Recently I was asked to try out H&R Block’s Block Live tax preparation service. We’ve used an online DIY service for years now, and it’s worked well for us, so honestly I was a little hesitant to switch it up. I’m glad I did – I really liked the H&R Block Live service. It saved Andy and me a lot of time, and they came up with a few deductions we weren’t aware of that saved us some money as well.
With Block Live, you can have your taxes done by a professional. By using video, phone and/or online chat, you don’t even have to leave your house. I was very, very impressed with the technological aspects of Block Live. I just uploaded PDFs of our previous tax forms, W2s, etc., which meant much. less. paper, because I didn’t have to print any of that out. For the things that were mailed to us in hard copy, I used the Block Live app, where I logged on from my phone, took a picture of my documents, and voila, they were there ready for my tax prep person seconds later.
Using Block Live was incredibly easy and didn’t take much time – I’d estimate I spent an hour and a half on our taxes – and it took a lot of the guess work out of the process. We didn’t have to wonder if we were putting the right things in the right places, because a professional was doing it for us. And, like I said, she knew some nuances about deductions that we weren’t aware of and saved us some money. I would definitely use the service again.
Block Live is affordable as well – the packages start at $39 (for the 1040EZ form – remember those days?) and a regular 1040 starts at $129. Of course, you can deduct tax preparation expenses from next year’s return as well.
Want to try it out? We’re giving away $50 discount codes to 5 readers. To enter, leave a comment on this post. For an extra entries, “like” H&R Block and/or Mommin’ It Up on Facebook, and leave additional comment(s) letting us know you did so. Winners will be chosen on Friday, March 9, 2012. Good luck!
Last weekend I was crazy enough to go out of townright before Joshua’s birthday party. What inspired such craziness? Well, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity given to me by Lake Erie Shores & Islands to take a little blogger tour of some of the fun places to stay & play in that part of Ohio.
Because, I am ASHAMED to say, as a born-and-bred Ohio lifer, I knew pretty much NOTHING about our state north of Coluumbus. And that’s just SAD! I wanted to learn more! I mean my husband SAILS SAILBOATS, why have we never been to Ohio’s Great Lake?
PLUS, they totally said I could bring a friend!! Since Emily was unavailable (responsibilities = lame), my BFF Luanne accompanied me. Which was awesome because we had not spent any good quality time together in a long time.
Lake Erie Shores & Islands (the name for their convention & visitors bureau) put us up at the lovely Sawmill Creek Resort. It’s a huge hotel on 235 acres adjacent to a nature preserve AND it has it’s own private strip of Lake Erie beach! Can’t wait to go back there to the beach in the summer!
Sawmill's beach! I want to GO TO THERE as soon as it's HOT!
It also has a gorgeous set of shoppes in an authentic old barn, it’s seriously like a giant department store in a beautiful barn, and they carried some of the coolest fashions, gifts, jewlery, accessories, and toys. I especially liked this apron:
A view of the gorgeous shoppes at Sawmill Creek
We had a wonderful dinner and dessert in the restaurant at the resort, then we hit Sawmill’s in-house bar, the Black Bear Saloon, for a little Mommy Blogger dance-a-thon. Which may or may not be on video. (Fortuntately I am mostly hidden but Pauline is a SUPAHSTAH!)
The next morning we were off bright & early to Kalahari Resort, which OHMAHGAH is FLIPPIN’ HUGE! And I didn’t even know it was there! It’s like what I imagine a Disney resort to be like. GINORMOUS, with indoor activities (including a bazillion restaurants and candy shops and the largest indoor waterpark IN AMERICA) and outdoor, like it’s own ZOO with 350 animals, splash parks, a rope course, and a zipline. Oh, and did I mention they HAVE A SPA!? It’s soooo nice! I know this firsthand because we got treated to treaments. Here’s how I was feeling after my massage:
soooooooohappppyyyy
Here are some pics of Kalahari. The water park was indescribably huge and breathtaking. I am DYING to take my big kids there, they will be in heaven. I can really see just plopping our stuff down and staying there for hours, even with Jonah. The baby area was AMAZING.
The rest of the day was a blur of FUN and activity. We made chocolate bars at Tre Sorelle Ciococolato, where we all RAWKED the hair net. It was really fun AND yummy! They do birthday parties and kid’s chocolate-making classes, if you live up there you should TOTES get in on that.
