Tips to Give Back and Get Back While in College

Hey Treasures, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are now ready for Christmas.

Mr. Aguila goes back to school tomorrow after a couple weeks off. I give you college students lots of props and I pray you all excel in your studies. I see that it isn't easy especially for those who work full time plus go to school.

On top of that the cost of education is pretty steep these days and it varies depending on what type of school you choose. So in case you don't already, one way you can save is by renting your textbooks instead of buying them. 

I have a few tips on how you give back plus get back in the book rental process.

First for the giving back part, Last year I shared about Operation Smile and you can read my post Making A Difference where I shared about this great organization that offers free surgeries to children and young adults born with facial deformities.

CampusBookRentals (www.campusbookrentals.com) and RentBack (www.RentBack.com) donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented with their "Making a Difference program.

Some perks for renting your college textbooks from CampusBookRentals instead of buying are:
-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
-free shipping both ways
-you can highlight in the textbooks
-flexible renting periods
-they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

Here is a video on how it works...




Secondly you can get some cash back.  If you are like me and love to shop online then you may have already heard of Mr. Rebates.  You can sign up and get cash back for  shopping online. There are many retailers to choose from and CampusBookRentals.com is one of them.

Here is a diagram of how it works from the MrRebates website. So you can search Campus Book Rentals and this will come up. You get 4% Cash Back Rebate. Campus Book Rentals   4% Rebate CampusBookRentals.com rents textbooks to college students across the nation saving them hundreds of dollars every semester. With the largest selection in the nation, flexible rental periods and free shipping both ways, it makes sense to shop here!

I hope this information will help you to save some money while you pursue your dreams.

This post was sponsored by CampusBookRentals.com.  All opinions are my own.

  

God is Greater

Hey Treasures, how is it going??  I hope and pray that you are having a great week.

Have you ever had those days when you just feel tired or when you are battling shame, guilt, condemnation?  Days when you are just wounded, the pain in your heart is not letting up?  When sorrow suffocates you and you just feel like you can not take another breathe?

I have had these days sometimes all that and some all in a day. In our lives here in this world, we will go through things, we will experience things. Many times we allow our emotions to get the best of us. We allow the enemy to whisper lies right into our ear when he should be no wear near our ears but rather under our feet.  He has been defeated.

We can overcome doubts, fears, hurts, condemnation, lies and sin. We are no longer bound to any of this " `cause the cross already won the war" (from the song Greater by MercyMe)

Romans 6:6-7 The Voice (VOICE)
⁶ We know this: whatever we used to be with our old sinful ways has been nailed to His cross. So our entire record of sin has been canceled, and we no longer have to bow down to sin’s power. ⁷ A dead man, you see, cannot be bound by sin.

Source

This is why it is so important for us to read our Bibles, and read them again and then read them once again! The bible is clear and it is not a book of rules for us to follow. It is God's very own love letter to you and to me. It is the greatest love story there is and you know what Mr. Aguila and I have a pretty amazing love story BUT God's love for us is far GREATER. 

A few months ago, I started listening to AIR 1, a Christian music station. The stations mission statement is pretty cool, "To Create Compelling Media that Inspires and Encourages You to Have a Meaningful Relationship With Christ." (Read this on their About section on the website).  The website is pretty cool as well. You can look up the songs and listen, buy them and/or find the lyrics.

On my way to work I usually start my day with this station and the other day while driving into work, I heard this song by Mercy Me. I am sharing the video because it's pretty cool. The video has the lyrics but I want to share them with you.
No matter what is going on with us we must remember this scripture,
1 John 4:4  The Voice (VOICE)
My children, you have come from God and have conquered these spirits because the One who lives within you is greater than the one in this world.


