Mom Life in the PNW

Zaycon Foods is America’s Drive Thru Meat Market – Fresher, Faster and Cheaper!

How does Zaycon Foods manage to provide such high quality super fresh meat and produce to its customers at such low prices? The answer is strength in numbers. And not our numbers, yours!
Zaycon Foods can sell its products at bulk rate prices to individual consumers and families because our unique sales event business model brings lots of people together, adding all their purchasing power into a combined bulk food purchase. And when you buy as part of a group that’s committing to such a large purchase, the power is in the hands of the purchaser! It’s the ultimate group buy in terms of both price and consumer empowerment.
You can pre-select exactly what you want to order from a given Zaycon sales event – sometimes you may want to stock up on our amazing meaty back ribs and sometimes it might be all about the Zaycon bacon – and then, on the day of the sales event, you and a whole big bunch of your neighbors will find yourselves in a nearby parking lot watching as an entire tractor trailer’s worth of high quality natural food is unloaded into all of your cars! You will be amazed at how quickly one of our refrigerated trucks goes from being filled with natural, fresh chicken or hundreds of gallons of grade A non-homogenized milk to being empty and back on its way to the farm!
A Zaycon Foods truck sales event often lasts less time than you would spend on a trip to the grocery store, yet you will leave with a whole lot more food than you’d get at the market, and for much better prices, too!
When you use the Zaycon Foods sales event as your preferred place to purchase meats, milk, and any of our other fine products, you get advantages even beyond the bulk pricing that comes with our special sales model. You also have the peace of mind of knowing exactly what you’re going to get! A trip to the grocery store can involve wasted time wandering around looking for various foods spread out across the store; at a Zaycon Foods parking lot meat truck delivery (or milk or berries or fish delivery, too!) you have pre-ordered your foods, so all you have to do is show up and wait for our friendly staffers and volunteers to load up your car. 
Also, unlike in the grocery store, the prices you will pay for a Zaycon Foods product are locked in on our website, so you will know how much you are going to spend before you have committed to a purchase. 
At a supermarket, you might pay one price for chicken on one day, and then a higher price on another day. With Zaycon, you decide that you want to order a case of our fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts, you check the price and then you commit to it, knowing that from that moment on, we are committed to getting you your fresh, natural food!
To get started, check out Zaycon now.

Nuvo Cabinet Paint Review

When I heard about Nuvo Cabinet Paint, I thought it would be perfect for updating the color of our kitchen cabinets to the cocoa couture color to match the rest of the furniture of the house as it’s an open concept space. My husband didn’t like that idea since he thinks the color of the cupboards is fine as they are. As you can see, they’re not a bad color, just not a color that I prefer!

So I decided to give the paint to one of our friends since he just bought a house that needed quite a bit of updating, which included needing fresh paint in his kitchen. Now, this is not a brand new spanking house, or he wouldn’t need any updates at all. I think it was built in the early 1900’s, so it needs quite a bit of work. We actually went over there just to help him repaint the entire house, except for the living room area, because the ceiling was being refinished with sheetrock, etc.

My Nuvo Cabinet Paint Kit arrived about a week after it was ordered and it came with everything we needed to get the hideous yellow-green color off of the cabinets; 2 quarts of paint (covers 100 sq ft area), paint sticks, paint can opener, rollers, sandpaper, and instructional information. Having everything in this bundle made the process that much simpler to deal with and do.

We just traveled back in time yo!

First, we sanded our friends’ cupboards to help get the tacky yellow color lighter so the paint would adhere to it better. We removed the drawer pulls, and then we went to town and finished his small kitchen area with the slate modern gray color with the small paint brushes that were sent. He didn’t have any updated cabinet fixtures yet since he just bought this place not that long ago, but I imagine everything will be in tip-top shape when he has the funds to proceed. Even with just the paint, it has improved the look drastically. He was unsure if which color to go with, and in fact, wanted to pick a lighter color, but I mentioned that with having the countertops white, as well as the appliances, the entire kitchen would look like a dreary hospital. If he updates the countertops with some of Giani’s granite countertop paint, I think the kitchen would pop, especially if he bought some stainless steel appliances and new fixtures to go along with!

