Friday 5: 5 Things I wished people told me about going gluten-free

Since going gluten-free, I've learned so much about gluten that I wished I knew before going gluten-free. Like the checklist of doom. But that's really how almost everything in life is, life experience teaches you a lot of things. You're always learning.

Because of my post yesterday and mentioning I love posting things that I know can help people. I thought giving 5 things I thought I knew about going gluten-free would be better than 5 of my favorite things for once. If I could have known these things before going gluten-free I would have been happy.  

1. You're the body's going to adjust as gluten leaves your body: Even if you have a problem with gluten, you can still go through withdraw symptoms. The symptoms for awhile feel worse than you did eating gluten. Some of the symptoms include, but aren't limited to headaches, dizziness, and even irritability. Sounds counter intuitive right? That's why it's best to talk with your doctor if you're having any questions or concerns about going gluten-free.

2. Shopping in the "gluten-free" section is not worth it: As exciting as it sounds to shop in the gluten-free section, the donuts, the cookies, cakes, and crackers all look so tasty. But you really don't need to be shopping in the gluten-free section to be gluten-free. Fruits, vegetables, and even meat (if you're not vegetarian) are gluten-free. If you want cakes, cookies or crackers, buy gluten free flour and make your own, it's a lot cheaper that way.

3. Cross-contamination happens: Depending on the severity of your gluten-intolerance, there's a chance of cross-contamination. An example that I hear about a lot is Pizza Hut, a lot of the time they cut their gluten-free pizza and pizza crust with the same knife they use for the regular pizza crust without washing it! Always check the allergy information on your ingredients are gluten intolerant or have celiacs.

Food allergy survival guide

4. You must have gluten in your system to be tested: If you're feeling great going gluten-free, be prepared to eat gluten again to get tested for celiacs and gluten-intolerance. The celiac.org site says to eat a slice or two of bread for 6-8 weeks before your test. 

5. Sometimes celiac disease can be silent: Not everyone who has celiacs shows outwards symptoms or even typical intestinal symptoms (constipation, bloating, or diarrhea). These people have Silent Celiacs.

Tag Thursday: Confession Time

Time to make a few confessions. I'm not really spilling tea this time around. I'm talking about something I do almost every day, blogging. It's something that people really don't get until they're writing their own blogs, nobody talks about the behind-the-scenes of blogging.

It's not just sitting behind a computer! I promise! There's more that goes into it as you'll soon read. Hopefully, you'll learn a thing or two about myself or a thing or two about blogging. 

I took this Tag from Mama Kat's Losin' It and changed it up a bit. The original tag was meant for YouTubers so I changed the questions a bit and removed one. But anyway this is what it's like in my blogging world. What makes me tick..

1. How many hours a week do you spend writing and editing?

About 10 hours, at least. That doesn't include the time I take researching my topic, and writing out the outlines. In total the time, it takes to write a blog post every day would be 3 hours on a good day. Friday's may seem like they're the longest days to write, but they're not. I usually write out my top 5 list during the week and include one item a day, so that I'm not overwhelmed. 

2. What kind of computer do you use to write with?
I have an ASUS Vivobook. I got it from QVC right before Christmas. It's a pretty solid computer and works great for blogging. It's fast and it has enough room to save the files that I need. 

3. Why do you blog?
I find it therapeutical, while I'm happy when other people read my blog, I write my blog because it allows me to focus on something other than physical pain at least for a little while. What people don't know is, when I'm creative writing my blog, letting all my feelings or thoughts fill a page, it clears my mind, having a cloudy mind and having physical pain go hand in hand and can become crazy. 

4. Who is your favorite blogger?
My all-time favorite blogger has to be Cristie (Raising Whasians), her blog is beautifully done and has so many amazing things. 

5. Do you monetize your blog?
As of right now, I don't. I don't think I'd ever monetized my blog posts. I don't feel like I want to profit out of my personal thoughts. Maybe in the future, I'll monetize my blog, but I don't see it anywhere on the horizon. 

