Category: Giveaway

Fire! Fire! Fire! Emergency Preparedness + LuminAID Spectra Giveaway

Today is the last day to enter this giveaway! Make your entries now!
Last week there was a wildfire near our house.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Fox on twitter @ParkCityTV 
We live in the mountains near Sundance Resort in Utah. Our fire department reminds all the homeowners about wildfire danger every year. As full time residents in a largely vacation home area, we are part of the community emergency evacuation team,willing to go door to door should an evacuation be needed.

Luckily last week’s fire didn’t threaten our community directly, but it did burn over 720 acres of forest land and spewed smoke throughout the county.

Photo Credit: ksl.com 

When natural disasters threaten our daily life its good to feel prepared. Just a week before the Wheeler fire started burning Mountain Dad and I went through our emergency preparedness plan and updated our emergency “Bug Out” bags. We now have a backpack with clothes, diapers and emergency supplies in our kids closets, ready to grab in case of any emergency. In addition to that we have three days worth of food and water stored in the garage, ready in case we’d need to quickly evacuate.
It feels good to be prepared, but as we put everything together I had to wonder about each item we included. Would we have fuel to cook our food? Would we survive if it were winter? The one thing I didn’t have to worry about was light, thanks to a nifty new solar charged lantern from LuminAID.

Mountain Dad purchased the LuminAID PackLite 12 earlier this summer. The compact, inflatable light can last 12 hours on a full days charge, and can retain its charge for up to 2 years. It’s inflatable, waterproof and conveniently clips onto your pack or in your tent. My kids love it since it’s like playing with a light up balloon.
I feel good knowing that if there were an emergency I wouldn’t have to worry about running out of batteries in my flashlight. Instead I can just pack up the LuminAID PackLite 12 and go.
Our friends at LuminAID have generously offered to sponsor a giveaway in connection with this post. They’re offering a new LuminAID PackLite Spectra – a multicolored, inflatable, solar light – to one lucky reader. I got to see these in action and they are super cool.
With 9 color settings it’s like the PackLite 12 in party mode. The Spectra is also a lightweight, easily packable lighting option, solar charged with a long battery life so you won’t have to worry about finding your way in the dark. 
Enter and you could see how cool these lights are for yourself. Plus I’m willing to bet your tots will love the changing colors.
Thanks!

Fire! Fire! Fire! Emergency Preparedness + LuminAID Spectra Giveaway

Today is the last day to enter this giveaway! Make your entries now!
Last week there was a wildfire near our house.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Fox on twitter @ParkCityTV 
We live in the mountains near Sundance Resort in Utah. Our fire department reminds all the homeowners about wildfire danger every year. As full time residents in a largely vacation home area, we are part of the community emergency evacuation team,willing to go door to door should an evacuation be needed.

Luckily last week’s fire didn’t threaten our community directly, but it did burn over 720 acres of forest land and spewed smoke throughout the county.

Photo Credit: ksl.com 

When natural disasters threaten our daily life its good to feel prepared. Just a week before the Wheeler fire started burning Mountain Dad and I went through our emergency preparedness plan and updated our emergency “Bug Out” bags. We now have a backpack with clothes, diapers and emergency supplies in our kids closets, ready to grab in case of any emergency. In addition to that we have three days worth of food and water stored in the garage, ready in case we’d need to quickly evacuate.
It feels good to be prepared, but as we put everything together I had to wonder about each item we included. Would we have fuel to cook our food? Would we survive if it were winter? The one thing I didn’t have to worry about was light, thanks to a nifty new solar charged lantern from LuminAID.

Mountain Dad purchased the LuminAID PackLite 12 earlier this summer. The compact, inflatable light can last 12 hours on a full days charge, and can retain its charge for up to 2 years. It’s inflatable, waterproof and conveniently clips onto your pack or in your tent. My kids love it since it’s like playing with a light up balloon.
I feel good knowing that if there were an emergency I wouldn’t have to worry about running out of batteries in my flashlight. Instead I can just pack up the LuminAID PackLite 12 and go.
Our friends at LuminAID have generously offered to sponsor a giveaway in connection with this post. They’re offering a new LuminAID PackLite Spectra – a multicolored, inflatable, solar light – to one lucky reader. I got to see these in action and they are super cool.
With 9 color settings it’s like the PackLite 12 in party mode. The Spectra is also a lightweight, easily packable lighting option, solar charged with a long battery life so you won’t have to worry about finding your way in the dark. 
Enter and you could see how cool these lights are for yourself. Plus I’m willing to bet your tots will love the changing colors.
Thanks!

Outdoor Families Magazine Launch and Photo Contest

This is the week! The time we’ve all been waiting for! 

I’m proud to announce the arrival of a great now resource for outdoor families. Outdoor Families Magazine is an online monthly magazine with great tips, destinations and information for all those outdoor families out there. The free digital magazine officially launches Thursday January 15, 2015 at www.outdoorfamiliesonline.com. It’s for all families interested in getting outside and promises to “provide unparalleled adventure content…to inspire a connection to the…natural world.”

I’ve had the opportunity to meet with the founders of OFO virtually and in person and I can assure you they are committed to sharing their family outdoor experiences in order to make the wilderness more accessible for everyone.

To celebrate the launch of the new magazine Outdoor Families Online is holding The Great Family Adventure Photo Contest. Prizes for the Great Family Adventure Photo Contest include a family vacation to Oxnard California, Hiking Boots from Hi-Tec, and a $100 gift card from Sierra Trading Post. I know I’m not the only one with family vacation photos that are worth sharing. Now’s the chance to share and win.

Let’s Step Outside plus #WILDmovie giveaway

I posted on Wednesday about Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild and the movie that’s out now starring Reese Witherspoon. Here’s a clip that I particularly liked.

The book describes Cheryl’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, which she started after her life fell apart. Her mother died young from cancer, she got into a pattern of sex and drugs, got divorced all before the age of thirty. It got me thinking about how physically being in the wild calms the wild parts of our lives. Have you noticed a difference in your mood when you connect to the outdoors?

In my daily efforts of motherhood I regularly have to step outside. My young children are great mess makers and fighters at times. I yell and nag at them more than I care to share and when they choose to be naughty out of spite I have to give us all a “timeout” to calm down. What the outdoors does for us is force me out of  get-‘er-done mode and into vacation mode even if just for a few minutes. We’re all happier as a result.

So how does being in the wild affect your mood? Life? Please share a comment by 12/17/14 and if you do you’ll be automatically entered to win a copy of the book Wild as well as a copy of the movie soundtrack! Thanks #WILDmovie!