House Party!

www.HouseParty.com

You guys! Everybody! Listen! Ok, I got your attention. HouseParty.com is a fantastic game changer. So, you're like me where you like to try new things for totally free. Well, House Party is kind of like that but in a whole 'nother level.

House Party throws parties for different brands of everything (From Ford, Uncle Ben's ready rice, beer parties, kids art projects, baby diaper parties, the possibilities are literally endless). You go to their home page and you can see what kind of parties are currently up for grabs for hosting.  You click on the party that you want to host and then you have a big green "Apply" button. Just agree to everything, choose the correct answers, and at the end of the application, you check the box and submit! But to go even further to better your chances, do the extra activities. Normally it consists of 3 things: you need to post a message about your party that you just applied for onto at least one social media site that you have your profile linked to. The second thing is to start a conversation on the page of the party that you just signed up for. It'll tell you what to talk about. And the third thing: they normally ask you to take a picture with yourself next to that product from a local grocery store. 

Keep in mind that a lot of these parties are only for certain states to apply. When you click on the party page and you click the green "Apply" button, that very next page you go to, it'll show you a list of all the states that the party is designated for.

NOW for the important part.... Party time!!! HouseParty will send you a package of everything you need for your party like some kind of banner or poster to put up, any other type of decorations like I've seen a diaper party full of balloons with the brand name all over it, or I've seen food/beverage parties with special kinds of aprons they send you. They will send the decorations and the products to you. There are parties that have to do with alcohol and I've seen one of them say that they will send you a Visa prepaid card so you can buy the product since there are laws prohibiting the shipment of alcohol. No biggie! If you're old enough, there's no problems. So, my main idea here is that HouseParty will choose whoever they think is most qualified out of the people who have applied (and there's a certain threshold per party. They could only accept 250 hosts or 1000 hosts. Just keep applying to everything until you get into one. And then keep trying! Lol) and then they will send you a package full of pretty much everything you need for your house party. Of course you could buy extra decorations to make your party extra special. Then, during your party, they want to see pictures pictures pictures! To see what you and your guests are up to. They want to know that they sent their products to someone who is using them all to the best of their abilities. Just go all out and have a ball! I'm not sure if they need videos also, I want to say no. But look that up and I'm sure you'll find an answer quickly. They will definitely let you know and also remind you about what you need to do. If you don't post pictures and/or comment and/or be actively involved on the site during your party and/or after your party, there's probably a low chance they will want to send you anymore party things.

Just yesterday, there was a ReadyPac party being announced (you know, the ReadyPacs that are already-made salads like you could buy at WalMart or Winn Dixie or Publix in the produce section) and I was waiting so impatiently, but of course, I never win anything. Well I can't say never. But rarely do I win stuff. So, I didn't get it yesterday.

When you make your profile on the site, you'll have a tab up top that says "My Home" which will have a drop-down box. Go down to "My applications" and it'll show you all the parties that you've applied for. It'll also show you under every party when the date is that they will tell people whether they've won or not. A lot of them say "on or around" a certain date. So if the date comes by and you hear nothing, don't give up hope. I have to say, even though it sucks to not win it, I am thankful that this site actually tells you "Sorry you didn't get it this time". Also, HouseParty has this small subsection called "Chatterbox" so if you don't win the party, you'll get an email to be a chatterbox for that product. I just got an email this morning from chatterbox to see if I wanted to apply to become a chatterbox for ReadyPac salads. It said they will send me a $5 WalMart gift card and some booklets with information on all of their salad choices that they have to offer.

Have fun finding parties and Good Luck to you all!

Kayla Dobbins

...6 Days Later...

I was trying to keep this blog going in hopes of following a journey of health and recovery. I wanted to be able to fix my thyroid before the end of the year. I wanted to be able to successfully be able to live without lactose or gluten. I believe all of those things are all now slamming me at once.

Every time, it seems, I drink milk, my stomach feels like it immediately swells. When I eat gluten, roughly 6-8 hours later, I have BAD stomach cramps and diarrhea. I still have problems sometimes with swallowing, food and pills.

The kids have been back in school for 1 week and 1 day, today. They started last week on Wednesday and I am so glad that today is Thursday because I feel like I'm literally going to die of boredom sitting here by myself every morning. I watch the news, Kelly Ripa, Wendy Williams, News at noon, and then the shows like Dish Nation and... what's that other one with Kit Hoover? That one.

I felt so dead this morning when my alarm went off at 6:30. Me and Chris stayed up til about 11:30. He kept playing his Playstation4 that he finally got back from the pawn shop the other day and I was sitting on the couch with him falling asleep. 

