Get UnCommon Review & Giveaway

UPDATE

HUGE Congrats to the winner, commenter #11...Carissa Rogers! 

I received a case to facilitate my review

I love seeing my kids artwork and having three children I am never short of it. When my daughters art was picked for the cities All-City & Faculty Art Show I was beyond proud, elated. My daughter and I visited her art and it was the cutest thing ever to see her reaction in seeing her art project on display with the rest of the schools out here. So when I was approached about doing a review for Uncommon  which specializes in making cases for your iPhones and iPads with your children's art I had to do it. What better way to cherish my child's art then having it on display for years to come!

This photo was from art night at the school before they had chosen her art work

 This is the photo from art night that I used to make my case with

And this is the beautiful case that I received

The colors in the photo don't do the case justice. They are exactly as her picture is.

The case is simple, not heavy but still protect the iPad. The important slots that you need access to are still open to you. 

 And the camera is open as well

UnCommon offers many different designs, either pre-made or one's you can make yourself with your photos. You can make cases for iPhones, iPods and iPads. They also offer deflector covers for MacBooks and screen cloths too.  Prices vary depending on the type of device you choose and design but they're pretty affordable. Seeing as some of us change cases for our phone's and iPads more often then we change purses that's a huge plus.

Using their website is easy as pie. Once you have created an account simply upload and image and then select "Customize & Buy". From there it will show your image on the device of your choosing. Make sure to choose an image that will fill the screen around the dotted lines as that is the recommended area for your design to look it's best. The entire process is pain free and fast. Once you have this step done simply add it to your cart and check out.

I personally love that I now get to carry around my daughters art work on my iPad. And yes I totally show it off just so they can see her art.

Today I get to offer a $50 GetUncommon.com Gift Certificate to one of my readers. Perfect timing for Mother's Day!

Mandatory entry:

• Visit GetUncommon.com and let me know which design you would choose if you won and if you have a specific piece of art already in mind.

Optional entries:

• Share the YouTube video above and leave a link here of where you shared the video
• Tweet about the giveaway and leave a link of your tweet

Example tweet "I just entered to #win a $50 GC to @GetUncommon from @Shanamama9197 http://bit.ly/10qfUQG"

This giveaway is open to residents of the US only and will end on May 3, 2013 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I received a case to facilitate my review. No other compensation has been given. My opinions, as always are my own.

BLT Grilled Cheese Recipe

Did you know that April is National Grilled Cheese Month? If not for shame! An entire month dedicated to the wonderful ooey gooey goodness that we call the grilled cheese. Yum. The best thing about a grilled cheese is that the possibilities are literally endless. Today I was craving something gooey and I wanted bacon with it. What else could I do but make a BLT Grilled Cheese.

BLT Grilled Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

• Two pieces of Udi's Millet Chia bread
• Two slices of Gouda
• One slice of Sharp Cheddar
• Tomato
• Spring Greens 
• Two pieces of Turkey Bacon
• Butter

Directions:

• Cook your two pieces of turkey bacon to the desired crispness and set aside
• Butter both sides of the bread and place in a pan over medium/low heat. 
• Place cheese on each slice of bread (I do both at the same time that way you aren't waiting on a piece of bread to get cooked while the other gets cold)
• Allow the cheese to melt and the bread to become nice and golden brown
• Remove from heat and start your layering with the Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato
• Close your sandwich and bite into the crispy gooey goodness

The fact that you can satisfy two cravings in one with this sandwich makes it a winner in my book, I mean honestly folks anything with bacon is going to be awesome. But what I love is that you aren't killing yourself with fat here because it's Turkey Bacon and you do have some veggies so it's a well rounded meal. At least that's what I told myself as I scarfed this bad boy down.

Thank you to Udi's for sending me product in order to facilitate this posts. I couldn't have made such an amazing grilled cheese with any regular ole bread.

Wordless Wednesday-Spring is in the air!

One of the things I love most about Spring time is the blooming of new life. The grass gets green again, the birds come back and bring with them new babies and the flowers and tress bloom as if there is no tomorrow. It's a beautiful time of the year don't you think?

For more inspiring photos be sure to check out:

The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist, High Impact Mom, BrainFoggles, The Centsible Life, Rachel Ferrucci, Lil Kid Things, Resourceful Mommy and Zensible Mama and don't forget to link your own photo stories.

Sitterati, the all in one sitter app

 
Thank you to Sittercity for sponsoring this post. Click here to download 

the current beta version of Sittercity's free Sitterati app on your iPhone and let them know 

what you think in the app store.

Moms are as a whole very busy. Not only do we run the house but we take care of our kids, our husbands, if we have time...ourselves, oh and don't forget about any pets you may have, baseball practice, dance, karate. Add on top of that working full time, part time or even from home and life can get over whelming. Arranging for a sitter to watch your kids should be something that is easy, non stressful and relatively painless right?

