Thursday, September 28, 2017

Starting a New Journey with Cars.com

*This is a sponsored post on behalf of Cars.com. All opinions are 100% my own.*

Many of you may not have known this, but I cannot drive. Not at all. I've never driven. Well, that's not entirely true, I drive a golf cart to take my kids to the bus stop and I used to drive one at work when I did maintenance. But I have never once been behind the wheel of a car.

It's hard for our family with me unable to drive, that leaves all the errands to be done when my husband can take us. He works a lot (as a CLD driver), so that is unfair to him and inconvenient to me. I miss school functions, scramble to find a ride if the kids get sick at school. If we run out of something, we just wait until the next weekly grocery trip instead of me being able to just go get it.

There are many reasons I should already be driving, but now there is just no way I can put it off any longer. This year my son will graduate 5th grade. He will be leaving a great school and an amazing teacher. He will be going to middle school. The problem is that our local middle school is not a good place for him.

He has autism and he needs to be in an ESE classroom for the flexibility and smaller class size, but he is also a savant (according to his teacher) and the programs there are well beneath his skill level. He would not be learning there, just attending. I need to get him in a school specifically for autistic students where they have a program for him.

The closest one is 20 miles away and, since it is a private school, there is no bus. My husband is at work during that time, so I MUST be able to drive him to school. I will not let his education suffer because I can't do what needs to be done.

With that said, I will also need to get a car, since we obviously only have one. I don't need anything extravagant or brand new. I do need something reliable and fuel efficient. I need to be able to trust that I am getting a good price and, most importantly, a good car.

I've decided to start with Cars.com. I like being able to go online and browse at my own pace with no pressure from a sales person and no worry about making hubby take me around to dealerships. You can find new cars, used cars, dealers and even for sale by owner. You can research different models, estimate used car value and even estimate your payments.


I love that I can do everything but sign the paperwork and get the keys right from my couch (in my pajamas.) Since I don't have my license (or even permit) yet, I have plenty of time to look around and find exactly what I want. I am looking for a good, used, SUV.

What's really cook is that Cars.com has a Car Seat Check feature. They conduct hands on tests to see how well car seats fit in different makes and models. I still use boosters for both kids. Kids should be in a booster until they are 4'9 tall, so the seat belt will position properly on their lap and chest not their stomach and neck.It's good to check that their seats will install safely.

I'm excited about my new journey, now that I am prepared. If any of you have any tips about buying a used car (or new car), I would love to hear them. Have any of you bought a used car via Cars.com before? If so how was the experience. Do you plan to in the future? Why or why not? Lets discuss in the comments.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

4 Secrets To Looking Beautiful Naturally

Not everyone likes splurging on expensive skin care products to look beautiful; some prefer to look beautiful naturally. And, if you belong to the aforementioned category of people, you have come to the right place. Here are 4 secrets to looking beautiful naturally. No longer do you have to spend a fortune on beauty salon treatments to look a million dollars!

1. The importance of staying hydrated

We cannot stress enough on the importance of staying hydrated. In addition to drinking around 8 glasses of water per day, you must also eat fruits and vegetables that boast of high water content. Some of these fruits and vegetables are grapefruit, cantaloupe, cucumber, orange, watermelon, and strawberry etc. According to experts, it is better to drink water from a blue colored bottle; blue colored bottles tend to have a cooling effect. You can also spritz rose water on your skin directly if you want to reduce eye puffiness. Rose water naturally hydrates your skin and maintains pH balance too.

2. The benefits of a honey face mask

If you are looking for a quick and effective way to obtain soft, beautiful skin, you should try applying a honey face mask. Raw honey contains plenty of anti-bacterial properties, making it ideal for healing acne-prone or dry skin. Therefore, if you suffer from breakouts regularly, it is advisable for you to use a honey face mask. All that is required of you to do is to gently rub a tablespoon of raw honey on your face. You should then let it sit for around 11 minutes before using lukewarm water to gently rinse it off.

3. The benefits of exercising

The benefits of exercising are countless. Exercising helps encourage blood circulation in the body, in turn, expediting the cleansing process. You will immediately notice a glow on your face after a grueling workout. However, you shouldn't skip on your before and after workout skincare routine. Before starting your exercise routine, it is advisable for you to apply a toner to help reduce the production of oil. And, after you are done with your workout, you need to exfoliate and moisturize your skin for best results.

4. The importance of eating a balanced diet

If you want to look beautiful naturally, you should pay special attention to what you eat. You are what you eat and if you consume unhealthy food, your skin will show! The skin is the body's largest organ and it responds well to a proper diet. Therefore, it is advisable for you to feast on fruits, greens, and foods that are rich in proteins, vitamins and low in fat and sugar. Foods rich in vitamin D, omega-3, and omega-6 fatty acids also help promote radiant skin; some of these foods include salmon, olive oil, and ground flaxseed. A high-sugar diet plays an atrocious role in lowering the insulin levels, preventing the cells from maintaining a healthy pH balance. You should also avoid eating fermented, processed and spicy foods.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

CUJO Smart Firewall at Best Buy

*The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.*

I love being up to date on new tech gadgets. I am all for bigger, better, faster, flashier. It's easy to get caught up on the glamour of new gadgets. So much so that it can be hard to stop and think about safety. I'll admit, I never gave it a second though.

