MamaLOVE Giveaway BuyDig.com Headphones & "Well, You Know What My Momma Would Say!" Book Review

Welcome to the Mother's Day MamaLOVE Giveaway Hop hosted by MamaNYC!

Over 50 bloggers are participating and featuring giveaways with prizes valued over $25.00 each. Mother's Day is just around the corner, so hopefully you will find some amazing gift ideas and hopefully win some prizes for mom! This event begins on May 1st and will end May 6th @ 11:59PM (EST). Don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and hop down the list for many more chances to win great prizes!

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 Kaeli's Kiwis has two great sponsors for this hop!

To help mom relax and drown out the noise of little ones on Mother's Day, BuyDig.com is going to provide one lucky momma with a set of headphones! My husband did this review since he is more of the tech savvy of our household, and it was a Mother's Day gift to me to sit back and relax and not worry about this review!

One lucky reader is going to win:

Audio-Technica In-ear Binaural High Fidelity Headphones w/ 3 Earpieces

I’m not exactly an audiophile but I do consider myself perhaps more aware of headphone quality than the average person using the default earbuds that came with their iPod.

There are three main things that I consider when looking for a pair of headphones: nice design; good comfort and fit; and of course high-fidelity sounds, which means they’ll have clear and accurate sound with any kind of audio from talk to classical music to action movies, and at a wide range of volumes.

Currently, my favorite set of headphones Phillips over the ear earbud style which have really good frequency response and they're nice and comfortable I can wear them all day, which is really important for me as I listen to music for the better part of every workday. So I figured these Audio-Technica headphones had a lot to live up to, and I was particularly excited about this review because judging by the specs on the web page, these were high-quality earbuds.

The ATH-CK6As come with three sets of loop supports and three different sizes of earpieces so you can get just the fit you want. A drawstring bag is also included to keep the ‘phones in. One thing that drew me to these was the advertised wide frequency range of 15-28,000 Hz and the rare-earth speaker drivers, rare for any set of headphones, much less small earbuds like these. Basically it means that since the average human hearing range is around 20-20,000 Hz, these headphones will let you hear everything recorded that you’re physically capable of hearing. In simple language, this means you’ll be able to really hear both the deep notes as well as the mid and high ranges without distortion.

The headphones themselves are very lightweight. The ear loop pieces that were already installed were just right for me, but I switched the ear covers to the smaller sizes to make it fit right for me, so I appreciate having the options available to me.

Once I had the attachments to my liking, the earphones fit nice and tight inside my ears, which makes for good clarity of sound as well as blocking outside noise.

For this review I tested three different genres of music in order to exploit the full potential of these headphones.

First up was Josh Groban’s Si Volvieras a Mi. The vocals in the mid-range were nice and clear, and the instruments were full and rich. I felt like I was really getting the whole experience of the music. Also, important for earbuds is that it doesn't sound like any music is leaking out, and with the right fit, the Audio-Technica’s seemed to direct everything right down my ear canal, which made the music sound great.

For rock music, it's hard to beat Breathe Into Me by RED. The guitars came through nice and full, vocals were clear, and the bass was spot on. Tweaking the equalizer settings on the audio device (I used an iPad for this review), I was able to experience let the advertised high fidelity of the ATH-CK6As shine through.

Moving on to hip-hop to see how good the low bass response was, I chose Get It In by PRo. I love a song with good bass, and, having installed subwoofers in all the vehicles I've had, I know what full deep bass sounds like and how it can really enable you to feel the music rather than simply hearing it. Therefore, I only consider a set of ‘phones "good" if it can sound like I have small subs in my ears. Once again, these phones came through in spades, with the super-low frequency response capability a treat for my ears. Moreover, the Audio-Technica earbuds stayed firmly planted in my ears, something that my Philips ‘phones only do as long as I don’t move or yawn or swallow. I’m looking forward to using these new earbuds for my next trip to the gym.

And speaking of having a good sound seal, I found that these do a good job of blocking outside noise as my wife just came up and asked me why I haven't been listening to her for the past few minutes. I couldn't even hear her!

With each music selection, all frequencies came through clearly, and even turned up to the point that it almost hurt my ears (something you need to be careful about with earbuds), I couldn't detect any distortion on either end of the range, which made me smile since it's nice to be surprised with a such high-fidelity sound in such a small package. I was dubious at first that these small light earpieces would have drivers that could handle the music I like to listen to, but the Audio-Technica ATH-CK6A headphones are winners in my book, especially considering the mid-range price.

In fact, my only real complaint is the alphanumeric naming system of these headphones, which will make it hard to remember when you want to tell your friends how awesome your new headphones are!