6. What’s one thing you’re excited about in the upcoming year?

Blogwise? I can't think of anything exciting. I do hope to have some sweepstakes and giveaways in the near future. I'm not one to think about exciting things until they're in the making, I'm just one of those types of people.

7. What’s your most awkward blogging moment?

Anytime I'm blogging with Freya on my hand gets awkward. Until you have a cat sit on your hand while you're typing, it's not awkward. I always get worried that she'll press the publish button before I get done typing. 

8. What are your goals for your blog?

My biggest goal is to last a year blogging. I've tried blogging before, and either got bored or didn't like my blog anymore. Having a blog lasting year would be a great goal.It'ss only been 4 months, I have 8 more to go. But I think I can do it this time. 

9. What are your favorite types of blog posts to make?
While list posts and posts about other people's crafts are cool! I love them when other people writing them, but it's not what I like to write. I love writing blog posts that can actually help people and make them feel less like an outsider. Something like my Super Powers post, my gluten issue blog, even my self-advice to myself (The Oprah Blog). I feel if I can help someone else it's what makes my life feel better. 

10. Do you (or will you) allow your kids to be in blog photos?

I usually don't. It's just for the safety of my kids. I see a lot of parents and lifestyle bloggers that do the type of thing. 

11. Is your spouse supportive of your blog?

He's as supportive as he can be. I don't think he really understands blogging, which is fine. It's not something people understand. What he is supportive about is my writing and using my blogging as an outlet for feelings.  

12. Share one tip for someone just starting out blogging.
Don't let someone tell you how to blog. There's so many places online that mention about "what not to do" when blogging. But honestly, the only way people learn is by their own mistakes. I've read all those what not to do posts, and what to do. They never felt like they fit well. So I won't be using them as an 

What do you think about when you see sample labels? A cool little DIY project!

Ever have one of those slightly weird creative moments that make you wonder if you're actually sane? I just had one of those. What happened was a little over a week ago, I got something in the mail from Lightning Labels, I must've seen it on a freebie site, and signed up to the freebie. The labels were cool and I really didn't want to toss them. Why toss something so beautiful?

This is my crazy label pile. Tons of different labels for different things. 

It was the folder that kept the bag of labels in it, that gave me the idea that I wanted to work with. It says food, beverage, lip balm, household, bath & body, and health and nutraceutical. I don't have any of that stuff though! But I did make do with what I had. I had an empty syrup bottle, a honey bottle that I kept my cotton balls in, an essential oil roller and an empty pill bottle that could use some revamping!  I was excited!

My boring little pile of bottles

From the idea of the syrup bottle and the honey bottle, I remembered I had a boring old blue essential oil container. I was going to revamp them. I had a chance to be somewhat creative and show off how cool their labels are.

The Oil Roller

I had two different sicker options when it came to this roller, they looked almost the same except for the fact that one of the stickers was shiny. I Didn't want anymore shine as I thought it would make the roller look tacky. The sticker is actually used for Lip Balm, I don't have any lip balm containers, unfortunately. 

Before

After

The Syrup Bottle

From the day saw the bottle and painted it, I've always said that it reminded me of a bottle of alcocol and not syrup. It was my lucky day to find a bourbon sticker along with a sticker that said "Lightning Lable's Est. 2002" I did what dreamt of doing with my old syrup bottle. The before pictures don't do it justice at all. The back looks awesome, and so does the front, even though the label didn't fit like a glove. It still looks better than it did before!

Before

After front

After back

Honey Bottles

I had so many choices when it came to a label for my honey bottle. I had two differen't styles to work with and I got overwhelmed. It was either BOPP in two colors white and two different laminates; matte and gloss. Or I could use squeezable polyolefin. Both sounded cool. I ended up choosing the polyofefin over the BOPP. Mainly because of the wording

Option One

Option 2

The boring bottle before! 

The New and Improved Bottle 

I still have a handful of labels and some ideas floating around in my head. Hopefully, in the near future, I'll be able to come up with some new ideas and I'll be sure to post them. 

