What I Have Been Up To

photo from romyhype.com

My posts haven’t been as recent lately. Life has thrown a lot of cureballs at me! So what have I been up to?

* We were in a car accident in November that ruined our Thanksgiving plans and totaled our vehicle. The other driver was at fault – she ran a red light and drove into oncoming traffic. Since then we’ve had to deal with pain and recovery, as well as finding another used car in our budget, and overcoming all the stress and trauma from the accident. We are EXTREMELY thankful it wasn’t more serious!

* I’ve been very busy with work and it’s ups and downs. It’s not always easy to run your own business and it’s even harder to depend on others to make sure you get your bills paid. I love running my own businesses, but a regular paycheck would be nice sometimes! The business I created with my daughter is growing and we are trying to expand to Etsy as much as possible to watch it grow. I’d like to start doing craft shows as well. Mostly we sell locally person to person right now.

* I’ve recently started dating again, which has added a whole new array of stress and emotions into my life. I have to say though, it’s been totally worth it. I took a year to decide what I wanted and find myself. That has helped a lot in being able to walk away from not so great dudes. I am able to keep focused on the things I want in a person and not settle for less. I’m dealing with the emotions and stress of it in a healthy and positive way. It’s been a great experience!

* We’ve had a change of friends as well. Sometimes it’s been a small shift in who I’m closer to, other times it’s been a door slamming completely shut. We had some hard times at the beginning of the year due to one person, but she’s since moved out of state and we’ve found peace again. It’s a hard balance knowing when to try and stick around or when to walk away. I am prone to sticking around long after I should because I am a helper and a nurturer by heart. But my own heart needs to be kept safe so I’m working on not letting it get put on the back burner for others.

* I’ve decided I want to go into health and fitness as a career. I’d love to sing for a living but there aren’t many smokey 20’s piano bars out there anymore and breaking into the profession is challenging. Maybe one day I’ll find one of those bars and sing in it on the side just to feed my soul. Health and fitness I love too. I want to be the best me I can be and that means setting goals and working hard at them. I need to put this as one of my top priorities so I live a long time and take care of my body. I love this field and I plan to go back to school for it this fall.

So much has changed and I feel I’ve grown so much. I want this site to be a place that reflects that. 🙂 Look for wonderful things coming soon!

My Latest At Home Business – DSD

I am a huge fan of freedom when it comes to work and finances. As a single mom it has always been important to me to find ways to earn income from home or be able to take my daughter with me. It’s taken a lot of creativity and ingenuity to keep doing that all these years. It’s been 3 years now since we started on our work from home journey and it has been a blessing! Don’t get me wrong, many times we’ve been left with a tight budget and little to no money to spare. It’s been hard but the time with my daughter is so much more valuable than that! I’ve gotten to watch her grow up, homeschool her, and be a part of her life on a daily basis. Nothing can compare to that!

This company that I’m a part of is called DSD – Dollar Sign Domination. This company equips you with the tools to make your own money selling online without keeping any inventory filling up your house. Sounds nice right? Even nicer is the fact that they offer TONS of free training videos for you! And even nicer than that is the fact that it only costs you $19.95 a month! How many times have I walked away from a company because they wanted me to pay hundreds of dollars to join up? More than I can count! I am not the kind of person who invests that much money to begin with, and not only because I don’t have that kind of money. I value every dollar we have and I want to know that it’s going to good use. I feel that a company shouldn’t need me to sink $1,000 into it unless I want to. DSD doesn’t do that.

To sign up you pay $19.95 a month. This is to sign you up under the program and get you going. You can upgrade as you want, when you want. If you want to be an affiliate and sign people up under you, you only pay an extra $9.95 a month. Still much lower costing than many other programs! If you are interested in finding out more about the program click here: DSD Freedom and check out the video. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I’m still new to the program but I work under great people who would be happy to help if I can’t!

