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Valentine’s Day Tommy Nelson Book Giveaway

February 14, 2013 By

Kariss Valentines Day 2012 300x225 Valentines Day Tommy Nelson Book Giveaway
It seems like a lot of you are un-crafty moms like me, so I decided to write a Valentine’s Day kids’ craft post over at TommyNelson.com to save all of you before the big day!

7365508089b82f1a7c7dd016ccc37e9b Valentines Day Tommy Nelson Book Giveaway

(For a full tutorial, read my Valentine’s Day Kids Card Pinterest Craft post).

Before heading over to read my entire Tommy Nelson blog post, you’re going to want to enter my giveaway below for the adorable bedtime prayer book perfect for Valentine’s Day (and any other day of the year!),  ”I Love You To God and Back“.

1400320828.jpg 233x300 Valentines Day Tommy Nelson Book Giveaway

Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, giveaway, Tommy Nelson Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ladies vote: Valentine’s Day Flowers: Yes or No

February 13, 2013 By

Ladies, I have one question for you regarding Valentine’s Day flowers…answer below:

Filed Under: My Story Tagged With: , , ,

Top Restaurant Coupon Round-Up: Valentine’s Day 2013

February 11, 2013 By

Here is the top weekend restaurant coupon round-up for Valentine’s Day 2013 thanks to Rachel over at Surviving the Stores!

restaurantcoupons 300x51 Top Restaurant Coupon Round Up: Valentines Day 2013

Top Restaurant Coupons:

AMC Theatres Coupon – Free Order of Fries on Feb 13 & 14 for Les Miserables Viewers (plus coupons for other movies on other days)
Ben & Jerry’s Coupon – $3 Off Medium or Large Valentines Day Cake (exp. 2/28)
Buca di Beppo Coupon – $10 Off 2 Buca Small or Large Pastas, Baked Pastas, or Entrees (exp. 2/24)
California Tortilla Coupon – Free Sweet Treat with Entree Purchase on Valentines Day
Caribou Coffee Coupon – Buy 1 Get 1 Free Drinks on Valentines Day
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Coupon – Buy 1 Get 1 Free Beverages on Valentine’s Day
Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill Coupon – 14% Off Online Order (exp. 2/14)
Houlihan’s Coupon – Free Lobster Tail or 5 Shrimp WYB Steak Entree on Valentines Day
Krispy Kreme Coupon – Buy 1 Dozen Valentines Day Donuts Get 12 Valentines Cards Good for 1 Free Donut Per Card (exp. 2/14)
Lone Star Steakhouse Coupon – Free Appetizer WYB 1 Entree (exp. 2/17)
Marble Slab Coupon – $2 Off Any Heart Ice Cream Cake or 6 pk. Heart Ice Cream Cupcakes (exp. 2/15)
O’s American Kitchen Coupon – Free Brownie Sundae with with Purchase of Any Bundle Meal after 4pm on Valentine’s Day
Papa Murphy’s Coupon – $2 Off Any Pizza (exp. 2/28)
Peets Coffee & Tea Coupon – Buy 1 Get 1 Free Drinks (exp: 2/17)
Pei Wei Coupon – Buy 1 Get 1 Free Entree (exp. 2/17)
Quiznos Coupon – FREE Cookie on Valentines Day 2/14 (no purchase required)
Ruby Tuesday Coupon – Free Dessert Coupon with Online Reservation for 2/14-2/17
See’s Candies Coupon – $2 Off $25 Purchase (exp: 2/14)
Souper Salad Coupon – Buy 1 Adult Buffet Get 1 Free WYB 2 Drinks (exp: 2/14)
Starbucks Coupon – Buy 1 Get 1 Free Vanilla Spice Latte, Caffe Mocha, or Hot Chocolate After 2pm (exp: 2/14)
300x250 FiberPlus Talk Coupon Top Restaurant Coupon Round Up: Valentines Day 2013 Top Restaurant Coupon Round Up: Valentines Day 2013 Top Restaurant Coupon Round Up: Valentines Day 2013

Filed Under: Coupons, Deals & Freebies, Restaurants Tagged With: , , , ,

Why are men expected to make more sacrifices than women?

