Jerri at Simply Sweet Home

Treat Yourself to a Jr. Frosty and Help Support Adoption

October 9, 2014 Leave a Comment

I love Wendy’s! My dad took me there when I was a kid. At the time they still the taco bar. (Does anyone remember that?) Then when I was 12 or 13, I had my first Wendy’s hamburger. I got their Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, and I was in love! To this day I still order this along with fries, and I never leave without a Jr. Frosty (chocolate flavor of course).

This fall you and I can have our Jr. Frosty and eat it too, while helping to benefit a great cause, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®.

In 1990, Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas accepted an invitation from President George H.W. Bush to be the spokesman for a national adoption awareness campaign. After two years, the foundation was started. The goal of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption® is to help children in foster care get adopted.

Did you know there are more than 100,000 children in foster care who are awaiting adoption? Dave Thomas said that foster children are not “someone else’s responsibility. They are our responsibility.” As there are foster children in every community throughout America, I believe he was correct. While there are a lot of great foster parent’s out there, nothing compares with having a permanent, stable home environment. In fact, my neighbors actually have 3 teenage boys who were adopted out of foster care, and I know the boys are happy to be part of this loving family.

Since its founding, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption® and Wendy’s customers have helped 4,000+ children have found adoptive families, and this year Wendy’s® aims to give $10 million to The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®, so they can continue this great work.

You can help this great causing by purchasing a Wendy’s® Halloween Coupon Book for $1 at participating Wendy’s. Ninety cents of every $1 Halloween Coupon Book sold between September 13 and October 31, 2014 will benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®. And you can use these coupons to get more delicious Jr. Frostys from November 1, 2014 till February 1, 2015, so it is a definitely a win-win.

Visit your local Wendy’s® to purchase a Jr. Frosty™ Halloween Coupon Book* for $1, which benefits the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®!

*Coupon book may contain coupons for 5 or 10 free Jr. Frosty™ treats. Prices and participation may vary. Ninety cents to every $1 coupon booklet sold between 9/15/14 and 10/31/14 will benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®. Coupons valid from 11/1/14 through 2/1/15. ©2014 Oldemark LLC

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Halloween Fruit Cup

October 8, 2014 13 Comments

Today I have a super easy treat that’s also healthy, yet festive for the fall season! This Halloween Fruit Cup is made using the little fruit cups you get from the store. You could also use fruit from a can, frozen, or even fresh fruit, but the little fruit cups work great for a single serve dessert without any measuring. It is great for a healthy after school snack, and it is also an easy party treat to prepare. [Read more…]

Filed Under: appetizers and snacks, desserts, fall, Halloween, Recipe of the Week, recipes Tagged With: fruit cup, halloween, healthy snacks, orange, parfait, pinapple

15 Fall Subway Art Printables

October 6, 2014 3 Comments

I feel like I’m a little late to the party with this post, since everyone started sharing their fall decor a month ago, but I was doing my fall decorating last weekend (decor post still to come), and I decided to go online and get a free printable to frame for my living room. When I started searching, I was overwhelmed by all the cuteness I saw, so I decided to throw together a post with some of my favorites!

I have to confess, I did recycle the 5 at the bottom from a previous post I did, to get 15 for this post! The five I shared a couple of years ago were so cute, I thought they were worth a second look, and I like having all of these in one place just for my own convenience, and I’m sure it’s better for you too.

As always, the links where you go to download this great artwork can be found underneath each photo. Hope you enjoy!

Making Good Decisions Online and #ShareAwesome Contest

October 6, 2014 3 Comments

The National PTA and LifeLock are teaming up for #ShareAwesome, an advocacy campaign designed to encourage families to embrace technology and use it for good, making positive, safe decisions online. Secondly they wish to open up a conversation between parents and kids, so that teens and tweens can make good decisions online.

This campaign is of particular interest to me, because every afternoon when I sit down at my desk to edit photos or write I post, I can’t help but overhear a young gamer playing on his computer in the next room. When he’s not at school, participating in activities, or sleeping, Noah is glued to his computer! The fact that we can hear him through the walls is a good thing, as it gives us a chance to monitor his activities without constantly looking over his shoulder. But apart from this, we try to encourage positive and safe behavior online, so that we won’t have to worry about Noah in times when we can’t be there to listen in. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blogging, safety tips, Uncategorized

Stationary, Cards, Art & More from Minted

October 5, 2014 Leave a Comment

I’ve been making plans to have some family photos taken, and with that comes the inspiration for holiday cards and so much more! I recently visited Minted and I loved the selection of cards, stationary, and other print media they had available.

I found pages and pages of cute cards on their site. They have a lot of great designs to help you show off your family or child’s photos:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: decorating, party ideas Tagged With: cards, invitations, party supplies, printing, stationary

Friday Favorites – Week 237 – with Fall Drinks

October 2, 2014 9 Comments

Fall is the season of Pumpkin Spice, hot chocolate, hot cider, and other warm, comforting drinks! I just love seeing everyone’s creative drink recipes, and since we are actually going to cooler weather here next week, it seemed like a great time to feature some of these. Hope you enjoy!

