The Top 6 Traveling Frugal Foodie Mama Posts of 2016

From travel tips to historical destinations to amazing family dining, here are the Top 6 Traveling Frugal Foodie Mama Posts of 2016 as clicked on & shared by you...

When I decided to publish my first ever travel post on Frugal Foodie Mama in 2013, I really didn't set out with the intention of merging my predominantly food & recipe blog with a family friendly travel blog. My family and I had stayed at a bed & breakfast in Virginia for a little weekend getaway, and I was impressed with how the innkeepers had went above and beyond to accommodate us. I wanted to show my appreciation and gratitude, so I thought why not write up a little review of our stay on my blog and share it with my social media followers as a way to thank them for their generous hospitality? I had no idea how my loyal readers would react to a travel piece, but I figured it was just one post so why not?

Luckily for me, my first ever travel review was well received by you all. But I wasn't entirely convinced that I should delve head first into travel writing, so it took me over a year to write and publish my second ever travel post. When that post was also pretty well received, it dawned on me that I might be onto to something here and Traveling Frugal Foodie Mama (or #TravelingFFM, as it is known on social media) was born! :)

Since that time, I have published a total of 39 travel posts to the blog- 16 of those being from 2016 alone. Yep, I really upped my travel game in the past year, folks. While I am not sharing all 16 travel posts from last year with you all here today, I am sharing my top 6 travel posts from 2016. Hopefully, you all will find a little family travel inspiration for 2017 below... 

5 Tips for Curbing Road Trip Motion Sickness

Kick nausea to the curb on that next road trip with these 5 Tips for Curbing Road Trip Motion Sickness...

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I think that it goes without saying that I love to travel. Whether taking road trips with my family or flying solo across the country for a foodie adventure, I love the thrill of exploring a new place. :) But what many people probably don't know about me is that I have suffered from some serious motion sickness ever since I was a kid. 

In fact, I still vividly remember the summer that my grandparents embarked with my sister and I on a mission to visit a different area of West Virginia each week while we were off from school. Though I love the fun memories we made that summer, I mostly still remember those day trips because of how many times I had to ask my grandpa to pull the van over because I felt absolutely nauseous. 

You see, we do not have very many straight roads on the back hills of West Virginia. In fact, there are a lot of hairpin turns on our roads through the hills and mountains. We have another name for those types of turns, but I will spare you that term since I like to keep things PG-ish around here. ;)

Motion sickness has followed me into my adult travels as well. Mountain highways still make my stomach turn. Rough waters while in a small boat leave me darting for the side railing. And I once even had to grab that little white bag as the plane was landing on the runway in Denver. Talk about a walk of shame as I exited that plane!

Over the years, I have learned some methods and tips for helping to curb that motion sickness making for much more pleasant travels for all involved. The tips below are more specific to road trips, but you could employ almost all of these in any instance where you are experiencing nausea due to motion sickness...

The Best Resources for Planning a Summer Family Vacation

From deciding where to go, how to get there, & how to get the most bang for your buck, here are The Best Resources for Planning a Summer Family Vacation...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Scholastic. The opinions and text are all mine.

Another school year is quickly coming to a close, and soon the kiddos will be home for summer school break. Time for long summer days at the pool, s'mores around the fire pit, weekend road trips, and the annual summer family vacation. 

Okay, so maybe you hadn't really thought about that last bit quite yet. But there is no need to panic, folks. I gathered up some of the best resources for planning a summer family vacation to share with you all today. So whether you need a little help deciding where to go or maybe you just need some tips for the actual traveling part, I got covered in today's post!

Deciding Where to Go.

If you haven't already pinpointed just where you and the family will be packing up and heading off to this summer, then this is where you need to start. 

Now you can either close your eyes and throw a dart at a map (hey, I am not necessarily ruling that one out ;) ), or you can start by asking yourself a few key questions-

5 Simple Tips for Sticking to a Travel Dining Budget

Staying on a dining budget while traveling is easy with my 5 Simple Tips for Sticking to a Travel Dining Budget...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Visa Clear Prepaid program and 

the Green Dot® Reloadable Prepaid Visa® Card.

