tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55005949189744295392012-01-25T10:59:24.619-07:00Adrian's Crazy LifeBits and pieces of my crazy life - kids, husband, work, stamping, friends, family, and everything that is part of this insanity.Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.comBlogger8351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-64607251352444472002012-01-25T10:54:00.002-07:002012-01-25T10:54:46.696-07:00Guest Posting Today - Appreciating your Teen<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wow, I didn't even realize I was going to be guest posting today. I'm spouting forth over at <a href="http://inbetweenmoms.com/" target="_blank">In Be-Tween Moms</a> about the importance and benefit for <a href="http://inbetweenmoms.com/2012/01/appreciating-your-teenager/" target="_blank">showing appreciation for your teen</a> (works on husbands too, or really just anybody!). C'mon over and have a look. This is a great forum for teen parenting run by my friend Melissa Smallwood. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6460725135244447200?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-31997306373130820572012-01-25T07:00:00.000-07:002012-01-25T07:00:07.831-07:00Shoulder Surgery is the PITS!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of my friends who read my blog reminded me that I've overlooked something fairly major in my life lately. My husband had surgery a couple of months ago - rotator cuff surgery. I'll tell you, this is about the worst surgery I've ever heard of. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Most surgeries you have, you're pretty sore for a week or two, but then you're able to get up and around pretty well after that. I mean, I had two C-sections with 9 and 10 pound babies, and I still was able to take care of myself, a newborn baby, my husband and our pets in about a week. But shoulder surgery like this is a whole different deal. He had his surgery in mid-October and I think it was nearly Christmas before he was able to even use his arm for even the slightest thing. You have to be sling-bound pretty much 24 hrs a day for about the first 8 weeks. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I sort of thought the doctor was kidding when he told us that before the surgery. Just imagine taking your dominant hand and arm and strapping them to your side. Now you don't get to use them at all for the next two months. For anything. No, not ANYTHING, not even a little sneak to pick up a french fry or balance your cereal bowl. Someone (guess who?) gets to help you shower, dress, put your shoes on, open your pills, fix your meals, drive you around, just about everything! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Even better, you can't lay down. For months. Literally. The poor guy has spent the last 3 months sleeping in the recliner. This weekend was the first time he was able to sleep laying down for more than 2 hours. I tried to sleep in the recliner once when I had bad heartburn. It was pretty comfortable for about the first 3 hours, but after that, I wanted to lay DOWN. I can't imagine how he did that one. Fortunately, I realized BEFORE the surgery that our recliner had a right-handed lever - oops! We managed to find a La-z-y Boy Sofa on Craigslist with a recliner on each end for a whopping $30 bucks! It's butt ugly and pretty worn out, but it's been a lifesaver.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Then there are the exercises. The only way to get the use of your shoulder back is to do these horrible, painful exercises - six times a day starting the day after surgery. I wouldn't wish that on a dog! Even now, they have him lifting weights every day. A whole 2 pounds and he can barely lift it, but that's all the therapist will let him do. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">They say he's going to be able to go back to work in a couple of weeks, but I think it's still going to be a part-time, very limited situation for a while. We're just lucky they've managed to hold his job open. He works as a the only welder at this tiny little company that makes truck bodies, but they've been really good about it and have kept his job open all this time. </span><br /><br />Plus we've had a lot of help from our friends and neighbors. I've had to work most of the time through this whole thing, so we've had friends and family who have provided meals for us, helped with his therapy, driven him to appointments, etc. Our son even moved back in to help us with all the stuff Tony can't do - lawn moving, snow removal, carrying heavy things around, etc. <br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">There have been some benefits to having him home all the time though. Once he got his sling off, he's been doing most of the cooking and <i>some </i>of the cleaning. I managed to guilt him into wrapping almost all the Christmas presents. He's been able to make Blake do his homework when he gets home from school. And once he could drive, he's been able to run a lot of my little errands for me - bank, post office, etc. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">But on the other hand, it's kind of like retirement - half as much money and twice as much husband! I think he's picked up a major TV addiction. I swear he watches that thing for about 20 hours a day - mostly reruns of old shows, and reality shows like Pawn Stars and Pimp my Ride. Even when I was on maternity leave, I managed to do a ton of stuff and take care of a newborn baby besides. Oh well, guess it's a guy thing. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The weird thing is that we don't really know how he even hurt himself. I think it's a combo of work, bowling, moving furniture and stuff around the house, and working in the yard. He's always digging up sprinkler lines, or trimming trees or some darn thing. It's a wonder he doesn't hurt himself more often! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Word of advice - take good care of your shoulders. Warm up well before sports, and watch yourself on ice. Just like when you buy a new brand of car and find out everyone else is driving it, we've met dozens of people who've had this surgery and some who've even had it in both shoulders - ick! Oh well, we're almost through this and hopefully, he'll take better care of himself in the future. He'd better, or next time he is going to be a rotator cuff/lobotomy combo surgery! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-3199730637313082057?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-41563948346688297522012-01-19T07:00:00.000-07:002012-01-19T07:00:10.882-07:00Is Costco Really Worth It?<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Every once in a while, I run across an article that is really worth sharing with you. I've mentioned before that <b>I am <i>not </i>a Costco fan</b>. I know there are some savings to be had there, but it just isn't for me. I never once when in there <b>when I didn't spend at least $100-$200 in <i>addition </i>to my regular grocery budget</b> and I had no willpower to resist the movies, books, clothes, and other goodies to be had there. <br /><br />But I've always wanted to research it and <b>actually PROVE that it isn't as good a deal as everyone says it is</b>. I've just nevre had the time to do it. However, this blogger did a great job of researching dozens of items and proving <b>exactly which items were better or worse deals</b>. If you are a Costco shopper, you definitely want to have a look at this article over at <a href="http://www.squawkfox.com/2011/04/15/costco/" target="_blank">SquawkBox</a>. <br /><br /><i>Stop by on Thursdays for my Smart Money posts. To see additional posts on the subject, click on the Smart Money link below for a complete list. </i><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-4156394834668829752?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-48334495580130040932012-01-15T07:00:00.000-07:002012-01-15T07:00:07.164-07:00Bloggers Have Fun at El Pollo Loco<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just after Christmas I got an invitation I was really excited about. My local bloggers group was sponsoring an event at our local El Pollo Loco. Well, it's not exactly local for me, it's in Lehi, which is about 20 miles from me, but what's a bit of a drive for some good food? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">When we lived in California, El lPollo Loco was one of our favorite places to eat and we've missed it. So when they invited us to enjoy a delicious complimentary lunch with a great group of our blogger friends, I was <i>there</i>. I even begged to bring my husband because he's missed our trips to El Pollo Loco too. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5YE3WlZR3fI/TwqP4WtGqBI/AAAAAAAAHXs/6tI5h6KT0fs/s1600/PolloLoco+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5YE3WlZR3fI/TwqP4WtGqBI/AAAAAAAAHXs/6tI5h6KT0fs/s320/PolloLoco+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />This is my darling friend Kathy from <a href="http://www.danishmama.com/" target="_blank">Danish Mama</a> with her two cute kiddos. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ykVF-onNb8A/TwqQIPOVoSI/AAAAAAAAHYE/Bomb5wR2D9M/s1600/PolloLoco10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ykVF-onNb8A/TwqQIPOVoSI/AAAAAAAAHYE/Bomb5wR2D9M/s320/PolloLoco10.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br />This was my husband's first blogger event and he thought it was hilarious when we all whipped out our cameras when the food came. I told him it was kind of a rule in the blog world to take pictures of your food so you can blog about it. I don't care if he thought it was funny, this was a meal worth taking a picture of. I had the dark meat special with the corn cake and the best sweet potato fries ever! I also had the flan for dessert which was done just right, very sweet and creamy. I'd forgotten how good their chicken was - it's done in a special fruit juice marinade that makes it delicious without all the fat of frying - you don't find something this yummy at the Colonel place!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BUKrS93EC2s/TwqQGW9QQdI/AAAAAAAAHX8/Z52BdRVdS_M/s1600/PolloLoco+%25288%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BUKrS93EC2s/TwqQGW9QQdI/AAAAAAAAHX8/Z52BdRVdS_M/s320/PolloLoco+%25288%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Tony dutifully took a picture of his meal too. He went the traditional route with a 3 piece chicken, rice, beans, salsa, and tamales. He gave me a bite of his tamale. I didn't think to order one. I haven't had one since our friends used to make them for us for Christmas - yum!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pSbsPfewSwg/TwqP_cw1bTI/AAAAAAAAHX0/6gWbEUbJKFY/s1600/PolloLoco+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pSbsPfewSwg/TwqP_cw1bTI/AAAAAAAAHX0/6gWbEUbJKFY/s320/PolloLoco+%25287%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /> I'm kicking myself because I didn't think to grab a picture of the two of us while we were there. The closest we got was a closeup of my fancy New Year's nails - gold 'n silver. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hj5D4CWSiuA/TwqQI8CK1LI/AAAAAAAAHYM/XGHCV0ABpo4/s1600/PolloLoco11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hj5D4CWSiuA/TwqQI8CK1LI/AAAAAAAAHYM/XGHCV0ABpo4/s320/PolloLoco11.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>Tuesdays are the best day to visit El Pollo Loco because KIDS EAT FREE on Tuesdays. Kids 13 and under get a free kids' combo with every regular combo you purchase. That's a great deal and they usually have some special activities for the kids on that night also. Last week, they had Karaoke Night. You don't get that at that "Golden Arches" place - ha! And did I mention the big screen TV with kids movies? That'll keep 'em happy! If you want to bring your sports team, they can even watch their game replay on the big screen TV's. This is a fun place! <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAUskyL3dnU/TxHE-jXI2yI/AAAAAAAAHYc/vX8NyQHT1Cs/s1600/PolloLoco+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAUskyL3dnU/TxHE-jXI2yI/AAAAAAAAHYc/vX8NyQHT1Cs/s320/PolloLoco+%25286%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />If you're looking to have a fiesta any time soon, they cater as well. I know my friends would enjoy a nice El Pollo Loco spread and I'll bet yours would too. It's muy delicioso!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QXyRBJ9ccxs/TxHE3FiozSI/AAAAAAAAHYU/F_wVGSHip6o/s1600/PolloLoco+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QXyRBJ9ccxs/TxHE3FiozSI/AAAAAAAAHYU/F_wVGSHip6o/s320/PolloLoco+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />I'm hoping that they will be able to open more restaurants soon - hopefully closer to me. But for now, the only one is this one here at 88 N. 1200 E State in Lehi, right in front of the Costco. C'mon down and check it out. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-4833449558013004093?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-91935193431311665292012-01-14T10:16:00.002-07:002012-01-14T10:16:52.242-07:00Blonde Jokes from My Sister<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Just for giggles - here are some funny blonde jokes my sister sent me. Feel free to add your own in the comments. </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">She Was Soooooooooooooo Blonde:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she took a ruler to bed to see how long she slept.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she sent me a fax with a stamp on it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought a quarterback was a refund.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she tried to put M&M's in alphabetical order.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought Boyz II Men was a day care center.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">She Was Soooooooooooooo Blonde:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought Eartha Kitt was a set of garden tools.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought General Motors was in the army.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought Meow Mix was a CD for cats.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought TuPac Shakur was a Jewish holiday.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -under "education" on her job application, she put "Hooked On Phonics."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">She Was Soooooooooooooo Blonde:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she tripped over a cordless phone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice can because it said "concentrate."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she told me to meet her at the corner of "WALK" and "DON'T WALK."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -at the bottom of the application where it says "sign here," she put "Sagittarius."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she asked for a price check at the Dollar Store.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">She Was Soooooooooooooo Blonde:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she studied for a blood test.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought she needed a token to get on "Soul Train."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she sold the car for gas money!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -when she missed the 44 bus, she took the 22 bus twice instead.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -when she went to the airport and saw a sign that said "Airport Left," she turned around and went home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">She Was Soooooooooooooo Blonde:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -when she heard that 90% of all crimes occur around the home, she moved.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thinks Taco Bell is the Mexican phone company.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -if she spoke her mind, she'd be speechless.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought that she could not use her AM radio in the evening.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she had a shirt that said "TGIF," which she thought stood for "Tits Go In Front."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> -she thought Grape Nuts was a venereal disease.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-9193519343131166529?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-13034949974962556572012-01-13T07:00:00.000-07:002012-01-25T10:59:11.138-07:00Guest Post: Teach your Teen to be a Smart Shopper<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am guest posting today over at<a href="http://inbetweenmoms.com/" target="_blank"> In BeTWEEN Moms</a> where I share my method of turning your teen into a smart shopper. It may be the best lesson you've ever taught them. Pop over and check it out.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-1303494997496255657?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-86705514362234078262012-01-11T22:51:00.001-07:002012-01-25T10:59:24.630-07:00Clutterbugs: Cut your Cleaning Time in Half<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">How much time do you spend cleaning every week? Whatever it is, it is probably more than you need to spend. Time is literally the most precious and irreplaceable thing we have, and I don't know about you, but <b>I can think of 50 things I'd rather be doing than spending mine cleaning the house. </b><br /><br /><b>If I could tell you how to clean a bathroom in 12 minutes, would you be interested?</b> And I mean actually clean, not the way my 13 year old son cleans a bathroom in 12 minutes - ick. With his Clean Team method, Jeff Campbell claims his 3 person teams can clean an entire HOUSE in 42 minutes. He should know, his company has cleaned literally thousands of homes over the years and they have studied and refined their methods and now they are passing them on to us. <b>OK, you might not be able to clean your whole house in 42 minutes, but if you can clean it in less than a whole Saturday afternoon, I think you'd still be interested. </b>I certainly was. <br /><br />I will share some of the basics of his plan, but if you really decide to give this method a try, you're probably going to want to find one of his books - he's written several. <b>Here's an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Cleaning-Jeff-Campbell/dp/0440503744/ref=as_li_wdgt_js_ex?&linkCode=wey&tag=adrcralifblo-20" target="_blank">Amazon link </a>to the one I think is the best one.</b> I bought his books probably 10 years ago and I have incorporated his methods into my cleaning habits. I never quite hit the 12 minute mark on a room, but I know I have speeded up my time considerably. <br /><br /><b>Basically, speed cleaning seems to come down to two factors - tools and methods.</b> It's really not all that complicated and you can get started in just one day if you like. The main benefit for the tools is to keep everything in one place, preferably right on your body as you move through a room. So Jeff has designed a special Clean Team apron for that purpose. He sells them on his website or you can get something similar from Home Depot. It needs to have several loops for holding spray bottles, and a number of good sized pockets for holding your other tools.<br /><br /><b>Once you have the apron, it is time to fill it</b>. Start with spray bottles - you will need 3 good, sturdy spray bottles. One of them is to hold what he calls "red juice" - basically 409 or Kaboom, whatever liquid cleaner you use for your non-mirrored surfaces. If you prefer an organic cleaner, you'd probably use diluted vinegar or a vinegar/peroxide solution. This goes on your left apron loop. On the opposite side, of course, goes the "blue juice" - Windex or whatever liquid cleaner you use on mirrors. The 3rd spray bottle is for a weak bleach solution used for getting out stains. I use diluted lemon juice with baking soda as I'm terrified of bleach. Someone dribbled a few drops of it on my hallway carpet and ruined it forever. It's powerful stuff. The bleach bottle goes in a cleaning tray which we'll get to later. <br /><br />In the apron pockets, you need the following things - a toothbrush, a plastic paint scraper (or credit card), a razor blade holder, a Magic Eraser - stored in an open ziplock bag held in place with a binder clip, a 2nd ziplock bag (also held with a binder clip) to hold small trash items, and a stack of good sized cleaning cloths - large cloth diapers are ideal. <b>Each item goes in a specific pocket and is always returned to it's same location</b> - that way you can reach for things and find them quickly without digging around. <br /><br />When you have an apron stocked like this, <b>just about everything you need for cleaning a room is right on your body enabling you to move efficiently </b>without digging around under the sink for additional cleaning products or tools. However, you will also need a large plastic open carryall with a handle for more specialty items, such as Lime-a-way, cleanser, brushes, furniture polish, and floor cleaner and extra cleaning cloths. You'll also need a good heavy-duty vacuum with a 50 foot extension cord (you plug it in one place and leave it alone), a feather duster (in your back pocket), and a professional quality sponge mop. <br /><br />Now for the methods - first of all, <b>everything goes with you into every room, so you have all the tools you need right at hand.</b> Then you enter a room and work in a clockwise path, always <b>cleaning from highest to lowest</b>. That way, you aren't knocking dirt and dust onto the lower surfaces you've just cleaned. You also have to make every move count as you clean each surface and move on to the next area. Use both hands - wipe with one as you move things with the other. Don't rinse until it's clean, and don't clean it unless it's dirty. <b>Get things clean, but don't obsess over cleaning every switch plate and line of grout.</b> That's what slows you down - give it a spritz and a good wipe and move on. <br /><br /><b>Using the right tools is important.</b> If there is stuck-on gunk on the counter, don't even try to clean it with a cloth, start right in with the plastic scraper. If it doesn't come up easily with that, immediately move to the razor blade, being careful not to scratch the surfaces. Wipe crumbs and dust onto the floor - you will get them on the last step when you vacuum (not sweep!) the floor. Pay attention to what you're doing and <b>track your time with a stopwatch or timer</b>. That will encourage you to move faster the next time. <br /><br />For an example, let's say I am cleaning my kitchen. <b>I put my apron on and make sure all my tools are ready and in place.</b> Grab my carryall and take my plugged in vacuum and leave it by the door. To the left of the door is my first stop, the fridge. Take my feather duster and give the top a quick swipe, then use my red juice and cleaning cloths to wipe off the finger prints - done! Move onto the first section of counter. Wipe down the cupboards and back splash with a little red juice and I'm ready to start the counter. Work from left to right and back to front - sweep the crumbs onto the floor, lift and replace each small appliance with my free hand and wipe, wipe, wipe. Trash into my trash apron pocket and anything (spices, dishes, mail) that doesn't belong is moved onto the next area or somewhere out of the way. Done! Stove is next - left to right, back to front, use my toothbrush or scrapers for anything caked on, and liberal use of red juice - or blue juice if it's a shiny surface. <br /><br />Yank off the used kitchen towels and lob them over by the door - you'll get them on your way out of the room. Another section of counter and cupboards - treat same as the first and we're halfway done. Spritz a little bleach in the sink and let it work while I use my toothbrush to clean around the faucets and edging. Hopefully you don't have any dishes piled up. If you do, stack them on a section of counter and come back to deal with them later. <b>Now you're halfway done! </b><br /><br />Finish the rest of the counters the same way and move onto the dining room table. Hopefully, it is clear. If not, sweep everything off onto one of the chairs for later attention. Move the chairs back away from the table and whisk broom the seats. Wipe half the table as you're going, then circle around to the other side, wiping the crumbs onto the floor as you go. Use your red juice as needed and refold or swap your cleaning cloths to get a fresh surface. When they're completely used up - lob them over on top of the dish towels to be washed. <br /><br />Then finish up with a quick dusting of the desk (we have a desk in our kitchen) and a swipe of the pantry doors. <b>15 minutes and your kitchen is already looking pretty.</b> Time to vacuum. Grab the vacuum and start back in front of the pantry you just finished. Working carefully and quickly, whisk over each section of the floor in a forward, then diagonal motion to make the most of each pass - no need to go back and forth multiple times. Snake around the kitchen in a counter-clockwise rotation, getting under and around the table being careful not to tangle your cord. As you pass the sink, put the plug in and start filling it full of hot water and ammonia (or your preferred floor cleaner) for mopping. Finish your vacuuming and swap the vacuum for your mop. Soak the head well, squeeze off most of the liquid and start at the point in the furthest corner. Mop, mop, mop using your Magic Eraser or scraper for black marks or ground-in mess. Rinse the mop head often, especially after the dirtiest areas - by the door, and in front of the stove/fridge. Leave an exit strip down the center, so you can get out without slipping on the wet floor or getting dirty footprints on your clean floor. And you're DONE! Note the time so that you can improve your speed next time. <br /><br /><b>This is just a very basic overview of the Clean Team method.</b> To really understand it, you need to read the book. Happily, it's quick and easy reading, with lots of pictures. I buzzed through it in about 30 minutes this last time. I think its time well spent since you will easily knock that 30 minutes off your first week's cleaning and many times thereafter. </span><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>Come back again soon for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. To see past posts on the subject, click on the Clutterbugs label at the bottom of this post for a complete list. </i><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8670551436223407826?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-82161189817118755432012-01-09T07:00:00.000-07:002012-01-09T07:00:04.177-07:00CHAOS: Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome<div style="color: black;">Does the thought of having people over to your house freak you out? Flylady calls that CHAOS - Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Before I finally embraced her daily cleaning & decluttering routines, I used to do that too.<b> Having guests over was a virtual guarantee of several days of panicky activity</b> as I would run around doing crisis cleaning and yelling at my family the whole time. But now it's no big deal and I have company over all the time. It's so much easier!</div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;">I teach a monthly stamp class at my home. I usually have half a dozen women at each class. Even with it being on a weekday after a whole day of work, it's not a big problem. <b>All I really have to do was stick to my daily routines. </b>That takes care of the basics like dishes, laundry, and making beds. Then I use my 15 minute clean-up time to clean one room each morning and delegate another one to my husband when he gets home. <br /><br />His TV room was in pretty bad shape, so I'm sure it will take more than 15 minutes, but he will do a great job on it and it will be all set for a week or two. The family room will take longer for the boys to clean, but that's their fault. I swear that my oldest son Matt simply explodes when he hits a room! His keys are in one place, his wallet is in another and his shoes, CD's and magazines are everywhere. I guess that's a teenager for you!</div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;">Matt is in charge of floors, so I've had him doing a bit of vacuuming and mopping in different areas every night and my youngest son Blake has been keeping up on the trash and the cat boxes. All I have to do is a bit of dusting, clear some everyday stuff off the kitchen counters and give the bathrooms a quick scrub. Then I can spend a couple of hours this evening setting up the tables and chairs and putting the projects together. <b>Company-ready in almost no time</b>, so I can have a nice evening with my friends. </div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><span style="color: #6666cc;"><span style="color: black;">This is exactly what I want for my readers.<b> I've spent too many Saturdays frantically scrubbing and cleaning to want anyone else to have to go through that hassle again.</b> With the daily routines I teach, along with proper decluttering and learning how to get your family on board, having friends and family over can be fun and virtually stress-free. </span> </span><br /><br /><i>Drop by every Monday for a new Clutterbugs tip. To view previous tips, click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post for a complete list. </i><br /><br /><img src="http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l426/indeliblylex/Adrian/sig2.png" /><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8216118981711875543?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-53286033151019290052012-01-04T07:00:00.000-07:002012-01-04T07:00:05.915-07:00Stamped Stuff: My Dec Projects<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I know it's January already, but I'm just now getting around to loading up the pictures from my December class and even one little straggler from the November class. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O5fnNe8wg7g/TwPjHnD4R0I/AAAAAAAAHV8/nIdGxynOaMU/s1600/Nov+11+Projects+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O5fnNe8wg7g/TwPjHnD4R0I/AAAAAAAAHV8/nIdGxynOaMU/s320/Nov+11+Projects+%25285%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />This is a cute little 2-4-6-8 box that I love. These are so easy, especially with our new Simply Scored tool to do the score lines. This just takes half a sheet of cardstock and it makes a darling little box for treats or small gifts. I used a bit of retired designer paper, ribbon, and a button to dress it up. My Fun Flowers die is a great way to add a little pop of color to any project. