My thanks to KBB (Kelley Blue Book) for sponsoring today’s conversation. While the information below is compensated, I only share information I feel will benefit my readers. 

One of our big ticket purchases this year will be a new or like-new car for our teen daughter. We would never put our daughter’s welfare at risk by purchasing a car on price or looks alone, so my husband has been doing a lot of research on several types of cars. He’s checking safety records, drivability and cost in an effort to narrow down the list of possible vehicles.  As a car guy, he was happy to see that the Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards is now available for 2016 model year vehicles which will help narrow down our search and the amount of time he spends researching on his own. 

#KBBBestBuy small car award winners
Courtesy KBB.com
About the KBB Best Buy Awards:

“The Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards are designed to provide a significant service to new car buyers by identifying the cream of the crop of all available 2016 model year vehicles.  The awards are the culmination of a year-long regimen of expert vehicle evaluation and testing of nearly every new vehicle available in America, along with analysis of a broad swath of vehicle-related data, including vehicle pricing/transaction prices, 5-Year Cost-to-Own data (which includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance, financing, fuel, fees and taxes for new cars), consumer reviews and ratings, and vehicle sales/retail sales information.  Of more than 300 new-car models available for 2016, Kelley Blue Book’s expert editors initially narrowed the field to 49 Best Buy Award Finalists in 12 major vehicle categories and then spent several weeks testing and evaluating all of the finalists head-to-head to ultimately determine the winners.”  


When we compared my husband’s list with Kelley’s, several of the cars we were considering received the #KBBBestBuy award!  Backed by nearly 90 years of expertise, these awards will help us whether we chose to purchase a brand new or gently used vehicle, because no matter how awesome we think a car is, our teen daughter has to like it too! She looked over the list of small car winners, and actually liked quite a few, including this cute little crossover by Honda.

#KBBBestBuy Award winner 2016 Honda-HR-V
Courtesy KBB.com

This is the 2016 Honda-HR-V, a smaller, more stylish CR-V, according to the Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards site. Isn't it cute? I can see my daughter driving around town with her friends in this.


Honda was well represented on the list as was of my husband’s first choices, the Chevrolet Volt. Check the infographic below for the whole list of award winners and some cool car buying tips and facts.



We feel confident that by taking our time, doing research on each car, especially all makes and models found on this great award list, that we’ll be armed with all the knowledge we need to make an informed purchase with our daughter.

If you or a loved one is thinking of buying a car this year, I invite you to visit the KBB Best Buy Awards list and follow then on Twitter @KelleyBlueBook and on Facebook at KelleyBlueBook. If you have a question about the list, use hashtags #KBBBestBuy and #ConnectKBB, and I’m sure they will respond quickly!


Disclosure:
My thanks to Kelley Blue Book for sponsoring today's post. Your yearly awards and website have helped us narrow our options greatly.  I will receive monetary compensation for my thoughts, however, I only share content I feel will benefit my readers. I’m disclosing this in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Wordless Wednesday: Fiona

in , , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, January 06, 2016
Welcome to my first Wordless Wednesday of 2016! Today we celebrate our lovable, snugable, playful two year old kitty, Fiona. 



Wordless Wednesday: Fiona our kitty, green eyes, black and white cat


Wordless Wednesday: Fiona in her favorite spot, the front window


Wordless Wednesday: Fiona says it's playtime, kitty



Having just celebrated a very merry Christmas, I couldn’t pass up the chance to help spread the good word about a new Christian books series for little girls. I received a complimentary copy of The Adventures of Rooney Cruz: Hannah the Belle of Prayer written by Erin Weidermann. 



About the Bible Belle Series:

This is a new series of books designed to give little girls female heroes to look up to. Each book in the series tells the stories of women in the bible through the eyes of a modern girl names Rooney Cruz.  Today’s review focuses on Hannah the Belle of Prayer. Since these books are aimed at girls, my 12 year old daughter honored us with her review below. 

Hannah The Belle of prayer book #review

REVIEW BY: Melissa Kinsman

Hannah the Belle of Prayer is a book about a little girl named Rooney Cruz, a girl who is bullied. She doesn’t understand why the popular girls are so mean! All of a sudden, an angel ‒ Rooney’s guardian angel, Mari, appears. At first, Rooney is in shock, and she doesn’t believe that that could be a real angel. Mari proceeds to tell her about The Bible Belles who are Bible superheroes! 

Mari takes Rooney on an adventure to learn about Hannah. She learns that Hannah is bullied also, by the mean Peninnah, who is rude to Hannah because she is unable to conceive children. Finally, as Hannah goes to pray to God, the priest Eli blesses her. After her prayer, God blessed her with a baby boy named Samuel. Now that Rooney knows Hannah’s story, she wants to try praying too. And she receives a bell, a gift from God. 