If you happen to travel at all- whether it be once a year for a family vacation or you take multiple road trips throughout the year- you probably already know that dining out while traveling can really eat up (pun intended ;) ) most of your travel budget pretty quickly. 

Being a foodie and food blogger, experiencing the local food scene in a new city ranks right up there in my top priorities when traveling. And because of that, the dining out expenses can really start adding up. Mainly because I want to try it all. 

Since my family and I love traveling, we have had to find ways to keep our dining budget in check because going over it one too many times means less trips throughout the year as our annual travel budget is depleted. Savvy savings and sticking to a budget with our travel dining = more trips as a family for the year! :)

So what are my best tips for staying on a travel dining budget? I am sharing my top five with you all below...

The Best Money Saving Tips for Ski & Snow Family Vacations

Plan a budget friendly wintertime family getaway this year with these Best Money Saving Tips for Ski & Snow Family Vacations...

This post was created in partnership with Family Travel Forum. 

While I was compensated for this post, all opinions expressed below are 100% my own.

Winter and snow (aka, ski season) is upon us, and it is time to start planning those wintertime family getaways. Whether you are planning to stay close to home, heading to the snowy slopes of Colorado, or heading northeast to ski the mountains of Vermont & New Hampshire, it is no secret that ski & snow vacations for the family can get a little pricey. But there are ways to save money and cut the costs without also having to cut back on the experiences and the frosty family fun.

I have partnered up with my friends at Family Travel Forum today to bring you all the very best tips for saving money on ski passes, lift tickets, equipment rentals, lodging, and so much more this coming ski season. A fabulous wintertime family vacation doesn't have to break the bank, folks. :)

10 Essentials for Your Carry-On Bag

Never leave home or board a plane again without these 10 Essentials for Your Carry-On Bag...

This “Flavor Your Adventure” post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. 

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website.

When I first started blogging around 4 years ago, I never dreamed it would end up being a career for me. And I couldn't have possibly fathomed at the time that my blogging would one day open so many travel opportunity doors for me. In fact, I have flown more times in the past 7 months than I probably have in the last 5 years combined! 

From a fabulous opportunity to visit the Southern Living test kitchens in Birmingham to an amazing foodie adventure in Portland to my most recent trip to take part in the Food & Wine Conference in Orlando, I have experienced my share of great flights, bumpy flights, delayed flights (don't get me started on that one), and lost luggage this past year. I have also learned what I need, want, and don't necessarily need in my carry-on bag.

When you are limited to just two carry-on's and your purse is included in that number, you start getting very particular about what you put in those two bags. And you have to keep in mind that you will have at least limited access to one of those two bags as it will be stowed in an overhead compartment for the duration of the flight. So what are my 10 must-have, don't fly without them essentials for my carry-on bag? Check them out below... :)

5 Easy Tips For Making the Road Trip Part of the Destination

Who says the road trip itself just has to be a means to an end? Not these 5 Easy Tips For Making the Road Trip Part of the Destination...

Photo Source & License

Summer is almost here, and with it's impending arrival I start to get the itch to get out there and travel. Soon my son will be out from school for the summer, and our usually packed schedule will be wide open. :) I am ready to pack up the car, grab the family, and head off on a road trip... to Virginia wine country, or to Harper's Ferry to hike and visit the historical sites, or to head down south for a sunny and sandy beach getaway. But why should the road trip itself just be a means to an end? Who says that you can't make the road trip become part of the destination? 

Resist the urge to just jet it to get where you are going on your next road trip and instead try making the journey there part of the overall getaway. Just like the old adage says- Not all those who wander are lost. ;)

But how can you accomplish this? It's easy! Just follow and put into action my 5 fun tips for making your next road trip part of your destination...

5 Ways to Save Money on Day Trips

Get out and about and explore without breaking your travel budget with these 5 Ways to Save Money on Day Trips...

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Brita, but all my opinions are my own.

Though we tend to travel and take little road trips all year round, summer seems to be when we really get out there and hit the road for a little family vacation time. My oldest is out from school for a couple of months, and we are pretty much free to pick and go when an opportunity or urge arises. 