When I got the CUJO Smart Firewall from Best Buy, I was excited, but not so sure how useful I would find it. After all, it doesn't stream movies are have a 16mp camera. In fact, most of what it does is pretty unnoticeable - unless it doesn't do it.


The CUJO Smart Firewall protects you from hacks, not just to your PCs, but phones, tablets and even TVs, baby monitors and many more less conspicuous threats. If you've never had one of these hacked before, it would be easy enough to take the CUJO Smart Firewall for granted, since the protection you're getting will seem like nothing new, but it is. It's business-level security made accessible to anyone.

Of course, the CUJO Smart Firewall does much more than just protect you from hacking. It can protect your family from the inside as well, with its parental controls. The parental controls can be set up for all devices. Since my kids use the TV and the computer as well as multiple tablets, that is a very nice feature for us.

In addition to parental controls, CUJO can monitor social media and filter internet. You can also set time limits and even pause the internet. You can also set up multiple user profiles. You can get alerts and reporting and even control CUJO remotely from your smartphone.


The CUJO Smart Firewall is incredibly easy to set up. It's basically just plug and go. It connects to your router and then can be controlled via app. Even my 10 year old could do it. That is great for me because as much as I love technology, I am not very advanced when it comes to setting things up, programming, and the like.

Probably the most important feature to be is that the CUJO Smart Firewall does not take a subscription. The device is pretty meaningless if you need to pay monthly (or yearly, etc) to access the features. I love that this is a one time purchase. Buy, install, manage - that's it.

Do you worry about your family's internet safety? Have you ever considered taking steps to make your home more secure? Did you know about the CUJO Smart Firewall before? Now that you do know about it, do you plan to get one? Will you buy from Best Buy or somewhere else? I would love to discuss with you all in the comments.

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Kerrygold Review & Giveaway

Have you ever eaten something unhealthy and then not only felt guilty, but got mad because you wasted the calories on something that did not taste good enough? I have, and it is one of the worst feelings for me. I get so upset, because I could have eaten something healthy if it's not going to taste the way I want anyway.

Fortunately, I found one way to ensure that I don't have that problem again, at least not where cheese and butter are concerned. Kerrygold is an Irish company that still makes their dairy the old fashioned way, with free roaming, grass fed cows. I always wondered if that really made a difference, and after trying the amazing butters and cheeses from Kerrygold, I can say it absolutely makes all the difference.


The first thing I tried was the softer butter in a tub. Butter could be one of my food groups as much as I love it, but I had never had butter as creamy and fresh-tasting as the ones from Kerrygold. It was like waking up from a lifelong sleep. I have seen the light. It probably sounds like I am exaggerating, but it is really that good. If you have never had Irish butter, namely Kerrygold, you need to try it immediately.


As good as butter is, it can't be a whole meal/snack alone. Cheese however, can be a stand alone snack or the main component in a meal. I had the pleasure or trying 7 amazing varieties of Kerrygold cheese, and they are all fantastic.


Swiss has always been my favorite kind of cheese, so I tried that first. I made grilled ham and Swiss sandwiches, using a lot of Kerrygold butter to grill it. It was so golden and crispy, and the cheese was melty, creamy, fresh and so amazingly delicious. It was better than a bistro sandwich.


All of the cheeses are so good. It was hard to pick a favorite. The Blarney Castle was exceptional. I had never tried a cheese with that flavor profile before. The Skellig was fantastic, I love the sweetness, it is so good with a fruit plate. The Cheddar cheeses were very good. Nice and sharp, but creamy enough that it wasn't too much. Dubliner was awesome, it was another unique flavor. The reduced fat was so much more flavorful than I was expecting. Reduced fat cheese is usually flavorless.

One of my favorite things I received was the Garlic & Herb Butter. I used it to make garlic bread and to flavor some angel hair pasta. It is so flavorful. It's not like that garlic "butter" stuff you get in the tubs at the store. It is real, amazingly creamy, butter with real garlic and fresh herbs mixes in. I could use this with almost everything I cook. It is a game changer.


After experiencing true, Irish butter and cheese, I can't ever go back to the lesser products I used to buy. I am so mad that my husband never told me how much better Irish butter and cheese is. He was born in Ireland for goodness sake. He got an ear-full about it. I will not make you suffer the same fate. I am here to tell you that Kerrygold butter and cheeses are better than any other brand I have EVER tried.

One of you lucky readers will get to find out first hand just how incredible these products are, because Kerrygold is giving away an Irish Gift Basket, but like the one I received. It contains two (2) of every product shown above and is a $200 value! Enter via the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win this fantastic prize. Good luck!

*I received these products at no cost to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own.*

a Rafflecopter giveaway