Let me introduce you to Sitterati. A new app that keeps all of your babysitters in ONE place. Setting up an account is takes less then five minutes and you can use your Facebook account to make it even easier. Once you set up your account you can create jobs to send to all of your babysitters at once and schedule them through the app. You can also pay your sitter directly from the app. No more worrying about having enough cash on you or turning around as you pull into your driveway because you just realized you forgot to get cash (yeah I've totally done that, twice).

So you're ready for a night out with your husband, here's what you do.

1. Text your babysitter(s) with an invite to Sitterati
2. Enter your credit card information so you're all squared away on payment
3. Post the job
4. When a babysitter responds you will receive a confirmation from them that they will take the job 
5. Go out and enjoy a night on the town!

Not only is the Sitterati app awesome for us parents, yes Dads can totally do this too, but it's convenient for the sitters as well. When they set up an account they can access jobs from parents they are connected with, get paid right into their account and see all babysitter jobs they have schedule in one spot. Key words to remember here, organization. That is a HUGE deal for me since I am constantly loosing things, like notes, appointment dates, even babysitters phone numbers since I tend to write them down on a tiny piece of paper and then loose said piece of paper. With having everything in one spot and completely organized will help not only the sitters scheduling jobs but the parents submitting jobs.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member Clever Girls Collective, the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

 

Iron Man 3 LEGO Posters

Iron Man 3 LEGO posters are now available people! Uh wait, did you say LEGO? Why yes...yes I did. My boys and I are so excited for Iron Man 3. I am not sure who is more excited about it. I have my suspicions that it may in fact be me since I don't see them dancing around on their tippy toes whenever a new trailer is released. Although they both do sit with me as we watch said trailer five times with the volume all the way up.

Iron Man 3 + LEGO = WINNING!

Don't forget to stay up to date on ALL the new Iron Man 3 info on Facebook, on Twitter and on the website.

 

How to get Instagram on your BlackBerry Z10

I am sorry friends Instagram is not on the BlackBerry market just yet....but I have a way around that while we wait for it to come out. And it's really easy, just three short steps and you'll have on your phone. There is a kicker though. You can view everyone's photos that you follow, go through and like them, see their profiles as well as yours but since it is web based you cannot upload photos through it. I know it's a real bummer but if you absolutely need your Instagram fix this is the only way I have found around it for the time being.

1. Go to Instagram.com on your BlackBerry Z10 and log into your account.

2. Press menu (the three small dots in the lower right hand corner) and select "Add to Home Screen".

3. Enter what you would like it to be saved as on your Home Screen and press save.

4. Go to your Home Screen and there you will find the Instagram icon. Simply click and it will bring up the web version of Instagram.

* I am part of the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program. A device was provided to me with three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the device. All thought and opinions expressed therein are my own*

The new BlackBerry Z10

I am tickled fancy that I was chosen to do another round with Verizon Wireless and be an Ambassador. This time around we were given a BlackBerry Z10 for review. Now I have never used a BlackBerry phone. My husband had one back in the day (I love saying that even though it was only like five or six years ago) and he loved it. I tried using it a few times but it was very blah for me. I Just couldn't get into it so I steered clear and stuck with my LG phones. Well now that I have been using this BlackBerry for a week I am wondering what was I thinking!

I'm just going to start out with a few key points that immediately attracted me to the Z10.

• Sleek design
• Light weight
• Cover on the back of the phone that comes off to remove the battery, SIM card and SD card
• Graphics are awesome
• The keyboard is the bomb, yes I said the bomb. It's seamless and has many features that I think all phones should have 
• There is no home button, I know at first I was very thrown off by this but I actually like that there's still a simple way to return to the home screen

So there's a little sneak peak into my initial thoughts on the BlackBerry Z10. I am really looking forward to delving in and telling you all about this fancy schmancy phone. And trust me, it is fancy!

* I am part of the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program. A device was provided to me with three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the device. All thought and opinions expressed therein are my own*

 

Homemade Meatball Sandwiches Recipe

Making dinner should be an enjoyable process. Not something us Moms stress over, so when I don't feel like making a big meal or just plain don't feel like cooking I try to do my simple meals so we don't eat out. You really can't get any easier then meatball sandwiches. Most of it is just prepping/putting together the food and it's only four ingredients which you can choose relatively healthy options here. And as an added bonus it's one of my kids favorites. Something easy and the kids love it...it's a win win!