But one thing that I have learned about summer travel is that the expenses of taking a trip- even what seems like a little weekend getaway- can add up fast. I can snag a great deal on a hotel or B&B. We can find the best price on gas and fuel up before heading out. But what I was finding is that those little day trips we took to get out and about and explore once we arrived at our destination were just eating up our travel budget. 

Walk around a little town or explore an area of a city, and you will find that there all kinds of ways to spend money around every corner. I soon discovered that those little day trips were eating up our travel budget for that trip quick, so I implemented a few changes over the past year or so. These changes have saved us hundreds of dollars. And money saved means more stays in our travel fund for the year which equals more trips and family time! :) 

So, what haveI done to save my family money as we explore and discover the areas that we love traveling to? I gathered up my five top tips for you all below...

Pittsburgh is For Families- A Travel Guide

A big thank you to Visit Pittsburgh for arranging our travel accommodations and for helping us plan out a truly memorable family weekend getaway...

Living less than 2 hours away and with my husband being a die hard Pirates fan, we have visited the beautiful city of Pittsburgh on several occasions in the past 3 years.  The city itself is nestled among the convergence of 3 different mighty rivers- the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the Ohio- making for breathtaking views of Pittsburgh no matter where you may be standing. Of course, for the best views of the city, you must take a ride on one of the two still operational inclines and visit Mount Washington (but more on that later ;) ).

Despite our many trips to Pittsburgh to root on the Buccos, there are still many places and areas of the city that we have not explored as a family yet.  With a little help from Visit Pittsburgh, we were able to cross off a few of the things still left on our Steel City travel bucket list.

The Best of Frugal Foodie Mama- Top 10 Posts of 2015

Here are my Top 10 Posts of 2015 as clicked on, pinned, shared, and decided by you all- my readers...

Happy 2016, friends! :) Another year has come and passed here at Frugal Foodie Mama, and I have to say that 2015 was a pretty incredible year for this little space of mine. I had the pleasure of being invited to my first ever blogger press trip by the friendly and generous folks at Southern Living & Delta Faucet. Not only did I get to check off Birmingham from my travel bucket list, but I also got to tour Southern Living's headquarters & test kitchens and meet the incredibly talented people behind those southern recipes we look forward to each month. From there, 2015 just kept getting better for this little food blog of mine. I attended the Indulge Conference in Portland in May, and then traveled to Orlando for the Food & Wine Conference as a brand ambassador for Wisconsin Cheese. In August, my family and I were invited on our first travel media trip to a part of the Kidsburgh press tour hosted by the folks at Visit Pittsburgh. And I rounded out the year with a blogger press trip to Cleveland to take part in the Ohio Dairy Adventure. :)

I was afforded some incredible opportunities to work with some brands and companies that I had only dreamed of collaborating with before. And in return, I was able to provide you all with even more delicious and budget friendly recipes, money saving tips, and family friendly travel ideas in 2015. And speaking of family travel, I met my goal of really growing and expanding that section of Frugal Foodie Mama in 2015 ! :) If you haven't visited my Family Travel page recently, you should pop over and take a peek. I added lots of travel recaps and tips to that section over the past year. 

I am so thankful for how much this blog has grown in the past 365 days, but as always none of this would be possible without all of you all. My readers who come back day after day to read my posts, share them, and support Frugal Foodie Mama. I can never say it enough, but THANK YOU. :) You all are the reason why this blog of mine has done so well. 

And now for the real reason you all are here- the top posts of 2015! Not surprisingly, recipes dominated what you all loved the most from the past year. But we did have one non-recipe rank pretty darn high in the countdown this year. 

Let the countdown from #10 to #1 begin NOW...

5 Reasons to Travel with Your Preschooler Now

Come find out why there is no time like the present to get traveling with your little ones with these 5 Reasons to Travel with Your Preschooler Now...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Disney. The opinions and text are all mine.