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tTV3LmR4xUg/TwPjU_cpO7I/AAAAAAAAHWE/YfRKghwm7V0/s1600/Dec%252711+Projects+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tTV3LmR4xUg/TwPjU_cpO7I/AAAAAAAAHWE/YfRKghwm7V0/s320/Dec%252711+Projects+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />At Christmas time, I allow myself to use a little bit of my supply of retired products. It gets a bit too expensive to treat myself to all new stamps and papers every year, but I buy a new little something like the stocking set and matching punch and then combine it with my older stuff. This is some retired paper I had from last year. It is flocked in Real Red velvet and simply adorable. I think the pattern is the same as our vintage wallpaper die. This stocking punch is so cute and I recently treated myself to the curly label punch that I've wanted for quite a while. It fits perfectly with this Holly Jolly greeting and the stitched ribbon ties it all together. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3fAbccWszpM/TwPjcO7Pg_I/AAAAAAAAHWM/rrUlVv5m53o/s1600/Dec%252711+Projects+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3fAbccWszpM/TwPjcO7Pg_I/AAAAAAAAHWM/rrUlVv5m53o/s320/Dec%252711+Projects+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Here is another cute box, made out of some non-SU paper I had hanging around that happened to match *perfectly* with our Cherry Cobbler ink and new quilted ribbon. This would be great to have some earrings or a necklace in. (Sorry the pictures are a bit dark, the light was a little wonky and I can't figure out my camera settings.) <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-epol5xEDp2E/TwPjjOZZYSI/AAAAAAAAHWU/utyO9nggLUs/s1600/Dec%252711+Projects+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-znzfhl278Cs/TwPjx7uc-9I/AAAAAAAAHWk/49Gmmf3uLV8/s1600/Dec%252711+Projects+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-znzfhl278Cs/TwPjx7uc-9I/AAAAAAAAHWk/49Gmmf3uLV8/s320/Dec%252711+Projects+%25285%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />This was a project gone somewhat wrong. I had a special gift certificate for my customers at my Christmas class and I was going to put it in this cute little bag, but then it just didn't fit, so I just backed away and decided to use this as a bonus project. I cut the topper out of my Big Note die and then embossed it with my Daisy embossing folder. Then it was easy to just add a bit of candy stripe ribbon and a few little punches to finish it off. I also gave everyone a bag of my retired cards I'd had hanging around my stamp room, one of my 3D project samples, and a pretty sparkly picture frame. Now I'm wishing I'd had sense to get a picture of <i>that </i>- duh! But as usual, I was scrambling to just get ready for my class!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wFHWzcci_T0/TwPj_y3e0SI/AAAAAAAAHW0/alcwyqbfDEc/s1600/Dec%252711+Projects+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wFHWzcci_T0/TwPj_y3e0SI/AAAAAAAAHW0/alcwyqbfDEc/s320/Dec%252711+Projects+%25287%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />This isn't a very good picture so you'll have to look close. This is called a Spirelli where you wind this baker's twine around a scalloped circle. It took a while to figure this one out, but it really is a pretty technique. This candy cane paper is a bit of paper I've had around for a while and it was perfect for this project. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kucpzbH_1tg/TwPkpk3eBZI/AAAAAAAAHXk/tup4UzmPCUE/s1600/Dec%252711+Projects+%252813%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kucpzbH_1tg/TwPkpk3eBZI/AAAAAAAAHXk/tup4UzmPCUE/s320/Dec%252711+Projects+%252813%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I wish this card had photographed better because I think it's one of the prettiest I've done in a long time. This was my Christmas card for this year and I shared it with my class. I had used up all my Whisper White cardstock making cards for the Troops with the folks at work, so I got a chance to appreciate some of our other specialty cardstocks. The front panel with the holy family is our shimmer white cardstock. It has a tiny hint of glitter bonded right into the paper. The layer just behind it is our glossy white cardstock and I used the Polished Stone technique on it. I love this technique because it looks completely different for each person depending on how they distribute the ink. It's done with a cotton ball, a bit of plain alcohol, and a drop or two of reinker. Then I finished it off with a corner punch of our silver glitter paper. <br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-5328603315101929005?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-52777070452353119062011-12-30T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-30T07:00:02.605-07:00Clutterbugs: Time to Undecorate?<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">OK, my little Clutterbugs, Christmas is officially over - have you made plans to take down your tree and put away the rest of the Christmas clutter? I know there are people who leave it up for months, but you don't want to be one of those, do you? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">My mother was very superstitious. She believed it was bad luck to leave the tree up into the New Year. I'm not particularly superstitious, but it just seems like a good time to get stuff put away and get my house back in order. Especially as I've been defending my favorite nativity set from my four cats for a month. Last year they beheaded Joseph by knocking him off the mantle and it took me ten minutes to find it. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">When it comes to putting away the decorations, there are basically two ways to do it. You can go through the whole house and put it all away at once. That's my method, because I know I'll never get back to it, if I get distracted. OR....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">If you are short on time, you can devote 15 minutes per day to clear out one room at a time. It just depends on which method works best for you. The main thing is to make a plan and stick to it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I think I will always remember the year, we had a neighbor who had the worst case of ADD ever. First, he waited until right at Christmas Eve to decorate, and then he had a big party and decorated his house up like Disneyland. I mean we are talking <i>clear </i>over the top in a neighborhood where people put up maybe a strand of lights, or a plastic Santa. He had the Winter Wonderland lit up for about a week, then he left them up all through January. And February. And March. He finally took them down in April, but then he only took them down halfway. He left all those expensive decorations lying in piles around his yard clear into summer where they were probably ruined. And the whole neighborhood was laughing at him the whole time. My theory on that is that if you can't be a good example, you'll simply have to be a horrible warning! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Make a plan and get those decorations cleared up. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><i><span style="font-size: small;">Come back on Mondays for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to see a list of past posts, click on the Clutterbugs label below. </span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-5277707045235311906?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-73154397205911046212011-12-29T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-29T09:13:49.374-07:00My Crazy Year in Review<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wow did 2011 go fast! I swear it still feels like it should be about October instead of the end of the year. But you can't argue with the calendar and it gives me a good excuse for reviewing my posts from the year and picking out my favorites. Some are from my Clutterbugs decluttering series, some are from my Smart Money series, and a few are just for fun. Like my blog, it's an interesting mix and you never know what you'll find. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">January:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/01/clutterbugs-ask-for-what-you-want.html" target="_blank">Ask for What you Want</a>. This is my take on the eternal fight that goes on between cleanies and messies who have to live in the same house. I have some tips on how to deal with it in a respectful way that gets both of you a little bit of what you want. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">February:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/02/clutterbugs-dealing-with-ops-other.html" target="_blank">Dealing with OPS (Other People's Stuff)</a>. I <i>love </i>this one - it's a semi-humorous look at ways you can encourage your spouse and/or children and/or room mates to literally clean up their acts. For instance, I made my sons sing "I'm a Little Teapot" to reclaim some of their valuable items. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">March:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/03/smart-money-have-backup-plan.html" target="_blank">Smart Money: Have a Backup Plan.</a> This was a post I wrote after we had a rather sudden mass layoff at my company. I wasn't involved in it, but it definitely gave me something to think about. Bad things happen, they happen fast, and you have to be prepared to deal with them. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami happened in that same month and that gave me a lot to think about also. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">April: </span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/04/clutterbugs-how-does-clutter-affect.html" target="_blank">How Does Clutter Affect Your Children?</a> After raising two ADHD sons, I became aware of how the clutter in our home affected their behavior and their state of mind. I think there is a strong link between environment and behavior in both children and adults. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">May:</span></b><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1782237747"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></a><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/05/entitlement-trap-book-discussion.html" target="_blank">Book Review: The Entitlement Trap.</a> This was a review I did of a book by Richard Eyre, a local writer. He and his wife Linda have 9 children and have written some really helpful books on parenting. I worked with Richard recently to come to my son's school to talk to the parents and administrators about bullying and some of the issues they've been experiencing recently. I thought this was a book my readers might be interested in. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDExwCmEpZA/TvlVhb9vPuI/AAAAAAAAHVw/AUzDy9B6Y4Q/s1600/HighlandGames%252711+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDExwCmEpZA/TvlVhb9vPuI/AAAAAAAAHVw/AUzDy9B6Y4Q/s320/HighlandGames%252711+%25281%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">June:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/05/entitlement-trap-book-discussion.html" target="_blank">A Visit to the Highland Games.</a> This is a lighthearted post about my family's annual visit to the Highland Games. That is one of our few traditions of the year and the one bit of heritage I'm able to provide for my sons. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;"> July:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/07/clutterbugs-my-top-5-motivational-ideas.html" target="_blank">My Top 5 Motivational Ideas.</a> This is always a subject I am fascinated with - why some people can achieve their goals so easily while others (like me!) can't usually manage to get their efforts off the ground. These are some tips I've gathered over the years that I hope will help you. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">August: </span></b><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1782237786"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></a><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/08/clutterbugs-taming-paper-tiger.html" target="_blank">Taming the Paper Tiger.</a> Paper is one of the biggest clutter challenges, and it is one of the most requested subjects from my readers. These are my ideas on how to get your paper clutter under control. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">September: </span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/09/smart-money-retail-therapy-is-worst.html" target="_blank">Retail Therapy is the Worst Kind of Therapy.</a> This is a little post about the dangers of recreational shopping. I have seen so many people come to grief through the greed of overshopping - including myself at times....</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">October:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/10/smart-money-cut-your-power-bill.html" target="_blank">Cut Your Power Bill.</a> I don't know about you, but my power bill is ridiculous! This is a collection of tips and new technologies that will help you to lower your power bill. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">November:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/12/blogger-girls-just-wanna-have-fun.html" target="_blank">Blogger Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.</a> That's one good thing about being a blogger - we know how to have a good time and we're a large and friendly group around here. This is just one of many different parties and events I've had the good fortune to attend.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">December:</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1907475231"><br /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/12/they-make-blind-children-see.html" target="_blank">They Make Blind Children See</a>. This is a must-read post for anyone who has a special needs child. It's funny that you don't hear about people quietly working common-sense miracles in obscure little corners of the world, but you hear daily about idiots like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Angelina Jolie. I figured it was time we give the do-gooders a little love. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's about it for 2011. I'll be interested to see what I manage to come up with for 2012 and I hope you will too! </span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mamakatslosinit.com/"><img alt="Mama’s Losin’ It" src="http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac331/mamakatslosinit/pink-poodle2.png" title="Mama’s Losin’ It" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-7315439720591104621?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-78942119858879013702011-12-26T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-26T07:00:10.745-07:00My 20th Work Anniversary<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I hit a big milestone earlier this month - my 20th anniversary with my company - wow! That is something I never thought I'd say, especially in this day and age, but I MADE IT! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The funny thing is, even though this was a HUGE accomplishment for me, at my company, 20 years is literally no big deal. It's almost "new kid on the block" territory, so it was very odd for me. <i>(You notice I don't mention where I work, and that's just a nod to my on-line privacy - it's a big company, everyone is familiar with it, and I don't particularly want to be on their radar. They are a very well-respected company and I really like working for them, but I just don't necessarily disclose that info on-line for the whole world to know.)</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">There are several people in my department who have 30 to 35 years and most of them are between 15 and 20 years, so it was just very odd for me. I kind of wanted to make a big deal about it, but everyone was just kind of blah about it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I got an congratulatory Email from my boss of the last ten years (she is in another state), an auto-signed, pre-printed card from the head of my division - <i>I thought that was honestly a little insulting for a 20 year anniversary</i> and then I got a certificate, a lapel pin, and a lucite cube with the company logo and 20 years on it. I don't know what I was expecting - a ticker tape parade or something? But it just seemed a little underwhelming to me. I was like, "Wow, that really makes me want to work another 20 years for these people". </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The odd thing is that it really is more like my 35th anniversary of working in general. Even though I've been with this place for 20 years, I probably had worked a total of 15 years for a bunch of other companies before that, an average of 2 to 3 years at each one, but they don't count them when you work like that. It's like I tell my husband - he tries to lump me and his first wife together so he can say he's been married for a total of 35 years - hey bud, it's not cumulative. You don't get to add two marriages together for an aggregate total! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I know in Utah, I seem like a really odd duck amid all the stay-at-home mommies. I do know a lot of working Mom's, but most of them stayed home when their kids were younger. I just never felt like that was an option for me because my family really counted on my income. And I come from a family of working women, so it never seemed like legitimate possibility for me to not work. My grandmother owned her own business, my mother worked my whole life, my sister is a complete workaholic and all my nieces and cousins worked also, so I don't know if I ever had a role model of that when I was growing up. I wish at other times, I'd made other choices, but the proof is in the pudding. I have 3 amazing boys who are doing wonderfully well, so I guess I must have done something right. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I think I just need to disregard all the blah people and just celebrate myself for what I've accomplished. Maybe after the holidays, I'll go out and get a little something special for myself to celebrate my anniversary and if I want to call it my 35th anniversary, I will! But I'm still not gonna let my husband add me together with his ex-wife! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-7894211985887901370?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-80531291188044535192011-12-24T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-24T07:00:03.019-07:00Christmas at the Crazy House - 2011 Version<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Christmas is coming along nicely here at the crazy house. it's the day before Christmas Eve and all the presents are bought, wrapped, and are waiting to go under the tree (with four cats, we don't take any chances!) </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Even though my husband has been off work this winter for his shoulder surgery, thankfully we've been saving up all year for Christmas, so we've actually been in pretty good shape. I have to say, that is so much nicer than putting it all on a credit card and facing those big bills in January. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I have to say, I love Christmas, but it's a heck of a lot of work. I take a whole week off around the 10th to get most of it done so I can relax and enjoy myself for the rest of the month. </span>That way I can get all my decorating, shopping, and mailing done. Speaking of decorating, I thought you'd like a peek at some of my special Christmas decor.<br /><br />I like to have a pretty color-coordinated tree. <a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2010/12/christmas-2010-at-crazy-house.html"> Last year</a>, we had the blue, silver, and white tree. This year, we switched back to the candy cane tree.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J67x7oWLMsg/TvVkM_cr5wI/AAAAAAAAHT8/VZP8KGAox5A/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%252814%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J67x7oWLMsg/TvVkM_cr5wI/AAAAAAAAHT8/VZP8KGAox5A/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%252814%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the sports themed ornament - my husband is OU all the way! </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The snowman says "Will Work for Freezer Space"</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0wpALH5-dXk/TvVkfwsr2zI/AAAAAAAAHUM/EMqGfJTtTYU/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%252817%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0wpALH5-dXk/TvVkfwsr2zI/AAAAAAAAHUM/EMqGfJTtTYU/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%252817%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />See that one with the golf tees in it? This year, my son Matt got that one in honor of my Dad who was a big golfer. That makes him an awesome son, but on the other hand, he also got THIS ornament - in both red and blue to match BOTH trees. Yes, we are the redneck family of our neighborhood! <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u7hAuWfQZWs/TvVkVM7bEdI/AAAAAAAAHUE/JuZG8o58vBM/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%252815%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u7hAuWfQZWs/TvVkVM7bEdI/AAAAAAAAHUE/JuZG8o58vBM/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%252815%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />One of the things I like best is the chance to get out some of the beautiful items I've made over the years. It kind of reminds me of how crafty I used to be BEFORE I discovered the Internet, that is. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNFGZGX72ZQ/TvVmyrRZHOI/AAAAAAAAHUY/rxKrwQGHxb0/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNFGZGX72ZQ/TvVmyrRZHOI/AAAAAAAAHUY/rxKrwQGHxb0/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love my little skaters. I painted those about 25 years ago and they come out every year! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Kghb_wsOmY/TvVm9QK8mvI/AAAAAAAAHUg/XT3FmQHDjEE/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%252810%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Kghb_wsOmY/TvVm9QK8mvI/AAAAAAAAHUg/XT3FmQHDjEE/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%252810%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like my cute Santa coasters? </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-czvM-SpOksI/TvVnJzxTc7I/AAAAAAAAHUo/RGxLm4qv4M0/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%252811%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-czvM-SpOksI/TvVnJzxTc7I/AAAAAAAAHUo/RGxLm4qv4M0/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%252811%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hand painted ornaments</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YL9dcB9Y-ug/TvVjxp6G9dI/AAAAAAAAHTw/3fgh7oPNVmg/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YL9dcB9Y-ug/TvVjxp6G9dI/AAAAAAAAHTw/3fgh7oPNVmg/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%25283%2529.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This cross-stitched stocking took me two YEARS to finish. You bet that baby is coming out every year! </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Here is my trifecta of nativity sets. I actually have 3 or 4 other sets, but these are my favorites. I probably need a 12 step program or something, but it's only once a year, so I guess I can keep it under control for one month. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LrAH425lxE4/TvVpAH3xE5I/AAAAAAAAHU0/HcMncEDHLys/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HGGLB3MM3vg/TvVpJW47GOI/AAAAAAAAHU8/Jz-LIZ48IW4/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HGGLB3MM3vg/TvVpJW47GOI/AAAAAAAAHU8/Jz-LIZ48IW4/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%25289%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last year, our cats "beheaded" Joseph and batted his head all around the living room. This year, we have a motion sensor alarm protecting the mantel. Naughty kitties! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YoGIzkYButo/TvVpREG7OHI/AAAAAAAAHVE/wa1Qn1M1u08/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%252819%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YoGIzkYButo/TvVpREG7OHI/AAAAAAAAHVE/wa1Qn1M1u08/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%252819%2529.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I remember my oldest son playing with the top set when he was little. He couldn't say Joseph (which was also his middle name) so he kept telling us about Mary and Jofus. He's been Matthew Jofus to us ever since! </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1d96CfTh3kE/TvVr7ud68_I/AAAAAAAAHVQ/UIpEEr-eg4Q/s1600/ChristmasDecor11+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1d96CfTh3kE/TvVr7ud68_I/AAAAAAAAHVQ/UIpEEr-eg4Q/s320/ChristmasDecor11+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />This humble little needlepoint mailbox is the key to our whole present delivery strategy. I have a pair of these that I made back before I got married (ancient history!). Our tradition is that each boy will find a note in "their" mailbox that leads them on a helter-skelter trip around the house to discover their "big wow" gift which is hidden somewhere in the house. It's a great strategy for those large, hard-to-wrap gifts like bikes, guitars, and computers. <br /><br />This year, Matt's girlfriend Pam is spending Christmas with us, so of course she has to have a hunt of her own. She's going to have to share a mailbox though, 'cuz I lost the pattern for these years ago. And besides, now that I've found the Internet, I think I've lost most of my crafting mojo. That's why I have to hang onto all this old stuff! <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZp0vd_Z-S0/TvVtuLl8ipI/AAAAAAAAHVc/QXGCfxqj7bQ/s1600/Tgiving_Karla+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZp0vd_Z-S0/TvVtuLl8ipI/AAAAAAAAHVc/QXGCfxqj7bQ/s320/Tgiving_Karla+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WPaYkhGjdFY/TvVt2F9ANVI/AAAAAAAAHVk/yNUYggPUkzY/s1600/Tgiving_Karla+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>Naturally, we'll be headed to church for the midnight candlelight service. That's always our special Christmas moment. Fortunately, the weather is supposed to be cold but clear. Think of me as I'm staying up til ONE as usual to stuff the stockings and litter the house with post-it notes for the great present hunt!<br /><br />Merry Christmas from us at the Crazy House! <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8053129118804453519?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-81608461772176790592011-12-23T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-23T07:00:04.940-07:00Stamped Stuff: Nov Projects - Turkey Nuggets<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I know it's a little late for Thanksgiving projects, but these projects were so cute, I just had to share them with you for next year. The idea for this project came from our #1 Demonstrator of the Year for 2011 - Tami White. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">She has a darling YouTube video showing how to make these adorable and easy <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rkzSU_PFY8">Turkey Nuggets</a>. I have to say, I can see why she is the demo of the year, she comes up with the cutest projects. </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E8ZvHgQnmIo/TvKpMXFYlLI/AAAAAAAAHQE/MnMXTGOQx1M/s1600/Nov+11+Projects+Revised.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E8ZvHgQnmIo/TvKpMXFYlLI/AAAAAAAAHQE/MnMXTGOQx1M/s320/Nov+11+Projects+Revised.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-brfNj-lq0/TvKmzFYbBII/AAAAAAAAHP4/QlJ2Rcr4fL4/s1600/Nov+11+Projects+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MfDmR4q7VBc/TvKhut0ijNI/AAAAAAAAHPs/uv_w3XHQB-s/s1600/Nov+11+Projects+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VRIlh5BOCEo/TvKhMUqf3bI/AAAAAAAAHPg/ClAtpwbHDrQ/s1600/Nov+11+Projects+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8160846177217679059?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-62678130126696377552011-12-22T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-22T07:00:10.037-07:00They Make Blind Children See<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I know some people who can do some pretty amazing things. Seriously, amazing things. Like making blind children see. Making children walk who had never walked before. You know, boring stuff like that. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QyfocuXBHNw/TuwaW3Jo3nI/AAAAAAAAHPQ/1CSNz9wapxU/s1600/glenn_color_02.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QyfocuXBHNw/TuwaW3Jo3nI/AAAAAAAAHPQ/1CSNz9wapxU/s1600/glenn_color_02.jpeg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Take this man. Looks a little like Santa Claus, doesn't he? But he gives kids a gift that is much better than mere toys. His name is Glenn Doman and he has devoted his entire adult life to the treatment of brain injured children. Not just his own life, but his wife's life and at least two of his children's lives - (maybe three, I can't remember). That's dedication. He's 90 now and I haven't seen him in a decade or so, but if I know him, he's still at it. You can't retire when you've got so many injured kids and their parents who need you. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I'm sure you're wondering why you've never heard of this program. I am too. Isn't it funny that we live in a world where everyone knows everything there is to know about Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, and Brittney Spears, but you don't hear about a tiny little place in Philadelphia that is doing these wonderful things. Although they aren't just in Philadelphia any more. They are in Japan and Spain, and about 5 other countries. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here are some actual numbers - out of 278 blind kids that were seen in a 2 year period, 236 of them are now able to see and 194 of them can see well enough to read. That's an 85% success rate. Sounds too good to be true, but it's not a hoax, or a gimmick, or a scam. What is it? It's a <i>lot </i>of hard work, mostly by the parents of the kids. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">To get a child to see, the parents do something very simple - they take the child into a dark room and they take a $2 flashlight and they turn it on and off. And on and off. For about five minutes out of every hour. For 10-12 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 days of the year. Plus a bunch of other exercises - all day, every day. Yes, it is a drastic amount of work. But if your child is facing a lifetime of blindness, how much is too much?