I am learning more and more about life insurance since my step-dad passed away. I can't believe that people really get Cash Value life Insurance. It just doesn't make any sense to me, but then I am not an expert in the field either. I just hear what the salesman wants me to hear. I am wondering what other people think about the matter. My question is why pay nearly 3 times as much for a 10th of the coverage. Granted, term life insurance gradually decreases in value, but later in life you are not going to need as much insurance as you do now. Right now I have a Husband and children that I stay home with. If I were to suddenly pass away now, not only would he be left with the funeral expenses and the loss of my mediocre income, but he would also be left without child care and that can be very, very expensive. The amount of Cash Value Life Insurance that I can afford would never come close to replacing the financial stability that I currently offer to my family.

Term life insurance on the other hand, from what I understand, is less expensive and offers greater coverage, more to the tune of what my family would actually need to replace me. term life insurance rates are much lower than Cash Value insurance but, the coverage gets lower as I age, then again, so do my expenses. My house should be getting paid off, my children grown and the cars paid. By the time I am "old enough" to pass on, I should not have many bills or expenses to leave my husband.

Is there something that I am missing? Something I do not know about? Please let me know your comments and feelings on the matter. I am just struggling with the fact that a mere $50K is not nearly enough to cover the costs associates with losing a loved one.

The Return From The Road

Just a helpful side note from my last post... when my friend found it time to return West to be with her Grandchildren, she also found it difficult to move a decades worth of stuff, gathered over time and needing to me moved quickly.

She spent alot of time looking into different options from U-haul to long distance moving companies. She found that the best option for her was moving pods. As strange as it sounds, moving pods are nothing more than steel boxes delivered to your driveway, into which you move your belongings at which point the company picks them up, tosses them on to the cars of a train and delivers them to a location near your new home.

She found that moving pods are an inexpensive and quick way to move your belongins long distances. No on the other hand if most of your belongings are antique and/or high value pieces, I would highly suggest you take the route of hiring a long distance moving company as they are licenses and insured to protect your valuable items.

Hit The Road

My friend, mother of 5 and avid homeschooler decided one day that it was time to go. Her kids had lived in Utah long enough and needed to see more. So she sold her home, found a used rv for sale, packed it up and hit the open road. She eventually settled in South Carolina where her family lived. She spent a good amount of time there before heading back this way to be with her oldest son and grandchildren.

Now my point in telling you this story is not to suggest that you dump your house and savings into buying an RV and heading out, but rather to suggest that you get out more. See more of what our beautiful country has to offer. We have Vermont with gorgeous leaves in autumn. There are the redwood forests and theme parks of California, the white sand beaches and exotic landscape of Hawaii and the history rich area of Washington DC, Virginia and Pensylvania. Then there are the 7 National parks right in our own backyard. Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands, All right here in Utah. Then There is Yellowstone and Grand Teton right next door. These are easily weekend trips and just as inexpensive as it comes when you go treking in an RV.

Rv's offer you the convience of taking your home with you. No need to eat out or pay for expensve hotel rooms. The biggest expense is the RV itself and the gas required to get it there. Way less than the cost of a single airline ticket!

But even if you go by car and stay in a nice hotel, just go! Take advantage of all God has given us to enjoy. Get out and Hit the Road!

Job Woes

I have been looking (halfheartedly) for a job for the last month now and my biggest concern right now is I have done nothing but sale my entire career and now, I am tired of it! I have my nursing degree but as I have said before, I hate nursing. So now what?

I am looking over the available jobs and I just can't find what I need. But then how many jobs out there have the requirements set at: Must be able to type very fast, own your own equipment and work from home. Hours from 9:30am to 11:30am. Must be able to go all day without ever dealing with another person.

Does not sound very reasonable or likely. Lots of sales and nursing positions out there and a few for fulfillment centers, not exactly what I was looking for.

So if anyone hears of a great opportunity, with at least some of the above perimeters, please let me know!

I'm Going to Be Independently Wealthy!!!

I'm Going to Be Independently Wealthy! Isn't that exciting news! Here's how I am going to do it....

First I am going to enter myself into the Miss Black America Contest.

Second I am going to sue for millions on the basis of discrimination! My case will be that I lost because I was white! After all, it is the Miss BLACK America pageant.

Of course I'll have to form my own version of the NAACP since those idiots would have no idea how to defend this. I'll have to find a group of people that actually have brains! We'll convince the jury, made up of poor white women, that my losing had nothing to do with the fact that I am a 30 yr. old mother of five with no hips or chest at all, but rather my losing was based solely on the color of my skin and I was discriminated against. Of course, people are so used to hearing the discrimination plea that everyone will buy right into it, since after all, discrimination is so prevalent still.

And when I get my millions out of these Miss Black America people, then I'm entering the Miss Mexican America!

P.S. We'd never get away with holding a Miss White America!

Cadillac Song by Johnny Cash

I just heard the Cadillac song by Johnny Cash and it gave me a wonderful idea! Forget the Caddy, I'm going to get myself a job at the Ferrari plant and sneak myself out some Ferrari parts. Except I'll learn from his mistakes and start with the exterior, get all those parts first and then work on the interior and finally the engine and tranny. I think that's the only way I'll ever be able to get myself a Ferrari. Other than that, I'll be driving my little minivan for the rest of my life!

But until then, the Johnny Cash is always good for a laugh with his Cadillac Song.

Helping Families - Helping Yours

I have just signed on with a new company, actually, they are not a new company, they have been in business for many years, but they are new to me. I will have the flexibility to set my own hours and work when I can. The pay is reasonable and I will be getting the opportunity to help people by offering free financial needs analysis to families. It includes debt consolidation, life insurance quote, retirement planning and investing.

I love the program because it has the ability to save families hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars per month, some of which can be invested to help them make their retirement goals. It's a great company so far and I love the benefits of the job.

If anyone is interested in getting involved or just getting a free financial needs analysis, leave me a comment and I'll get you hooked up. This has been really great for me, so far!

Diet Drug Addictions

Drug addiction is an epidemic that challenges millions of people from every walk of life. No one is immune from it. And it's not just the addict that suffers, all the people around them, everyone that loves and cares about them suffers with them. And addiction to diet pills is no exception.

Our society places so much value on being skinny when in fact it is not healthy to be "model thin". Highly overweight or obese is not healthy either, so finding a nice balance, somewhere in the middle is an ever increasing challenge. And with that challenge come the new monster. Diet drugs are popping up everywhere! They are worse than Starbucks!

Not all diet pills are bad, however. Most can actually be very beneficial, if used properly. Diet drugs can give the dieter the edge they need to get going. They can kick start the metabolism to help proper diet and exercise do their job. And there are even some diet pills that can give you energy to get through your day and others that can help cure acne while your at it!

But I have seen too many people start popping these little pills with tragic results. It can seem too easy and when the time comes to actually change their diet or start the exercise routine, they falter. Falling back on the pills to lose the weight. It becomes a vicious cycle and they get hooked. Please, if you use diet pills, do it responsibly.

Losing my Mind....

Is it just me, or does everyone start losing their minds as they get older? I swear, as I get older, I can not remember what I am supposed to be doing, where I am supposed to be going and who I am supposed to be doing it with!

I have two boys that need to be at football practice, one at 4, one at 5. One girl has to be to cheerleading practice at 5:15 and the other has Dance at 4:45. One child gets picked up from her mother's at 2pm and her brother dropped off at 9pm to be babysat all night.

Add in our Country Fair Days Kid-K run at 6 and Movie in the park at dusk and I feel like I am running in circles. I am beat and tired and I can't remember who needs to be where, when. I'm going to need to get myself one of those PDAs everyone has, just to keep track of myself!

The Distracted Mom

I am having one of those weeks. We are in the process of taking all of the children's toys, moving them to the play room, sorting them and boxing them. The children will then have to check them out, just like a library system.

I have not figured out yet just how to work it all. I would like them to have to earn them, but I think I would need 5 different POS systems, just to keep everything straight. And at $10,000 a shot, I doubt I'll have even one! I knew they had too many toys, but I never imagined they had this many! Good thing, some get to be thrown out and others are too young, even for Baby, so they get donated.

However, I am thinking that this is already working. I am seeing much less clutter in their rooms and the rest of the house. It's actually pretty nice!