My Gluten Dilemma and advice for other's in my shoes

For a long time now, it's been suspected that I may have a problem with gluten. I've had a doctor in the past bring it up, but when I moved I never thought about bringing it up with my new doctor. Now that I'm getting older and my symptoms are getting more obvious, I'm kicking myself for not doing anything sooner. Now because my symptoms are more obvious, I'm ready to get tested for both celiacs, and gluten sensitivity, at least that's my goal, I have to talk to the doctor about it first. 

My Symptoms

If I could have sat the younger me down years ago, when the doctor told me that I may have a problem with gluten, I would have listened. I was young and I felt fine. I didn't feel too abnormal, I was just really tired all the time, I had PCOS, a problem with GERD and asthma. Nothing too abnormal. Most people go through GERD, PCOS, and asthma.

But it wasn't until little a year and a half ago thing's started getting bad. I'd have intestinal cramps, migraines, my fibromyalgia would flare so bad, that all I could do is lay around, the tiredness got crazier than it's ever done. But it was one of my severe bouts of GERD that made me realize that there had to be something else. I did all the reach I could then, and everything kept popping up as either celiacs or a gluten allergy. All of the little symptoms that had nowhere else to fit, before were all snuggled under the list of gluten intolerance.

The Assesment and The Check List of Doom

Once it all started falling into place, I found out that the Celiac Society had an assessment tool. It felt weird checking off boxes, that asked me if I had problems with migraines, anxiety, irritability, brain fog, weight gain, and lactose intolerance. Things that I wouldn't have even thought about being related to celiacs. But when I got to the end of the assessment and urged me to see my doctor. I almost sighed, a sigh of relief. Things were making more sense.

It wasn't until this week, I saw what I call the checklist of doom. I call it the checklist of doom because I never once read a checklist like this one. It gives the 9 clear signs of a gluten allergy, when I read fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, food allergies, joint pain, digestive issues, and even auto-immune disorders. My dad had auto-immune disorders, and I've been highly suspected to have an auto-immune disorder for a while now!

The Gluten Free Test

Last month I started my gluten-free test! It was a self-test to see what would happen if I went gluten-free. I heard many stories about people being in less pain once they went gluten-free, then after reading the assessment I did, I knew I needed to change. I had to cut gluten out completely.

Because I'm one of those types of people, I was sure I wouldn't notice anything different after cutting out gluten. I was wrong. The only thing that was immediate was my weight loss, I lost 10 pounds in two weeks! But at week three I was in less pain, I didn't need my Maxalt for my headaches, and I didn't need Promethazine to get rid of my nausea or even lidocaine to numb my stomach at least for a little while. I even wanted to start exercising again! It was amazing. I was human oh and the best part was not wanting to take Bentyl for my stomach pain! Bentyl took away my pain and made me a zombie. I'm not dead! 

A Week Back

I started back on gluten a week ago, to prepare for the blood test, and to see how my body would tolerate gluten. The way my body reacted was awful. I was extremely tired, nauseated, my sinuses got really inflamed, my stomach felt like I was getting stabbed, and my migraines were back with a vengeance. While it might not seem like the worst symptom out there, the one symptom that bothered me the most was the unrelenting itching.

So while I want to get tested for a problem with gluten. I don't want to go through the symptoms of being attacked by gluten anymore. I want to be pain-free, I want to be wide awake, and ready to go. Maybe sometime in the future, I'll revisit the idea of getting the test for a black and white answer, but for right now, I'm fine how I am. 

My advice for others unsure of a having a gluten sensitivity or celiacs?

If you notice your symptoms seem to have no rhyme or reason and if the doctor can't give you many answers, and you think that you may have a gluten problem. Stop your gluten intake for a few weeks, write down how you feel, how you slept during the during the week and so forth. If you're feeling better you have one of two options, 1) Stay gluten-free and don't tell the doctor 2)get back on gluten for a few weeks to get tested for celiacs and gluten allergies. Getting tested is not a worthless endeavor, you'll know what you're dealing with.

