I have to tell you I was skeptical when DH told me he signed up forHP's Instant Ink program. Basically you pay a certain amount of money per month to HP to print a certain number of pages. They automatically send you new cartridges as needed. I thought we were legit going to be getting ripped off every month.
 (I was pleasantly surprised)
​
"Supposedly" there was a substantial savings to this.

 See below:

We have never gone over our printing amount, and in fact when you have extra pages leftover, they are in a rollover bank, so you don't ever lose out on pages you've paid for, if you will. 

I used to be scouring the deals at Staples, our local office supply store, trying to see when ink was on sale and how to use my rewards to get a discount and I definitely got some good deals, but it also took a lot of time, mental energy, and work planning when to purchase and driving to the store etc. 

Now that we haveHP Instant Ink, I love it and I wouldn't look back. Based on what HP is telling me, I'm getting a good value. But even if I wasn't, the sheer convenience of this program is worth the cost to me.  But I really do think I am getting a good value.

At $5/month x 12 months thats only $60. To buy a package of ink for our printer (1 XL black and 1 each of cyan, magenta, and yellow) would cost around $100 on Amazon or Staples. And I know we used to replace ink more often than once a year.  So I think I am genuinely saving cash, time, effort, gas, mental energy, and more with this program.

                                                                              I highly recommend it!!! 

Do you want to try HP Instant Ink? Get one month of HP Instant Ink for free! 

It's been about 7 years since I first purchased a Vitamix. I did some odd jobs to save up a hefty chunk of cash to invest in this super-powered machine because of it's great reputation.  On the day-to-day, I mainly use it for blitzing up smoothies and pureeing sauces and soups. I've also used it to grind whole wheat berries for flower. But I had never used it to grind spices (or even thought of it, or needed to) until recently. 
I went on a muffin-making frenzy one day and after I was elbow-deep in dishes from the first round of muffins and started the second (two different varieties), I realized we had NO ground cinnamon in the house. NONE. How does this happen!?! How did I not realize?? I checked my backup spice shelf, but nope. Everything but cinnamon. How can you make cinnamon apple streusel muffins with no cinnamon? *sigh* To go out of the house at this point just felt painful. *double sigh* After all, there was probably muffin batter in my hair! You never know.. ;p 

But just then I realized I had some cinnamon sticks and I've had a Vitamix for almost a decade! DUH MOMENT! I just tossed a couple of those sticks into the dry container and in a matter of moments they were blitzed to powder. When I opened the lid it was the most gloriously intense cinnamon smell I have ever inhaled!  The muffins were amazing and, while it was never in question, this justreaffirmed my love of my Vitamix. <33

It's here! It's here!!!!!!!!  My new phone is hereeeeee!!!

I have a confession to make...  I cracked the screen on my last iphone. :( I know, tragic, right? I can't believe I did it! Actually... I can. (and I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.) I'm clumsy ~ you know that. I drop my phone.... periodically.. But never had anything really happen to it and I was grateful. But this time it got a little chip on the front and a crack. I was very glad the crack really was just on the "white part" of the face of the iphone 6 and did not actually impede using the phone. 

Still, when my contact was up and I was eligible for a new phone, I was more than ready. 

Repair cracked iPhone screen

Packaging: There was so much tape on the box, it was a little bit of a nuisance to open, but at least it kept everything safe inside, right? ;). The mouse was nicely wrapped in like a sort of styrofoam-y tissue bag? Whatever that even means, haha! I'm not sure how to describe the material, but it is a nice protection for the mouse. In the box you'll find it also comes with a very brief and simple instruction paper. Hooray for easy! How easy? Check it out:

Step 1: Insert 2 AA batteries
Step 2: Plug the nano receiver into a USB port

Boom! Done! Now you can use the mouse!My mac brought up a screen about recognizing your new keyboard. You can exit out of that because this isn't a keyboard and it already works instantly with no other configuration needed. Im excited at how super simple this is.

If you use  Amazon Basics AA Rechargeable Batteries (I do!) then you really won't even need to worry about the battery usage of this mouse. 

