1. Personalized content: The Yahoo! homepage delivers you the most relevant content based on your interests, time of day, and what’s most popular with other users like you.
    
2. Your World and The World: The Yahoo! homepage uniquely brings together your world (your email, local news) with the world around you (current events, entertainment news, financial updates and more) 

3. Human Interest: Articles on the homepage have a human approach – more than just news, it delivers human interest stories that you just have to click on.

 Thank you so much for reading and supporting Girls For A Change by changing your browser homepage to Yahoo!

*All opinions are my own*

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

I already told you about my email love story with my husband. But email isn’t just about loooove notes for me! It keeps me connected with friends and family around the country.

When I first started emailing on a regular basis (that makes me sound old), my babies were actually babies (sob). I was stuck in the house with three kids under the age of five, two of who were in diapers. My life was all about nursing babies, changing babies and playing with hot wheels. I was lonely. I was talking to my kids about random stuff just so I could talk! It wasn’t easy for me to get out much. An infant and a toddler who could barely walk tend to slow you down. Add in a five year old and you just stay home.

My girlfriends and I started emailing back and forth about getting together and dreaming up girl’s nights. Then our emails began to just be random and about silly things like the latest Grey’s Anatomy episode.  We started to send emails back and forth all. day. long. It would only take a quick second to check my email and laugh then reply with a “you are crazy, girl!” but I have to say, those emails made my day. It got me through those moments of feeling like I was alone. I laughed, I cried, I grew so very close to my friends. We would send pictures and take turn making comments and I swear I thought I might die from laughter on most days. It didn’t matter how busy we were, we always made time to check in with each other. There is nothing like knowing that with a click of a button I could talk to a friend!

Being a stay at home mom is a hard job. I have always felt like it is a blessing, it’s what I always wanted to do. But sometimes, you just need to know that there is more to life than diapers. You need to feel like you can have a conversation with an adult other than Big Bird or the mail man or anyone at the grocery store who will listen to you.  Emailing with my friends did that for me.

That was quite a few years ago but to this day my friends and I are able to stay in touch through email. Now we have Facebook and blogs but nothing beats a good ol’ email thread full of encouraging words and hilarious inside jokes from friends.

I could never live without my Yahoo! Email. I count on it to be my lifeline through mommy-hood and so much more.

This video is a cute reminder of it all for me!

 Tell me about the first time you realized you couldn’t live without your email and why?!

Although this is a sponsored post, all opinions and stories are mine and they are all true!

Thank you to Cube Dog for sponsoring this review. For more information about Cube Dog please visit the Facebook page or download it on iTunes.

I am always looking for fun new apps to put on our iPhones for the kids to play. It’s the perfect thing to keep them busy during those waiting periods of life…in line, in traffic, while waiting for a table at a restaurant, so they’ll be quiet and leave me alone at any time of the day, really.


So when I was asked to review the Cube Dog app I was really excited! My boys love those digital pet kind of games so I knew they would love this. My husband, Matt, downloaded it on his iPhone 4 and started showing the boys how to play. It was only a matter of minutes before they were off on their own playing with Cube Dog and screaming about who’s turn was next. 

Cube Dog is a fun 3D digital dog. You can create your own dog by choosing it’s ears, nose, eyes, etc and colors. With a shake of the phone, you can change your mind and change the looks of your dog! The full 3D graphics are really amazing. You can rotate and zoom around your dog. The 3D animations are super high-quality and make the game so fun. You can add accessories and all kinds of other options to your dog as well as teach it to respond with the swipes and taps of your finger on the screen. My boys loved making it do tricks. Their favorite was to make it a ninja. I could tell it was their favorite because of this:

Their other favorite (and actually mine too, I kept making them do it just cause it made me giggle) was to make their Cube Dog call them from his iPhone. How cute is that?!

 The Cube Dog app is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch 4 with camera. (Oh that reminds me, you can take pictures and insert your dog into any scene! Even take a picture of your dog with you!)

Check out this video for a sneak peek…

The video is just a peek. The actual app has so many fun options to play with. You can create up to 3 dogs at a time (one for each kid, perfect). And the best part is that you can download it for FREE. There are additional treats and fun options you can buy your cube dog as well! Head over to the iTunes store to download your own!

