1. “You Are awesome”
2. Be Thankful

These are just two things I sometimes need to be reminded of. The second one is actually pretty recent, and I added it after reading a quote on Pinterest. It read, roughly: what if you woke up tomorrow and only have the things you thanked God for today. Now, I’m not religious, but it got me to thinking. I often struggled with my anxiety but being grateful is something that is not only becomes more difficult with anxiety but it can ease anxiety. Double-edge sword and all. Still, I wanted to be more grateful and making a running list makes me feel pretty awesome.

For example, I’ve been able to get gift cards for working with websites like EdenFantasys. I’ve tried some pretty awesome products because of this blog — and for free! I’ve even made some money. Aside from my websites, I’ve had a fantastic time recently with my best friend, who just moved back to the area.

One thing that I am consistently grateful for is a hot shower, with a great-smelling body wash . Starting the day off feeling fresh and clean does wonders for my mood. Sometimes, I’ll be in a funk and forget how much those simple things can do to lift me up. It’s that much easier to feel good, mentally and emotionally, when some awesome bath products have left my smelling good.

Sure, nothing’s perfect but, then again, nothing ever will be. There will always be trials. The best part, though? It will always pass.

In the spirit of being thankful, I’d like to thank you. Thank for you the review and giveaway opportunities. Thank you for reading and commenting. Thank you for entering giveaways. Thank you for following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Thank you for the conversation and food for thought. I am forever in your debt.

Solar Is Made Easy makes it easy, as the name suggests, to find out how much it would cost to convert some or all of your current power and heat needs, even if you’re in a flat! Plus, it has information about grants for people who do convert to solar, which I’m sure any discerning consumer would be interested in. LOL

The only thing I’d improve? Make the text over the main banner easily to read. It’s a little hard on the eyes!

Having lived in a larger city, though, I’d probably invest in some sort of security system if I did own my own place. I’d at least get a couple of deadbolts, which really aren’t that common around here. It’s something that makes me feel a little safer though, especially when one of them is keyless to use while I’m home alone. Some nights, after watching Supernatural or something similar, I get a little creeped out when I crawl into bed. It’s silly, I know, but it’s always nice to feel safe.

What sort of security options do you use in your home or building? If you had the opportunity to change them, what would you use instead?

I do not need anymore body wash or lotion.

I do not need anymore body wash or lotion.

I do not need anymore body wash or lotion.

Yea, I think you get the point.

One of the fantastic things about being a reviewer, is that I often get things for free. Sometimes I love them and, other times, not so much. I currently have two almost brand-new bottles of body wash that I don’t really like. I may consider gifting them away. I don’t know. I also have a bunch of lotion that I really do like. I just don’t have enough skin. Surprisingly enough, I got a lot of this surplus from EdenFantasys. The site doesn’t just sell sex toys.

On a couple occasions, I’ve referred to my bathroom cabinet as the wardrobe to Narnia. Whenever I am out of anything — shampoo or soap — I just reach further back to find some more. It seems like I always have an extra bottle or jar of something. The reason it, I always try new things but I rarely like them. I use them for a couple weeks but wind up going back to the products that I know do work for me. The less-than-stellar products wind up in the cabinet and I only use them for another week or so when I run out of the good stuff or, maybe if my skin or hair decides it needs a break from what I’m currently using. This is why I’ve had the same bottle of shampoo in my shower for almost a year!

We got DirecTV just before the superbowl this year because the kids are obsessed with the commercials. I don’t know when they got so into advertising but my daughter is now saying that’s what she wants to do for a living when she gets older! I’m going to have to start saving up for college if that’s the case – we live more or less from paycheck to paycheck and there hasn’t been a lot of extra money to set aside for things like college but we do our best to put money away where we can. I know both my kids are smart enough to get scholarships so I’m hoping that’s what happens but you know, at the end of the day if we have to put them through school I’ll work two jobs to do it. I never had the opportunity to go to college and I think my life would have been a lot better if I had – I’m going to give my kids the chance!

Granted, there’s not much that I can do to fix that, living in a rented apartment, it’s definitely something that I would look into if I owned my own house or condo. I’d make sure all the windows were properly fitted and used techniques like double glazing, which helps to insulate a building by using double-paned glass with space in between them to trap a pocket of air and prevent heat from leaving the building.

It sounds a little less tasty than, say, a glazed donut but I love living in comfort. Interesting enough, this technique was invented in the United Stats 80 years ago but it didn’t pick up in other places, like the UK, until more recently. It’s definitely a shame and some consumers are just starting to seek out more information and compare costs between different companies that offer this service.

Sometimes when I see a guy who is good looking and in glasses, I wonder how long he’s had them and whether he bought them from a site like Glasses.com or from his optometrist. I know a couple people, my mom and ex-husband included, who definitely didn’t take enough time when choosing their glasses and it shows. A badly fitted pair of eye glasses isn’t a deal-breaker but it always makes me wonder what a person was thinking and why he or she didn’t take time to get a second opinion or take more time to choose. That’s probably me being a little judgmental and it’s definitely tied to the fact that I still don’t have glasses myself – LOL.

When we moved into our new house we got our cable television with www.Cabletvadvisor.com. That is where I found my new favorite pastime watching The Travel Channel. I can just sit in my living room and feel like I am travelling all over the world. The other day I was watching that channel and saw a program on Jamaica which is where we went on our honeymoon. It showed so many places that we had seen in person. I felt like I was reliving my honeymoon except for the part where my husband was at work and not home. When we were there we had taken a couple of bus tours to different places on the island. We had gone to tour Bob Marley’s home and that was a feature on the program that I was watching. I learned even more about Bob while watching the show. It also showed this waterfall that we had climbed while we were there. I will never forget how afraid I was climbing that steep waterfall. But, we had a guide that showed us the best way to climb and before I knew what was happening, we were at the top. Watching that program about Jamaica made me want to go back there again.

I sometimes make cracks about not having insurance — it does suck — especially because the insurance I previously had, through the military was top-notch. It was so much better than any insurance program I was eligible for or involved in prior to that. On more than one occasion, I used that insurance for birth control refills as local Walgreens, which were then part of of the pharmacy provider network that for Express Scripts.

Express Scripts, if you’re unfamiliar, (I was!) is the organization that is the middle man between pharamacies and employers like the US military (which uses insurance through the umbrella company Tricare) and, despite Walgreens’ willingness to not raise and drug prices and to match any other pharmacy’s price for drugs that is in the network, Express Scripts refused to deal. You can read more about Walgreens and Express Scripts here.

What this means is that many service members and their family, along with other employees of businesses that relied on Express Scripts, will have to go elsewhere to purchase medications will have to find other pharmacies if they don’t or can’t afford to pay out of pocket for their prescriptions. Of course, that’s just not a suitable option for many people, especially those in small towns, remote areas or with mobility problems. Walgreens is trying to help its customers by offering discounts ($5 for individuals, $10 for family) for enrollment into the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens You can still save on thousands of medications by joining this club.

Even if you’re not a Walgreens customer (I rarely use them these days; although, I just dropped by one last night), this is a pretty serious issue and you probably know someone who is. If you think this action on the part of Express Scripts is incredibly shifty, you can contact your local news outlets. You an also hook up with Walgreens on Twitter and Walgreens on Facebook to let them know that you appreciate their support and support them in this issue.