New York, New York

Have you ever taken a walking tour?

I have been reading about these, and I am liking what I have discovered. Basically, you meet up with a guide, and together you walk around a major city, taking in the sites. From what I understand, these are one on one tours, so you are not required to keep up with a group. If you want to stop and have lunch at a little cafe you just passed, you can. If you want to take 20 pictures in front of a beautiful church or garden, you can. If you want to skip something that doesn't interest you, you can. In fact, you can do just about whatever you want to. These tours start outside of New York Hotels, or San Fransisco Hotels, and they are a great way to discover a city. I wouldn't mind doing a walking tour of New York the next time I am visiting up there. I have been in the city so many times, especially around Christmas time, but I always feel like there is so much more to the city that I have yet to discover.

And I want to discover it at my own pace.

Facebook Is Messing With Me

Today I got an email from Facebook. It said I had a friend request. I clicked on the link, and it took me to my profile.

The old profile that Facebook denied me access to in December. All of a sudden I had access. I was excited! I could finally delete some of the pages I joined, and join them with my new profile I had to set up because I couldn't get on the other one, the one I suddenly had access to today.

Did you follow that?

I updated my status, checked on my pets in Happy Pets, and then clicked on a link to something else...I don't remember what...and all of a sudden it asked me to login.

Hmmm....I tried logging in with the old info...and it took me to a different profile. You see, back in December, I tried logging in, and it wouldn't go. Somehow, I ended up creating another account with that email address, and that is where I am being directed now.

That is not where I want to be.

I tried going back to the email they sent me the friend request in, and going in that way, but it asks me to log in now. This is so weird!

I think Facebook is just trying to mess with my mind...and it is working!

Guessing Game

Mariuca is giving away entrecard credits, and it is really easy to get in on the fun.

Recently, entrecard announced that members couldn't have more than 100,000 credits in their accounts. Apparently, Mariuca has more than that, and decided that hosting a contest was a great way to get rid of those extra credits. To enter, all you have to do is guess how many credits she has in her account. You get three guesses, and as a hint, she let us know that those guesses should be within the 100,000 to 150,000 range.

So, without further ado, my guesses are:

134,134
127,127
141,141

I am hoping to win one of these three prizes:

1st Prize 25,000 EC credits
2nd Prize: 15,000 EC credits
3rd Prize: 10,000 EC credits

If you want to enter, go here and give your best guess. Contest ends March 20, so get on over there and join the fun!

When In Rome...

I have a big anniversary coming up this year. In June, Junior and I will be married for fifteen years. Some days it feels like we met yesterday, and some days it feels like we have been married forever. Today is one of those forever days.

I think it might be time for us to take a vacation, just the two of us. We have never been anywhere alone, except for our honeymoon. I would love to check out some Rome hotels for a romantic Italian getaway, but I am clueless about travel. Luckily I read an article that contained a bunch of tips to make an Italian getaway not only easy to plan, but affordable as well. There best tip seems to be booking early, and I am guessing that three months in advance isn't early enough to get a great deal on an awesome hotel room. Besides, I am afraid to fly. This means we would have to go somewhere we can drive to, so I was thinking of maybe booking a room in the hotel where we stayed on our wedding night. The problem there is that the hotel is no longer in business. It is now an apartment complex.

Maybe I'll just ship the kids to my mom's for the night, and Junior and I can enjoy some alone time. It's been a while since we have had some of that, too.

Etsy Elephant...Or Is It?

I love etsy. This is no surprise to you all, my loyal readers. My favorite things to search for are elephants and jewelry.

While searching for elephants today, I came across this one. It's cute...but it's also not handmade. I know this because Junior bought me the same elephant at walmart for about $75. It comes painted, exactly like the picture here shows. The only thing this seller did was attach a ribbon to the back so she could call it a hair bow holder.

And she's selling it for $5, with $2.50 shipping.

I thought the whole point of etsy was that it was all handmade stuff?

Coloring Contest

Brandi's school had a coloring contest, and here she is proudly showing off her entry.

I would think that in second grade they had better things to do, but whatever.

I am just happy that she is loving school right now.

Backpacking Around Europe?

How many of you dreamed of traveling the world after high school? You see it in lots of movies and television shows, where the lead character will put off college for a year or two so they can backpack around the world. My question is, does anyone actually do this?

I ask because I wonder what the experience must be like. Staying in far away places must be so exciting, where you can learn the culture and language of other people. It's probably how foreigners feel when they come to the United States and stay in fancy New York Hotels. I would love to experience the cuisine of different countries. I watch enough Food Network to know that there are some interesting culinary practices around the world.

I guess the big question is whether or not I have the courage to get on the plane and take that first step. Because let's face it, I am not the backpacking type.

