My Joy My World

Sale!: Wilton Tent Sale in Chicago Area 5/31-6/18

Melanie — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:51:53 +0000

Attention bakers, crafters, and event/wedding planners! Wilton is having their annual tent sale in Woodridge, IL, Friday, May 31st, through Tuesday, June 18th! Wilton is best known for their baking and cake decorating supplies, but they also have paper crafts and accessories for parties and weddings. We actually bought some things at the Wilton tent sale 6 years ago for our wedding and were able to save a ton of money on our unity candle, cake server set, champagne flutes, wedding favor boxes, ring bearer pillows, and flower girl baskets!

The Wilton Tent Sale will be located at:
2240 W. 75th Street
Woodridge, IL 60517

Their hours of operation will be:
Doors will open May 31st, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Mon – Fri 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sat & Sun 8:00 am – 6:00 pm

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My Thoughts!: Perspective & Prayers Requested

Melanie — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:31:38 +0000

Sometimes, bad things happen that help put things into perspective and remind you what is really important in life. Today, I have gone through a cycle of different emotions as one of my close family members suddenly suffered a serious health problem while on vacation. Right now, I am not able to do anything to help them, so the only thing I can think of doing is write about it and ask for prayers. Today, I have felt shocked, numb, angry, overwhelmed, scared, sad, helpless, hopeful, and have repeated the cycle over and over. During moments of anger, not only was I angry that this was happening to such a wonderful family, but I was angry with everyone that has ever given me a reason not to like them. Thankfully, that is not many people, but in trying to get my mind off of things, I found I was getting more and more angry at them just thinking about how stupid the situations were.

Tonight, I suddenly had a moment of clarity. My family and I had asked for prayers on Facebook, and the response has been overwhelming. The person who needs my support the most has set a great example my whole life by always being a positive person and continues to stay positive even throughout this difficult time. I realized that negativity is not going to help the situation. If I am going to help from a distance, the only thing I can do is stay positive in all aspects of life. All of the sudden, I was able to let the anger go and concentrate on being in constant prayer. It doesn’t matter if someone has treated me badly. I am going to take my own advice and continue to surround myself with positive people but take the negative people as they come as these people are not important even if they think they should be. I am going to continue to cherish those that I love and those who really know me and love me too.

I would like to ask you to please send good vibes and prayers to this family I hold so dearly. Please pray that my family member recovers quickly and can come home soon. They have done so much for me. I figured the least I can do is get as many prayers their way as possible!

Have you ever had a situation that gave you a moment of clarity? Leave me a comment below

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Flood Damage Process: Lessons Learned

Melanie — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:46:40 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the crazy week we had, which included our basement flooding from the monstrous storm that submerged much of Chicagoland in water. We were lucky enough not to get it as bad as many others did in our area, but it was enough to cause damage to our entire finished basement. We were shocked and overwhelmed when it happened, to say the least, but in asking advice from other homeowners, we were surprised to find that no one we knew had ever experienced putting in a homeowners insurance claim for flood damage before. We ended up figuring it out and getting everything taken care of but not without learning some important lessons along the way.

The worst of the storm happened in the very early morning hours Thursday, April 18th, while we were asleep. After getting over the initial shock and cleaning up as much as we could, we called our insurance company that afternoon to put in the claim and found we have a $5000 limit for flood damage. They gave us the name of the restoration company they usually go through but said an insurance adjuster wouldn’t call us until the next day to set up an appointment. Our entire basement is carpeted and we did not want mold to start growing so we rented a Rug Doctor to suck up the water while we waited to hear from the insurance adjuster to advise us what to do next. We also had some friends come over to help us bring up the boxes that were in our storage area so we can get through the ones that got wet from sitting on the floor.

Lesson Learned: If you cannot afford shelving in the storage area of your basement, lay down 2x4s to stack boxes on top of so they are not sitting on the floor in case of a flood. We actually learned this lesson in our previous house, but for some reason did not think of doing the same thing when we moved into our current house.

That Friday came and went, and despite leaving multiple messages for the insurance adjuster, she never called. After hours of trying to suck up water with the Rug Doctor and our carpet cleaner, the carpet in the basement was still soaking wet, so we decided we couldn’t wait anymore for someone to come clean it up.

