Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Vacation!

I'm off on vacation in 2 hours. YAY! My family and I are going to Minnesota to visit my in-laws and then we will ride in my father-in-law's bus (he will pull our van behind the bus) to watch my brother-in-law, Tory, graduate from college. I can't wait to see everyone again. I also can't wait to see Minnesota again. I miss Minnesota. We are all packed and ready to go. We are just waiting for my dear hubby to finish at the church. We leave at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Twitter

I am now a twit; or is it twitterer? Keep track of me at http://twitter.com/ehooton. I am so obsessed with the internet! I love it, tho!

Monday, April 02, 2007

Freebies!

I recently went to the Women in Ministry Getaway that our District puts on and I had such a blast! I met a bunch of great new friends! It was very relaxing and on the way home, we went to Coldstone! I LOVE Coldstone! I got to talk about my love of freebies! They even asked me to do a handout. I thought I would post it here.


Websites to Check Out:


http://www.freenclearstuff.com/forum/nfphpbb/
- become a member for the best freebies.

www.freemusicfriday.com
- free music about once a month on a Friday

www.iconbuffet.com
- free icons for your computer, website or wherever. If you are interested in this, email me at ehooton@msn.com and I will send you an invitation e-mail from them (I get points that way!).

www.istockphoto.com - a free stock photo each week (great for bulletin covers) more of these sites: www.bigstockphotos.com, www.canstockphoto.com

www.doverpublications.com/sampler4 - free weekly clipart e-mail; these are all kinds of fun pictures.

www.giveawayoftheday.com
and http://game.giveawayoftheday.com - a free, fully licensed piece of software and game EVERY day! These aren’t free trials. They are fully functional!

www.freecycle.org
- Sign-up with your local group and trade unwanted stuff for free.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/agwop - This is a yahoo group for AG pastor’s wives. We swap recipes, ideas and generally are a support group to each other. The membership is limited to just pastor’s wives and the moderator verifies everyone so we all know we are safe to chat. Check it out!

Tips:

* Create a new e-mail account for your freebies so you don’t get junk in your regular account. You can create a free account in many places like hotmail and yahoo.

* Download a form filler program so you only have to type your address once. Roboform at www.roboform.com is a great free program for that. It integrates with your internet browser and then you only click a button and the form is filled!

* Another helpful browser add-on is an ad and pop-up blocker program. I use Firefox as my internet browser. I think most people use Internet Explorer, but Firefox is great in that you can download add-ons (www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox). I really like the AdBlock Plus add-on (http://adblockplus.org/en/). The freebie forum has a lot of ads, but I never even knew they were there until I checked out the site while I was at work.

* Remember that not all freebie sites are good. A lot of them say they have freebies but they make you complete offers and these offers aren’t free. That’s why I recommend the freenclear forum.

* If a site asks for your credit card, be suspicious. It probably isn’t free.

* Check the freebies frequently (I check at least once a day) because many freebies are limited to a certain number of people. The sooner you get there the better chance you have.

* Don’t get upset if something doesn’t ever come. It happens sometimes, but at least you tried. You will feel worse if you hear you missed out by not trying to get something. It’s better to try than lose out.

* Most importantly: Have fun and enjoy your freebies!

Stuff I Have Gotten Free:

* Toiletries: Deodorant, razors, pads, tampons, Noxzema, face masks, flushable wipes, Fibersure, vitamins

* Fun stuff: Take a look at www.lactosetolerance.org. It’s great for a laugh and they will send you a pack of stuff with a bumper sticker, button, magnet and sign. Others: computer games, software, movie tickets, iron-transfer paper, mood ring, Fonera Wi-Fi router (it makes it so I can share my wi-fi and get free wi-fi from other users all over the country when I travel-and it’s legal!), magazines, cds, books

* Office stuff: post-it notes, pens, stock photos, clipart, fonts

* Kitchen and cleaning stuff: slow cooker liners, 293 pg. cookie recipe book, tea, Swiffer duster

* Stuff for kids: coloring books, fabric softener

* Information: books on controlling your diabetes, faux finish paint chips, child safety kit

* I have gotten all this stuff since really starting the freebie craze in January.