I speak from experience when I say that traveling with younger ones can be challenging and downright exhausting at times- we started traveling with Little Miss when she was about 5 months old. :) But even with all it's challenges (disrupted routines, missed naps, car sickness, etc), we have always believed that traveling with our kiddos from a young age was definitely doing them much more good than harm. 

You can only show and teach so much to your children from books or a television show. Sometimes you just have to take them to the source, let them get their hands in it all (yep, and sometimes that means getting a little dirty ;) ), and experience the world around them hands-on and in-person. 

While I am not really going to touch on solutions for the challenges and obstacles that traveling with a preschooler (and younger) can present, I am going to chat with you all about why you should shove those fears and concerns aside, pack up the car, and hit the road or head to the airport with your little ones. 

I will just let Scholastic.com and their Ultimate Preschool Travel Guide handle all of those other tips and advice on traveling with your younger kiddos for you. You can click on over to those once I have convinced you all that there is no time like the present to get traveling with your little ones with my 5 Reasons to Travel with Your Preschooler Now... 

Get Your Bathroom Thanksgiving Guest Ready in Just 10 Minutes!

Get your bathroom guest ready in just 10 minutes with my simple cleaning tips...

This content was created in partnership with Kroger Family Stores using free products provided by Kroger.

This post first appeared on the Kroger Inspired Gathering site.

Every Thanksgiving for the past few years, I have been hosting my family's Thanksgiving dinner. Fall-time and cooking & baking happen to be a few of my favorite things, so hosting this family dinner each November is something I always start to look forward to as soon as the days start to become cooler and the leaves start to change and fall. Typically, I enlist the family in a big group house cleaning the day before Thanksgiving. We vacuum, dust, sweep & mop, and get the house sparkling and ready to host dinner guests. But the one room that never seems to stay clean- even a day later- is the bathroom. It is the one room in the house that gets used often and by everyone in the house. And then factor in that everyone uses that room to get showered and ready before dinner, and the bathroom ends up looking like it wasn't cleaned or straightened up at all the day before.

Since I am usually very busy in the kitchen most of Thanksgiving morning, I have come up with a super quick and easy last minute cleaning routine that will have your bathroom guest ready in just 10 minutes. It is so simple to do that you could certainly delegate it off to one of the older kiddos or the husband. ;) This is also a great little cleaning routine to have on hand when unexpected guests stop by...

3 Must-Dos with Kids While in Puerto Rico

From visiting a tropical rain forest to playing on the white beaches of a private island, these are my 3 Must-Dos with Kids While in Puerto Rico...

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website.

Almost four years ago, my husband and I traveled to Puerto Rico for the first time together for our honeymoon.  We spent about a week in this Caribbean paradise lounging at the resort, exploring Old San Juan, taking in the beauty of the El Yunque, and enjoying a little private island relaxation. Since our couples only trip there, I have been daydreaming about traveling back to Puerto Rico with the kids. 

There is so much from the island that I want to share with them, for them to see and experience firsthand. Puerto Rico may be an island, but it definitely packs everything that a traveler dreams of within it's 3,515 square miles! :) From amazing food to white sand beaches to a 16th century citadel to even a lush rain forest- the travel experiences & possibilities in Puerto Rico are almost endless. 

I thought long and hard, and I came up with my top 3 must-do's whenever we do finally make the trip back to Puerto Rico with the kiddos in tow. Now this list of my top 3 is strictly based on what my husband and I were able to see, do, and experience on our first trip to the island.  I know the island has SO much more to offer though, and I look forward to exploring a few new sites with my family when we do return. But I can personally speak for and vouch for these 3 Puerto Rican must-dos... 

The 20 Best Audiobooks for a Family Road Trip

Keep every member of the family happy & content in the car this summer with these 20 Best Audiobooks for a Family Road Trip...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Audible. The opinions and text are all mine.