My energy just feels like it's draining everyday, I have less and less. There's a hole in me somewhere that it's leaking out of. My brain says "OMG WE'RE MOVING SOON!" but my physical body is like a puddle that's been stomped through. As much as I hate taking any kinds of pills, even if they're vitamins or something healthy, I think I may need to find something that'll boost my energy.
Any suggestions? I know nobody reads this stuff except for me.

I was trying out Winn Dixie for a couple weeks instead of my usual Save A Lot. That was a bad idea. I love Winn Dixie for their clearance in their cold sections like the deli, bakery, dairy, the meats, etc. Their clearance tags are like a breath of fresh air and if I find something that's gonna make something half off the normal price OR bring a product down under $1, you bet I'm gonna go for it!
So, I went there a few days ago to try to buy food at least for the rest of the week. I was thinking I could get away with maybe $20-25 spent. NOOO! I spent $48 and change. On what? Me and the kids picked out some clearance yogurts, got some kool-aids, lots of sugar for kool-aid and tea, I bought some chocolate milk, bought wet and dry food for Zeus, 2 boxes of cheapo mac n cheese, sour cream, burrito wrappers, 2 loaves of bread, sliced cheese, a tub of country crock which by the way is a huge crock because they literally suck as oil and as butter; what a waste of money. I think that's about it. for almost $50?? I was floored! I was thinking that maybe I had spent $30. Ugh omg, that was awful. So I had my last $18 yesterday that I could spend. Any more spent and Chris would probably bite my head off because now I only have $200 to go toward car insurance at the end of the week. So, I brought $18 to Save A Lot yesterday because we really need meats. I didn't even get meats with that almost $50. I want to kick myself for not going to my main grocery store. So, I went to Save A Lot yesterday with the kids. I got a sausage and a box of jambalaya for one night's of dinner, I also got a pack of hot dogs, a pack of bologna, a half gallon of milk, a box of tuna helper and one of hamburger helper, a box of au gratin potatoes, and a pack of chicken legs for less than $3 for another night's dinner. Like I made out like a bandit with what little money I have. But now I feel like I cheated my family out of some potentially good food that we could've had versus what I had bought and the stuff we have just was not satisfying to me. Not like nutritionally satisfying or it wasn't like it didn't satisfy me once I ate it, but it was like financially unsatisfying. Like I wish I could bring back what's left that I bought so I can get a refund and use that money to go buy other things at Save A Lot. 

That's my rant for the day. Lol.

Ooh! So, I was sitting here starting up this blog for today and I looked out the back window and I saw this big white things behind the trees and behind Chris' trailer out in the road so I was weaving my head around and it's a FedEx truck! I was like "it would be so cool if that was for me". I saw the FedEx guy walking up with a brown box and normally they knock on my door when it's something for Jim and I have to redirect them. So, I walked out and asked who it was for and he said Dobbins.

I did this survey toward the end of last week and it was through Opinion Outpost for Nielsen. Their surveys are usually enjoyable, nothing to stress over, not too much detail on some things. They were asking me about Lipton teas and which flavors I would like and which ones I would ever buy. Well, at the end of the survey as the end of Nielsen surveys usually ask, it said something along the lines of "If we were to send you a sample of this product from a reputable manufacturer, would you be willing to do a follow-up survey to give opinions about your trial?" Something along those lines. So of course I had to type in all caps I AGREE and normally it'll just send me back to the Opinion Outpost page where it gives me my points at the end of the survey, but Nielsen finally gave me the page asking for my name, address, and phone number so they could send me a sampling of the teas so they can survey me afterward and get my opinions. Fast forward, I got 2 bottles of tea! Lemon Lipton tea. I cut the tape off the box flaps, and there was a snug styrofoam container inside so I lifted the styrofoam lid off and there was 2 bags of air on top of 2 Lipton tea bottles and under the bottles was this frozen bag that said something like "Portable refrigerator bag". The drinks came cold. Omg I loved it! I have one in the fridge and I've already drank one.
It does taste much better than it used to. It used to have a heavy syrup taste to the tea itself, plus even heavier feeling in my mouth from the fake lemon flavor. But this Lipton tea now has a light feeling in my mouth, no heavy syrups and the lemon taste isn't too overpowering and there is zero bad aftertaste. I am pleasantly surprised by this new lighter feeling and flavoring in my mouth by this company and I am excited to buy them again in the near future. I can't wait to give them their follow-up survey answers. There was a note in the box that said they were going to email me within the next few days and ask me follow-up questions.