Lessons Learned: Call your insurance company as soon as the damage to your home happens. If you’re not able to speak to an insurance adjuster right away, do not wait to hear back from them to call a company to come clean up the damage.

We called the restoration company our insurance company recommended Friday afternoon. They gave us a general quote of $10-$15 per square foot for clean-up, but couldn’t send someone out to our house for an actual estimate until the next day. That weekend was very busy for us, so we called the restoration company multiple times to find out when someone was coming out to our house. Each time, they told us the call was dispatched out so we should be hearing from someone “very soon”. We never heard from them that Saturday and no one ever came. They finally called late Sunday morning as we were getting ready to leave for a family event. Apparently, by this time, the water had not only soaked the carpet in the basement, but it also started going up the drywall so they were going to have to cut out at least a foot of drywall from the floor. They estimated close to $10,000 just to rip out the carpet and cut out part of the drywall in our basement, and they would not have been able to come out to start the process until that Tuesday or Wednesday.

Lessons Learned: $5000 is not even close to enough money to clean-up flood damage, let alone repair it too. We need a higher limit! Water in the basement will not only damage the flooring, furniture, and other items on the floor, but also the walls.

That night, we were panicking a little thinking about how we were going to afford the basement clean-up. We thought about doing it ourselves, but more than 800 square feet of finished basement is too much for just my husband and I to do and we didn’t know the first thing about cutting out drywall. We decided to call around other companies even though it was a little difficult for us to find since we weren’t sure what to search for. The person at one company we called did not have their pricing information with them and said they would call us back the next day (we were not going to go through that again). The other company we called quoted $4-$6 per square foot for clean-up and said they would be at our house the next morning to start, so we took it.

Lesson Learned: Do not just call the company your insurance company recommends. Call around to different companies to get quotes, and do this as soon as the damage happens.

The restoration company came Monday morning and estimated $5500-$7500 to rip up the carpet and vinyl flooring in the bathroom, cut out the drywall, and dry everything out with big dehumidifiers and fans. When I asked how we would pay for it, they explained that we would owe $2000 at that time and when they were finished, we could work out the rest with our insurance company. He was very vague as how we would do that, but I did not think anything of it. Meanwhile, an insurance adjuster FINALLY called us (a different person than who was originally assigned to our claim)! Luckily, he was very nice. He set up an appointment to come by that Friday.

The entire process lasted Monday to Saturday. It took about 2 1/2 hours for them to rip out all of the carpet and put in 6 fans and 2 dehumidifiers that Monday. They came back Wednesday afternoon to remove the baseboards and cut out the drywall, which took about 3 or 4 hours. They ended up finding pre-existing mold behind some of the baseboards in my office, probably from my office being flooded almost 2 years before (we thought we had gotten all the water at that time).

Lesson Learned: Even if it’s just a little bit of water in a carpeted basement, it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get all the water out and prevent mold from growing. Rip out the carpet right away!

I work from home in the basement, and not knowing what cutting out drywall entails, I asked if I would be able to work when they came back on Wednesday. They assured me that they would be able to work around me and it would be okay if I had to be on the phone. That surely was not the case as even with my office door closed, they were very loud, and they ended up asking me to leave my office for an hour because of the dust from the drywall. I thought that would be the last time I would see them, but they left with the loud machines (dehumidifiers and fans) still in our basement and said they would be back in the next couple of days.

Lesson Learned: If the clean-up affects your normal day to day activities (ie, work), ask exactly what they are going to do and how long the whole process will take.

The insurance adjuster came Friday morning, and, luckily, approved us to receive the entire $5000 limit for the flood damage. He was actually very surprised when we told him how much the restoration was going to charge us without replacing any of the flooring and drywall. He thought they were taking advantage of us since so many people needed help in our area and admitted they should not be charging that much. He also said the company should be able to invoice us so we can pay them once we get the check from the insurance company, and advised to call the restoration company right away to remove the machines from our basement so they would not charge us anymore for the dehumidifier and fan rental since our basement was completely dry by then (we did not think about rental fees). We were to expect the insurance check to come within the next week.

Lesson Learned: Before a restoration company starts any clean-up, ask for a list of charges and how much they charge per square foot, per day or per hour, and/or per machine so you know what to expect.