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Seems completely bizarre doesn't it? No one ever thought to shine a flashlight at a blind child. Why bother if they can't see? But that's just the point. There's a natural law about the body - form follows function. If you run long enough and hard enough, you'll have the body of a runner. Seen Biggest Loser lately? If you do ballet for enough hours of the days for enough years, you'll develop the body of a ballerina. If your brain senses a light shining in your eyes hundreds of thousands of times, it will slowly, gradually build a new pathway to the optic nerves. Weird, huh? But it's worked for all these hundreds of kids. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">How do I know these folks? Well, about 10 years ago, when my youngest son was a baby, I found a magazine article that sparked my interest. Then I found one of their books, then I found their website. Eventually, I got on a plane and flew to Philadelphia to spend a week in their program. My son wasn't blind or anything, but I was seeing some things that had me concerned. I was terrified he was autistic or something. Turns out he wasn't, but he did have ADHD and some speech problems. But they took me just as seriously as the parents of the kids with downs syndrome or cerebral palsy and they taught me what to do.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Then I came home and set to work. My son is 13 now, he's in Jr High, he reads on a college level, is pulling mostly A's on his report card, and he's working towards his Eagle Scout badge. I don't think that would have been possible without the help I got at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia (yes, I HATE the name, but I love the place). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">For more info on our experience, I have an earlier post on <a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2009/10/glenn-doman-and-iahp.html">our experiences with IAHP here</a>. You can also go to their website at<a href="ihttp://iahp.org/"> IAHP.org</a> and there are TONS of great information - articles, statistics, books, case studies, etc. Their big focus is on disabled children, of course, but they also have an outstanding school and many great resources for well children as well, so it's information any parent can benefit from. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Check them out - I <i>guarantee </i>they are MUCH more interesting than Lindsay Lohan! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6267813012669637755?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-30262697073573225602011-12-15T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-16T21:18:03.103-07:00Smart Money: Financial Behavior Modification<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When it comes to your finances, it's kind of like the nature vs. nurture debate. You can have all the financial knowledge in the world, but if you don't have a handle on your behavior, you aren't any better off than someone who doesn't know a mutual fund from a credit union. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">In fact, I think that behavioral techniques are more important than knowing which investments are best, or which stock broker to use. You can definitely reap some benefits from proper investing, but you can do a lot more damage by out of control behavior. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I think we all know the basics - pay yourself first, save 10%, pay your credit cards off every month, spend less than you earn, etc. But those things aren't always easy for everyone to stick to. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The thing is, if you can manage a few of these basic behaviors, you can end up being as financially successful as someone who knows all the secrets of savvy investments. It's kind of like dieting. Everyone goes for all the gimmicks and the quick and easy fixes, but if you can just manage your basic diet and exercise behaviors for long enough, you WILL lose weight - it's inevitable. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">So, what are some strategies to to get your financial behavior focused in the direction you need it to go? One thing you can do is to make it a game - set some goals, set some measures, make it highly visible with a big scoreboard and even some prizes you can win. I put big post-it notes on my bathroom mirror to show my credit card balances each month so I can watch them go down, and then I have a big PAID OFF section where I can move them once I pay them off. It's very satisfying to see them every morning as I'm brushing my teeth. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Another strategy is to get your friends and family to help you. Share your goals with them and ask them to be your cheerleaders as you take positive steps. You don't have to share the specific numbers with them if you don't feel comfortable, but you can share percentages or just the fact that you've set up an automatic savings plan or created a snowball plan to pay off your credit card debt. Once they understand that you're serious about making changes, they can be really supportive. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Another thing that might be helpful in managing your spending behavior is to create some boundaries to keep the worst temptations at bay. Cancel your catalogs, unsubscribe from store Emails, and stop leafing through the sales inserts in your newspaper. Those things are all very carefully designed by marketing specialists to make items that you may not even need seem completely irresistible. Better yet, write something embarrassing on your store credit cards, so you won't want to hand them over for a purchase. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Then once you've made some progress in the behavior area, then you'll have the time to brush up on your investment strategies and give yourself the financial education you deserve. Then you'll really be in the winner's circle! </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-3026269707357322560?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-64240807603775902912011-12-13T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-13T07:00:14.365-07:00Blogger Girls Wanna Have Some MORE Fun!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I've been having such a good time with my blogger friends this holiday season. First we had this marvelous Halloween party over at Jordan Valley Hospital. We all came in costume and we got to check out their wonderful new doctor's lounge. I guess I must have been having a really good time visiting with everyone because I only ended up with two pictures. It's a shame because we had some awesome costumes. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9Vo1ShSSN8/TucA-IaQ-9I/AAAAAAAAHOo/Tp3drbyuXvg/s1600/Blogger+Halloween+Party+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9Vo1ShSSN8/TucA-IaQ-9I/AAAAAAAAHOo/Tp3drbyuXvg/s320/Blogger+Halloween+Party+%25281%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Bag of Gumballs</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FKUfViXMw8/TucBFtOQq2I/AAAAAAAAHOw/eRPjWbKDu_U/s1600/Blogger+Halloween+Party+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FKUfViXMw8/TucBFtOQq2I/AAAAAAAAHOw/eRPjWbKDu_U/s320/Blogger+Halloween+Party+%25282%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Sparrow put in an appearance, along with an angry bird, </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and Michelle as an insurance salesman (I think). </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I didn't even get a picture of myself in my costume, which is a shame because I had an awesome spur of the moment costume - sometimes those are the best. I dressed myself up so that practically every inch of skin was covered - hat, gloves, long sleeves, etc. Then I made myself a sandwich board-type sign that said "Nudist on Strike" - hilarious! I even won one of the best costume prizes for it. In fact, I was having a lucky night so I came away with 3 or 4 different prizes. That was sweet - literally - as some of them were candy. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">They do have a beautiful lounge for the doctors there at Jordan Valley Hospital. They have nice hotel-like sleeping rooms for the on-call doctors, showers, a gorgeous view of the valley, and all sorts of snacks and beverages to pep up those hard working doctors. Wish I'd been on the ball, I'd had some nice pictures to post. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">PS: I was whining about not having any pictures of my costume and surprise! I managed to find some out on Flicker thanks to Emily over at IsThisReallyMyLife. Thanks Emi. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2W8MqyWZN8/TucFqH3UF1I/AAAAAAAAHO4/dTVUuqHicIA/s1600/Blogger+Halloween+Party+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2W8MqyWZN8/TucFqH3UF1I/AAAAAAAAHO4/dTVUuqHicIA/s320/Blogger+Halloween+Party+3.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See what I mean?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Dneeg7PvBA/TucFqtaShDI/AAAAAAAAHPA/ldlIT-a9ni4/s1600/Blogger+Halloween+Party+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Dneeg7PvBA/TucFqtaShDI/AAAAAAAAHPA/ldlIT-a9ni4/s320/Blogger+Halloween+Party+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmm, candy</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n8zryfgaoYs/TucFrYLcrRI/AAAAAAAAHPI/91f-2mpxxHg/s1600/Blogger+Halloween+Party+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n8zryfgaoYs/TucFrYLcrRI/AAAAAAAAHPI/91f-2mpxxHg/s320/Blogger+Halloween+Party+5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love Lindsay's R2D2 costume</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Then we had the<a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/12/blogger-girls-just-wanna-have-fun.html"> T-Mobile party</a> last week that was so much fun. The day after that, we had our White Elephant party over at <a href="http://thechocolatedc.com/">The Chocolate</a> in West Jordan. Our blogger ladies have <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5500594918974429539#editor/target=post;postID=4851179526993017642">partied with them before</a> at their Orem location, I think it was last year with the <a href="http://sassyscoops.com/">Sassy Scoops</a>, right around my birthday in October. We always have a fun time at The Chocolate. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">It's a cute, tiny little vintage-looking place and they have the most wonderful desserts. However, I always get my favorite item - the Magic Potato. It's almost hard to describe, but it is just wonderful. They take a baked sweet potato, then they whip it up with all sorts of cinnamon, nuts, brown sugar, and other yummy spices, and then throw in a generous handful of crushed pecans and top the whole thing with ice cream. Wow! If you like sweet potatoes as much as I do, it's definitely magic. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The White Elephant party was set up by my dear, sweet friend Kathy over at <a href="http://danishmama.com/">Danish Mama</a>. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">She got up and made a very heartfelt little speech about how we bloggers support each other that had us all sniffling. Because we really do support each other so much. It's kind of amazing when you realize that just a couple of years ago, I didn't know a soul in the blogging world, but now I've got literally dozens of really neat people that I get together with every few weeks. We take road trips, share hotel rooms, hang out, and have a heck of a lot of fun together. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">We laugh and we cry, we cheer for each other and we mourn for each other in the hard times, we give each other advice, and sometimes we pitch right in and help out in lots of practical ways. We support each other and promote each other's efforts and passions. Sometimes we buy stuff from each other, sometimes we sell stuff to each other, and lots of times we just give stuff for charities - time, energy, love, money, diapers, school supplies. At one party, we even gave dozens of snuggies for seniors. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This time, we all brought packs of diapers to give to Moms who couldn't afford any, 'cuz we've all been there at one time or another. <i>(And our white elephants. I ended up with a fabulous little giftie for my husband that I never would have thought of - a wireless BBQ thermometer.)</i> It's a great community of women (and about 3 guys) and while we fuss and fight with each other sometimes - as girls will do. For the most part, we're pretty damned awesome! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">So yes, blogger girls DO just wanna have fun! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6424080760377590291?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-83943662523108370462011-12-07T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-07T07:00:13.212-07:00New Embossing Technique<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I just realized I never finished posting the rest of the October projects. This is a fabulous technique I learned from #1 Demonstrator of the Year Tami White. You've seen our fabulous embossing folders. This is our Vintage Wallpaper folder the way it normally looks. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-76jmxZcncn4/Tt3SfYp8VvI/AAAAAAAAHOg/wU9QlW7T6Dc/s1600/May+%252711+Projects+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-76jmxZcncn4/Tt3SfYp8VvI/AAAAAAAAHOg/wU9QlW7T6Dc/s320/May+%252711+Projects+%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, this is what it looks like when you only use part of the embossing folder. How cool a look is that? And I love this color combo - Chocolate Chip looks great with the fabulous pale Bashful Blue. Throw in some cute two-step flowers and a frilly border and you've got a fabulous card. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GhR-aZ6KhG8/Tt3PYKoKnrI/AAAAAAAAHOY/XLgaqdqDzDs/s1600/Oct%252711Proj+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GhR-aZ6KhG8/Tt3PYKoKnrI/AAAAAAAAHOY/XLgaqdqDzDs/s320/Oct%252711Proj+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8394366252310837046?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-47651437184151181052011-12-06T07:00:00.000-07:002011-12-06T07:00:13.625-07:00(Blogger) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have to say, bloggers get to have the MOST fun of anyone I know. Look at this fabulous party our local T-Mobile store put together for our local group of blogger ladies.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oq18bu83wuQ/Tt3Au4n1r6I/AAAAAAAAHNY/g2fTeNmx27g/s1600/TMobilepics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oq18bu83wuQ/Tt3Au4n1r6I/AAAAAAAAHNY/g2fTeNmx27g/s1600/TMobilepics.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-93WzADOTldI/Tt3AvYcHn-I/AAAAAAAAHNg/6p2qjtpewKA/s1600/TMobilepics2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-93WzADOTldI/Tt3AvYcHn-I/AAAAAAAAHNg/6p2qjtpewKA/s320/TMobilepics2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOgEjsgxim4/Tt3AwMfsMNI/AAAAAAAAHNo/hibiFKgwlyk/s1600/TMobilepics3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOgEjsgxim4/Tt3AwMfsMNI/AAAAAAAAHNo/hibiFKgwlyk/s320/TMobilepics3.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gQKDCiaZa9c/Tt3Awpw_tuI/AAAAAAAAHNw/nTgKCy7MoGw/s1600/TMobilepics4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gQKDCiaZa9c/Tt3Awpw_tuI/AAAAAAAAHNw/nTgKCy7MoGw/s320/TMobilepics4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Csqd9Wos38/Tt3AxCwGw4I/AAAAAAAAHN4/Aqn9V_50AHE/s1600/TMobilepics5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Csqd9Wos38/Tt3AxCwGw4I/AAAAAAAAHN4/Aqn9V_50AHE/s320/TMobilepics5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7rlpn2QpfE/Tt3AxumHYcI/AAAAAAAAHOA/ssasNMY1JEg/s1600/TMobilepics6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7rlpn2QpfE/Tt3AxumHYcI/AAAAAAAAHOA/ssasNMY1JEg/s320/TMobilepics6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01seKpEJOVE/Tt3AyObO2sI/AAAAAAAAHOI/Iqw1w3-JS1E/s1600/TMobilepics7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01seKpEJOVE/Tt3AyObO2sI/AAAAAAAAHOI/Iqw1w3-JS1E/s320/TMobilepics7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">We had all the compulsory elements for a wonderful party - lots of great food, decorations, cute boys in pink Santa hats, and lots of games and fun giveaways, and then mix in our group of fabulous bloggers. I think we all had a great time, especially the 5 people who won free phones! Sadly, I wasn't one of them, but I did come home with some free goodies anyway. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zEwF_Qt91f4/Tt3C9e5idLI/AAAAAAAAHOQ/gAg-qiMQB3Q/s1600/TMobilepics8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zEwF_Qt91f4/Tt3C9e5idLI/AAAAAAAAHOQ/gAg-qiMQB3Q/s320/TMobilepics8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here I am with my personal "elf" Garrett. Even though this was a fun party, it was also a great chance to learn more about T-Mobile's products and cell phones and tablets in general. Our elves were very knowledgeable, but I was able to share some info they didn't even know. One of my media contacts told me just last week that they are going to be putting ratings on cell phone apps, just like movies, video games, and CD's. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">As their holiday gift, here are some tips from T-Mobile. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Check out these top apps from the Android Market to help get you through the holidays in one piece.<br /><br /><i>iFood Assistant by Kraft</i><br />This app provides daily inspiration, delicious videos, over 7,000 easy recipes & meal ideas, a personal recipe box and a full featured shopping list to help make your life easier and more delicious.<br /><br /><i>Shopulator</i><br />Keep a running tally as you shop of how much you’re spending so there are no surprises at check out. The app makes it easy to stick to your budget, and even offers an option to show the amount remaining.<br /><br /><i>Pair It! Wine Pairing Guide</i><br />Pair It! is a FRESH new way to match food with wine, and vice versa. Simply search Pair It! by wine, food, or ingredient for expert pairing suggestions from Sonoma Wine Country Chef and Wine expert. Pair It! has over 20,000 hand-selected and easy-to-follow pairing suggestions, recipes, and tips.<br /><br /><i>Bartender Buddy</i><br />Bartender Buddy features 700 local and 30,000 + online high quality drink recipes. Whether you're a professional bartender or amateur mixologist, you'll find everything you need in one lightning-fast, super-polished app.<br /><br /><i>BigOven</i><br />Not sure what to do with all those leftovers? Use the BigOven Leftover Wizard and enter 3 ingredients from your fridge or pantry for recipe ideas!<br /><br /><i>Gift List Manager Pro</i><br />With the Gift List Manager Pro application, you can track spending, buying & more. Perfect for Christmas Lists, Gift List Manager is the only app that lets you scan barcodes, take pictures, password protect your list, and share lists over email.<br /><br /><i>ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner</i><br />Use this app to find the best deal while holiday shopping! Aim the camera at any barcode, wait for the beep and ShopSavvy will provide you with a list of online and local prices.<br /><br /><i>Hot Deals</i><br />This app is full of online shopping savings opportunities. It allows you to search for deals across the web based on category, share the deals you find with friends and buy directly from your phone. You might just find bargains on items you didn’t know you needed.<br /><br /><i>Pageonce Travel</i><br />Manage all your travel details in one place with full itineraries at a glance, push notifications when flight information changes, live weather reports, route maps and hotel and car rental information.<br /><br /><i>Doodle Kids</i><br />Flight delayed? Fights in the back seat on the way to Grandma’s place? Check out this free application that gives your child a way to create a work of art on your phone. Not a work of art? That’s okay, just shake your phone to clear the screen and start over.<br /><br /><i>Family Bee</i><br />Track your family tree on the go with ease. Handy for big family gatherings and determining for sure if you have any celebrity cousins.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">PS: While I was writing this post, I was watching Glee on Tivo. Guess which song they were doing? Yup, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Go figure! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Pictures courtesy of Stephanie Hansen @ thedailyblarg.com</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-4765143718415118105?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-60873174929861206622011-11-29T23:19:00.001-07:002011-12-02T22:19:55.248-07:00Um, What Happened to November?<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You know your life is moving too fast when you look up and realize you've basically lost an entire month! I looked at the calendar today and did a double take. Whaddya mean it's December already? Holy Crap, didn't we just do trick or treat last week? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I think it's just because work has been so insanely busy, but time seems to be flying by at light speed and I seem to be losing entire weeks at a time without 5 uninterrupted minutes to call my own - yikes! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I've had about 9 months now of crazy-busy work days and I'm getting pretty tired of it. Work was a little too quiet at the beginning of the year, and I spent a lot of time poking around on the Internet and taking long lunches, but then it swung back the other way and I feel like I'm constantly rushing through 3 things at once just so I can get to 3 other things that I should have done about a week ago. That got old about six months ago, but I don't see it letting up any time soon. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Then I come home and my husband who just had shoulder surgery, is bored from sitting around all day and wants someone to talk to. And then he still needs help getting cleaned up, dressed, fixing meals, etc. And he's cranky because his shoulder hurts and he can't sleep well because he has to sleep in the recliner. Bless his heart, shoulder surgery is the worst! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Blessedly, I do have some vacation time next week. I call it my Christmas Sanity Week. I save a week or so of my vacation time to do all my decorating, shopping, wrapping and mailing my out of town gifts, etc. It's just too crazy even for me to try and do that on top of a 10 hour work day. But before I get to my vacation time, I sort of volunteered to make some cards for the Troops with my group at work. Well, not just <i>some </i>cards - 100 of them to be exact. By Friday. Hmmmm. Fortunately, I've got a few volunteers to help me, but still 100 of them? Yes, that's the <i>Crazy </i>part of Adrian's Crazy Life! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And tomorrow I've got a social media event with T-Mobile. And a Scout meeting. At the same time. Hmmmm. And my husband can't drive yet. Hmmmm. Think I'm going to have to do the drop and run maneuver at the Scout meeting, cuz I'm not about to miss the T-Mobile party. There's going to be food, friends, nice prizes, just my idea of a fun social media event! And then there's the white elephant party on Thursday with the rest of my social media buddies.... And Friday I'm <i>triple </i>booked - Scout flag ceremony, hand out hats & gloves to the homeless (that one was my idea, so I can't get out of it), and then the youth group is going skating at the other end of town at the same time. It's Blake's favorite (because that's where all the cute girls hang out) so I'm sure he'll talk me into it. Remember that movie Duplicity? I think that's what I need, to clone myself or something. But then I'd need an extra car too. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Oh and did you have a happy Thanksgiving? We did too, although it was a quiet dinner with just the four of us and Matt's girlfriend. But "Lefty" and I managed to make a nice turkey with all the trimmings (did I mention that he's our main cook? That's been a hard one as I can make about three dishes. Maybe four...) Fortunately, he gets his sling off this week, but he still can't lift more than a few ounces with his bad arm. If someone ever says the words Rotator Cuff Surgery to you - run. Fast. Unless your arm is falling off your body, you do NOT want to do this one. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Anyway, all this is to say that I feel bad that I've been neglecting my poor blog so badly this month. I looked at my posts were lower this month than they've EVER been before in my five years of blogging, but I hope people understand that my heart is pure, my intentions are honorable, but my life is just too full of crazy right now to get the job done! </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6087317492986120662?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-39909277200691359772011-11-21T07:00:00.000-07:002011-11-21T07:00:06.000-07:00Having Fun and Getting Fit with the Striiv Unit<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have discovered the cutest little gadget lately and even better, it is helping me get fit and give a little to charity at the same time. The Striiv is a little keyfob sized pedometer that fits in your pocket, clips to your belt, or hangs on your keychain. It's brand new on the market and I got to be one of the first ones to test drive (or test walk!) it. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zel8s_h8UfI/TsnWMzMVfzI/AAAAAAAAHNA/pUTQrwqw8oM/s1600/Home.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zel8s_h8UfI/TsnWMzMVfzI/AAAAAAAAHNA/pUTQrwqw8oM/s320/Home.png" width="222" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I like my Striiv unit because as it is counting your steps, it is also giving you incentives to take <i>more </i>steps. As you walk, run, or climb stairs, you are earning points. These points earn different awards throughout the day. It will tell you if you've earned enough points to wipe out a cupcake, or a small order of fries, for instance. Some days it tells you, you have walked across the Golden Gate bridge (1.7 miles) or something. Or it will tell you that you've beaten your average from yesterday, or last week. That's much more motivating than just doing a boring 10,000 steps a day most programs want you to do. It's like having the power of a marathon in your pocket. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">You are also earning points towards a charitable donation. Every day you have a chance to earn a small donation towards your favorite charity. Mine is Clean water, but there are several to choose from. Striiv and several of it's partners make the donations for you based on your step count. Walk more to give more. I think I did 3 or 4 donations in my first week and it's nice to see them add up. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jILGzWvjqxE/TsnWmzjAWfI/AAAAAAAAHNI/JP9FrxLLW6M/s1600/Walkathon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jILGzWvjqxE/TsnWmzjAWfI/AAAAAAAAHNI/JP9FrxLLW6M/s320/Walkathon.png" width="222" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">My favorite part is the game. There's a little video game built right into it and as you go through the day, you earn points to play the game. Its actually a lot of fun and some aspects of the game are pretty challenging. Some of the challenges are easy 5 minute ones, but for some of the bigger ones, you have to save up your points for several days and use them strategically. Some days I found myself taking a few extra turns up and down the stairs to get those few extra points for an animal or plant I wanted to add to my game. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c1UJK_Qcoos/TsnYSzum4tI/AAAAAAAAHNQ/WkG5QAVGp6I/s1600/Striiv+Game.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c1UJK_Qcoos/TsnYSzum4tI/AAAAAAAAHNQ/WkG5QAVGp6I/s320/Striiv+Game.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">What it all boils down to is building motivation and I think that is the real challenge when it comes to exercise. Unless you make it fun and enjoyable, it isn't going to get done. And this is a simple, hassle free way to do it. This would make a nice holiday gift for someone - perfect for the busy Moms in your life. <a href="http://electronics.hsn.com/striiv-motivational-fitness-device-with-belt-clip-key-ring-and-screen-protectors_p-6568934_xp.aspx?rid=2316">HSN </a>is offering it for 3 payments of $33.31 - includes extra screen protectors, belt clip, and keychain attachment. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here's a video that shows that Striiv unit in action. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xnd3PR7dLoo" width="560"></iframe></span><br /><i><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i><br /><i>Disclaimer - I received a Striiv unit for my personal use, but as usual, my opinions are my own. </i><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-3990927720069135977?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-79839606391504296182011-11-15T07:00:00.000-07:002011-11-15T07:00:03.984-07:00Climbing Mt. Washmore - New & Improved Laundry Plan<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Laundry around here had REALLY gotten out of control. Sometimes you just get focused on other things and it just slips away from you. So I decided it was time to take the bull by the horns - figuratively speaking and get things back on track. My plan had three elements:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Part 1</b> - Tackle Mt. Washmore. My strategy for this was simple - I needed to make the problem </span><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">VISIBLE. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Part of the reason laundry gets out of control is that you can't see the whole extent of the problem.</b> We have multiple laundry hampers in different rooms and ALL of them were overflowing, so <b>my first action was to get it all out of the hampers and pile it up right there in the family room</b>. Yes, I did! Of course, my guys didn't much care, as long as it didn't obstruct the TV, but I cared <i>terribly</i>, and it at least gave them a visual on how out of control the problem had gotten. