We Were Robbed

asouthernmother
October 14, 2015

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free

Last summer we came home from a brief family vacation to quite a surprise, Jeremy’s garage had been broken into. We have always made sure our home is secure before we leave, even if it’s just to go to the shops, so it’s the last thing I expected to come home to. However, we’d never thought to make sure our Verisure alarms extended to our outbuildings, which in hindsight was so foolish! The farm is in a secluded but is highly visible from the main road because of the size, but the wooded areas around it give “creepers” lots of room to hide. The house was nearing completion, and we had been staying with Jeremy’s parents several hundred yards away. It was a Saturday evening, and the contractors had been using the garage as a staging area for their work. As soon as we got home, Jeremy went down to check the locks on everything and take a peek around, when he discovered that he had been robbed. We had furniture, tools, equipment, and other personal belongings temporarily stored in his farm garage. The intruders had prowled through boxes of family photos and taken heirloom tools that belong to Jeremy’s grandfather; the thieves took more than just personal possessions, they took my sense of security.

arlo security camera

Continue reading We Were Robbed

Wedding Registry Tips For When You Don’t Need Another Toaster

asouthernmother
June 6, 2015

This post was sponsored by Best Buy, however all opinions are entirely my own.

When Jeremy and I started moving into the house I said to him, “What on earth will we put on our wedding registry? We don’t need the typical wedding registry items.” We could probably replace a few towels and use a handful of extra dish cloths, but between the two of us we had lots of stuff. We are both in our 30’s and maintained households before we were engaged. The average age at which a woman got married in the US in 2014 was almost 27 and for men it was nearly 30. When most people reach that age, they have already started to collect housewares. Many other couples are facing the same dilemma that Jeremy and I are: what do do you put on your wedding registry when you don’t need another toaster? The answer came from a friend of ours who stated that she gave a custom spotify glass plaque to one of her friends who was having the same issue that we were having, and it really got me thinking about the type of gifts we would be receiving. Fortunately, we have friends who are creative thinkers and can come up with great ideas if they wanted to give personalized gifts.

wedding registry

Jeremy and I do need (or want) some big ticket items, that I would feel guilty putting on a wedding registry. I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to buy an expensive gift. Items such as a Nest Learning Thermostat would help us manage our heating and cooling bill, but it isn’t in our budget for immediate purchase. I certainly wouldn’t want or expect a guest to pay $249.99 for one, but what if several guests could “pitch-in”? I discovered that Best Buy Wedding Registry offers “group gifting”. Items that are priced over $200 are eligible for group gifting, and guests can contribute as much (or as little) as they like toward larger items with gift cards earmarked for a specific purchase.

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If you aren’t sure what you might want or need, Best Buy has lists available online that suggest items that you might want to register for; these curated lists include suggestions for a Starter Registry, Explorer, Entertainer, Adventurer, Kitchen, etc. They make it easy for you to figure out what you want to add. They also have a Wedding Registry Checklist to help make sure you don’t miss anything important. You might also want to check out Susabella for some inspiration of wedding gift ideas you may want to request. It’s also a great site to go to if you’re attending someone else’s wedding and are in need of some ideas for what to get the bride and groom. Alternatively, if you aren’t sure about what to offer at a wedding, you might want to look at jewelry for the bride. Bridal gifts from a jeweler similar to jacobsthejewellers.com could be the perfect keepsake and would help to make an already special day, marvelous.

wedding registry tips

wedding registry tips

wedding registry tips

wedding registry

The options for personalizing your Best Buy Wedding Registry are nearly endless. You can add fun things like a great camera lens for your DSLR to help take beautiful honeymoon photos or capture family memories. The Best Buy Wedding Registry will let you leave notes for your guests, so that they understand why a certain gift is important to you.

camera lens

Consider fun ideas like registering for movies so that you can have date night or games that you can play together.

Two other great features of the Best Buy Wedding Registry are that you can favorite items on your list, and you can also share your registry on social media.

best buy wedding registry

Weddings can be stressful, but creating a wedding gift registry shouldn’t be. Best Buy has made it easy to add gifts that you want or need from brands that you love.

Are you getting married soon? Have you registered for wedding gifts anywhere? Feel free check out my own wedding registry for a few more ideas to add to your list.

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free

Looking for a Camera? Check out the Canon EOS Rebel T5i

asouthernmother
December 19, 2014

I love cameras and photography, and the joy of capturing memories that last a lifetime. My love for photography began when I got my first best entry level dslr. I took it anywhere and everywhere to take pictures of everything! From friends and family to just flowers and trees I found at the local park. I was a total shutterbug and needed to capture everything on film. Since then, my love for photography has grown and I still rarely go anywhere without my camera. Anyone who knows me will know that I’ve always got a camera in hand and I love keeping up with the latest trends. I’ve seen an increase in drone photography lately and think it’s amazing that people are able to continuously find new ways to take photographs. I’ve actually had my eye on the Air 2S (Learn More about the Air 2S here) as I would love to give drone photography a go myself. Of course, learning something new in photography always seems a little daunting but I’m certain it would be worth teaching myself in the long run. At the moment, the camera I can’t go without is my Canon DSLR. If you’re in the midst of choosing one, as digital single-lens reflex cameras are the best all-rounders for beginners and you can take a look here for some dslr camera reviews. It’s actually not uncommon for my friends, family, and readers to ask me for recommendations on cameras and lenses as I’m always happy to give my advice on these matters. Since it is #HintingSeason, Best Buy is sponsoring this post about the Canon EOS Rebel T5i DSLR. I’m sharing a few features of one of my favorite Canon DSLR’s.

Canon Rebel T5i

Continue reading Looking for a Camera? Check out the Canon EOS Rebel T5i

Family Gift? Check out LG OLED at Best Buy

asouthernmother
November 21, 2014

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for LG OLED at Best Buy. I have received compensation in the form of product and/or gift cards, but all opinions contained herein are my own. 

Considering a family gift? It can be hard to shop for everyone, but a family gift takes the guess work out of gifting. You can buy one present that the entire family would enjoy. Best Buy has lots of options for family gifts, and one you should consider is the LG OLED television. It would make family movie night so much more fun.
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LG OLED

Continue reading Family Gift? Check out LG OLED at Best Buy