Have you ever seen a cow try to eat grass on the other side of the fence? That is where the saying comes from, and I saw it the other day. Here was this cow, placed in the greenest pasture, contorting her neck in uncomfortable ways and stretching her tongue as far as it would go, all in hopes of biting off some grass that was unreachable to her.

I stood there dumbfounded. It is the same grass! In fact, hers was greener!

I am sitting here in my living room, about to start another day. God has blessed me beyond my imagination. And yet, I was about to complain about something. Yearn for something I don’t have. When I am tired and overworked, I complain about how much I want to rest. When I am home and resting, I complain that I am not out around more people, doing more.

Contentment.

I struggle with contentment.  I must choose every single day to enjoy my blessings and not complain about my “hardships.” (I’m so spoiled that I don’ t have real hardships).

I choose this morning to smile, to be thankful! I chose not to complain about anything – will you join me?

National bubble bath day was January 8th!

And that is your random factoid for the day. Do you know any other random facts?

Here are a few other totally off-the-wall, random holidays you never thought you needed to know (and a fun random video too)

• April 7th is no housework day
• Hitchhiking month is July
• April is National Card and Letter Writing Month
• National Dance week is April 20-29th so get up and move it move it!!And most importantly!!

  My birthday is AUGUST 17!

Do you know any random holidays? Share them in the comments!

In honor of National Bubble Bath Day, the guys and gals over at StorageMart decided it was fitting to donate bathing supplies to a local women’s shelter in Kansas City.  But before doing do, they thought it’d be an opportune time to show off the storage capacity of their standard unit.  As this video demonstrates, over 10 miles of toilet paper as well as gallons of soap and several pounds of diapers were able to be crammed into a single unit with the door closed.

I almost didn’t believe it when I saw it. Yup! $10,000 cash! It is very rare that I find a giveaway quite this large to tell you about. Well they are giving away this huge chunk of change in order to spread the word about their site. Do you think it will work? I bet it does pretty well.

To enter to win the $10k all you have to do is sign up as a user of Merchant Circle. No purchase necessary.  When you sign up, you gain access to their site so you can leave reviews of businesses you love in your hometown!

So, what is Merchant Circle?

It is kinda like Yelp. Basically, you use their search boxes to find merchants in your area. You can leave reviews and pictures on their site. And you can get directions, leave them compliments on their profile and follow their profile via the site.

There is also the option to request a free quote. But I am still not sure how this works because when you click it, you don’t have the option to request a free quote from the merchant whose page you were just on….there is really no telling which merchant will call you with an estimate after you submit your information on the “estimate request” form.  I think that your info is sent to a few merchants and you are contacted by a bunch at one time. I will have to do a bit more research on this.

Anyways, a shot at $10k just for signing up to their site is pretty fantastic! Good luck!

I received $20 VISA gift card thanking me for telling you about this site and their sweepstakes. All opinions are 100% mine.

How is this even possible? She is so old already!

Now when I get Lizzie and David something I have to get her the same thing. (or suffer her wrath)

She can eat an entire happy meal!

She can climb a ladder as well as her brother. She is working on jumping as far and throwing as good a fit as him too.

I would never classify her as calm…or mild. But boy as hard as she plays she loves even harder!

She is starting to try and talk! You better listen and respond or she screams at you!

“no one puts baby in a box!”

I live in a very transient community. With the state university and military base both in my area, I make friends with people that are here only for a short amount of time. When I was in college and renting I moved 4 times in 4 years all within the same town. And I have to admit, the wisdom my military friends gain from their many moves could have served me well in college.

After chatting with a few military wives and looking back on my many moves, I compiled a list of tips for you.

Here are 10 tips for making moving simple:

1. Utilize storage rentals

If you are moving within the same town, then place as much stuff as you can in a storage unit as you can. Minimizing the amount of boxes you have to unpack when you arrive will cut down on the stress you feel. Plus, if you are moving into a home that is not open when you need it to be a storage unit can keep your belongings safe while you wait to move in.

2. Cut down on clutter

This is good for life in general, but if you know you have a move ahead of you, keep the clutter out of your life. The less junk you have to go through when you are preparing to pack, the less anxiety you will feel. Get to know Freecycle.org, local donation sites and your trash can. Don’t keep things you do not need.

3. Get the kids out of the house

Moving is really stressful on you, but watching their toys get packed up is also very stressful for children. Their whines and cries will only increase your frustration so try and find a friend or family member that can treat the kids to a day at the park or zoo while you pack.

When I was moving in college, I stopped labeling boxes because I just ran out of time. This was one shortcut I regret the most. Unpacking is so much easier when you know which order to unpack in.

If you organize your packing with most important to least important you can unpack easier. Everything is all about how easy it will be for you to move into your new home and finally relax in your new place.  The organized list will cut down on “box peeking” time.  It will also cut down on the “what the heck do I pack next” feeling you get when you prepare to move.

6. Use small boxes

A huge mistake I made in college was finding any and every empty box I could as long as it was free. I found huge boxes from stores. What I didn’t think of was huge box = heavy box. Smaller boxes are lighter and easier to carry up and down stairs.

