Yoplait Whips! Gift Pack Winner

I still can't figure out the screen-shot thing, because I get the entire page, which is not what I want. I just want to capture that little number generator. People do it all the time, so why is it so beyond my grasp?? I will figure it out someday!!

On a more positive note, I had 23 valid comments for the giveaway, and random.org gave me #14 as the winner. So, congratulations to bri!! I will be emailing you today to get your contact information.

Thanks to everyone for participating, and enjoy the gift pack, bri!!

Sam's Club Gift Card Winner!!

I can NOT figure out how people manage to post that pretty little random.org generator on their blogs to announce a winner. If anyone can tell me how to do that, it would be wonderful!!!

I just picked a winner of the $25 Sam's Club gift card. Congratulations to comment #37, as selected by random.org. That comment was left by Tammy K!! Tammy, I will be emailing you today to get your information so that MyBlogSpark can send you the gift card!

Thanks to everyone for entering, and if you haven't entered for the Yoplait Whips! gift pack, today is the last day for entries!!

Yoplait Whips - The Perfect Summer Treat - and a Giveaway!

I don't know about where you are, but it's certainly HOT-HOT-HOT here! I forget the last time I watched the news without hearing about an "excessive heat warning." Right now it's 8:30 p.m. and still 89° outside. And in the middle of the country, that's generally a very humid heat, too! Bleah!!! When it's this hot outside, you just NEED a cold, creamy, refreshing treat to cool you off and improve your mood!

The summer heat is no match for a frozen Yoplait Whips! yogurt - the same whipped yogurt that´s so unbelievably fluffy and light when enjoyed right from the refrigerator. Simply place your favorite Whips! yogurt cup in the freezer overnight and you will have a chilled yogurt indulgence without the calories of regular ice cream. So, this summer, before you head outside for fun in the sun, don´t forget to stock your freezer with Yoplait Whips! (Yoplait suggests removing the Yoplait Whips! from the freezer for just 5-10 minutes before enjoying).

Yoplait Whips! yogurt is currently available in nine delectable flavors - Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Raspberry, Key Lime Pie, Lemon Burst, Orange Créme, Peaches `N Cream, Raspberry Mousse, Strawberry Mist, and Vanilla Créme. Don't those all sound just heavenly? What a delicious way to chill out in the heat of summer!

Are you ready for the GIVEAWAY?? Read on......

How cute is that prize package?? It's an adorable Yoplait cooler/lunch box, a FREE container of Yoplait Whips and the CUTEST little set of ice cream cone-shaped popsicle molds! Who wouldn't have fun with that??? Would you like to win one for yourself?? I'd like to give you that chance!

Yoplait, through MyBlogSpark, is offering one of my readers this very prize pack (your free Whips! would come in the form of a free product coupon, however!). To enter this giveaway, simply leave me a comment telling me which of those nine delightful flavors you think you would find the most fun as a frozen treat. For a couple of bonus entries, you can do either or both of the following, leaving a comment for each:

* Follow this blog, or if you already follow, just let me know that.
* Subscribe via email or a reader; again, if you already subscribe, just post that you do!

This giveaway will run until midnight on Wednesday, August 18th. At that time, I will use random.org to select a winner. The prize package will be shipped directly from MyBlogSpark. Best of luck to you - this truly is a fun prize!!

While you are waiting to see if you are the lucky winner, don´t forget to visit Yoplait on Facebook or Yoplait on Twitter and "Like" or "Follow" the brand to keep up with their latest and greatest products.

I've also got a Sam's Club gift card giveaway going on - be sure to enter that one, too!!!


Disclaimer: Yoplait, through MyBlogSpark, provided me with an identical prize package, information, and giveaway.

Back to School with Sam's Club - A Giveaway!!

Back to school....already? Is that really possible?? I'm just not ready! For me, along with the kids heading back to the grind, things also get crazy in my life. See, I'm one of those moms who loves to volunteer at the school. One of the positions I hold at the girls' school is the Box Tops Coordinator, and at the start of the year, I have a huge contest where the class that collects the most gets a pizza party. The kids LOVE it and it raises a lot of money for the school!

Box Tops are such an important thing to save. It may not seem like ten cents is much, but when every child saves them, it's amazing how quickly they add up to huge amounts of money. I raised over $1,800 last year as the coordinator. That is truly amazing, and so many wonderful things were able to be done with that money. Schools are struggling to make ends meet, so every Box Top counts today more than ever.