Mesothelioma

Cancer is a scary thing and having children does not make it any easier. One lady I know, a mother of three, lost her husband of 42 years to Mesothelioma. They assume he got it from the asbestos he inhaled while doing home renovations in the early 60's. The funny thing was, it didn't rear it's ugly head until much, much later in life. He was in his early 60's when they found it. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe and when he started the chronic wheezing, he decide to see his doctor. Unfortunately, he was not one to see a doctor regularly so it was very advanced and although they tried several rounds of chemotherapy, it proved far to advanced for even today's medical science. He passed away peacefully and without pain with the assistance of medication, but he left behind a wife and 3 teenage children. This poor woman has been through so much in the last year and she finally decided to look up Mesothelioma lawyers, so far she hasn't had much luck with that, as the company he worked for has long since disolved, but they seem optimistic. She is now trying to put her life back together without her dear husband. But with the help of loved ones, and the little money the state gives her, she should be fine. It just never ceases to amaze me how quickly this life can leave us. Please make sure you see your doctor regularly and kiss your kids and your spouse every day!

Diet Pills?

The debate on diet pills continues to get bigger and bigger. Which ones are safe? Which are FDA approved? Which is the best route... Natural or synthetic? All are good questions and all have serious risk factors involved. I have seen natural weight loss pills do as much damage as synthetic, man made ones. I have seen hundreds of billions of dollars pumped into the pharmaceutical industry via the sale of these drugs and billions of dollars generated in the legal system by the prosecution of the drug companies on even the best diet pills. Not to mention the millions of dollars earned by the medical industry from the "side effects" of these drugs, both natural and synthetic. And yet, as a nation, we continue to cling to the hope that we can still eat our $5.00, 2000 calorie big mac with a diet coke and pop a pill to make ourselves healthy. I don't know what the answer is, but I know that popping diet pills like candy is not the answer. However, Safe, practical use of diet pills, a healthy diet and plenty of exercise is a good start!

Lose it Right

Losing weight is not an easy thing and it can be very frustrating and cause feelings of failure when it doesn't work. However, it does not need to be that way. There are many natural ways to kick start your metabolism. Coconut oil for instance, when used at a rate of 3 tablespoons per day, it is said to speed up your metabolism greatly. And there are many drugs on the market to help you out, but even the best fat burner can't compete with a poor diet. Chocolate cake for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch and a salad for dinner followed by ice cream is just not going to cut it!

Choose healthy meals and healthy snacks. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables as fillers with small amounts of protein and carbs for the energy you need to get through the day and not feel hungry. An apple and peanut butter make a great snack. A piece of toast, a banana and a cup of low-fat yogurt is a yummy and healthy breakfast and go easy on dinner. Then that piece of chocolate cake once in awhile is a necessity for everyone, but daily it is nothing more that a sand trap for even the best dieter.

So take a minute to look through your cupboards. Are they stocked with healthy, quick grab snacks, or are they filled with high calorie, high sugar, fill you up fast but leave you hungry in 10 minutes treats? Now is a great time to make the effort to clean out your cupboards and stock them appropriately. You be very glad you did next time the mid-day munchies sneak up on you.

Free Summer Fun Activities

Here is a great way to kick up your fun this summer. The R.A.M.P. program in Weber County has opened up a world of opportunities for families finding themselves on suddenly tight budgets and in these dire economic times, that is more than a few of us. They are opening various facilities in Weber County every Saturday free of charge. I am really excited to be able to take my family on some of these outings.

Link to http://www.co.weber.ut.us/ramp/PDFs/summer%20schedule%202009.pdf and you can see a listing of all the available facilities and the dates for free admission. There are some really exciting ones like the Roy Aquatic Center, BSA Ropes Challenge Course and The Ice Sheet to name just a few. Spend your summer having fun, get out and go!

Sharing Embarrassing Moments

I had a friend tell me the other day that she had heard that sharing embarrassing moments with friends was a great way to make them less embarrassing to you. So over lunch at our favorite hang out (McDonald's, of course!) she shared with me the details of her most recent date. Lets just say it didn't go very well at all. This wonderful guy she had just met had invited her to a party in which everyone was supposed to dress as the opposite sex and go to the "prom". I guess it was really alot of fun, men in prom dresses and women in tux's.

As the night wore on, it got hot and stuffy so she took off her jacket. Well, part of the party involved water balloon volleyball. (If you have never played before, it's alot of fun. It involved a volleyball net and passing water balloons back and forth using towels.) They enjoyed a lovely game of water volleyball until it happened! She got hit, square on with a huge water balloon. She was soaked and it was at that time that she, and her date, realized that under her white tuxedo shirt she had made the mistake of wearing a black bra and she had left her jacket across the yard and inside the house. She was very embarrassed, but said that her date handled it like a true gentleman. He wrapped the towel they had been using to play around her and quickly ushered her inside and waited until she had dried herself off and was presentable again.

He then decided that he had had enough of the Prom dress as well and he took her home to change before taking her out to a lovely dinner.


I don't know if she feels any less embarrassed about the situation for having confided it in me, but I feel a whole lot better now that my sides have stopped hurting from laughing so hard. Hopefully soon, she'll stop rejecting my phone calls and talk to me again.

Summer is Here, Electronics are In

Summer is upon us and with that comes lots of children with lots of time on their hands. So that leads me to this particular post.

In this day and age, electronics rule our world. They are every where we go, involved in everything we do and they occupy our every waking moment. However, that does not mean that they need to be our constant source of entertainment.

Now, I'm not saying that you should hide the Nintendo Wii or lock up the computer. Actually the opposite. Make time each day for your children (and yourself) to spend time playing video games and working or playing on the computer. The video games are a great way to build hand-eye coordination and the computer is a necessity of daily life. But set time limits. One hour each day and then it's outside to play.


And finding yourself outside doesn't mean that the electronics get left behind either. Bring along your ipod when you go for a walk, especially in the city. The music will be a beautiful distraction to the noise of city life. On a nature walk, bring your blackberry or PDA and record what you are seeing and doing. It will be a wonderful memory during the cold dreary months.

Take pictures and upload them to your computer as a screen saver or on your digital photo frame. Record the sounds of nature and upload them to your ipod to listen to as you are falling asleep.

Getting outside doesn't mean leaving the electronic behind, but in our world it means incorporating them. So take your electronics and get those kids outside! Enjoy your summer!

Modernize Your Kitchen

One of the coolest new ways to modernize your kitchen is with a new zero radius sinks and matching cutting board. These beautiful sinks are wonderfully functional as well as elegant. They can give a new, modern look to any residential kitchen with minimal effort and minimal expense. They will add an elegant, functional appeal to any kitchen.

Curb The Hunger Naturally

The fastest cure for any diet is hunger. I don't care what kind of diet you are on, whether it be diabetic, weight loss or gluten free, as soon as you start to feel like you are starving your natural instincts to feed yourself kick in and your self control goes out the window!

So how in the world are you supposed to lose weight if you are hungry all the time? You have to find the right appetite suppressant. You can try drugs or you can go natural. Try some of these on for size: Dark Chocolate has been shown to curb cravings, suppress appetite and increase happiness! Apples, Probably the #1 best appetite suppressant. Celery has long been known to burn more calories eating it than it actually has. Oatmeal is high in carbohydrates, which are burned slowly as energy, you will feel fuller longer and the fiber helps it to last even longer. Flax Seeds are high in omega-3's and fiber and you wont even notice them in your breads, oatmeal, yogurt and trail mix.

So take the drugs out of your diet and add some of these healthy and delicious alternatives to your weight loss routine.

What is Education?

I read a couple quotes by Albert Einstein that got me thinking. He said "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." He also said "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

I started thinking about my youngest son and how hard he is struggling against the "system". He doesn't want to conform. He doesn't want to be forced to learn what someone else thinks he needs. He wants to branch out on his own. Learn what interests him. And he wants to do it his way.

I look at all of my kids. Some are great in school, some do well, some struggle and some just get by. But I look at them and I see so much potential. Potential to be whatever they want to be. Potential to be an expert in whatever they choose. But I also see a system that can not allow them to choose. They have to learn to read NOW! They can not wait until they are ready because the teachers do not have the time to deal with children that can not teach themselves by reading it. I see a system that teaches children that their ideas of how thing should/could or might work is wrong because someone already looked into it and found out that it works another way. There's no use in trying it out for yourself. I see a system that takes nice round children and shoves them with all their might through a square hole and on the other side, our most mold able, darling children have been purposefully shaped into what the "system" wants them to be. They are looking forward to administrative careers, doctors, lawyers, nurses or IT administrators. Where are our pyrotechnics? What about our Roller Coaster Builders? Our treasure hunters? And how about our designers?

I remember when I transferred from a private school into public education. It was a very difficult transition. Suddenly I was a round child and I wanted nothing to do with that square hole. Not only did I have big dreams, I had been allowed to learn at my own pace. I was excelling in what I enjoyed and just mediocre in that which I did not. The "system" did not quite know what to do with a 5th grade child that could read at a 12th grade level. Their solution was for me to just wait until everyone else caught up. The end result: I was Bored. A bored child is never a good thing. It just always leads to trouble.