I WISH I could've gotten a picture of a play-by-play of opening it and revealing what was inside but I was so excited that I called my best friend Jessica so we could be excited together. Lol. Because as much as I love getting stuff in the mail, I also enjoy seeing the stuff that she gets. Those boxes and packages that usually arrive in our mailbox (sometimes through FedEx!) just makes it feel like Christmas or my birthday and those are my 2 favorite days of every year. Plus, trying new products is so exciting! To try a new flavor of something or to get something for the kids to try like a new toy or a new yummy allergy medicine. The possibilities are endless! 

On Smiley360, I will try to remember the things that I have been able to test:
I had a mission for Sleep Number where I had to go to a Sleep number store and get a picture of Lily trying one of the Sleep Number Kids IQ beds and then ask a store associate all about it. I have done arts and crafts with Airheads, I have tried out a new laundry detergent, a First Response mission for a new bluetooth technology built into their test strip, ob tampons, Nexium24, Orajel for cold sores, and a slew of Purina dog treats. I know I've got to be missing a few things but I've only been a member for about a year. I get something new roughly once a month. I am currently waiting on some baby orajel for teething and I'm also waiting for some Culturelle for my kids. I was excited about the Culturelle because me and my kids all have tummy problems so I'm hoping this can relieve them. I've also noticed recently that Culturelle is being sold at Dollar Tree! I'm not sure how many is in a box, but I can't wait for this trial and I hope it makes them feel better.

For my BzzAgent campaigns, here's what I can remember:
Zoomer Chomplings electronic dinosaur for my kids; they loved it but it is definitely not for kids who like to play hard. Not even a month after my campaign ended, one of the legs popped off and I couldn't fix it; and the bone was easily lost, plus it was hard to keep track of what the different colors meant that it would show because there was different modes. Tim Tams shortly after they came to the US from Australia (those were amazeballs), again I tried ob tampons, Cascade platinum action pacs, Horizon fruit snack and fruit squeeze pouches, Children's Claritin, Daisy sour cream new squeeze tube pouches, International delight creamer, BIC X-tra Fun #2 pencils, and Russel Stover everyday chocolates. (I was able to look in my account history and see my activity. Otherwise I couldn't remember all of those. Lol!)

Smiley360 is slow at some times and other times you get 2 or 3 at a time; towards the beginning, I remember having 5 at one time lined up down the side of my home page. The trick with Smiley during the slow times is to go into the Smiley Connect and commenting or reviewing items that are listed that other people have tried out through the site. The more active you are on the site, the more chances you have of trying out more new products. Smiley also have a blog that's connected to their website, although I've never went in there to read what they write about, I'm sure you'll get even more chances of getting a mission tossed your way. By the way, I'm always confusing the BzzAgent campaigns with the Smiley360 missions. So if I say a BzzAgent mission, you know what I mean.

BzzAgent, I was just thrown a new campaign this morning for the new Claritin Clarispray nose spray for allergies, but when I clicked on it, it said that the campaign was already full. Poops. But anyways, BzzAgent, you just have to wait patiently until they send you something new to try out. There's nothing to do on that site to interact, I mean, I think you can comment on people's reviews of oher products, but besides posting your own reviews when you;re in the middle of a campaign, I'm not sure of anything else you can do to get yourself a product even faster. On Bzz, PLEASE remember to go into your account after writing a review to accept your MyPoint points. After a month, they expire and then you don't get your credit for your reviews. And the better review, the more points you get. So, make sure your review is specifically aimed at consumers who are curious about the product and what you personally would want to know, don't write anything toward Bzz or Smiley or say anything about how many free coupons you got or anything like that. JUST talk about the product like how it tastes, does it work ok, what you add it to, a recipe of yours, whatever the product may be. Just do whatever the campaign or mission asks of you, don't try to do your own thing or fudge it; it's just not going to work out well. The better reviews you give where you are genuine and stick to the topic, the more points you'll get but also the more willing these sites will be to want to give you more things to try out.

I LOVE trying things out. One, I just plain enjoy free things. Two, we don't have much extra spending money, some weeks are better than others, so I enjoy trying things that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to try out on my own. No, not everything I have a huge urge to try out but you know what, I have a few new companies now that I greatly enjoyed their products (of course I've always loved Airheads, can't sway me there). 

Kayla Dobbins

Guess who's back? Back again? Kayla's back! Tell a friend!

What a hiatus! I'm sorry for leaving for so long. Things have been happening everywhere. I'll try to keep things short:

1) Zeus is growing bigger everyday, of course! He's almost 5 months old! I believe his birthday is March 24th. He's still very jumpy on people, but hey, he's just a puppy. It's inevitable. This is his favorite position every night when he's let inside of the house. He will get up on you, roll around a couple times, and end up on his back so you can rub his belly and chest. He's spoiled I tell you!