Ingredients:
Wheat Hoagies
Organic Pizza Sauce (I chose pizza sauce because it has a bit more oomph then plain tomato sauce)
Provolone Cheese
Meatballs (I usually do turkey meatballs but they were all out at the market today)

Instructions:
Cut the hoagie lengthwise but not all the way through (you still want it attached so it doesn't fall apart
Pile on your cooked meatballs
Pour on as little or as much sauce as you like
Bake in the toaster oven for approximately 5 minutes or in a conventional oven at 400 degrees for 5 minutes (just enough time to warm the sauce & toast the hoagie)
Pull out of oven and top with cheese (don't worry the cheese will melt all on it's own)

Only four ingredients, takes less then ten minutes total and you have a delicious meal for the whole family to enjoy.

Sidenote...please excuse the poor photos, these were taken from my phone as a last minute oh hey I should post about this huh. Well let me grab my phone then and snap to it.

Ultimate Blog Party 2013

I have been blogging for over five years now, granted I wasn't very active for the first half but that's neither here nor there. One of the first sites I remember becoming a reader of was 5 Minutes for Mom. Over the years I have watched on the side lines as they held their annual Ultimate Blog Party but this year I finally decided to jump in feet first and join in the party.

That's little ole me

So a little bit about myself....I hate talking about myself so this may either go one of two ways. It will be really short and I will leave you knowing no more about me then when you started reading this or I will talk way to much and you may regret that I ever started talking/writing. I have a feeling it is going to be the later since I am rambling in my head as I type this out.

• I talk to myself in my head...don't try and tell me you don't do this, I know you do.
• I turned 31 this year and other then my body feeling like it's falling apart I feel like I am still a teenager
• I tend to exaggerate a little...see above note for proof 
• I have three children who are my world Jr, Princess and Trouble
• They all live up to their nicknames
• My oldest is making me feel old when I remember he is almost 10!
• I don't like bugs and I had my first experience with a tick today. I NEVER.EVER.EVER want to repeat that again
• Above bug incident will give me nightmares
• My brain goes into overdrive most nights when I try to fall asleep
• I used to have hair nearly to my bum but chopped it all off to my shoulders & now it wont grow back
• I love getting the mail, picture a kid on Christmas morning. A little sad I get that excited for mail but every day it's a new thing & hopefully a package
• We've moved more times then I like to admit out loud and no we're not in the military
• Sometimes I wish we were military because at least then they would have moved us LOL
• I have a foul mouth
• I have one tattoo and about six more picked out that I would like to get by the end of the year
• I want to go tornado chasing with my husband one day
• I want to live abroad and learn a new language 
• I do not get in front of the camera & I am literally terrified of being on video
• Most days I find myself to be hilarious, on other days I am down right hysterical 
• I love the quote below

A little bit about my site. Well it's a lot like me, an extension of myself if you will, in other words it's very random. I do not have a meme and I don't stick to one category because I get bored very easily. I used to share a lot about my family but my husband is very paranoid protective and asked me kindly that I didn't share quite as much so I put a filter on that but I do still talk about them, how could I not, they are after all my chitlens. I like to do reviews and share my thoughts opinions with my readers (because really who doesn't like sharing their opinion). I love my camera and I love taking photos which in turn means I like to share photos. I have a "little" bit of a picture addiction. I also love cooking and creating new recipes. All that flows through onto this here site. 

So there you have it, a little bit about me and a little bit about my site. Thank you so much for stopping by and checking me out during this years Ultimate Blog Party! I hope I didn't scare you too much ;) I look forward to hopping around and meeting everyone during this fun time and making new friends.

V2 Cigs Giveaway

This is a sponsored post. The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless of payment, I only recommend products or services I would personally use and believe to be a good fit for my readers.

 

A lot of smokers  live in a state of denial. Denial that smoking is bad for them or denial that it stinks, or that it's doing them harm, or that it actually gives them the calming affect they're seeking. Smoking actually raises your heart rate and blood pressure so even if you think you may be relaxed your body is not. I know this because I used to smoke. I smoked off and on for ten years. Starting at the age of 14 I picked up a smoke and that was that. I still remember the very first time I smoked with my friend Rachel. I kept thinking gosh this is so bad if my Mom finds out I am going to be in soooo much trouble, which of course meant I couldn't not do it. I didn't smoke constantly, that came later. I was very good at hiding it too. I became some what of a pro at it which looking back is probably not as good as I thought it was. It may have been better to get caught and then I may have never smoked for so long.

But alas that was not how things worked out. I quit each time I found out I was pregnant and this last time I didn't start up until after my youngest was a year old. I wouldn't have started back up but I went through some very emotional struggles and caved. See I was an emotional smoker. If I was angry, sad, wanted to celebrate I would smoke. If I drank alcohol I smoked. If I was reading a really good book that I couldn't put down I tended to chain smoke. I used smoking as my selfish reason. I told myself I knew what I was doing to my body and I didn't care. It's the one and only selfish thing I do and I enjoyed it so why should I stop. I liked the smell and I loved smoking. And then my husband got diagnosed with COPD. I knew then it was time and I had to quit not just for myself but for my husband and my three kids. I wish I had thought to use Ecigs then because I'll tell you what, the withdraws from nicotine….NOT fun.


