Adoption Countdown

We were matched with a little boy, due March 18th. :-D pregnancy calendar

Funding Our Adoption

My husband and I are adopting a baby from the US and it's a very costly process, so if you or anyone you know is willing to help, we would greatly appreciate it! To Donate by Check: Any checks should be made out to International CARE, Inc. and mailed to: I CARE PO BOX 1603 Bel Air, Maryland 21014 NOTE: Please DO NOT write our name in the memo line as the IRS does not like that. Just enclose a brief note with Melinda & Sean on it. To Pay by Credit Card/Paypal: Go to to http://www.intlcare.org/ and go to the Helping Us page. Specify in the note section that the donation is for Sean and Melinda's adoption. Any amount helps. Thank you!

August 05, 2009

The SAK Purse Review & Giveaway - CLOSED

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

clenna said...
My favorrite is the Iris Crossbody - I love the size and the shoulder strap.
August 5, 2009 8:07 AM



I found out about this company a few months ago and I think they're bags are beautiful, but first let me tell you about the company:

The Sak is one of the largest handbag companies in the country, offering multiple, highly differentiated handbag brands, through specialized points of distribution. The Sak designs and manufactures four distinct handbag brands – The Sak, Elliott Lucca, Luxy and Lina.

The Sak brand karma is happy & free. Peace and harmony among all things is interwoven into our spirit and our deep rooted brand heritage. Our bags complement your easy going style taking you from work to the weekend effortlessly. Retailing for $69-$229, the sak bags can be found at department stores including Macy’s, Dillard’s and Nordstrom’s, at select specialty stores and at at http://www.thesak.com/

Some of my favorites are seen below:


Even Celebrities are taking note of The SAK bags like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift:



I was so excited when I was given the opportunity to review one of their leather bags, seen below. I am normally not a fan of large purses, but I LOVE this one. It has compartments inside which make it very easy to organize all my things, and two side compartments for cards or a cell phone and a zipper pouch for all the things you want to keep hidden. I can fit my wallet, digital camera, day planner, perfume, nail file, cell phone, coupons, work ID badge and so much more in this spacious bag. I also love this saffron color...It's just bright enough to be a summer bag, but it's a golden tone which transitions perfectly into the Fall! One of the other things I adore about this bag is the obvious stitching. It's the same shade as the bag, but the stitching is just obvious enough that it looks crafted by hand, which I find very appealing.



The SAK has generously offered one of my readers a chance to win this gorgeous leather bag in brown, pictured below:
How To Enter:

**By entering this contest, you will automatically be entered into the sak and Elliott Lucca databases for future emails**
**LEAVE A COMMENT FOR EACH THING YOU DO, WITH YOUR EMAIL IN EACH COMMENT**

1. Mandatory- Head over to The Sak, and leave a comment with your favorite item, and include your email in the comment box (not in your blogger profile)
2. 1 extra- Subscribe via email
3. 1 extra- Become a blog Follower
4. 1 extra- Follow me on Twitter: MelindaJoy926, and Tweet with this hashcode @MelindaJoy926 and link to this giveaway
5. 1 extra- Add my button to your sidebar
6. 1 extra- Blog about this giveaway

Deadline To Enter: August 24th, 2009 at noon EST

Good Luck

August 03, 2009

Learning Link Brain Training System Giveaway-CLOSED

Congratulations to:
Jennifer @ Quiverfull Family said...
I suspect that my daughter might need this program, though she doesn't have an official diagnosis. I follow your blog.
August 14, 2009 1:58 AM


Did you know that 1 in 5 children today have dyslexia. 1 in 150 have autism. A whole slew of learning disabilities are prevalent in our society. Such as ...

Dyslexia [what is dyslexia?]
Dysgraphia
Dyscalculia (Like dyslexia for math)
ADD ADHD [info on ADD]
Autism Spectrum disorder
Below grade level performance

... and so many more

Science has learned so much about the brain in the past 10-15 years. Yet there are very few programs that use the modern research to help children with these learning problems.

But they can be helped!

