http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/Shawnrouggly Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:10:42 GMT Reviews by Shawnrouggly http://www.viewpoints.com/Millpond-Spa-Millpond-Spa-and-Retreat-Stansbury-Park-UT-review-a3be0 I've been to spas in the past...some good, some not so good...most were very expensive as far as I'm concerned.  I don't go frequently for this reason...I usually enjoy myself and feel very relaxed afterward but can't really justify spending hundreds of dollars on something I can't hold, clean my house with, or cook my family for dinner.  I had seen ads for this place before and it looks to be fairly pretentious from the photos...it occupies what appears to be a fantastic dream house...probably 8000 sq. ft. worth with a stone facade and a big circular drive.  I was pretty surprised when my husband took it upon himself to make me an appointment for a facial as well as a deep tissue massage...each of which was an hour.  I was really worried about how much he would have spent on such a day and as the afternoon progressed I really was convinced that he had spent at least a few hundred dollars.  The atmosphere was exceptionally relaxing, quiet, beautiful. ... Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:10:42 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Millpond-Spa-Millpond-Spa-and-Retreat-Stansbury-Park-UT-review-a3be0 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/42nd-St-Photo-review-568a0 I couldn't be any happier with my experience with 42nd St. Photo!  I guess I just don't expect a lot when it comes to customer service with my online purchases...I'm happy if I get my item within the time frame I expect it and it actually functions as I expect it to.  I was slightly leary when I got the phone call from their customer service person and the first words out of his mouth were, "I have some great news for you!"  I know...I know...this normally wouldn't be a bad thing...but it just stinks of someone trying to sell me something.  I was bracing myself to say, "no...no thank you...not interested...please just send my order..." to what I expected to be a pushy salesperson.  Boy was I pleasantly surprised when no sales pitch ensued.  Instead he offered to overnight my order if I would in turn complete a survey for them rating their customer service.  I said that I certainly would be happy to and before the call ended he also upgraded the extra... Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:43:19 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/42nd-St-Photo-review-568a0 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Konica-Minolta-Maxxum-5-review-c1672 When I smashed my very first camera which was a Minolta Maxxum...something, I replaced it with this version.  It was the newest version for Minolta out at that time which was about five years ago and had this new fangled eye-reflex focus do-hicky that I was a little curious about.  Since that purchase I have bought several other cameras which were also Minoltas, but newer, and I didn't fall in love with any of them like I love this camera.  It is a pretty small camera for an SLR and the eye-reflex feature is really cool...I don't know how it works but it's the best camera I have.  It is relatively inexpensive for an SLR at only about $200 and it was really easy to use.  I have several digital cameras and other film cameras but this one by far is my absolute favorite.  If you have a budding photographer at home or are one yourself this is a great camera for the... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:55:18 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Konica-Minolta-Maxxum-5-review-c1672 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Liddiard-Tooele-UT-review-0ccf1 We recently moved to Utah from Alaska and replaced all of our furniture...every last piece.  It's a small town and we wanted to keep the money local so we opted to shop at the only furniture store in town, Liddiard.  The showroom and building is fantastically beautiful and they obviously spared no expense.  We spent upwards of $15,000 in a matter of an hour racing through the store picking out matching furniture for the whole house which included dining room, formal living room, three bedrooms, and my office.  My husband is a haggler and loves to feel like he is getting a great deal...but Liddiard doesn't haggle and their idea of letting the customer feel like they got a great deal was to give us $60 off of a three piece end table set.  We lived with it and were just excited to get all new stuff but when they made the delivery only half of the furniture was there...apparently they had forgotten to order several pieces.  We then waited for six weeks to get... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:46:21 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Liddiard-Tooele-UT-review-0ccf1 Shawnrouggly 1 http://www.viewpoints.com/MyPoints--25775-review-dc4a0 If you aren't already a member of Mypoints you should be.  It's free and you can earn points for almost all the online purchases that you make anyway.  You can also earn lots of points every day just by opening their emails.  I go through periods of doing a lot of online shopping and even when I don't buy anything for a long time I still earn enough points just opening emails to get myself a gift card from Starbucks, Walmart, or Bath and Body Works...there are tons of different rewards such as these that you can choose and most start around 1400 points for a $10 card...I open about 10 to 20 emails every day from them at 5 points each...you can see where they can add up quickly.  