Our friend did mention that it has chipped some, but he had leftover paint which can be used to touch up the chipped areas any time he needs to. It’s probably a good idea to put a topcoat over them even though it says it’s not needed just to get that added layer of protection. Overall, I love it! Maybe next time we can get some Giani Granite Counter Top Paint.

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.

 

6 Tips on How to Save Money When Buying Gifts

Shopping online is now widely considered to be the best way to do your shopping – whether buying household items, clothes or even groceries, more people every day are choosing to go online.

And it’s really not the least bit surprising – online shopping saves you time, energy and can help you save a lot of money as well.

However, there are mistakes that are often made when shopping online that can cost you
money and even get you swindled out of your hard-earned money.

Whenever going online to shop, you should always be aware of a few important things to help you have a pleasant shopping experience.

  1. Overlooking Shipping Prices

When you find a great offer that seems to be cheaper than other sellers, don’t rush off to the checkout just yet. You may find that the price is much bigger when you add up the shipping fees.

Some sellers do this on purpose – they’ll reduce the prices of the items, but raise the shipping fees, so even though it may look like you’re buying cheaper, you end up paying the same, if not more.

Shipping prices may also be influenced by how far from the seller you live, so consider that too when ordering.

  1. Wiring Payments Instead of Using Paypal or a Credit Card

When you finally decide to buy something, check what the paying options are. If the seller only accepts a wire transfer, you’ll probably end up paying a lot of additional fees for the money transfer that can significantly increase your total.

If possible, look for sellers that have the option to pay with Paypal or a credit card – this way you’ll be paying for the item and the additional payments, if any, will not be as significant.

Additionally, there is no customer protection when paying with a wire transfer, which means, that if you wire the money, there’s probably no way to get it back, in case you get swindled.

  1. Not Reading the Return Policy

Whatever you might be buying, always check the sellers’ return policy. You never know what might happen – you can receive something that is damaged or something that just doesn’t fit you.

It pays to know if your seller accepts returns, does he offer free returns, can you get a full refund or exchange the item.

If a seller does not have a return policy, you should strongly consider finding another one, because otherwise, you’ll have no options if you receive an item that you’re not satisfied with.

  1. Missing Out On Coupons

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not to take advantage of the many coupons that are available for almost any seller online.

If you take just a little time to look around the internet for various coupons on the item you’re looking for, you’re almost certain to find a deal that will let you get a much better deal than you originally had.

It’s as simple as this – you’re almost definitely paying more than you could if you don’t use the various promotions that are available every day.

  1. Too Good to Be True?

When browsing the net for offers, sometimes you’ll come across deals that are not simply good, but just flat out amazing.

And that’s not always a good thing. If you catch yourself thinking that it just sounds too good to be true, it probably is. When an offer is simply unrealistic, it probably means that the seller is trying to scam you out of your money.

Always buy from sellers that are trustworthy – have a reputation, a solid website and content, have easily findable contact information and can be reached with it.

Use common sense when choosing a place to buy online, because there are instances where you should pay a little more, but be sure that you’ll get what you want.

Whether you’re an experienced online buyer or are just thinking of trying it, know that it can be a great way of shopping, if you remember the important things to consider.

The next time you log on to your computer to do some shopping, remember these tips – they will save you a lot of money and trouble.

Backpacking, drinking, and staples, oh my!

My husband had planned a backpacking trip for the memorial day weekend since he had Monday off. It was pretty craptacular weather this weekend with bursts of rain randomly throughout. Everyone else that had planned on going decided not to go because of the rain. Backpacking in the rain is not very fun, especially for our slacker friends who are too cheap to buy proper clothing attire that’s quick wicking. I found my quick-drying Columbia pants on Amazon for only $18, that was practically a steal since REI charges an arm and a leg for theirs. Just got to know how to find the deals.

