Don't Miss Out! Catch Hotel Transylvania - Transformania on Prime Video!

 This is a sponsored post on behalf of Review Wire Media for Amazon Studios & Sony Pictures Animation.

 

Change can be kind of scary, as we all know, but Hotel Transylvania - Transformania shows us that change can be amazing and incredibly entertaining as well.

My family had the pleasure of viewing this new movie a few days early, and let me go ahead and tell you, that you are in for a good time when the movie hits Prime tomorrow! This movie has all the fun you would expect from a Hotel Transylvania film, but with a twist.

The group of monsters isn't as "frightening" this time around, once they all transformed due to the "monsterification ray", but they all have to team up and battle time to turn things around.

Honestly when Drac & his pack were all transformed into humans, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I loved the twists and turns and actually felt a little sentimental as Drac & Johnny were discussing finding the sweetness inside us all as they ate s'mores over the campfire.

My five year old daughter was hooked and loved every second of the movie and I did too! We viewed our movie with some "transformative" popcorn - a mixture of caramel and cheddar and we snacked on s'mores afterwards, leading us to have a conversation about the sweet, gooey inside we all have.

If you're ready for a whirlwind of an adventure with some touching moments thrown in, where Mavis kind of saves the day, be sure to tune into Prime Video and check out Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania on January 14th! Take a minute and watch the trailer to see what you're in for...

The Update on Baby #2: 28 weeks Pregnant with ___________!

Finally sharing another update related to my pregnancy! 

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I feel like I shared more when I was pregnant with Delainey, but that's likely because I had more free time. With that said, I'm 28 weeks and a couple days pregnant and yes, I count those couple of days because I'm legitimately counting down the minutes until my due date.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for this baby. I consider her a blessing and I'm beyond excited to meet her, but I'm gonna be the one to say it - Pregnancy isn't always fun, it's not always rainbows and butterflies. It's kicks to the ribs and long, restless nights of trips to bathroom and charlie horses, it's heavy, it's uncomfortable at times, and it's down-right tough at other times... But it's rewarding, the end result makes you forget all that other stuff. Once I meet this baby girl, I know I'll fall in love and I have a feeling I'll miss this stage of my life - that's just the way things work.


It's funny. I went from craving flaming hot cheetos my entire pregnancy thus far, to going weeks without eating even one this past month. I have yet to finish off a bag that's been in my pantry forever and I'm not gonna lie - I don't know if I ever will.

I've been craving sweets, like a mad woman, and I occasionally indulge - but on the other hand, I balance my diet by eating salads like they are going out of style. Lately any salad with fruit in it and a good savory dressing is my favorite.

One thing, out of many things, that is different with this pregnancy vs when I was expecting Delainey is the fact that I think my belly button may "poke out" soon. I've always had what I would describe as a completely "innie" but this pregnancy has it looking (and feeling) a little more like an outie!

This past month we painted baby's room a super girly shade - premium pink, we hung up a light that matches her theme, put together her furniture, and started to organize the clothing I've held on to since Delainey was little and the few items we've been given.

I finalized my registry,  you can take a peek here if you were interested in looking. I don't expect anyone to buy us anything, I've just been adding things to our list and keeping track of what we still could use.

Beyond all of that, I've been debating with myself (and my husband) about what her name should be. Should she have one middle name or two? Should she have a name starting with the same letter as big sister or should we give her a name that isn't as trendy? Naming a kid is hard, naming your second kid is harder. For now, we'll just assume this kid will eventually have a name and hopefully soon I'll be able to announce it!

So tell me, how many kids do you have? Were your pregnancies completely different from one another? What about your kiddos - are they similar or complete opposites? If you don't have kids, tell me about the family you grew up with, what was the dynamic like with your siblings and you?

I wanna hear the scoop.

Repair Your Credit Yourself - How to go from Bad Credit to Excellent Credit!

I definitely don't claim to be a financial expert, I'm not well-versed in finances, and my credit history could be viewed as spotty at times - but that's why I wanted to make this post.

