Do you want to build a snowman?? #DisneyMusic #ENMNetwork CD Giveaway

I have been fortunate enough to be able to review Disney's latest CD release, Frozen: The Songs which is available NOW for you to buy!!!

On September 30, Disney has released not only the CD but a Vinyl edition and a Spanish language version.

***I was provided the product for review as part of ENMNetwork however all thoughts and opinions are my own***

I still haven't decided if I would be Elsa or Anna "when I grow up"

I believe I would be more likely to be Anna because of my protective instincts to my family and friends.... I also would like to think I can sing like Kristen Bell but if we're being honest, I need to leave the singing up to the pro's!

So I am excited that the second the CD arrived, I had a rocking sing along with my 2 & 10 year old, I mean come on, who doesn't want to build a snowman and there's nothing sweeter than hearing my little guy singing let it go with such passion!

I am yet to decide which version of Let It Go I love more though, Idina Menzel or Demi Lovato, the jury is still out.

The CD comes with some cute stickers and the cover insert opens up to have all the songs and their lyrics on one side and a poster on the other.

Frozen: The Songs track list follows:

1. Frozen Heart

Performed by Cast

2. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Performed by Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monnand and Katie Lopez

3. For the First Time in Forever

Performed by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel

4. Love Is an Open Door

Performed by Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana

5. Let It Go

Performed by Idina Menzel

6. Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People

Performed by Jonathan Groff

7. In Summer

Performed by Josh Gad

8. For the First Time in Forever (Reprise)

Performed by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel

9. Fixer Upper

Performed by Maia Wilson and Cast

10. Let It Go (Demi Lovato Version)
Performed by Demi Lovato

Frozen: The Songs, Frozen: The Songs Vinyl Soundtrack, Frozen Canciones de Una Aventura Congelada and the Frozen Score digital album is available from September 30, 2014.

Now for the Giveaway, this is the FIRST EVER MrsJRad giveaway, all you need to do is comment on this post and tell me: Which Frozen character are you most like and WHY?? Simple as that! Entries close Sunday 5th October at Midday (Australian Time)

**Disclaimer: If it come to this bloggers attention that the winner of my giveaway has won on a additional blog, this blog reserves the right to choose another winner.**

Weekly dinner dilemmas

So as most of you know, I'm a 40 hour a week working mum with two kids (2 & 10) and my big kid of a hubby!

Every week we face the same battle on a Sunday....meal planning!!!

I do my best to plan out the meals in our house so we are less likely to slack off and get an unhealthy take away purely for the convenience on our way home.

Our slow cooker has become our best friend & approaching winter it's the perfect way to have a comforting meal when we walk in the door.

Every week we have some sort of roast, this week we decided to have a lamb but whilst browsing the aisles at the supermarket I came across this little gem

We decided to try it out, for a rrp $5.99 I figured why not!

It came with the seasoning rub which instead of putting on lamb strips we rubbed all over our leg of lamb and let it soak in overnight in the fridge.

This morning we put the lamb in the slow cooker with about a cup of water to be sure it didn't dry out and switched it to low to cook until our return.

Arriving home at 6:30pm, our house smelt like a Greek souvlaki heaven!

Dinner was served within 10 minutes, that included making the tzatziki yoghurt with the sachet that came with the kit & chopping up the salad!!

Holy deliciousness it was good!!

It was a complete winner in our house, the 8 wraps that came in the kit was plenty for our family of 4 and the best part is there is enough lamb left over for lunch tomorrow #winning!

So give it a go, a wonderful winter warming meal and super fast to prepare!

This is definitely going to become a regular in our house

Sleep well, Mrs J Rad xxx

Tomorrow is a new day

I declared that 2014 would be my year & it has delivered in soooo many ways already, however there is one major thing that has fallen by the wayside!!

I want to get healthy, yes I want to lose weight and tone up too but that is all part of it. The exercise and eating better will make those things happen without me obsessing over how many kilos I have lost to date....