I'm excited to have a mouse to use. I have been using  Apple Magic Trackpad and I do like it, but since I do a lot of computer work, sometimes I like the ergonomic feel of a mouse, so my hand can rest around it/overtop of it as I work, if that makes sense. I like to do a lot of copy/pasting and shortcuts using the mouse and keyboard in quick succession.  

This mouse is so easy to take on the go also because you just unplug that nano receiver and it attaches right into the bottom of the mouse. Easy as pie! 

I receivedthis mouse for free to test and review and based on my experience it is comfortable, easy to set up and use, and a nice mouse!!

The Mouse: Amir Wireless Optical Mouse with Nano Receiver
The Trackpad: Apple Wireless Magic Trackpad 
The Batteries: Amazon Basics AA rechargeable batteries
My computer: 27-inch iMac = love

Aukey sent me theirAC600 Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter to test out. 

DH has an HP Stream 13.3" Laptop for his use when I am working off the iMac (more often than I care to admit.) I know, poor thing, right? Having to go from the luxuriant 27" to a half sized hp seems like a lot of steps backwards.  :-( So to make it better, I let him play with this adapter. LOL!!! (Sorry, HP... nothing compares to the an apple a day in my book..)

At any rate, I he sent me over some screen shots and I decided since a picture is worth a thousand words, I would let them do the talking. Well.. most of it anyway. 

Notice the download speed instantly more than TRIPLED with the Aukey dual band wireless adapter!!!!! Score! Way to go Aukey!!! You can't argue with results, can you...?!

Aukey AC600 Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter
HP Stream 13.3" Laptop
iMac 26" Retina Display

Aukey sent me 3 of their Bluetooth Headphones to try out and review and I decided to compare them all right here, right now! Here are the 3 items:

The first pair are the picture on the top left. At the moment they are the cheapest of the three and they are actually my favorite pair. I love the black and bright green combination. They definitely can fit snuggly in you ear which means you are separated from the outside world-- most or all background noise is eliminated! I find it hard to use the mic in this setting because it feels weird to talk and not hear yourself doing it (?) Is that weird?

Anyhow, this pair actually comes with a lot of extras:

- USB Charging Cable (of course!)
- 3 sets of ear tips
- 3 sets of secure fit ear hooks
​- awesome storage bag! 

They really want these to fit you right so you can enjoy them.

Of course there is a user manual and by the way, it comes with a 24 month warranty!! 

I thought I was going to like these more. (See them in the middle picture above.) Sometimes you want people to know you are occupied... Having headphone that can be obviously seen from a distance are ideal for this. However, I found that these got loose on my head somehow. As I wore them, they kept sliding down. Also the padding on the ear zones was nice at first, but later it kinda made my ears hurt. Bummer. 

This ones comes with:

- USB Charging Cable
- User Manual
- 3.5mm Aux Cable
- 24 months warranty

Finally, we come to the picture on the far right at the top of this post. The sweat proof sport headphones. Again, I love the color combination of the black and green. They fit in my ear fine, but, without any sound on, if I move my head around I can really hear that movement, I think because of the stiffened (sweat proof) style. Still, they are a good option.

They come with:

- Micro-USB cable
- 4 pairs of ear tips
- Carrying pouch
- User manual
​- 24 months warranty

super portable!

​This review and the attached photos show three Aukey iPhone Lens products that you can purchase on Amazon.

1. AUKEY iPhone Lens, 2 in 1 Cell Phone Lens Kit, 180°Fisheye Lens + 10X Macro 
2. AUKEY iPhone Lens, 2 in 1 Cell Phone Lens Kit, 100°Wide Angle Lens + 10X Macro Lens
3. AUKEY 37MM Professional 3-Piece Phone Camera Lens Filter Set 
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So the two main lenses, the fisheye/macro and wideangle/macro each come in a really nice sturdy white box. Inside each box is nice, thick, protective foam as well as a cleansing cloth and a drawstring storage pouch. 

The lens filters are arranged in one box, and each have their own clip.

These lenses are legit! They are the biggest/heaviest duty lenses that I have tried for an iPhone, my third set.