We are just introducing to the world a system that does take advantage of modern discoveries to actually rewire the brain. The brain has plasticity. It can grow and develop. The old science said it couldn't. the new science says it can. (If it can't how do stroke victims recover? They do!)

This program can have a huge positive difference in the life of a child. It's been used on hundreds of kids with amazing results.

Video:
Click here or here to view a videos on this program and how it works.




It's a Neuro-Sensory Brain Training program. (That just means it uses the brain and the body. They are connected right?). It's actually very simple to use. A parent following the easy to follow videos can easily guide a child through the exercises.

This is an online course with video instruction. Online quizzes help the parent know when to move onto the next module.

You may or may not know someone who needs a program like this. But the odds are that you do. Take a second and think about that.

Statistically speaking about 1 in 4 of my readers has a strong need for this, and thankfully I have a membership to giveaway.

More Information can be found here:
http://www.learning-aids.com/
http://www.braintrainingsystem.com/

The Giveaway:
We would like to do a giveaway of three months of the program. This is a $240 value.

To Enter:
**Leave a seperate comment for each thing you do**

1) Become a Melinda Joy Email Subscriber
2) Become a Melinda Joy Blog Follower
3) Become a MelindaJoy926 Twitter Follower
4) Subscribing to Lisa's video serieshttp://www.braintrainingsystem.com/
5) Joining Lisa's Facebook Grouphttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=80601871492
6) Following Lisa on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/learninglink

Deadline: August 15th at noon EST

August 02, 2009

Rennovation/Redesign Series #2 - Paint Brands

Are all paint brands created equal?
At this point in our home rennovation/home redesign series we had to decide what to do about paint. We had already removed ALL of the wallpaper which covered every wall in the house, removed all the glue and backing and washed down the walls, and spackled in every hole, so we were ready to put some color on the wall, right? Wrong.

We found out that most walls required primer, which would cover any stains or blemishes in the wall that the paint may not cover. Some of our walls were green around the outside, yellow in the inside and cream in the center. We didn't think regular paint would cover this medley of colors. So, after asking friends and family, and professionals at Walmart, Ace Hardware and Home Depot we decided on Kilz Original: an interior oil-base formula, is America’s number one selling stainblocking primer/sealer that tackles the toughest stains.



After the Kilz was applied, and it worked amazingly well at covering ever spot and stain, and we used two coats in some places, it was time to detemine the type of paint we should buy: the finish (eggshell, semi glossy, glossy etc), and we were advised that eggshell is the best type of paint finish for walls because it helps to hide minor imperfections and is also easy to wipe down.
Next was determining the brand. In this area we had a LOT of input, so we decided to try out two different Brands: Glidden & Benjamin Moore.

The representatives at Glidden were nice enough to let me know about a special promotion they were running in early August where they were giving away a free quart of Glidden paint to anyone. The special ran for 4 days I believe, and I took full advantage of this oppurtunity. I ordered Creamy Buttermilk from Glidden and tried it out on the Dining Room, seen below (note: The blue is tape to keep paint off the molding):


Overall I was pleased with Glidden's paint quality. The advantages was that it was Free, always a plus, and that they had a wide variety of premixed colors to choose from online. The disadvantage was that it wasn't a thick paint, and tended to drip a bit and went on thinner, which is why we ended up needing 2 full coats.

We also tried Benjamin Moore paint which was suggested by family members. We had heard that this brand works as a primer and paint all in one, but we did not test this, as all our walls were already primed. We purchased two colors and painted our Kitchen wall red, and our living room walls a blue/gray color (see below):




My opinion of Benjamin Moore paint is that it is much thicker than Glidden, and covers very well. The walls did not need a second coat, but we did one just to be on the safe side. The paint didn't have any odors that I recall, and I was very pleased with how the paint looked on our walls (and again, the blue is painter's tape)

So, from my experience, I would highly reccommend both Kilz Original Primer and Benjamin Moore eggshell finish paints. Glidden worked well enough, but I found it much easier to work with Benjamin Moore Paints.

We are just glad that our house is starting to resemble a home instead of a disaster area :)

Paperback Swap!!! (get rid of old books and get new ones)

Trade Books for Free - PaperBack Swap.

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