Summer road trips with a preschooler and a teenager can get interesting at times. While my youngest would be happy spending an hour or two playing "I Spy", my oldest would be most content with his headphones on doing his own thing. I always try to leave the house well prepared for long road trips to avoid any major meltdowns, but the inevitable always happens- the dreaded "I'm bored".  And let's face it- sometimes even the adults get a little bored on the longer road trips. That is why I am glad for our Audible account, the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment! :)

We can connect up to four devices at a time to our Audible account which means every member of the family can enjoy their audiobook of choice from their laptop or MP3 player. And even better yet, you can connect up to 11 mobile devices using the Audible mobile app. The oldest can listen to his favorite audiobook from his laptop, the youngest from her tablet, and my husband & I can listen to our summer reading picks from our cell phones. 

So which Audible audiobooks are on my family's reading list for family road trips this summer? See below for mom's top picks, the preschooler's must-reads, dad's top recommendations, and the teenager's can't miss audiobooks for this summer...

Presidents' Quarters Inn- A Reflection of the Charm of Savannah

The Presidents' Quarters Inn is a charming, family friendly bed & breakfast located in the heart of Savannah, Georgia's historic district... 

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website.

I would like to thank our gracious hosts at Presidents' Quarters Inn in Savannah, Georgia for our lovely stay. Other than providing our accommodations, I was not compensated for this review post in any other way. The opinions expressed below are 100% my own.

Almost 10 years ago I feel in love with the charm and architecture of Savannah, Georgia.  I visited the city once more after that, but knew it would not be my last visit.  

When my husband & I married over 3 years ago and then had our daughter a year later, I knew we would have to travel to this lovely city as a family.

We enjoy traveling to places that not only provide vacation fun, but that also tell a story.

And boy does Savannah have stories to tell! ;)

But there will be more about that in tomorrow's post...

Establishing a Preschool Bedtime Routine in 3 Easy Steps

Make sure your little one gets plenty of rest for a full day of fun & learning with these 3 Easy Steps for Establishing a Preschool Bedtime Routine...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of ORAJEL. The opinions and text are all mine.

I will be honest with you all- when it comes to my 4 1/2 daughter, I have been pretty lax with her bedtime routine. We have let her follow her natural sleep patterns, falling asleep & waking up when she needed to. When my son was younger, I had an established, well oiled bedtime routine that went off most nights without a hitch. If someone would ask me why such the huge difference between how I have handled bedtime between my two kiddos, I would say it is being a work-at-home mother now versus being a full-time working single mom then. Staying at home and working from home has given me the luxury of not having to establish a strict bedtime routine with my youngest... up until recently. ;)

My daughter has officially started her first year of Pre-K at a public school. That means she has to be up at a certain time so she can be on time for school, which in turn means she needs to get to asleep at a certain time each night to ensure she gets up early and gets plenty of rest for a full day of fun & learning. The easiest way to make sure this happens each and every school night is to establish an easy and simple bedtime routine...

The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Pinterest Following

I am often asked how I grew my Pinterest following to over 10,000 followers.  Other bloggers want to know my secrets, my magic formula for reaching 5 digits.

At first, I have to look behind me to make sure they are actually asking me.  ;)  While I am thrilled with my Pinterest following, I know there are MUCH bigger Pinners out there with tons more Pinterest followers than I could ever fathom having.  

Of course, if you would have have walked up to me the very first week of January of this year when I had 900 and some Pinterest followers and told me that I would have amassed over 10,000 by August, I would have laughed at you!

At that point in my growth, I just wanted to reach 1,000.  That seemed like such a daunting goal at the time, but one I was willing to strive for.

So, what is my secret?  What one thing did I do that caused me to gain 10 times as many Pinterest followers in just 8 months?

The answer is... I don't know.  

Yep, I have no clue.  There is not any one single thing that I can point to and say that was it! 

What I can tell you is that I KNOW it was a number of factors working together that made my Pinterest growth possible.  I did put some work and time into it, and it all paid off.  

This post isn't about getting a quick spike in Pinterest followers.  It took me EIGHT months to get from less than 1,000 followers to almost 11,000.  

I will also be sharing a few tips from some of my favorite bloggers and Power Pinners- ladies who all reached over 10,000 followers WAY before I did.  And two who have over 20,000 Pinterest followers today.  Because I know I am in no way the ultimate Pinterest expert and even I still have room to learn more.

So who is ready to learn how to grow their Pinterest following? :)

About Your Pinterest account...

