Product Review and Giveaway - OraMD

I was asked to try out OraMD for a review and giveaway.

I received a small bottle in the mail.  I was a little surprised at the size, but let me tell you, the size is very misleading.

What I liked about it was that it is all natural.  Pure botanical oils of almond, spearmint, and peppermint.

The directions say 2 to 5 drops.  I was skeptical so I started off with 5 drops.  WOW!  It was strong and a little to much for my mouth and sinus cavities to handle.  2 drops was plenty for this girl.

It did a pretty good job. Which was a shock to me.  I am weird about my teeth and very picky about what I used to brush and how my teeth feel.  Normally I used baking soda and peroxide and they become squeaky (literally) clean.  That didn't happen with this, but they did feel pretty clean.

I decided to combine it with the baking soda and peroxide.  Let me tell you I LOVED IT!  It gave the nice minty flavor to the mixture, which was great.  I didn't feel like I needed a breath mint after to give me that minty breath.

I didn't expect my gums to feel like they did.  Having several autoimmune diseases, my gums have taken a beating and become red and swollen.  After just a week my gums felt different.  Not as tender, and after 2 weeks the bleeding when I brushed was gone.  Even my dentist commented on how much better my gums looked.  This was a huge selling point for me.


After I tried it I had the kids try it.  They weren't as excited as I was.  They liked the smell, but didn't like how strong it was.  So I made them a baking soda paste (baking soda and water) and added a couple of drops.  It was much better for them, and they even request this over their old toothpaste now.


I definitely recommend this to anyone that is looking for an all natural way to brush your teeth. 

I am giving away 2 free bottles of OraMD.  That's right 2 winners!


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Fitbit Activity Tracker

I did not receive any compensation for this post.  I just love this thing so much I wanted to share.

Since summer is here I'm trying to find things to get us out of the house.

On top of the elliptical workout, I'm trying to work my way up to at least 10,000 steps a day.  I bought myself a Fitbit Zip to help keep track of my steps.  It also gives you an estimate on how many calories you burn a day, has a great website dashboard that lets you see your progress.

One thing I love about the Zip is it syncs with your computer and you don't have to manually log in your steps all the time.  It helps keep you honest with yourself.

You can also log into fitbit.com and see your progress.

I was amazed at how small it was when it arrived.  I thought it would be a little larger, ok a lot, than it was.  All the other pedometers I have had are about twice the size of the Zip.   As you can see its not much bigger than a quarter.  The size makes it much easier to wear, and hide.  I have mine attached to my bra since a lot of my work out clothes don't have pockets.

The package includes a USB Dongle, the Zip, a clip, a battery, and a "key" to unlock the battery cover.

The website dashboard allows you to see your stats all together.  You can even customize what you would like to see.  It also lists your friends and their weekly steps and ranks from highest to lowest.  You can choose to hide yourself from this ranking.  I'm hidden until I get up to 10,000 a day.

There is a phone app to use.  Right now Fitbit only syncs with  iPhone 4S

Samsung Galaxy S,

iPhone 5

Samsung Galaxy S III

iPod Touch (5th gen.)

Samsung Galaxy Note II

iPad 3, Retina

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

iPad mini

Even if you don't have one of these you can still use the app to keep track of your water intake and see your daily activity.

I would definitely recommend the Zip to anyone wanting a little extra from a pedometer or anyone that needs something to help keep themselves honest about their daily steps.

My Memories Digital Scrapbook Software Giveaway!

A few years ago a friend turned me onto digital scrapbooking.  I was hooked instantly. I also loved that I didn't have to find storage room for scrapbooking supplies.  Every free moment I had I spent doing page after page starting with Warrior as a baby and on up.  Then we moved and with getting settled up here and then Tin Man getting sick, I never found the time to get back into it.

So when I was asked to review the My Memories software, I was more than happy to.  When I checked out their website I was amazed at the huge selection they had.  Not just kits they have for sale, but the number of free kits they have too. On just the first page I found several I wanted.

After downloading the software I just jumped right in.  I was amazed at how easy it was to use.  The software comes with very simple backgrounds and embellishments, but like I said there are a ton of templates and kits on their website.  You also have the option of using one of their templates or your own design.  Plus you can create calendars.

I've been playing around with it for the past couple of days and have made a few different pages.  This page I made for Sugar Pea's birthday.  I used the simple background and embellishments that came with the software.

This page I made for a day out last May.  This one is made with one of the kits for sale at My Memories.

Sugar Pea was sat next to me giving me her input on pages for her.  I decided to let her have a go and see what she came up with.

She decided to do a February calendar so she can see what all we have going on this month.  She loved it and was able to do it most of it without any help, that's how easy it was.

I highly recommend checking out My Memories Digital Scrapbooking software for yourself.  If you use the code STMMMS56552 you get a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - that's a $20 value!

Now to the best news!  I've been given a copy of the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking software to give away to one lucky reader!  To enter all you have to do is head on over to My Memories and leave me a comment telling me your favorite, or 2, kits.




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FoodSaver and Salads in a Jar

My mother-in-law bought us a FoodSaver vacuum sealer for Christmas.  You know you're officially a grown up when you're excited about something like this.

Tin Man and I had talked about buying one but when his mom asked what we wanted for Christmas, this was on the list we gave her.

We're trying to save money any way we can, and buying meat in bulk is one way.  Whenever we find a great deal on meat we try to stock up.  This seems like a great idea at the time, until its time to clean out the freezer.  We then find ourselves throwing away so much of these great deals because of freezer burn.

This last time was the last straw and we decided we needed to invest in the FoodSaver so we could stock up on the meat, and actually be able to eat it.  Not to mention Tin Man has seen several recipes that require vacuum sealing the seasonings into the meat for a couple of days.  He's more excited to try those out than he is saving money.

Another great thing is all the attachments you can buy.

There are so many so Tin Man and I decided on choosing one each right now.  Tin Man chose the quick marinator bowl.  Since he's is on a low sodium diet, we've had to find creative ways to season everything.  A lot of the low sodium seasonings just don't add much flavor.  So Tin Man has started experimenting with different seasonings and marinades.  He loves coming up with his own "top secret" marinades.

I chose the wide mouth jar sealer attachment. A couple weeks ago I came across Salad in a Jar.  I love the idea and now am excited to make my own.  I love salads but always find myself throwing out the lettuce more often than not because it gets soggy and gross. 

I like the idea of being able to prepare these one afternoon and have them available whenever I want a snack or a salad with a meal.  I find myself eating out a lot more than I would like because I don't have the time to actually fix me something for lunch.  Plus eating out and trying to lose weight don't go together.

These will definitely come in handy on our long days at clinic.  There isn't anything within walking distance around the clinic, and eating at the hospital is expensive, not to mention very few options that Tin Man can actually eat.  Even hospital cafeteria food is high in sodium.

Yes I know, I get excited over the smallest things, but anything that helps us save money, AND is healthy, I'm all for it.