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And it was truly a Mt. Washmore - probably a dozen loads or more. Then we just started chipping away at it - 3 loads a day, 2 loads a day, whatever I could get my family to go for. Wash it, dry it, fold it, and put it away, people....</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Part 2</b> - Reality check time. <b>Obviously our current process wasn't working - duh!</b> DH and I had a deal, I would wash our portion of the laundry and he would put it away. Problem was that I would wash a bunch of it, but then procrastinate in folding it and he would procrastinate in putting it away. So <b>our hamper was turning into a black hole</b> - you'd put something in there and it wouldn't show back up in your drawer for a couple of weeks. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The boys are <i>supposed </i>to be responsible for their own laundry, but they had two basic strategies - let the laundry pile up and never wash anything until they needed it, or put the washer and forget about it until it was all nasty and had to be rewashed and then leave it lying around until Mom took pity on them and folded it for them. Not good.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Part 3</b> - Make a better plan. Sometimes it just takes a little communication and a little cooperation between your family members and if everyone is willing to try, you can usually find something that works. One thing that works for us is all about the </span><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">visibility</span><span style="font-size: small;">. <b>Laundry is a quiet problem that slowly piles up while you're busy doing other things. </b>And here are the crazy house, we are busy doing a LOT of other things, so it sneaks up on us. You don't notice until you run out of something you need. So I needed to make the solution <i>very </i>visible. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I made a laundry schedule and <b>I placed it right on the cupboard door where it would be seen at least 3 times a day!</b> Blake does a load on Mondays, Matt does one on Wednesdays, Tony does one on Fridays, and I do mine plus the towels, sheets & stuff on weekends. I also placed recurring reminders on each of our cell phones (Blake doesn't have one yet, but the rest of us do). </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I gave them the option or either wash it in the morning and dry in after work or school, or do it right after dinner, but the rule is that </span><b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">it has to be done and put away by bedtime</b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. If not, they will wake up to find the offending pile of laundry sitting on their kitchen chair and have to deal with it before they can sit down to breakfast. It makes me into "Vinny the Enforcer" but I'm the one who wants it done, so I get to do the dirty work, I guess. </span></span><br /><br />Wish us luck!<br /><br />Don't forgot to come back on Mondays for my Clutterbugs tips. Click on the Clutterbugs link below to see a complete list of my Clutterbugs posts. <br /><img src="http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l426/indeliblylex/Adrian/sig2.png" /><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-7983960639150429618?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-13448855934092131352011-10-31T07:00:00.000-06:002011-10-31T07:00:07.259-06:00Clutterbugs: 6 Tactics to Defeat Burnout<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true" DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}</style><![endif]--><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think one of the big problems in keeping up on dailyhousework is the sheer never-endingness of it.<span> </span>You clean something and a day or two later, you have to clean itagain.<span> </span>And again.<span> </span><b>The sheer repetition of it just grinds youdown after a while.</b><span> </span>And let’s face it,gratitude for those day-to-day small tasks is almost non-existent.<span> </span>No one ever says “Thank you” for the 30<sup>th</sup>time you’ve cleaned the kitchen this month.<span> </span>No one ever gets excited about <i>another</i>load of laundry that is washed for them, even if it’s the 10<sup>th</sup> loadyou’ve washed this week.<span> </span><b>It’s just humannature to not notice when things are going right.</b><span> </span>Unfortunately, it’s also human nature togripe when things are going wrong.<span> </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For me, <b>the source of burnout is when I try to make a bigchange and I end up failing</b>.<span> </span>Again.<span> </span>I am such a creature of habit that changingmy ways is a monumental task for me, and each new attempt I make is likerolling a boulder uphill.<span> </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But the alternative is to <b>allow yourself to just marinate inyour bad habits</b>, and that’s not a good thing either.<span> </span>So, how to get that boulder rolling back upthe hill again?</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>-<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></div><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span>Back to the drawing board.<span> </span>Part of it is to <b>acknowledge that yourprevious attempt was unsuccessful and try to determine why</b>.<span> </span>Look at it from all angles and see where youran into difficulties.<span> </span>Did you pick tooambitious a goal?<span> </span>Did you get distractedwith other things? Did you get discouraged and just give up?<span> </span>Now look at how you can restructure things towork around that problem.<span> </span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span>Try something new.<span> </span>I always get excited when I’ve got somethingnew and different to try.<span> </span>Read new booksor ask your friends which techniques have worked for them.<span> </span>Maybe even try taking a break from a goalthat’s too difficult and work on something related, but somewhat easier.<span> </span><b>It’s a lot easier to feel motivated when you’vehad some success in one area.<span> </span></b></span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span>Enlist a coach.<span> </span>Sometimes working on a goal with a friend can give you some extramotivation.<span> </span>However, this can backfireas well, so you need to choose your partner carefully.<span> </span>If you pick someone who is flaky or notcommitted to making a permanent change, that could really mess you up.<span> </span>One tactic might be to <b>find someone who isalready successful </b>at the goal you are working towards and ask them to helpyou.<span> </span>Or you might consider working witha personal trainer or a life coach.<span> </span>Ihad a life coach for about 2 years and it was amazing.<span> </span>It’s nice to have an hour a week or so <b>tojust focus on yourself and have someone hold you accountable for yourprogress.<span> </span></b></span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span>Check your timing.<span> </span><b>You never want to start a new change programwhen you have major distractions going on</b>, such as a new job, a baby, or acrisis like a seriously ill loved one.<span> </span>On the other hand, the <b>holidays can be a surprisingly good time tostart</b>.<span> </span>Even though there is a lot goingon and it can be stressful, getting your household routines on automatic pilotcan be so helpful in dealing with all the holiday chaos.<span> </span>Flylady does this every year, she calls it “Cruisingthrough the Holidays” and she has a series of holiday-related activities thatshe breaks down into small 15 minute daily tasks.<span> </span>Me, I take a regular “Christmas Sanity Week”around the 10<sup>th</sup> of December.<span> </span>That gives me a break from work to do all my decorating, shopping andmailing so I can them out of the way early to enjoy my holiday.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><b>Willpower isn’t everything</b>.<span> </span>Don’t blame yourself too much if you’vefailed at a task.<span> </span>So many people thinkthat willpower is the answer to everything, <b>when in most cases, it is theanswer to nothing</b>.<span> </span>Instead concentrateon building skills, <b>identifying specific small changes that will boost yourabilities</b>, and surrounding yourself with friends who want to help you changerather than accomplices who will sabotage your change.<span> </span>If you have friends or relatives who like toovereat, shop too much, or sneer at your home improvement goals, then <b>it may betime to get some new friends</b>, or at least have a conversation about how theirbehaviors are not supporting your heartfelt attempts at change.<span> </span>They might not realize it.<span> </span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span>Be sure to reward yourself with frequent smallrewards, even if it’s something silly like stickers, or a check mark on acalendar.<span> </span>Sometimes little things likethat can be great motivators.<span> </span>On theother hand, fear of loss can be a good motivator too.<span> </span><b>Give a friend $20 to hold and they can’t giveit back to you until you’ve stuck with your goal for 5 days in a row</b>. Yikes! But you can see how something like that could make you take your change more seriously and make an intense and lasting commitment. <b>If you aren't willing to gamble a few bucks on yourself, you might not be as serious about change as you believed.</b> </span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, devote an evening or two to analyzing your previousefforts, identifying changes you can make and then put together a newplan. </span>And start rolling that boulder back up thehill…</span>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-1344885593409213135?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-74223006468733171442011-10-27T07:00:00.000-06:002011-10-27T07:00:02.649-06:00Smart Money: Re-Commerce<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just read an interesting article today. It's about a new trend called Re-commerce. I guess it's not really new, but all of a sudden it's become much more popular. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">In a tough economy like this, bartering, trading in, and selling some of your old stuff is a great way to maximize your dollars. And there are a lot of new websites and companies all lined up ready to help you. Here are some of the ones I've found:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://gazelle.com/">Gazelle</a> is a site where you can turn in your old cell phones, E-readers and tablets for cash. It's not a lot of cash, but it's something. My year old Motorola Droid was quoted a price of a whopping $32. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Levi's in Singapore has begun offering $100 in incentives for people who trade in their old jeans. $50 off a new pair and an additional $50 in coupons. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The famous London store Marks & Spencer had an event last year where they were offering a 5 pound coupon for any item of their clothing traded in. The clothing was then given to charity. The Gap did something similar with a 30% discount with any trade-in. These aren't everyday deals, they are special events, but it does show a new trend in discounts for clothing recycling. <a href="http://marketplace.com/">Marketplace </a>is a new site specifically for high end fashion clothing and I've seen sites where you can borrow high end purses and other expensive fashion items for a limited time. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">There are also trade-in programs for toys, both adult and children's toys. There are sites that take trade-ins for bikes, golf clubs, and Toy's R Us offered a similar program to trade in old baby gear for a discount on new items. Probably the most famous place that offers deals like this is <a href="http://playitagainsports.com/">Play it Again Sports</a>. Just today my niece was looking for a treadmill and that's where I told her she could find the best deal. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://craigslist.com/">Craigslist </a>is also a site where you can buy or sell just about anything. I've frequently bought and sold a number of things on there. In fact, I am sitting on a Lazy Boy couch I found on there last week. I paid a ridiculously low $30 for it because my husband needed a left handed recliner after his shoulder surgery. It's ugly and pretty well worn out, but it will suit our needs quite nicely over the next few weeks. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I get practically all of my books, CD's, movies and E-books from Amazon.com. Some I buy new, but if it's not a gift or something, I will usually buy them used to save from 25% to 50% off the in-store prices. Then often, when I'm done with it, I'll turn around and sell it back. Last year, I bought a Crayola color mat for my granddaughter, but it didn't arrive in time for Christmas. So I put it out there and sold it for $15 more than I had paid for it. That's a score! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">There are also brick and mortar stores like Plato's Closet, Kid2Kid, Music-Go-Round, and Game Stop that are willing to take all sorts of clothes, music, games, and all sorts of stuff. You don't get a <i>lot </i>of money for them, but how much money do you get when this stuff is hanging around your house gathering dust? </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://stubhub.com/">Stubhub </a>is a new site where you can buy and sell tickets on your SmartPhone right at the event. That sounds a lot better than standing around on a street corner trying to sell an unwanted ticket or two. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And I think everyone has heard of this whole Groupon-type mania. I've bought bunches of these and have gotten some really good deals that way. In fact, I bought one just today - $50 worth of groceries from our local dairy delivery service for $20. That's a huge score in my book. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Can't forget Ebay, the original buy and sell marketplace. I actually started out as an Ebay seller and I probably did it for about 5 years. I did thousands of auctions and made a fair bit of money at it - sometimes. Other times, I lost my shirt, but that was kind of the fun of it, to see what items were going to sell and what crazy prices people were willing to pay for things, or how cheap they were willing to sell them for. I started with stuff that hadn't sold at my last garage sale, and made hundreds of dollars on this junk that no one wanted. I was hooked. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I hope this gives you some good ideas on buying the things you want at a better price and maybe even selling a few extra goodies you have floating around your house. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-7422300646873317144?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-35524468054820263122011-10-26T07:00:00.000-06:002011-10-26T07:00:10.450-06:00Pumpkin Carving at the Crazy House<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had some fun this weekend carving pumpkins at the Crazy House! I was campaigning for doing something different this year, like ribbons or hardware or something, but I was overruled. Apparently it's majority rules during pumpkin season, even if the darn things do end up rotting after you carve them. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNlGKdVCjNY/TqZEBFehN9I/AAAAAAAAHJ4/xg6uOFziWOk/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNlGKdVCjNY/TqZEBFehN9I/AAAAAAAAHJ4/xg6uOFziWOk/s320/Pumpkins2011+%25284%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pam (Matt's girlfriend) is up to her elbows in pumpkin guts (ew)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VX7GA4YNng4/TqZD5jwl8kI/AAAAAAAAHJw/BZna24TyDPM/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VX7GA4YNng4/TqZD5jwl8kI/AAAAAAAAHJw/BZna24TyDPM/s320/Pumpkins2011+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blake has a plan</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuZzBUEBoWo/TqZEItV9FGI/AAAAAAAAHKA/H9CPMIZIpW8/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuZzBUEBoWo/TqZEItV9FGI/AAAAAAAAHKA/H9CPMIZIpW8/s320/Pumpkins2011+%25286%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not going to smile....</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yxrvwSl_K5U/TqZEPh8P6zI/AAAAAAAAHKI/hF6ZmXx7M6Y/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%25288%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yxrvwSl_K5U/TqZEPh8P6zI/AAAAAAAAHKI/hF6ZmXx7M6Y/s320/Pumpkins2011+%25288%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OK, I guess I'll smile...</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4gc6RfciKI/TqZElbwlvxI/AAAAAAAAHKQ/wnAA9W1mlOQ/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%252812%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4gc6RfciKI/TqZElbwlvxI/AAAAAAAAHKQ/wnAA9W1mlOQ/s320/Pumpkins2011+%252812%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's my artistic pumpkin. I used thumbtacks and ribbon. However, I can never get a picture of anything without a cat in it around here. Looks like the cat is coming OUT of the pumpkin!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GxofIJNqsRQ/TqZKSe6f1oI/AAAAAAAAHK0/8t9nkkVrFFQ/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GxofIJNqsRQ/TqZKSe6f1oI/AAAAAAAAHK0/8t9nkkVrFFQ/s320/Pumpkins2011+%25289%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally a non-cat picture of my pumpkin. Well, a wooden cat doesn't count, does it? </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PaYOBGsdHf0/TqZEuONLM_I/AAAAAAAAHKc/CndS7LDY5dM/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%252822%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PaYOBGsdHf0/TqZEuONLM_I/AAAAAAAAHKc/CndS7LDY5dM/s320/Pumpkins2011+%252822%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Blake's final product</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fFTr8n473hk/TqZE1HADKrI/AAAAAAAAHKk/E-Vn_FTOAo0/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%252823%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fFTr8n473hk/TqZE1HADKrI/AAAAAAAAHKk/E-Vn_FTOAo0/s320/Pumpkins2011+%252823%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pam's is scary looking!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mRZJ9uyu0GY/TqZE8atSp2I/AAAAAAAAHKs/86mCcC6rUR4/s1600/Pumpkins2011+%252824%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mRZJ9uyu0GY/TqZE8atSp2I/AAAAAAAAHKs/86mCcC6rUR4/s320/Pumpkins2011+%252824%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Matt's. It's eating the smaller pumpkin and dribbling the "brains" out the side. Sometimes I wonder about that boy.....</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-3552446805482026312?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-25070130080001523042011-10-25T07:00:00.000-06:002011-10-25T07:00:05.332-06:00Stamped Stuff: Oct Projects - Frankie Card<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have to say this is the most stinkin' cute card I think I've done all year! Copied of course, but it's such a popular card, I can't even pinpoint who I copied it from. I've been seeing it all over the place this year. However, I did some fun stuff with the inside to make mine a little more unique. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--OBN-oTBF6A/TqJai9IQiPI/AAAAAAAAHJU/l35l6dGr_uI/s1600/Oct%252711Proj+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--OBN-oTBF6A/TqJai9IQiPI/AAAAAAAAHJU/l35l6dGr_uI/s320/Oct%252711Proj+%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1K9PIyY6PU0/TqJaqsZ7rnI/AAAAAAAAHJc/v7gyF26h0QA/s1600/Oct11Projects.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1K9PIyY6PU0/TqJaqsZ7rnI/AAAAAAAAHJc/v7gyF26h0QA/s320/Oct11Projects.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I am totally a punch girl so I love to give my punches and my Big Shot a good workout. Obviously the foundation of this card is the Top Note shape in the Wild Wasabi and Basic Black, but then it was easy to add the features with my circle punches. It was a lot of fun to play around with changing the emotion on the face just by moving the eyebrows or the pupils a little bit. And the greeting from the Smarty Pants set is so perfect for this set - Friend. Good. And I think that little touch of Pumpkin Pie just tied in nicely with the Halloween feel. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">As always, all the materials needed to create this card are available on my website. Click the link below to order. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-2507013008000152304?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-1818132289769340652011-10-23T07:00:00.000-06:002011-10-23T07:00:01.281-06:00Stamped Stuff: Oct Projects - Sailboat Card<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is exactly my kind of style - simple and elegant with a great color combo. This color combo came from our new, redesigned Color Coach Cards. It combines Baja Blue, Basic Grey, and Cajun Craze.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_LKBrbfbdi0/TqJfwUbcDUI/AAAAAAAAHJk/TYZ0lD3hk6g/s1600/Oct%252711Proj+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_LKBrbfbdi0/TqJfwUbcDUI/AAAAAAAAHJk/TYZ0lD3hk6g/s320/Oct%252711Proj+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UnchartedTerritory</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I had been admiring this Uncharted Territory set for the longest time. Both sailboats and lighthouses are very popular themes these days, so I just had to have it. And I think the Tulip Impressions folder frames the card very nicely. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-181813228976934065?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-86486301166589535812011-10-18T07:00:00.000-06:002011-10-18T07:00:15.625-06:00Didja Miss Me?<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Goodness people, I feel like I've been AWOL for weeks. I have to apologize, I do try to post at least a couple of times a week, but sometimes Adrian's Crazy Life goes completely wackadoodle! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here's what's been going on with me. I've been traveling, which is kind of unusual for me. I got to take a quick trip down to Phoenix for some work stuff. We had a bit of a "come to Jesus" meeting with one of my vendors - that was productive and satisfying. Then I got to take a longer trip to Charlotte, NC that was really awesome. I'm one of the leaders of the Green Team at work and they were having a conference for the leaders of all the Green Teams all across the country. It was very nice and I came home with a bunch of great ideas to use for our Green Team. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Looks at these awesome sculptures I found at this little park right across from the hotel. They had all these cool sculptures, but unfortunately, I left the camera card in my computer at home, so I had to take them with my phone camera. Charlotte is really a beautiful city and I was pleased we had some time to go around and explore the city. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-31yI455n3tA/TpkqyV7kcPI/AAAAAAAAHI8/MBcJT6xil50/s1600/CharlotteSculptures3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-31yI455n3tA/TpkqyV7kcPI/AAAAAAAAHI8/MBcJT6xil50/s320/CharlotteSculptures3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DgFaVEvtfEo/TpkrILTF52I/AAAAAAAAHJE/yw3dx6YjUQU/s1600/CharlotteSculptures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DgFaVEvtfEo/TpkrILTF52I/AAAAAAAAHJE/yw3dx6YjUQU/s320/CharlotteSculptures.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qt9z9cNAm-0/TpkrMRRurMI/AAAAAAAAHJM/ju_bB6eZleo/s1600/CharlotteSculptures2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qt9z9cNAm-0/TpkrMRRurMI/AAAAAAAAHJM/ju_bB6eZleo/s320/CharlotteSculptures2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Right before the Charlotte trip, I got sick. For most people, that's not a big deal, but for me, it is HUGE. I have such a terrific immune system that I almost never catch anything, so this is the first time in nearly four years that I'd caught a cold and I was PISSED. But then again, my husband, my son, my best friend, and one of my customers were all sick at the same time, so I guess even my old trusty immune system couldn't hold up to all that. I even spent a whole weekend in bed and completely miserable - unheard of for me. Usually I have at leave half a dozen things going on, but I barely even left the house! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">So I went to Charlotte coughing and hacking up a lung. I'm sure I was a popular seatmate on the plane. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">However, when I got back from my Phoenix trip, I had some very unwelcome news. Very unwelcome. My husband has been having a lot of problems with his shoulder for more than a year now and he had been to the doctor while I was gone. He waited until I got home because he didn't want me to be freaking out on the plane, or in the hotel room by myself. They said that he was going to have to have <i>major </i>shoulder surgery that would put him out of whack for at least <i>four</i> <i>months </i>- ugh! It is a horrible surgery that should just about be outlawed. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">He had his surgery just today and I have slept so poorly all week just worrying about this whole mess. He will be completely unable to use his right arm for weeks and weeks. They said maybe by Thanksgiving or Christmas, he <i>might </i>be able to hold a fork or something. For a hard working guy who works two jobs, that is <i>not </i>good news. He works for a tiny little company that doesn't offer disability or anything, so we are looking at most of that time without any money coming in for him, which is pretty rough. Plus the therapy he is going to have to go through sounds absolutely horrible. Poor guy. But hopefully he will come through this in good shape at the end of all this. I sure hope the result is worth all this - yuck! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Anyway, that plus a heaping helping of teenager aggravation is what is going on at the crazy house. Hopefully next week, things will be more back to normal and I can post a little bit more often! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8648630116658953581?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-21898724854586233642011-10-07T07:00:00.000-06:002011-10-07T07:00:03.833-06:00Smart Money: Cut your Power Bill<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am part of the local Green Team at my company. We have designated teams like this at our major locations around the company to <b>come up with ways to help the company be more socially responsible through recycling and other "Green" initiatives.</b> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This week, we had our first ever Green team leadership conference in Charlotte, NC. We brought together the leaders from some of the <b>various teams around the country to share best practices</b> and listen to some speakers on various topics relating to social responsibility. I was one of the lucky ones who got to come from Salt Lake. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">One of the topics that really caught my attention was the Kill-a-Watt program developed by our Vancouver team. <b>They were concentrating on reducing electricity costs through teaching employees to power down equipment that isn't being used,</b> such as computers, printers, coffee pots, even the snack machines. But it isn't enough to just turn the power switch off, you actually have to stop the power source. It's called "Vampire Power" - the small amount of power that goes through a piece of equipment whenever it is plugged into an electrical outlet. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b>They purchased these special meters called a Kill-a-Watt meter the allow you to precisely measure how much it costs you in dollars and cents</b> - whether the equipment is running or not. It's pretty cool. You enter the rate for your local power company and then you just plug the equipment in for a couple of hours and it tells you exactly the cost per hour. You would probably want to measure it both when the equipment was running and when it is on vampire power. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=adrcralifblo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00009MDBU" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></b><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b>For about $20 and a little bit of your time, you could save <i>hundreds </i>of dollars a year on your power bill. </b> I'm totally getting one of my own and I'm going to work on getting several of them at work so employees can check them out to measure their office equipment and their home appliances as well. I'm embarrassed to say that I left my printer and scanner on over the weekend while I was at the Green Team conference, so I'd really like to see how much it would have saved if I'd thought to turn them off. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Some tips - get some dedicated power strips so you can quickly and easily power off all your little vampires without crawling around on the floor. <b>That way you can easily segregate things that can be powered off (cell phone chargers, blow dryers, lamps) from things that shouldn't be powered off (refrigerators, Tivo units, possibly TV's).</b> You will want to check your owner's manuals to make sure that your appliances will not be harmed by repeated power loss. Even though fridges should never be powered down when there is food in them, they are one of the largest power suckers. You'll want to measure the cost savings from large scale food purchases weighed against the possibility of eliminating that huge power drain from a 2nd fridge. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">If you have tried this, I'd love to hear how much your actual savings was from this idea. </span><br /><i><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stop by on Thursdays to see more posts on you and your money. If you'd like to see a complete list, just click on the Smart Money label at the bottom of this list. </i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-2189872485458623364?