• I think most bloggers have done this already, but switch to a business account.  If I did have to give credit to just one thing for kickstarting my Pinterest growth, it would be to making that switch.  I had been stagnated at just a little over 900 Pinterest followers for two months when I made the switch.  In less than 2 weeks after converting to a business account, I was at over 1,000.  I have chatted with many other bloggers who have made the switch, but didn't see a considerable growth in followers after.  That is why I believe it must be the converting to a business account with a combination of other practices that made my own growth possible. ;)
• I always stress this and I will again- have consistency throughout all your social media accounts related to your blog!  Use the same photo & the same name (when possible) that you use on your other blog social media accounts, and always include a link to your blog's site when setting up your Pinterest business account.  Pinterest will verify your website therefore making it much more searchable in their databases.  

About Your Pinterest Boards...

• Potential new followers will judge your Pinterest account by it's cover, so make sure those first 3-4 rows of boards on your home page are attractive and accurately reflect you and your blog.  For instance if you are mainly a food blogger, you probably don't want to include a board of books you would like to read in your first row.  And if you are a craft blogger, you might not want have your fitness board with new workouts you want to try out near the top.  I am not saying you cannot have those kinds of boards.  I have ALL kinds of boards- one for the dog, scrapbooking ideas, travel tips, etc.  But you would have to hit the scroll button more than once to find them. ;)  My top 3 rows are almost 100% all food related because I am predominantly a food blogger.  I have also just recently created a Pinterest board that is dedicated JUST to Frugal Foodie Mama Recipes and that board is first and foremost on my Boards page. ;) I learned that little trick from my friend Julie who blogs over at White Lights on Wednesday when she shared her July 2013 Blogging Income post.

• Give your Pinterest boards fun names!  A board just titled "Chicken" or "Painting Projects" is not very exciting or enticing.   I try to make all my boards sound like fun, a board you must follow.  Like my group board for cocktails is called Any Hour Can Be Happy Hour.  My board just for pinning bundt cakes I love (I might have a mild obsession with bundt cakes. ;) ) is called Bundt I Love Cake.
• "If there is a holiday coming, put that board in the first position. I've also made the covers of all my boards my photos (where applicable)."- Dorothy, blogger at Crazy for Crust and a Power Pinner with over 24,000 Pinterest followers!
• And speaking about board covers, pick attractive and appealing photos for your covers!  Again, you are trying to catch the eye of a potential new follower.  Pinterest is ALL about the visual.

About Your Pinning...

• Keep what you pin authentic and true to you. If you are a vegan food blogger, it might be a little weird to your followers if you start pinning pork recipes.  Be selective about what you pin- Pin great, relevant content and the followers will come.
• I am a firm believer in pinning smarter and not necessarily harder.  Aim to do a majority of your pinning at peak times.  When are the peak times?  When people have the most down time to play on Pinterest- think that afternoon lull at the office usually between 2:30 and 4:30pm, later at night after the kiddos have went to bed around 9:30-10:00pm, and weekends are always peak.  You want to put your pinning and yourself out there in front of as many new potential followers as you can.
• "I believe that the most important thing that makes us a good member of the Pinterest community is to always ensure that we are pinning from the original source. If we are repinning, we should take the extra minute to first click on the link to be certain that it is a viable link to the correct source and not spam. Pinterest is an amazing place to share, be inspired, discover new blogs, products, recipes, ideas - nothing is more disappointing than to click on a link and it takes us somewhere we don't want to go."- Cindy, blogger at Little Miss Celebration and Power Pinner with over 29,000 Pinterest followers!
• "...I think the best tip for growing Pinterest is being active. I notice if we pin daily that our numbers grow. We do pin a lot of our own content, but we also try to balance that with other quality content."- Kimberly, blogger at A Night Owl Blog and a Power Pinner with over 14,000 Pinterest followers!
• Pin your own posts (Duh!), but also be sure to be pinning from other blogs and sites.  No one wants to follow the Pinner who is obviously only there for self-promotion.  "I pin a lot of my own stuff every day (about 20 pins). But I also pin from other blogs throughout the day. Spread the love."- Dorothy from Crazy for Crust

About Pinterest Interaction...