Brown

Last weekend, I finally got frustrated enough and unpacked the girls room myself. We've been in this place for a month now, and they were still living with everything in boxes, and their room was a mess. I had warned them that if I had to unpack their stuff, I would throw stuff away as I went. You see, they packed their room at the apartment themselves, and took everything, and I mean everything.

Four garbage bags later, their room looks great. When we first moved, I let them decide what color they wanted to accent their room with, and they decided on brown and pink. They found these really cute peel and stick decorations for the walls, and they were perfect since we are not allowed to paint.

I also decided to paint their shelves and things to match their room, which will be quite time consuming. This mirror used to hang in the hallway at the apartment, but there is no hallway here, so Kasi asked if she could have it in her room, since her dresser doesn't have a mirror. It's an old, antique-y looking thing, and it is gold. I want to paint it brown to match her room, but I am not looking forward to it. There are so many little curvy places...it is going to take me forever!

I also want to paint this little shelf brown, with pink hearts. I am not looking forward to painting the spindle thingys, but I am sure it will come out great when it's done. I bought this shelf when Kasi was about a year old, and it has always hung in her bedroom. I wish she would have stayed with the pastel color palate, but I guess a part of growing up is that her tastes will change. At least she didn't want her room black like mine was when I lived at home.

And FYI, my black room was awesome. White walls and everything else was black. My mom decorated it for me for my birthday, and then sold the house a few months later.

I loved it while it lasted, though.

Date Night

Have you guys seen the trailer for this movie? If not, you can check it out here. Basically, Steve Carell and Tine Fey play a boring couple, who decide to have a date night. They can't get a table at a ritzy restaurant, so they pretend to be another couple who didn't show up for their reservation. Of course, this couple is into all kinds of crazy stuff, and the bad guys show up at the restaurant for a little payback.

I have got to say, this movie looks so funny! I love Steve Carell movies (but not The Office...go figure) and Tina Fey is a hoot. This is one flick I definitely want to see in the theater.

Postcards And Giveaways

I have seen a ton of giveaways going on these days on people's blogs! I really should start entering them, because I have won a few things in my life. I get discouraged, though, when there are already hundreds of people entered. How do these blogs get so many people to enter? I have tried doing giveaways myself, but they never turn out well. I usually have three people enter, and it's just not fun that way.

The most recent giveaway I have seen is for postcards. I wanted to enter, but one of the requirements was that you had to explain what you would use the postcards for. This stumped me. All I could think of was Christmas cards, but it is only March. I don't need save the date postcards just yet. The girls have a way to go before they will be getting married. Then I was thinking of maybe using them for some kind of promotional thing for my blogs, but what? Could I use them as over sized business cards? Is that a little tacky? Or really tacky? Or maybe I should make them into birthday party invitations, but do I really need 100 invites to a party? Maybe I could make them generic, so I can use them for all the kids?

What would you use postcards for?

Brandi's Pony Bank

Brandi got this cute little back for her birthday. It came with a few paint colors, but since we were planning the move back then, I had her put it up. While unpacking a couple of weeks ago, she found it, and was really excited to be able to paint it. I think it looks great. She has two other little figurines that need to be painted, too, but she is saving those for a rainy day.

Maybe when that rainy day comes I can paint with her. It's been a while since I have done anything creative...

Planning A Move?

Are you planning on moving a long distance? Many of my old friends from New York are thinking of making the move down south, hoping to get away from a higher cost of living. When I moved to South Carolina, I was young. I didn't have very many possessions, so I loaded what little I had in my brothers car, and off we went. I would hate to think about moving all my things now. We recently moved across town, and it took us a week, and many, many truck loads to get our stuff to the new place.

If you are planning a big move, consider using U-Pack instead of truck rentals. With U-Pack, you only pay for the truck space that you use, and a driver drives the truck for you. This is a blessing, because it means that you can relax in your own vehicle, while someone else worries about your load. I know from experience that the trip from New York to South Carolina can take over 12 hours, and that is while sticking to the high end of the speed limit.

The best part about U-Pack is that they are comparable price wise to truck rentals, but with them, gas, taxes, and insurance are included in the price, so there are no surprises. So when you decide to move, let U-Pack move you.

We Saved Money!

For the first time since we have been married, Junior and I have set a monthly budget for ourselves. We used a good bit of our tax money to pay off some loans, our van, and some other things. I wanted to get rid of as many monthly expenses as we could, so that we could afford to put more money towards rent, therefor allowing us to find a better place to live. As most of you know, we moved a few weeks ago into a cute little double wide trailer, which I love. It has three bedrooms and two full baths, and is perfect for my little family.

One of the monthly expenses we got rid of was our auto insurance payment. We were paying about $55 a month, which came out to about $660 a year. That's a good chuck of cash. Of course, if we paid for 6 months or a year at a time it would have been cheaper, but we never had the money to do that.