So tomorrow my alarm is set, 6:30 I will see you then & I fully intend to show you what I am made of...early morning workout here I come!!!

These are a few of the quotes and inspirations I have to focus on!

Enjoy,

MrsJRad xxx

Moments like these

I struggle on a daily basis at times to be the mother I want to be.

You see when my first blessing Lily came in to this world, I was only 2 months off turning 18, in so many ways I was still a child myself.

I had an upbringing that was turbulent to say the least however I think in a lot of ways this was what prepared me to be a mother so young.

The biggest challenge for me recently has been that now Lil is approaching a "pre-teen" age, she is craving more mummy time.

Things have been harder since we became a family of 4, not because she didn't want a sibling but it has meant time has now had to be shared between her and her brother.

So we have focused as much as possible on trying for quality vs quantity and having some one on one mummy time has seemingly helped.

Today was one of the moments as a parent that your heart truly could explode. I took Lily to see a mini concert in our towns mall by Reuben Koops, you can see my previous blog post about Reuben here - http://bit.ly/1q2MR3n

It was a surprise and I didn't tell her what we were doing just that we were heading to the mall, the expression of pure joy and excitement in her face was irreplaceable <3

Today made all of the hard days as a parent worth it.

I hope that one day Lily will reflect on her childhood and remember not so much that Mum worked 40 hours a week but that we worked so we could give her everything we possibly could, so that she could receive a wonderful education, so that she could see places around Australia and in time all around the world but mostly I hope she reflects on her life and remembers being LOVED by so many people she never had to feel alone.

So Lily if you read this one day, I love you and I know I am far from the perfect parent but I love you with everything I have in me & I am so blessed to have you as my daughter, there will be times in your life you will hate me and in these times I hope you can understand I am only trying to protect you. There will also be others that only I will be the one who can heal the pain. I will always be here for you and will continue daily to give you as much as this world has to offer and as you would say "Never let anyone dull your sparkle"

MrsJRad aka Mumma Bear xxx

Join the Nerdolution

WOW! In just a few short weeks, Zac Levi and the Nerd HQ campaign has raised over $212k with nearly 10 thousand contributors!

This alone is a testament that we nerds are not walking this earth alone.

If you missed what #IWantMyNerdHQ is all about, you can view my last post here

Technology has come so far and in a reasonably short amount of time, flash back 10 years and there would be no way on this earth I would have been interested in something like this. Not because I don't love Zac and what NerdHQ is all about but from feeling disappointed that I was on one side of the world while this event is on the other.

Guess what? That doesn't matter!!

I will be attending panels that fans from anywhere in the world can log on and watch online.

So who wants to join me? I know most of my readers are based within Australia but this is an opportunity for anyone to be a part of making this event happen.

Picture courtesy of The Nerd Machine

How do you do this you ask??

We have 27 days left to contribute, anything as little as $5 can help.

His team have started adding some really cool incentives to spice things up a little, the current one is for "contribute a minimum of $5 from now until Sunday at 11:59pm PDT, you could receive a thank you call from Zac Levi himself!".... Did I contribute again to win this, you KNOW I Did!! 

Give now at IWantMyNerdHQ.com

Last Sunday, Zac answered questions and talked about the campaign on Ustream.

You can watch below.
I promise you, watch 10 minutes of this and you will find it hard to keep your wallet in your handbag and NOT give him some financial help.

And cause I know you're gonna want more as soon as you're done, this was a Google Hangout with Zac from this week also.

Well, What are you still doing here?? GO...NOW.... #NerdsUnite 

MrsJRad xxx

Chuck, Flynn, Fandral... Introducing King Nerd Zachary Levi

“Being nerdy just means being passionate about something, including everyone - the coolest people on Earth are passionate and therefore nerdy about something whatever it is, whether it's sports, or gaming, or technology, or fashion, or beauty, or food, or whatever.” - Zac Levi

I want to introduce you to someone, for the purpose of this post, let's call him a "friend" of mine.