Drunken Pumpkin Perfect Fall Holliday Liquer from Whell n Deal Mama

Healthy Pumpkin Pie Smoothie from Intoxicated on Life

Copycat Starbucks Caramel Macchiato from Modern Christian Homemaker

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: coffee, copy cat recipes, pumpkin

5 hour ENERGY Yummification Contest Results‏

October 2, 2014 Leave a Comment

A while back, I posted about the 5 hour ENERGY Yummification Contest, and I shared a recipe for 5 hour Lemonade.

Other people around the country also shared their 5 hour ENERGY recipes and entered them in the Yummification Contest. The results are in!

Here’s the list of winners:

First Place ($50,000 prize): “Pomelimelade” by Tim Merlau, Los Angeles, CA. This winning submission mixes a Pomegranate 5-hour ENERGY® shot with limeade, and then takes us on a musical journey through all that can be accomplished over several hours (spoiler alert: it’s a lot).

Pomelimelade Recipe – 1 glass Limeade and 1 shot of Pomegranate 5-hour ENERGY®

Second Place ($30,000 prize): “Ramalamadingdong” by Mark Golembeski, Los Angeles, CA. The second place video helps us turn that 2:30 feeling frown upside down by mixing a 5-hour ENERGY® shot with lemonade. This video has it all: a clown, a puppy, a guy in a tutu, and much more.

Ramalamadingdong Recipe – 1 glass Lemonade and 1 shot of Berry 5-hour ENERGY®

Third Place ($10,000 prize): “Arnold Power” by Zac Sheorn, Lugoff, SC. The third place winner reminds us that you don’t have to be good at sports, but mixing a Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY® shot with decaffeinated iced tea helps keep you refreshed while practicing. And practicing.

Arnold Power Recipe“- 1 glass Decaf Iced Tea and 1 shot of Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY®

You can now check out the winners and their award winning photos, videos, and recipes on the Yummification Contest page.

Disclosure: I received samples and compensation for this post. The opinions are my own.

Filed Under: drinks, recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: 5-hour energy, drinks

Researching Your Insurance Benefits is Time Well Spent

October 1, 2014 Leave a Comment

As we prepare for the fall season, we get wrapped up in back to school shopping, after school snacks, and other seasonal preparation. With everything going on, it is easy to forget that it is open enrollment for health insurance. I never knew how important insurance was until my dad had a heart attack several years ago. It was a very stressful time period, and it was a big relief for us the next day when someone came out to discuss his benefits. I know this ordeal has greatly impacted the way my dad studies his benefits and looks at open enrollment, and it’s definitely had an impact on me as well.

The whole process of researching insurance benefits probably sounds boring and tedious to most people, so to help with the process, I recommend looking at your options with your spouse. This way you can bounce ideas off each other, discussing your current and future needs, and you will both know what you are getting. I like to think of it as a board meeting for your household. And if you need help getting your counterpart to the table for the meeting, consider a nice bribe, such as their favorite meal! [Read more…]

Filed Under: health, saving money Tagged With: Aflac, health insurance, insurance benefits, open enrollment

Shopping for a Good Cause: Breast Cancer Awareness

September 30, 2014 3 Comments

It’s October, which means a lot of people and places will Go Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Will you?

For me, the easiest way to go pink is to buy Breast Cancer Awareness merchandise. I especially like to buy apparel, because the money you spend on the products will support Breast Cancer Awareness, and then you can give further support by wearing what you bought. And with the weather finally feeling fallish, I’m wanting to buy some new clothes anyway, so why not shop and make a difference in support a good cause?

The Breast Cancer Site Store offers stylish items to help you show your support. This includes great apparel like the sweatshirt above, but also includes pink ribbon jewelry and gifts. I found a lot of great shirts and shoes that I’d love to wear. And there are so many cute bracelets and necklaces to wear or give as gifts. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Causes/Charities, fashion, shopping, Uncategorized Tagged With: Breast Cancer Awareness, Go Pink

Clean Up This Fall and Save with Henkel A+ Values

September 29, 2014 1 Comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias #APlusValues

For the past month, I’ve been featuring ideas and products for fall cleaning. Today I’m sharing a few more, and as a bonus, you can actually Get $10 Back in Coupon Savings on these products with Henkel A+ Values.

Henkel makes products you know and love such as Dial, Purex, Right Guard, renuzit, and Soft Scrub. Today I’m talking about how I use products from the last two brands on this list, but I’m also going to tell you how can save money on ALL these brands this fall. All you have to do is by $20 worth of products from the participating brands I just mentioned. Then visit the A Plus Values page and enter your email address. From there, you will have the chance to upload your receipt from where you bought the participating products. Upon validation, you will receive $10 in money saving coupons from Henkel. Coupon savings delivered electronically via opt-in e-mail. While supplies last. $20 purchase requirement based on advertised retail price, before coupons.

This is a really great deal for me, considering I already use products from the participating brands. If you use these items too, this might be a great time for you to stock up! [Read more…]

Filed Under: cleaning, Home/Garden, saving money Tagged With: Henkel A+ values