Thanks for bearing with me while I was on vacation,. I stayed relatively unplugged (I said relatively) and it was hard to want to plug back in. But now I am back. Kind of. Buried under laundry, unanswered emails and a house that somehow seemed to get messy while no one lived in it. In short, I need a vacation from my vacation.

In other, equally whiny news (seriously, I was on vacation in Florida, and I am complaining about it) Florida was unkind to my waistline. Seriously unkind. And I haven’t really talked about it on the blog but I have pretty much cut out sugar. Oddly enough (but not really), that resulted in some nice weight loss. Yay!!

Except like a crack addict, I had a little sugar and all bets were off. Add in fried food including a dinner that consisted entirely of fried pickles and ranch dressing, and I feel like I need a cleanse. I just do not like how I feel when I eat that way.

So now that we are home and I am back in control of my kitchen we are back to eating the way God intended it. Clean.

I am not a huge ebook buyer. Or I should say I am not a big ebook user. Cause I actually buy the, but then forget to ever read or use them. Kitchen Stewardship’s Healthy Snacks To Go is one of the exceptions to that rule.

When you make the decision to cut out processed food, I feel like snacks are the hardest thing to deal with. I pack my kids lunches most days and quick and portable is the name of the game. And so Kitchen Stewardship’s Healthy Snacks To Go has become my snack bible.

And that was the first edition. THIS is the new and improved 2nd edition. I just downloaded it today but cannot wait to tackle the granola bars. They were a favorite before but now they are even better. And with my hubby downing power bars like there is no tomorrow, I need to make some for a fraction of the cost.

These recipes are easy for a “real food” newbie or if you are used to things that are sprouted (I’m not) there are adaptations for the hard core out there. The best part is that you are making great choices for your family, saving money by making things yourself AND it has a bunch of new recipes from the first edition so it is an even better deal.

The ebook costs $8.95 but to me it is priceless because I use it so much. Grab your copy and get to cooking! Click here to purchase.

I am an affiliate for Katie’s ebooks, but I don’t stand to get rich from promoting it. I just think it is an incredible resource that all families should have.

Now for Things I Love Thursday. Participating is so easy. Simply link up a post about something you love. Make sure to refer back here in your post so people can find us and join in. It would be so very awesome if you would leave a comment on a few other participants posts as well. If you are a newbie, here are some detailed guidelines to get your started. Thanks for participating!!

  Blogging conference season is upon us. Although does the season ever end? I am so excited to be heading back to Blissdom this year (p.s. I would love to know that you are going so we can connect. I am a Community Leader for the Parenting Tribe. WOOT!).

One thing that is a MUST for conferences is business cards. And it something a lot of newbies forget. But people hand them out like candy and many companies in the exhibition hall will have giveaways that are easy to enter by throwing a card in the jar. They are definitely a key way to make a good first impression.

But, after using the same business cards for the last several conferences I am ready for something new. Now that I have a new blog, I want my business card to highlight both blogs and be more focused on ME than my blogs. That way when all the book deals, speaking engagements and endorsement deals come, they know I am more than just a blogger. ahem.

So I headed to my go to resource for ideas of where to get good business cards. Twitter. I got a few ideas and headed over to the various websites to check out what each offered. One stood out from the rest. Yet again, it was Tiny Prints.

You may recall back at Christmas time that I sang the praises of Tiny Prints and used them for our family Christmas cards. I absolutely loved the way they turned out. So I knew if I used them for business cards they would be of the highest quality. Now to narrow it down.

I toyed around with using something that had my picture on it so people would remember me better. But then I remembered that I universally hate all pictures of me. I also didn’t really want to use one with a logo since I wanted to highlight two separate blogs. So I just wanted to find something that was just me. I think I found it.

Whatcha think? Do you love them? Cause I think I love them. They have a TON to offer so browse around and see if one fits you!!

Will I be seeing you at Blissdom? What conferences are you going to this year? What one thing do you NOT forget for blogging conferences?

Tiny Prints provided me with some business cards in exchange for this review. As always all opinions are mine.

What are you loving this week? Come play along with Things I Love Thursday. All the guidelines are here if you are new, but is is super easy! And don’t forget to go spread comment love to fellow participants and to use the #TILT hashtag if you tweet so we can retweet each other. Thanks for participating!

  Wait, I hear you. You don’t have a Mercantile Bank where you live. That is ok, because I have a greater point to this post.

We had been with our previous bank for like 10 years. And there wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with them per se. But there really wasn’t anything right with them either. I mean they were a huge corporate bank based somewhere far away who fee’d us to death so that kind of stunk. But when things were going well, it wasn’t something I really thought about. But when things went wrong. UGH. Pain in my behind!!

A year ago I was part of a banking focus group and there were all these people raving about their bank. I didn’t even know it was POSSIBLE to rave about a bank. So at that point I came home and told the hubby we were switching. But then I realized what a giant pain it was to switch banks. And we dragged our feet.

But 2012 is our year. We switched end of December and it was the BEST decision. I never knew it was possible to rave about a bank but I am RAVING. The personal service astounds me. They have called no less than five times to make sure things are going well and to help us get set up with everything online. So impressed.

In case you ARE local let me tell you a few quick reasons why I love them:

• Mobile Deposit: I can scan or take mobile pics of my checks and they are deposited. I don’t even have to go to the bank. Perfection.
• No ATM fees: They know that they don’t have many branches. So they refund any fees you get from using other people’s ATMs. Seriously. Love.
• Interest bearing checking: Yep. I get interest. In my checking account.

If you AREN’T local, can I just encourage you to bank local? And shop local. And eat from locally sourced restaurants. It truly makes a difference. Local is the new black.

What are you loving this week? Write about it, link up here, and make sure to spread the word about Things I Love Thursday through your favorite social media platform. Here are all the TILT guidelines.