Before you move, get rid of as much as you can. Have a moving sale, donate to friends or goodwill, visit consignment shops. Whatever you want to do, getting rid of stuff you don’t really need will make unpacking easier. There is nothing like that “clean plate” you get when you move!

8. Plan enough time to clean

This is especially important for renters. If you want to get your full deposit back you will need to make sure your home is completely spotless. Packing way in advance gives you enough time in your empty place to clean like Martha on speed.

9. Pack in suitcases

Think about it – you finally get to your new place and all you want to do is crash. If you have a few suitcases full of important clothes, toiletries and essentials you can just take some time off and unpack later. It is ok to live out of a suitcase while you let your body catch up to the work you went through.

10. Celebrate!

Order pizza and have a picnic on the floor when you arrive! Congratulations, all your hard work paid off and you can enjoy your new home!  Don’t wear yourself out unpacking before you take a moment to enjoy getting there.

I also found this helpful infographic online and thought you would enjoy it too. (Click to enlarge)

We all want to save money on gifts this holiday season. Saving money is even more important when you have a bunch of family members and birthday parties to buy gifts for!  Not to mention if you want to purchase new toys for charity drives and Angel Tree gifts.

K-Mart is one of the lowest priced stores around.  I always make that store the place I take Lizzie and David when they earn toys by the completion of their sticker charts. I can just get a lot more bang for my buck there.

This holiday season you can save even more money when you use K-Mart coupons with your already discounted prices on purchases. You can print off the coupons on the site above. Coupons on that site are hot – like 15% off Fisher Price toys!

Let me know if you get any awesome deals at K-Mart! I’ll be looking as I take my kids shopping there for Angel Tree gifts!

*sponsored post

This is a photo I took last year. Kansas gets awful cold and dangerous in the winter. I am not looking forward to the icy roads we get every single year. To prepare, I am getting new tires on my van.  I am saving up so I can get a Toyota Sienna because it is the only minivan made with All Wheel Drive. And I need that all wheel drive more than I need storage space!

I remember the horrible ice storm of 2007. I lived with my in-laws and the power was completely out for almost a week. Now that I am in my own home I am going to put together some survival kits and buy a generator.  We already have a wood burning stove to provide heat to my house and I have a propane stove to cook with. Really the only things I need in the survival kit is first aid stuff, water, batteries and flashlights.

We are also going to insulate a few more windows to keep the heat inside and the cold out.  Then there is the small matter of moving all the outside toys into the shed to prepare for snowfall.

How are you preparing for winter weather? Do you or someone you love have medical alerts? Did you buy winter tires?

I can tell you one thing – this is my least favorite weather. I’d rather deal with 100 degree temps and humidity than below zero temps and ice.

To make light of the temps, here is one of my favorite winter songs!

This is going to be fun! I will be partying it up with Mom Central! They are giving away SIX Amazon.com gift codes – perfect way to save money on gifts! I hope you can join me this afternoon! Follow the moderators and chat with the hashtag for a chance to win, that is it!

What: Encyclopaedia Britannica Twitter Party
When: Thursday, December 1, 2011 from 3:00-4:00PM EST
Hashtag: #BRITANNICAapp
Moderator: @MomCentral
Assistant Moderators: @DadCentral, @MomCentralChat & @StacyDeBroff
Prizes: Six people will win a $50 Amazon gift code during the hour-long party. We’ll also be giving away two $50 Amazon gift codes for tweeting before the party.
Questions: Contact Matt Moretti at mmoretti@momcentral.com
TweetGrid: http://bit.ly/sC93YF

Pre-tweet to Win!
Anyone who tweets this from now until the #BRITANNICAapp Twitter Party will be eligible to win one of two $50 Amazon gift codes before the party starts.

About the party:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. announced its trusted encyclopedia is now available as an iPhone and iPad App through the Apple App Store. The Encyclopaedia Britannica App gives mobile users the ability to find information and explore subjectswithout compromise – users can feel confident that what they are searching for is accurate and provided by professional editors and expert contributors.
The app is free to download and comes with complimentary high-resolution images, maps, access to 100 free articles plus the first 100 words of every article, and the Britannica “link map.” For $1.99 a month, iPhone users can upgrade their app to include full access to all 80,000 articles in the Encyclopedia, the ability to download information to read offline, save andsend articles, store favorites and search history and more. Android and Microsoft versions of the app are expected to follow in early 2012.
For more information about the Encyclopaedia Britannica Twitter Party click here.

Johnny Depp recently told UK tabloid The Guardian that he though his most recent film “Rum Diary” is going to be a huge hit everywhere – except in Wichita, Kan.  What he has against his Wichita fans I have no idea!

Here is what he said:

I believe that this film, regardless of what it makes in, you know, Wichita, Kansas, this week – which is probably about $13 – it doesn’t make any difference,” he said. “I think it’s an intelligent film…And a lot of times, outside the big cities in the States, they don’t want that.

Wow. I am speechless. I used to be a fan of Johnny’s. I love his accent, his acting talent, and thought he was a pretty intelligent fellow. Apparently he forgot to think before he gave that quote. Does the rest of the world think Kansans all have horses hitched to the general store? Or was Johnny merely saying people in the midwest wouldn’t like his movie because it went against their “Bible belt” values?

I realize he made a mistake and I hope he regrets this. What a fail.