Teacups and Toasters

Through Twitter I learned that Mark Hall, lead singer for the band Casting Crowns, was looking for some people to read and review his new book, Your Own Jesus. It was released August 1, 2009.  I wrote to his publisher and was privileged to receive a copy. Below is my review which can also be found on Amazon.com.

Mark Hall’s new book, Your Own Jesus, is a guide on how to better your relationship with Jesus. It is a refreshing read for Christians, but also contains accounts that may help non-Christians desire to learn more about Jesus. Through touching stories and personal recollections, Mark Hall aims to get Christians out of their Sunday pews and into a serious walk of daily devotion and acting on the Word. Through each section correlated with a Casting Crown’s song from the most recent album, The Alter and the Door, he explains what it means to have your own Jesus, while Jesus Himself is never changing.

Though I enjoyed this book, I found the organization to be a little drawn out and sometimes repetitive. However, this book is worth a read and can be used for group discussion with the helpful discussion guide in the back of the book.

I saw this hawk in our backyard waiting and watching for a meal to pass by. One never did. Eventually, he flew on.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mark 8:36-37

A trip to Walt Disney World can be hard on the bank if you don’t plan it correctly. The souvenirs you and your kids may want during your visit are no exception.  I’ve put together a few tips on how to bring home the goods without going broke.

A. Bring your quarters and pennies. Across the resorts, parks, restaurants, and Downtown Disney there are a mass amount of pressed penny machines and even a few that press quarters. A pressed penny machine is a machine wherein you insert a penny to be pressed, two quarters to pay for your souvenir, select one of three images to be pressed onto your penny, and then watch as your penny is flattened and comes out with your image selection pressed upon it. My daughter loves these machines and for fifty one cents you’ve got a neat little souvenir. Also, you can purchase pressed coin books that hold your pressed pennies and quarter.

If you want to get really serious about collecting pressed pennies, or if you want to know where to find a certain character image, you can stop by guest services at one of the parks and pick up a paper packet that lists the locations of all the machines and which images are in the machines. Pretty nifty.

B. Resort mugs and popcorn buckets make great souvenirs that you can reuse on a regular basis. If you’re staying on property you can purchase a resort mug at your resort’s food court for about $13. You are then able to use the mug for free refills from the fountain stations at your resort’s food court until the end of your stay. I now use mine just about every day at home ( I do wash it!) They fit well in the car cup holders too. OH, and this past trip we saw and purchased a Mickey bendy straw at the check out. My daughter uses it every day and it was 49 cents!

Popcorn buckets, as I mentioned in the last post, are only a buck more than the standard box of popcorn. Disney popcorn tastes so yummy and you can reuse the bucket for snacking at home, snacks on the go (it has a lid), or as a sand bucket!

C. If it’s your first visit stop by Guest Services on your way into any of the parks and pick up a 1st visit button. There are also buttons available for anniversaries, birthdays, celebrating in general, and just married. Oh, and these buttons are free!

D. Pin trading can be one of the most expensive souvenier areas because once you start collecting pins and buy a lanyard to place them on, well you’re simply going to want more. Pin prices range from around $7.00 – $15.00, or nearly $30 plus for a special set. However, pin trading can be fun for the kids. If you go up to a cast member with a pin lanyard, you can trade any of your pins for one of theirs and they have to comply. We haven’t gotten into the trading yet, but my daughter showed some interest on this past trip. This, prompted me to look at some pins on The Disney Store website. Currently, they have a sale wherein some pins are up to half off. Some are as low as $3.99. I am considering purchasing a few of the sale ones and saving them up for our next trip. She will then have a few pins to trade without having an attachment to them.

E. It’s not often that you see a sale at Disney World, but keep your eyes open. This past trip there were some plush dolls half off.

I hope those tips help, at least a little. Aside from budgeting, I’m all for purchasing souvenirs that will really mean something to your family and for a special occasion. We bought our daughter a plush Tinkerbell doll (not the kind that were half off) on our last trip and she loved it so much that she carried it with her everywhere. I do mean everywhere. I think Tinkerbell is in almost all of our vacation pictures.  Point being, let your kids choose wisely about what they really want. Our Tinkerbell was well worth her cost.  If you know of any other tips, I’d love to hear them! Leave me a comment below, or send me a tweet!