Meaningful Beauty

Being an Influenster has paid off once again!

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Influenster telling me I had been chosen to receive an anti-aging voxbox.  Now, I'm getting to the age where I'm starting to worry about wrinkles.

Imagine my surprise when the anti-aging voxbox turned out to be Cindy Crawford's Meaningful Beauty Creme de Serum!!

I have seen infomercials on this product before, but thought the price was a little high.

When I opened my voxbox, I was a little disappointed in the bottle.  It's kind of small & it is plastic.  I also didn't care for the smell.  While it doesn't stink, it's not the best smell either.  Now at first, I was not impressed with the results.  I guess I was expecting to see a difference after the first time!  Lol, I know that is a little unrealistic!  I've been using the product for about 3 weeks & I am just one starting to see some results!  Yay!  I have wrinkles on my forehead & I do believe this serum is fading them away!

I'm also going to say that the small bottle isn't as small as it seems.  It only takes a small amount of the serum.  As they say.....a little dab will do ya!

Thank you Influenster & Meaningful Beauty for letting me try this awesome product for free!

Trufans of Truvia

Have you ever wanted to try Truvia sweetner, but been hesitant because of the price?  If you are like me, you may not want to splurge on something that is kind of expensive that you haven't tried before.

Thanks to Crowdtap, I was given a chance to try Truvia and share it with some friends! 

I took  my Truvia to work because all of my coworkers drink coffee.  What a perfect place to break out the sample packs!!

My coworker, Leigh, totally agreed with me about wanting to try it, but not wanting to spend the money on something she wasn't sure if she would like.  She was super excited to try it and loved the taste.  She was also very happy that a coupon was attached to the sample pack!

My coworker, Darrell, was glad to get the sample as well.  He said he has family members that use Truvia, but he has never had it at his house.

Thanks Crowdtap and Truvia for sharing with us!!

Purex UltraPacks plus Oxi

Once again being a Purex Insider has really paid off!!  I love being able to try out awesome products for free! 

The latest promotion I was selected for was to try Purex UltraPacks plus Oxi.  Let me tell you, these are wonderful!!! 

One thing I love about these packs is that there is no measuring involved!  You just throw in a pack and add your clothes and you are done!

When my clothes came out of the washer, they were clean and smelled great!  I would highly recommend these to anyone!  What more could you ask for?  You get the conveinence of a pack and the cleansing power of Purex and Oxi.  Couldn't be any simpler than that! 

This promotion came with a full size product for me to try and 3 coupons.  I gave away the coupons and the recipients were just as pleased with their UltraPacks as I was.  I will be using these from now on!

Thank you to Purex Insiders for the opportunity to participate in this promotion.  All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Purex Mountain Fresh Dryer Sheets....MMMMMM

Recently, I was chosen to receive a free box of the Purex Dryer Sheets.  That is how awesome being a Purex Insider is!  I couldn't wait to get these and try them out.

The first thing you notice is the smell!  They smell soooooo good!  Just imagine standing next to a beauiful mountain creek!  They really do smell fresh.

I always toss 2 dryer sheets in with my load.  One in the middle of the pile and one on top.  I like lots of smell!  :)

I was very impressed with the clothes when they came out of the dryer.  No wrinkles and they smelled great!

The kit came with 3 coupons to give away.  One couponer was as impressed with these dryer sheets as I was.  I think we have new converts!!

Thanks Purex Insiders for letting me try these out.  I will be buying more in the future!

Lifeway Kefir Strawberry

I was chosen by Influenster to test out a Lifeway Kefir product for FREE :)!  I received a coupon for a free product in the mail and set out for my local Wal-Mart.

I was a little disappointed to discover that Wal-Mart did not carry the frozen yogurt.  Had my heart set on it!  Oh well....

I decided since I could not have the frozen yogurt, I would go for the Lifeway Kefir Cultured Milk Smoothie.

 Well..........I wasn't really a fan.....  I only like certain yogurts.  Most of them are too strong tasting and when I say that, I mean sour.  The first sip kind of caught me off gaurd.  I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I got.  Since the bottle says it is a smoothie, I guess  I was expecting something like a Smoothie you get from Sonic.   Not so much......this one tasted like I was eating liquified yogurt.  It made me sad because if this was good, I was about to switch my breakfast plans!

Oh well.  If you like yogurt, then I would recommend this product because it is very healthy for you.  However, if you are like me and can't handle the strong sour taste, don't get it.

20 Mule Team Borax....WOW!

I have recently become a Purex Insider!  I love signing up for free samples and product trials, so I was super excited to be accepted into the Purex Insiders Club.

