20 Reasons I Find Nebraska Nice!

We've all read the typical "This is Nebraska" lines. Runzas, Husker Football, blahblahblahblah... It's all true. Don't get me wrong. From Carhenge to Temperature Tuesdays, every true Nebraskan knows it and loves it. Tonight I have a list of reasons I love living in the great state of Nebraska... The Good Life. Or at least it used to be, until it just became "nice". Whateves.

Here are my 20 reasons I find Nebraska to be so... nice.

1. Random 58* days in January. God's way of keeping us sane.

2. Summer Green. Some states don't have that color.

3. Air quality. Think on that.

4. Trees. Grass. Lakes. Rivers. Plains. Hills.

5. A country summer night sky.

6. Raising River Rats and Lake Lovers.

7. Cottonwood trees and Summer Snow. (Despite allergies)

8. Storm clouds and thunderheads.

9. Meeting newbies and watching them learn.

10. 44oz Jack & Coke for $9. (That's a hubs top vote)

11. Wineries popping up all over the state. Nebraska... Wine Country. (Who knew?)

12. 3 degrees of separation.

13. Seasons.

14. Feedlots. Smells like $$$.

15. ____________ (Insert town name) Days.

16. Knee high by the fourth of July. (Accuracy? Try head-high.)

17. Demo Derbies. Figure 8 Races. Tractor Pulls.

18.  Street dances.

19. Farm life.

20. Wide Open Spaces.

Raves on Faves Part 2: Financial

Don't get the wrong idea about my ability to be financially savvy. I'm not. But these few tools are my current attempts at being responsible and effective in saving money and earning rebates!  

Rebate Apps 

ibotta is a great app for quickly and easily earning rebates on products you buy all the time. Categories include: Grocery, electronics, beer,wine and spirits, arts and crafts, health and beauty, apparel, sports and fitness, babies and kids, automotive, restaurant, special occasions, photos and prints, pet, home and office, movie theaters, travel. Once you've selected your category it breaks it down to store options and the rest is just pure magic! Scan the barcode on your purchase to confirm the proper product has been purchased, scan your receipt and bam! You're done. When you hit at least $10 in rebates earned you can cash out in a variety of ways from a PayPal payment to a Starbucks gift card. Awesomeness!!! 

My favorite part of ibotta is the team-building portion. You can join my team and when you redeem just ONE rebate in the first 10 days I earn $5. Yup. FIVE SMACKAROOS! And then you can add to your team and earn the $5 for each new team member you add! 
Here's the code to join my team: ymcdimj
You can sign up for this app by going online to www.ibotta.com or by downloading the app directly to your smartphone! 

Snap by Groupon is the same concept as ibotta, with only grocery items, a more limited item list and a less complex redemption system. Snap only requires you to scan your receipt, skipping the product barcode scanning step. I'm slightly less infatuated with Snap as it is harder to earn as much in rebates as with ibotta. So far, in just a couple of months I've earned over $20 from ibotta, but have yet to reach the $20 minimum to receive a payout check from Snap. (Yes, a check.)
Join my Snap team here: Kristin's Snap by Groupon Team!

The great thing about both of these rebate apps is the fact that the items on their list often include milk, bread, eggs and oj - none of which are brand-specific so you can still buy your favorite brand and earn cash back for the purchase!

Walmart Savings Catcher This one is slick as snot and easy-peasy too. Download the Walmart App or go to their website. Scan your receipt code on the app or enter the barcode digits and receipt date (within 7 days) online. Hit submit and Walmart's Savings Catcher will scan for competitors prices, giving you the difference back! Redeem your balance at anytime by sending it to an eGift Card or by setting up a Bluebird Account.


Discount/Coupon Apps

Cartwheel by Target Once I figured out how to use this one, I was hooked. At Halloween I got $30 in candy and pop for $8 using the Cartwheel discounts, print coupons, my Red Card and common sense. At Thanksgiving I saved $65 on a $200 grocery trip using the same methods! 