With any program, there will be good good and bed reviews on it. This is because each person will have a different experience with a company. No matter where you go or what company it is, there will be good and bad reviews. All I ask is that you take the time to research ANY company you want to get involved with to make sure it is right for you. I’ve been signed up with other companies where the person uses me just to get to a higher level or I’ve been there just to boost their numbers. I don’t want others to have that experience! Take the time and look into any program you want to sign up with to see if it can really be the best program for you. I love DSD and am very happy I signed up with it! 🙂

Here is another video for those interested in gaining financial freedom with this program: Why People Fail At Network Marketing and: DSD Webinar.

UK folks can view the info at this link: DSD Freedom!

Book Review – Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series by Laurie Cass

Who knew riding in a bookmobile could be so exciting?! Apparently Laurie Cass did because she’s based an entire mystery series around a bookmobile and a short librarian who drives it named Minnie. Minnie also lives on a house boat, which is not something I’ve come across in any mystery series so far. I love finding unique aspects to a book series that help it to stand out!

In the first book of the series, Lending a Paw, we meet Minnie and Eddie. Minnie is a librarian and she is just getting the library’s new bookmobile ready to go out. What Minnie doesn’t know is that her lovely new bookmobile is about to be entangled in a murder mystery! I enjoyed this book because it’s the first bookmobile mystery I’ve read. I think the idea of a bookmobile offering access to books for those not near a library is itself a fantastic idea! To see such an amazing resource involved in a good mystery is just extra fun!

 

Tailing a Tabby is the second book in the series and also the most recent to be released. Sadly this means another whole year before we get to read another one. In this mystery Minnie and Eddie are enjoying their success with the bookmobile. Things seem to be going very well for this interesting pair – until they are entangled in another murder mystery! Minnie has another mystery on her hands as well as some personal issues she has to worry about.

Minnie and Eddie make an interesting a loveable team. Minnie has determination and stubbornness that help, and sometimes hurt her, in her quest for justice. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and she is always willing to help others. She’s the kind of character you can depend on and see the best in. The other characters in the book always add an interesting flair of the unusual and the complicated. And Eddie? Well he’s just as Eddie as usual!

This is another good cozy mystery series that keeps you entertained and interested without all the graphic violence and gore I find so unnecessary. I’m looking forward to the third installment so I can see what new adventure the bookmobile takes Minnie and Eddie on!

Book Review – A Novel Idea Mystery Series by Lucy Arlington

I am a big mystery novel fan. I don’t like my mysteries gory, super violent, graphic, or too far out that the concept hurts my brain. I like mysteries with good character exploration and a complicated enough plot that it not only leaves me guessing till the end, but it also hold my interest so much so that I cannot put the book down. I’ve found that most definitely in A Novel Idea Mystery series by Lucy Arlington!

I first started off with Buried in a Book, which is the first in the series. Here we meet our main character Lila Wilkins, who has a teenage son and a quirky mother all causing ups and downs in her life. Lila is about to embark on a new path in life and it ends in a fantastic mystery.

I really enjoyed this book! I love discovering a new series that is immensely enjoyable to read, it’s like discovering a rare new species of animal! I wasn’t feeling well when I started reading it but boy it sure took my attention off how I felt in no time! I won’t be giving anything away because I want you to read her book! I immediately went online to get the next 2 books in the series so I could read them as soon as possible.

The second book in this series is Every Trick in the Book (A Novel Idea Mystery). Here we are following up on Lila Wilkins and her latest life event – a book and author festival. Unfortunately for Lila and company, this event turns deadly. I settled down with this little gem for the long haul, knowing it wouldn’t get put down until finished. The second mystery had me just as enraptured as the first, and it was great to follow up with characters I was beginning to know so well!

The third book in this series is also the latest one out, which left me groaning because I hate waiting to read the next book a whole year later! In Books, Cooks, and Crooks (A Novel Idea Mystery), Lila Wilkins is now involved in a cookbook fair to end all – in a most deadly way! Poor Lila, it seems like death and mayhem just follow her. Understandably so though, since this is a mystery series after all. Here we know Lila and her family pretty well, and we understand the things going on in their lives and commiserate with them over the choices to make. Again, I couldn’t put this one down!