Friday's Favorite 5:Freya's Favorite Five

I've talked about her more than enough, and for some reason, she believes that it's time for me to talk about her. Every time I tell her that I'm blogging, she's at my side staring at the computer screen, hoping I'm talking about her.


Yeah, I'm talking about my furry friend Freya. It's time for her Favorite 5's. She was so happy to help me with this blog post and loves to sit right by the keyboard, watching the screen. Well, in her defense she has to make sure that I'm not saying anything bad about her.

Ehhmm from the mouth of Freya and typed by me here are her 5 Favorite things


Hi, I'm Freya and you're reading about 5 things I like. Jenny girl wanted to take pictures of my fountain, but I said no, just take pictures of Freya. So here are some pictures Freya girl.

5. Oatmeal: I really love oats. They're so warm, and sticky. Jenny puts syrup, cinnamon, sugar, sugar and brown sugar on her cereal. I only eat the cereal if she uses real syrup. Not the kind that they said is made from ants. I also do not like oatmeal cookies, humans lie and say cookies are made out of oatmeal just so cute little kitty cats like Freya will eat them.

4. My fountain: The humans got mad at me a few months ago because I liked to splash all my water out of the bowl. They didn't know that I need to make sure my water moves. You know why? Because when I lived outside in the wild, all the good water moved, the water that didn't move tasted yucky, and it could have killed me! Now that girl human and the man human bought my new cat bowl water fountain. I can drink my water right when it comes out of the fountain.

3. People: I love people! But I really really like only a few people, the little boys, little girl, man human and girl human. I like those people. I'm a bit shy when I don't know people, so I'll run and hide under the bed. But if you're nice to me, I might come out from hiding and start purring right on your lap.

2. Chin scratches: Have you ever had a human scratch your chinny-chin-chin? If you haven't, you have no clue what you're missing! It's like heaven. I really like it when girl human scratches both my chin and my cheeks. If she stops I try to push my head back into her hands where it needs to be.

1. Hunting: I like to hunt a lot! I usually only find strings, hair ties, and my toys. Human girl says I"m not allowed to eat the strings or the hair ties so she takes them away, so I don't choke. I have once hunted a spider for Jenny. She's scared of spiders and screamed for me to kill it. I didn't kill it though, I pulled his legs off. The human man said it wasn't a nice thing to do and that I should have let him take the spider outside. But because he looked like a little lentil (what is a lentil anyway?), that he was going to be flushed down the potty instead.

Freya wanted me to include music and cuddles, as well, but I told her that we could only pick 5 things and not seven. I did promise her however that maybe I'll allow her to have another Freya's favorite things in the future as long as she feels up to it.

Tag Thursday: Furry Friend Tag, Freya Edition

I've talked about my furry best friend for a while now, and tomorrow I plan on doing her top 5 favorite things for "my" favorite top 5's. Today though, I want to get personal about my best friend Freya.

This furry friend tag was found on Youtube Society. I  used their 90's tag last week, but I also found this tag as well! It's a fairly short tag, but it's to the point. It doesn't ask any strange questions or any useless questions either. So without further ado, here's the Furry Friend Tag, Freya edition 

1. What is your pets name?

Her name is Freya. She's named after the Norse Goddess of love, beauty, war, and a few other things. I mean no disrespect to any Norse Goddesses, I chose her name because I felt it fit her very well. 

2. What kind of pet is it and what breed?

Freya is your typical everyday tortoiseshell house cat. She isn't a particular breed. 

3. How long have you had your pet friend?

We've had her a little over two years. 

4. How did you get your pet?

Freya actually wondered into our apartment on Halloween. It was too cold to let her back outside. So like a good person, I checked the internet and posted almost everywhere that I could, that I found a kitten and that I was hoping to find her old owners. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us Freya became a member of our family. 

5. How old is your pet?

A little over two and a half years old. She was about 6 months when she wandered into the apartment. 

