Breyers YoCrunch Review & 10 4pk Giveaway!

Breyers YoCrunch® 100 Calorie Packs • YoCrunch® 100 Calorie Packs are the first yogurt products to be naturally sweetened with Truvia™ rebiana. o Truvia™ rebiana is the key ingredient in Truvia™ natural sweetener, the first great tasting, natural, zero calorie sweetener born from the leaves of the stevia plant. • YoCrunch® 100 Calorie Packs are the only calorie-controlled yogurt products that are naturally sweetened, providing all the taste of full-calorie low-fat yogurt but without all the calories and sugar.

• YoCrunch® 100 Calorie Packs offer a satisfying smooth and crunchy yogurt experience in convenient 100-calorie portions that kids and moms will love.

• Available in five great flavors, YoCrunch® 100 Calorie Packs are made with nonfat yogurt and are perfect as a healthy snack or dessert for those craving a nutritious yet decadent sweet treat.

o Cheesecake Yogurt with Graham Cookie Pieces

o Strawberry Yogurt with 100% Natural Low Fat Granola

o Vanilla Yogurt with Chocolate Chip Cookie Pieces o Vanilla Yogurt with Chocolate Crème Cookie Pieces

o Vanilla Yogurt with Nestle® Buncha Crunch™ Candy Pieces

• Made with no artificial sweeteners, YoCrunch® 100 Calorie Packs have added Vitamin A and D, and are a good source of calcium and protein for women and kids.

• YoCrunch® 100 Calorie Packs are available at leading grocery, health food and specialty stores nationwide at a suggested retail price of $2.99 - $3.19 for each four-pack container

My Review - We received the Vanilla with Chocolate cookie pieces.
I was extremely excited it was made with Truvia instead of sugar or artificial sweetners. If you aren't familiar with Truvia, it's an all natural sweetener made from the Stevia plant. We've been using it or honey for awhile instead of sugar. But you have to acquire a taste for it.
I'm not sure how Breyers did it but it doesn't have the usual Truvia after taste that you have to get use to. This was REALLY good and healthy too. The cookie pieces do have high fructose corn syrup, if you choose to skip that part the yogurt is still VERY delicious!!

I'm looking forward to trying the other types, cheese cake is right up my ally!!

Breyers is kind enough to allow me to give 10 coupons for 4-packs away to readers of Taking Time for Mommy.

Main Entry - Follow this blog via GFC OR newsletter and tell me what kind of yogurt you want.
Extra Entry - Follow Taking Time for Mommy on Twitter HERE
Extra Entry - Follow Taking Time for Mommy on FaceBook HERE
Extra Entry - Follow Taking Time for Mommy on Google Friend Connect
Extra Entry - Follow my other blog Mommy Reads too Much on Google Friend Connect
5 Extra Entries - Signing up for our weekly Newsletter (form to the right)
3 Extra Entries -Fan our writer Tawdra Kandle on Associated Content and comment on one of her articles Here
2 Extra Entries - Comment on any non-giveaway post on either Taking time for Mommy or Mommy Reads Too Much

Giveaway will end on April 25h at 11:59pm. The winners will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to U.S. & Canadian residents 18+ only.

Disclosure - A product was given for my honest opinion, no other compensation was given.I learned about this opportunity from The Product Review Place.

Turn Here

By Kathy Kinney & Cindy Ratzlaff,
Authors of Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown-Up Woman's Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve

Wouldn't it be interesting to look back at the experiences you've had in your life without judgment and without labeling them good or bad? From this lofty place at the midpoint in our lives we've noticed in looking back that ironically, good things often came from "bad" experiences and sometimes, bad things from "good." It really seemed to us that the road we're on in life can end very suddenly, and as we come smack up against a bright new yellow road sign there is often no other choice but to "turn here." We would be foolish to label these detours good or bad. In the end our experience has been that we are the women we are today because we'd been forced to make these turns onto new and better paths.

Cindy had a "turn here" moment when the economic downturn caused her industry to lay off nearly 1,000 people in a six-month period. There had been lots of hints that something like this might happen at her company, but she thought if she just kept her head down and continued to work hard she would somehow survive. Her fear over losing the job completely blocked out the fact that she hadn't been happy there for some time. Working hard and being good at her job didn't help and through no fault of her own, she found herself hurt, angry and unemployed.

After the initial shock of being let go wore off, she began to realize that there might never be another job for her in the profession she'd worked in for more than 20 years. Casting around for a way to replace the income she'd lost, she soon came to the conclusion that she'd need to retool. Walking through her fear that she might not be capable of learning something new, she signed up for a six-month course in social media marketing and merged her background in marketing and branding with these new tools and techniques.