February 6, 2013 By

boho rick sami cone 300x199 Why are men expected to make more sacrifices than women?
Why are men expected to make more sacrifices than women?

Now ladies, hear me out.

I’m not saying that men do all the work and we are worthless. After all I am a woman; I know everything that we do. But I do think sometimes we set the bar a little too high for our guys without having equal accountability for ourselves.

Case in point:
We lent friends our car the other day after their car was in a wreck. The wife drove off in their good car and the husband ended up in our old car, which got me thinking, “Why are men always expected to be the ones making the sacrifices?”

It was just assumed that the wife would get ‘the better end of the stick’, shall we say, just like we expect our guys to watch what we want to watch, eat what we want to eat and go where we like to go.

Some may call it chivalry, but if the sacrifice is always only one-sided, problems are sure to arise.

I believe a lot of relationships suffer because ultimately, we as women, and especially wives, always expect our men to “take one for the team”.

Think about it. We want our cake and we want to eat it too.

When I put it down on paper like this (or computer screen in its current version), it’s no wonder we can often be hard to figure out!

From the beginning of time, men have literally been cursed to work the land as a result of Adam’s sin. I’m not saying Eve left us ladies in any better of a situation with labor pains, but it shouldn’t diminish the role our men serve in this world.

Don’t get me wrong, I want my man to keep treating me like a princess, but I’d be a fool to think that he would wait on me hand and foot for the rest of my life without receiving any love and respect from me.

So this Valentine’s Day ladies, don’t put all the responsibility on your guy. If your relationship is 50/50, then you should be willing to put yourself out there and WOW him too!

(And don’t even get me started on celebrating valentine’s Day on days OTHER than Valentine’s Day, but I digress…)

Filed Under: Love, Marriage, My Story Tagged With: , , , ,

Top 3 Tips to make this Valentine’s Day Different

February 10, 2012 By
20120210 111833 Top 3 Tips to make this Valentines Day Different

Me & My Honey

I have something powerful to share with you today: the top 3 tips to make this Valentine’s Day different from any other!

Think sexy. Think sizzle.

I wish I could say these top Valentines Day tips came from me, but in fact they’re from my new friend, Gina Parris, who developed SexyMarriageSolution.com after realizing that despite loving her husband, she had a very low sex drive. A successful performance coach with athletes and stock brokers, she decided to apply the same principles to her personal life and VOILA! was finally able to overcome her own low sex drive.

Her tagline is: “Discover How to Stop fighting, sulking and getting depressed over your married sex life. There is an answer!” LOVE it!

You’ll be hearing more of Gina’s story in the coming weeks in a new series I’ll be starting on SamiCone.com, but I just couldn’t wait to share some of these tips with you so that you can make a difference right away in helping to make your Valentine’s Day hotter than it’s ever been. (And if you’re a female, I don’t think your husband would argue that this is the best gift you could ever give him icon smile Top 3 Tips to make this Valentines Day Different

Top 3 tips for making this Valentine’s Day different:

1. Make up your mind that you deserve to feel great and pamper your mate.
Believe for things to go differently. Set your heart that things will go well & something precious would happen. (I took this to mean positive thinking pumped up a few notches!)

2. Acknowledge any anxiety and accept yourself in spite of it

3. Really take time to get in touch with your senses and be present. Choose to see how things unfold.Breathe deep/stay in the moment/learn the technique….20 minutes could change your life too…
It may seem trivial, but taking the time to release everything else you’re hanging on to before spending time with your husband is powerful!

I hope these tips help change your Valentine’s Day for the better. If it does, please come back and let us know about it!

To learn more about SexyMarriageSolution.com, visit Gina’s website, where you can also sign up for her free audio series “5 keys to really great sex…even if you’re not in the mood”.

Filed Under: Family, Marriage Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pinterest Valentine’s Card Kids Photo Project

February 8, 2012 By

I admittedly do not have a full blown Pinterest obsession yet, but when I found these Pinterest Valentine’s Cards, I knew this kids’ photo project was one I had to try this Valentine’s Day!

To reiterate, I am not what you would call a ‘crafty gal’. I’m sure you could get much more creative than I did, but I wanted to share the steps for these fun homemade Valentine’s Day cards for kids.