6. What is your favorite memory with your pet?

I have many favorite memories with her, but one that I won't forget was one day I came back from McDonald's with an Oatmeal raisin cookie. Freya who loves oatmeal started sniffing the bag it came in so I showed her the cookie explaining what I had. She gave me the strangest look as if to say, "That's not oatmeal. How dare you lie to me." Don't worry I wasn't planning on giving her the cookie anyway since raisins are toxic to cats.

7. What are some quirky things about your pet's personality?

Freya's a total diva. She likes to be carried to her food dish, she has to have a pillow to lay her head on when she sleeps, and even quirkier she loves to sniff my food before eating it. She doesn't want the food though, she just has to make sure what I'm eating is human safe! 

8. What does your relationship with your pet mean to you?

It means the world to me. I have more than one blog post stating how amazing Freya is to me. We're best buddies. She comes to me when she's hungry, curls next to me and shares 'her bed' (it's actually my bed but she swears it's hers) with me, and all she asks of me is to fill her water bowl and feed her yummy cat food. 

9. What are some of your favorite past times with your pet?

Almost all the times I play with her or the times I share oatmeal with her. She's very peculiar with her oats (which I'll talk about tomorrow). Even her younger more hyper Freya days are some of my favorite past times.

10. What are nicknames you call your pet?

Some of her nicknames include Mittens, Free-Free, Fru-Fru, Divalicous, and Love Bug.

What You’re Not Missing in Your New Years Resolution

Heads up to those trying to lose weight this year, and heads up to anyone has gluten issues. Today I was gutsier and more curious than normal. And because I wanted a gluten-free protein bar for the days that I'm not at all hungry, I picked up these bad boys. It had two of my favorite things: white chocolate and raspberry! The photo on the package made my mouth water, and it was dye free. The excitement was bottling up inside while I walked through the store to the checkout! I was sure it was going to be better than any candy bar that I've tasted.

Yes, I compared my protein bar to a candy bar when I know that they are not remotely the same thing, but at the time I wanted a candy bar, not something that would be better for me. But because I haven't been eating as much I needed something that'd give me the protein I needed. That's why I chose Quest White Chocolate Raspberry Protein Bar.

This is the bar. Doesn't remind you anything of white chocolate, does it? 

My experience

I imagined opening up the package to see something that looked like cheesecake, but what I saw wasn't cheesecake looking or did it even look like white chocolate. It was a complete letdown. You see that brownish grey hunk of food? That's exactly what I got! If I was to pick the bar up out of a lineup without smelling it first, I wouldn't even guess that this had any raspberry in it. For those like me that have a red dye allergy, it's obvious that this has no red dye in it! So that's always a plus!

Even if it didn't look as I hoped, I was hoping for the bar to taste good! What I bit into reminded me a lot of raspberry flavored playdough. I tasted the raspberry, but it didn't taste real, and it was gritty. Don't even get me started on the after taste. I'm pretty sure I was eating playdough. Never again will I buy this bar. 

My recommendations

Would it be much of a surprise to say that I don't feel comfortable recommending this protein bar? To each their own. I saw that other people actually liked this bar, and enjoyed the flavor. I'm one of those people that aren't sold on it. So if you want to try it. Feel free to see where it takes you! I'm only giving my input.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Packed with protein: 20g to be exact!
• Great meal replacement especially with the calorie content
• Dye-free
• Gluten-free

Cons:

• Doesn't taste too good
• Doesn't look appetizing
• Isn't much different any other protein bar on the market
• A bit expensive $7.47 per box! 

The bottom line

I've had many other protein bars in the past, and this bar is one I'll definitely remember, and it's not because it tasted great, but because I'm going to remember the flavor, and shy away from anything that's white chocolate flavored. I don't think I could handle trying another bar from Quest for a while, lesson learned. 

Don't Hold Back, Let Your Creative Side Free!

This question is geared towards all the creative folk out in the world? Be honest, when was the last time you let your creative juices fly on their own accord? When was the last time you sat down and wrote, painted or wrote a song? If you're thinking that it all doesn't really matter or that you haven't had a chance to be creative lately, because you've been busy or chose to do something else. That's just fine but you should really let your creative juices fly more often.