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-69003932166098012382011-09-30T07:00:00.000-06:002011-09-30T07:00:05.760-06:00Stamped Stuff: Sep Projects - Composition Book<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I thought I'd save the best project from my September classes for last. This is a darling composition book I found at Wal-Mart. They had several great new patterns, herringbone, stripes, and polka dots. The best thing - since I got them during the back to school sale - I got them for .40 cents each! What a fun 3D project for my stamp class. </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NeQCLkDoOtI/Tn1vD6q-37I/AAAAAAAAHI4/4uuIsR6WoXA/s1600/Sep11Proj+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NeQCLkDoOtI/Tn1vD6q-37I/AAAAAAAAHI4/4uuIsR6WoXA/s320/Sep11Proj+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The picture came out a little funky - those actually are normal striped lines. I looked at some composition book samples on-line, but they all had the whole cover covered up with cardstock and I didn't want to do that, so I kind of improvised. I cut a square of Cherry Cobbler and rounded the corners to go over the Composition Book label. Then I stamped the NOTES using my new alphabet set - Jaynes Type. It's $43.95 for you, but I got it for free - it was an incentive for participating in a focus group. Seeing as I always have an opinion on anything, that's a match made in heaven! I just did another one this week, so I'll have to do a little shopping in my catalog again. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I added a little white Grosgrain ribbon and a little flower made with my Fun Flowers die. I had these little star shaped rhinesones floating around my stamp room, so I tossed it in the center for a little bling. I use that Fun Flowers die all the time - it's an easy way to add in some extra color to any project - $32.95 and it cuts 3 different flower shapes and two types of centers. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, you have to have a matching pen to go with your snazzy new notebook. I just take RSVP pens, roll up a little scrap of designer paper and shove it down in the barrel. Quick and easy, but people think they are soooo cool. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6900393216609801238?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-60526014298087197282011-09-29T07:00:00.001-06:002011-09-29T07:00:11.795-06:00Smart Money: "Retail" Therapy Is the Worst Kind<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think the source of a large portion of debt, is due to the effects of "retail therapy" or "recreational shopping". <b>This is the practice of non-need based shopping. </b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">When we were first married, this was a <i>big </i>problem for us. We didn't have a lot of friends or activities going on, so basically our lives were kind of boring. That's pretty shocking when I look back on it, because our lives are so FULL now, it's hard to remember what it was like 20-something years ago. But the fact is, <b>we would have entire weekends with nothing much to do except go cruise around the mall,</b> or go to the swap meet, or cruise around to garage sales. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">It goes without saying that this had a negative impact on our budget. I'm lousy at window shopping. I can rarely see something I like without buying it and back then I bought a LOT of what I saw. So much so that <b>I created a huge clutter problem to go with my growing debt problem</b>. That's where some of the seeds of this blog grew, when I started finding a way to overcome my clutter problem and start climbing our way out of debt. <b>Solving my own problems gave me a desire to help other people get started on the same path.</b> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Boredom is one reason for recreational shopping, but another reason is just because it feels <i>good</i>. It's true that buying something pretty and new always gives you a bit of a lift. <b>Some people become addicted to that feeling, so they buy and buy things regardless of whether they actually need, want, or can afford them, simply to get that small rush.</b> And when you've had a rough day, or are frustrated by a situation you can't solve (aren't we all sometimes?) then it's easy to feel like you "deserve" a little treat. Or a big one. But the problem doesn't actually go away and <b>then you are still facing the same old problems plus a debt problem for dessert. </b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Solutions? <b>Well, part of the solution is to just be aware of what you're doing.</b> Take an objective look at your shopping behaviors. If you are starting to see signs of these kinds of behaviors, <b>make another choice.</b> Get a hobby, make some friends, join a club, find a cause, run a freaking marathon. <b>These are all healthier and more fulfilling options in the long run and you won't be filling up your house with junk and your mailbox with credit card bills. </b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> <i><br /></i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i> Come back and visit often. If you'd like to see past posts on this subject, click on the Smart Money tab and it will pull up a complete list. </i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6052601429808719728?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-60513328245242278102011-09-29T07:00:00.000-06:002011-09-29T07:00:02.345-06:00Stamped Stuff: Sept Projects - BFF Card<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I thought this card was semi-awesome. The BFF set was one of my Convention freebies and they had a whole wall of samples with all the sets they gave us for the Make and Takes, so we would have lots of ideas to use our new sets. I took a bunch of pictures and then I'm using them as the basis for my design. The picture I started with had our First Edition designer paper, but since I didn't have any on hand, I grabbed an old book. Then I cut it to fit and used it on my project.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KyX_P7SXyFA/Tn1rhhR4p6I/AAAAAAAAHIw/gRJN4wvLa1c/s1600/Sep11Proj+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KyX_P7SXyFA/Tn1rhhR4p6I/AAAAAAAAHIw/gRJN4wvLa1c/s320/Sep11Proj+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I added the polka dot ribbon and a Cherry Cobbler heart to match the background. The BFF Greeting fits the large tag punch perfectly and I had a little snip of burgundy hemp that matched perfectly to the Cherry Cobbler base. Those dots along the upper edge - made with a pencil eraser and my black ink. I even used a little tear off strip from our order forms to get them perfectly lined up - talk about semi-brilliant! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The BFF set goes for $23.95 in wood and $17.95 in clear. Click my link below to go directly to my website for on-line orders. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6051332824524227810?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-72944763912527418332011-09-27T07:00:00.000-06:002011-09-27T07:00:03.569-06:00Stamped Stuff: Sept Projects - Zoo Review set<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am totally loving the Zoo Review set. I've already made a couple of cards with this baby. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MXGv8HYhC0w/Tn1e6SF09kI/AAAAAAAAHIo/JXvBCAIdQSM/s1600/Sep11Proj+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MXGv8HYhC0w/Tn1e6SF09kI/AAAAAAAAHIo/JXvBCAIdQSM/s320/Sep11Proj+%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />This giraffe card was so easy, but it's really striking. I used Chocolate Chip for the base, Sahara Sand textured with my Square Lattice folder for the contrast color, and then Cajun Craze and Very Vanilla for the layered Top Note shapes - cut with my Big Shot, of course. Then I added the layered tag for a final touch. Simple, but lovely. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aa4sOTFpFoY/Tn1fGaFFmUI/AAAAAAAAHIs/KRmbcOCQQk0/s1600/Conv11Swaps+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aa4sOTFpFoY/Tn1fGaFFmUI/AAAAAAAAHIs/KRmbcOCQQk0/s320/Conv11Swaps+%25289%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />I call this card my Lion King card and it was one of my most popular Convention swaps. This technique is called "Highlighting" where I've set up the lion's head to be highlighted by stamping it in a different color and using our circle punches to create a mat for it. I used our Confetti Vanilla paper for the background - that's why it has tiny flecks of color in it. Then I cut the wavy piece with my Tasteful Trim die. It's a great way to add a pop of color to any project. It cuts four different patterns in one pass - $42.95 for the Big Shot. Then I added a little snip of black polka dot ribbon to tie it all together. The greeting, I borrowed from our In Wilderness set, but I think it goes perfectly with the Zoo Review set as well. It says "In wilderness, I sense the miracle of life - Charles A. Lindbergh". <br /><br />The Zoo Review set has the lion, giraffe, polar bear, penguin, and zebra. It is $22.50 for wood and $16.95 in clear. You can click on the link below to go directly to my website to place on-line orders. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-7294476391252741833?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-45422751782050517122011-09-25T07:00:00.000-06:002011-09-25T07:00:01.132-06:00Stamped Stuff: Lattice Card<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2iYbrMjJ5XU/Tn1UhZYmp_I/AAAAAAAAHIk/7IxN1et2VwM/s1600/Sep11Proj+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2iYbrMjJ5XU/Tn1UhZYmp_I/AAAAAAAAHIk/7IxN1et2VwM/s320/Sep11Proj+%25285%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I just love this lattice technique. It's SO simple, but it looks so intricate and difficult. All it takes is a series of long and short cuts with the paper folded in half. I have a little paper template that I've had for years that I use with this, but you can find templates on line. My friend<a href="http://lisargood.com/tech/techlattice.htm"> Lisa Goodell </a>has some great ones on her blog. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I like to put some contrasting color under my lattice work to make it really stand out. And of course I had to put a pretty scalloped edge on it. Some Big Shot butterflies happened to fly by to complete the project. Stay tuned for more projects from my September classes. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-4542275178205051712?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-63695914540331760012011-09-24T07:00:00.000-06:002011-09-24T07:00:06.026-06:00Yeti and the Laundry Basket<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You see why my laundry doesn't get folded often enough? Every time I turn around, there is an adorable kitty sleeping on it.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-It_gst-N6TI/Tn1PUYzWXOI/AAAAAAAAHIY/jHBH1quQ22o/s1600/YetiTowel+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-It_gst-N6TI/Tn1PUYzWXOI/AAAAAAAAHIY/jHBH1quQ22o/s320/YetiTowel+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awww, it's little kitty naptime. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FBdKOa5A4vw/Tn1PbllNWII/AAAAAAAAHIc/zYCP9vRhN_I/s1600/YetiTowel+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FBdKOa5A4vw/Tn1PbllNWII/AAAAAAAAHIc/zYCP9vRhN_I/s320/YetiTowel+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whadja wake me up for? I was sleeping so nice...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Thicl-6ISYw/Tn1PipnD1xI/AAAAAAAAHIg/BYd0FVRWAsM/s1600/YetiTowel+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Thicl-6ISYw/Tn1PipnD1xI/AAAAAAAAHIg/BYd0FVRWAsM/s320/YetiTowel+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nope, it's my towel. You can't have it. </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"> Welcome to my life. I'm starting to think the house belongs to the cats. We're just the caretakers. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /><a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6369591454033176001?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-3438066792449373042011-09-19T10:00:00.001-06:002011-09-19T10:00:01.798-06:00Clutterbugs: Do you ever lose stuff?<div id="ms__id582" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do you ever lose stuff? I know I do and it's one of the few things that really makes me CRAZY! I <i>hate </i>to lose things and I have been known to search for <i>weeks </i>when I lose something important. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Recently, I lost one of my Big Shot dies that cuts cute little butterflies. It's one of my favorites because it cuts about 6 tiny butterflies in one pass and they're all really cute. I must have looked for that sucker for about six months. I finally gave it up for lost and bought a new one, but I'm still expecting the original to show up any day. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">When you are dealing with lost items, this is one of my <i>best </i>tips ever, so I hope you appreciate me sharing it with you. Drum roll please:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">When you lose an item in your house, after you find it, put it back in the </span><span style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">first </span><span style="font-size: small;">place you looked for it. That is it's natural home and if you keep it there, you'll <span style="font-style: italic;">always </span>know where to find it. </span></b><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">You're welcome!</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div id="ms__id583" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are certain items that get lost all the time, so it's a great idea to establish a regular "home" for them.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Keys, for instance, they get lost all the time and you end up with a lot of stress and wasted time looking for them when you want to go somewhere.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">If you install a hook right inside your door and get in the habit of hanging your keys on it, you'll always know where your keys are. I always keep mine in a special pocket of my purse, so I never have to hunt for them.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">However, I'm always losing my purse. I have about four different places I leave it in, so I always have a little bit of a hunt for it when we are going out the door. I picked just one spot to put it in and I'm training myself to always keep it there.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The one item I never have to look for - the remote. It's always about two inches from my husband's hand! It's a wonder he doesn't carry it everywhere around the house. That's such a guy thing! He may not be able to control anything else that goes on around this crazy house, but he will make sure he has control of the TV channel at ALL times....</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">What items do you lose the most frequently and what can you do to solve the situation?</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Be sure and come back next Monday for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them. </span></div><img src="http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l426/indeliblylex/Adrian/sig2.png" /><br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-343806679244937304?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-9494082371571303662011-09-13T08:00:00.001-06:002011-09-21T00:33:38.850-06:00Calling all Moms - Consignment Sale Time Again<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here are the winners of the presale tickets for the consignment sale. I only had four entries (I had a couple of people notify me through Facebook or Email), so you all get a pair of presale tickets. Presale is Thursday from 7:00 to 8:30. Don't forget your laundry basket. </span><br /><br />Julee from Mommys Memorandum<br />Kathy Dalton from Danish Mama<br />Sari Olschewski from Ladyofperpetualchaos.com<br />Freida from the Utah Hive<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> If you are in the Salt Lake area and have kids or grandkids under the age of about 10, this is something you are going to be happy to know about. Hilltop United Methodist Church in Sandy, has their semi-annual Children and Maternity Consignment Sale. </span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Us-Wj-h9Was/Tm7Q_JY7ZDI/AAAAAAAAHIU/wLRiNWEz4iI/s1600/ConsignmentSaleLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Us-Wj-h9Was/Tm7Q_JY7ZDI/AAAAAAAAHIU/wLRiNWEz4iI/s320/ConsignmentSaleLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />This sale is really something special. They have over 100 vendors who come in and bring clothing, books, toys, furniture, play equipment, and just about everything a kid could need and even some maternity stuff for you. This is all gently used stuff, but it is all carefully screened and sorted by sex and sizes for your best shopping experience. And there is a LOT of it. Just about every corner of the church is PACKED with stuff. <br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3wtj99UFe_8/Tm7Qg8Ypn0I/AAAAAAAAHIA/d2naM677vEE/s1600/Consignment+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3wtj99UFe_8/Tm7Qg8Ypn0I/AAAAAAAAHIA/d2naM677vEE/s320/Consignment+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This sale takes place on Friday Sept 23rd from 9:00 to 8:00 and on Saturday from 8:00 to 2:00. No strollers before noon on Friday due to large crowds and most prices are marked down on Saturday. The address is 985 East, 10600 South in Sandy. It is directly across the street from Dimple Dell Recreation Center. A portion of each sale goes to the church for various charitable programs in the Community. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Hint: Bring a laundry basket or a REALLY big bag to hold your purchases. It's very crowded in there, so everyone just lines their baskets up and down the hallways and fills them up with all their bargains. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_IMFevGFK-A/Tm7QwETbiDI/AAAAAAAAHII/TQvuo8TitSA/s1600/Consignment+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_IMFevGFK-A/Tm7QwETbiDI/AAAAAAAAHII/TQvuo8TitSA/s320/Consignment+%25283%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9jeZUtGueBc/Tm7Q3Oh_jRI/AAAAAAAAHIM/fqlHdD5XCe8/s1600/Consignment+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9jeZUtGueBc/Tm7Q3Oh_jRI/AAAAAAAAHIM/fqlHdD5XCe8/s320/Consignment+%25289%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-97AN8Iu0_No/Tm7Q-qoLMpI/AAAAAAAAHIQ/kzqYSjsVwm8/s1600/Consignment+%252814%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-97AN8Iu0_No/Tm7Q-qoLMpI/AAAAAAAAHIQ/kzqYSjsVwm8/s320/Consignment+%252814%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />But there's more - there is a special pre-sale on Thursday night that is only open to the consignment sellers and the volunteers who help with the sale (that includes bloggers who help advertise the sale). It's only open for about an hour and a half, so it is definitely bargain central! The good news is that I have <i>five </i>pairs of tickets to the pre-sale for you to win.<br /><br />How do you win them? It's easy. Just copy this post and paste it on your blog. If you have local readers, I'm sure they'll be will be happy for the information. Then just leave me a comment with a link to your post and I'll draw the five winners on Friday. You can either bring a friend, or you can offer the extra tickets to one of your readers. The tickets will be waiting at the front door for you.<br /><br />You know I'll be there. although I don't have any little kids. My 13 year old likes to pick through the Lego sets and puzzles and last year we found ONE pair of shoes that would fit him. It definitely is geared to younger kids. <br /><br />If you<b> don't </b>have a blog - you can post a link on your Facebook account to send your friends here to get the information. Please leave me a link to your Facebook posting. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">.<a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-949408237157130366?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-6016704536440763102011-09-12T10:00:00.001-06:002011-09-12T10:00:02.326-06:00Clutterbugs: A Few Declutterbug Hints<div style="color: black;">Here are a few hints I've collected over the years to help you on your way. </div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;">- When you are cooking, run a<b> sink full of warm soapy water</b> first. Then you can rinse the pots and pans and either set them on the counter to dry, or pop them in the dish washer for more thorough cleaning. That way the kitchen doesn't look like a bomb went off by the time dinner is over and you will be more likely to want to finish tidying it before bedtime.</div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;">- Use the "One touch" method while you are cooking. You take the ingredient, such as a spice, or milk or whatever and you use it without ever setting it down on your counter. Then <b>it goes straight back into the cupboard or fridge</b>. That leaves you with one less thing to clean up at the end of the meal. Sound simple, but it works great. </div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;">- This is a good idea for mail. I saw one of my Cleanie friends doing this. When her bills or other important mail comes in, she takes a big black Sharpie and writes all the info on the back of the envelope. Something like "Electric bill -due 10/15" or "Car Registration". Then she puts them into a basket. That way she just flip through the basket to <b>tell what bills are due without having to search through the envelopes</b>. I thought that was a great idea! </div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;"></div><div style="color: black;">- I keep a <b>"sock orphanage"</b> down in my laundry room. Then when I have mismatched socks, I toss them in there. Every month or so, I dig through it and see if I've got any matches. Eventually, I'll throw them out, but I'm always hopeful I'll find that missing sock.... </div><div style="color: black;"></div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;">- We watch movies - a LOT! And my guys are terrible about putting them back in the cases. So every so often <b>I'll gather up a whole stack of them that are laying around and I put them into the closet for a "time out"</b>. I'll even put a note on them <span style="font-style: italic;">"In time out until October 12th"</span>. Nobody dares touch them and it makes them get better about putting them away - for a while anyway. Works for video games too - those suckers are <i>expensive</i> and they get all scratched up.</div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;"></div><div style="color: black;">- I have been known to put <b>notes on the counters </b>or on the kitchen table. "You may NOT leave dirty dishes here - they need to go in the dishwasher". I can nag and nag and they just tune me out, but strangely enough, they'll mind the notes - again for a while. They tune them out after a week or two, but it does help.<br /></div><div style="color: black;">- One of my friends came up with a great idea this week. When you're feeling low on motivation for a chore, <b>persuade your husband to bribe you</b>. Say something like - if I clean out this closet today, will you take me out to dinner? If he wants more room in the the closet, he's likely to agree and then you have a built-in reward to motivate you to do the chore. Hey, bribery WORKS! Let it work <span style="font-style: italic;">for </span>you instead of <span style="font-style: italic;">against </span>you! Plus you get a nice dinner with your husband. </div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;"></div><div style="color: black;">- When your teenagers won't clean their rooms, <b>"offer" to clean it for them</b>, maybe even <i>insist</i> on it if they don't do it themselves by a certain time. Most teenagers are so big on their precious PRIVACY, they would rather DIE than have you touching their stuff. </div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;"></div><div style="color: black;">- Oh, here's a naughty one, but it's funny! When you get really mad at your husband - go shopping. <b>With the TV remote in your purse!</b> He'll go crazy looking everywhere for hours. Then you casually slip it out, leave it somewhere and just say, Oh it was right over here all the time....</div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><div style="color: black;">Be sure and come back next week for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them. </div><img src="http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l426/indeliblylex/Adrian/sig2.png" /><br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-601670453644076310?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-14789557418037346742011-09-01T10:00:00.002-06:002011-09-01T10:00:01.446-06:00Smart Money: Keep Track of Shopping Emails<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Do you know when you buy stuff these days, they no longer ask for your phone number. Instead, they've started asking for your Email address. Gotta love marketing. If they can't get to you one way, they'll find another. However, keep in mind that you have a choice. My standard answer to either question is to very pleasantly say "I'm sorry, I don't give that out". It usually catches them by surprise and they blink for a moment, but then they just say OK and complete the transaction. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">However, there are benefits to getting on that list - it does give you access to a lot of special offers and on-line only coupons. The downside to this is that you have a constant stream of temptation showing up in your inbox every day - LOTS of temptation. Those little suckers are pretty prolific. I probably get 20 or more of them a day. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I buy on-line a lot, so just about everyone in town has MY Email address. However, I have a little scheme that allows me to reap the benefit of having all those sales and coupons on hand without having to struggle with that daily temptation. I let my Email take care of it for me.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">There are two ways you can do this. First, you can set up a specific Email address that you only use for shopping. Then you only check it when you're ready to go shopping. Or you can use your regular Email and just redirect the messages to a specific folder. That's what I do. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I'm not sure how it works in every type of Email, but in Gmail, it's really easy to set up. Every time I get Email from a new company, I select "Filter Messages like These" and set it to go to my Shopping folder and click "Skip the Inbox". Then I just look in my Shopping folder every week or so. I delete everything over a month old because most of the specials are over by then. It's like my own private little piggy bank. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-1478955741803734674?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-68854312226213565042011-08-29T10:00:00.007-06:002011-08-29T10:00:09.898-06:00Clutterbugs:Kids and Chores<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Kids and chores - what a fun topic. I don't think there is anything that parents and kids or kids and other kids fight about more. It's your turn, no, its your turn, I did it last time, how come I have to do that, that isn't fair - kids have an endless supply of complaints and excuses when it comes to chores. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This is a problem that needs solving. The fact is, these kids are going to be doing some kind of chores for the rest of their lives. Unless they are going to end up independently wealthy with a full staff of maids, gardeners, and cooks, the fact is there are <i>decades </i>worth of chores in their future. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Basically, <i>everyone </i>has to do some amount of chores, and with a few rare exceptions, <i>no one</i> likes to do them. So, who is going to have the bigger advantage in life - a kid who learns early how to do chores without complaining and fussing about them, or the one who doesn't? </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I think you need to be consistent and very matter-of-fact with kids about their chores, the same way you are about car seats, bedtimes, and good manners. It's just something that is daily, non-negotiable, and nothing to make a fuss about. Get them done quickly and well so you can move on to other things that are more fun! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Enforcement is huge, and that is your job as a parent. The rule in my house is that if you don't do a chore on the day it is given, the next day, you will do that chore PLUS a penalty chore of my choosing. Miss 2 chores and you get 2 penalty chores. It adds up fast and my kids know that there is not ever going to be any benefit to them for skipping a chore. </span><br /><br />Same thing for chores done poorly. I've been struggling with my 13 year old on this one all summer long. Chores are done first thing in the morning before a TV, computer, or video game can be turned on. He has ADHD and I know once he gets sucked into something electronic, there is no going back, especially if I'm at work and can't monitor his usage. However, now he has hit on a strategy of whipping through his chores to try and get to the good stuff faster - the stinker! <br /><br />The thing is, in the long run, this strategy is not going to pay off. Predictably, every single time, I make him go back and complete the chore properly. If he's done it poorly enough, he earns an extra penalty chore as well. If it really gets bad over a few days, he also loses his electronics and has to miss fun activities with his friends. It's taken a while, and we had a long, serious talk about it, but we're finally coming to an understanding and I can see that he is at least trying, although he's still got a ways to go. <br /><br />Everyone is different in how they assign chores to their kids, but I do something even more unusual (yes, of course, this is ME. If you've been reading my blog at all, you know I always put my own unique spin on things). I assign chores more or less permanently. <br /><br />Some things are no brainers. I'm a working Mom, so my kids have always made their own beds, prepared their own lunches, cleared their own dishes, and washed their own laundry. I don't even consider those chores, that's just life - if they want clean clothes, they'd better wash them. Then again, teenaged boys are not that concerned about clean clothes, so I do have to push a few reminders on that one! But at least <i>I'm</i> not the one putting them in the washer. <br /><br />But those pesky little daily things, like taking the trash out, loading and unloading the dishwasher, helping set up and clean up for dinner, those I assign on a more or less permanent basis. It's just so much easier. I never have to worry about whose week it is, or who traded chores with who. If the dishwasher is not unloaded, I know exactly who I need to hunt down to do it. <br /><br />Makes it a <b>lot </b>simpler. Is it fair? No, get over it - is what I tell my kids. Sometimes I think we worry way too much about trying to make things fair for our kids. My boss doesn't care if something is fair when she wants me to do a task, so I'm not going to worry about that with my boys. Suck it up, this is life in the big city fellas. <br /><br />It's a process, but we'll get there. What kinds of things do you do to help your kids get better about their chores? <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6885431222621356504?