I am very hooked on this series. I love a good mystery but they aren’t as easy to find, despite how many books are put out these days. I like a specific style of writing and plot ideas. Lucy Arlington continues to keep the series interesting and addicting so you want to get the next book that comes out. I like the way she writes because she holds my attention, she goes into just the right amount of detail of characters, surroundings, and happenings, without going into waaaaay too much detail. I don’t want to spend the first 30 minutes of a book meeting two characters and reading how they are described over meaningless conversation. And yes, that has happened in books I’ve tried before!

I also enjoy the fresh ideas in her books. With any tamer mystery, or cozy style mystery, there will be some similarities. It’s a pleasure to find creativity and uniqueness in a book series because it helps them to stand out. I have a good 15-20 series I really like so it’s important to me to find the stand out points in them. I find A Novel Idea books to offer that and more. I really felt like I could connect and relate to the character, something else I value in a book. While I may not be in the same age bracket just yet, I can relate to a lot of what she goes through as a woman and a mother. I like characters that seem realistic and have traits you can see in real life people.

All in all, I definitely recommend this series! If you read them, tell me what you thought in the comments below! 🙂

Hotel Cascada Waterpark and Living Social Review Part 2

We had an interesting experience with Hotel Cascada in Albuquerque, New Mexico and with the deal site Living Social. I will be doing this review in 2 parts so it’s not as long. This portion covers our experience with Living Social and Part 2 covers our experience with Hotel Cascada. You can find Part 2 about our problematic Living Social experience here: Hotel Cascada Waterpark and Living Social Review Part 1.

That Thursday we had set up to go to the Waterpark. Their hours for that day were from 4pm-9pm. We arrived before 4pm and could not figure out where to park. Their signs for the Waterpark were pointing to an area where people staying in the hotel park, and their was no entrance for the Waterpark on that side. We ended up driving around until I finally went back out front and parked in their front lot. We didn’t know how to get to the Waterpark so when I called I was told just to go in the front of the hotel and ask for help. The woman at the front desk, blonde with a slightly foreign accent, told us to go straight, turn, go to the second floor, and go across the walkway. She was not very friendly or helpful. We missed where we were supposed to turn, went back, and did end up finding it. There are no signs posted as to where you go to pay for passes or pick things up. We ended up going downstairs and asking at the lifeguard station, only to be told to go back upstairs to the snack bar to pay. I think that should have been clearly displayed on a sign.

We had to wait in a long line, and when we finally got our turn, the girl said there were no passes for us! They said they would try to track down Patrick and in the mean time we got to stand around even more. I finally got tired of waiting and called the front desk. Luck would have it that I got the SAME unpleasant front desk woman who talked to me like I was an idiot. While trying to explain to her who I was trying to locate and why, a man walking by turned around and said he was the one who was going to help us. I hung up on our front desk friend, and he told me that Patrick had told him to arrange the passes and he forgot. He got our passes for us without us having to stand in line again thankfully! He also gave us a few locker tokens as well, which was very nice since we didn’t ask for him to do so. He gave us a small tour since I told him we had never been before, and showed us where things were. He wasn’t my idea of super outgoing but he was nice enough and accommodating.

The Waterpark is all indoors except for half of the hot tub which is indoors and outdoors. The activities are limited to a few things: a kiddie area with playground type of equipment and two slides,  a pool type area with two basketball hoops and a climbing area, a large lazy river, a hot tub, and two tall water slides. This may seem like a lot until you’re there for more than an hour and have already done everything. For me, it didn’t offer a lot but my daughter really loved it and had a great time! Kids seem to be entertained with a lot less than us adults which is really nice sometimes.

They provide life jackets for kids who can’t swim which was a great thing to offer. When I had called I was told not to bring anything, that they provide everything. However, we saw many people who had brought their own floaties and inner tubes. The life jackets were too big for my daughter and floated up under her chin rubbing it raw even when we changed to a smaller size. Their inner tubes are HUGE and fit an adult well, but small kids not so much. If we ever go back, we will be taking her floaties and small inner tube.