Then came the dream crushing. In my private school I could grow up to be whatever I wanted to be! I could be an astronaut, a fighter pilot or an explorer. I could even be a Mommy if I wanted to. And I wanted to! In private school they explained to me all about how I would need to know how to read well to be able to read bedtime stories to my own children. How I would need to know alot of Math to be able to run a checking account and a household and even help my own children with their homework one day. And I would need to know my history so I can teach my children about their heritage. I needed to know more than anyone else... in order to be a Mommy.

I did well in everything. I worked hard beacuse I wanted to know enough to be the best Mommy ever. Then came public school and in 7th grade we were required to decide what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives. At 12 years old we had had enough experience to decide what we were going to do for the next 60 years. But I already knew. I was going to be a Mommy. Then it happened... I still remember looking at the half smirk half frown on the counslors face when he said, "You can't be a Mommy. You need to pick a real career." I was totally confused. Why was being a Mommy not enough? But I quickly pulled myself together and announced that if I could not be a Mommy, I would be a Pilot and travel the world. Again, the ha;f smirk, half frown but with a few more wrinkles this time, he was starting to get impatient with me. His answer: "You can not be a pilot, you are a girl." Strike two. What is a good career for a girl then? A Nurse! That was it! I would be a nurse. That obviously made him happy. And I was on my way to becoming a nurse. My courses of study were laid out for me and my path was chosen. I would make a great Nurse.....

WRONG! I hate nursing. I hate it with every fiber of my being. I followed that course that my counslor had set out for me and I really did try to be a great nurse. But I hated biology and narrowly managed to avoid having to disect any small creatures. I go tmy CNA and then my HHA and started into my LPN classes when it hit me. This is not my choice. I do not want to be a nurse. I have never wanted to be a nurse. I want to be a Mommy! And with that I quit. I quit my job at the nursing home. I quit my LPN classes. And I quit pretending that Nursing was what I wanted to do.

I have been home raising my children ever since. Picking up small, part time jobs here and there to help out and loving every minute (well, almost every minute) of my life as a Mommy!

And back to looking at my kids. How are they going to turn out? Does Big C really want to be a K-9 officer, or is there another desire, hidden in the depths of his dreams, afraid to surface, knowing that it is not the mainstream. And my Little Man, will he come out of 1st grade still longing to find out how and why? Where and what? Or will he have been forced to conform? Forced to accept the fact that everyone knows better than he? And my beautiful girls? Will they look to being a football player? A Pilot? Or a Roller Coaster Builder? Or will they sucumb to the pressure of a school counslor or a teacher telling them that they are better suited to being a Dental Assistant or an Administrative assistant? And me. Will I continue to allow it to happen, or will I be the Mommy I always wanted to be and make sure that my children have every opportunity to thrive, however they thrive best?

New Cell Phones

Here's a tip for anyone out there that didn't already know (i.e. people like me), if you have had your phone for over a year and are ready to replace it, Call Your Provider.

I found out that most companies offer upgrade services for their customers. I found this out when my husbands cell phone started having troubles. I'm not exactly sure what the problem was, if his phone could not make a connection with the cell tower or the satellite or whatever, but for some reason it would only send/receive calls and texts about 50% of the time. So after many lengthy calls to AT&T, being lied to about the length of the warranty and finally finding out that he was under warranty when I started dealing with this whole mess but is now not under warranty any longer. A very nice gentleman at AT&T informed me that he was eligible for an upgrade meaning that he could get a new phone at little or no charge by just extending our contract out another 2 years. Not a bad deal. (especially since he waived all the fees associated with it due to the warranty situation!).

So for those of you wishing to update your old phone, call your service provider and see if they have an upgrade plan available to you.

Education in Education

For any mother, getting an education is tough, but necessary. And what better field to get your degree in than education? Your children will need you to have that information when they bring home their homework and if you end up needing to work, what better place than in your own child's school?

That being said, I have spent some time recently looking into getting a degree in Elementary Education. I have always thought that being a teacher would be great and I love education and children. However, I have never liked the system. I'm not sure that getting into the middle of it would be the best idea.

I found St. Xavier online university that looks like it would be a great option for anyone that is looking at getting their MS Instruction from home. They offer a masters program in curriculum and instruction that could help you further your career in education even. They offer key components such as a focus on literacy, diversity, integration of technology and an interdisciplinary perspective in education. This course examines integration of the theories of curriculum and instruction, learning, growth and development, the implementation of technology and research, and the application of assessment into the practice of developing and delivering an effective curriculum for K-12 classrooms, college, and other educational arena. All of which are great in a classroom and even better in your home. Not to mention, they are accredited so your degree will be recognized.

They offer flexible schedules to work around your busy lifestyle. So really there is no good reason not to get your degree.

Spring Fling

Spring is here and Spring cleaning is upon us and the house is not the only thing needing a little TLC. Now is the time to take your sweetheart and spend some time getting to know one another again. As we move from the winter vacations into summer vacations the intermittent spring time brings slower times for the hospitality industry so you start to see some amazing packages and specials. Here are my picks for the Utah area:

Eden
Spring Skiing at Wolfcreek:
$199 Per Couple, Per Night Includes:
Luxury Lodging
Massages for Two
Two Lift Tickets to Wolf Creek Utah Ski Resort
$100 Club Dining Certificate
Continental Breakfast
*Based on double occupancy. Minimum two night stay. Offer does not include taxes or gratuities, excludes holidays and is subject to availability.

Moab
Upgraded Rock & River at Big Horn Lodge:
$294.95 per person (based on double occupancy)
reg rate $369.95

3 Nights Lodging for two
Full day Raft on the Colorado River with Lunch
2 hour Hummer Tour
Your choice of:
Horseback Riding
Fiery Furnace Hike in Arches National Park

St. George
Signature Package at Red Mountain Resort & Spa:

The popular spa program from $199 per person, per night, double occupancy
Deluxe Accommodations with High-Speed Internet Service
Three Delicious & Nutritious Meals Daily
Daily Guided Morning Hikes
Unlimited Fitness Classes including Yoga, Pilates, Chi Ball & Drums Alive
Healthy Life Classes & Events at the Wellness Center
Personal Discovery Activities ~ Meditation Hikes, Fire Ceremonies, Tai Chi on the Rocks & More
Eat Well, Feel Well Cooking Demonstrations
Use of Resort Facilities including Indoor and Seasonal Outdoor Pools, Bicycles, Walking Trails, Strength & Cardio Studios

There are just a few of the best so grab the sexy lingerie and your sweetheart of choice and go find out what you have been missing all winter long.

April Foolin' Around

The idea of april fools day seems to have come about near the beginning of the 16th century when Pope Gregory XIII ordered that the old Julian calander, which celebrated the new year on April 1st, be replaced with the gregorian calendar that we use today which celebrates the new year on January 1st. Rumor has it that the French adopted the new calendar right away, but peasents in the outlying areas did not get word of this and continued to celebrate the New Year on April 1st and were soon looked upon as "Fools" by the upper class. Once all was settled, they decided to continue the practice as a day of fun and joy and April Fool's Day was born!

For April Fool's Day this year, I made a dinner my family will not soon forget! I made Not Chicken Pot Pies for "Dinner". They were made from small potpie tins filled with green mini m&m's (peas), papaya dices (carrots), yellow starburst pieces (corn), banana dices (potatoes) and dried apple ring pieces (chicken) and covered in butterscotch pudding (gravy). Then covered with *mini, precooked pie shells made to look like pot pie tops. They looked SO realistic I fooled everyone!

By the time I got out "Dessert" they were all pretty suspicious. My oldest guessed right away that my "cake" was not what it seemed. And was he ever right! It was a "beef cake" as my husband called it. I filled 2 8" cake pans with meatloaf and cooked for 30 minutes on 375, drained off the grease, and layered them on top of each other with shredded cheese in the middle. Then I "frosted" my cake with mashed potatoes that I had colored blue. With a large decorator tip and bag full of colored mashed potatoes, I accented the edges with mashed potato shells. It did look very convincing.

But the best part of the whole evening is when my husband decided that he had had enough fun and it was time for a drink. He picked up his glass to try the "fruit juice" that I had served, only to set his cup back down with a groan and a roll of his eyes. He found out the hard way that the "fruit juice" was actually a cup full of jello and he would be pretty hard pressed to get a good drink out of that cup!

It was really a night to remember for the whole family! Happy April Fools Day!

