight people who are doing positive things and if possible post pictures in a blog post.  I can certainly understand you not wanting your child's picture posted but I will only write the blog post as you request if you'd allow me to use images, etc.

I just want to recognize the good that is out there and post a little something positive.

I am going to post my pictures tomorrow.  I am so nervous that I don't know that I will really be able to sleep tonight. 

Free Heart Pendant or Earrings! Today! with Free Shipping

So if you love free goodies like I do then you have to check out this link, join and get a pair of earrings or a necklace for free.  It even includes free shipping.  If you do think that this is your type of thing there is a good chance that it will work for someone on your Christmas list.

Enjoy!

http://1saleaday.com/weloveyou/