To wrap up, if you're looking for a high-quality pair of earbuds that don’t break the bank, these are a great choice. Sure, you can buy earbuds for $10, or use the ones that came with your mp3 player, but if you appreciate great sound at a decent price, these are for you. You could also spend at least three as much for other brands of headphones, but you’d be hard pressed to justify the price when these sound so good.
Thanks to BuyDig.com for sponsoring! Visit them on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest!

"....Well, You Know What My Momma Would Say!"

This is the perfect mother's day gift, and a great value buy for a gift that will mean a lot to any mother, grandmother, or great-grandmother! Sharon shares sage advice passed on to her over the years from her own mother, advice that was passed down through generations and that she found herself repeating over the years.

There are four blank pages at the end of the book for the reader to write down the things their own mother said to them growing up. This would also be a great place to write down a letter to your own mother before giving her a copy, to let her know which of her lessons taught as a mother have been most important to you.

The kindle copy is also a bargain right now! Download and read the funny and heart-warming stories in the book to your kids and discuss the practical applications of biblical scripture. Or make time to sit down and read this with your mother on Mother's day. No doubt she will have stories to share of thing her own mother said to her.

I interviewed Sharon about her book for this review and here is what she had to say:

Kaeli: Who is this book intended for?

Sharon: " All audiences across the spectrum! I said these quotes to my co-workers on several occasion when appropriate. One gal said "why don't you write this down!" That started my creative juices flowing. Then one Sunday from the pulpit I heard a familiar saying of mommas : "if you don't work you don't eat." I din't realize it was scriptural!

Momma didn't do a lot of personal sharing with me growing up, and I can't recall ever seeing her study her bible, these things were said while she was busy doing other stuff. The scripture was never a part of it, but it blew me away and made me think to realize and hunt for the things in scripture that related to what my mother told me. I don't think my family was aware either of all the biblical relations, but someone in my family had to of learned the scriptures to pass this advice on. I was amazed at how so many of the sayings fit! When I shared this book with my mother after writing it, she just said "..well, that's just what my momma would say to me!"

Kaeli: What would you like readers to get from this book?

Sharron: "For mothers, I would like them to get the importance of talking to their children about the practical application of scripture. Sometimes children need to hear the scripture in a conversational off-cuff way to actually hear it and then they will know it by heart when you go back later and show them how it fits with scripture. My own daughter shared a story with me about a tiff she had with her husband when she had used a familiar saying: "if it were a bear, it would have bit ya!" and laughed at how much she sounded like me, her own mother! The realization shocked her, and we had a good laugh about it.

For older folk, I want them to have the enjoyment of recalling pleasant memories of their own Mother's wisdom. I also want people to have the chance to learn scripture bit by bit in a practical way."

 Kaeli: You talk about doling out your mother's wisdom on more than one occasion to co-workers; any specific events you can share?

Sharon: "When my co-workers got grumpy and used a harsh tone of impatience, I would often tell them: "You catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar."

Kaeli: Which of these bits of wisdom do you find yourself sharing most often these days?

Sharron: "I share with my grandchildren the quote about not doing a half-hearted job. I tell them we expect them to do their best in all things, even if their best isn't straight A's."

Kaeli: What reactions from friends and family have you gotten since the book was published? 

Sharron: "My oldest sister who is 85 was so excited she acted like I had just birthed a new baby! (Laughs) In her small town she had it placed in the library, and shared it with friends, as well as the local newspaper who ended up running a quarter page ad for me! My siblings bought copies for their kids, and their kid's kids! My brother has purchased 16 copies! My son-in-law's mother who lives in scotland and another of my sisters are reading one lesson at a time to their church groups. The reaction has been wonderful!"

Kaeli: Any last words of wisdom you forgot to include?

Sharron: "There were lots of other things momma said that didn't relate to scripture, but I wanted this book to focus on scripture and the many situations in real life that the sayings apply to for everyone, not just Christians. A friend suggested to me that this book would also be great for sharing God's word with non-Christians. I also wanted this book to be small and gift sized, so it can be given and used in lots of different ways."

Enter to win your own copy on the Rafflecopter form below! Then hop around to enter to win more great prizes on the other blogs participating!

 

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*** I was not compensated for the above reviews. I did however receive a sample of the product to try. All above opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way. This giveaway is not affiliated with facebook, twitter or any other social media site. The two sponsors above are not affiliated with each other in any way. Kaeli's Kiwis is not responsible for prize-fulfillment. Please read the giveaway rules tab for more information. This contest is open to US residents 18+ and ends 5/7/12.