If you participate in any of the offers or surveys you can earn points much, much faster.  Also, they are very quick to send you your reward when you request it so there is no waiting for a month or two until it's processed.  If you buy anything at all online, ever, or read emails... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:32:03 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/MyPoints--25775-review-dc4a0 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Pure-Digital-Technologies-Flip-Video-Digital-Camcorder-with-Flash-Memory-review-9a662 I don't think I have ever been as thrilled with any purchase as I am with this one.  Really.  I saw an ad for this little Flip digital video recorder and decided to check it out.  They are really inexpensive, only run about $120 for the more expensive model.  I always wanted a digital video recorder but can't stomach spending hundreds of dollars on something that isn't going to be used daily or could fall of the counter and be gone forever.  I figured that for the price I really couldn't go terribly wrong.  I expected to be a little disappointed but I was totally surprised at how easy it is to use and the fact that it really doesn't feel like junk.  It is so easy to use my then 6-year-old could easily use it...even my technologically retarded husband could use it...and that's asking a lot.  It runs on AA batteries which I love because nothing stinks worse than having to pay $70 for a replacement battery for a video camera.  The user... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:16:47 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Pure-Digital-Technologies-Flip-Video-Digital-Camcorder-with-Flash-Memory-review-9a662 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Osteo-Bi-Flex-Caplets-Triple-Strength-120-Caplets-review-9a1d1 My husband had a horrible knee injury years ago and had to have multiple surgeries and tendon replacements/repairs following that accident.  He struggled to stand for the required length of time to just do his normal job and was in pain every night after work.  I have spent inumerable hours rubbing his knees, icing and heating every single night since 1999.  My aunt who is a radiologist recommended trying this product because she had seen real improvement in people's joints with the use of it.  It's a little expensive at about $28 per bottle for the big bottle and isn't covered by our insurance as it's an over the counter supplement but anything was worth trying.  After a couple months of him taking the recommended dosage every day I realized that I wasn't having to rub his knees every single night.  A couple times when we ran out he went for a few weeks without taking it and I noticed a definite relapse...so you really need to continue taking it...but it... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:26:55 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Osteo-Bi-Flex-Caplets-Triple-Strength-120-Caplets-review-9a1d1 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/AT-amp-T-Salt-Lake-City-UT-review-73533 We have had this service for years but always thought it was too expensive.  There just weren't a lot of options for cellular service in Alaska so we just stayed with them.  When we moved to Utah we were excited to be able to choose from other providers who were less expensive but we learned pretty quickly by spending time around other people who had various other providers that we have the best coverage by far.  We travel back and forth from Utah to Wyoming a few times a year and where other people say that they lose coverage when driving that route, we never have.  We can go back into remote valleys in Utah where none of our friends get coverage and we still have coverage.  People complain that they get spotty coverage in our own town because we are back in a valley...but we have never noticed a problem even once.  We never have dropped calls that they joke about in commercials either.  Even though the service is a little more expensive than some... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:13:23 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/AT-amp-T-Salt-Lake-City-UT-review-73533 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Electrolux-EL1000A2-Pronto-Bagless-Stick-Cyclonic-Vacuum-review-8975 We recieved this vacuum for Christmas from my mom who purchased it because we have a lot of stairs and I am constantly wrestling a large vacuum to get all the dog hair off of them.  This vacuum doesn't really excell on stairs or long carpet but I love it anyway.  We have quite a bit of Pergo flooring upstairs and short pile rugs in the walkway and kitchen so this is perfect for those.  I keep it plugged in, in the broom closet and it's always ready for use.  Also, the filters are really easy to manage and clean...it comes with extras but they are washable so about once a week I pull the dirty filters out and put them in the dishwasher on the top rack.  Also, it is actually a two-piece number where a hand-held smaller vac comes off of the longer stick vac so you can just take it off and get into corners or hard to reach areas quickly without having to get another piece of equipment out.  It swivels very well and lays practically flat while vacuuming and so... Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:04:24 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Electrolux-EL1000A2-Pronto-Bagless-Stick-Cyclonic-Vacuum-review-8975 Shawnrouggly 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Christ-the-Lord-Out-of-Egypt-review-f0ba0 I must admit that I was a little scared to open this book.  