Why we need to be creative more often

Pent up creativity means pent up emotions and pent up emotions can cause tons of problems. Stress, anxiety, and eventually you'll start avoiding situations that may be too much for you to handle because you're afraid you'll be too emotional in public. 

It's not like you need to spend the whole day being creative if you don't want to. Just allow you enough time to let your emotions overflow onto your canvas, onto the paper, or on to your guitar. You don't even need to let others see what you created when you're tapping into your emotions unless you need to. 

Are you in control of your emotions without being creative? If you're one of that kind of folks, more power to you. But you do know if you don't use your creativity you lose it right? Nobody truly wants to lose that creative side. It's not easy to find stuff you've lost. Even if what you lost is your creativity.

Why I and some other's don't act on our creativity

My biggest reason for not acting on my creativity has nothing to do with the fear of losing it, or the fear of letting my emotions out. It's the fear that someone might judge me or that someone might think that my creativity isn't up to their standards. Yeah, I worry about other people when I write, like I think that they're going to be upset with something I've written, even if they never read what I wrote anyway. 

Nobody should be afraid of their creativity, and nobody should be afraid of others opinions. It's not like we really have to show anyone our creative side unless we want to. I know sometimes by accident our drawings or writing is on display. It happens, but at least our emotions are free. At least we're able to let go of our emotions.

Forget other's rules

This post was spawned from my previous post about blogging advice. I let other's dictate my creativity and I've let other's dictate how I should blog. Now that I'm undoing some of the damage that's been done to my creative side. Thoughts are coming easier. I'm not thinking about how something should be said. 

Be yourself. Be happy that you've gotten the gift of creativty. Not everyone gets a gift like this. But most of all if you let your creativity be the way you want it to be, not how other's want you to be. You'll stick out and once you stick out, more people will pay attention. Once more people pay attention, there's going to be more creative minds that let themselves do their own thing. Making the world more exciting.

So next time you want to be creative on your own accord. Let it go. Let it flow. 

9 Valentine's Day Treats that aren't food!

Valentine's Day itself has always been one of those holiday's I don't fully understand, but the memories of my childhood and Valentine's Day are still ingrained into my memories. From Valentine's Day cards to the cute stuffed animals to the candy.

Thanks to the internet, being gluten-free, vegetarian, and having strange food allergies, I've learned that I'm not the only one, and because I'm not the only one, there are so many options for Valentine's Day related treats for kids on Valentine's Day, that we can still have memories. They may not be the same that I remember.

Out with the old and in with the new. Here are some of the coolest nonfood related Valentine's Day ideas from good old Pinterest! They're fun, kid safe, and they're great to pass out at school Valentine's Day parties! I love Pinterest, don't you?

9. Crayons and Coloring Pages from Crazy Little Projects

You don't need to be the king or queen of creativity when it comes to non-food related treats. Creativity can run both ways on Valentines Day, especially when your Valentine's Day treats are crayons and coloring pages!

Crazy Little Projects

8. Handmade Bookmarks from Parents Magazine

I don't know how often I've lost my bookmark. Bookmarks aren't only cute, but they're a really practical gift for Valentine's Day. Oh did I mention they're pretty easy to make?

Parents

7. Slime Valentines from Lola Lambchops

Slime! Kids love making slime, they love playing with slime, but do they love sharing slime with their friends? Of course! Lola Lambchops's Valen-Slime cards are totally adorable! Happy Valen-Slimes Day!

Lola Lamb Chops

6. Crazy Straws from What a Teacher Wants

If you want a simple yet crazy idea for Valentine's Day, give out crazy staws! It's food related and gluten-free! 

What a teacher wants

5.  Valentine's Day Pencil Toppers from 30 Handmade Days

They're so cute, they're non-food, and they're something every kid can use. Well maybe not the pencil toppers as much as the pencils themselves, but the toppers are a pretty cool finishing touch! 