They have two types of water slides: one you go down on your own and one you go down in an inner tube. Since my daughter is so small I wanted us to go down together in the double inner tube with two tubes attached. We got to do that only once because they only had two of the double tubes available. I think they need to have a lot more of them for guests because the place was full of people and I’m sure many wanted to ride together. We had to go down the rest of the times in separate tubes, but my kiddo still enjoyed it. The water slides go through the outside of the building and then shoot you back into a pool inside of the building that is connected to the lazy river. When you go through the parts outside the tubes are super hot and humid! We skipped the slide you go down without a tube because my daughter couldn’t take a life jacket and she can’t swim well enough to be without one.

The lazy river was my daughter’s favorite part. We went through many, many times, so many that I lost count! She even made a couple friends there and had fun going through with them over and over. We went through so many times that we knew exactly how to go through without getting as soaked! They have areas with water spraying at you from different directions, areas where water drops on you like rain and feels a bit like hail when it hits you, areas where water dumps on you from the top, and areas where you get pushed through the water by what feels like small waves. I recommend going through with an inner tube to make it easier to navigate and easier to hide from falling and spraying water.

The hot tub was nice for me during the times I got cold. I’d sit in the 2 foot deep kiddie pool/play area while my daughter played for a while, and then we’d make a stop at the hot tub to warm me up. It’s nice that it has an opening to go outside so you can sit in the hot water and feel the sun on your skin. My daughter got a mouthful of their water several times in several areas, which is not surprising. but she said it tasted a lot better than the pool water at our complex, so that’s a plus! The climbing area connected to the basketball hoops consisted of large foam shapes that my daughter said looked like jewels, and a net above. The foam jewels are connected to the bottom of the pool by a rope so it’s hard to keep your balance on them even holding onto the net. It was fun for her to try to go across without falling off and she did it quite a few times!

They closed the water slides down about 8:30-8:40. They closed the whole Waterpark down at 8:50. If the hours say till 9pm, they shouldn’t close anything until then. They do provide towels there as well which is handy so you don’t have to lug around your own. They don’t allow outside food or drinks though, which is a hassle, but we took a water bottle with us anyway. Mostly we had a good time and enjoyed it. There were a few problems and things I felt they could have done better, and I did get tired with the limited activities there, but for my little girl it was an awesome time – and in the end that’s what really matters! She told me she had a fantastic time and she didn’t want to leave. She loved being there and only left the play area once in the 4/12 hours of playing… but only to go to the bathroom!. I am disappointed they wouldn’t work with our vouchers and that we had to endure weeks of hassle just to get to go, but it was a fun night for her and that was my goal!

If you are staying in Albuquerque, New Mexico (and I’m not sure why you would want to…) this would be a fun place to stay so the kids can get a Waterpark trip in as well. I don’t know their hotel prices as we were just there for the Waterpark, but you can check them out and see if it’s worth it. Do beware of possible lacking customer service though! If you do have problems with them make sure you contact someone in charge and skip the non-in charge staff.

Hotel Cascada Waterpark and Living Social Review Part 1

We had an interesting experience with Hotel Cascada in Albuquerque, New Mexico and with the deal site Living Social. I will be doing this review in 2 parts so it’s not as long. This portion covers our experience with Living Social and Part 2 covers our experience with Hotel Cascada. You can find Part 2 here: Hotel Cascada and Living Social Review Part 2.

We love using Groupon to find great deals on local events, activities, restaurants, and on goods! I have had mostly good experiences with them so I figured I’d give the site Living Social a try since they seemed to have different deals. I happened to see a deal for the Hotel Cascada Waterpark listed a while back. I purchased 2 tickets – one for myself and one for my little girl. With Groupon we always get reminders when our deals are getting close to expiring so I expected the same with Living Social. I came to find out that they do not send reminders, or if they do I didn’t get mine for the Waterpark deal.

By chance I went on to Living Social to look for something and realized our Waterpark vouchers were expiring that same week. I had been working A LOT and rarely had a day off, but I did have a Wednesday off that week. I checked the Hotel Cascada Waterpark website only to find that they are open really random times and days. And of course, they were not open on Wednesdays. That was the last day we could use our vouchers. I called and spoke to a customer service woman and explained the situation. I asked if we could come in on Thursday, just one day after they expired, and use them. I was told no, and that we would have to pay full price. Now with other companies, they will often accept your voucher if it has just expired recently. The reason is because they are awesome companies who really care about the customers and want them to enjoy their experience. Hotel Cascada seemed to only care about the money.