Financial Jobs Available

In this tough economy, I figured I would throw this out. Please be forewarned, THIS IS NOT A WORK AT HOME OPPORTUNITY! While most of my posts are centered at the stay at home Mom, this one is different. This is directed at those mom's that have to work outside the home to make ends meet, or at Father's trying to find a job in these tough times.

Financial jobs, investment banker jobs and accounting jobs can easily be found at www.financialjobbank.com. If your specialty is in the financial industry, this is a website dedicated to helping you find a job in this economy. Check it out and the Best of Luck to you!

Online Shopping: Buy.com

I love Buy.com. It is so simple, it's so easy and it's SO inexpensive! They have tons of wonderful products on Sale and only a handful of times, have I not been able to find what I was looking for, but then, I didn't really expect them to have accessories for my kids swing set anyway!

I love their selection of name brand kitchen appliances and their prices usually can beat Walmart, Kmart or Target. They have a HUGE selection of electronics and just about everything else you can imagine! But the best part is, I have never seen them be out of stock on anything! Their shipping is fast and reliable and I have been very happy with every transaction I have completed with them.

Making Your Money Stretch

With the economy in a downward spiral and no blue sky in site, we, as mothers, are having to stretch every dollar farther than ever before. Every time you seem to get everything in order, the washing machine breaks or the bearings go out in your van. Repairs are costly and you find yourself trying to determine if you are going to make the repairs or buy food.

For most people, that is not an easy situation. But in Utah, a big thing is food storage. It is part of an LDS prophesy, that there will come a time that God will destroy all crops from the earth just before the resurrection. The LDS have been warned to be faithful and keep one years supply of food on hand.

While this is great in a disaster, it is also a good rule of thumb for anyone and everyone. Religious or not. Whether you believe that the earth will be void of all food or not, keeping a 1 year supply of food on hand is a smart idea. If you are laid off from work, injured and not able to work or just short on cash one month, what ever the situation, you will not have to worry about food. You will have enough food to sustain you for a full year and you can focus on other pressing issues, like car payments and mortgages.

So here is my "Making Your Money Stretch" tip for the day....

LDS or not, religious or not, make a wise decision for your family, protect them from whatever the future might hold and make sure that they will always be fed. Get a minimum of 1 years worth of food and keep it stored in your home at all times. Use it when you need it and cycle through it regularly when you don't. It will lighten up the stress on any economic hardtime you find yourself facing.

Save Some Green

Children, although they are darling little creatures, are also very, very expensive. And for those of you with the cute little pink and snugly models, take it from a parent of a pre-teen.... Really, it can and WILL get more expensive! You think diapers and powdered gold, whoops, I mean Formula are expensive, just wait! Soon will come, football ($500 per year easily), Dance (easily $1000 per year), Ice skating, soccer, girl and boy scouts, camps, school and more. Much much more! Then come the holidays where gone are the days where a simple $3 toy or an empty egg carton for that matter will suffice! Nope, now we are getting asked for things like cellphones, ipods and Nintendo Wii's! Ouch!

So, for those of you not privileged enough to raise a child with Donald Trumps income, here are come tips that have made my dollar stretch to it's absolute breaking point!

1. Shop the sales. I know that sounds like the same old thing, but I am very serious! I have three girls that are totally into Hannah Montana and her clothes and accessories, bedding and bikes are priced out of this world! I have found that they are just as happy when I buy a shirt for $30 as when I buy it on sale for $10. And my son, he has to have the most expensive, name brand shoes. $100 minimum! Unless I can find them on sale. He doesn't care what they cost, just that they make him look cool at school. (Which at this age is a very important thing for children)

2. Use coupons and promotion codes. There are many, many websites out there that offer coupons and promotion codes. www.promotioncodes.com for starters offers promotion codes for many of the major online retailers. And if you are in Utah www.grocerysmarts.com does all the work for you matching up store sale ads with manufactures coupons, resulting in a boat load of savings! I actually picked up 12 boxes of Kellogg cereal last Friday for $0.50 per box!!! And alot of items end up being free with your coupons!

3. E-Bay it! If you are looking for a hard to find or terribly overpriced item, it's likely that you can find it on ebay and at a reasonable price. I have used ebay for years and have only had one problem with a transaction and they cleared it up, faulted the seller and returned my money to me promptly. Then went about dealing with the seller. Ebay is a wonderful and safe place to shop and find great deals!

4. Shop the off season. Now is not the time to run out and buy your childrens summer wardrobe! That was last fall. Now is the perfect time to pick up their school clothes for next school year. Now is when the stores introduce their new lines of summer fashions and deeply discount those fall and winter clothes that have been hanging around since last March. Now is the perfect time to outfit your children in winter coats and snowboots, sweaters and long sleeved shirts. Pick up a cute summer dress while your shopping, but leave the majority of the summer clothes shopping for August or September!

Can You Spot The Problem?

I just wanted to see how many people can spot the problem with this and how many would just sweep it under the area rugs in their brains and get excited that they are getting a great deal? I am really hoping that we have not gotten so jaded to things like this that we really do even notice it anymore.

Do You Have a Good Yeast Doughnut Recipe?

I need help. I need to find a good yeast doughnut recipe. My husband and children love doughnuts, cake or yeast. I have found a fantastic cake doughnut recipe but as of yet, I have not found a good yeast doughnut recipe. I am looking for a recipe that is easy, quick and great tasting. I know they do not always go together, but the closer I can come the better.

So here's the deal. If you are willing to comment with your best recipes, I will try them all and judge them. For the best recipe I will send you a prize pack of cooking gizmo's worth $15. Please be sure to include your recipe and your web address or e-mail so I can contact you if you win.

I will accept entries until the end of March 2009. Then I will try each recipe and announce the winner on or about April 17th, 2009.

*I retain the right to publish any recipes sent during this contest and use the recipes in any way I see fit, with right's going to the original creator. Please be sure to give credit where credit is due.

Legit Work at Home Opportunity

I have a friend that has been hired by a company called Cloud10. They are a work from home, tele-commuting company with many different client options to work for. They will pay you minimum wage (I believe) throughout your sales training and program specific training. Then you would move onto your specific program where you can usually make $8 - $9 per hour working from the convenience and comfort of your own home.

One word of caution... If you want to work from home, you really, really have to want it! It is not easy to get your foot in the door. The hours are usually miserable to begin with and the training can be brutal. But once you have your foot in the door and have been on the job for 6 months to a year, that is when it starts to get easier, the hours get more flexible and the jobs gets easier.

Peace at Home

Love at Home is directly related to Peace at Home. Keeping the peace at home can be difficult but one thing that I have noticed is that the noise level in the house will directly affect the level of peace and comfort in the home. As the television get turned up louder or the radio gets louder, the children get louder, the pets get louder and then the parents get louder and the home becomes a place of Chaos rather than Peace.

Here are some ideas to lower the Chaos and increase the Peace:

1. Have designated areas. If your TV room is also the children's playroom, you have no choice but to turn up the tube to hear over the children's laughter. The result will be arguments over the noise level. Rectify this problem by making sure that the children have a place to play, laugh and giggle without having to worry about bothering Dad or Sis. And have the television room in a seperate area where the volume can be kept down without having to compete with happy children sounds.

2. Try to train your pets. Pets in homes make for happy memories, if they are well trained! Pets with behavior issues cause nothing but stress. Torn up furniture, constant barking and/or smelly messes are all things to send anyone running and pulling their hair out.

3. Put a damper on the sound. Noise is bad enough in a home with carpeting, but if you have wood or tile floors, you know how little sounds can be amplified many, many times. The easiest way to solve this problem is to add area rugs to warm the area and dampen the echoing noise.

4. Teach everyone to speak softly. If everyone learns to speak softly then the whole home will feel more comfortable and you will always have Peace at Home.

Caring for Your Family

Taking care of your family after you are gone is an important issue to many people, but most of us have not taken the necessary steps to actually do it. We all have small policy's that will pay $1000 here or there if we were to pass away. But are you aware that a small funeral can typically cost $7500 or more? Then there are all the bills that you have left behind. Will your life insurance policy cover that?

Take a look at your current financial situation. If you were to die tomorrow, what would your family need to be able to survive without you? How much do you make each month? What are your bills? How long will your spouse need to be off work to care for the children, home and funeral?

Take all of that into account and then check out term life insurance at wholesale insurance. See how much you can get and how much you can afford.

Jim Carrey's "Yes Man" a "No Go".

Jim Carrey's Yes Man caught my attention as a very funny and FINALLY PG-13 rated movie that I would like to go see. And to be completely and painfully honest, I laughed and laughed and really enjoyed it. HOWEVER....