Since everyone else pooped out like I had mentioned, I wasn’t going to let my husband go alone, so I went with. As soon as we get on the trail with our 30+ pound backpacks, it starts pouring, go figure! Wasn’t fun, but at least we had the proper gear to withstand it. The trail was about 2.8 miles to our camp spot, so it wasn’t that long, but long enough that my Gregory Deva 70 pack was starting to hurt my shoulders. I should probably go get it properly measured to my body since it feels like all the weight is on my shoulders rather than my hips. Maybe I just need bigger straps or something.

So we finally reach our camp spot at Gillette Lake, but camping spots are limited. There were no other hikers, but there were other campers who drove in, damn them! They got the nice spot by the water and all the dry wood. We were stuck with a crappy spot where someone demolished the fire pit, so I had to rebuild it with rocks. Then the hard part was trying to find wood. None to really be found except this one that looked like a pole of some sort with bolts sticking out of it. Hubby brought his saw, so he cut it up. We gathered various kindling to try and get the fire started with petroleum and cotton balls. Those took fire of course, then eventually the kindling started. It finally got hot enough to attempt to start a fire with bigger stuff, but it just wouldn’t catch cause it was too wet. We finally gave up and kept the wood near the hot coals so it would possibly dry out by morning.

We head to our tent since we’re cold and have no fire, so we open up the booze. You may be thinking you carried in booze in your packs, you’re crazy! No, not really. We usually bring in plastic containers rather than glass to cut down on the weight. Then we grab a container of country time lemonade and we’re good to go. We ended up playing some cards and I brought in my nexus to play some apps while the hubby read, then we passed out.

I awake to my husband getting in and out of the tent about 4 times throughout the night. Him and his small damn bladder when drinking! I didn’t get up once since I went right before bed. I knew I was plenty good and didn’t really drink too much anyways cause I knew I’d probably have to get up a lot and I hate getting comfortably warm and then go outside to freeze my ass off. I think I need to also invest in a shewee since the pee stream has a mind of its own. Sometimes it’s straight, sometimes its to the left heading towards your pant leg or foot, then you have to attempt to do the splits so it doesn’t reach, which makes you fall over. It’s just a mess!

The next day, we wake up to our friends walking in. We didn’t think that they would do it with the rain, but they were down for doing table mountain. I knew I probably wouldn’t do it because I don’t have the stamina to do something that steep and difficult and I figured they probably wouldn’t either. I went along anyways just to see it, so I get about a mile in, and then turn around because I was just slowing them down and it’s pretty much a 6 hour to and back hike. I wanted them to just hurry up and get it over with. I drop off my water bladder to the hubby, give him some beef jerky and trail mix and head back to camp. I crawl back in the tent and into my sleeping bag and pass out for about a half an hour to an hour since I slept like poo the night before. The next thing I know, I wake up to the sound of my husbands voice off in the distance. About 10 minutes go by and still no show. I’m thinking hmm I guess they didn’t make it either. They finally show up to the camp site with jello shots in hand and then our friends say they almost killed my husband. I’m like what…

They’re normally sarcastic, so I assumed they were joking. Then my husband turns the side of his head and I see a bloody mess and then I’m like WTF! I put my shoes on and crawl out of the tent and look at his head and see a chunk of meat sticking up on top. My first thought is he needs stitches or staples, but they’re like oh he’s okay. My husband wasn’t wanting to leave or even go to the hospital for that matter since they were telling him it wasn’t that bad. I think he should trust my instinct though. I took a picture to try to show him, but it was so covered in blood it was hard to tell. The friends hiked out to go grab our car and bring it around to the road so that he wouldn’t have to hike out. I started packing up our crap while our friends wife doctored it up a little bit with some antiseptic. She worked in a veterinary hospital before so I trust she knows something, even if she was only working the receptionist desk.

Apparently the story of what happened was my husband was taking his long johns off from underneath his pants. He had one pant leg and shoe off and one on, then the 2 friends get the bright idea to mess with a tree to try and knock it over. The tree didn’t fall over, but a branch did from 60 feet up which hit him directly on the head and split him open. I swear, our friends are like 12. Who in their right mind thinks knocking over a tree is a good idea, especially when someone is sitting there not able to run and move because their shit is off their legs. Not knowing which way a tree could fall. /Shakes head. I know they felt bad, but damn that was stupid!

