Monday, December 23, 2013

The Yellow Pages–where you find stuff

The Yellow Pages. All throughout growing up, this would grace many of our doorsteps each year, filled with information about businesses. Want to order a pizza tonight? Get out the Yellow Pages. Got to get your car fixed? Yellow Pages. Need a pipe fixed? Yellow Pages.
     But now, in the digital age, the phone book has become a useless nuisance. I know that when I see the phone book on my doorstep, I may bring it inside, but never even take it out of its bag. Why should I? All I have to do is go online and I can find the same information.
     But on the go is another story. Sometimes, trying to find the information on my phone takes too much time and effort. This is where Yellow Pages makes a comeback, with the Yellow Pages App. Within seconds, I can find what I need, and even dial it, all with the tap of a few buttons. This is handy when I’m on the go and need to contact a business for some reason, whether it be calling one store from another to find out if a product is available (very important for the holidays), or calling to see if a package was delivered.
     Times have changed. But people still will need to be able to find a business quickly and easily. Yellow Pages is still delivering great services, now updated to the 21st Century.
 
check out this cool app and tell me what you think of it below to be entered to win a cool prize pack from Yellow pages!




disclosure: Yellow Pages supplied these materials to me for my readers and all thoughts are my own.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Portable North Pole: Keeping the Christmas magic alive

 

3381863Santa Claus. This jolly red man bringing presents to every child of the world is a staple of many people’s childhoods. However, with the technology and the conformity demanded by today’s society, the bringer of gifts is fast being phased out of Christmas, and children everywhere are beginning to doubt the magic of Santa.

This is a problem that is, at least partially, solved by Portable North Pole. With a few simple bits of information provided by you, Santa will send your children a personalized video with a special message from Santa. They also can do phone calls and personalized letters from Santa. Santa can also send them messages for their birthdays, Christmas eve…all the bells and whistles. Of course, there are varying prices, but nothing outrageous. Everything is affordable to the parent, and it keeps the magic of the holidays firmly alive.

A few key points about PNP -

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· PNP is mostly for young children who still believe in Santa and the magic of Christmas but even adults can join in on the Christmas magic with customizable videos for those 18+

· PNP offers a different video scenario for nice and naughty kids – and nice and naughty adults too

· PNP brings the magic of Christmas to life in the hearts of kids and adults all around the world, making the holiday season more special than ever

· PNP donates 5% of all online sales to a Children’s Hospital close to the buyer’s location. PNP currently collaborates with over 40 regional Children’s Hospitals in the U.S.

· The most popular PNP product is by far the personalized video message…but Santa and his elves offer a whole host of other personalized products, too, like the newly update iOS and Droid apps.

· The magical Portable North Pole console allows Santa to stay in touch with his millions of friends around the globe, all at the click of a button. Nothing makes Santa happier than creating special "Merry Christmas!" video messages and spreading his holiday cheer

The only thing I wish they could do is make these more personalized for the families with more than one little one at home. It’s all in good fun, until the little ones realize Santa sent the exact same message to their brother/sister, only with the names different. I think it could be an easy fix to have an option to personalize the video/call/letter for a set of siblings. But other than that little hitch, this is an amazing tool to keep the magic of the holidays alive and well.

This year I personalized videos for our older two children and a letter for Liam since its baby’s first Christmas. (a perfect addition to his baby book!)

Here is a breakdown of what Portable North Pole offers for 2013:portableNorthPole

    • · Portable North Pole’s standard Santa’s Video, Retail: Free A FREE personalized video message from Santa Claus filled with magic and exciting discoveries for your loved ones.
    • · Premium Video, Retail: $3.99 Premium videos includes almost 6 minutes of personalized video message from Santa Claus, features 3 additional photos and more personal details, a clip of Santa's riding on his sleigh and even a personalized Christmas carol
    • · Portable North Pole’s Mobile App, Retail: $3.99 for iOS and Android; $4.99 HD app for iPad and iPad mini Portable North Pole offers iOS and Android users anapplication to create Christmas magic on their mobile devices. The newly updated PNP app includes: credit to create and access premium videos, call from Santa himself, an Advent Calendar game, Christmas Radar, Countdown game and access to a PNP account to synchronize with your online content.
    • · Santa Sprint: PNP Adventure, $2.99 This unique Christmas adventure game, for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod), provides hours of fun for the whole family. Guided by the voice of Santa, kids can help him get ready for Christmas and unlock exclusive video stories as they complete the different levels.
    • · Portable North Pole’s Santa’s Phone Call, Retail $3.99 for one call or $6.99 for three calls Santa has a very important message for your loved one! He will pick up the phone and call directly to deliver his personalized message. Santa’s call will last approximately two minutes and you can choose between 14 message options.

Start your own holiday magic this season with www.portablenorthpole.com

· Find them

All in all I will be using Portable North Pole for years to come.

Disclosure: I received complementary Portable North Pole products in exchange for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Celebrating Advent

happy_first_advent_by_naschi-d4hgaq5Happy holidays to all of my readers. As we approach this holiday season our family has decided to refocus on the Christ in CHRISTmas. With the hustle and bustle of Christmas concerts, shopping, gifts and other festivities its easy to overlook the the true meaning of Christmas. After moving to New York our family found it difficult to find a church home we felt called to and our daily living with Christ fell to the wayside as we went along with our new daily routine. This past year we finally found our new Church home and have strived to make Godly changes in our lives and in the lives of our children.

This past Sunday heralded the first Sunday in Advent. We have yet to unpack the lost Advent wreath, maybe this year we will find it OR I will find an idea for one on Pinterest.  As part of our renewed faith I decided to make our own Advent calendar this year instead of getting one of the chocolate filled ones from the store.

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Over the next 24 days we will be reading through the nativity story with our children before tucking them in for the night.

We are a few days behind so Tonight we read days 1 and 2, and tomorrow we will read days 3 and 4 to catch up. The children loved it and I loved that we are making memories and helping our little ones grow in their relationship with God. Hopefully they will remember this for years to come and remember that although Christmas is a time for Santa and presents the true meaning will also be with them.

If you want to make your own advent chain you can find template from Less Ordinary Designs (she has a great premade one herself but its completely customizable) and the content/bible verses from Sweeter Than Sweets (her advent calendar is amazing and something I plan to do when I have more time to plan this instead of being 2 days late!).