2) Lily left for New York for 5 weeks to go see Josh and Heather. I was feeling pretty bad and feeling like something was missing the whole time she was gone. The airport security wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had a really hard time letting her leave when it was her time to get on the plane. They gave her a wristband with a QR code on it which they scanned everytime she got off and on her planes. She went from Tampa to LaGuardia, and then LaGuardia to Syracuse. And then the same way back home... Syracuse, LaGuardia, Tampa. Syracuse to Laguardia was an hour. LaGuardia to Tampa was only like 3 hours. Those times don't make sense, but I don't even care anymore. Lily finally got home last weekend and I am so relieved to have everybody together again. Yes, she gets on my nerves just like my other kids but I in no way love her any less or more than the other ones. I would've missed my other kids just the same. Jonathan I would've had a harder time with, I think, because he's my baby. But still! Anyways, here's a picture of her at Tampa International about to leave to NY and the other is her on her way back home from TIA in the shuttle thing going from the terminals back to the parking garage...
  

 

She came back so much older-looking. Mature. Skinnier. I'm just glad that she's back home. She's the same Lily, just with new experiences of flying by herself and of visiting New York.

3) Elaina's birthday was on July 24th, her party was on the 23rd. She had a flamingo theme. It was going to be luau themed with hula girl decorations everywhere, but she landed on flamingos. I honestly got zero pictures of her party. I got a flat tire that morning and me, Elaina, Jonathan, Jessica, and Ashley spent about 2-3 hours walking around that shopping center from Dollar Tree to Winn Dixie to McDonald's. My mom picked up Elaina from Winn Dixie while we were inside and she brought her to WalMart where she picked out one of these dolls that looks like an American Girl doll that she named Emily. But I digress.

Chris came to Dollar Tree where my tire was slowly yet quickly deflating, took my tire and rim off, went to Foy's, our favorite tire shop down 41, and got me a new tire. Brought it back to my car and installed it.

That was supposed to be the day that Chris and his guys were going to help Big Chris move his house out to Mulberry. But it didn't happen, not only because of my car, but Big Chris learned what he needs to do and got the papers that he needs to file to the courts so he can legally take his house off of the property without any kind of legal repercussions. 

Elaina got mostly money at her party, more than her other presents. Someone gave her $25, $10, and then Big Chris came over here the next day and gave her $20. She also got some puzzles and some kind of teal and pearl-adorned bowl kind of thing, like it's made out of wire and sits a little sideways. I don't know, I was going to use it as a hair accessory holder in the girl's bedroom once we move. Oh and Elaina also got a make-up kit from Chris' Aunt Teresa.

She asked me if she was beautiful and I said "of course!". She had enough to last for like 3-4 days worth of face caking before she used it all. Lol. And one day, Jonathan put some blue eye shadow on. Haha! They're a hoot.

4) The kids just started school 2 days ago, today's day #3. Jonathan is now in "big school" and he's having an awesome time. Lily says that she knows everybody in her class from last year so that's good. Elaina hasn't said any details but she says that she's having a good time. All of the kids' teachers had an "About Me" paper for me to fill out about my kids and on the back of Elaina's paper, I wrote the teacher about how Elaina acted last school year, the virtual school trip, her ODD and ADHD diagnosis, just about everything. Elaina is supposed to be in the gifted program this year and the weird thing is that I didn't see anything around her classroom that said anything about it being a gifted classroom and the teacher never said anything about it either. But the teacher. Miss Weichts (Weeks) seems strict but also tries to throw in a sense of humor. Like she's bi-polar, not in a bad way. I don't know, I can't describe it. Like she wants to be hard on the kids to keep them in line, but she's trying to lightening up the mood also so there's no tension or no stiff feelings. Lily has 2 teachers, her homeroom, reading, and writing teacher is Miss Nelson. Then her math and science teacher is Miss White. Miss White has 2 guinea pigs named Bugsy and Pepper. Lily is having a fabulous time.

Jonathan has a new teacher this year named Miss Perez. He was playing with this little boy at the teacher meet and greet the day before school started and this little boy was like "see you tomorrow best friend". So silly. I asked Jonathan the first 2 days after school if he had played with that boy and he's like "I don't remember". Lol. My kids are nuts. Lily and Jonathan both make friends and don't even remember their names. Elaina has a hard time making friends sometimes and she remembers everybody's names in her class.

I love watching my kids grow up, turning into these  unique individuals. Everybody is different and I have to find a way of teaching these 3 different individuals and raise them all properly and get them ready for whatever their futures hold. It's nerve-racking and also exciting. I can't wait to see what they grow up to be and to be like.

Anyways, here's a picture of them on their first day of school 2 days ago:

Kayla Dobbins