Jealous?My candy before I trimmed it. AND DEVOURED IT.
Next, we were off to Firelands Winery for wine tasting and lunch. I brought Emily home a big ol’ bottle of bubbly which I shall have to let her review sometime. But I thought it was super cool that all the grapes for Firelands Wine is grown on one of Lake Erie’s Islands – North Bass Island!
Next, we went to the Wendy Kromer Bakery, (she’s only contributing editor for Martha Stewart Weddings – NO BIG DEAL!) where I ate the best thing I have ever eaten in my life . Not exaggerating, not joking, across all food groups, all food types, EVERYTHING, this is THE BEST THING I have ever eaten:
Then we headed to the Merry Go Round Museum, where we got to take lots of cool pictures of tons of vintage carousel animals and of course, go for a Merry Go Round ride! It was very fast & fun!
Finally, we finished out our day at the Ghostly Manor Thrill Center, where we literally got just about scared to death in their haunted house (dudes, they are NOT KIDDING with that thing). But, we also had some fun! They have 3-D mini-golf and other fun indoor rides and games, plus a skating rink, snack bar, etc. – it’s another great birthday party destination. And the married couple who run it and their baby are so freaking ADORABLE. It’s a great little family business!
3-D glasses and a Mountain Dew from the fountain. I can be BOUGHT.
I really can’t tell you how much fun Luanne and I had on this tour. Hanging out with other bloggers Jen of Big Binder (who has lots of amazing pics on her post), Pauline of Classy Chaos, and Valerie of Social Moms Around Columbus was also a huge part of the fun. I really, honestly, TRULY can’t wait to take my family back to the area this summer so we can explore the beach and Lake Erie’s Islands and maybe Bobby can get in a sail or two!
To check out all that Lake Erie Shores & Islands has to offer, click here.
Thanks to LESI for providing my lodgings and meals! And for letting me bring a friend! It was a great trip! And of course all opinions about it are my very own precious opinions.
After nearly FIVE YEARS of blogging, Emily and I have finally decided to start a carnival! You’re welcome. This is it, baby! We’ve got a great carnival you are going to love – one where each Wednesday we link up with posts about our favorite Pinterest find that we ACTUALLY TRIED – and that came out GREAT! Whether you copied the pin exactly or put your own twist on it, we want to hear about it!
And we’re not too proud to beg, so please please please please PRETTY PLEASE pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease join us each Wednesday to showcase your pins that were a win. It’s…Pin For The Wednesdays! (FTW, yo!)
There are just a couple of rules:
1) In your post, please link to your original source – the pin you got the idea from.
2) Make sure and link back to our original Pin For the Wednesdays Post here at Mommin’ It Up!
3) In the Mr. Linky below, leave a direct link to your Pin FTWednesdays post, not to your main website.
4) Totally optional – grab our cute #PinFTW button! The code box is over there in our sidebar —————————>
I’m going to get things started off this week by showing you what happened when I made those Pokemon cupcakes I found in this pin (see how I just linked to my original source!):
I loved the idea, but I H-A-T-E coloring frosting with food coloring. I always stain my fingers and about half my kitchen counter and in this case with the red food coloring the mess often resembles something gory, so I decided to take the photo as my inspiration but make this idea into reality a different way. Here’s how mine turned out:
And here’s how I did it!
Joshua loved these cupcakes and so did his friends. And they were very easy to decorate. Even at midnight (I was up at midnight as predicted!)
Ok, who’s ready to show us their winning pins??? Join in the fun! If you’ve got a post showcasing a great pin that WORKED, link up, even if your post isn’t from today! Pleasepleaseplease help us get Pin For The Wednesdays off to a great start, and don’t forget to come back EVERY Wednesday to link up! If you don’t have a post today, please leave me a comment telling me how brilliant my cupcakes turned out, in order to further boost my always-fragile self-esteem, k?
*update* Emily and I have decided to BRIBE you to participate this week! If you link up by Friday, March 2 at 11:59 pm, you will be entered to win a $25 Lands’ End gift card from Emily & me! So get LINKING!! 🙂
(I’m also linking this up to Pin Me! at CraftyMamaof4 so I can share my Pokemon cupcake success!)
