A must read for parents + a GIVEAWAY!

I recently received a copy of Recovering The Self: A Journal of Hope and Healing (Vol. III, No. 4) -- Focus on Parenting written by Holli Kenley. This journal is published monthly, and I was fortunate enough to be gifted the October issue which focuses on topics relevant to parenting. The issue is filled with a variety of articles, many which are inspiring.

As a parent myself, I found the personal stories in this issue particularly heartwarming. I could definitely relate to the memoir written by C. Saldana, In Love there is no Distance, Only Unity as another non-custodial mom. The messages in these articles can pertain to anyone that is a parent, whether their children are young or adults. Another article that I found to be especially pertinent in this day and age was Parenting a High-Tech Generation by Holli Kenley. Some of the ideas she wrote about to "unplug" ourselves in order to reconnect with our children and families make a lot of sense. In addition to the personal stories and the educational articles, there were some entertaining pieces as well. The piece by Mark Elswick titled Newborn to Dad: NO MultiTasking! was pretty funny and made me chuckle. It reminded me a little of my own husband.

There were several helpful articles that I thoroughly enjoyed reading throughout this issue. I will definitely be keeping up with this monthly journal at Recovering the Self and would recommend everyone to check it out and see for themselves! The publisher, Loving Healing Press has been kind enough to offer two free copies of the journal to my readers, in the winners choice of print or Kindle editions. Be sure to enter this giveaway below. There are NO mandatory entries!



I received a Kindle edition of this journal for the purpose of conducting this review. All the opinions expressed are my own and no monetary compensation has been received by me.

Bagnetic Review & Giveaway

Reusable grocery bags. Many of us have them, but I guarantee you the ones that you are always forgetting to take along to the store are NOTHING like these bags! Bagnetic® bags are shaped like a traditional plastic disposable grocery bag, and they have magnetic rings on their handles, which allow them to slip easily onto the bag stands at most grocery stores. These bags leave cashiers and Mother Nature smiling! They come in an assortment of colors, and can hold up to 30 pounds per bag! Watch the video below to see how Bagnetic® bags work.

Bagnetic® was founded in 2009 by a young entrepreneur, Ryan Bautista. Having travelled extensively, he noticed that litter from plastic bags was commonplace in most countries. Research into the plastic bag dilemma revealed that less than 1% of them are recycled worldwide. The vast majority end up in landfills, oceans or as litter, costing tax payers millions of dollars and harming valuable ecosystems. Inspired by Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth", Ryan felt it was time to contribute in reducing our carbon footprint. Ryan devised a way people can reduce their plastic bag consumption—all while adding affordable convenience to their shopping routine.

My review: I purchased my Bagnetic® bags online after seeing them featured on Zulily. When they arrived, I placed them on the included hook and into my car. On my next trip to the grocery store, I handed them over to the cashier. She started bagging as if they were the standard issue reusable grocery bags. I showed her the rings on the bags and told her they should slip right onto the bag stand (and they did). She was really impressed with how easy and fast she was able to bag my groceries after that, and commented how she wished all reusable bags were made like that. Upon leaving, I clipped my full Bagnetic® bags to the hook accessory which made for a quick exit out of the store. I’ve used them at Walmart as well. The clerk there didn’t need any instruction on how to use them and told me how much she liked them. In the past two weeks that I’ve been using these bags, the response has been very positive. On my end, they’re easy to transport and keep together, thanks to the magnetic rings. They’re also easy to wash, which I found out after a tub of salsa spilled into the bottom of one of the bags. The produce bags are really cool too ! They’re see through mesh, which allows the cashier to easily ring your produce at check-out. Best of all, they hold up to 15 pounds, and are washable as well.

Bagnetic® is offering one lucky reader a Family Pack of Bagnetic® bags which includes the following: Mixture of 4 Bagnetic Bags + 4 Reusable Produce Bags + 1 Jumbo Hook, a $24.99 value!

Win a $10 Amazon Gift Card

A Glimpse of My Life has moved to Blogger! So, to celebrate, and to attempt to entice some of you to join me over here, I'm doing my first giveaway!
You might ask, why the move?  Well, to be honest...I'm finding that Blogger is a little more versatile with the ability to use javascript code, which is a MUST for running some Linky's and Rafflecopter.  I was able to score an invite to Rafflecopter, and then I was super bummed that I wouldn't be able to use it on Wordpress.com.  Top that with the fact that Wordpress.com also doesn't support GFC (Google Friend Connect), and I was sold. It was time to relocate this piece of virtual real estate!