I bet you have some Box Tops for Education in your pantry or cabinets right now. There are so many products that offer this wonderful benefit. Examples include:

General Mills Cereals (Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, Total, etc.)
Betty Crocker baking mixes
Hamburger Helper
Kleenex
Ziploc Bags
Land O Lakes Butter and Cheeses
Huggies Diapers
Hefty Waste Bags
Avery Binders
....and SO MANY MORE things you use every day! For the full listing of products with Box Tops on them, please visit http://www.boxtops4education.com . While you are there, sign up for the very occasional Box Tops email. Your school gets 5 bonus Box Tops simply for your registration - does it get easier??

Did you know that Sam's Club can help you to help your child's school? They have some amazing things going on right now in connection with the Box Tops for Education program. You can head over to your local Sam´s Club from Aug. 11 through Aug. 31 and earn more cash for your school. At the Sam´s Club Back-to-School event, you can get a head start on your collection and find 6 Box Tops on participating General Mills products. With your favorite Box Tops for Education brands at a great value, Sam´s Club is your one-stop destination for all your back-to-school supplies you need to send your kids off to school with confidence!

In addition, and this is even more incredible, Sam´s Club is giving you the opportunity to earn even MORE Box Tops when you upgrade to a "Plus Membership." From Aug. 6 - Aug. 13, or while supplies last, visit the Member Services Desk of your local Sam´s Club and upon payment for your Plus Membership, you will receive a certificate for 150 Bonus Box Tops! For more information on how you can take advantage of the Back-to-School event at Sam´s Club, visit www.samsclub.com today! That certificate is worth FIFTEEN DOLLARS to the school of your choice. Those can help so much!!

And, now here is the REALLY exciting part!! I want to help you help your school and your budget! Sam's Club and General Mills, through MyBlogSpark, are offering you the chance to WIN a $25 gift card to Sam's Club to help you get all those back-to-school essentials!! You can use it for anything Sam's carries, including all the wonderful products that help support schools through Box Tops.

To enter the giveaway, please leave me a comment telling me which General Mills products you are most likely to purchase with gift card. $25 can go quite a long way at Sam's Club! For a couple of bonus entries, you can do either of the following; just be sure and leave a comment for each:

* Follow this blog, or if you already follow, just let me know that.
* Subscribe via email or a reader; again, if you already subscribe, just post that you do!

This giveaway will run until midnight on Tuesday, August 17th. At that time, I will use random.org to select a winner and the gift card will be sent directly from MyBlogSpark. Good luck, and thank you so much for supporting our educational system by saving those Box Tops!!


Disclaimer: Sam´s Club and General Mills, through MyBlogSpark, provided me with a $25 Sam´s Club gift card, an option for a Plus membership, information, and this giveaway.

The Disappearance of....Me!

I actually got a phone call today asking me why I hadn't posted in so very long. You know, I can't even answer that. Time has truly gotten away from me this summer. I can't believe that it's almost over and the kids go back in less than two weeks - how sad!!!

I can't say that anything of great consequence has happened over the summer, or that the kids and I accomplished anything at all, really. We've just enjoyed relaxing and spent most of our time at home in the cool. We haven't even done the Kids Bowl Free program this year...it just never happened. I have to say, it has been an extremely nice summer and I've enjoyed just about every minute of it (just don't ask about the broken glasses/almost eye injury/hula hoop incident...really!).

There have been some other not-so-great incidents over the past couple of months, as well. One day I was getting dressed and heard a strange sound other than the rain outside. It was rain INside. Yes, there was a leak in my bedroom ceiling. Turns out we had a broken turbine in the roof. We still haven't assessed all the attic damage because of the extreme heat. I know there is some insulation to be removed and replaced. The day after this, DH was coming home from work and his car just stopped. It ended up needing a new transmission. Let me tell you, June was an EXTREMELY expensive month!! Savings has become almost non-existent after all that!!

The kids have gotten along very well this summer, which is wonderful. And I've introduced my book-loving 10-year-old to the "Trixie Belden" series of books that I adored as a child. She is devouring them just like I did. Thank God for libraries!!!

This is going to be a tough month for me. Not only do my kiddos have to go back to school, but I also have to face the big 4-0. I'm really not excited about that!!! I do have an exciting weekend planned right after my birthday, which should be a lot of fun, but 40 just seems so.....old!! I'm sure it won't be any different than 39, but I still hate the idea. And guess what I get to do on the night of my actual birthday?? It's Parent Orientation Night at the girls' school. Oh, whoopee! I'm so terribly excited about that! I wonder if I'd miss anything if I "accidentally" forgot about it....hmmmmmm.

Other than that, nothing very exciting is happening around here! Hopefully once we get back into a routine around here, I will find myself with more topics for my blog. I definitely need to try and write more! :-)

Enjoy the rest of the summer!!!!!