This was the initial pin I found:

157837161910116889 5LuhnAyq c Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo Project

 

So I grabbed my kids after school yesterday and snapped these pictures of them after running around on the playground for an hour (think natural, not staged). With the the Camera Plus app on my iPhone Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo Project, I used the “Depth of Field” in FX Effects to blur the background a bit:
20120208 181052 Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo Project

20120208 181108 Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo Project
From there, I sent it to my computer to add the Bible verse (John 15:13), “Happy Valentine’s Day”, and their names via Adobe Photoshop Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo Project:

Kariss Valentines Day 2012 300x225 Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo ProjectBritton Valentines Day 2012 300x200 Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo ProjectAgain, not rocket science.

After the pictures were saved as a JPEG, I uploaded them to Walgreens.com where they’re having a print sale (Buy 25, get 25 free with code SHARE25). This gave us enough to hand out to everyone in each of their classes, plus a few left over for the scrapbook (if I ever get around to that!).

The pictures were ready this morning, so I stopped by Walgreens after taking the kids to school to pick up the pics, along with a bag of Dum Dum Pops that were on sale for $2 a bag (and had plenty in one bag to cover both classes). After school we came home and laid everything out on the kitchen table. I used a razor blade to cut slits just above and below their fist while the kids wrote their friends’ names on the back of the pictures.

Then, the kids slid the Dum Dum Pops Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo Project through the slits and Voila! Here is our final product:

20120208 181731 Pinterest Valentines Card Kids Photo Project
Pin It

In retrospect, I wish I’d had the kids hold their arms at more of an angle like the original pictures, but still, I can’t believe we have these done almost a week before Valentine’s Day!

Are you planning anything crafty and creative for your kids’ Valentine’s Day cards?

 

You may find affiliate links in this post, but they help support my family so I can keep bringing you great deals like these. I would never share something I wouldn’t use myself! Feel free to review my full disclosure policy.
Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, Family, Kid Tip Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Ebates Savvy Living Valentine’s Day Live Chat & Giveaway Feb 7

February 7, 2012 By

Ebates Savvy Living Valentines Day Live Chat & Giveaway Feb 7

The Ebates Savvy Living Valentine’s Day Live Chat (& giveaway!) is tonight, February 7 from 8-9pm EST (7-8pm CST)!

Hopefully you’ve already entered to win the $100 giveaway and are ready to talk any and all things sweet during the Valentine’s Day live chat with me and my fellow Savvy Living Community Leaders tonight!

Once the chat goes live, you’ll be able to type right in the area below.

Hopefully by now, you’ve already joined Ebates and are getting cash back on all those Valentine’s Day presents. I always say, people don’t have to know how much you spent or saved on the gift you bought them, but personally I love knowing when I receive thoughtful gifts that my friends & loved ones were able to also save a bundle on!

I can’t wait to hear all about how you celebrate Valentine’s Day – whether you celebrate on the day or not, if you include your kids, or if you do something else entirely! Let’s chat Tuesday night!

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, giveaway Tagged With: , , , , ,

Ebates $100 Giveaway & Valentine’s Day Live Chat!

February 6, 2012 By

Ebates $100 Giveaway & Valentines Day Live Chat!

Thanks to Ebates, I have the giveaway of all giveaways for you: $100 just in time for Valentine’s Day! That’s right, to celebrate their upcoming Valentine’s Day live chat on February 7 from 8-9pm EST, Ebates will be giving one of my lucky readers $100 to celebrate all the love in the air this week icon smile Ebates $100 Giveaway & Valentines Day Live Chat!

Here’s how to put $100 in your pocket to make celebrating with your sweetheart that much sweeter this year:
*MANDATORY ENTRY: You must join Ebates (or already be a member to enter). So leave a comment below either letting me know you’ve signed up for Ebates or that you’re already an Ebates Member (If you haven’t heard that Ebates will pay you back for shopping online and want to learn more, read more here).

*Optional Entry 1:
Leave a comment below sharing your favorite valentine’s day gift (can either be one you’ve given or one you’ve received – especially love those that are creative, homemade and thoughtful!)