Despite the fact that this is a children’s book, it is a great book for the parents to read with their child as they may have questions that will open great discussion. It is educational in two ways: it educates them in prayer and also in bullying.  The book is a fun story with great experiences that will have any age group wanting more BIBLE BELLES stories. I think author Erin Weidemann did a great job!

Want your own copy? Click HERE to purchase yours today!

Want more Bible Belles fun? Click HERE for free printables and games! * Requires email address to receive freebies.*


As always, we hope you enjoyed this book review. We'll be posting more in 2016. 

Please share in comments: What topics or book genre's would you like to see us review?

Happy New Year dear readers!  I know that some of you are taking time off work to fully enjoy this special time of year so I’ll keep this post short and sweet.  In an effort to make sure I give you more of what you like in 2016, I am doing my first ever year in review post to share with you what posts and topics you liked best in 2015. To really get a feel for what’s working here (besides giveaways!) I removed those from my list. What makes me really happy is that my top 10 blog posts that resonated with you, my readers, is non-sponsored content! 



Working from home allows me to work with my daughters, ages 16 and almost 13. I’m so happy that both of their contributions made the top 10 according to my blog stats. 


In Fashion/beauty this post on Mom fashion by Melissa (12) was a hit!

Back to school outfits for Moms


Book Reviews are a favorite here on the blog, especially my daughter Tera's reviews like this one


You enjoyed my creativity and work flow tips found here almost as much as you like my Organizing/life hacks like this post


Entertaining/ DIY and recipes were well received as well.  Top posts like hosting an epic tween party and sipping Mediterranean Orchard Iced tea on the front porch were viewed thousands of times. 

Mediterranean orchard iced tea on the front porch


What really surprised me was how well all my Wordless Wednesday posts ranked! If they were about flowers, gardening, being outside, our land or my cats, you loved them!

Wordless Wednesday our land, outside, fresh air

You also really liked my weekly chore prompt series and my Color of the Month series. 


White Rose bloom, gardening


What an amazing year 2015 has been! I can't wait to share more of the content you love with you in 2016! If there is a topic you would like to see me cover more on my blog, please feel free to share it in comments. 


Happy New Year to you and yours!
Small Southern town Noel



Hot Chocolate with marshmallows and cinnamon


A lit candle for lost loved ones #peaceonearth


Frosted window panes


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 


Color of the Month- Silver and Gold

in , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Thursday, December 17, 2015
Merry Christmas! This is the final color of the month post for 2015 and I couldn't think of a more perfect color combo for this special honor than silver and gold.

This month's colors were inspired by the classic Christmas Carol and all the beautiful displays I see everywhere!

Silver and Gold decorations for the holidays


I found tons of wonderful pins on Pinterest and I've highlighted just three of my fav's above. I hope you enjoy my board for December and will return for this monthly post in 2016.


Follow Linda A.'s board Color of the Month- December- Silver and Gold on Pinterest.

Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to you!
I am excited to bring you another wonderful giveaway sponsored by Hallmark. As a member of the Love, Hallmark blogger group, I was selected to host a giveaway today and I will receive the beautiful ornament below free of charge. Normally, I would wait until I received my good to start the giveaway so I could share lots of pictures, but I want to give my winner time to order and receive their ornament- so I'm hosting my first ever 2 day giveaway!

Hallmark Personalized Keepsake Ornament red, sleigh, with family names
* * * * *     Our Hallmark Personalized Keepsake Ornament       * * * * * 

If you participated in my last Hallmark Keepsake Ornament giveaway in October for The Flying Ace ornament and were sorry you didn't win- here's your chance to try again.


There are so many wonderful keepsake ornaments to choose from at Hallmark.com! You might choose a Disney classic, or maybe you want to commemorate the birth of a baby- the choice is yours! 


Hallmark ornaments are easy to personalize

Win it!

Thanks to our sponsor, one lucky winner will receive a coupon code good for one free Hallmark Personalized Keepsake Ornament and free standard ground shipping! I'll email the winner the free code with step by step instructions on how to use it. Entering is easy using the Rafflecopter form below. 

Terms:
No purchase is necessary to enter using the Rafflecopter from below.  My WAHM Plan is responsible for prize fulfillment in the form of an emailed coupon code for you to place order at Hallmark.com. Winners will be notified by email used on entry form and have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.  This giveaway is not associated with nor endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or any other social channel. You must have a PayPal email account to enter. 

Good luck and Merry Christmas from My WAHM Plan and #LoveHallmark!


Wordless Wednesday- Fall skies

in , , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, December 09, 2015
As we head towards Christmas and temperatures drop, gray skies like this one seem to rule the day.

Gray skies in Fall


But I have found beautiful, abundant, hard to take in colors at sunrise:

Beautiful Sunrise in December


And at Sunset:


Beautiful Sunset in December



Which color palette do you prefer?
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