The very first product I got to test was 20 Mule Team Borax.  Now, I know this stuff has been around forever.  I've heard of it, but didn't really know much about it.  I knew you used it in your laundry, but that was pretty much it.

So.....when I got my free full size box of 20 Mule Team Borax, I was very impressed!

First of all...that is a huge box!!  Thank you so much Purex Insiders Team!!

This product does all kinds of things.  There is a huge list of things you can use it for on the back of the box.  Not only can you use it as a detergent booster, which I did, you can also use it to clean your toilets, clean your kitchen and much more. 

The instructions say to use 1/2 cup in your laundry to boost your detergent.  So, I took an old detergent scoop and filled it up about 1/2 way.  After I dumped the Borax in, the water started to immediately suds up.  Now for some reason, I have this problem with soaps that do not suds up.  I don't feel like my clothes are getting as clean if there are no suds.  Let me tell you, Borax was super sudsy and I loved how it worked to help clean the clothes.  They seemed cleaner and fresher when they came out of the dryer.

Purex Insiders also sent me coupons to give to my friends.  One friend had used Borax before, so she was extremely happy to get the coupon.  Another friend was like me, she had heard of Borax, but never used it. 

Thank you Purex Insiders for showing me all about 20 Mule Team Borax, I will definitely be using this in the future!

I received this product for free for reviewing purposes and was not obligated to right a favorable review.

Woolite Everyday Laundry Detergent

I am a member of Crowdtap, so occasionally, I get to review products for free!  I was very excited to be chosen for the Woolite Everyday Challenge! 

For this challenge, I rec'd 10 samples and $1.00 off coupons!  Talk about awesome.  I gave 9 of my samples to my Sunday School friends....

They were very excited to be a part of the challenge as well!  :)

I decided to use my sample yesterday afternoon and was very pleased with Woolite Everyday.  Now, typically, when you think of Woolite, you think of washing items that are delicate and might fade over time.  This is a brand new kind of Woolite.  Woolite Everyday offers you the same great quality as traditional Woolite, but you can use it on everything.  Here is a pic of the laundry, I used it with....

If you notice, there is a little bit of everything in that basket.  I had a couple of delicate material shirts, some tshirts, some socks and even a pair of khaki's.  I just decided to throw it all in and see what the results were. 

I like a lot of suds with my laundry detergent and Woolite Everyday did not disappoint!  :)

My clothes came out great!  No fading, no color running and they smelled great!  I would definitely recommend using Woolite Everyday...well, everyday!  :)

I received this sample for free and was not required to write a positive review.



Colgate Optic White

I received a VoxBox from Influenster.com filled with products to try.  3 of the items in my box were from Colgate.

Here is what I got...a full size bottle of Colgate Optic White mouthwash, a full size tube of Colgate Optic White toothpaste and a Colgate 360 toothbrush.

At first, I was very excited about all 3 of these products.  I really wish I could give you a good review on these products, but I can not. 

The first things I tried were the toothbrush and toothpaste.

The toothpaste was terrible.  I know that toothpaste doesn't always taste great, but this was pretty bad.  I don't even know how good the claims of whitening are.  I couldn't get past the bad taste and only tried it one morning.  It is a bitter taste that sticks with you. 

The toothbrush was less than stellar, as well.  I am sure that some people will really love it because I'm sure that it probably does a great job cleaning your teeth.  It even has a tongue scraper on the backside of the bristles.  What I did not like about it, was that it was very wide.  It felt like it was too big for my mouth. 

Since I had such a bad experience with those two items, I was a little leery of trying the mouthwash.  It actually took me 3 days to get up the nerve to take a swig.  Ugh....it was just as horrible as I imagined it would be.  It pretty much has the same taste as the toothpaste.  I just can't use it.  I think all 3 things will be going in the trash can.

I'm sorry Colgate, I wanted to give you a good review and I was excited about giving the items a try.  I think if it would have tasted better, I would be buying these products when the ones I rec'd ran out. 

These products may taste fine to everyone else, but they did not to me.  I will not be getting them at the store.

Sugar n' Spice VoxBox from Influenster

Check out the new Sugar n' Spice VoxBox from Inluenster.com!  I was very excited when I got the email telling me that I had been chosen to receive one!  I am all about receiving some free stuff and let me tell you, Influenster delivers!  They don't send products that are useless....we are talking about good products that get you excited to be a member.