• I suggest checking for pins that have been sourced from your site or blog at least a few times a week.  The easiest way I have found to do that is by either typing in www.pinterest.com/source/your blog/site's web address here (for example, thefrugalfoodiemama.com) or you can click on your Analytics (only if you have a business account) and then click on your Most Recent pins from your site.  Scroll through and check for any comments or questions that may have been posted to those and then interact if you see any!  That lets others who see that pin know that you care about the people pinning your posts and want to engage with them, and will probably lead to a few new followers.  
• Also check your traffic sources once or twice a week. If you have a heavy amount of traffic coming from a particular pin link, visit it and thank the pinner and even start following that pinner. :)  Then anyone else who re-pins that same pin will see your comment and are more likely to click on over and give you a follow as well.

As you can see, a majority of my top referring URLs are from Pinterest pins. 

• Let's talk about group boards.  They can be AMAZING for gaining tons of traffic your way. I can say that ALL three of the other Power Pinners in this post all made one comment or another about the power of joining and contributing to group boards.  Kimberly from A Night Owl Blog said, "I think group boards also play a huge roll. By collaborating and contributing to group Pinterest boards, we have definitely seen a spike in activity and an increase in followers. Pinning your best content to boards in your niche is a great way to attract followers with similar interests."  Cindy from Little Miss Celebration had this to add about group boards, "Accept invitations to group boards that interest you and contribute in a way that makes others happy you are part of the group! Respect the guidelines established by the board owner and enhance the experience for the whole group with your pins."   **And one more note on group boards- if you belong to multiple group boards, please don't pin the same post to 10 different group boards in less than 5 minutes.  It can turn off potential new followers big time.  Spread them out.  Pin to 1-2 group boards per day and at different times.  There is no need (or benefit) to doing the massive blast of pinning of just 1 or 2 posts in a short period of time.

And one final tip for you all who are really wanting to expand your Pinterest follower base a little more quickly- Buy in to one of the big group giveaways every now and again and use your Pinterest as one of your entry links.  While giveaway follows haven't accounted for a majority of my Pinterest following I would credit them with at least 2000-3000 of my followers.  Most of the bigger group giveaways can cost anywhere from $10-$30+ to buy into, so you will have to assess for yourself what price to pay is worth it to you for more followers. 

Which of these tips did you find most hopeful or made you say, Ah-ha!?
What else would you like to know more about as far Pinterest goes?

Be sure to give each of the Power Pinners in this post a Pinterest follow!

(I made it super easy- just simply click on each of our names below and you will be whisked away to each of our Pinterest pages. ;) )

           Carrie                           Cindy                              Kimberly                      Dorothy

And while you are here, don't forget to get entered in my Pinterest Dreams to Reality $400 Paypal Cash Giveaway in celebration of Frugal Foodie Mama reaching over 10,000 Pinterest followers! :) 

7 Reasons You Need to Visit Puerto Vallarta in 2015

In partnership with Puerto Vallarta Tourism, I am sharing with you all the top 7 Reasons You Need to Visit Puerto Vallarta in 2015...

Traveling to Mexico has been on my travel bucket list for some time now. While Cancun seems to be one of the more popular tourist destinations there, I have had my eye on visiting Puerto Vallarta. And while its beaches with their deep blue waters is what first caught my eye and piqued my interest in this breathtaking resort town on Mexico's Pacific coast, there is so much more to Puerto Vallarta than what meets the eye. And this is especially true if you happen to be planning a trip there during the fall or for the holidays.

From the end of October right on through to the New Year, Puerto Vallarta hosts a myriad of festivals and exciting competitions that offer visitors to the area a true taste of the flavors, sights & sounds, history, and rich traditions of Mexico. Need a reason to plan a visit to Puerto Vallarta before the end of 2015? I have 7 of them for you below... ;)

9 Tips for Making the First Night in Your New Home Easier

Moving soon?  Okay, good. Because this post will GREATLY benefit you.  And even if you are not moving very soon, but know you will be somewhere down the line then you need to bookmark or pin this post for future reference.  You will thank me later, folks.  ;)

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For all the times that I have moved in my life (most recently being 3 times in the past 13 months), you would think I would be an absolute moving genius by now.  Maybe even qualified enough to write an entire blog with only moving tips, packing lists, and such.  