This is NOT a movie for Children!!!

In saying that I do not personally believe that it should be rated PG-13. It was offensive to me and my Christian beliefs but more than that, it went WAY, WAY too far. I did not think that you could "drop the F-Bomb" in a PG-13 film so that came as a huge shock to me, but even worse that that and the quick "naked butt shot" of Jim Carrey's backside was the scene where they apparently thought it would be funny to have Jim Carrey receive a "blow job" from his elderly neighbor. I believe that to be having gone WAY too far.

But like I said, as an adult, I enjoyed it. However, owing to the fact that I do not wish those influences to be allowed into my mind, I would have avoided seeing it had I known.

Mesothelioma Answers and Support

Mesothelioma is not only a big word but it is also a very scary one for someone or their family who are dealing with it. Fortunately they are not alone. There are others who are going through the same emotions, physical symptoms, financial scares and treatments. There are people you can talk to to get answers, share experiences and just relieve some stress if necessary. At Mesotheliomahelp.net, you can get answers to some of your hardest questions, support for your emotional ups and downs and you can find people just like you, going through the same struggles and the same fight. It's a wealth of knowledge and a wide support network for people battling mesothelioma and families supporting them.

Dieting Right

Diet pills are all the rage now. Everyone wants them, everyone has their own opinion on which one is the best. Leptovox does it all, Fastin is the safest or Lipo6 is the most effective. Everyone has their own opinions.

Personally, I prefer a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. Unprocessed foods, fresh fruits and veggies, plenty of rest and lots of invigorating exercise. I noticed that when I started eating better and spent more time moving and less time sitting I felt better, I looked better and I had a ton more energy. Not to mention, I knew that I was not taking anything that could possibly cause my body serious harm now or later in life.

It's Almost Here!

2 more days to go and Christmas will finally be here! Then I can relax in the spirit of Christmas, the spirit of my Lord and Savior and enjoy a peaceful day with my family after a hectic season of rushing and stressing.

I love the Christmas Season because there is no other time during the year that you put so much effort into showing the people you love that you care about them. And there is nothing I enjoy more than showing those I love that I care about them. However, sometimes in doing that it can cause me a lot of stress. I am on a limited budget and if given the opportunity I would buy the world for those I love just to see them happy. And then there are all the little things that I want to do with them, not just for them. The baking, the decorating, the parties. It all costs money and in today's world, a lot of money. So the stress for me is pretty real, but well worth it! However, when it is all over I want to get a room, at a vegas hotel, drop the kids off at my Mother's and enjoy a relaxing weekend with my husband, at the spa, in the warmth of Nevada.

But until then, I am really excited for Christmas to come. Excited to celebrate the birth and life of My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with the ones I love the most.

Mulling Spices

I am sure that all of you have heard of Mulled Cider, right? Well, I have been asked a lot lately about mulling spices, what they do and what they are good for. The answer is incredibly simply actually.

Mulling is a tradition that dates back many centuries where beverages are heated and mulling spices are added and infused throughout the drink. Common beverages in which to use mulling spices are Juices, Ciders, Brandies and even Hot Chocolate.

Mulling spices can be anything from your basic Cinnamon to Star Anise spices to Orange and Lemon Peel and just about anything in between. The most popular are Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, Cloves, Anise, Orange and Lemon Peel, Pineapple Fruit and Cherries.

Mulling can be achieved by grinding the spices or fruits into a powder and adding them directly to your beverage or you can use a tea bag or cheesecloth bag to add the whole leaves and berries and allowing them to sit in the bag, in the beverage and removed just before serving.

If you would like a wonderful new treat try this Recipe for Mulled Hot Cocoa:

1 Gallon Hot Cocoa
1 tsp. Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg Powder
1/8 tsp. Cloves Powder
1/2 Dried Orange Peel

Add the Orange Peel to the Hot Cocoa and allow to simmer for 7-10 minutes. Add the powdered spices and simmer another 5 minute. Remove the Orange Peel and throw it away. Serve.

This is a wonderfully mellow Mulled Hot Cocoa. Enjoy!

Scary Economy

I can't believe the downturn our economy has taken! It all started with banks/credit card companies giving outrageous loans to people who could not afford them. Then when they were foreclosed on, the banks/credit card companies started struggling and jobs get lost. With the jobs lost, money gets tight and the economy gets worse. Then the smart people, the ones that took out reasonable loans for modest houses, begin to feel the strain. Then more jobs are lost and the unemployment rate hits the highest we have ever seen. Less and less money gets spent and more and more jobs are lost and suddenly the smart people are becoming less and less able to make the day to day bills like their mortgages and their auto insurance, they are struggling to pay for food and gas, they are losing their jobs and having trouble finding new ones. And yet the US government has decided to bailout the Banks/Credit Card Companies that caused all of this, to the tune of 700 BILLION dollars! And yet, those that are being affected, those that were smart and yet are paying the price, are the ones that are being left out, left to flounder and fend for themselves. Does this sound right to you?

And the worst part is these banks/credit card companies and other "big businesses" are having to "lay off" their corporate CEO's and other big wigs with pensions that most of us would have to work a lifetime or more to earn!

So now, here's my solution.... Let those that made bad business decisions go bankrupt (natural consequences, after all!) and take that 700 Billion dollar bailout, pay off the national debt and let the hard working Americans do what we always do, work hard and look towards a better future with lower taxes and less idiots to bailout!

Revisited: Keeping Kids Rooms Tidy

I just thought that with Christmas fast approaching, this would be a good post to revisit. As the Christmas presents start piling in, rather than just packing it in tighter, why not call in the moving trucks and get to work tiding up the kids rooms and getting rid of some of their older toys and clothes? Here is a great list that we personally use to help the kids keep their rooms clean and tidy daily but especially through the hectic Christmas Season.

"I have struggled, trying many different ideas to get my children to get their rooms cleaned and keep them that way. I finally found something that has worked! We made a bedroom cleaning chart that has worked so well. We had to tweak it a little the first time we went through it to accommodate everything in their individual rooms and their individual personalities as well as to not make any one step over whelming but the finished product has worked like a charm.

They start with their 30 minutes of cleaning every day and get as far through the list as they can. Then the next day they start at the top again so as not to get behind again and work as far as they can until eventually they finished the last thing on the list and the next day they started at the top and got through the whole list in a matter of minutes and were able to get on to other chores in the house.

Now their rooms have this quick checklist that they go through everyday to keep their rooms clean and they are much happier and so am I. Below are the two lists that I created. Feel free to use them and adapt them to your children's individual needs.

Boy’s Bedroom Cleaning
 Make Your Bed
 Pick Up All Blankets, Pillows & Stuffed Toys
 Pick Up All Dirty Clothes
 Take All Dirty Clothes To The Laundry Room
 Pick Up All Clean Clothes & Put Away
 Put All Shoes In The Closet
 Pick Up & Throw Away All Trash
 Pick Up Lego’s
 Pick Up All Other Toys And Put Them Away
 Put Away All Things That Belong Somewhere Else

Girl’s Bedroom Cleaning
 Make Your Bed
 Pick Up All Blankets, Pillows & Stuffed Toys
 Pick Up All Dirty Clothes
 Take All Dirty Clothes To The Laundry Room
 Pick Up All Clean Clothes & Put Away
 Put All Shoes In The Closet
 Pick Up & Throw Away All Trash
 Pick Up All Dolls And Put Them Away
 Pick Up All Other Toys And Put Them Away
 Put Away All Things That Belong Somewhere Else
I hope you can find this as helpful as it has been to me."

Baby Mama

This is a movie that caught my attention on a flight from Houston, Tx to Salt Lake City, Ut. It was playing on the flight and my headset did not work properly so I was not able to get much more than just enough to whet my appetite.

This weekend however, I finally found the time and energy to tackle the HUGE job of reclaiming my family room which had turned into the family dumping ground. There were boxes and toys and clothes, a set of mattresses laid out on the floor and one single pathway between the bottom of the stairs and my office which if the childrens computer was being used, I was required to walk on the mattresses to get to my office! But in less than 6 hours, with the help of my enlisted children, we got it done. We move the couch forward and opened up a place in the back of the family room for Lee's weight bench even. The couch is now close enough to the TV that you can actually see it and it is now a comfortable room in which for us to watch our movies and spend time. Eventually I want a flat screen TV to hang on the back wall and home theater seating along with a coxy fireplace in the corner, but for now what we have is much better than what we had.