The Sugar n' Spice VoxBox had some fabulous items in it!  I rec'd a FULL size, yes, FULL size bottle of Vaseline Spray n' Go moisturizer.  A box of Nectresse sweetener from Splenda, a box of witch hazel towelettes from Dickinsons, a sample of belVita breakfast biscuits, a full size bottle of Colgate Optic White mouthwash, a full size tube of Colgate Optic White toothpaste, and a Colgate 360 toothbrush.  There was also some coupons for the towelettes to share with my friends.

I have already tried the belVita biscuits and the Colgate items.  I can't wait to try the Vaseline lotion.  It looks like it would be so convenient.  Please check out my blog for the reviews on the belVita and the Colgate. 

belVita Breakfast Biscuits

If you haven't tried influenster.com, you need to check it out!!  Because I am a member of influenster, I got to try out the Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox.  This box was filled with wonderful products for me to try for FREE!!    One of the best things about the box......belVita Breakfast Biscuits.

Let me tell you...  These were WONDERFUL!!  I am usually running late in the mornings and whatever I eat for breakfast has to be transportable!  I rarely have the opportunity to eat breakfast at my house, which results in either no breakfast or something that is terrible for me. 

I have seen these in store, but have never thought to buy any.  Honestly, they really did not appeal to me.  It is not that they looked terrible or anything like that, I just never decided to give them a try.  Boy was I wrong for that.  These are absolutely amazing!

The flavor I had was Cinnamon Brown Sugar.  There are 4 to a package and they are fairly good size biscuits.  They have 19g of whole grain and are only 230 calories.  I am always watching those pesky calories.  I don't really diet, but I do try to watch how many calories I take in.  These fit in to my daily limit, so it worked out great.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they stayed with me and I was not hungry until lunch time.  Sometimes, working in an office can give you the munchies and these kept me full and plugging along until it was time for the next meal.

The only bad thing I can say about these is that there was only one pack in my VoxBox! 



I will definitely be going to the store to get more of these this weekend!!  Yay for belVita Breakfast Biscuits!  Go get you some!!

( I received this product for free from influenster.com and was not required to right a positive review.)

Why Does the World Keep Turning?

On September 1st 2009, my world turned upside down.  I believe it actually stood still.  That was the day I lost my sweet 3 year old daughter, Morgan Lee Mobley.  It felt like my world had pretty much ended right there at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.  I have never experienced such loss, such bone deep despair.  Words can not even begin to cover the emotions, the loss, the pain that I felt. 

My biggest question was of course, WHY?.  I mean, I know that she had special needs and that she had dealt with a lot of issues in her 3 years, but we thought she was doing great and that she was beginning to get through what we perceived were her biggest obstacles.  We never dreamed she would be gone from us. 

One of the things that was the hardest for me was that the world just kept right on going without me.  It didn't stop.  Oh how I wanted it to!  Just long enough for me to catch my breath, a moment to deal with this catastrophic event.  But, it doesn't work like that.  I watched people go on with their lives, go on with their children's lives.  It was so hard.  I didn't have my child!  I would never get to share in the life experiences of a child that a mother should see!  No first day of Kindergarten, no elementary school crushes, no high school prom - NONE!  No weddings, no baby showers - NOTHING!  I wasn't angry, though.  Just sad, overwhelmingly and utterly sad.  I wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out.  Why should the rest of the world go on when mine had stopped?  You know, I never did receive an answer for that.  It was hard, so very, very hard.  I just kept trudging through it, though..everyday.  Get up, go to work, go through the motions, get on with it.  It was not easy.  It still isn't  It's going on 4 years and I will tell you it isn't "over with".  It never will be.  It still hurts just as much today as it did when it happened.

One of the things that remained stable through it all was my relationship with God.  I never got angry at Him.  Don't get me wrong, I asked why?  I also felt that it was so very unfair.  I still think it is unfair and I still question why?.  I must go through the rest of my life not having the answer to the one question that for me, needs answered the most.  I must put my trust in God and know that He is there for me. 

My faith has never wavered.  I am a firm believer that God does not cause or let bad things happen to people.  Life does that.  Life throws people curve balls all the time.  You have to learn to let God give you the strength to deal with the nasty, nasty pitches that life throws you.  He will always be there for you.  I think that is what kept me going and still keeps me going through it all.  I do know that I will see my sweet girl one day again.  When I do, those 3 little letters...the W.....the H....and the Y, those will not matter any more.  Until that day, I will live my life to the fullest.  I will treasure the time I have with my son and I will never give up.  I will try to help others in situations similar to mine in any way I can.  I will NOT give up.  I will ALWAYS keep my faith and I will ALWAYS trust in God.  For even when bad things happen and all seems lost, He is the light at the end of the darkest tunnel. 

So, why does the world keep turning?  One word....GOD!