For those as confused by the Cartwheel app as I was at the start, here are my tips:
1. Make your shopping list first
2. Take the time (yes, saving money takes time) and sit down with your phone and cruise through the categories from which you'll be shopping. 
3. Select your coupons and add them to your cartwheel. 

If you aren't doing a big trip, or don't have time to do the steps list above, try it this way:
1. Do your shopping.
2. Find the longest checkout line
3. Scan the items from your cart using the "search" feature while you wait in line! 

Or...
Scan your items as you put them in your cart. (This is tough for me because I don't love holding my phone in my hand constantly while  I shop.) 

Please note there is a limit to the number of discounts you can add to your cartwheel at one time. I believe it starts at 12 but I've heard more spaces open up the more regularly you use your Cartwheel! (I'm currently up to 15 spaces)


I know a lot of people have been enjoying the Shopkick app. I couldn't ever bring myself to dedicate the time to learning how to use it, draining my battery using the bluetooth (why it requires bluetooth to be activated I don't know) or running around a store finding things that aren't on my list. Seems like a lot of extra activity and I'm not really sure what I can actually use the "kicks" for anyway. I'm sure its great or so many people wouldn't be using it... it just isn't for me. 

Favado is on my phone, but I have yet to spend the time to learn how to use it effectively. In all the basic glory it is a coupon app that shows you deals at the stores you select as your favorites and links you to coupons. It seems like a great idea, I'm just not well-educated yet. Check it out and let me know if you like it! 

Now, go forth and start saving money and earning rebates!!!

Raves on Faves Part 1: Organization

Everyone has their list of favorite things. Oprah made it cool. So here's me jumping on the cool wagon and sharing my first list of favorite things. Since I have oh-so-many favorite things, I'm divvying the goods into categories. Here in part one I'm letting loose on my favorite organization products!
Enjoy!  

Inkwell Press Planners! 

This is my new favorite thing for 2015. Last year I tried Erin Condren and while it was a nice planner, I really love the choices available through Inkwell Press in regards to page layouts. 

Covers/Personalization:

They don't have a huge selection of covers to choose from (only five) but the few they have are adorable and can be personalized in a beautiful gold foil. Personalization options are more abundant with 12 font choices. The cover is sturdy, durable and thick, making it easy to write in your planner on the go when there's no table or hard surface to write on! 

Page Layouts:

The page layout options offer two choices. The first is the Classic, or vertical, layout. With the week laid out in columns and the hours on the left side of each column. The bottom of each day offers spaces for meal planning, fitness and chores. 

The second option for layout is the Flex style. This is a horizontal style without the hours laid out for you. Each day again features the meal planning, fitness and chore sections and both styles provide a space for weekly notes. 

Important Dates:

I love the pages that allow you to record all the birthdays/anniversaries/recurring events in your life for quick reference on one page. I still tend to enter the most important birthdays into the monthly sections as well. To each his own. 

Pockets:

I love a good pocket or two and this planner has them! Two styles of pockets keep things separated and neatly contained. Nothing spilling out the back, top or sides! Two of the pockets are the typical folder style pocket with the contents going in from the top. Nice for ease of retrieval. The second pocket is attached inside the back cover and has one of those cute string and disk style closures. This is nice for items you don't need to reference regularly, but want to keep contained in your planner. 

Notes:

With a section for notes, I can always jot down quick pieces of information during meetings or while out with the girls, then transfer them to the appropriate notebook when I get home. (I'm involved in a few different organizations, so each one gets its very own notebook to help me keep them all separated!) 

With this being their first run of planners, I can only imagine the growth and improvements we'll see in the future! Enjoy 20% off your order when you use this link! 

Pocket  Calendars! 

Hit up Amazon.com and search for wall calendars with pockets. I love being able to put party invitations, event information and bills in the pockets for the current and upcoming months. It makes finding those items so easy without adding unnecessary bulk to my Inkwell Press Planner! 