MercyMe - Greater 
From the album Welcome To The New
Bring your tired
Bring your shame
Bring your guilt
Bring your pain
Don't you know that's not your name
You will always be much more to me

Everyday I wrestle with the voices
That keep telling me I'm not right
But that's alright

‘Cause I hear a voice and He calls me redeemed
When others say I'll never be enough
And greater is the One living inside of me
Than he who is living in the world
In the world
In the world
And greater is the One living inside of me
Than he who is living in the world

Bring your doubts
Bring your fears
Bring your hurt
Bring your tears
There'll be no condemnation here
You are holy, righteous and redeemed

Every time I fall
There'll be those who will call me
A mistake
Well, that's ok

There'll be days I lose the battle
Grace says that it doesn't matter
‘Cause the cross already won the war
He's greater
He's greater
I am learning to run freely
Understanding just how He sees me
And it makes me love Him more and more
He's greater
He's greater



I am still trying to keep up with 30 days of Radical Growth with Havilah Cunnington and you can also watch the videos here. They are each about 7 minutes long so you can catch up really quick. The playlist for the devotion is HERE.

So I pray that we all begin to walk in the power and authority that God has given us and that we remember that He is greater than any fear, any sin, any doubt, any condemnation, any lie, any emotion and His grace is sufficient. Let us continue to press forward and love Him more and more and continual in radical growth, In Jesus name amen.

Football Season is Upon Us!

Hey Treasures, I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready to conquer a new week.

Football season is upon us and if you were following my blog last year you read all about my love for football and my team,.  If you weren't following my blog yet, no worries, check it out, Are you Ready for Some Football?  Do you like to watch football?  What team do you like?

 

If you read my post, I mention that Mr. Aguila bought me my very first Dallas Cowboys jersey. It was a Miles Austin #19.  Boo Hoo, he is no longer a Cowboy and now playing for Cleveland Browns so I will surely be getting a new jersey when I visit Texas this year.  What am I suppose to do with this jersey though?

I posted this on my Instagram

I love, love, love football but I do not like when my team looses.  I can be a very sore loser, however I don't like to trash talk.  Oh don't get me wrong I can totally trash talk and some BUT I choose not to (well publicly that is).  I guess it is part of the fun that goes with football BUT the thing with that is I can pretty mad and well as the scripture goes, "In your anger do not sin" SOOO the battles begin and I found the perfect Someecards to describe the struggle.

I just love to read all of these but I will only share a few that I came across and had to save. These are not mine, I just find them on Bing Search. 

Pinterest

 

I loved this one.  This is my prayer. (Big Smile)

Source


I hope you are ready for some football because social media will be full of football talk.  "ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?"

Have a great week and may it be full of love, joy, peace and blessings.

 

 

Are you THRIVING?

Hey Treasures, welcome back to my blog.  I am so glad you are here with me and I hope you enjoy this.

So a blogged about Change with Seasons and in continuation with the theme of change and growth and seasons I wanted to talk a little about what it means to THRIVE.

According to Webster Dictionary, the word THRIVE means, to grow or develop successfully;  to grow vigorously;   to gain in wealth or possessions (prosper);  to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances.

My favorite definition was, "to grow vigorously".  In this season, that it my goal, to grow vigorously, to grow radically. Any growth, however, is good growth. Even if I am growing in small increments, growth is growth BUT let's ponder on THRIVING.

In Proverbs 11:28, (NIV) the scripture tells us that "those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will THRIVE like a green leaf." 

We must always trust in the Lord and His riches and glory, not our own. We must remain righteous in the eyes of God (not man) so that we can THRIVE like a green leaf.  When I think of a green leaf, I think of watered. refreshed, liveliness, growth. What about you?

Jeremiah 17:7-8 gives us a great description of a growing tree with green leaves and compares this to a man who trusts in the Lord.

7"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. 8"For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.

This portion of scripture is so rich. As we trust in the Lord, we will be blessed and we will be like that tree that is firmly planted by the water and our roots go deep into the fresh wet soil and our leaves remain green and fresh and alive and growing and we will not stop growing fruit.

Psalm 1 is a great chapter. I would recommend reading through it. I enjoy reading the VOICE version but of course you read it in any translation that speaks to you.

Psalm 1:3 Voice says this,
You are like a tree, planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry.
Your fruit ripens in its time;  your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun. No matter what you do, you prosper.

The Voice (VOICE) The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

I would say these scriptures depict THRIVING.  "the righteous will THRIVE like a green leaf." (Proverbs 11:28b).  So that means to me, like a leaf that is watered, like a leaf that is alive, like a leaf that is growing.  Let us plant our roots by the streams of Living Water. Water our leaves with the Word of God that refreshes our spirit and progress towards our goal of continued growth. We can not wither away or dry up but THRIVE both despite and because of our circumstances.

