We were so lucky this past Friday to have beautiful weather for a full day at Universal Studios.
We were even luckier when Universal Studios decided to test open for the first time the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! It is not set to open until April 7th so we really scored! There were wands and butter beer a-plenty in "Harry Potter Land, " as I like to call it. We were able to go on both rides, too!
Thanks to the front of the line passes we bought, we were able to walk right on to all the rides and attractions at the park. We found those passes especially helpful with the 75 and 45 minutes lines in the Wizarding World. I wasn't sure if it was really worth paying the extra $49/ticket for front of the line access, but the look on everyone's faces in the regular line as we walked right past them was well worth it!
AAA has the best deal for buying your tickets. We were able to purchase our front of the line passes for $129.
At times, I feel like my house is over run by Lego pieces - small ones, big ones, and all different colors.
Not anymore! I just picked up this great rolling organizer from Michaels and our house, thus my life, has changed! Not to mention, I gave the kids the job of sorting all the millions of pieces by color. They actually thought it was fun. And don't forget to leave a drawer for all those instruction manuals.
Do you want to organize your Legos? Head over to Michaels now as this organizer is 50% off...just $40!
This time last year, I started looking into getting solar panels. Why? I wanted to save some money on our ever-increasing electricity bill and thought going green would be cool, too.
I contacted a few of the major players: Verengo, Sungevity, and Solar City. Boy, did I get more information on kilowatts than I ever thought I needed. After going through basically the same qualification process with each company, we got the biggest bang for our buck with Sungevity.
As part of our decision process, I asked everyone I knew with solar panels why they either own or lease. Everyone that owned their panels said the only reason why they owned them was because back when they bought them, leasing wasn't an option. But if they had an option, they would have decided to lease. As a result, we decided that leasing our panels was the best fit for our family since 1) it didn't require any money down and 2) we were then locked into the same monthly rate for the life of our lease. Considering that electricity rates increase each year, the locked-in solar rates definitely seemed like a good deal.
Conservatively, they told us we would save, on average, $37 a month. After having the system 8 months, I am happy to say that we have averaged $55 savings a month. Okay, so this savings isn't earth-shattering, but it is savings. And considering our roof is now generating electricity for our family, and all other Southern California Edison customers, I enjoy the feeling of being resourceful and green. While our solar panel system feeds directly into Southern California Edison's power grid, if there is ever a power outage in our area, we will have enough power stored in our solar panels to power for our home for a day. (Now you know where to go in times of power outage.)
To top it off, I discovered that our electricity rates actually went down once we had our solar panels installed. I guess solar panel customers get special, lower rates!
My favorite part of all this: watching my electric meter run backwards when we are producing more energy than consuming. All in all, we are very happy that we decided to take the plunge and get solar panels.
Have you ever thought of getting solar panels, too? Quotes from Sungevity (and its competitors) are FREE!! You have nothing to lose (well, except dollars off your electric bill).
Now through March 31, anyone that uses the referral code 329439 will get $1000 off the price of their system. (Typically, it is just $500.) If you have any questions about our experience with solar panels, please feel free to leave a comment below or email us at info@housescouchesandbabies.com.
Are
you ready for days to be longer? (Note: I did NOT say work days!) I
am! Although I don't like losing an hour of sleep when moving my clock
forward, I do love that the sun sets later and later...and that summer
is coming!
So don't forget, and don't be late! Change
your clocks 1 hour ahead before you go to bed this Saturday night...and
don't forget to change lights that are on automatic timers, too!
There are so many delicious treats you can make (and eat) for the holidays. But what about gluten free treats (without having to buy gluten free flour)?
How about these adorable Holiday Pebble Treats!?!? There are only 3 ingredients you need: Holiday Pebbles cereal, marshmallows, and butter.
So if you or someone you know has a gluten intolerance, this would be a great dessert/treat to make!
