Everyone loves a good compliment. Not only can it lift you up on a bad day, but even help you push farther to achieve success!

Did you ever notice that with children, if you tell them how good they are doing at something, it often pushes them to continue to try harder and keep doing it? This is not just for kids! Have you ever worked for someone that let you know how well you were doing and how much you were appreciated? It helped you feel good about your abilities and pushed you to work harder, didn’t it?

On that same token, have you ever worked for someone who never told you what you were good at, never patted you on the back and never said anything good about you and your abilities? It not only drags you down, but leave you feeling confused and like giving up.

Compliments are incredibly powerful!

One way to help yourself feel better, especially if you are not getting the attention you think you deserve (which, sadly, often happens and leave us feeling unappreciated) is to make sure YOU are the one giving yourself compliments! Have you ever heard the saying, “Tell yourself something until it is true?” It works! I used to feel incredibly bad about who I was. I would hate what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I started by placing a note to myself in the bathroom that gave me encouragement that I was alright just the way I am. It was a Bible verse. It soon became true for me. I now see myself as wonderful and just the way I am supposed to be, most of the time. I still have my bad days, but at least the good ones far outweigh the bad.

One tool I tested out was from a company from the Compliment Quotient. They make these two nifty products; “Compliment Charms” and “Daily Compliment Cards”. I was very happy a representative from The Compliment Quotient sent me a sweet charm necklace that reads, “You are Amazing” and a set of Daily Compliment Cards.

Pros:

These really are an amazing concept. It was funny because I decided to wear the Compliment Charm on a day I was feeling less than confident. Just looking down and seeing “You are Amazing” around my neck really reminded me of the Bible verse I used to keep on my bathroom mirror. (Which by the way is by the way Luke 12:7 and it reads “..Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”)

Cons:

I was kind of let down by the Daily Compliment Cards. The phrases on many of them seemed like those stickers little kids get on their A+ papers. To me, they were too cheesy. I can see how they may be good for a child to have on their desk at home or something, but they were not personally my taste and I did not find much inspiration in them. Maybe it was more the kind of pictures on them or something, but they really seemed a bit simple and kind of un-adult-like.

Verdict:

The Compliment Quotient is all about making you feel better and the world a more positive place. I would highly recommend checking out their store and website. There are many more Charms to choose from.

To Purchase:

Head on over to The Compliment Quotient’s page, The Appreciation Advantage, and click on “Store”. Charms sell for $13.95.

With organic products taking over the stores, it is hard to understand why you should purchase organic and what products are really “worth it”.

I used to wonder the same thing as organic foods are often more pricey and you don’t know why you should be buying organic in the first place.

There are a few reasons to buy organic and when I tried Uncle Matt’s Organic orange juice, I could really taste the difference! First off, Uncle Matt’s is organic because it is better for the planet to organically farm. Organic farming uses no pesticides or other hazardous chemicals like mass production farming. Using organic farming techniques is better for the environment because it protects the air we breathe and the water we drink. When you choose organic farmed food, you don’t have to ask,”What am I REALLY eating?”

I love that on the Uncle Matt’s Website, you can find out exactly who is growing your food. You can even take a virtual “grove tour”!

Uncle Matt’s Organic Juice produced not only the Pulp Free Orange Juice that we tried, but also apple juice, lemonade and grapefruit juice and other orange juice varieties such as Calcium added, and with pulp.

• Pros:

I love this juice. I have never actually bought organic varieties of orange juice because I am not really a fan of orange juice to begin with. This juice tastes so close to biting into a juicy orange, I may have found a brand of OJ that I love. My husband said the Pulp free variety we tried had a great “Smooth natural orange taste”.

• Cons:

The price is a bit steep here. I could only find it in stock in one store (this must be a good indicator of it’s quality!) locally and it was nearly $8.00 for the 59 oz bottle we tried. However, keep in mind this is 100% organic juice, though.