*Optional Entry 2:
Post on your Facebook wall promoting the chat by sharing this post with your friends, BEFORE you rsvp to the chat. Please tag “Ebates” in your post.

*Optional Entry 3:
Tweet the following before you RSVP for the live chat:
Winning $100 from @Ebates & @TheSamiCone would make my Valentine’s Day even sweeter! Enter here: http://ow.ly/8Th9B

Remember, you must join Ebates to win, and then make sure to come back here on February 8 for our LIVE Valentine’s Day Chat!

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, giveaway Tagged With: , , ,

Tommy Nelson Blog: The Best Valentine’s Present: Your Presence

February 6, 2012 By

Pure Joy Project Mom Kids 225x300 Tommy Nelson Blog: The Best Valentines Present: Your Presence

I’m over at the Tommy Nelson Blog again this month with a post featuring what else but…LOVE! I would argue that the best Valentine’s present you can give your kids is your presence, but with that, it’s easier said than done.

I’ve learned a lot of things about my kids in the short seven and a half years that I’ve been a parent.

Some days I think I’ve got it all figured out; but those are usually followed by days where everything I’ve thought to be true backfires on me.

Other days I stand in their darkened bedroom after they’re asleep, watching their chests rise and fall with each breath, and simply marvel at these little lives God has blessed me with.

Still on some days, I struggle simply to get everyone out of the door on time and then collapse into tears in the car line after shoving them out the door 30 seconds before school starts.

And yet in all those instances, over all those years and in every circumstance, there has only been one piece of parenting advice that I’ve found to be universal: Pay attention – it goes too quickly.

2011 08 28 Nashville Zoo Mumsy Preds 011 300x225 Tommy Nelson Blog: The Best Valentines Present: Your Presence

Read the full article on the Tommy Nelson blog…

Filed Under: Articles, Devotions, Faith, Tommy Nelson Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Valentine’s Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography

February 14, 2011 By

Happy Valentine’s Day! One of the best ways to demonstrate family love is through experiences that help make new memories…and one of our favorite ways to capture those memories is through pictures!

So when we needed some new family pictures taken for an upcoming project (which I’ll be sharing soon!), I asked Brittany Steiger if she would snap a couple of us in the hallway after church one Sunday. Brittany and her husband, Zach, head up our student ministry team over at Crosspoint Bellevue. I didn’t even realize Brittany was a photographer until someone told us about this picture she snapped of Kariss on Christmas Eve:
boho kariss prayer 200x300 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella PhotographyIsn’t this so sweet? Her talent was immediately evident and her heart shone through her images.

So when I asked Brittany to snap a shot of our family, she didn’t just want to use the church hallway as our background. She loves capturing kids’ personalities and knew we couldn’t do that if we didn’t give them room to explore…so we headed over to the Factory in Franklin for their open spaces and fun backdrops.

Instead of a quick snapshot, Brittany chased us and the kids all around the Factory and took some priceless pictures of our family. Here are just a few of our favorites:
boho britton brick wall 199x300 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography
boho kariss curls 199x300 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography
boho pockets 199x300 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography
boho family wall 300x199 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography
boho family black white 300x199 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography
boho rick sami cone 300x199 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography
boho cone shoes 300x199 Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography

Great, right? You can see even more of the photo shoot over at Boho Bella Photography.

Turns out Brittany went to school for photography and it’s her ‘thing’ – who knew? icon wink Valentines Day Family Love courtesy of Boho Bella Photography Boy did we luck into that one!

Brittany is SO great and I cannot recommend her enough. I can’t imagine what we could have done if we had planned even more and gone out at the right time of day with the right light! Because I wanted to brag on her and all she did for her family, I also asked if she’d give a discount to my readers, which of course she agreed to! So anyone that mentions “Sami Cone” when contacting Brittany for a photo shoot will automatically get 15% off!

Just think about it: Spring is coming, Easter is on it’s way, Birthdays are just around the corner…so many great reasons to take new pictures! Thanks again, Britt – you rock!

Which is your favorite? We especially like the one of our shoes – just another one of Brittany’s brilliant ideas!

Filed Under: Family, Products, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
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