Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. Last week, I was sent Pimsleur Spanish 1. Pimsleur is one of the most popular language learning courses. There is no software, just 30 minute audio lessons that each how to hold conversations. The Spanish 1 set has 16 discs with 30 lessons. You listen to one lesson a day and participate with the audio. In high school, I only had on good Spanish teacher. She didn’t use the textbooks, with are usually geared toward proper Spanish that is used in Spain. Instead, she gave use a crash course in ‘kindergarden’ (ABC’s & basic sentence structure), and then pretty much used Spanish for the majority of the classes after that. Doing that got us used to hearing it and memorizing all of the conjugations. It was like we had been dropped off in the middle of Mexico and left to fend for ourselves…which was how she learned as an exchange student herself in college. The Pimsleur course does that exact same thing. So far, it’s been ...
misc reviews
Product Review — Yesterland Farm
I got the chance to take my family out to Yesterland Farm over the weekend. US Family Guide provided 4 free tickets. Yesterland Farm is open September through November, and is currently running is Fall Festival. There rides for kids, a corn maze, corn & pumpkin cannons, pig races & more. We had never been before, and were excited for the chance to go. The weather wasn’t exactly the best due to a massive line of storms…which had already forced the Rangers game to move up to a 11 am game instead of the evening (GO RQANGERS!). It had already been raining some when we headed out towards Canton, but it cleared up as we got to the farm. Aside from being very humid, it was very nice out. After going through the entrance, we slowly wandered around taking everything in. My daughter immediately started going over to random pumpkins, picking them up while we looked at the food hut & a few of the rides that were right there. We them made around way over to the pig ...
Product Review — Qoilezz
I was recently asked to check out Qoilezz, a stretchy plastic coil that you can hook to just about anything. They can be used for any number of things, including wine stem charms, pencil/pen identifiers & more. I picked out a few design packs. I really wanted to put them in my daughter’s hair for decoration. Now, I’m not the best when it comes to messing with hair…& I purposely keep my hair very short for that reason. My daughter picked out one that she wanted. After pulling her hair back into a ponytail, I tried to weave it in. It didn’t go well at all. All I managed to do was knot her hair up. I was able to use it in place of a hair tie to hold up her pony tail, but that was about the best I could manage. I’ve also found a lot of other fun uses for them. My daughter has been putting them on her crayons, and I’ve put a few on my different USB cords so that I could keep track of which one goes to what device. I also put a few on my shoe laces. The qoilezz are soft and ...
Product Review – SmoothMove
A few weeks ago, I was asked to test out SmoothMove boxes. SmoothMove is owned by Bankers Box, who makes office/paperwork storage boxes of the same name. They sell several types of boxes that are geared toward helping you move. When I was first contacted, they asked which type of box I wanted a sample of. They carry normal tape-up boxes, FastFold tapeless boxes, a variety of specialty boxes & assorted packing accessories (bubble wrap, tape, ect…). I figured that I would be sent one box or two. Imagine my complete surprise when UPS showed up at 8:30 pm with three huge boxes and a small one. In total I received one pack of Dish Moving boxes (4 boxes), one pack of large FastFold boxes (6 boxes), 4 Mirror boxes & a tape dispenser. All of the boxes are think & sturdy and seem like they could easily withstand a bad trip in a moving truck. All of them hold a large amount of stuff, so as long as you pack it properly you shouldn’t have a problem. The mirror boxes are ...
Product Reviews – Packaways
Last week I was sent a few Packaways. Packaways are reusable storage boxes that fold flat so that you can easily store them when you aren’t using them. When you do need them, you simply pressing on the corners and they pop open and lock into place. I was sent two different sizes, medium and large. The boxes are made of a very sturdy plastic and can easily stand up to wear and tear. Hannah tossed them around the living room for a few days and even dumped most of her toys in the large one, and there’s not a scratch on them. Each box also has a dry-erase sticker on them, so that you can quickly and easily re-label them when needed. I’m using the large box to store Hannah’s old clothes until I can get the donation company out to pick them up. Then I’ll probably either use it to store Christmas presents or more of Hannah’s clothing & toys. I’m also using the small one to keep all the stuff I’ll need for FenCon at the end of the month. That way, everything will be in one box ...
Product Review – JOEmo XL Travel Mug
A few weeks back, I got to pick out a travel mug from reuseit.com. They have a large selection of mugs, cups and all sort of other goodies. After looking through everything, I picked out the JOEmo XL. The JOEmo is a 16oz stainless steel travel thermos that has a removable tea filter. I am a huge tea drinker and absolutely hate coffee…unless I’m on a kayaking trip where I’ll drink it if it’s the consistency of sludge. I know…that sounds gross. Anyway, I figured that I would get the most use out of this one. Plus, it gave me an excuse to go out and buy loose leaf tea from Le Gourmet Chef at Tanger. The tea filter pops in and out, so you can take it out whenever. The lid screws on & off, and the spout/opening pops open & closed so you can drink it from any angle. It kept my tea warm for over 6 hours. In fact, I ended up have to take the lid off and leave the spout open to cool it off so I could drink it. It also comes with a neat little carrying case with handle ...