Here's a few reasons Ecigs are a great alternative to regular cigarettes:

1. Ecigs are less expensive than buying regular cigarettes (if you order the kits and not just the disposable Ecigs that you can find at  convenience stores).
2. You can also save even more money by visiting www.ecigarettereviewed.com for coupons.
3. Electronic cigarettes contain NO tobacco. That's right zero tobacco which means NO second hand smoke. They do have nicotine which is delivered through the vapor which you can get in assorted flavors and nicotine strengths.
4. You can choose from four different nicotine amounts so they're a great tool for people trying to quit. If one thing that you really struggle with is the hand to mouth gesture you can use a zero nicotine Ecig so you can still do the gesture without having any of the nicotine. 
1. The four different mg you can choose from are: 
•  Zero
• Light (6mg)
• Medium (12 mg)
• Full (18 mg)

To find out more information on Ecigs be sure to check out this V2 Cigs Review where they go into depth on everything about Ecigs.

If you are trying to quite smoking, know someone who may be considering quitting or simply want to switch to Ecigs instead of regular cigarettes, Ecigarette Reviewed is hosting a V2 Cigs "Express Yourself" Giveaway where they are giving away a total of 50 V2 Cigs Express Kits and the V2 10-Flavor Sampler. Every week for the first three weeks of the giveaway there will be 10 winners announced and 20 winners will be announced on the last week of the giveaway. So be sure to enter the V2 Cigs Giveaway as you have lots of chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post. The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless of payment, I only recommend products or services I would personally use and believe to be a good fit for my readers.

 

Wordless Wednesday-Forever and always

These three have my heart....forever and always my babies they'll be.

For more inspiring photos be sure to check out:

The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist, High Impact Mom, BrainFoggles, The Centsible Life, Rachel Ferrucci, Lil Kid Things, Resourceful Mommy and Zensible Mama and don't forget to link your own photo stories.

 

New Disney Planes trailer!

Guess what, I have a new sneak peek trailer for you all for Disneys newest movie set to release on August 9th. My youngest and I have already watched this three times and I am sure we will watch it at least another three times in the next hour. Enjoy!

Don't forget you can keep up to date on all recent Disney PLANES news on Facebook and Twitter.

Finding Dory just announced!

Finding who? Nemo? Dory! After a long....long time Disney and Pixar have announced a sequel to Finding Nemo...Finding Dory. I am like a giddy little kid right now because seriously dude Dory is awesome. She was one of my favorite characters in Finding Nemo and hello Ellen DeGeneres is made of pure awesome. Here's what she said about the announcement;

“I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time,” said DeGeneres. “I’m not mad it took this long. I know the people at Pixar were busy creating ‘Toy Story 16.’ But the time they took was worth it. The script is fantastic. And it has everything I loved about the first one: It’s got a lot of heart, it’s really funny, and the best part is—it’s got a lot more Dory.” 

I love how Ellen announced the news on her show.

According to director Andrew Stanton, “Finding Dory” will take place approximately one year after the first film (Finding Nemo) and it feature all of our favorite characters such as Marlin, Nemo and the the Tank Gang as well as other characters as well as the introduction of some new characters, including a few who may turn out to be an important part of Dory’s life. There is also talks that the film will be set along the California coastline.  

So let's start the countdown shall we.  We only have to wait 967 days or 2 years, 7 months and 23 days or 83,548,800 seconds or 1,392,480 minutes orrrrr 23,208 hours. Eh that's totally doable.

Be sure to like Finding Dory on Facebook and follow Disney/Pixar on Twitter to keep up to date on the latest happenings.

Disney movie Planes new posters and trailer

We are huge CARS fans here. My boys and I love to watch both CARS and CARS 2....a lot. I doubt it bothers the boys but I've been waiting for a new spin on the movie because let's face it, you can only watch a movie so many times before you've learned the entire dialogue. Not that that isn't fun but something fresh is always fun. And now Disney has done it again, announcing PLANES.

In this action packed movie filled with comedy and adventure features a plane named Dusty who dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. The only problem? Dusty is afraid of heights and isn't quite built for racing. So what's a plane to do but turn to a seasoned naval aviator for help. In this adorable film Dusty’s courage is put to the test as he tries to go to new heights that he never dreamed were possible.

This summer on August 9th the wait for PLANES will be over. Will you be there? I know I will with my two boys in toe. If you want to keep up to date and follow PLANES you can do so on Facebook and Twitter and of course at Disney.com.