I called back and ask to speak to someone in charge. I was transferred to his line and got his voicemail. I left a message that was never returned… His name is Josh. I then went on their Facebook page and left a review in a post. I received a reply comment from them asking me to message them. I did that the Friday of that week. I didn’t hear back from them for days until I left another comment stating that I hadn’t gotten a reply. I was told they were “trying to figure it out with their staff” and that they would get back to me. They never did… I called back again and finally got someone who seemed to care named Patrick. He told me my vouchers could not be used but he would let us come in free. We set up a day, he apologized repeatedly, and he told me our passes would be available when we went in. I thought things would go more smoothly now! Wrong.

I called Living Social to ask for a refund. I paid my hard earned money for the vouchers and if I couldn’t use them I wanted a refund. The first woman I talked to was awful. She kept telling me there was nothing she could do. She called and talked to Patrick who repeated what he and I discussed, and she told me that because he and I worked something out that I didn’t need a refund. Really?! After all I went through with them and the fact that Living Social failed to notify me of the vouchers coming close to expiring were good enough reasons for me. These sites give “Satisfaction Guarantees” and yet she didn’t want to honor that. At one point she put me on hold and then hung up on me! I called back again and got a much nicer woman, who told me money back to my card was impossible, but getting Deal Bucks (like credit to use on future deals) was possible. I was put on hold while she got approval, and then she took care of it. I was refunded the full amount in Deal Bucks which wasn’t my first choice, but it was still a better resolution than getting nothing!

I now have $25 in Living Social Deal Bucks to use in the next year. The experience definitely left a bitter taste in my mouth about this company. I plan to use their site only if I can’t find the deal somewhere else and it’s an EXTREMELY good bargain. Once my $25 is spent, I am unsure if we will continue using them. They do have benefits, such as knocking a couple bucks off of deals randomly. But the customer service I experienced and the hassle they put me through was a big turn off. If they start to get their act together and treat customers better, maybe I’ll see them in a better light.

Don’t forget to read the second part of this review on the Hotel Cascada Waterpark!

Rio Kids Movie $2.99 + Free Shipping On Amazon Today!

Today on Amazon you can get Rio the kids movie for only $2.99 plus free shipping! The prices on Amazon can change so get it fast! 🙂

Saving Space When Drying Dishes

I live in an apartment so space is not something that we have a ton of. Normally that doesn’t bother me much, but in my kitchen it has created a bit of an annoyance in the past because I just don’t have much space for preparing meals and baking. I’ve been one to hand wash my dishes for at least the last 8 years. I have never understood why I would want to pre-wash dishes just to put them in the dishwasher to be washed again. I might as well just wash them myself since that’s basically what I’m doing anyway!

The only down side to washing dishes by hand is the space a drying rack takes up on the counter. I had one that was medium sized and yet I still felt like much of my counter space was full. On top of that, I couldn’t wash big loads of dishes at a time because I had a limited amount of space in my dish drying rack. When I made big batches of food or baked a large amount of something, it left me with a lot of dishes and not enough room to dry them all in after being washed.

A few nights ago, the idea came to me to use my dishwasher as a really large drying rack. This may not be a new idea to everyone, but to me it was like a wonderful light bulb turned on. I often get really good ideas before bed so I usually make notes on my phone with my Note Pad app. I knew this one was one that could really be beneficial! When I got up I immediately got started. My daughter, who is almost 8  now, usually doesn’t help with dishes because there hasn’t been a need for any assistance. That morning she actually got to help me with them for the first time, which she loved, and it was fun to do together. I washed and she loaded the dishwasher with the dishes. She loves helping out so this is another way she can now participate in a home care activity.