So with my reclaimed family room, I went out and rented 3 movies. One of which was Baby Mama. We were able to sit down and watch it, but after a period of time, I realized that this was by no means a children's movie and I had to kick the children out of the room. But Lee and I really enjoyed it. It is a very cute story about a lady that can not get pregnant, is not married and desperatly wants a baby. She finally decides on serrogacy and before long the plot is moving. As most movies it gets very predictable, but I do have to admit, there was one part that I did not expect. That was very refreshing. It will make you laugh and I would highly reccommend it to any pregnant women or mother's.

Stretch Your Laundry Detergent

I love this tip because it does SO much to stretch your budget. One of ht most expensive things I buy is Laundry Soap. I need something that will get the stains out and keep my kids clothes looking new and bright as long as possible. I can not afford to replace their clothes before they out grow them! I buy Tide, but it is expensive and with a family of 7 I got through it very, very quickly. But this little tip has helped to stretch the laundry soap just a little bit further and not break my budget.

Add 1/3 cup of baking soda to 2/3 cup Laundry Soap prior to adding to the wash. This will not only stretch your laundry soap but also helps to eliminate odors and keep them out of your clothes, as well. Baking soda is very inexpensive and easy to come by. But the biggest thing you have to remember with this trick is you need GOOD laundry soap to start with. This trick is not going to work with Purex or some of the other cheapish brands. Hopefully, this little trick will be as beneficial to you as it has been to me. Enjoy!

Pants for My Man

Lee came home the other day, after a company meeting and announced that I was right. Once I got over my initial shock, I was able to request the full story. I guess he felt rather out of place in his torn up jeans and Wahoo! T-shirt, sitting in an office with the "big man on campus". I guess he was dressed in a button up and tie. Even though the rest of the guys around him were in jeans and t-shirts, he felt out of place and my having said to him "dress for the job you want, not the job you currently have" struck him as not just the regular steam I blow. He suddenly saw some wisdom in it.

So he made the request for a couple new pairs of pants and some nice shirts. Not a difficult request. I would just run out to Smith and Edwards and pick up a couple pairs of nice Wranglers. Simple enough, right? WRONG! First I decide to stop at IFA and see if they have the right style and what the price is. I end up picking up a pair of jeans for him and two pairs of Croc's for Ladybug (they were on clearance for a buck!) and dragging Baby out of the store kicking and screaming because she wants a bunny! Yes, a real live bunny rabbit with long ears and soft fur that I made the mistake of letting her pet. (I won't do that again!). Then we work on making our way to Smith and Edwards. Something that should have been a very easy task as I visit this store very, very often. However, my wonderful mind has issues with directions so I end up getting on the wrong road and can't find it. After a desperate phone call to DDad and the best directions he can give over the phone, Baby and I end up at our destination. I thank my father and in we go with just under 40 minutes to get pants and get home. We grab two pairs of pants for Lee at $19.99 a pair, and I decide that the identical pair that I just bought from IFA for $31.99 are going back.... tomorrow. I buy the pants and head out the door and head for home. We make it just in time for Baby to get ready and go to Dance.

A couple days later I returned the third pair to IFA and got my money back. But now I am still looking for a couple more pants and some nice shirts for him. He is pretty hard on clothing so I need something sturdy yet with that business look. I found some pretty nice tactical pant, the kind the police and military wear, but I worry that they might not be "business" enough. They are definitely sturdy, with reinforced knees and seat and plenty of pockets, 10 to be exact! I really think he would like them, but I just can't decide on the "business appeal" of them?

Workout at Work

Do you sit at a desk all day? Are you worried about what it can do to your body? Flabby tummy? Love handles? Well, worry no more! Here are a few exercises that you can do in your office chair to tighten those buns, strengthen your abs and work out those arms.

Abs
Sit on the edge of chair, arms extending in front. Keeping back straight, contract the abs and slowly lower torso towards back of chair. Hold 2-3 seconds and repeat.
Curls: Cross arms over chest and sit up straight. Contract abs and curl shoulder towards hips, pulling abs in. Hold for 2 seconds. Relax. Repeat for 10 reps.

Buttocks
Sitting upright in your chair, tighten your butt muscles and hold to the count of 15. Relax. Repeat 10 reps.
Sitting upright in your chair, no leaning against the chair back, raise both legs and hold to the count of 10. Relax. Repeat for 10 Reps.

Arms
Hold your arms, parallel to the ground at shoulder height, out to your side. Slowly raise them until they are parallel with your body. Slowly lower them until they are parallel with the ground again. Repeat twice and rest. Repeat for 10 Reps.

Time to cut back?

With the economy in a downward spiral, every family finds themselves in the same situation. Money is tight and demands are tighter. How do you find yourself coping with the frightening and ever changing economy? I have found that I have had to cut back on a lot of the "niceties" in life. New clothes and eating out have been some of the first to go. Thoughtless spending and not taking the time to check prices, gone as well. But I worry that in time, the necessities are going to fall victim. What about our health care? Our gas and food? Our dental care?

I had a friend tune me into one company that will help us out when it comes to my families glasses. After all, Big C and I are both dependent on our glasses for daily life functions. What would we do if we were to break our glasses? My insurance only provides for one set of frames and lenses per year. But thanks to my good friend T, I was turned on to a company called Zenni Optical. Their prices on eyeglasses and frames are incredible, so affordable! Frames starting at just $8 with lens tinting available for less than $5! They have Men's and Women's frames and even Kids frames! It's good to know that I don't have to worry about my families glasses. Even with the downturn of the economy, I can afford to see, and look good doing it!

Movie Night

Are you sick of the same old movie nights? Popcorn, soda and chips? Well then maybe it's time to kick it up a notch? Here are some great, quick, easy and delicious treats for your movie night!

Spinach Artichoke Dip
1 Tbsp Butter or Margarine
1 Small Onion Chopped
1 8oz pkg. Cream Cheese
1 8oz tub Sour Cream
1 pkg frozen spinach
1 Jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts, chopped
1 Cup Kraft Shredded Italian Cheese Blend

Saute the onion in the butter until clear. Add the rest of the ingredients, in order and stir until well mixed over medium heat, adding the cheese blend just before serving. Dish into a serving container and sprinkle with a little more cheese for presentation.
*To add a little kick, you can add 1/4 cup jalapeno's, finely chopped before the spinach.

Serve with chips or toasted bread. Garlic bread is especially yummy with this!

Quick Fudge:
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 8oz package Semi-Sweet Baker's Chocolate squares
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Line an 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving flaps on the edges to use to lift the fudge out of the dish. In a microwave safe bowl, pour the milk and add the squares of chocolate. Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted. Add Vanilla and pour into the baking dish. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Now there are some things guaranteed to throw some life back into your movie nights!

Shopping for Fixtures

Wow! What an exciting adventure, huh? Actually, it was quite eye opening! My wonderful angel children informed me the other day that the naughty little entity that lives in our house, the one that goes by "Not Me" or "Nobody" had broken the faucet in the bathtub. So, since I could not find "Not Me" to drag it along on this boring little excursion, I decided, much to their dismay, to take the innocent little children who had had nothing at all to do with the faucet being ripped nearly out of the tile wall.

Amid the groans and moans, fussing and whining, we made it to the local Home Depot to start our search for a new tub faucet. After 3 stops at the drinking fountain, one detour to the lawn and garden section to retrieve the 5 year old of the riding lawn mowers and a stop at the restrooms, we found ourselves in the bathroom section.

To my surprise, their was a HUGE array of faucet selections! So large in fact that the children got caught up in a game we play called "I Spy" where someone describes a detail or two and the rest have to guess which one they are talking about. This turned into alot of fun, even for me, and before long we had moved from the bathroom faucets to the kitchen faucets and ultimately ended with trying to agree on how to redecorate our kitchen. Sorry Little Man, we will not be installing cabinets with the Batman symbol engraved. But the Corian counter top you found will be coming home soon, I'm sure!

As for the tub faucet, we settled on a plain silver one with ceramic handles, much like the one we already had. But the day turned out to be much more fun that I had prepared myself for.

Let's Move Up In The World, PLEASE!

I work for the sweetest, most wonderful people the world has ever been graced with. In that I mean that they would give you the shirt off their back and button it up for you. They thrive on service and ask nothing in return, ever. I love them to death. They own a little Kitchen shop in the downtown area and I can tell you that I would work there for free (if they would just hire men! Goodness I hate working with women! We have got to be the meanest, cattiest, most backstabbing gender. Wow!). However, one of the things that drive me crazy (other than the women), is the lack of technology. I guess that should help to foster the quaint feel of the store, but as an employee, it drives me crazy! We don't even have barcode scanners at the registers. We still enter the merchandise by hand. Some of the gals have gotten very, very quick at it. I on the other hand am still very slow (as they are also quick to point out). But give me a barcode scanner and I have been in retail long enough I could make their heads spin! Hee Hee Hee...