In those six months she went from not even having a Facebook profile to teaching others how to brand themselves and their business. There were days when she thought her head would explode as she struggled to overcome the handicap of being a digital immigrant, but as the rusty parts of her brain became more accustomed to learning something new everyday, she soon came to love this fast-paced new industry. Cindy now blogs, tweets, posts and Vlogs multiple times everyday and trains others to do the same thing. She's energized by learning new things and now realizes that turning left at this roadblock opened up a new, different and equally beautiful path.

So when we find a road sign in our path and we know we have to "turn here," we take a deep breath and get ready to walk through our fear. We now understand that this is simply a new opportunity on our adventure to being the best women we can be.

We'd like to offer you these steps that helped us walk through the fear of taking that new path.

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Stop and assess the current situation.

Close your eyes and imagine yourself on the top of a high mountain and the wind is blowing. Look back over the first half of your life and without over thinking it, choose a moment in your life that you've come to think of as particularly difficult or that most altered the course of your life. Now, letting go of the "could've, would've, should'ves" of that situation, try to image that moment as a large boulder blocking your path and a bright yellow road sign that says, "DETOUR. " With your eyes still closed, turn your gaze to the left and envision a new path that you hadn't noticed before. Allow yourself to feel curious and excited about where it might lead. As you leave the original path and follow the new path let yourself feel joyful about the adventure ahead.

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Identify qualities that you admire.

Get out a piece of paper and a pen. Write down the names of the ten women you admire most. Again, don't ponder this. Write down your first thoughts. Then write down the qualities or traits you most admire in these women. Read the list aloud. It might help you to look into a mirror while reading this list. Put a check mark or star next to the qualities that resonate most with you as you read them.

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What kind of woman do you want to be?

Now you knew this was coming. What qualities do you like best about yourself. Don't be shy. We've been told not to brag about ourselves since we were young girls. This isn't bragging. This is a conversation between you and you alone. So, go for it. Are there any words on the list of qualities you admire in other women that match the words you've used to describe yourself? If there are, chances are good that these words are core values for you. If none of them match, don't worry. This is a process and in the end, you get to choose the words that you want to represent your core values. We recommend that you pick the four to six words that mean the most to you right now. At different times in your life, these words might change. That's ok. Don't get hung up on creating the perfect list. Just pick four to six words that you think are important to have with you on the next part of your journey.

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Create your Coat of Arms and Motto.

We like a good art project and think that the act of writing things down, creating a visual representation of our goals and speaking them out loud helps new ideas and new habits take root in our brains. We've created a blank template for a Coat of Arms and Motto that you can download for free at www.queenofyourownlife.com.

Add the four to six words you've chosen to identify your core values to the coat of arms template. Feel free to use markers, glitter pens, ribbon or whatever speaks to you. Have fun with this. When you've finished your project, sum it up with a Motto. Ours is "Because We Say So." To us that means the way we live our lives is a conscious choice we make everyday. Now pretending you're still atop that windy mountain, read your words aloud. At the bottom of the page, add "I admire this woman. I admire me." Then sign your name. We admire you too.

© 2010 Kathy Kinney & Cindy Ratzlaff, authors of Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown-Up Woman's Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve
Author Bios
Kathy Kinney is best known for her iconic role as Mimi Bobeck on The Drew Carey Show. She has acted in over a dozen films, guest-starred on numerous television shows and has toured worldwide with Drew Carey and the Improv All-Stars. Kathy may also be seen in the title role of Mrs. P at www.mrsp.com, a Web site for children aimed at keeping alive the joy of books and reading.

A veteran publishing executive, Cindy Ratzlaff created marketing campaigns for more than 100 New York Times bestselling books, including The South Beach Diet. She is president of Brand New Brand You, which specializes in using new social media platforms to increase brand awareness, and is a cofounder of the online publishing company Supreme Social Media.

For more information please visit www.QueenOfYourOwnLife.com.
Become a fan of Queen of Your Own Life on Facebook or follow @QueenOfOwnLife on twitter!

Silence is Golden

Image - Getty Images

I got to church a little early last Sunday, and I noticed something. It was loud. The service hadn’t begun, but I was sitting in the sanctuary, seeking to prepare myself for worship. But there was so much talking going on around me—not the quiet tones I recall from my childhood, but loud, conversational chatting. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen this kind of thing; I’ve been to many, many churches, and I’ve noticed that the ‘holy silence’ I remember from my childhood has all but disappeared.