I brought my credit score from a scary number (that literally caused multiple declined applications) to a "nearly perfect" score without help from any paid service or individual. If you're in the same boat, I want to help YOU do the same. I was able to finance a house this year, bought a car last year, and I have some high $$$ credit cards now and I'm proud of this - I "worked" on my credit to get here and I think everyone deserves to know how to fix their credit score.

You may think this is a sponsored post, encouraging you to sign up for x,y, or z... but it's not. I legit want to share how I changed my life and help you change yours.



We'll start with finding out your credit score (if you don't already know).

I personally use CreditKarma.com, you may have heard of this website and that's great! It's completely free and they help you keep tabs on your credit without dinging your credit or showing a "hard pull". I should mention, as we were going through our loan officer for our home loan I was told that your "actual" credit score and the one Credit Karma offers you vary slightly - in my case, my actual score was higher than what CK had on file, but he said it can and does happen the other way around. Either way, it's a good way to ball park where your credit stands and help you evaluate what your next steps should be.

Credit Karma pulls your Transunion and Equifax credit scores, which are two of three well-known credit reporting agencies. My scores on the two services they use often differ slightly, but are close enough that I'm comfortable relying on them.

I love that you can click on each credit score and see which accounts are listed, what they are reporting, etc. I check my credit weekly to make sure I don't miss a thing and I honestly recommend everyone else does the same.

Beyond how the service works, let's get to the point.

I repaired my credit with CreditKarma by:



1. Disputing - The first step I took in repairing my credit was disputing the untrue or outdated information on my credit report. Do you have "bad credit" or "bad debt" that's more than 7 years old? Dispute it! Are you fighting medical collections that you've already paid in full? Dispute it! Did someone steal your identity and those dings are still on your report? Dispute it! Luckily, CK makes this process super easy, with both major credit companies.

You'll simply click the accounts tab, then click on any item you wish dispute and follow the directions from there.

You may wonder if that bill you forgot about in 2007 is worth fighting to get off your credit...? Let me tell you, it 100% is worth fighting! It takes a few minutes to fill out the form to dispute an account and it could raise your credit score tremendously.

Obviously, you can only dispute the untrue or outdated items on your report - but disputing some of the accounts on my credit saved my score so it's definitely the first thing I advise anyone looking to repair their credit to do.

2. Opening - This may seem obvious but opening and utilizing credit is a huge way to build your credit. I'm not suggesting you go out and get a card and go buckwild... But open a Visa & use it for gas purchases, then pay off a majority of the balance each month. That rotating credit will do your score wonders. It may "ding" your credit at first to open a new account, but if you are paying it almost entirely off then you'll soon reap the rewards!

Be mindful when opening credit cards (or any line of credit). You'll want to watch for annual fees and the interest rate being offered - don't be fooled by a great introductory offer, shop around and find a card that fits your life!


3. Pay Off - Hard work pays off and so does paying off debts in the smartest way possible. I'm going a little Dave Ramsey on you here, even though I don't fully follow (or support) his ideology. I think his snowball method to paying off debt is genius, while some of his other advice isn't for me. With that said, his idea towards debt is to pay the minimum monthly payment on all debt, except for the lowest debt you have. So if you have a school loan totaling $30,000, a car loan totaling $15,000, and a couple of credit cards with balances ranging from $5,000 to $500. You'd quickly pay off that $500 credit card while paying the minimum for all other debts - then work your way up on the scale of debts from there, applying larger payments as you pay off your debts and don't have to pay so many debts.

It sounds complicated, but it's actually fairly simple. It's more rewarding psychologically to pay it off this way since you are ridding yourself of debt in a faster manner but there's other methodologies you may be interested in as well - debt avalanche methodology being one that is "less rewarding" in the short-term but extremely helpful in avoiding excessive amounts of interest.

Regardless of which methodology you choose to pay off your debts, make a plan and adhere to it and your credit score will begin rising!

4. Keep it up - This one is a given, but continuing all the above and monitoring your credit score is a must. Recognize what's helping your score and continue doing that, whether it's paying down your balances, opening up a few cards and starting to rotate balances, or removing untrue remarks - you'll need to keep on top of your score and keep on working at it.

So tell me, have you had trouble in the past with your credit? Are you ready to try and repair your mistakes? Let's hear about where you stand in the comments below!