Until this year. Junior went in with $600, hoping he could get a deal for paying for a full year. Our hope was that we would save at least $60. I do not remember who we had our policy with last year, but Progressive beat their price for a full years coverage. When all was said and done, Junior qualified for a bunch of discounts, and he was able to get a years coverage for less than $350. I couldn't believe it! He saved over $300 by paying up front for the entire year! How crazy is that?

All I can say is that every year when we get our tax refund, we are going to pay for a years worth of auto insurance. We would be crazy not to.

Spiral Earrings

I wore these earrings today. I bought them on etsy from DesignsByLorelei. They only cost me $4, and I really like them.

What do you think?

I ask because when we were coming out of Walmart before, Ryan noticed them, and told me they were "butt ugly". I thought he was kidding, but he said he was serious. He really thinks they are ugly.

That is why I need you opinion. And be honest. I really don't want to walk around wearing ugly earrings, especially because I think they are cute.

Ryan Bought A Laptop

A couple of weeks ago we bought Ryan a laptop. Well, I say we, but he saved up his own money and paid for half of it, and the rest was his birthday gift from us. We bought it at Best Buy, after I did a lot of checking online to see who had the best deal. You would think that while doing my research it would have occurred to me to look for coupons I could use, but it never did. After all the times I have written about how cheap I am, and how much I love using coupons, I totally flaked out on finding one this time. Let's just say it was a blond moment.

Of course, I found a bunch of Best Buy Coupons after the fact. That's just the way my life goes. I always find a better deal after the fact. But from now on, I am going to try and remember to find coupons for everything I buy, not just my groceries. I think that was my problem. It didn't register with me that all kinds of stores use coupons, not just grocery stores.

Ryan loves his laptop, though, which is the important thing. He even lets me borrow it sometimes. Of course, I usually have to beg a little bit first.

Art Show

Brandi had a performance at school last night, and before it started the parents were invited to the school's "art show". Brandi was so excited to show us the picture she painted! She told us she was the only one to paint bushes with her flowers. I think she did a terrific job! Her performance was pretty cute, too!

I Love Etsy!

A couple of weeks ago I splurged a little and ordered a few elephants off of etsy. I also ordered a couple of pairs of earrings. The ones that I am wearing in that picture over there are my favorites. They are made with silver wire, and it's all squiggly at the top, then it has two black beads at the bottom. They hang pretty low, which I really like. Sure, they get stuck on my shirt every once in a while, but that's the price we girls pay, right?

The one thing that all these things that I ordered have in common is that there were business cards inside of each package. There was such a variety of business card designs, with some even being magnetic. (I know these are just regular business cards stuck on magnets) I consider myself pretty crafty, but not enough where I would sell what I make. There have been a couple of times where I have tried to make a buck or two, but nothing ever comes of it. I never had business cards made, and maybe that would have helped me get my name out there. Who knows.

I guess I will just continue to give away my creations, and let the people I love enjoy them.

Sliding

My girls.

So beautiful.

Yes, I may be biases, but it is what it is.

It's my right as a parent to think my girls are the most beautiful girls in the world.

And I do.

Want To Be A Better Parent?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Raising a Father. All opinions are 100% mine.

Two years ago, when Junior started going to therapy, it was hard for him to admit that he needed help. The main reason he began therapy was to work through some issues he had, and still has, with his family, and how he was raised. He also wanted to make sure that he didn't have the same relationship with our kids that he had with his parents. He has always been a good father, but since therapy, he has become an even better one. He is able to see the situations that bring out the best in him, and also the ones where he is not at his best. I am proud to say that he is doing extremely well learning how to handle the not so good situations, and his relationship with our kids is flourishing.

The trailer above showcases a book, written by a father who also saw the flaws in his parenting. He was spending too much time at work, and his relationship with his daughter was suffering. In fact, he realized that he didn't know his daughter at all. His book, Raising a Father, shares his stories of leaving the corporate world, and building a home based business while spending quality time with his daughter. I know that it is not possible for all father's to do that, but I don't think that is the point. I think the inspiration in the book is how this man came to realize the important things in his life, and he took steps to make those things the center of his life.

I think all fathers should read this book. And mothers. I am sure there are working moms out there who want a better relationship, and more time, with their children. No parent is perfect. I am far from it myself. But having a positive relationship with your children should be a priority in life.

I know it is in mine.

Kasi's Banana Bread

Yesterday, Kasi decided she wanted to make some banana bread. I had very ripe bananas and a recipe, so I told her to go for it.

Things didn't turn out very well. I think she might have forgotten some key ingredients. The recipe called for both baking powder and baking soda, and I think she left one, if not both, of those ingredients out. As you can see, the bread kind of fell in the middle.

It tasted pretty good, though, so that was a plus, but I think next time, I might offer a little help.