And it isn’t just in church, either. Silence has left our lives almost completely. Remember when libraries were so quiet that you could hear someone breathing two stacks over? We fill all of our waking hours with noise—music, talk, what we sometimes call background noise. It’s almost as though we’re afraid of the quiet.

As people, and especially, I think, as moms, we need some silent space. From the time we wake up in the morning until we go to bed at night, we’re constantly moving, interacting and resolving. If we don’t have that little bit of time when no one is talking, we just might lose it.

I think most mothers would agree with this, but the big question is, how do we find that quiet space?

For some people, getting up in the morning before the rest of the family is up and moving makes all the difference. It can give them the strength and humor to get through the day. For others of us, we’re not morning people. The idea of waking up early is kind of painful. There is of course the option of staying up late—getting everyone to bed and then finding that elusive peace and quiet. The downside there is that often by the time everyone falls asleep, we moms are ready for bed, too.

For homeschooling mothers, the options are fewer. We don’t have the school hours during which our children might be away from home, so we have to work just a little harder to carve out that time. Creativity is key! If you need a last minute item for dinner, why not run out yourself once your husband gets home? When you’re in the car, don’t turn on the radio or make phone calls; simple savor the peace. Or try to combine one-on-one time with a child who needs a ride to a lesson or play date, if someone else is at home to watch other kids, you can get in some uninterrupted chat time with the one who rides along, and then steal your own quiet on the way home or during the lesson.

If you can’t find your own silence on a regular basis, you need to take a few hours over the weekend. In the very worst case, you might savor the peace while you wash dishes or vacuum. Turn off the television, the radio and the MP3. Don’t make that phone call. Instead, take the opportunity to listen to your own thoughts. . .daydream just a little. . .and enjoy the moment.

Tawdra Kandle is stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of four children who range in age from 9 years to almost 21 years. She and her husband of over 22 years live in central Florida, where he is in seminary. Tawdra spends most of her precious free time writing and reading, and she loves to travel. She is also a resident writer for Taking Time for Mommy. View more of her Articles HERE

Week 3 of my One of One by Tony Horton Review & Giveaway

Week three of my review of the One on One by Tony Horton work out series.

Bikini season is around the corner and the people from Beach Body gave me the opportunity to review Tony Horton's newest DVD set. He's the guy behind Power 90, P90X, and 10 minute trainer.
Anyway, they are also allowing me to give away a complete 13 disc set to a Taking Time for Mommy reader, a value of $239.40!!

Week 3's review is of the disc Killer Abs -
This is 30 minutes of straight Ab work. If you don't get killer abs from this there is no hope for you. Yes it hurt, yes it burned but since 2 people have recently asked me if I were pregnant (which I AM NOT!!) I had the motivation to finish. I will keep doing this & I will be back to my hot beach body soon and so can you.

Buy One on One HERE

This is closed to comments. To Enter, Head over HERE

Giveaways Galore April 2 - 9th

Here is our Weekly Linky. I won 2 contests last week, how about you? I'm asking other Bloggers to put there Giveaways here for my readers. They will go in Monday's newsletter!

Aging Gracefully

They say with age comes wisdom… and wrinkles. I'll take the wisdom but whoever "they" are can have the wrinkles.

I believe that beauty evolves as we age. I’ve faced the fact that as a 33 yr old woman who has had 2 children, I will never look 20 again. Nor should I want to. That being said, we should still take care of ourselves and age as well as we can. I'm trying.

A few things we can do that will help - Taking in the proper nutrition, getting exercise, and hydrating yourself can erase years off of your body. Not partaking in damaging habits such as smoking or heavily drinking also help. Staying out of the sun or tanning beds and constantly using SPF foundations or lotions will help slow the inevitable facial lines we all get.

Unfortunately these lines are inevitable, they will come. I’m not vain but I do care how I look. I have no problem with plastic surgery as long as you don’t go overboard but that really isn’t the route I want to go, at least now yet, give me another 20 yrs. I want something a little more subtle.

I did find a procedure from a Dermatologist in Los Angeles called Restylane injections. I looked it on WebMD to see what they said. “Restylane is a dermal filler designed to smooth away wrinkles and folds”. It doesn’t paralyze, I mean relax your face like Botox.

Sounds right up my ally! I found more information on Restylane Injections in Los Angeles; they have a lot of articles explaining everything. I’ve definitely added this as an option!

Now if only I can talk hubby into a LA vay-cay.....