The restoration company ended up coming to remove the machines and finish everything up that Saturday morning. We told them they would need to invoice us and we would pay them as soon as we received the check from the insurance company or bill our insurance company, but they said they would not be able to do that (even though their website highlights that they have insurance direct billing available). We ended up having to pay another $2000 right then and write a post-dated check for the rest. Luckily, our insurance check came in before the date of the post-dated check the Friday after.

Lesson Learned: If you ask about how the service will be paid and they give you a vague answer, ask more questions until they specifically tell you how exactly they expect you to pay for it.

As you can see, just getting our basement cleaned up from flooding has been quite a process, but I’m glad all of that is over! Now, we just have to finish cleaning up what’s left and work on replacing the flooring and drywall. I will be updating you on our progress here, so stay tuned!

Are there any lessons you have learned from any similar experiences? Do you have any advice for some novice DIYers trying to figure out how to fix up our basement? Leave me a comment below

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Coffee Deals!: BOGO Free Caribou Coffee & 1/2 Off Starbucks Frappucinos

Melanie — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:05:15 +0000

Head over to Caribou Coffee tomorrow, May 12th, to get one FREE drink with the purchase of another drink for Mother’s Day! Just “Like” Caribou Coffee on Facebook, and print or show this coupon on your phone. *Some Caribou Coffee locations have recently closed, so make sure to find your nearest location before you head out.

Also, Starbucks Happy Hour ends tomorrow May 12th! Between 3 and 5 pm, get any size Starbucks Frappucino for 1/2 off today and tomorrow! *No coupon necessary.

EnJOY!

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Create!: Easy to Make Diaper Cake

Melanie — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:03:30 +0000

2013 seems to be the year of babies! We’re not even halfway through the year yet, and we’ve already welcomed 4 babies into my husband and my families and 3 babies from our friends. I love giving diaper cakes as presents because they’re practical (you can never use too many diapers), really cute, and personal since they are homemade with love. I am very lucky that my husband is willing to help me with these types of things and actually helped me come up with an easy and pretty quick way to make them.

What you’ll need:

Diapers (size 0 or 1 for newborns)
Basket for the base
Ribbon (we use curling ribbon)
Wooden sticks like thick bamboo skewers or chopsticks to work as a dowel
Small rubber bands (optional)
Accessories such as baby bottles; small bottles of shampoo, baby wash, lotion, etc; pacifiers; small books
Cellophane wrap

Roll each diaper and place as many as you can tightly in the basket. To make it easier, use a rubber band to hold each diaper in a roll or group of diapers. Once the basket is filled, make 2 or 3 more layers of rolled diapers for the cake by tying ribbon around the group of diapers. Tuck the accessories into the ribbon to be included in each layer. To hold the layers of the cake to the basket together, put a wooding stick in the middle of the diapers in the basket so it is sticking up and place each additional layer over top so the stick acts as a dowel. Use ribbon to secure a stuffed animal or other accessory at the top of the diaper cake, and have fun decorating! Lastly, wrap the entire diaper cake in cellophane and secure the opening at the top with ribbon.

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What a Crazy Week!

Melanie — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:58:05 +0000

Last week has to have been the craziest week America has seen in a very long time, if ever! Here’s what we were up to…

Last Sunday, we took a FREE tile backsplash workshop at Home Depot:

Last Monday, we prayed for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and their families:

Then, we stayed up almost all night putting up our back splash:

Last Wednesday, we prayed some more for the victims of the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion and their families:

That night, we braced ourselves for the storm that was heading towards the Chicago area. We checked on our basement and sump pump, which were fine, before going to bed, but we ended up having to deal with this since Thursday morning:

We stayed up again Thursday and Friday nights cleaning up the basement and prayed for all those who were affected by the flood much worse than we are. We then prayed some more for the residents of Cambridge, Watertown, and other areas surrounding Boston:

Saturday was very busy with my daughter’s gymnastics and dance classes, my husband being called into work, and a wedding we attended over an hour away:

Sunday was another busy day with my Goddaughter’s first communion. I spent the morning making these chocolate covered pretzel rods for party favors:

What I didn’t do last week…

Sleep and study!