The Splend-id Results

I managed to go five full days without any artificial sweeteners at all. And let me tell you, I was careful! I even gave up my favorite Eclipse gum!! I started to have a piece, but then checked the label and immediately threw the piece away. Aspartame is a very common ingredient! I'm thinking that five days is a good amount of time to be able to post a review of my findings.

I do have to say that I did not learn that I was having major issues from ingesting the Splenda and Aspartame. However, I did find that there WERE interesting side effects. During my time of non-sweeteners, there were two things that I definitely noticed which made a lasting impression.

First, I have not been experiencing my usual mid-afternoon crash time. Generally, around 3:00, I am just so sleepy that I have to lie down for just a short time to recharge. I just figured that was my norm and never even considered it could be related to anything in my diet. Now I believe that it is related to the sweeteners, since I frequently have coffee with Splenda in the morning and a diet soda with lunch. Interesting, eh??

And the second, and most noteworthy effect of eliminating the sweeteners, is that I have not been as hungry! I haven't had the urge to snack in the early afternoon (which was a constant with me) or in the later evenings. That's kind of nice!! I get the "munchies" often, and that has not happened on my sweetener fast. Isn't THAT something?? I've actually lost almost a pound over the 5 days without changing my diet in any way AND with eating real sugar...gotta love that!

I guess my conclusion from my experiment is that I DO experience "side effects" from the artificial sweeteners, but nothing that seems detrimental to my health in general. I have decided that I am going to limit the sweeteners, but not go out of my way to avoid them. For instance, I love my 8th Continent Soy Milk. It has less than 2% sucralose in it. I am going to allow myself up to a cup of that every couple of days, which shouldn't have an impact. On the flip side, I am going to stop drinking sweeteners in my coffee. I have learned that 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar is perfect for me, and since it's only 24 calories, why not?? It's definitely going to save me calories in the long run from what I've learned here!

I will miss things like my Fiber One yogurt, but I am going to stop eating products that are heavily-laden with artificial sweeteners. I am sure I will find other things to fill the void that are better for me overall. The jury is still out on my Eclipse Gum. I will probably give it up, but I sure do love the stuff....

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on the sweetener issue. Have you tried going without it and found similar results? I am glad that I tried this. It was definitely educational and I'm making permanent changes as a result. Change is good. :-)

The Splenda Experiment

Wow...has it really been that long since I've posted anything? I hadn't realized it had been quite so long, though I definitely knew I have been neglecting my blogs!

I have embarked on an interesting experiment, and I thought it might actually be something worth detailing on my blog. A couple of nights ago, I was hanging out with a dear friend of mine while he was repairing my badly-virus-infected computer. He didn't have any bottled water, but did have some bottles of G2. As he opened one, he remarked that he was not happy because he had forgotten to check the label, and there was Splenda in the drink.

I asked why that mattered, and a discussion ensued about the problems that have been linked to Splenda and other artificial sweeteners. Of course, I knew about the "has been known to cause cancer in laboratory rats" that is found on many sweeteners, but I had never really given it that much thought. Mark, however, is one to research issues, and he always does a very thorough job of learning both good and bad points.

After he explained the known side effects, and told me his own personal experiences, I became curious. I have Splenda in my coffee every morning, drink only diet soda, and enjoy many products that contain Aspertame. I have never noticed any ill effects of this eating style, but got to wondering if I really WAS having any effects. Mark told me that it doesn't effect everyone, but that some people just didn't realize they were having side effects, and that if you stopped ingesting the products, there was usually a difference within a matter of a few days.

So yesterday morning, I was making my coffee and I paused. I really do wonder if I am having any "side effects" from my regular consumption of sugar substitutes. I decided to take a few days and completely eliminate it from my diet. It's just an experiment for my own knowledge and curiousity, but I'm really intrigued to see what happens.

All day yesterday, I checked labels and carefully made choices. It wasn't too difficult, but I was sad to learn that Fiber One Yogurt is sweetened with Aspartame. That's off limits for at least a few days, but I will survive. At least my beloved VitaTops are naturally sweetened, as are most of the snack bars in my cabinets. It isn't taking much time at all to read food labels, as I do it frequently anyway.

I'm not ready to draw any definite conclusions yet, but just yesterday I did notice a few things. I didn't have my usual mid-afternoon crash where I have to lie down for 10-20 minutes in order to function. This is rare for me. Also, I didn't snack as much as I normally do. That one really interested me, as I am generally very "munchy" in afternoon. After lunch, I wasn't even hungry at all until around 3, when I had a light snack. Then I was fine again until dinner. Weird, but in a good way!

So now I'm on day 2, and so far, so good. I will post again with results of my little experiment. It's actually fun, and I'm glad I'm giving it a try.