Maybe today you find yourself withering away or as if you have dried up. Maybe you are feeling the thirst for the Living Water to refresh your leaves once again. I have been there!  It's a good thing if we are able to discern that we are withering away or drying up and in need of drawing closer to the stream of Living Water to get refreshed and renewed.  We must continue to Thrive. Ask yourself if you are you THRIVING or withering away and then let's make the necessary changes to be back in alignment and THRIVE.

Let's pray:  God we praise your mighty name and we thank you for who You are. I ask you to increase our thirst for Your Living Water. I pray that you will refresh each and every one of us. As we draw near to you, we thank you that our roots are going deeper and our leaves are getting greener and we are growing in this season.  Thank you for the grace and the mercy that you have for us and thank you for your love that draws us to the Sweet Sweet Stream.  Be magnified Oh Lord, IN Jesus name I pray Amen.

Here is the video of the song that spoke to me and caused me to look up the word Thrive and then God gave me all the rest. Take a watch and be blessed by these lyrics.

Casting Crowns - Thrive from casting-crowns on GodTube.

Lets Talk Avon

Hey Treasures, thank you for stopping today.

With my blog you can always find posts about Faith, about Hope and about Treasures, mostly makeup and Avon treasures.
Today we will be talking Avon Treasures.  I sell Avon as a hobby, that's what Mr. Aguila calls it. I sell locally to my family, friends/co-workers and myself (of course).  I have always loved Avon and people continue to buy it so I have continued to sell it.

The Labor Day Sale is still going on and valid through tomorrow, 9/3/14 at midnight, if you shop my website you can get free shipping on your $20 or more direct delivery orders. Use Code:  LABORDAY14

I have a few customers that order on line via my personal Avon website, Victoria Aguila. I want to increase my online customer base. If you love Avon or want to try Avon, please visit my site and browse around. It is an easy site to navigate. If you have any questions about a product, let me know and I will be glad to assist you.

Also once you our the home page of my site (Top Left, shopping with Mrs. Victoria Aguila) it will look like above.  If you want to receive beauty and product updates from me, click the little box on the bottom right hand corner (Mega Effects mascara pictured) and fill out your information.



http://victoriaaguila.avonrepresentative.com/

Also remember you always get free shipping on your orders of $35 or more.

 

I love being an Avon Representative and being part of a great company. Come by and Shop with Me.

From my Avon site

 

Leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite Avon item is. Let's Talk Avon.

Change with Seasons

Hey Treasures, welcome to my little piece of the world wide web. 

I am over the top excited to welcome September and the Autumn season and kiss Summer good bye as well as sit down and blog a little.
I hope and pray that you are all doing well and ready for the new season.

We have all heard the saying "Seasons Change" and "It's a New Season" this is something I have been hearing for the last couple of weeks. I am one that doesn't embrace change easily. However if we can learn how to CHANGE WITH THE SEASON then we are well on our way to grow in the season. After all growth occurs through the seasons.

At Sunday service, our pastor taught on "Recognizing the Time" this message really gave me some insight. Maria-Isabel of Agape Love Designs posted a question on her Facebook page asking this, "Did anyone feel especially moved in church today? Or learn something new? If so, please share."
Here was my response,
"At my church it was on recognizing the time. We go through seasons in our walk with God and it is important to discern what season we are in. For example, as we approach a new season in the natural, Fall(my favorite time of the year) we prepare or do things like put away our shorts and flip flops and bring out our boots and cardigans. So it is with our seasons with God, we must be in tune with what God season we are in, so we know, what to do, what to say, what to pray."

In the natural, we make changes and/or adjustments according to the seasons which I believe are mostly subconscious changes. In the supernatural it is important to make the necessary adjustments and align ourselves with what God is doing or we can get stagnant.  Change must take place in order to get in alignment.  Once we are in alignment, then comes the breakthrough. We can break FORTH into the new season. (on my next blog post, I will be discussing more on breakthrough and breaking forth) 
So if we don't make the adjustments or change with seasons we will continually stay the same. My pastor spoke on if we keep doing the same things, we will keep getting the same results. Change is necessary if we want to continue to grow and who doesn't want to continue to grow. We don't want to get stale and stuck in the same ol' same ol', at least I don't.