I avoided buying it when it was out in hardback and waited until it came out in paperback so that I could only invest $6 or so.  That way if it took a wrong turn in chapter 2 I wouldn't have too feel like I was throwing away a lot of money.  I have been a big fan of Anne Rice for years...I love her vampires but loved her witches even more.  I'm a big fiction buff and can separate the fantasy that I read from the reality of history.  I'm also a very strong Christian and felt that Anne Rice tackling the character of Christ could go terribly, terribly wrong.  I was afraid that she would venture into an area I didn't dare go in my reading.  I was so impressed by her portrayal of the character of Joseph.  I had never really put that much thought into who he was as the earthly father of the savior.  I was fascinated by her take on what it must have been like to know what he knew.  I... Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:06:24 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Christ-the-Lord-Out-of-Egypt-review-f0ba0 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Body-Shop-Mango-Body-Butter-review-1ac3 I love the smell of this stuff!  It's also very, very moisturizing and works wonders on dry feet at night.  I use it all winter long on the dryest parts of my body.  It does tend to be a little greasy though, so I have to wash my hands after I have applied it so that I don't end up with it on my face or in my hair.  Also, it tends to separate a little after time or if it's kept someplace warm...i.e. in a steamy bathroom all the... Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:56:38 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Body-Shop-Mango-Body-Butter-review-1ac3 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Everyday-with-Rachael-Ray-review-aa8f3 I love the tips and recipes in this magazine.  There are also some of the coolest gift ideas ever.  I save every issue and considered sharing them with my mom...but alas...I just can't part with them.  This magazine isn't overloaded with advertisements either.  I never knew cooking could be so much... Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:48:23 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Everyday-with-Rachael-Ray-review-aa8f3 Shawnrouggly 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Blender-Magazine-review-3a713 I really do love this magazine.  When it comes to magazines I'm pretty much in it for some quick entertainment...I'm not looking for anything overly intelligent...I'm looking for junkfood reading.  This mag is the equivalent to getting my McDonalds fix with a size of Ding Dongs without the dietary guilt.  At first I wasn't crazy about the fact that the mag covers as many rappers as rock stars...I'm a rocker chick myself, but I have found that I can appreciate the entrepreneurship of some of the big-name rappers.  I feel that my knowledge of everything trendy and popular has become a bit more well rounded since starting to read this mag.  I end up reading it cover to cover and am fully... Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:41:23 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Blender-Magazine-review-3a713 Shawnrouggly 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Uniden-DXAI5688-2-Twin-Phone-review-52cd3 We bought this phone only about six months ago and already exchanged it once at the retailer because one of the handsets didn't work.  At this point I'm just convinced that this phone sucks.  The sound quality is poor and one of the handsets doesn't even give you a warning when the battery is going to go dead...it just stops the call dead in its tracks.  Also, it won't switch between handsets...so if I answer one phone and the call is for someone else I have to take them the phone I answered...they can't pick up the second phone and answer it.  Another pet peeve is that the signal doesn't go far...I can't go outside the house and expect to be able to continue a conversation or take the phone outside with me in case in rings while I am out of the... Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:47:43 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Uniden-DXAI5688-2-Twin-Phone-review-52cd3 Shawnrouggly 1 http://www.viewpoints.com/Spring-Air-California-King-Size-Mattress-Set-review-dd6c1 We just moved from Alaska to Utah and ended up having to get rid of everything.  We replaced all of our major furniture once we moved in and didn't spend the time we should have on choosing a mattress.  I am so disappointed in this mattress.  We haven't slept well since we bought it.  We have only had it about six months but I want a new mattress.  The pillowtop is so thick that it is nearly impossible to find sheets to fit without spending hundreds of dollars on a single set.  I found a nice set of sheets that have pockets that are 18" deep and they won't stay on the thing.  The mattress sags so badly in places I can't believe it's brand new.  We even turned the box springs sideways because we thought they were the culprits...nope...it's the mattress.  We'll try putting some 3/4" plywood between the mattress and the box springs before calling the manufacturer...I just don't see this one getting any... Sat, 24 Nov 2007 01:39:19 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Spring-Air-California-King-Size-Mattress-Set-review-dd6c1 Shawnrouggly 2