What was your week like last week or what happened during your craziest week? Leave me a comment below

And make sure to watch for more posts about installing our mosaic tile backsplash, dealing with flood damage, and making chocolate covered pretzel party favors!

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Coupons!: Personal Care, Snacks, & Baby Products from Coupons.com – Updated 4/14

Melanie — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:32:57 +0000

Coupons.com is a great place to find printable coupons online! Check out these great coupons that are available right now:

Personal Care

Paper Products

$1.00 off any 2 Vanity Fair Napkins or Hand Towel

Snacks

Baby Products

Coupons on Coupons.com have a print limit so make sure you head over there now to print them out before they run out!

For information on how to make the most out of your coupons, check out my Couponing Tips!

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My Thoughts!: Taking the Plunge to Graduate School

Melanie — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 05:06:03 +0000

I finally did it! I registered to take the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) to try to get into graduate school and have a date set to take the test. This is a big deal considering I have a collection of GRE study guides from almost every year since 2007 but have never made the commitment to actually take the test. I’ve always known I wanted to get an advanced degree, but it has taken me forever to decide what program to get into.

I have my Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and have been a health insurance underwriter since I graduated from college in 2005. I have always been interested in medicine, but financial issues prevented me from going straight into medical school or any other type of grad school right away. Unfortunately, the programs I have been most interested in would require me to go to school full-time and I don’t think we can afford to live off of one income right now. But with Health Care Reform looming over us, I have a new-found interest in a different part of medicine and health care that I never thought I would care for. So, with the help of my husband, I have FINALLY decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Health with a focus in Epidemiology. In the new health care and health insurance environments that we all will face in 2014 and beyond, I think prevention and management of diseases will be more important than ever to try to keep health care costs down for everyone and try to “save” the health care system. I foresee plenty of opportunities in public health and epidemiology, so I’m excited to take on this new challenge.

I really wish I would have thought of this sooner because if I want to start grad school this fall, I really need to get my GRE scores and applications in ASAP. So I have given myself a little over a month to study for the GRE, yikes! In case you’re unfamiliar, the GRE is a 4 and a half hour exam consisting of 2 essays, lots of vocabulary, and lots of math. I’m not so worried about the math part, but I am terrified of the vocabulary. And even though I write all the time, I am also a bit worried about the timed essays.

So, what do you think? Do you think I can study for the GRE in a month and do well while working a full-time job and taking care of a toddler? If you’ve taken the GRE or any other exam (GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc.), what studying or test-taking tips do you have? How long did you give yourself to study? ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED! Leave me a comment below

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Save!: 16 Oz Jamba Juice Smoothie for Only $2

Melanie — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:05:22 +0000

I love Jamba Juice! I usually like to mix it up a bit, but my favorite is their Razzmatazz Smoothie with an energy boost. When I’m starting to feel under the weather, I make sure to add their C & Zinc boost and it nips the sickness in the butt right away! They also have a new kids menu, which I love since I don’t have to share my Jamba Juice with my juice and smoothie-lovin’ little girl anymore and make sure they make some without any boosts (she always finishes her portion so fast and then wants to drink mine, lol)!

If you plan on heading out to Jamba Juice, make sure to sign up with Great Eats to receive a coupon in your e-mail for any 16 oz Jamba Juice smoothie for just $2! Signing up is FREE and you can choose receive more great offers to restaurants from Great Eats!

What’s your favorite kind of smoothie? Leave me a comment below

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Easter!: iCaughtTheEasterBunny Photo – Try it for FREE & 50% Off Code

Melanie — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 05:20:18 +0000

For less than $10 anyone can be a hero to children by catching the Easter Bunny “in the act”. Catch him here – Catch him there – Catch him ANYWHERE! In three simple steps, iCaughtTheEasterBunny can turn a typical Easter into something spectacular by adding the Easter Bunny to any of your photos. Catch The Easter Bunny TODAY! CLICK HERE to try it FREE! and SAVE 50% on your purchase with this code – 50% off code: BUNNY2013

iCaughtTheEasterBunny is part of CatchACharacter. Make sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook! I wrote a review of iCaughtSanta over a year ago. Click here to see my review.

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Disclosure: I was offered an iCaughtTheEasterBunny photo in exchange for sharing this information. This post may include affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Policy for additional information.