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-41033563322058296932011-08-25T10:00:00.002-06:002011-08-25T10:00:05.197-06:00Breaking up w/America's Got Talent<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I like America's Got Talent, but I think I need to break up with it. I've been watching AGT ever since it first came on. I think I've probably seen nearly every episode, even back when Brandi was one of the judges in the first season. It drives me crazy because there are SO many things about the show I <i>really </i>enjoy. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here's what I love: I love *most* of the acts, I adore Nick Cannon, and I love 2/3rds of the judges. Sharon is awesome, has a huge heart, and is quite sharp about picking the best talent. Howie is charming and very funny and both of them are very gracious in dealing with the talent, especially the really crazytown acts. They know how to gently send the acts off the stage without hurt feelings or awkward moments. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Piers is whole different ballgame. He's rude, boorish, unprofessional, and nasty to almost everyone - the acts, Nick, and both of his fellow judges, especially Howie. I have to say, Howie is a pretty good sport about it. I think the Hoff would likely have punched Piers at some point for some of the comments he's been making. I think they ought to just vote him off the island and bring in someone like Stephen Tyler instead - he's been an adorable addition over on American Idol. Sometimes I watch the show just to see what wild and crazy thing Stephen is going to do next. That's how a judge ought to be. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here's something else I don't like on AGT - so many of the adult-themed acts. I see a lot of kids in the live audiences, and I know my kids really enjoy watching the show, but I do NOT like all the drag queens, strippers, and adult themed acts they have on there. Some of them like Leonid the Magnificent (in the early seasons) or Prince Poppycock are pretty entertaining, but I really don't like my kids seeing that kind of stuff. You shouldn't have to explain to a little kid why a man is cross dressing, or why a lady is taking her clothes off on TV. If they insist on having the adult acts, maybe they could shift them to the end of the show and have a warning so parents could turn the show off or send their kids out of the room. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The other thing about the show that really concerns me is the push for more and more dangerous acts. I like a good thrill as much as anyone, but I would feel terrible if someone really ended up getting seriously hurt or killed just trying to entertain me. I'm kind of surprised it hasn't happened yet with some of the things they've done this year. I think the lady on the Russian Bar with flaming swords on both sides of her was really scary. Also the guy juggling stun guns while standing in water. That could have gone really, really wrong. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">See, that's three things about it that I don't like, but there is even MORE stuff that bugs me about it. See why I want to break up with it? It is was a boyfriend, I'd have given up on it long ago. The whole format is kind of flawed. The early episodes are my favorites - the acts are usually at their best, there is a lot of variety, and you're seeing everything for the first time. That part is really enjoyable. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Then the second time, there's no audience and it's kind of boring. Then the acts start to fall apart. By the third time, you can tell the acts are getting tired and you're getting a little sick of them too. By then, most of the acts I enjoy the most have been voted off - the acrobats, magicians, and the big dance groups and you're stuck with mostly a bunch of singers and the extreme danger acts. That gets a little dull by the time you are seeing the acts for the 4th time. And then it ends up getting won by some guy with a guitar who didn't put nearly as much work into it as some of the really unique and amazing acts that were voted off. I know the show can't control how people vote, but it is really frustrating! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">But on the other hand, tonight's semi-final round was so awesome, I would have to have missed all of that. Lys Agnes, and Pop Lyte, the Miami Dance Team, David something Baker, and the Illuminations group, they were all really fabulous tonight. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I guess I'll hold out for the rest of the season and hope somebody I like ends up winning this year, but if Piers comes back next season or if someone really ucky wins (again!) that's it, I am so done! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-4103356332205829693?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-85133418127257475142011-08-23T10:00:00.001-06:002011-08-23T10:00:01.545-06:00Pinterest - My Latest Obsession<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"> OK, I've found a new obsession. For the last few weeks, I've been playing around over on Pinterest. I didn't really understand what the site was all about until I got over there, but it's pretty amazing. It's a huge picture gallery with pictures of anything you can ever imagine, clothes, food, crafts, art, people, just this random assortment of interesting stuff. And each picture links to the website where it came from, so you can buy the thing, get the recipe, or find a tutorial to make the craft items. <br /><br />When you find something you like, you click a button to "pin" it to one of your "boards". You can have an unlimited amount of pins on an unlimited amount of boards. I have different ones for funny sayings, ideas for cool nail designs, things with polka dots, and all sorts of stuff. A lot of people use them for useful stuff like collecting recipes or color schemes they want for decorating. To me, it's just for eye candy. I especially love the sayings. I have a ton of funny and profound sayings on my Words I Love board. You'll have to pop over to Pinterest and Follow me there. I didn't have enough characters, so I'm over there as AdriansCrazyLif. <br /><br />This is a sample of one of my Pinterest boards. See these beautiful masks I found. Aren't they gorgeous? </span><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RgwgV4MQBCo/Tk9OETr6qWI/AAAAAAAAHHc/p_8NIzISG-c/s1600/Pinterest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RgwgV4MQBCo/Tk9OETr6qWI/AAAAAAAAHHc/p_8NIzISG-c/s320/Pinterest.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />This is one of the few ways I waste time on the Internet. Usually I'm busy doing, doing, doing, but this is just a nice breath of air in my day. I've got boards for animals, cute guys, color schemes (green, blue, black & white), books I want to read, funny stuff, sparkly stuff, you name it. C'mon over & <a href="http://pinterest.com/adrianscrazylif/">visit me.</a> <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8513341812725747514?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-88469708969239196222011-08-22T10:00:00.031-06:002011-08-22T10:00:08.275-06:00Clutterbugs: Taming the Paper Tiger<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> I think one of the biggest clutter challenges is PAPER.</b> It's like a faucet that never shuts off. Every day when the mailman comes - more paper. Every day when your kids come home from school - more paper. Your Email doesn't always generate actual paper, but if it's anything like mine, it generates a Noah's Ark of electronic paper every single day. And don't get me started on the newspapers, and the magazines, and the coupons. It's enough to make Mother Theresa go postal.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">OK, I'n going to give you the secret to dealing with the excess paper issue - are you listening carefully? OK, here it is - <b>YOU DON'T NEED NINETY PERCENT OF IT</b>. There, now do you feel better? </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">No really, you DON'T NEED IT. <b>Utility bills, you don't need them.</b> If you have a question, they will print you another one - shocking, I know. <b>Paystubs, you don't need them.</b> Usually they are available on-line. If not, someone in Payroll definitely has another copy of them and they will be happy to provide it. <b>Bank statements - you do need to keep those</b>, but you can keep them on-line, or just keep a bare minimum of them. <b>Catalogs - definitely don't need them</b> and it's better for your budget if you can get them to not even come into your house. Every place that sends you a catalog has a website with everything in that catalog available in a searchable format. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here's something that might surprise you - <b>I haven't taken a daily newspaper, watched any regular news shows, or listened to any news radio shows in probably 10 years</b>. And I take just ONE magazine - People, just for the fun of it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And you know what, <b>I probably haven't missed a single important news story </b>in all that time. I have news alerts that come to my Email for big new stories like nature disasters or stupid politician tricks. Anything else, I catch info on the Internet, hear a blip on the radio, or someone says "hey have you heard...". We get the Sunday-only paper just for the funny papers and coupons and we're good to go. <b>I figure that saves me about 6 inches of excess paper every week.</b> And a lot of negative BS that I don't really want in my life. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The average person has 3.1 magazine subscriptions and they don't actually read them half the time. What's up with that? We get these shiny, pretty magazines and think we're going to make all these yummy recipes, create all these fabulous crafts, make over our home to look like a magazine layout and try all these fabulous diets, <b>but honestly, we probably won't take the time to follow through with it, and those shiny magazines just pile up in stacks all around your house</b>. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">So, what's a girl to do? Well, for starters, <b>take a look at your subscriptions and consider doing some pruning back</b>. Then take your accumulation of magazines and make an appointment with yourself to <b>spend just 15 minutes a day getting through all of them.</b> Then tear out the articles or recipes you want to reference for later. It's OK, you've paid for the magazine. Then find somewhere to pass it on to. I always think it is such a waste for just one person to read a magazine and then throw it away. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> And then if you want all those fabulous recipes, crafts, and home decor ideas, <b>there are literally <i>hundreds </i>of blogs that provide just about anything you could ever imagine </b>complete with full instructions and pictures for FREE. Although if you're reading this on <i>my </i>blog, you probably already know that! And if you want a recipe, you can type in any ingredients you have on hand into any search engine and it will bring up a <i>boatload </i>of free recipes with those ingredients. I've tried a bunch of them and they've been great. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Now, the question is how to deal with the 10% of paper that you actually do need to keep?</b> I think it will be a <i>lot </i>easier once you get rid of the other 90%. Then it's just a matter of setting up a filing system that is easy for you to maintain for those few papers you do want to keep. Here are some tips that work for me:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">- For phone lists, sports schedules, coupons (we don't do a lot of them), and other things that I really want to keep track of,<b> I tape them up INSIDE my cupboard doors</b>. It's neater looking and I don't have to dig through a pile of papers or a drawer to find them. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">- I keep a <b>bill basket </b>on my desk. As the bills come in, we just toss them in there, then on payday, I just go through and grab them and pay them with my bank's online bill pay. Even if they aren't due yet, I can set them up for the following payday. <b>Then I toss all the papers in the shred bin at work.</b> I've done this for probably ten years, and I can't think of ONE time, I've ever needed to reference any of those bills. Anything I need, I can pull up from a website in 5 minutes or I can pull up a year's worth of history in my bill pay service. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">- Coupons. I will admit it, I'm not a big coupon person, but I do a TON of online shopping and I have a great technique for managing the flood of discount codes and offers that come in after you have bought something online. I have Gmail and I <b>set a filter to force everything to go directly into a Shopping folder</b>. Then if I want to shop at a particular store, I go right to the offers for that store and check out the current specials - super easy! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">- Scanners - one thing I haven't tried yet, are these <b>cool new scanners that scan receipts</b> and all sorts of stuff and store them on your computer in a searchable format. That sounds like something really handy. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I hope this helps you with <i>your </i>paper challenges!</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-8846970896923919622?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-28378499016612446472011-08-16T10:00:00.000-06:002011-08-15T21:55:15.926-06:00Clutterbugs: The Clutter Game<div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is one of my favorite decluttering posts, so every so often, I take it out and dust it off for readers who might not have seen it before. </span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let’s play a game. Let’s pretend that over the course of the next month, <b>you have to actually use </b></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>everything</i></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b> that is currently in your house</b>. You have to wear <span style="font-style: italic;">every </span>piece of clothing, eat off of <span style="font-style: italic;">every </span>dish, use <span style="font-style: italic;">every </span>towel and sheet, and read or watch <span style="font-style: italic;">every </span>single book or movie!</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That’s pretty ridiculous, isn’t it? But even if you <b>stretched it out to a year, what percentage of your “stuff” do you think you would actually use?</b><br /><br />I would think 50% would be a pretty generous estimate. If the statistics folks are right, it’s probably closer to 20%. That means that <b>50% to 80% of the stuff in your house is living there absolutely rent free</b>, all year long!<br /><br />Because when you think about it, that is how possessions earn their keep, by providing us with comfort and convenience and by serving some useful purpose. <b>But if you’ve got a whole house full of “</b></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>freeloaders</i></span><span style="font-size: small;">” who aren’t pulling their weight, they are <span style="font-style: italic;">costing </span>you money.</span></b></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You have to own and maintain a larger house with additional storage space for them. Some people even rent additional storage spaces because they’ve outgrown their houses. Shoot, if we only kept the stuff we "really" needed, we could probably live in a camper, but instead our houses just get larger and larger, along with the corresponding mortgage payments. <br /><br />You have to buy boxes and baskets and bins to store it all away and keep it out of sight - I’m hoping you do, anyway. I<b>f not, then you have the emotional cost of having all this stuff lying around and taking away your peace of mind.</b> And what is that worth?</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And how much time do you spend messing around with it? I just spent most of a whole weekend reorganizing all my pictures. That was OK with me because those pictures have a lot of meaning for me and now I won’t have to do that for probably another 5 years. But <b>how often have you spent a <span style="font-style: italic;">whole </span>Saturday or a <span style="font-style: italic;">whole </span>weekend cleaning out the garage or doing the “stash and dash” for company?</b> That’s a </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>lot</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> of time and effort this stuff is costing you.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then there’s the energy drain. There are some things that really give you joy and bring back fond memories for you, <b>but a lot of excess stuff just acts as a drain on your spirit and just makes you feel depressed and guilty</b> for letting it pile up so much.<br /> </span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And what about the shame issue? You feel <span style="font-style: italic;">so </span>embarrassed when someone drops by and your house is all messy from your” freeloaders” taking up every spare inch. I hate that one. You just want to sink into the carpet and die. <br /><br />Not to mention the conflicts with your children, spouse, or mother! <b>More than one marriage has ended because of conflicts over messy homes.</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"> Wow, I’ll bet you’re really looking at your freeloaders with new eyes, aren’t you?<br /><br />Let’s do one more fun game. Mentally <b>estimate what percentage of your house is filled with your freeloaders </b>– everything from old broken toys, clothes that don’t fit, stuff hiding out in the garage, books you aren’t ever going to read, etc. Be honest about it. Now mentally pack it in boxes and stack it up in one (or two) rooms of your home. Estimate what percentage of your square footage that would represent.<br /><br />Let’s say it’s 10%. <b>If your house payment is $1500, you are paying </b></span><b><span style="font-size: small;">$150 a</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">month</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b> to keep all that clutter!</b> If you’re not getting $150 worth of joy out of it, I suggest you start sending that stuff out into the world to go freeload off of someone else! </span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Be sure and come back next Monday for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them. </span></i></div><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> </span></span><br /><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </span></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-2837849901661244647?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-9444746080438063202011-08-12T10:00:00.000-06:002011-08-12T10:00:08.054-06:00Stampin' Up! Annual Designer Paper Sale<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Stampin' Up! is having a huge sale. They usually only do this one once a year, so it's a great time to stock up on our fabulous designer papers. During the month of August, when you buy 3 packs of designer paper, you get one FREE - that's a $10.95 value. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mXWK-GuOXHM/TkNd040G72I/AAAAAAAAHHY/xrCBxZZFB4I/s1600/B3G1Free_DBWSGrid_Aug2011_V2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mXWK-GuOXHM/TkNd040G72I/AAAAAAAAHHY/xrCBxZZFB4I/s320/B3G1Free_DBWSGrid_Aug2011_V2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our designer paper comes in packs of 12 sheets, most of it is double sided and some of it has special effects like glitter and flocking. These are great for all your scrapbooking and card making projects, or anything else you'd like to create. You can click the button below to go directly to my website, or there is a link on my sidebar to go to my Clearance Rack. There is an ever-changing selection of bargains on all sorts of products. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">PS: I'm still having my Retired Stamp Sale. I have over 40 retired stamp sets for sale at rock bottom prices. I can ship anywhere in the US for the cost of a flat rate postal box. <a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2011/08/2011-retired-stamp-set-sale.html">Click over </a>and have a peek. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-944474608043806320?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-23122305804620335762011-08-11T10:00:00.002-06:002011-08-11T10:00:03.831-06:00Smart Money: Surviving on a Student Budget<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"> Today, Stephanie is joining us as a guest poster. I found her through my favorite blog The SITS girls where she was one of their daily guest posters and I invited her to give you the student's perspective on budgeting. </span></i><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6448008649636658" style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm Stephanie, and I'm an Australian university student in my third year of a Bachelor of Arts and Law. I have recently started blogging at </span><a href="http://www.thecreativestudent.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Creative Student</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (</span><a href="http://www.thecreativestudent.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.thecreativestudent.wordpress.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">), a cooking and craft blog for students and others with limited space, money and time. The Creative Student blog is currently in the process of moving, and will soon reside at the </span><a href="http://creativestudent.radism.net/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Radism Network</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (</span><a href="http://www.radism.net/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.radism.net</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">).</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Surviving a Student Budget</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">University, for many students, is not only about learning the course work. For students straight out of high school, it’s also a time when you learn to be an independent adult. A major part of that is money, and how to use it well, when there is not much of it and you are on your own. So here is some tips for students, and for parents, some advice that you can give to your teenager starting college (or already there) and things that you, as the parent, should keep in mind.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For students who have, or will soon have, an allowance rather than having to work a part time job, the best advice I can give is to keep in mind that just because you are given the money, does not mean you are not earning it. Being a university student can be a full time job all on its own, and if someone is going out of their way to make things easier for you, it is, at the very least, a courtesy to do your best to get good grades and the most out of the opportunity. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Now, if you are the one providing the allowance then saying that will most likely sound patronising, whether the student needed to hear it or not. A better way to go about it would be to let them know that, in exchange for the allowance, you expect them to do their best. Saying “their best” is preferable to “get good grades” or another specific desired outcome, because it puts less pressure on the student, and being a university student is enough stress and pressure on its own . It’s also important to keep in mind that not all students find the same work the same level of difficulty and all students, not matter how well meaning they are, will make mistakes. That also applies to money.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Before I get to the actual advice, I would like to state for the record that while some things may appear to be common sense, it is not always as easily done as it is said. This is especially true for people who are only newly on their own, such as university students. Learning to handle money wisely and independently is a little like learning to drive a car: while it often becomes second nature after awhile, it is often difficult at first and some people never really get a good grasp of it especially if they were not taught well in the first place. This is why good advice and instruction from the start is important, although independent practice is also required.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6448008649636658" style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Basic Budgeting for One</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The simplest way to survive a student budget is to figure out how much you have and how much is needed for each area of spending. This is important not only to make it easier not to overspend, but it also helps make it a lot easier to notice when something changes unexpectedly.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When helping a student to figure out a budget or figuring out one for yourself after working out how much you are working with, the simplest approach is to categorise spending. For example, Isabelle's categories might be:</span></span><br /><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Groceries (her residential college does not provide food) and study snacks.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Toiletries, such as shampoo and tooth paste, and other house hold goods such as laundry detergent.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Text books.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rent and university fees.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Recreation/Study breaks.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Other things that may need to be replaced now and then, such as clothes, etc.</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It is important to note how often each area requires spending, because it can differ greatly between (and within) categories. For example, most people need to buy food and pay rent more often then they need to buy laundry detergent or shampoo and text books are usually only bought once a semester. Other things to keep in mind are:</span></span><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The first week when you start university and of each semester (especially if you go home during the holidays) will be more expensive than the rest of the year. This is not only because of bond, university fees and text books, but also because there are certain items that need to be bought at the beginning and last for awhile, such as stationary or longer-lasting food, that may have been used up the semester before or could not be kept over the holiday.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Some items will last longer with only one person using them or may be shared with a room or flat mate(s).</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How much space is available, especially if you or your son/daughter will be living in a dorm room. It is also important to keep movability and storage in mind if you do not intend to keep paying rent during the holidays, especially if the university is too far away from home to drive. ( Note: some residential colleges increase the fees during the holidays, or do not offer accommodation during the holidays.)</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You can't always account for everything, so try to budget a buffer just in case.</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Not all residential colleges provide food, or only provide certain meals, and not all students live on campus. Even if all meals are included in the rent, you may still need to budget for study snacks (or if you miss a meal time, which could, unavoidably, occur at some stage). Rules that families often use to save money on food sometimes do not hold true for people living by themselves, for example, so here are some things to keep in mind:</span></span><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How much space is available, and therefore how much food can be stored. For example, my residential college (which does not provide meals) only provides students with a mini fridge in their dorm room, and a freezer in the kitchen which is shared with 15-20 or more other people. This means that it is often an impossibility for me to cook meals ahead of time or buy bigger value packs and freeze what I can't eat right away.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you do not have much freezer space, it is also important to keep in mind how much you can eat on your own, and how quickly. (It can be a good idea to plan more than one meal or use for food items that only come in bigger packets, so that you can use as much of it as possible before you have to throw it out.)</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you have assignments or exams coming up, and no space to cook and store meals ahead of time, consider what food you will have the time and energy to cook. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m not suggesting planning meals this way on a regular basis, but there may be certain times where it is unavoidable so it is important to keep in mind. This is because it is cheaper to plan for it than it is to suddenly find you don’t have time to cook and having to buy pre-prepared food at the last minute. In many countries, fast food can be just as bad for your wallet as it is for your health.