Share the Love of #Swagbucks and Earn $5 #valentinesday

February is a month of love, and getting a $5 bonus from Swagbucks is their way of showing it! Swagbucks is a rewards site where you earn points (called SB) for things you're probably doing online already, like searching, watching videos, discovering deals, and taking surveys. Then you take those points and exchange them for gift cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, Target, or PayPal cash.

When you sign up through me this month, you can earn a $5 bonus! Here's how:

1. Sign up using this link

2. Earn 300 SB total before 3/1/17. You'll get a $3 (300 SB) bonus for it!

3. If you spend at least $25 through Swagbucks Shop* you'll get another $2 (200 SB) bonus on top of the cash back you'll get from shopping. If you have some shopping to do online, just go to Swagbucks first and visit the store through them. It doesn't cost you anything extra, but you'll get SB points for every dollar you spend (on top of the bonus)!

That's it. It's super easy, and Swagbucks is for real. I use it myself, and I've earned 52,259 Swagbucks so far, which is $522.59 in real money! I generally cash out in my PayPal account so I can shop on eBay (earning more Swagbucks) or Amazon (also earning more Swagbucks). It's a lovely cycle!

*You must receive your shopping SB before April 1st

Collage.com Review ... A Much Easier Way to Keep Your Memories

Welcome to another edition of Reviews I Should Have Posted Forever Ago. Back here in 2014 I wrote about Collage.com and how I was going to make a photo book for my family for free to review. I got to make two of them but right now can only find one of them due to packing and not moving issues. The other one is much bigger and I think it's from a trip we took to Branson when I got to review Castle Rock indoor water park, which ROCKED. This one featured is small and already a page has fallen out of it. I also could never figure out how to put captions with any of the pictures but maybe that has changed since 2014.

The little book I made in like 12 seconds just popping in the pictures I wanted from our Eureka Springs vacation.

I couldn't figure out where to type this so I just wrote it once I got it.

Lots of layout options so you can pick the focal point and build around it.

Oh, man, do I remember this day clearly! That water was freezing and they had just let the dam out (is that the right way to say that?). We were there with Aron's identical twin and his kids and it was just a lovely day. Some of them jumped in to freeze. This girl did not.

Bottom line: I recommend this HIGHLY. I used to do Creative Memories albums like a crazy person and it took a lot of time and money. I have a lot of VERY HEAVY albums. At this point in my life I'm thinking making these quick albums would be the better way to go but I am a woman of WORDS so I would need to be able to do a caption under certain photos or at least dedicate an entire page to talking about the story behind the situation, especially since I take copious journal notes of every day of my life. And how did you like that run-on sentence, friends? You're welcome.

Earn #Swagbucks in your Neighborhood with SB Local

You've probably heard me talk about Swagbucks before. It's the site where you get points (called SB) for doing things like shopping, discovering deals, watching videos, taking surveys, and searching the web. Then you turn those points in free gift cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, Target, and PayPal cash.

Swagbucks is at its best when they're paying you to do something you'd already do online, and now they're taking that concept into thousands of restaurants around the country with the SB Local app for iOS and Android. Starting on 2/2 and running through Sunday, 2/5, they have a killer deal running - here's how you can take advantage of it:

1. Click here to download the Swagbucks Local app. You can create your Swagbucks account if you're new to it.
2. Sign in with your Swagbucks account information.
3. Link your first debit/credit cards to your Swagbucks Local app and get an instant 100 SB!
4. Use your linked card to pay at thousands of participating locations! If you spend $20 or more before Monday, February 6th, you'll get a 300 SB bonus! That bonus will be paid out by 5pm PST on February 10th.

If you're also signing up for Swagbucks for the first time and use my link, that means you'll get another 300 SB bonus. We're talking about $7 plus for going out to eat!

Some more info about SB Local:
Soon after paying with your linked card, you will see the transaction show up in your Swagbucks Local Activity ledger. Your SB earned will be calculated on the transaction amount before taxes and tip. Swagbucks Local is currently supported in the following metropolitan areas: San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, Ventura County, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington DC, Phoenix, Houston, Denver, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, Seattle, Fort Lauderdale and Chicago. New cities added on a regular basis, and you'll get the 100 SB bonus for linking your first card even if you don't live in one of the cities listed above!

Nike Bonus Days and MyGiftCardsPlus Get You #Swagbucks

If you love Nike stuff or know someone who does, you can get 15% cash back on all Nike Gift Cards during Nike Bonus Days on MyGiftCardsPlus! MyGiftCardsPlus is a great site where you get cash back for buying gift cards - the cash back is paid out in the form of points from Swagbucks, which is a great website where you redeem those points (called SB) for gift cards to places like Amazon, PayPal... and Nike!

So to recap, you can get 15% cash back (in the form of SB) on Nike gift cards from MyGiftCardsPlus, which you can then use on Swagbucks to get more Nike gift cards!

Click here to take advantage of this great deal!

Putting Yourself In Their Shoes - However Uncomfortable They May Be!

As the times are changing, communication is better than ever. We can talk to somebody face-to-face using our phones, get in touch with people across the other side of the world in the click of a button and can walk along having a conversation with somebody using just an earpiece instead of making the phone.

This is great news for those who need to use this technological feat for work purposes. And as easy as it is for us to call another person, it is making our excuses easier for moving across the country - whether it be for business, pleasure or just a change of scenery and lifestyle.

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Are you taking everybody into consideration?

Apart from thinking about yourself and your spouse, who else have you thought that you may be impacting with your move? Forget about those that you are leaving behind - it is more likely the ones that you are taking with you who will be at the very least a bit shaken up by the whole ordeal. When you have children, their emotions are highly fragile and sensitive at such a tender time of their life. Have you prepared everything for them?

Make the move as simple as possible

The last thing that kids want to see when their lives are being turned upside down are the pillars of stability falling down with it. You are their main support whether you like it or not; don’t let the stress of the move get to you, or at least try not to show it. By having everything in place and in order, this will minimize any potential stress considerably. Especially with cross country moves, you’d be better off organizing everything to go in one go rather than zipping back and forth in an effort that could take days if not weeks to complete. Use a van courier and delivery driver to help take away some of work.

Reassure

You probably have a lot of life experiences to go off to help you on your new journey. Your children don’t, or at the very least won’t have as many. If this is their first big move then they are going to be away from their family, their friends and life as they know it. If you are moving from a city to the country or vice versa then it will be even harder an adjustment for them to make. Remember to constantly reassure that this is the right decision (even if it’s not!) and that everything will be okay; you could even reference the film Inside Out and play it to show that all can turn out right in the end. Let them know that they can visit ‘home’ any time and remain optimistic about it all - if there is even a hint of doubt or pessimism in your voice, they will pick up on it as they are looking for the worry to hold on to. Keep calm and collected and this will pass on to them too.