This is Zachary Levi, you might know him as Chuck, Flynn Rider from Disney's Tangled or most recently Fandral in Thor: The Dark World. To be honest, it doesn't matter if you haven't met him right up until this moment, what is important is that we help him.

Every year for the past 3 years, Zac and The Nerd Machine team have put on a pop culture event "Nerd HQ" a 100% completely FREE event that coincides with Comic Con in San Diego. Until now, Zac has had to rely solely on sponsorship dollars and his own funds.

In 2014, Zac needs our help.

He is asking that anyone and everyone contribute $5 (or more if you have it) via Indiegogo to help make #NerdHQ happen.



This is a fan's dream come true, it is an event that to quote Zac is "trying to incentivize celebrities and fans to come together and in really intimate and interactive ways, all whilst raising money for charity."

That's right people, not only is this event free, 100% of any of the paid celebrity photo ops, signing ops or panels goes straight to Operation Smile.

Operation Smile is a not for profit charity that provides free surgeries to repair cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities for children around the world.

"Fans will treat something preciously if given the opportunity to do so" - Zac Levi

I believe in that quote with every part of my being, as you all know, I was pretty much born a fangirl and through the power of social media and technology, I have been able to be a part of so many wonderful things that a lot of fans would dream about.

So what are you waiting for? Join me in becoming a part of #NerdHQArmy today.
Not only will you be helping a selfless event take place, your name will appear on the "Nerd HQ Wall of Honour" at the event and on The Nerd Machine page.

All Zac needs is $5, if you have more great, but if not, its incredible to know that you can help such a selfless event happen for the same price as a good cup of coffee.

Go to the Indiegogo page now #IWantMyNerdHQ!!

MrsJRad xxx

Reuben Koops

In November 2013, my sister turned 30 so we went out for dinner and a few drinks to celebrate.

At the bar that we went to, I was immediately draw to the back where the talented Reuben Koops was doing a solo gig. I had heard of him from being on Australia's Got Talent but in all honesty, I didn't watch the show.

In my opinion, Reuben's sound is a young combination of John Mayer and Jack Johnson, two of my favourite artists ever! So I had a great night dancing the night away (because of the chilled lounge setting of the bar, I may have even been the crazy lady that was dancing on her own but hey I was feelin it!)

The next morning the first thing I did was jump on google, I had to know if there was a CD I could buy! 

Low and behold, Reuben was crowd funding via indiegogo.com to make his debut album, I signed up instantly!!

I got this baby in the mail last month & I have had it on daily in my car ever since.

The YouTube album sampler that Reuben released is  http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=mCZtinCbRlw

Reuben sings a number of songs that are clearly written from the depths of love for his wife. It's really refreshing to have a love song that is pure, honest and isn't tainted by sexual undertones as most of the pop scene is these days.

This is something that with a daughter approach her teen years is incredibly dear to my heart, the love reuben sings about in most of his songs is one of self worth and value. 

That is a message I am more than happy for my pre-teen to listen to on repeat!

The debut single "Where You Water It" which is also the name of his album, sends a clear message about you getting out of a relationship what you put in, the specific lyric "the grass is greener when you water it". This message is one far beyond his years but one that I think the world needs to hear.

You can view the film clip here - http://youtu.be/-L_7emT2EbM

I truly have been swept up in this album and can't recommend it highly enough.

My favourite pick has to be "Two Little Words" which I believe Reuben wrote for his wife before they married last year. It's a touching song about starting their married lives together.

An acoustic video of it can be found here - http://youtu.be/zLXMSxb6bP0

I hope you all consider checking this young Tasmanian artist out, I feel there will be great things ahead of this guy & I for one will be looking forward to seeing it happen!!

Buy Reuben's album on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/where-you-water-it/id805279636 or for any of my international friends that might want a copy, email me or comment below and I can source it locally for you!

Thanks for reading,

MrsJRad

P.S check out the tasmanian tour dates