• Verdict:

For my morning cup of juice, I would recommend this brand. I love the taste and I love how the company is so transparent in their website’s info on where the juice comes from.

• To purchase:

Head over to the store locator and check out where you can get it locally. As I stated, it was around $8.00 for 59 oz here.

• Support:

Uncle Matt’s Facebook

Uncle Matt’s Twitter

Sublime Media Connection in exchange for an honest review. In no way was I asked to give a positive review.

I mentioned a while back one of my goals for the New year was to quit smoking. I know, I know, smoking is a gross habit and it may come as a shock to you that I smoke, but it is one thing I am most ashamed of, trust me.

For me, smoking is much more than the nicotine. If you are a smoker or former smoker, you might be able to relate to me. It is the inhaling, the exhaling, the habit, the social aspect and the actual physical feeling of having the cigarette to your mouth. It has been my crutch for a long time. I decided to try the e-cig route as I found it helpful in the past.

I got a Blu Starter kit from e-cigarettes 365 ( a website that not only helps you pick from lots of different brands for purchase, but also gives you reviews by real customers, like me, so that is why I chose this site to get my kit from) to test out and review for you. I was so excited because in the past, my husband and I had wanted to try this kit because we had such a positive experience with the disposable Blu brand e-cigs in our last quit attempt. Trust me, we tried lots of different ones and the Blu was by far the best for many reasons I will get into in a bit. First, I want to talk about what comes with the kit.

In the Blu e-cig starter kit (which by the way, you can get in white as well as the black one we chose), you get 2 batteries, 1 Blu pack, 1 wall charger, 1 USB charger and 1 variety pack of cartridge flavors that contains 4 different 5 flavors in a 5 pack. The flavors included in the kit are; tobacco x2, cherry, java, and menthol.

The rechargeable e-cig from Blu works by charging the battery, and simply screwing on a cartridge and taking a puff. There are cartridges sold without nicotine and there are varying levels of nicotine as well in 8 mg, 12 mg and 16 mg. I personally think that is awesome that there are varying levels of nicotine. This will make it much easier to quit as I can wean myself off. Last time we used e-cigs to quit smoking traditional ones, I was able to almost not even need it at all after 2-3 weeks.

The Blu e-cig starter kit also uses a unique feature: the Blu Pack. Simply charge the pack itself and place your “dead” battery in it for charging on the go. you can also store your cartridges in it all in one place. It has a feature that is a “social feature” that is supposed to tell you by lighting up with a blue light on the side of the pack when you are near someone else that has a Blu pack.

Pros:

This is the ultimate kit to get if you are interested in trying e-cigs. My husband and I have an e-cig kit from another company and this one is by far the best because of it’s smoothness in draw, the lasting time of the cartridges (about 250 puffs or a little over 1 pack per cartridge), the fact that it has no chemical-like taste as other tend to, and the convenience of being able to charge virtually anywhere because it has a wall charger and a USB charger. The Charge time is very fast. In just under 10-15 minutes, you have a fully charged battery. I also like that it has the Blue pack included for on the go continuous charging. The flavors of the cartridges are not over powering at all. I was worried I would not like the menthol one because I don’t like traditional menthol cigarettes, but this one was just a hint of mint flavor. My husband really enjoyed the Java flavor. The quality of the Blu e-cig starter kit cannot be surpassed in my opinion.

Cons:

You must remember to keep your Blu pack and batteries charged. I found that they don’t hold a charge for more than a day or so, so it is crucial to remember to keep them in the Blu pack if you want one ready to go at all times. I also found the “social feature” of the Blu pack a bit silly and I had no way of knowing if it works or not because it never lit up for me.

Verdict:

This is well worth the price as it has so many features other kits do not have and way more pros than cons. Skip experimenting with other brands and go straight to the Blu.

To Purchase:

Head over to E-Cigarettes 365 and purchase a Blu Starter Kit for $69.95-$79.95. I personally recommend this website on my own because it has a lot of great review info.