This leads me to the next thing I want to talk about. Today I started an online devotional, 30 days of Radical Growth with Havilah Cunnington. I went to a conference a couple months ago and heard Havilah teach an awesome message about the different ways God speaks. She is such an anointed woman of God and so relatable. At the conference I picked up this book and so when she announced the online devotional I was happy to participate.

The book, Radical Growth also touches on some of the stuff God has been speaking to me and what my pastor spoke on. She references this famous quote, "If you do what you've always done, then you'll get what you've always got." and she says "if we want growth, we may need to change our thoughts and/or our behavior. "  I am excited to participate in this devotional and to see the Radical Growth as I purposely set out to grow in this season.

If you might be interested in joining us for the online devotional, here is a preview.



Leave me a comment if you decide to join in. I would love to hear what you get from this as well.

Let's pray...
Lord I thank you for the work you have begun in us. Open our ears to hear what you are speaking in this season. Open our eyes to see what season we are in so that we can make necessary adjustments. Help us to get in alignment with you Lord. Throw down the plumb line and let us adjust and align accordingly.  I pray that we will continue to grow at a radical rate and that we will enlarge our faith.  I pray that we would all desire more of your Word as your Word tunes our minds into the channel of your voice.  May we catch the time we are in, the season we are in, all for your glory, for your honor and we thank you for loving us too much to leave us the same. We seal this in the name of Jesus, amen.

If you have any prayer needs please leave a comment or email me and I will be happy to pray with you according to God's Word and Will.

Sharing is Caring {Subscription Version}

So the first one is JustFab and I think I have shared about it before. Here is some information about them from their site.
"Did you know that most department store shoes sell for 5X MORE than what they cost to make? We don't think that's fair. Do you? At JustFab we deliver designer quality at an amazing price. How? It's simple. By cutting out the middlemen and working directly with the same manufacturers that make your favorite designer brands, we offer shoes that are identical in quality, exclusive to JustFab, and only a fraction of the price.

We've said goodbye to middlemen and ridiculous markups. Instead, we design and manufacture our own shoes and sell them exclusively at JustFab. New styles each month delivered directly to your door. Always $39.95"

I have quite a bit of the shoes from here and the most recent pair that I want to add to my collection are these BUT I am on a no buy (extremely sad face) because I have been looking for shoes like this for sometime now.

ISABEAU

I know for this one I am late to the Ipsy Party but JUST IN Case there is anyone that has not signed up I wanted to share this one. (Big Smile)

Join me on ipsy and subscribe to the Glam Bag! You get 4-5 beauty products every month delivered to your door, for just $10. Michelle Phan curates the bags! Check it out here: http://www.ipsy.com/r/jck1

I see a lot of Bloggers, YouTubers and IGers post about their Ipsy bags. I had got an invite sometime ago but they said I had to be on a waitlist. Finally I was able to sign up last month and this month I am waiting for my very first Ipsy Bag. Yes I am excited to receive this in the mail especially since it is NO Buy July. Yes I have to keep saying this to remind myself. One week down, 3 more to go.
If you already subscribe to it, let me know your thoughts if you are interested in subscribing, use my referral link;  Please and Thank you!

This one is pretty new to me, LIP MONTHLY, "Everything Lips! Every Month!"
For only $10/month, LipMonthly helps you discover the best lip products on the market. Every month we’ll send you a unique box straight to your door and help you discover the best of Lip Glosses, Lip Sticks, Lip Balms, Lip Stains and much more.  Check it out here:  http://mbsy.co/6ZN2N
I seen one of the bloggers I follow on Instagram post her box and I just had to check it out. I have tried signing up but I keep getting an error, waiting to hear back from customer service BUT I did sign up as an ambassador and earned a box for free so I am very excited about that.  Visit their website for more information and you can also like them on Facebook.
Let me know if you have heard of this subscription box, are signed up for it and/or what do you think about it.

 

Well this is all for today. You can check out yesterdays, Sharing is Caring, if you missed it and check back tomorrow for the Sharing is Caring Continued.

Let me know what subscriptions you love. I'd love to hear about it.