Mother's Day Giveaway: CollageIt Pro

Hello friends! I am happy to announce that I have a free product to give away for Mother's day!! CollageIt Pro is an automatic and easy to use collage maker on Mac OS X & Windows. It excels with its ease of use and hugely reduces manual work. CollageIt Pro is a TOP 10 Photography APP on App Store! Here you can see some highlighted features:

• Simply add your photos to your collage; using “Random Layout” to generate layout automatically and customize collage; then export and share your collage.
• Various layouts and diverse templates.
• Easily personalize collage by cropping, adjusting photo number, photo space, page margin, rotation, sparse, and so on. Decorate collage with photo border and shadow.
• Save collage as an image file; set as desktop wallpaper; share through Email; or print it out instantly.

Know more information: http://www.collageitfree.com/

To enter the give away, just post in the comments section telling me who you would like to give it to, and your email address. I have 2 "get it free" codes, and will use a random number generator to choose the winners.So like I said, just tell me who you want to give it to, give your email address, and if you win, I'll send you the code!!

Happy Mother's day!

Family history helps

Hello friends! After today's Relief Society less, it was clear that many of you wanted to work on your family histories, but were unsure about how to get started or where to go if someone else has already started. Here's my first bits of advice:

THIS WEEK:

1. LOG IN: See if you can remember your familysearch.org user name and password. If not, slick the fogot username or password links and follow the instructions. If you've never created an account with Family Search, it's super easy. ANYONE can register for free, but if you want to view temple ordinance information, you need to be a member of the church. The signup process will require the LDS Member ID number for all members of the church. Aside from that information, the signup process is super basic.

2. FIND YOU PEDIGREE: Once you are logged in to the website, make sure that you are on the family tree tab, and that you are looking at your tree in pedigree view (although the fan view is REALLY COOL!). From here, you will be able to see what's already been added to your tree and what's missing. NOTE: II think family trees are now linked by membership record number, meaning that if you are the child of LDS parents, your trees will automatically be linked together, based on the information already in the database.

3. MAKE GOALS:  Look over your tree. Are there any blank spaces? Is it completely full? Try and figure out a goal for yourself. For example, if there is an unknown person, maybe your goal is to find the information for that person. If there is already a lot of information on the tree, perhaps your goal will be to find and gather stories about the people on the tree, and give it as a Christmas present. If you have no idea what goal to have, pray about what directions you should go in. Better yet, pray EVERY time you start working on your family history.

4. COME TO CLASS: Bring your goal and your username and password to the Family History class that starts next week.If you don't know your membership record number to sign up for a familysearch.org account, try to come early to church to get it from the ward clerk before or after Sacrament meeting.

5. KEEP ME POSTED: If you will be gone for the summer an unable to go to the family history class, let me know and we can work together over email.

Review: Kroger brand foods

This weeks Buzz Agent product  we got to sample was Kroger food. We got free coupons to pick up a Pork Tenderloin Roast, a Kroger side dish (we chose mac 'n' cheese, but the other option was mashed potatoes), Kroger biscuits (just like Pillsbury biscuits), Butter flavored Kroger cake mix, and Kroger Chocolate Fudge frosting. So now to break it down:

Pork Tenderloin: I had never cooked a pork tenderloin before and was super nervous about it. My mom suggested a slow cooker instead of using the oven, so I looked for a recipe online and chose this one.It was so tasty and wonderful that Jacob and I ate most of it that day, and it was gone by lunch the next day. If you didn't want to try the recipe I chose, the packaging for the pork loin roast has basic cooking instructions.

Kroger side dish Mac 'n' cheese: It sure didn't taste like the homemade macaroni and cheese that I'm used to, but it still tasted pretty good. It was creamy, but not at all like Velveeta  cheese sauce. That stuff is just gross. I guess I would categorize it as somewhere between homemade and Velveeta.

Kroger biscuits: These tasted just like Pillsbury biscuits, so if you're looking to save money, I'd choose these.

Kroger Butter flavored cake mix: Out of everything I made for this dinner, somehow the cake was the hardest. Most box cakes require oil, water, and 2 eggs. This cake required more eggs than normal, water, oil, AND a stick of butter. I also didn't notice the "high elevation" instructions until after I made the cake, but if I had, then it would have been even MORE difficult as the instructions got even more complicated for higher elevations. I was expecting a box of cake mix where you ad water, egg, and oil, mix for like 10 seconds and then put it in a pan and cook. Perhaps it was just because it was the "Butter" flavor, but this particular cake was just too complicated for me to choose again.

Kroger Chocolate Fudge frosting: This frosting was super yummy. I actually liked it better the Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Duncan Heines, etc. I would definitely recommend this frosting!

And there you have it. I'm definitely making the pork loin again. Who wants to come over and have dinner with us??

Review: When I Fall In Love by: Clint Morey

I loved reading this book. In fact, I'm loving all the books that I've be asked to read and review.

Here is a summary of the story: Amy Prescott is just your ordinary, everyday high school senior -- beautiful, brilliant, athletic, able to pick the hunk of her choice, and a scholarship to Harvard nearly in her hands. Okay, maybe not so ordinary.

She has her life planned out, but after her grandfather has a stroke, she decides to take care of her grandparents during Christmas break. With all the family together for the first time in years, everyone quickly learns about each others motives. Amy's grandmother suffers from Alzheimer's, and the "adults" want to put her into a home, away from her husband, and everything she knows. They also want to protect "their share" of the estate.

As the children seek to solve the "problem," Grandpa, a master cello maker who can no longer do his craft, shares with Amy the story of his great adventure - how he met and won the heart of his wife in Vietnam. Amidst, all of this, Amy must choose between her long time boyfriend, who still hasn't said I love you, and the boy next door who spends his time playing the cello, and helping Amy's grandparents.
It was beautifully told and just the sort of book that I like. The surprise at the end was really fun, and the story brought wonderful feelings to my heart. I wish though that the book had been longer. I would have loved to read many more stories within the book. I didn't want it to end.
 
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Review: Michal's Window, A Novel: King David's First Wife

I really liked the book! I wasn't crazy at first about how long the book was, but when you read it, it doesn't feel long as you find yourself completely engrossed in the story from the very beginning. I admit that much of the characterization didn't match what I had previously thought of King David, but perhaps that's a good thing. I'm planning on reading the actual bible verses mentioned at the end of the book to gain even more understanding. I think I will have a whole new perspective now. I even found myself changing who I was rooting for nearly every other chapter. My favorite characters happened to be Ittai, Phaltiel, and David's second and third wives. But overall, I really liked it and would definitely read another book by the same author.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.