30 Handmade Days

4. Hoppy Valentine's Day Frogs from Lil Luna

As a frog obsessed blogger, the second I saw the hoppiest and the easiest Valentine's Day card ever on Lil Luna's Page, I knew I had to share it. These hoppy frogs are full of nostalgia, I used to love getting hoppy frogs as a kid! 

Lil Luna

3. Valentine's Day is for the Birds by Thrifty Jinxy

Valentine's Day is all about sharing with the ones you love, even if the ones you love are your feathered friends. Having your kids make Bird Seed Valentine's for their friends is technically food related, but food for birds outside. Sharing the happy memories, watching the birds outside is loads of fun too!

Thrifty Jinxy 

2. Bouncy Balls from Glue Sticks and Gumdrops

This example shows only sports bouncy balls, but you can go any route you want with bouncy balls. 

Glue Sticks and Gumdrops

1. Seed Packets from Arts & Crackers

Okay, maybe this one is a bit food related, but only if you want them to be. Growing plants from seeds is a learning experience within Valentine's Day treat! Flowers or vegetables, both are a cool Valentine's Day treat!

Arts & Crackers

Top 5 Apps I use most often

This post may contain referral codes

They say you can tell a lot about a person, by what apps are on their phone. Or can they? It's not like I have some really cool apps on my phone. I hardly even use my phone as much as other people do. I don't have Snapchat, I don't have Twitter, and I don't have Facebook on my phone. Not because I don't like using it, but because my phone is slow, and doesn't work when I want it to.

Sometimes I even wonder if I am human, or like everyone else because I'm not connected to my phone every single day. I am somewhat human though! I promise.

Just recently though, I deleted an app that I used every day, it was my Cheetah Keyboard, which came with a cute little wheel game that was supposed to earn me money. I earned $20 with Cheetah keyboard the end of November, and cashed out. I wasn't too upset when I didn't recieve my money two weeks later, I knew it was the holiday and I knew people would be asking for their payment. But when January 1st rolled around and there was no sign of my money, I deleted the app and read other reviews where the same exact thing happened. Ugh! At least they keyboards were cool.


Are there apps I use every day or apps that are my favorite? Actually, there is, that's why I wanted to devote this weeks Favorite 5 on the top 5 apps I use most often so you can get to know me a little better. Just like everyone else who gives a silly tour about thier phone.


5. Instagram: Instagram is the only social networking app on my phone. I've always loved looking at pictures and taking pictures, Instagram makes me feel a little closer to the real world when I'm using it.

4. Watchback: Since I'm hardly ever using my phone like other people do, I let my Watchback App run a few times daily just so I can earn a dollar almost every day. While a dollar doesn't seem like much, it's $1 more than I'm making if I didn't do it. It takes 5000 points ($5) to cash out and there are so many places I can cash out for, my favorite happens to be Walmart. You sign up and they ask who referred you, my referral code is 275F1B59.

3. Receipt Hog: Receipt Hog, or as he's called in our house, he loves to eat receipts. I scan them and I earn anywhere between 2-10 cents per receipt, I can use 3 receipts from the same store in one day! A lot of the time I can earn $5 every month. Most of the time everyone has receipts, and if you have no shame in your game, and you find a receipt on the ground, it's a little extra cents to pick up litter and save the environment!

2. Ibotta: A lot like Receipt Hog, Ibotta has become an app that my whole family has learned to love and become well acquainted with. Ibotta, allows you to scan your receipts to get money back and they also give you rebates for stuff that you buy. For instance, this week, I was able to get a $.75 for buying myself Some Chocolate Almond Milk! My referral code is ofmrpvr

1. Walmart: I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached to me, and Walmart's app tries to keep my head on my neck where it needs to be. I love downloading my Walmart Giftcards to Walmart Pay, incase I forget my card at home or I'm having a problem finding it deep inside of my purse of doom.Oh and it goes very well with earning gift cards from Watch Back The Walmart App also has Walmart Saving's Catcher, a great little feature that gives you money back if an item you bought is less than it was at Walmart.