I freed up a lot of counter space by doing this! I made more room to prepare meals and it gave my counters a more spacious look. I am not a big fan of clutter so anything I can do to avoid clutter makes me happy! So far this is working out very well for us and maybe it will help out one of you too! 🙂

How I Make Scented Wax Cubes Last Longer

I am big on saving money and I like the fun scents I get using a wax warmer. I have a really neat one that glows well enough to be a bit like a night light and I love it’s design. Scented wax bars and cubes can get a bit pricey though! Through Scentsy folks pay $5 a bar, and for me that’s just too much. I find mine in Walmart, and I try to get ones on clearance. This past January I LOADED up on bars for only .50 cents a pack!! I found my favorite scent, Country Fall Festival, along with a few others that I really enjoy. I bought a lot of them to make sure I had plenty until the next clearance sale.

I do love the scents, but boy are some of them strong! This led me to the idea of breaking them up into smaller pieces. This way I don’t have a really strong and intense smell, but a softer scent that lasts a shorter time. I’m okay with replenishing them as needed, and I usually only use them a couple days a week. I watch kids from home, and I like to avoid the dirty diaper smell permeating through the air by having yummy scented wax in the warmer. On top of keeping the scent from being so overpowering, I save even more money because they last me even longer this way. I use one piece a day, and I use them only on the days I feel like having one in.

Cutting them is pretty simple. I chose to cut mine on a glass plate because I really didn’t want scented wax embedded in my bamboo cutting board. I have a Forever Sharp knife that cuts through just about anything, so I line it up down the middle of the cube and press hard for a quick clean cut. Sometimes it cuts the block into 3 pieces or I have crumbles left over. I take the smaller pieces for our bathroom, which also has a warmer in it, because it is a smaller space and doesn’t need much wax to fill up with the scent. Crumbles and small broken pieces are fine to go in either warmer with a bigger piece.

As you can see in the picture above, I store my cut up wax cubes in glass jars. I have a plethora of jars so it’s a good use for some of them. You can remove the label with the name of the scent from the plastic package and tape it to the jar you’re putting that scent in if you like. I used to do that will all my jars, but I’ve found that the names don’t matter much to me. I open the jars up and choose one by what scent appeals to me that day. 🙂

Wax warmers are a reasonably safe way to provide a yummy smell in your home. I try to avoid candles since I care for little ones and I really don’t want to burn my home down because I forgot to blow one out. As long as you keep it where kids can’t get into the warm wax or spill it, you should be fine. And keep an eye out at Walmart for clearance scents! They go on sale around each season and I’ve noticed that after bigger holidays they tend to be marked down even more.

Homemade Pomander Air Freshener – DIY Project

I’m always looking for natural ways to scent my home. I had automatic spraying air fresheners in every room of my home last year. At the time I didn’t realize how many bad chemicals are in them, I just loved my home smelling pretty and that was the easiest way to do it. But I was getting really bad headaches almost daily, and I didn’t know why. I was browsing some information online one day, and found that many people are intolerant to air fresheners. Headaches are not uncommon, which explained why I was getting them so frequently at home. Then I found that the chemicals in them are not good, and having mine spray all day long was definitely not a good idea. I removed them all and began researching homemade air fresheners and found a lot of good ideas!

When I first heard the word “pomander” I thought maybe it was a trouble fruit I hadn’t heard of. Turns out it’s a fun way to create a natural fragrance in your home. Pomanders are oranges with cloves pushed into their skin. That’s it! They create a nice spicy smell that is great for the fall and winter. You can put as many or as little cloves in your orange as you like. You can put them in a fun pattern or just randomly. You can hang them with ribbons for a fun decoration like in the picture below.

 

Photo courtesy of: http://supremespice.blogspot.com/2008/04/orange-clove-pomanders.html

You’ll need oranges and/or lemons and whole cloves for this project, plus ribbon or any extra decorations you want for them. Make sure you get enough cloves for the design you want. And remember, the more cloves you add, the stronger the scent. This is something kids can make as well but they may not enjoy the smell. My daughter told me the cloves smelled too strong. Make sure that the scent is something you will all enjoy.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.myscrawls.com/crafts/pomander-orange-beautiful-table-centerpiece

You can see how nice these can look in a bowl or hanging. Use your creativity to make these however you like! You can even experiment to see what different citrus fruits you enjoy the most. You can even add little bows and bells to make it festive for the winter holidays.

How do you enjoy giving your home a nice holiday scent naturally?