Thirty-One! 

Anything from Thirty-One is a hit in my book. I have bags and hanging organizers, purses and wallets, oh-snap bins and large utility totes. If you can't find at least 5 things you can't live without from Thirty-One, well then, my bet is you are ultra-organized. And even at that, I still bet you can find something you need! 

Resolutions Smesolutions

Here we go with the New Year's Resolutions Nonsense. I'm not one for resolutions or the "giving up" of things. I like what I like when I like it. I gave up the gym over 18 months ago in favor of investing in a few tough and effective workouts I can do at home. There's diversity and flexibility. I can do whatever workout I want whenever I want. Just like I like it. 

I kicked off my at-home workouts in May of 2013 with Les Mills Combat (LMC). I was impressed with the changes I saw and felt. LOVE!  
Then I wanted some diversity so I dug deep and took on ChaLean Extreme (CLX) and found some serious definition in my legs and arms! LOVE! 
Then I tried T25. No offense to Shaun T, but that isn't the workout for me. While the lickety-split, 25 minutes and done pace was awesome, all the jumping caused me knee pain that plagued me throughout and I finally called it quits. DISLIKE 
This last summer 21 Day Fix came on the market and I jumped that bandwagon before it was a bandwagon. Again, LOVE! 
PiYo was a borrowed workout from a girlfriend and one I highly recommend for anyone looking for low-impact with high intensity. (Seems like an oxymoron doesn't it!?) The flexibility I gained from just a few weeks of PiYo was amazing. LOVE! 

So where am I now? I hit a low after my sister-in-law's wedding in October. I was hitting it hard and doing great until the day before the wedding...

After the wedding, well, I took a little break. And that little break made me lazy. Workouts dropped from 5-6 days/week to 3-4 days/week. Around Thanksgiving I got even lazier and workouts became 2 days/week. As of yesterday I had done one workout in three weeks. What's the point? Why suffer through that one workout for what boils down to no point at all? Because it was driving me nuts to not work out. I could feel it in my muscles and my mind. Everything was suffering. That one workout a few days before Christmas did me a ton of good mentally.

The winter blues have set in and I can't seem to get out of the "funk" I've been in. The funk has been keeping me from my own home gym. Down the stairs. In my basement. 30 seconds away. They (I don't know who "they" are yet) say that if you live more than 10 minutes away from your gym you won't go. I agree. I also think if you have the "funk" I have you won't workout even if you live in your gym! For weeks I would dress in my workout clothes first thing in the AM with every intention of kicking ass during my workout that day... only to change out of workout clothes and into my pj's at night with not so much as a bead of sweat on my dri-fit. 

Today I looked up an old friend. Chalene Johnson and her CLX workout that I love so, so, so much. 

This time around I'm going to focus on upping my weights again. I have to start slow and be careful with "wimpy" as I call my left wrist, but upping the weights is the only way to make progress. I'm mentally preparing for the increase in appetite I'll see with the workouts and looking forward to breaking out the shorts when spring arrives March 1st. (I'm an optimist... remember 2013?) 


Tonight my bestie and I chatted about motivation. She's motivated by a trip to Vegas in February. (A trip I hope to get to go on too!) I'm motivated by shorts weather, past compliments on my legs after a great round of CLX and a 20 year reunion in June. 

I typed up my workout chart complete with meal and water tracking and workout accountability. I have kids who love it when I work out. "Do another one, mommy!" And I have a lineup of killer supplemental workouts on my shelf. Some LMC for the days I want to kick and punch, some yoga when I need to recharge and some rewards for myself along the way! 

I have a goal and a plan to get there. I have the means and sporadically I have the motivation. What I need is to remember to take it one day, one workout, at a time. To keep on the path that keeps me feeling good. The sun will shine again someday and the motivation will be easier to find each morning. Until that day, here's to digging deep and keeping after that goal.