But sadly, no.
On our first night in our new home a few short weeks ago, I realized I had committed some classic "rookie" mistakes.  
In fact, I had only done one task that made our first evening in our new home easier
Just one.

As we were settling in for the evening, I found myself frantically searching boxes for what seemed like very much needed necessities.  I had to ask myself WHY I didn't put forth just a little more effort and made that first night easier on us all.  

I mean, let's be honest.  That first night can be tough on the whole family as it is- a new room, new noises, new bathroom to sleepily stumble to in the middle of night.  And you all with pets know how that adds a whole other dimension to the first night in a new home.  So how about making all the rest of it as easy on yourself as possible?
Here are my tips for your first night still fresh in my mind from my move just a month ago...

Keep a box separate just for that evening's dinner, label it clearly- put everything you need in it for dinner later.  I decided to make pancakes for dinner that night, so my electric griddle, the pancake mix, syrup, plates, spatula, whisk, a bowl for mixing- all of that was in it.  I didn't have to search for anything, and we happily had our first meal in our new home hassle free.  Now you could always just skip this part altogether and order pizza or pick up take-out.  The cost of moving had pretty much wiped out our checking account for the week, so that wasn't an option for us that evening.

A Bathroom Right Now box- keep a separate box with the immediate bathroom essentials- toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, a few towels, shower curtain & rings, your makeup bag.  Take me super serious about those shower rings.  Everyone in this house had to take baths that first night because the shower rings could not be located to hang the shower curtain until the next afternoon. ;)

Keep a laundry basket or large box with all the linens for the beds for that first night.  Everyone is exhausted from carrying furniture and boxes all day.  Wouldn't it be nice to hop into made up beds at the end of the day?  I actually made it a point to wash all the sheets, pillowcases, and comforters right before we moved so everyone was starting in the new house with freshly laundered linens.

Create a special travel bag or makeup bag for any necessary medicines.  There is nothing worse than looking through box after box labeled "Bathroom" trying to find your Tylenol, or a prescription you are supposed to take every night. Either keep this special bag for medicines in your purse, a diaper bag, or perhaps in the duffel bag mentioned below. 

Put PJ's for that night and clothes for the next day for everyone in a small suitcase or duffel bag.  Do this exactly like you would if you were going out of town for the night and were packing to be away for a day or two.  I also suggest keeping a separate bag for baby- diapers, wipes, extra clothes, a blanket.  Most of us already have all of these things in our regular diaper bags, so you should just be able to grab that and be all ready for baby.

Cell phone chargers!!!  And any other chargers you may need.  But we all know cell phone chargers are the most important.  Now, I did have one of our cell phone chargers set out in our bedroom with every intention of dropping it in my purse when I came back to the room.  But I got caught up washing those bed linens I mentioned previously, and when I came back to the bedroom the husband had already packed up the entire room... including the cell phone charger.  I believe we spent about 2 hours that evening looking through every box labeled "Bedroom" to find that.  Don't be that couple. ;)

Last but certainly not least, if you happen to be a coffee fiend (like me), make sure you know where your coffee maker is first thing in the morning.  Make a box just for the coffee maker, filters, coffee, mug, sugar, and have it clearly labeled.  It will make your first morning in your new home SO much more pleasant.  Take my word on this.  My coffee maker happened to still be in a box somewhere in the moving truck the next day.  By the time my husband finally found the box with the coffee maker in it, it was almost noon.  Yeah, I wasn't a happy camper. 

And that brings me to my very last point in this post.  Keep all of this- all of that listed above- TOGETHER.  Either put it all in one car.  Or even place all of it last thing in the back of the moving truck so you can just grab it as soon as you open up the truck.  

Have you moved recently?  What had you wished you had known or had had for that first night in your new home?