Save On Electronics

As our society progresses so does our dependence on electronics of all kinds. The average impoverished household still comes with the basics, a television, a personal computer and of course, a cellular phone. However, as our economy inches closer and closer to a depression disaster zone, we are finding ourselves needing to cut back, save money, be frugal. And as the money begins to ebb then the retailers find themselves backed into a corner. "Lower your prices or sell nothing at all." For a retailer, that is not a good place to be. It means laying off workers, cutting back on expenses and benefits for employees and paychecks dwindling. Which in turn sends our economy deeper and deeper into depression. However, to try and stay afloat, retailers will take the "Lower Prices" approach to try and stay in the black. That's where we, average Americans can cash in. Prices fall and the electronics that we need for our very existence, i.e. cell phones, personal computers, car stereos, etc start dropping in price and you start to see amazing deals to keep the money flowing in a positive direction. So keep your eyes open for those great deals. They are out there, and thy are going to continue to get better and better.

Football Sunday

Call in the Chicago accident attorney's, there has been an accident in Detroit! What a poor game. By that I mean that I am grateful that the Bears pulled it off, but come on! They are a MUCH better team than the one that showed up today. Of course, the Bears offense seemed to collapse a bit under the pressure of starting quarterback Kyle Orton leaving the game before halftime after suffering a right ankle injury, but what was the rest of the teams excuse? The defense kept slipping up and allowing the Lions to score on them before finally joining the game and shutting them out in the second half. Lets hope that they can pull it together before nexts weeks match-up against the Titans. Without their starting quarterback, they are really going to need the rest of the team to show up and pull their weight. The Titans are the only undefeated team in the NFL and it is about time they fell off their high horse and met up with their downfall at the hands of the amazing Chicago Bears!

Vogue Magazine

I just wanted to throw this out there. I am not a huge magazine reader and especially not a fashion magazine reader. If I have any magazines come to my home they are magazines like Sunset or Country Living. So I was shocked when I picked up a copy of Vogue at the airport.

I was excited about it because it was in German and I thought that my son would be excited to see it. However, as I was showing my husband the pages and how it was printed in German, being the wonderful Man that he is, he noticed not the words or the language at all. No, his attention was drawn immediately to the pictures of naked women that I had neglected to notice at all! Which just goes to show you the difference in a Man and a Woman!

However, upon noticing that, I started flipping through the rest of the magazine and it resembles a playboy magazine more closely than it does a fashion magazine. I was shocked and very disappointed! Not only can I not give this little treasure to my son to take to his German class, but it is also something that I will never, ever purchase. What a disappointment!

Home Spa Time

There is nothing like having a relaxing day/night in the comfort of your own home. It's even better if it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg! So I thought I would give you some great recipes and ideas to make your At Home Spa Night fantastic and inexpensive and make yourself feel Beautifeel!

Bath Salts:
Making your own bath salts is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to add an extra ounce of relaxation to your Spa Bath.

You will need: Epsom Salt, Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Food Coloring and Essential Oil in your favorite fragrance. Start by mixing 3 cups of Epsom Salt, 1 cup of Sea Salt and 2 cups of Baking Soda. Mix well and slowly add your choice of food coloring. (Hint: to mix colors, mix in a separate container prior to mixing with the salts.) Add the food coloring a drop at a time until your desired color is reached. Then add the essential oil, remembering that the stronger the salts, the less you have to use but too strong will make it unpleasant. Once mixed, the salts can be kept in a Ziploc baggie or a Tupperware container until used up.

Quick and Easy Facial
The perfect way to Relax and Rejuvenate after a long day is a soothing, moisturizing mask and eye compress to moisturize and relax away the stress of the day, leaving your skin healthier and more toned than ever.
Ingredients
2 slices of cucumber
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of milk
Method
Combine honey and milk, stirring until completely combined.
Apply to face and throat.
Take the cucumber and place one on each eye.
Lie down for 10 minutes.
Remove cucumber and rinse off mask with warm water.

Foot Spa
Treat your feet to a soak in this milk and water mixture and follow it with the sugar scrub for incredibly soft feet.

Ingredients
7 cups of water
2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of lotion

Directions
Heat the water and milk and in a pot on the stove or microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it as hot as your feet can handle. In a separate bowl mix the sugar and lotion.
Pour milk mixture into large bowl and soak your feet for at least 10 minutes. Then use the sugar and lotion mixture to massage your feet to exfoliate and moisturize. Rinse with clean water and pat dry. Massage additional lotion to soften your feet.

Oatmeal Hand Spa and Care Treatment
This is a wonderfully gentle hand scrub made from oatmeal, lemon juice and olive oil that leaves your hands nourished and soft.
1 cup + 2 tbsp oatmeal
1 ½ tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp olive oil
¼ cup Water
Directions
Add Water to 1 cup of oatmeal and let stand until oatmeal is softened, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add Lemon juice and Olive Oil to 2 tbsp Oatmeal and mix well.
Massage mixture into your hands and allow to stand 1 or 2 minutes. Rinse with cool, clean water and pat dry. Liberally apply moisturizer to your hands and let it soak in 10-15 minutes. Then dry with a clean cloth.

School Pictures?

Are school pictures really the way to go or are there less expensive alternatives out there? The answer is a resounding YES! There are many ways to get your children's yearly pictures much less expensively than school pictures and here's why.... School pictures usually start out with packages around $20 and go up from there. Now, with 5 children, as in my case, that's $100 minimum! Then if I want anything more than that, the price just keeps going up. You can end up at $200 before you know it! Not to mention, the pictures turn out looking a bit like mug shots.

Now here are some great alternatives; all of which I have used many times.

Take your own pictures.
As simple as that sounds, it has been the best option for me, over and over again. I started out with a 35mm camera and two rolls of film. I have since moved into using a digital camera. Both options have returned beautiful pictures. I will take my kids up into the mountains in the fall and take their pictures in the beautiful fall leaves. We will take a couple different shirts and a couple props from what ever was their activity of choice that year i.e. footballs, dance clothes and shoes, ice skates or cowboy hats and boots. It made the pictures very personal to each child. We pack a picnic lunch and make a fun day of it. By the time I am through, I have spent less than $50 for film, processing, enlargements, gas and lunch.

The other option that I use often, especially for Football or Dance pictures are the discount retail stores like Wal-Mart and Target. I tend to prefer Target over Wal-Mart because I get to chose a package from a variety of poses. Wal-Mart makes you take the package from the first pose only and then the rest are very expensive. The other great thing about Target that I have not seen Wal-Mart offer is you can choose either the very inexpensive package, or you can choose to purchase by the sheet at a very low initial price. However, if you end up without enough pictures then any reprints are very expensive. On the other hand, Target has just the basic backgrounds... White, Black and Brown where as Wal-Mart's backgrounds are constantly changing and are usually very fun and bright. Either option is great for someone that is nervous about taking pictures themselves. You can usually get packages for around $7 per child.

Either of the above options are more time consuming than just doing your daughter's hair a little nicer and sending her off to school in the morning, but I can almost guarantee that you will get much better pictures and you will save LOTS of money!

Coconut Oil for Weight Loss?

This is something that I am just now hearing about. I love using pure, cold pressed, unprocessed Coconut oil as a lotion. It makes my skin so soft and moist while making it smell just scrumptious! I have always known that it is intended to be used in cooking and has an amazing array of health benefits, but it was just recently that I heard that Coconut Oil is actually a great way to kick start your metabolism and help you lose weight naturally! I had no idea! The biggest draw back is of course, the price. But they say that you only need 3 tablespoons a day to get all the wonderful health benefits and to kick start that lagging metabolism and start losing that weight!

Quick and Easy Holiday Appetizers

I love the holidays. The chill in the air, the sparkle of the snow covering the trees, the Christmas lights and the warm feeling all around. It's the one time of the year when we focus, not on ourselves, but on Christ and his love and sacrifice. We find ourselves drawn to helping others, thinking of our fellow man and spending more time with our families. My favorite part of the Holidays is the time I spend with my family. The dinners we share, the fun we have in the kitchen cooking up great meals and the "down time" spent playing cards or watching "A Christmas Carol". I am one however that loves the down time. I love snuggling up on the couch with my husband and all of our children, cups of hot cocoa and a big bowl of popcorn, watching the fire dance and reading one of our families favorite books.