They finally arrive back with the cars, so we head out and to the friends house since he lives like 2 minutes away. He goes and takes a shower to try and get all the blood off his face and head, but it was pretty dried on. He ends up touching the spot with his fingers and realizes oh shit, there is a big piece sticking out of my head and finally wants to go to urgent care. We get into town and head to urgent care and they need to give him staples. I knew he needed something, he should just listen to me! LOL

They cleaned it up, numbed him and proceeded to give him 8 staples through his head. He can’t do any strenuous activities and gets them out in the next week. I hear the head heals pretty fast, so that’s great, but now they say to wear a hat for at least 4-6 months to prevent skin cancer since scar tissue is more susceptible.

This is not stopping him from wanting to get back out on the dusty, muddy trail since they didn’t even get to the base of table mountain. He’s wanting to go back out this weekend, but that’s just too soon. He’s a crazy man for sure!

5 Ways To Speed Up Your Beauty Routine

 

You’ve done it again!  You’ve hit the snooze button once too often and now run the risk of being late to work.  Often times, women hit the floor running early in the morning, and are making that mad dash for work.  You hardly have time to get dressed and put on your make-up, let alone have breakfast.  Luckily, there are several easy beauty tips that can simplify your morning, and may even leave a little extra time for breakfast.

Problem:  Your multistep skin prep takes way too long.

Solution:  Be sure to cleanse your face, and quickly dot on a good moisturizer containing at least an SPF of 15.  Moisturizer helps rejuvenate the skin from the long night of sleep.  Save the toner and other facial care items until later that night.  Skin cleansing cloths are a great alternative to washing your face.  They work quickly to remove dirt and oil, leaving your skin feeling fresh and clean in half of the time.

Problem:  Digging through your cosmetic brushes is a waste of time.

Solution:  You don’t need to use all of your cosmetic brushes when you’re in a hurry.  Simply apply your foundation with a wedge sponge.  Use your blush brush to dust on powder, blush, and bronzer.  Skip your lipstick brush and apply a thin layer of gloss.  Comb your eyebrows and your through with your brushes.  Try keeping your brushes organized in a bag for easy access.  You can also take them with you in the car for quick touch-ups at work.

Problem:  You’ve got too many products in your cosmetic bag.

Solution:  Many innovative facial products now combine separate products, making it simpler to apply.  Here are a few time saving cosmetic combination ideas:

  • Foundation + Sunscreen
  • Moisturizer + Sunscreen + Tint
  • Concealer + Wrinkle Smoother
  • Toothpaste + Whitener + Breath Freshener
  • Make sure that you go through your cosmetic bag regularly and get rid of old, unused cosmetics.  Keeping your bag clean and organized can help cut down on time spent rummaging around in your cosmetic bag.

Problem:  Your products seem to wear off too easily.

Solution:  Try applying a facial primer before using your foundation.  This will help your cosmetics adhere better to your skin.  A lip primer also works well to keep your lip color in place all day.  After washing and moisturizing your skin, allow you face to dry for a few minutes.  Use this time to brush your teeth or style your hair.  Then apply a thin coat of primer to your entire face, including your eyelids and lips.  Continue applying your cosmetic products as usual.  You’ll be amazed at how long your products will stay looking wonderful.

Problem:  You don’t have time to do your hair.

Solution:  Try using dry shampoo.  Once restricted to bed-ridden individuals, many reputable manufacturers have come out with their take on this simple product.  Not only does it make your hair smell good, but it adds body and volume as well.  Although stylists recommend avoiding daily use, dry shampoo is the perfect way to speed up your hair styling process.  Stick your hair in a cute bun, and you’re ready to face the day.

If you are running late to work, it doesn’t mean that you can’t look beautiful.  Use these simple tips to speed up your normal beauty routine, and you’ll be on your way in no time.