You can also check out Cube Dog on Facebook for more details and to watch for a fun contest running June 13-17!

While Cube Dog provided me with the app to review, the opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Cube Dog, Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity.

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

 A long time ago in a galaxy far far away Matt and I shared an email address.

*gasp* I know

We were so 1999.

As time went on I decided I needed my own email address.  I wasn’t sure who or what I’d be emailing about *gasp* (yes, we shall be gasping a lot during this post) but I knew I wanted my own. I was tired of reading Matt’s emails about Fantasy Football. So I joined Yahoo! and my love affair with email began.

It was easy to see how emailing made my life easier in a practical way. But what I didn’t expect was how much fun it would be!  And also? How much it would affect my marriage…don’t worry, in a good way!

Matt began to email me during the day while he was at work.  I’d wake up and there would be an email from him and my morning was instantly exciting!

Remember when getting an email was exciting?

Related: I am old.

Actually, I still get excited about getting an email.

Also related: I am a nerd.

Anyway. Email. Love affair. Stay with me people.

It began as a little hello here or there, a list of things that we needed to talk about, a reminder about picking up milk on the way home. But as the days went on, the emails between us became so much more. Flirting and silly bantering became a fun way to keep in touch throughout our day.

As a stay at home mom, emails from anyone felt like “Oh thank God there are real humans out there!” but emails from my husband were sweet reminders that even though he was terribly busy at work, he always had time for me. My love affair for email totally started a fresh love affair with my husband.

To this day we email each other daily. It gets me through the day. I love it. I love him. I love email!

All for different reasons, of course. Just thought I’d clarify.

The video below is so sweet and pretty much sums up what I’m talking about!

Yes, we have also sent a lot of I’m Sorry emails. But they always end with me sending Matt pictures of us in a slide show! Wait, no they don’t. I’m such a slacker.

So tell me, who else has some good email love stories? I want to hear them!

Right after I go send my husband an email…

 I’ve shared with you guys about The Heart of Haiti Project before and I was really excited to get the chance to share more about it with you!  With Mother’s Day around the corner, we thought it would be a great time to get the word out about The Heart of Haiti  products.  I love supporting this project because it’s a great chance to make a direct impact on the lives of artisans in Haiti who are still recovering from the earthquake of 2010. I am especially excited this time around to tell you about the women of Haiti that you will directly support when you purchase something from the HOH product line available through Macy’s. There is nothing more empowering and beautiful than women supporting women across the globe!

I love hearing stories about women helping women. I know I personally would not be the person I am today without the women who have impacted me. Of course my Mom has been my biggest fan my whole life and has always shown me love and support in everything I do. I can honestly say I would not be who I am without her presence in my life. Then there are the Grandmothers who whispered too many prayers to count on my behalf and the Aunts who have been there with an encouraging word and helpful advice. My biggest supporters in my life have been fellow women, whether a family member or just a friend, I believe in the power of women standing together in love. I believe that we can make a difference in the world by simply being kind and supportive of one another.

In honor of women around the world who may not have been as blessed as I have with such amazing support, I would love it if you would head over to Macy’s Heart of Haiti product page and purchase a one of a kind piece of art handmade (and signed!) by local Haitian artisans. Buy a piece for a woman you love this Mother’s Day and you will be supporting the women of Haiti in such a strong and powerful way AND you’ll get a beautiful hand crafted piece to show for it!

This is the one I want for Mother’s Day. (hint, hint)

Because we love ya, the Clever Girls have a special discount just for you! Just enter CLEVERGIRLS when checking out and get 15% off when you purchase items from Heart of Haiti and Rwanda Path to Peace products!!  The discount is only valid from May 3rd-May 8th so be sure to order between those dates to get your discount!

View the Shop for a Better World / Heart Of Haiti collection in it’s entirety (including just added items for Spring!)

Thanks so much for supporting such an amazing cause!

I was selected for this very special “CleverHaiti” opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity. All opinions are my own.   

My only “payment” for writing this piece is a necklace like this which I love so much that I think you need to go order one of your own right now!