</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You should also:</span></span><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Prepare for emergencies. Accidents can happen to anyone, and sometimes unfortunate events are unavoidable. It is likely that as a young adult on a student budget, you will not have enough money to adequately compensate when something unexpected happens, and that you have not had much experience dealing with or avoiding the sort of situations that can arise. Both students and parents of students should keep in mind that if something goes wrong late in the week, it may not be possible to get to the bank before it closes for the weekend, and even if it is, it often takes several business days for the money to become accessible.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Avoid paying for the same thing twice, and be careful where you leave things both on campus and in the residential college. Keep in mind that, because students are commonly poor, some find themselves in situations where they can barely afford to eat which can occur even more so at better universities because the cost of rent and tuition is higher. This increases the level of theft that occurs, and keep in mind that living on campus is different to living at home: you can't possibly know everyone who lives with you, or what their economic state is.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Make the most of what you have and what is provided for you, including student discounts, and free or inexpensive resources provided on campus or by the residential college. For example, there is often free or inexpensive transport for students (such as shuttle buses or student passes for public transport).</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It is also important for a student to take adequate study breaks, and some people enjoy alcohol as part of this. While not drinking at all is a great way to save money, I'm not going to waste your time by simply telling you not to drink. It is most likely that either you (or your son/daughter) either won't listen or don't drink much anyway. The other aspects of alcohol are also not relevant to this discussion. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead, here are some tips to on how to have adequate study breaks on a student budget, that apply both for those that drink and those that pursue other areas of recreation:</span></span><br /><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Budget study breaks around the rest of your expenses, not the other way around. As important as those breaks from study are, it is more important to be able to eat and have somewhere to live. There are many students I know how put drinking and other recreational activities as their first priority and find themselves depending on their friends and other people in order to eat. </span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Put money aside during the parts of semester when you don't have time to take breaks and party, so that you have more to spend once exams are over.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For those that drink, buy a bulk box of drinks ahead of time, if you have the space to store it (keep in mind there are other complications with this, and some residential colleges have rules against keeping alcohol on their premises) and a reasonable amount of the drinks with you to parties. Alternatively, organise with a group of friends to buy a bulk box together.</span></span></li><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> When you have plans to go out, decide ahead of time how much you want or can afford to spend, and take that much in cash with you, instead of you debit or credit card. </span></span></li></ul><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00000a; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-2312230580462033576?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-38666961971331436802011-08-04T10:00:00.027-06:002011-08-04T10:52:56.454-06:00Smart Money: Pet Insurance<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">As the owner of four cats and a dog, I have paid out my share of vet bills. Maybe even more than my share. Just recently, our St. Bernard Joe got out of the yard, got hit by a car, and ended up with a broken leg that cost us about $800. It really ticks me off because that was the only time he has ever been out of our yard when he wasn't on a leash and he was out for about 10 minutes. The dog down the street has been literally running around our neighborhood almost daily for <i>YEARS </i>and hasn't had so much as a scratch! How exactly do you not see a ST. BERNARD? It's not like it's a little shih tzu or something. He's people sized!</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5tieFoDzWF0/TjrNC107BFI/AAAAAAAAHHI/-ZFkj86Tx-A/s1600/JoJo+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5tieFoDzWF0/TjrNC107BFI/AAAAAAAAHHI/-ZFkj86Tx-A/s320/JoJo+001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Joe - He's all better now.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: small;">But that's how vet bills are sometimes. They aren't necessarily fair, they're very expensive, and sometimes they happen <i>quick</i>. And in most cases, you don't really have a choice about it. You can't just have a seriously hurt or a sick animal and just say, oh sorry Fluffy, I can't afford it this week. So, unless you are prepared, you end up putting it on a credit card, or taking money out of your savings account to pay for it. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FcPYybgZO2w/TjrNGw41sHI/AAAAAAAAHHQ/001MmaiWP1M/s1600/Yeti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FcPYybgZO2w/TjrNGw41sHI/AAAAAAAAHHQ/001MmaiWP1M/s320/Yeti.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Yeti. Adorable, isn't he? But don't let him fool you. He's a menace!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">There is pet insurance and in some cases, that's a pretty good deal. I've looked into it a few times, but with 5 pets, it's not very practical for us. And a lot of the time, it doesn't cover the stuff I really need. It covers immunizations and routine exams, but when previous St. Bernard needed her knees fixed - not covered, to the tune of $1500 per knee. Our neighbor said she had Michael Jordan knees! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And when she got that twisted stomach thing and had to be rushed to the Vet ER, nope. It would have been another thousand or so to fix, and again wouldn't have been covered. Sadly, she died from pain and shock before we could make that decision. But that's a tough call. You've got a fairly young dog that you've already put $3,000 worth of work into, do you spend another $1,000 on major and painful abdominal surgery to keep her alive, or let her go? Especially if you're crazy about her. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mQKfqT7Vcx4/TjrNIwqdsxI/AAAAAAAAHHU/5GsZ4txjlsU/s1600/ShamusInaBlanket+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mQKfqT7Vcx4/TjrNIwqdsxI/AAAAAAAAHHU/5GsZ4txjlsU/s1600/ShamusInaBlanket+003.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Shamus O'Sullivan. We got him on St. Patrick's Day!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">From a financial point of view, how do you avoid being in that situation? If you just have one or two pets, or pet with a chronic condition, pet insurance might be a smart financial move. It will at least take care of the routine stuff, but it still won't cover the big stuff. At least not now. I think it will get there eventually. Enough people want it and there's a lot of people in this country who have pets. But so far, it's not quite there yet. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The alternative is to fund your own pet insurance. You are going to spend the money anyway, so why not avoid the credit card charges and maybe earn a tiny bit of interest on it instead? Probably the easiest way to do it is to set up a special savings account, maybe even at a credit union, and set up some automatic deposits to it every payday or every month. It might not cover all of your vet bills, but it will be a big help. </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyagVk8TwhU/TjrNFQ0ofLI/AAAAAAAAHHM/iwGopcRoXG4/s1600/Buster2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyagVk8TwhU/TjrNFQ0ofLI/AAAAAAAAHHM/iwGopcRoXG4/s320/Buster2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Buster. He's our scaredy-cat. Couldn't find a picture of Lucy. We call her Lucy-Fur for good reason. She's a stinker, but she's so darn cute!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> <br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And when your darn dog finds his way out of the yard and gets in the path of some car, you'll have that peace of mind. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-3866696197133143680?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-21008985750020849082011-08-02T10:00:00.008-06:002011-08-02T10:00:02.856-06:002011 Retired Stamp Set SaleOK, you guys know that I sell stamps, right? I've been with Stampin' Up! for almost 8 years now. Over all that time, you accumulate a LOT of stamps as they retire every year. There's always some I can't bear to part with, but I've weeded out a bunch of them that I am ready to sell. I have pictures and descriptions set up in this cool little slide show and I've been updating it as I sell them, so it should be current. <br /><br />I've got a nice little wish list of goodies from the new catalog that I want to buy, plus my husband has threatened to evict them from the Guest Room where they are currently taking up most of a bookshelf, so I hope you can help me out. I can ship anywhere in the US for a small fee, and you can pay by Paypal or send me a check (there will be a small delay for checks - Paypal, I can ship right away). <br /><br />I have a selection of clear stamps and wood, some are brand new and all are in good shape. I also have retired paper (25 sheets of any color for $3) and catalogs (1 ea.) Let me know if you're looking for any particular colors. <br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div><span style="font-size: small;"><embed align="middle" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=1801439850974093816&site=widget-f8.slide.com" name="flashticker" quality="high" salign="l" scale="noscale" src="http://widget-f8.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" style="height: 320px; width: 400px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></span><br /><div style="text-align: left; width: 400px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=1801439850974093816&map=1" target="_blank"><img border="0" ismap="ismap" src="http://widget-f8.slide.com/p1/1801439850974093816/bb_t024_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=1801439850974093816&map=2" target="_blank"><img border="0" ismap="ismap" src="http://widget-f8.slide.com/p2/1801439850974093816/bb_t024_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=1801439850974093816&map=F" target="_blank"><img border="0" ismap="ismap" src="http://widget-f8.slide.com/p4/1801439850974093816/bb_t024_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" /></a></span></div></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />I also have a link to my Clearance Rack on my sidebar. There are always some good deals to be had there on stamps, paper, ribbons, and all sorts of stuff, and the button below is a link to my Stampin' Up! website. It's a great way to shop, right from your computer and it shows up on your door about a week later. That's pretty easy and there's lots of great new products from our new catalog. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-2100898575002084908?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-18173456282553234982011-08-01T10:00:00.001-06:002011-08-01T10:00:11.057-06:00Mission Trip for my Husband and Son<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> This summer, my youngest son Blake was old enough to go on his first official Mission Trip. If you're not familiar with the concept, a lot of Protestant churches send kids around in groups every summer to different areas for a week of service and religious experiences. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">My older son has been on several of these - to Seattle, Colorado City, and to New Orleans after Katrina. Every time, it was an awesome experience for him. He met some great kids and leaders, saw a lifestyle of poverty that was totally different for him, and it was really a growth experience for him. They typically have special church services for these kids every evening after their work day, so they are building up their faith in the process.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">So, naturally Blake wanted to continue the tradition. Usually, these trips don't start until High School, but this year, they were offering a trip for the Jr High kids. The trip was to an Indian Reservation in Ft. Defiance, AZ. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Shockingly, my husband agreed to go with them as one of the adult leaders. I say shockingly because he's not known for spending a lot of time and energy on kids, including our own. But he was determine that he wanted to go one this trip and he had an amazing time. He really bonded with some of the kids, including some of the kids from Minnesota and Louisiana that were there. I think it was even a surprise to him. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BTcUHjFCnBc/TjX3M-AjNnI/AAAAAAAAHGE/nqOm3jrNKEM/s1600/MissionTrip11+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BTcUHjFCnBc/TjX3M-AjNnI/AAAAAAAAHGE/nqOm3jrNKEM/s320/MissionTrip11+%25287%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Here are the kids leaving at 5:00 in the morning on a very cold and rainy morning in June. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-acIamqp4VG4/TjX3T8svUGI/AAAAAAAAHGI/YXdw3ko40sY/s1600/MissionTrip11+%252863%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-acIamqp4VG4/TjX3T8svUGI/AAAAAAAAHGI/YXdw3ko40sY/s320/MissionTrip11+%252863%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Here's the whole mob including church groups from all around the country. It's quite an undertaking to put these trips together. The hosts get a new group this big every week and have to house, feed, and transport these big groups at local High Schools and churches. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W629shingGA/TjX3bQfsHcI/AAAAAAAAHGM/l1FroqrXa2Y/s1600/MissionTrip11+%252821%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W629shingGA/TjX3bQfsHcI/AAAAAAAAHGM/l1FroqrXa2Y/s320/MissionTrip11+%252821%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Traffic on the reservation. This is the neighborhood where they were painting houses. They painted two houses and spend part of the week helping in a daycare/bible school setting.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RzOLxAAugR8/TjX3q3TjiyI/AAAAAAAAHGQ/KHAH2AGY5XI/s1600/MissionTrip11+%252829%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RzOLxAAugR8/TjX3q3TjiyI/AAAAAAAAHGQ/KHAH2AGY5XI/s320/MissionTrip11+%252829%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Here's our group in somewhat drier circumstances. I think this is called Window Rock. <br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-19ygFvnjJLQ/TjX3x9gxDiI/AAAAAAAAHGU/_xZpTxENdeQ/s1600/MissionTrip11+%252838%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-19ygFvnjJLQ/TjX3x9gxDiI/AAAAAAAAHGU/_xZpTxENdeQ/s320/MissionTrip11+%252838%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Here is my husband with his posse of boys from Minnesota. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ujSjlXXXW7A/TjX5RIKtd6I/AAAAAAAAHGY/xYzvPD_Yic8/s1600/MissionTrip11+%252850%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ujSjlXXXW7A/TjX5RIKtd6I/AAAAAAAAHGY/xYzvPD_Yic8/s320/MissionTrip11+%252850%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> Father and son at the zoo down at Ft. Defiance. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0l1SrEM1CuY/TjX5ctEmHgI/AAAAAAAAHGc/5aR88QECLFY/s1600/MissionTrip11+%252874%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0l1SrEM1CuY/TjX5ctEmHgI/AAAAAAAAHGc/5aR88QECLFY/s320/MissionTrip11+%252874%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Ruins by the work site. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">After the trip, the treat for the group was to go river rafting in Moab. The families met them down there for a bit of camping and relaxing after all the heat and hard work. I wasn't able to go because I had a family party with my sister and the rest of my family, but it sounds like they had a whomping good time! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Obviously, it costs a lot of money to support a trip like this. The participants each pay a fee of between $350 and $500 to cover the basic costs of the trip. The was one of the less expensive trips at about $380 - times TWO in our case, although there are usually scholarships available for those who can't afford it. Plus you're giving up a week of vacation time. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">But that doesn't even cover all the costs for the transportation, meals, etc. So there was a <i>lot</i> of fundraising to be done. That was my job. I organized several different fundraising efforts in the months before the trip - we sold pizza cards, held a talent show, even sold donuts and fruit for the parishioners to enjoy with their coffee. People were surprisingly generous and we made a good chunk of money that way. It's not often you find people willing to pay $5 for a single donut to have with their coffee! Not that we charged that much, but we let people donate what they wanted to pay and usually it was more than we would have charged them. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Now we just have to figure out where to go next year. One of our groups is looking at going to Joplin, MO. That would be kind of a long drive, but it would be an awesome trip. We'll see what we'll do next year....</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-1817345628255323498?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-43681540141280378232011-07-29T10:00:00.000-06:002011-07-29T10:00:04.691-06:002011 Stampin' Up! Convention<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I can't believe it's already been a week since Convention ended. As usual, Convention was a exhausting whirlwind of people, projects, ideas, and excitement. I don't think it's possible to really understand Convention unless you've been there. Try to picture 3,000 plus women (and about 10 men!) crammed into the Salt Palace's main stage. The music is blaring - usually classic rock with a good beat and fun tunes like YMCA. Some of them are running around in funny, matching hats or costumes and everyone is scurrying around trading swap cards like their lives depended on it. Then, the star of the show, our company's founder Shelli Gardiner comes out and graciously receives a rock star-quality welcome. THAT'S a familiar Convention moment. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAESc44n0kg/TixmfeZG8UI/AAAAAAAAHE0/1fd-2zxJnu8/s1600/ShelliCropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAESc44n0kg/TixmfeZG8UI/AAAAAAAAHE0/1fd-2zxJnu8/s320/ShelliCropped.jpg" width="184" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This was my fifth Stampin' Up! Convention and I never get tired of moments like those. I think the one thing Stampin' Up! does best is to put on wonderful events and find ways to make their demonstrators feel special and this year was no exception. We had some wonderful surprises, got a LOT of free stuff, and generally had a fabulous time. Here is a sneak peek at some of the goodies I came home with:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_5PAELCpWRw/TiyEFuTZ7VI/AAAAAAAAHE4/Y945WPMW6ro/s1600/ConventionSwag+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_5PAELCpWRw/TiyEFuTZ7VI/AAAAAAAAHE4/Y945WPMW6ro/s320/ConventionSwag+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">If you look closely, you can see some of the fun stuff we got - (some freebies and some that I bought from Memento Mall). Our Convention bag was gorgeous this year, we got a catalog in a binder, a workshop in a bag (hostess gift, demo project & 10 M&T's), a very pretty umbrella in our Lucky Limeade color, a digital calendar from our hybrid MDS (My Digital Studio - our digital scrapbooking program) class, our typical four free stamp sets, plus two other surprise ones, pop up litter bags, two MDS CD's (one of them with content that isn't available to anyone else!), our Workshop Wow DVD, and do you see that gorgeous grey cardigan with the flowers on it for our "Grow" theme? And there was a ton of other stuff there that I didn't buy - they had some really nice selections this year. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Something very cool happened with some of this stuff. The first day, I had made my purchases at Memento Mall - more than $100 worth of merchandise. I was going around looking at the awesome displays and somewhere I left my bag. Before I even realized I had lost it, I got a call on my cell phone. Some nice Canadian demo had found it and turned it into the Info Booth. There was a receipt inside with my Demo ID, so they looked me up in the system and found my cell phone number and called me to come and get it. I think our ladies are just the nicest in the world! Yay Canada! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And of course, there is swapping. I only had about 72 hours between the Evo Conference and the start of the SU Convention, so I was really scrambling to get some swaps made in time. I even had to call on some of my customers to help me finish them and we managed to pull together about 100 swaps - a lot of people bring 400-500, but I was happy to have even that many. Here are a couple of my swap designs:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LWVgyGLq2Yk/TiyKy83dsTI/AAAAAAAAHE8/-cH3kwDU0c0/s1600/Conv11Swaps+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LWVgyGLq2Yk/TiyKy83dsTI/AAAAAAAAHE8/-cH3kwDU0c0/s320/Conv11Swaps+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The triangle boxes were a big hit, although I was embarrassed when someone told me that this set had retired this year. I checked and check and thought I'd gotten them all weeded out. At least I used our new Wisteria Wonder colors.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G8mKtgi0qYs/TiyK-KjlS6I/AAAAAAAAHFA/cDnr0PaJ-AU/s1600/Conv11Swaps+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G8mKtgi0qYs/TiyK-KjlS6I/AAAAAAAAHFA/cDnr0PaJ-AU/s320/Conv11Swaps+%25285%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This one with the fancy folds and the crocheted twine was a big hit. You can't see it very well in this picture, but the medallion holds down the fold and you can tuck your message in there. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gwy8VEw4VQc/TiyLE2RKPAI/AAAAAAAAHFE/0qCRJ00CYJY/s1600/Conv11Swaps+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gwy8VEw4VQc/TiyLE2RKPAI/AAAAAAAAHFE/0qCRJ00CYJY/s320/Conv11Swaps+%25287%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This one was the only technique I tried - faux silk. I used that glittery tissue paper you get at Christmas, but it wasn't all that popular. That's the interesting thing when you let people pick from different designs. You find out which ones are the most popular, which is usually different from the ones you like best.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FQy_O6BrZ5A/TiyLMunSf3I/AAAAAAAAHFI/tIIasDAVGmU/s1600/Conv11Swaps+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FQy_O6BrZ5A/TiyLMunSf3I/AAAAAAAAHFI/tIIasDAVGmU/s320/Conv11Swaps+%25289%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The surprise winner was this "Lion King" design. That one was a much bigger hit than I expected, considering I threw it in as a last minute idea. Figures. I did get some very cute swaps in return including some awesome MDS hybrid cards. <br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /> But then again, the <i>best </i>part of Convention is always the people for me. We always have a great bunch of my Utah Divas group that come in from all over the country. This year, the group was a bit smaller than usual, but we still have a great time together. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CMsZs1313lI/TiyNvCBgvZI/AAAAAAAAHFY/1aj5N2voYTE/s1600/DSCN1978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CMsZs1313lI/TiyNvCBgvZI/AAAAAAAAHFY/1aj5N2voYTE/s320/DSCN1978.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Here's all the girls, except for Sue who was off showing Selene something cool on her MDS program. <br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1iQgwJiiPlU/TiyNhacueSI/AAAAAAAAHFQ/wTKCPddewCA/s1600/Conv11+%252814%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1iQgwJiiPlU/TiyNhacueSI/AAAAAAAAHFQ/wTKCPddewCA/s320/Conv11+%252814%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />Here are Kellie and Kim in their hats for the Garden Party. <br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QBuoQT1DxU/TiyNaeQsygI/AAAAAAAAHFM/H2Yl0tPReyY/s1600/Conv11+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QBuoQT1DxU/TiyNaeQsygI/AAAAAAAAHFM/H2Yl0tPReyY/s320/Conv11+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />Here we are at dinner. Our dear friend Ruthie couldn't come to Convention because she is caring for her sister, who is ill. So we had Flat Ruthie and Flat Fay join us for dinner and at various points around the Convention. Someone asked if she was married to Flat Stanley, but I said they were just dating. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bVV9FQ-6Ido/TiyNod142RI/AAAAAAAAHFU/JAuMdv4c7os/s1600/DSCN1811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bVV9FQ-6Ido/TiyNod142RI/AAAAAAAAHFU/JAuMdv4c7os/s320/DSCN1811.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bVV9FQ-6Ido/TiyNod142RI/AAAAAAAAHFU/JAuMdv4c7os/s1600/DSCN1811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />Sue from Alaska and I have been through several Conventions together and she used to be my Diva Sister, so we hung out a lot. Christine (below) used to be my Diva Sister too from Maryland. Her husband Milt came to Salt Lake with her and was amusing himself by visiting the various Air Force bases and tourist attractions while we were having fun. I pointed out some sites I thought he might like. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VBBpRDv55fo/TiyN2LrVUbI/AAAAAAAAHFc/tac0QxVYX8A/s1600/DSCN1986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VBBpRDv55fo/TiyN2LrVUbI/AAAAAAAAHFc/tac0QxVYX8A/s320/DSCN1986.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here are Sue and Christine walking the stage for their 10 year anniversaries. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Well, that's the end of another Convention. The trick now is try to and retain at least a fraction of the stuff I've learned and try to put it to good use to grow my business throughout the year. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-4368154014128037823?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-64953434075382138262011-07-19T10:00:00.002-06:002011-07-19T10:00:10.642-06:00Straight Talk about Braces with Invisalign Teen<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I was so pleased when Invisalign contacted me last week to receive some information about their Invisalign Teen program. Seeing as I happen to be the proud "owner" of a teen who is definitely in need of orthodontic work, it couldn't have come at a better time! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AnPrJw_uXwY/TiUJauoZI4I/AAAAAAAAHEQ/m5cMFoB1EBc/s1600/DSC01337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AnPrJw_uXwY/TiUJauoZI4I/AAAAAAAAHEQ/m5cMFoB1EBc/s320/DSC01337.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I present you with Exhibit A - my son 13 year old Blake. </i></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">We have known for quite some time that some kind of braces were going to be in our future. Both my stepson and my older son Matt both had to have braces and <i>major </i>dental renovations as well. Plus I've had dentists telling me Blake is going to need braces since he was about seven. Now they are actually starting to get <i>anxious </i>and they've been handing me orthodontist's business cards at <i>every</i> appointment for the last year and a half! So I'm thinking maybe it's time we took the <i>HINT</i>.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRK3II5-FQQ/TiUU_PEBn9I/AAAAAAAAHEU/FsLk42TXGCs/s1600/InvisalignTeen_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRK3II5-FQQ/TiUU_PEBn9I/AAAAAAAAHEU/FsLk42TXGCs/s320/InvisalignTeen_Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, when I got the Invisalign Teen press kit, I looked it over with more than the usual interest. In fact, I've been going over it with a fine toothed (ha ha) comb for the last couple of days. I learned some stuff that has addressed some of my concerns about my son's future braces. Here's a couple of points that really caught my eye:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> - They are designed to be removed for eating, brushing, and playing a musical instrument. Blake plays the trumpet and is <i>terrible </i>about brushing his teeth, so this was a BIG plus for me. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> - They have these very clever "blue compliance indicators" so you can tell if the kid is wearing them or not. How cool is that? Because I'm sure that <i>my </i>little darling would never "forget" to wear his aligners for two or three days at a time (snort!) BUSTED! </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> - They also have "Eruption Tabs" that allow for the growth of secondary molars like their wisdom teeth. Don't they EVER stop teething???</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> - Here's another biggie - they have automatic insurance that provides up to SIX replacement guards in case your teen loses them. That's an almost <i>certainty </i>for us and a big concern of mine. They only have to wear the Invisalign Teen system for a year or so, so I'm hoping six would be enough! </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> - The Invisalign Teen product seems a <i>lot </i>more comfortable than traditional braces. My older sons both had to have that palate expander thing with the key that you turn to spread the upper sets of teeth wider apart. Nasty things and <i>very </i>uncomfortable, plus they make this gross sucking sound when they get food caught in it, which is pretty much every meal. TMI, I know, but true. And then the wires would poke them in the gums or they'd break and you'd have to rush the kid in to get them re-wired. The fun never ends when you've got a kid in those lovely wire braces. