Unplugging From TV: Living Without a DVR:

In March of 2016, we moved from an extremely large and busy city to a semi-rural town. Doing a literal "hop" over my parents, we are 45 minutes from them either way, and now living further North which is awesome. When we moved though, we ended up on DUN DUN DUN: CAPPED INTERNET! It's okay, tell your hearts to re-start! We have actually never gone over our cap even though we're a family of three who are always using the internet. It's not even a high cap either, we have just toned down our constant need for "HD" on Netflix and stuff. Anyway, I was unable to bring my AT&T U-Verse account with us to our new home so I went with Direct TV. First thing I wanted to do was get my DVR back...but I couldn't. Why? Well Direct TV would say "Oh it doesn't use your internet!" Which I knew was a lie. Never listen to companies when they say this, want to know why? When I was with U-Verse and my internet dropped off, I couldn't watch ANYTHING that was recorded. It would stop recording, it would just stop altogether. Now why, seriously why would you say it doesn't use internet when clearly without internet it doesn't work? 

Split Apart -- Reunited Together: A Sibling's Path to Reunion:

I have always been an only child; my entire life I have never had a sibling to blame when something broke. I never had to share anything, and it was lonely sometimes. I can remember being around the 5th grade and going outside to play. Within maybe 20 minutes, I just remember sitting down with what I was playing with and looking around, wishing I had someone else to hang out with. To be honest it's a worry with my daughter that she feels the same way, as it appears she may never have a sibling. 

Crazy Cups: Review & Flavor of the Month - White Christmas

Crazy Cups: Official Website

Crazy Cups: Official Facebook


Christmas time has always been an amazing time of the year for me, and this year was no exception. Except that on Christmas Eve, my body decided "hey, let's give The Review Ballerina the worst head cold she has ever had in her life that makes her feel like she has the flu!" So sadly, my review of this amazing coffee was delayed. Reason? I couldn't taste it! I'd drink it and...nothing. I couldn't smell the aroma and THAT was depressing. So, now, I can review it!

PajamaBooks "12 Days of Christmas" Review:

(Courtesy of Pajamabooks.com)

Pajamabooks: Official Website

Pajamabooks: Official Facebook

Another great suggestion from Santa's Seasonal Suggestions!!

Every year, there is a tradition that our home started on Christmas Eve. My daughter and I bake cookies and sweets all day, my husband makes us an amazing Christmas Eve dinner to which I force everyone to watch A Christmas Story on TBS as it's on for the marathon. We then nestle up as a family and watch the animated "Grinch" movie, along with "Frosty", and then...the reading begins. Of course a given is "The Night Before Christmas", but this year we got to add a new book to our Christmas reading!