That being said, I don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. A few pies, stuff the turkey and I am just about done. I want to get to that snuggling, or snuzzling as Baby calls it. So anything beyond that needs to be quick and simple. Things that I can outsource to the littlest of children. So over the years I have found great appetizers recipes that are both quick and easy as well as scrumptious! Here are some of my favorites:

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

1 Pkg. Bacon cut in to thirds
1 Can. Sliced Water Chestnuts

BBQ Sauce:
3/4 c. ketchup
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar

Toothpicks

Wrap each water chestnut slice with 1/3 slice of bacon. Push a toothpick all the way through to secure the bacon to the chestnut. Lay on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Mix BBQ sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until sugars are dissolved. Remove bacon wrapped water chestnuts from oven the and drain off the grease. Dip each in the BBQ sauce and lay them back on the cookie sheet. Return them to the oven for 20 minutes. Serve Warm.

Another favorite is Mexican Seven Layer Bean Dip:
1 can refried beans
1 can Fritos Bean Dip
1 container Guacamole dip
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 pkg taco seasoning
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
1 can sliced black olives
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green onion

Mix beans and spread in the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish. Cover with a layer of guacamole dip. Mix the Mayonnaise, sour cream and taco seasoning and cover the guacamole layer. Mix cheeses and sprinkle to completely cover the sour cream. Top with olives, tomatoes and onions.

For more great appetizer recipes and all your holiday cooking needs, take a minute and visit My Recipes.com. They have a huge database of holiday recipes to make any party absolutely fabulous!

Darling Fall Decorations

You will need:

1 Roll of Toilet Paper
1 Fall Patterned Fat Quarter
1 7" Strip of Green Patterned Fabric
1 4" x 4" Piece of Brown Paper Bag
1 Piece of brown string

Set the roll of Toilet paper in the center of the fat quarter, with the fabric print side down. Pull the fabric up around the toilet paper roll and tuck it into the center of the toilet paper roll, wrapping it completely. Roll the paper bag piece and tie a string around it. Lay the piece of green fabric across the hole in the toilet paper and stuff it down in the toilet paper hole with the rolled up paper bag piece to make it look like the leaves and stem.

Hannah Montana Books

For my Daughter's 9th birthday, she got almost 90% Hannah Montana stuff. She just love's Hannah Montana and I find her to be a better role model than most I have seen. So I have allowed her to indulge. But I have to say, I was just a little disappointed with the Hannah Montana book she got. She was just thrilled! It was on her reading level, just a little under even so as to make it fun easy reading and she loved the story. I, on the other hand, was disappointed that it was nothing more than the scripting from the first couple of episodes. I guess I was hoping for a new story, new story line, something different. But, the good thing is, the book was not written for me, and my little girl just loved every minute of it. I guess I can not complain too much.

Chiropractic sound good?

I have been desperately wanting to see a chiropractor and a masseuse in the same office. Finally I found one. Then I found out that my insurance covers up to $1500 per year for chiropractic and massage. I am in heaven! But then after my first visit, I left feeling very overwhelmed. I was told that I had scoliosis and he gave me a whole list of supplements to take. Everything from Omega-3 to anti weight loss pills, something called Juice +, which actually sounds pretty good. It's a supplement from fresh fruits and veggies, pressed into a powder form and the sugar has been eliminated. But now, here I sit, looking at a wellness plan consisting of well over $1400 per year and wondering, was this really the best idea?

A Fantastic Halloween Costume

I was surfing the web the other day, looking for something that had nothing to do with Halloween costumes of course, when I stumbled upon the cutest Halloween costume I have seen in a very, very long time. I decided that I would make one up for Baby. It was a little baker girl and so easy! A little white dress with a red and white checkered apron and child size oven mit. Add a bakers hat and a rolling pin, a little fluff of flour and you have the cutest little baker you have ever seen!

Fall is Fast Approaching

Fall is not as far away as it once seemed. I am finding myself enjoying the comforts of bigger sweaters in place of thin flirty shirts and chosing socks and shoes over fun flip flops. There is a definite chill in the air and the fire last night was just not quite warm enough. My cravings for hot cocoa, warm pumpkin bread and soothing soups are slowly waking from their summer slumber and my desire to fill my freezer with yummy icecream and cool treats is dwindling. I find myself sweeping the patio, cleaning out the planters and getting out the patio furniture covers. My gardening techniques have turned from nursing young helpless plantlings to harvesting the fruits of my labor. I find myself spending more time outdoors and my energy begining to renew. The heat of the day does not bothere me as much and I find the slight cooling refreshing and exciting. Fall is my favorite time of year. It encompasses everything that I love. The cooler weather, the fresh fruits and veggies, the wonderful fall foods and the beautiful colors of the leaves. I love a plate full of warm squash, pumpkin bread, corn on the cob and fresh tomatos. Gone are the sweltering days of summer and here come the calm and quiet days of Fall!

Cure Acne Naturally

I am getting greener and greener and the funny part is I used to laugh at all the "tree huggers" and think they were ridiculous. Now I am finding myself agreeing with them alot more now than ever. I find myself leaning towards things that are more natural and natural cures is at the top of my list.

As a 30 year old woman, I am finding that I am still struggling with a slight case of acne. Nothing heavy and nothing that would cause me to wear tons of make-up, but a pimple here and there and once in awhile, one that gets really ugly and is a bit embarrassing. So I started looking for natural acne cures. Things that don't break my budget and help me be more natural. Here is what I found on Buzzle.com. I can't verify any of it, but I will let you know if any of it work, because I will definitely be trying some of it.
"Some Natural Anti-Acne Products you will find in the market Tea Tree Oil, Aloe Vera, Zinc, and Vitamin A are some natural products that have been used with some success to cure Acne. A word of caution about 'natural' skin care items. They often contain certain chemicals for preservation purposes. Some of these may not be advisable for you if you're pregnant or have certain special health considerations. As mentioned, it is best to consult with your doctor before embarking on any therapy.

Tea Tree Oil - Tea Tree Oil is obtained from the Melaleuca alternifoliais tree from Australia. It is very effective against Acne as it contains bacteria-fighting substances called Terpenes. Acne is often caused by bacteria and the Terpenes either outright kill them or weaken them enough to be destroyed by protective antibodies. There are very little side effects from using Tea Tree Oil.

Aloe Vera - The watery gel from Aloe Vera plant is also a highly effective natural cure against Acne. The enzyme-rich gel has very soothing anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. It can also be taken internally and helps clean up and detox the digestive tract. This in turn can help clear up the skin.

Zinc - Zinc is taken in the form of capsules. It helps to strengthen the human immune system and to repair the skin.

Vitamin A - Vitamin A tablets are also a natural and effective Acne cure. Vitamin A promotes healthy skin.

Vitamin E - Vitamin E also helps in countering Acne. It is a natural antioxidant and beneficial for the skin. Vitamin E comes in soft gelatin capsules that contain Vitamin E, Soybean Oil, Glycerin, and Water.

Some Natural Homemade Cures to counter Acne - The most important thing to do if you suffer from Acne is to drink at least four pints of water every day. Drinking a lot of water is very beneficial to your skin. Including fresh fruit and leafy green vegetables in your daily diet will also bring about a marked improvement in the quality of your complexion.

Before bathing, apply a mixture of tomato pulp – real tomota pulp, not packaged one – honey and rose-water to your face and keep for twenty minutes before washing off.

At night, before going to bed, apply a mix of cream, glycerine, and lemon juice to your face and again keep it on for a short while before washing.

Regular Yoga exercises will also improve skin and overall health.

I HAVE HAD IT WITH CREDIT COMPANIES!!

I have had it with credit companies! Don't they have any sense of compassion? Empathy? Human nature at all? Or is money really all they care about?!? Never mind, I already know the answer to that question. Luckily for me, I carry nothing shy of my house and vehicle on credit. Everything else is cash or nothing! But for the poor, unspecting people that get themselves wound up into the alure of credit cards, there is no help. No escape! First they loan you exorbident amounts of money and make it seem as though it will be so easy to pay it back, then they start. The bills come and you find out that you have way more debt than you can handle and start worrying, then you miss a payment and they add on extra fees, outrageous fees, so you have no possible chance of ever getting caught up. Then come the heartless debt collection agencies that call and call and call some more, upwards of 10 or more times a day I have seen. They are ruthless. Finally when you can not handle it anymore, they finally get around to doing something, usually reposessing the stereo, car or computer you bought, sell it at market value, and cancel your debt or worse, force you into bankruptcy which WAY too many Utahns are currently facing. Yet here we all sit, waiting for the federal government to step in and impose laws to make it easier on debtors. But why doesn't Utah take a bigger stand? Why don't we implement the rules to protect our state from bankruptcy disaster? I think that creditors should be held just as responsible for bankruptcies as the debtor. They are just completely heartless!