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> - Looks to me like the overall time to wear them is less, plus it looks like there are fewer and shorter appointments with the Orthodontist. I was lucky because Matt's guy Dr. Feller had free wireless internet plus fresh baked cookies (surprising, I know, but I'm not one to turn down free cookies) and a nice play area for Blake who was about six at the time. But I do remember having to take a <b><i>lot </i></b>of time from work to sit there and watch them poke around in my son's mouth every few weeks for those two long years.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vDGOZrHic10/TiUcBi9hqwI/AAAAAAAAHEc/DkX7zYQVkro/s1600/MattBraces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vDGOZrHic10/TiUcBi9hqwI/AAAAAAAAHEc/DkX7zYQVkro/s320/MattBraces.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i>By the way, here is Exhibit B - Mr. Metal Mouth holding Blake. </i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i>Think he'd have been a bit happier with a set of these? </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G1vO83BzZKg/TiUVx6wyiBI/AAAAAAAAHEY/-YCX09bilpc/s1600/InvisalignStack+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G1vO83BzZKg/TiUVx6wyiBI/AAAAAAAAHEY/-YCX09bilpc/s320/InvisalignStack+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Was it worth it though? I'll let you be the judge. Here's what my handsome son looks like these days. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rmFeBB5dzV8/TiUc13zVaCI/AAAAAAAAHEg/JxWosPD5cxo/s1600/MattTeeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rmFeBB5dzV8/TiUc13zVaCI/AAAAAAAAHEg/JxWosPD5cxo/s320/MattTeeth.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I figure if we have to go through braces (again!), Invisalign Teen sounds like a surefire winner to me. Here's hoping that the third time will be the charm for us! </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you are interested in more information, you can go to the <a href="http://www.invisalign.com/">Invisalign </a>website to learn more about the options they have for both teens and adults. </div><br /><i>Disclaimer - This was a sponsored post. I will receive a small incentive for posting and have the possibility of earning a set of Invisalign aligners for my son. However, if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you'll know that my opinions are my own and I have no problem with sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly with you, whether I receive compensation or not. </i> <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-6495343407538213826?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-45816033997945218462011-07-18T10:00:00.000-06:002011-07-18T10:00:03.624-06:00Clutterbugs: My Top 5 Motivational Ideas<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I think the hardest part of making any kind of lifestyle change is motivating yourself to stick with it. It doesn't matter if you are trying to lose weight, clean up your house, be a better parent, employee, or whatever, <b>motivation definitely seems to be the key to success. </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I don't pretend to be any kind of expert on the subject, but I have picked up some pretty good tips on the subject over the years. Here are some of the best tips I use to motivate myself:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">1. <b>Don't break the chain</b>. This one is simple to do, but very powerful. Get a calendar and mark an X on it for the first day you are successful in using your new behavior. On the second day, add another X and draw a line linking them together. If you don't do your behavior on the third day, you have to start a new chain on the fourth day. What you are doing is competing with yourself to see <b>how many consecutive days you can get for your chain</b>. It's surprisingly motivating.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">2. <b>Picture the prize</b>. I love this one because it's so visual. Works well for both kids and adults. Decide on a reward - whatever you feel is appropriate for about a month's worth of progress towards your goal. Can be an outfit, dinner at a restaurant, a CD, whatever you can afford. The find a nice full-color picture of the item and cut it into about 30 numbered pieces. You stick them in an envelope. Every time you have a good day towards your goal, you earn a piece of the picture. <b>When the picture is complete, you have earned the prize</b>. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">3. <b>Set a financial penalty</b>. I got this one from my former pastor. He was like any other father, sometimes he would get mad and yell at his kids and he wanted to change that behavior. So, he decided that he would have to pay them a dollar any time he yelled at them. He had four kids and a pastor's salary, so this was a really good incentive for him to change his behavior. Another version I've heard is to give money to a cause you really dislike. That could be a very good motivator, but you've got to have someone to act as a referee to keep you honest and make sure you actually follow through on your donation or pay your penalty.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">4. This brings me to motivator #4 - <b>Enlist a Coach or an accountability partner</b>. This one is a little bit tricky because you have to find someone who is willing to be a little bit mean to you, or at least very strict with you. You don't want a person who is going to cut you a break or let you off the hook. I have a co-worker who has agreed to do this for me and my plan to take better control of my work hours. She hasn't had to yell at me yet because I've been doing really well for these first two weeks, but she has been checking in with me every day and praising me for the good job I'm doing on it and I know she will get on my case if I start slipping up. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">5. The flip side of this is to <b>get a partner to reward you</b> rather than yell at you. I did this for my husband when he had been dragging his feet on finishing up some household projects. I had a $20 giftcard to his favorite restaurant that I'd won somewhere, so I tacked it up on the fridge with a note that if he completed the projects by the end of the week, he could have the giftcard to enjoy a nice lunch. The projects got done in record time. One of my clients tried this with great success. Her husband had been after her to clean out their guest room for weeks. She asked him if he would take her out to dinner if she completed the project. He said he would be delighted to. She completed the project in just a few hours and then they enjoyed a nice dinner together, so it was definitely a win-win situation for both of them.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">6. If you are really serious about change - I have a <b>bonus tip</b> for you. I am the <i>queen </i>of self help books. I have a <i>whole shelf full</i> of them, along with videos, CD's and audio tapes from every motivational expert under the sun. However, the best one I have found so far is a new book called <i>Change Anything</i>. It is by the author of <i>Influencer, The Power to Change the World</i>. Influencer is also a terrific book, but it deals with large scale situations like preventing AIDS, prison reform, and eradicating diseases in 3rd world countries. Change Anything is more directed towards personal change like losing weight, stopping smoking, etc. They came and spoke at a luncheon I was at and they showed some videos about their program that really impressed me. You can view them for yourself at <a href="http://changeanything.com/">Changeanything.com</a>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I hope these ideas will help you. Be sure and drop me a line to let me know how you are getting on with it. Or if you have any great ideas to share also. I'd love to hear them. I am always interested in more great motivational ideas. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-4581603399794521846?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-58147945313574280522011-07-15T09:00:00.002-06:002011-07-15T09:00:12.994-06:00EVO Conference 2011 is a Blazing Success<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> If you've been around my blog at all, you know that going to go to Blog Conferences is my favorite thing ever. I have to say that the EVO Conference is the best of the best. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6mpD2-SUvt4/Th_YipQiQPI/AAAAAAAAG5I/8506dcaz1pg/s1600/EVO11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6mpD2-SUvt4/Th_YipQiQPI/AAAAAAAAG5I/8506dcaz1pg/s1600/EVO11.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The have awesome speakers, fabulous accommodations, luxurious parties, the biggest and best sponsors, and a ton of top notch awesome bloggers. What could be better? </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2010/06/evo10-conference.html">Last year's conference</a> was just outstanding and I wasn't sure if they could top that, but I think they did it again. You be the judge - take a peek at this highlight reel:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RatnpoCCCO0?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RatnpoCCCO0?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object> </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I don't know what I enjoy more - enjoying the classes and the awesome speakers, </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iabKjgVAh9I/Th_P2kvcXOI/AAAAAAAAG4I/7BL5MMO9Vp4/s1600/TipJunkie5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iabKjgVAh9I/Th_P2kvcXOI/AAAAAAAAG4I/7BL5MMO9Vp4/s320/TipJunkie5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">spending time hanging with my peeps,</span></b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lpFKg-OLReg/Th_QUDz4cWI/AAAAAAAAG4M/3_JY90YGrdk/s1600/Evo11+%2528262%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lpFKg-OLReg/Th_QUDz4cWI/AAAAAAAAG4M/3_JY90YGrdk/s320/Evo11+%2528262%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Me and my roommate Ashlee from<a href="http://imtopsyturvy.com/"> I'm Topsy Turvy. </a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MM0b005TEmA/Th_QUmdh8HI/AAAAAAAAG4Q/ZvPeAVVVOzg/s1600/Evo11+%2528263%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MM0b005TEmA/Th_QUmdh8HI/AAAAAAAAG4Q/ZvPeAVVVOzg/s320/Evo11+%2528263%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>My and my pal Kathy Dalton from <a href="http://danishmama.com/">Danish Mama</a>. <br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLq8BAKTEAU/Th_QVCd0AHI/AAAAAAAAG4U/Nq_TEw83eos/s1600/Evo11+%2528264%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLq8BAKTEAU/Th_QVCd0AHI/AAAAAAAAG4U/Nq_TEw83eos/s320/Evo11+%2528264%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />My table mates Sari, Janet, Kathy, and Carly. Such fun girls!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PxCsGE10QAs/Th_QV1iofwI/AAAAAAAAG4c/iW0EvRO2yiM/s1600/Evo11+%2528266%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PxCsGE10QAs/Th_QV1iofwI/AAAAAAAAG4c/iW0EvRO2yiM/s320/Evo11+%2528266%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Two blonde beauties - Emi Hill & Kathy<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vSkddAetq6U/Th_QYsNwlZI/AAAAAAAAG4k/7Z231c795UU/s1600/TipJunkie3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vSkddAetq6U/Th_QYsNwlZI/AAAAAAAAG4k/7Z231c795UU/s320/TipJunkie3.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://tipjunkie.com/">Tip Junkie</a> (Laurie Turk) who is just a darling and my good friend Kim from<a href="http://todayscreativeblog.net/"> Today's Creative Blog</a>. Aren't they cute?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wrxK4wIrRys/Th_QZjfjonI/AAAAAAAAG4o/nHaVvvDRVLo/s1600/TipJunkie4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wrxK4wIrRys/Th_QZjfjonI/AAAAAAAAG4o/nHaVvvDRVLo/s320/TipJunkie4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VUA3Lu0hLXs/Th_QVVQf6sI/AAAAAAAAG4Y/ldxQTjQmpx4/s1600/Evo11+%2528265%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VUA3Lu0hLXs/Th_QVVQf6sI/AAAAAAAAG4Y/ldxQTjQmpx4/s320/Evo11+%2528265%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jyll - one of the organizers and her awesome husband Troy. He had all these fun little signs clipped to his badge - Will Tweet for food, Not a Mom, etc. So funny! <br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">enjoying the awesome sponsor parties with my family</span></b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uc27tGoczEA/Th_Re1PlBcI/AAAAAAAAG4s/7r0rTRsqd9g/s1600/Evo11+%2528132%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uc27tGoczEA/Th_Re1PlBcI/AAAAAAAAG4s/7r0rTRsqd9g/s320/Evo11+%2528132%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKZiYjuY1s4/Th_RtFMBrzI/AAAAAAAAG4w/yjlK9IXYpL0/s1600/Evo11+%2528270%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKZiYjuY1s4/Th_RtFMBrzI/AAAAAAAAG4w/yjlK9IXYpL0/s320/Evo11+%2528270%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This year, I wore comfortable clothes (Last year I had a flippy skirt & uncomfortable boots) so I went on all the rides except for the zip line which was booked solid. The Alpine Coaster was my favorite. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">talking to the sponsors about interesting new products and promotions (and getting a shameless amount of swag!). Plus hanging out at the beautiful Canyons resort - they are always <i>so </i>gracious and welcoming. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Gee - after all of that, can you see why I adore this conference so much? You know where I will be <i>next </i>year! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><i><span style="font-size: small;">Disclaimer: Despite the awesome photography class, I still take lousy photos, so I swiped some from the following people - Laurie Turk, Emily Hill, Kathy Dalton. </span></i><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-5814794531357428052?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-79282308750571593742011-07-12T16:57:00.000-06:002011-07-12T16:57:17.128-06:00StampedStuff: Hey, I'm Featured on The Scrapbook Expo Blog<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just wanted to share that some of my digital pages are being featured on the official <a href="http://scrapbookusaexpo.blogspot.com/2011/07/one-big-announcement.html">Scrapbook Expo blog</a> today. Pop over and see them and leave me a nice comment while you're there. It's really nice to get a little recognition for your work and the Scrapbook Expo blog is huge! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I'm dying to post some of my pictures of the wonderful time I had at the EVO Conference this weekend, but I've got the Stampin' Up! Convention in less than 12 hours, so I am stamping my little heart out to try and get my samples done. Then I'll be at the Salt Palace for about 12 hours a day for the rest of the week - whew! I'll post some pics of both events when I get my life back on track! Thanks for being patient with the craziness of my life! </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-7928230875057159374?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-51984596082728956362011-07-06T11:48:00.003-06:002011-07-06T11:51:38.162-06:00Why I drove to Evanston 3 times this week!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;}@font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;}@page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}--></style> <br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">OK, I'm just weird, but we LOVE doing fireworks in Evanston, Wyoming. It's one of our few family traditions. The fireworks there are *WONDERFUL*, I mean, seriously, there is no trying to explain it to you or show you pictures. You just <i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">have</span></i> to be there. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So, I thought it was awesome that son's Scout Leadership Training camp coincided with the 4th of July weekend. It seemed like perfect timing. Yeah, not so much. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">First, I had to get him there. I tried and tried to hook him up with a ride, but nothing came through. So I ended up having to drive him up there - by 9:00 in the morning on a Monday morning - yuck. That was trip #1. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It went pretty well, except for the last 5 miles. You get to the point where they say turn off the paved road. Well, then you are in the back country of Wyoming. That was the dirtiest, bumpiest, nastiest five miles of road I think I've ever been on. I was terrified that I was going to pop a tire or something on the rocks in that road. Or smash my oil pan. And I have an SUV. Well, it's kind of a wimpy, hybrid version of an SUV, but still... Anyway, we made it and got them there by 9:15ish. Yes, them. Somehow, I managed to pick up an extra kid. I got a call at 8:00 Sunday night and I was hoping it was someone offering US a ride, but no, it was someone else mooching a ride for their kid. Oh well, I was going that way anyway, and she offered to pay for gas. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So then we went on Saturday to pick him up from the camp. Trip #2. My husband and I, our middle son and his girlfriend all piled into the Durango this time. My car was too scared of the nasty road! We got there, picked up our Scout, sat through all the corny skits and things that constituted the closing camp ceremonies - it was REALLY corny, but you could see the boys were enjoying it. Went back through another five miles of the bumpy, icky road and finally made it back to town. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">At this point, we would usually go to this little park in Evanston where they have some 4th of July festivities - a dutch oven cookout, some bouncy things for the kids, and my favorite - bingo. But, we had a nasty, smelly boy who had been wearing the same clothes for a week - ick! Not my fault, I made sure he had plenty of clothes packed, but apparently he "forgot" his extra uniform shirt and they were in uniform most of the week. So we had to check into the hotel and hose him down. Fortunately, we brought clean clothes for him. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Then we thought we'd better get our fireworks before the evening rush. We found a little place and bought a selection of our favorites - bottle rockets, fire crackers, roman candles. All the fun stuff that until recently has been totally illegal in Utah. It's still mostly illegal as they were only allowing certain types of bottle rockets and a few new things this year, but still not much. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So, we got to the park just as they were packing up the bingo (boo hoo) and hung around for a while soaking up the small town ambience. I've always lived in fairly large cities, so small towns have a special appeal for me. Then we had some dinner and went to the rodeo - another small town favorite. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When the rodeo was over, we got all ready for our big fireworks spectacular. We headed over to the ballfield where a lot of people usually set off their fireworks. It was mostly deserted except for some families setting up lawn chairs, and the fire marshall's truck sitting ominously in the parking lot. We all whipped out our cell phones and started Googling like mad. Turns out that even though Evanston has very liberal laws on WHAT you can set off, they have very specific restrictions on WHEN you can set them off. Oh shit. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Turns out that fireworks were only going to be allowed on the 3rd and the 4th. Not even the professional shows were going to be allowed to run on the 2nd, which was the Saturday night for heck's sake! So there we were with our whole trunk full of nice illegal fireworks. We couldn't set them off in Evanston, at least, not that night, and we couldn't risk bring them back into Utah. What a mess! <o:p></o:p></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So, after some hemming and hawing, we decided to sneak the fireworks back into Utah - son's girlfriend had to be to work at 7:00 AM and we had a dinner party to go to or we might have stayed. And we started planning trip #3 into Wyoming. Is that crazy? Yes, but that's how we roll. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So we finally made trip #3 on the 4th of July evening to do our precious fireworks. Was it worth it? You bet it was! Wyoming just knows how to do fireworks, and you've never lived until you've stood there in a parking lot with 50 other families and bottle rockets and everything else going off in every direction and professional shows going off all around the horizon. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You keep swiveling your head around every which way because if you're not careful, you are very likely to get hit with something. In fact, it's almost a certainty, especially with the redneck clan we had next to us. They must have shot off at least $500 worth of roman candles and bottle rockets and at one point, they were chasing each other around with them. I think all of us got hit with firecracker debris and spent bottle rockets, but no one was hurt, and we had a MARVELOUS 4th of July despite all the driving. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> <br /><a href="http://twitter.com/twitadrian"><img height="42" src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/images/ex/twitter-35a.png" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="199" /></a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">By TwitterButtons.com</a></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Delicious" height="10" src="http://l.yimg.com/hr/img/delicious.small.gif" width="10" /> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/save" onclick="window.open('http://www.delicious.com/save?v=5&noui&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title), 'delicious','toolbar=no,width=550,height=550'); return false;"> Bookmark this on Delicious</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5500594918974429539-5198459608272895636?l=www.adrianscrazylife.com' alt='' /></div>Adrian's Crazy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463022076036044242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500594918974429539.post-11997960199331211332011-06-30T10:00:00.005-06:002011-06-30T10:00:04.879-06:00SmartMoney: Bringing Home the Bacon on my Own Terms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QztjTZ8Asfo/Tgfgi86ci0I/AAAAAAAAG3U/J-f97ojpnjM/s1600/SarahLong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Today we have a guest poster - Sarah from <a href="http://instructionsoptional.com/">Instructions Optional </a>is popping by to share her personal finance story with us. Here is a bit about Sarah:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><i><span style="font-size: small;">Sarah Long is a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom who manages a full-time career from the comforts of her own home. A consummate writer who loves to write about the delicate balance of family, home and career, you can find more of her writing at <a href="http://www.instructionsoptional.com/">www.instructionsoptional.com</a>.</span></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n9AuKB9xPl0/TglWL0H9n_I/AAAAAAAAG3Y/xZ1UoSbELM0/s1600/workingfromhome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n9AuKB9xPl0/TglWL0H9n_I/AAAAAAAAG3Y/xZ1UoSbELM0/s1600/workingfromhome.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Bringing Home the Bacon on My Own Terms by Sarah</b><br /><br />After I graduated from college, I fancifully thought that I would be able to go out and find the perfect job, one that paid all of my bills while still allowing me the opportunity to spend as much time with my children as I had been able to while in college. I soon learned, however, that this was simply not going to happen. I have an English degree, and aside from suspicious-sounding work-from-home schemes, my only other option involved traveling to an office and working for eight (or more) hours, while leaving my children with a babysitter all day.<br /><br />Throughout my senior year, I worked nights at a bar, which left my days free for school and kids, and this job lasted for a little while, but the recession inevitably caught up with me, and I suddenly found myself without a job at all. Even though it went against my personal philosophy, I started pounding the pavement looking for a 9 to 5 job, and interviewing babysitters.<br /><br />However, much to my dismay, I was simply unable to land a job, regardless of the concessions I was willing to make in my home life. I scoured the employment ads and looked for work anywhere I could find it, regardless of hours, pay, etc. After five years of college, I have to admit that it felt a little demeaning to apply for some of the jobs that I did, but I have children to care for, and their needs trumped the demands of my ego.<br /><br />After six months, still nothing. It was at this time that I heard of a local modeling studio that was hiring freelance models. After I was hired, I was informed that I would be an independent contractor.I was unfamiliar with this term, so I dove into my research. What I discovered was that I would be responsible for paying my own taxes, not only on my earnings, but also for Social Security and Medicaid (known as the Self-Employment Tax). This seemed like a very daunting prospect to me, and I almost turned down the position, but after a little more research, I decided to start my own business.<br /><br />Many employers offer 1099s at the end of the year, which is a summary statement of all of your earnings through them; this is only required when they have paid you more than $600 for the year, and not everyone chooses to send out these statements, so be aware what your potential employer’s standards are. If they opt out of sending out 1099s at the end of the year (as the modeling studio did), it is up to you to keep accurate records of your earnings. I chose to create a spreadsheet, which was a simple way to document everything.<br /><br />Another thing to be aware of is that, as an independent contractor, you are eligible for many tax deductions. These include, but are not limited to: home office supplies, entertainment and meal expenses (as long as business is being conducted), advertising and promotional expenses, and mileage (for business purposes only, not commuting). I bought a cell phone and used that telephone number for business purposes only, so I was able to write that off as well, along with my monthly bill. The key is to keep all of your receipts, which can become overwhelming after a while. My simple solution was to buy an accordion file and immediately stow any receipts therein for safe keeping. I also took the time to write the amount on the receipt in ink, along with a brief description of what was bought, in the event that the receipt faded over time.<br /><br />A friend of mine, who owns his own business, warned me before I started that I should anticipate what my taxes would be and save throughout the year, so I wouldn’t be faced with a large bill at tax time. I learned that it is recommended that independent contractors set aside approximately 10% of their earnings for the Self-Employment Tax (although it usually doesn’t require that much). I found a page on the IRS website where approximate taxes for annual earnings were listed, and I bookmarked that for later use, when I would be a little more certain of what my annual earnings would be. I haven’t yet set up a business checking account, but I plan to do that soon, which will make saving for taxes easier.<br /><br />After my tax concerns had been addressed, I sat down and listed all of my marketable skills, and affixed a price to them. This involved researching my competition, and using simple common sense. Whereas someone who had been involved in this business for many years may be able to charge a higher rate, I knew that I had to start low (but not too low) and work my way up.<br /><br />Once I had this basic research done, I started to let everyone know that I was open for business. In addition to the modeling, I also touted myself as a freelance writer, editor, typist, desktop publisher, and anything else that I could think of. I started with word-of-mouth, but I eventually saved up enough money to contact a <a href="http://www.tracecommunications.com/">flyer printing</a> company, which produced glossy, full-color flyers that I hung up all around town. This was something I initially thought<br />I could do on my own computer, but I have to admit that it was worth the money, as my colorful flyers popped out alongside the faded black and white fliers around it.<br /><br />While modeling work was fairly regular, I was disappointed at the seeming lack of interest in my other services. It dawned on me that this could be because my qualifications for modeling were easily apparent, while my writing and computer skills were a little more difficult to prove. So, I started offering my services for free in order to showcase my talents. My only stipulation was that they repay me by bringing new clients my way.<br /><br />I started by creating a menu for a local restaurant for free, and this lead to a couple of other small jobs. I frequently visited blogs and offered to write blogs for free, which lead to a couple of paying freelance writing offers. I proofread and typed a couple of friends’ term papers, and they in turn sent a few of their classmates my way, who were willing to pay a reasonable fee. I considered everything I did during this period to be shameless self-promotion, and I have to admit that it was a little discouraging at times,<br />but I eventually was able to start charging for the majority of the work I did.<br /><br />My bills are now back to being paid on a regular basis, and I am at home with my children. Truthfully, there are days when I wonder what my life would be like, had I been hired at any of the nameless companies that I applied to, but I don’t wonder for very long. After all, there’s work to be done and children to spend time with. In the end, that’s all that matters. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/adriansstampclub/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd438/EightDaysDesigns/Adrian%20G/Signature.png" /></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a hre