What do these apps say about me as a person? If I took a step back, I'd definitely see that I may be a bit of a cheapskate, and I love to find ways to save on things whenever I can. I don't see saving money as a bad thing. Getting little a little bit of help here and there, especially on a rainy day is so worth it!

What are some of your favorite apps? What you think they say about you?

Tag Thursday: Throw back to the 90's

It's a new year, but I'm still stuck in the '90s! It has to be my favorite decade. Do people even have favorite decades that they grew up in? So what if we didn't have android phones or some of the stuff we have today! I miss the 90's.

Today's Tag is a 90's rewind tag! I found it on YouTube Society's YouTube Tag tab. If you by chance do this Tag as well, let me know and I'll share your tag on my page as well! 

1. Favorite TV Show

I may be one of the weirdest people ever, but my favorite 90's TV show had to be Wishbone. It was where I learned about classic literature.

Amazon

2. Favorite 90’s song?

I still love 90's music. Back in the 90's I loved pop music, but now I've graduated out of pop to metal and rock music. I'm assuming it's probably the best to name my favorite 90's song from when I was young rather than list my favorite 90's song now. My favorite song in the '90s was Music of My Heart by NSYNC and Gloria Estefan.

3. Favorite Commercial/Advertisement

I really didn't watch much TV in the '90s, I do however remember the Gusher's commercials. 

4. NSYNC or Backstreet Boys

NSYNC, I won't post another video. Because the next question is going to have the same answer and I don't want too many NSYNC videos on this 90's tag!

5. Favorite Music Artist

As I've said in the first question and the previous question. It's kind of obvious who my favorite music artists were at the time. 

6. Did you collect anything back then and what did you collect?

I did and still collect frogs. I lost a lot of my frogs after my dad passed away. 

7. How many Tamagotchi’s did you go through?

I only had two. I had more Gigapets than Tamagotchi's. I had at least 5 Gigapets. Most of the time they were shared with my sister. The ones I do remember having for sure was Floppy Frog, Taz, and a 101 Dalmations Gigapet.

8. Favorite Video Game & Console?

I still love 90's video game consoles. They were more reliable and didn't need to be updated to play. My favorite game was The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past for Gameboy and my favorite console would more than likely be the SuperNES. 

Walmart

9. Favorite Cereal/Cereal Free Toy?

I didn't really care about the toy's in the boxes as much as I liked the cereal. I still love cereal. I really loved CornPops Growing up.

10. Who was your 90’s Crush Growing Up?

I didn't know whether to pick Jonathan Taylor Thomas or Sam Huntington. So instead I picked both.

11. What was your favorite Disney channel movie?

I didn't really watch Disney Channel Movies. So I really can't pick one. 

12. Favorite Show? (Disney, Nick or Cartoon Network)

Anamorphs, I still miss the TV show. 

13, Weirdest Fashion Trend

Windbreakers, I didn't like them then and I still don't like them. I never really understood them.

14. What were your favorite Toys would you play with?

Littlest Petshop, I even had the Littlest Pet Shop veterinarian's office. 

Pinterest

15. Disney, Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network

Nickelodeon. I really loved Nickelodeon during the summer with Stick Stickly.

16. What early morning/Weekend TV Shows would you watch?

I watched Tiny Toons, Ducktales, Tailspin, Digimon, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, and Beetlejuice was some of my favorites.

17.Favorite McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy

I don't really think I had a favorite McDonald's Happy Meal toy and the funny thing is, we had a tub full of them. 

18.Favorite Book

Katie the Kitten, I'm pretty sure it was published a lot earlier than that, but I read that book many times, both in the '80s and the '90s. I can recite the whole book word for word.

19. What would you watch when you got home from school?

Arthur, I still love the show.

20. What was your favorite thing from the 90’s that's no longer available today?

The whole 90's was cool. I really though Discover Zone looked cool. I never went through, and now that I'm older and it don't exist, I feel like I missed out!