Today IS a great day!

Greetings to my awesome and fabulous readers! I hope you are having a great Tuesday. Today was productive and now I'm so ready for a nap. Finally got my big girl enrolled in her new school, got her classes set up so she is ready to go. I wish my little miss was ready to go somewhere at least half of the day, but I won't complain. I get to experience all of those cute little moments she has like painting her nails, pouring a bunch of hot sauce on her food and best of all getting into the toothpaste and have it going up her arm. I tell you they cannot be left unattended for two seconds. But my favorite moments are when she breaks out in a praise, a praise dance or a church song. Her grandmother said she was going to be a church girl and I think she is well on her way. She loves going to church. Anytime we are in the car and although she can't tell time or understand the duration of time, a long ride in the car means we are going to church. It's those moments that make me glad to be an at home mom.


Well fabulous readers I have taken the bull by the horns and taken a leap of faith to take advantage of a great work at home opportunity.  The name of the company is

Xpress Healthcare™ (It is NOT insurance). I found it on wahm.com which is an excellent website for those searching for work at home jobs/business opportunities. After doing extensive research of the products they had to offer and researching the business itself, I decided to join. I only paid 9.97 for a 14-day trial. I must say they offer amazing plans at very affordable prices. People are going to be able to save a lot of money, and with the Affordable Health Care Act coming into play, a lot of people are going to need help.

Click on the link and check out my website. There's a wealth of information there. Take your time and send me an email if you're interested.

I've done quite a bit today. I think it's time for a nap.

Until next post, Be Blessed, Stay Positive, Be Encouraged!

 

CMD

Staying-At-Home but Not Sitting Still

A Good Thursday afternoon to my fabulous readers! I hope that you have had a good week so far. It's one day closer to Thursday. It's 88 degrees, super sunny and hot in the Queen city, so yeah, I'm happy to be in the house.

Just going through my random thoughts this morning, and you know being a stay-at-home mom (unintentionally) is not that easy, especially when you have a teen and a TODDLER! There's always crumbs to vacuum, noses to wipe, butts to clean, constant monitoring (even when they are sleep), breakfast, lunch and dinners to prepare, diswasher to load and the occasional 'darn, I don't have any spaghetti sauce' trips to the store. Since becoming unemployed, I was so desperate to get back to work because like the Destiny's Child song lyrics 'all the women who independent, throw your hands up at me!' I consider myself to be an independent woman, not used to and not wanting to depend on anyone. I've been working since the age of 16 and strong work ethics have been instilled in me since I was a child. I'm not saying I didn't have help along the way, but, for the most part, I've always taken responsibility to provide for myself and my kids.

So now, since the job market is not all that great, I mean you've got people with Master's and PhD's looking for administrative support jobs, which is my field, I'm now a stay-at-home mom. Many times I get frustrated because although my husband works (I truly thank God for him) I'm just used to waving my 'Independent Woman flag. Well now that flag is flying at 'half-staff' and I realized, 'honey, you may as well embrace it and count your blessings!' I realized that maybe God has me in this position because I need to be available to be a help to others. When I was 'real pregnant' and desperately looking for a job before the baby got here, my friend in Chicago would say 'girl, sit down somewhere and wait for that baby to get here.' I know some are not in a position to be able to stay at home, and for those that desire to, I truly hope and pray that a door opens for you.

I had to look at being a SAHM in this manner:  I don't have to worry about stable child care, especially when it comes to the cost of childcare, although if I get called to do a one or two day assignment, I do have a babysitter. I'm on the childcare waiting list which is at least 2 years long and I"ve been on that list since I was 8 months pregnant. I don't have to be out in this 100+ degree weather, I don't have to worry about getting up super-early to get myself and the baby ready. I don't have to watch the clock wishing that 'lunch-time' or 5:00 would hurry up so I can go eat or go home. I don't have to worry about those nerve-wrecking employee reviews every year, hoping that my hard-work will be rewarded with a nice 5% raise.  Although these are the pros to being at home, I do miss interacting with other adults, besides my husband and using my skills to be an asset, but I figure I can use those same skills at home, managing my household.

Although I have decided to embrace the SAHM life, I'm definitely not sitting still. I figured I've sat down on my gifts TOO long. I've got a lot to offer and if I'm offering it and helping people sitting behind this screen, then so be it. I know that someone can be enlightened, empowered and encouraged by using what is inside me. I've joined the newsletter staff at my church, which I'm excited about since at my old church I established and implemented our weekly church newsletter. I'm also working on writing an Abstinence Program for our Youth Division at my church and I'm working on launching a new blog, which I'm also excited about. So I'm definitely not sitting still. I've got a lot on my plate, but I know to eat one bite at a time. I pray for supernatural strength, because it's in my heart to do these things and I don't want to get burned out. No more sitting still, I'm doing whatever it is my hands find to do.

Be Blessed, Be Safe and Smile!!

It's A Great Day

Hello to my FABULOUS readers! It's a great day. Although it's cold outside, I'll take my Carolina weather over Chicago and Milwaukee's weather any day!  I just hate the fact that I have to use my old computer.  This thing is horribly slow. I tried going through the programs and see what I could possibly remove to make it run a little bit faster, but some programs I'm not familiar with and don't want to take the chance on deleting it and then something else isn't working.  It's especially aggravating because I'm not able to really visit my fellow blogger websites the way I want to because if I have too many windows open at once, it gets TURTLE slow! Some things I have to do from my phone, but it doesn't have a 15" screen so I'll just have to make due.

Anyway, it's been a busy day with my little munchkin having the desire to clear off the sofa by throwing everything on the floor, stand on top of my printer, try to type while I'm typing, pressing buttons on the remote and to top it off, this slow computer. But I'm grateful for another day in the New Year. I can say I held her attention by playing some music on YouTube.

I've been debating on going back to school-again. I've been in the Administrative Support field for several years now and I did find a school that has a degree program that's geared toward that field. The school is really cheap, so I'm thinking about looking into it and going for my Associates. I would like to do an online class, but not with this computer-no way!

PROMOTING BLOGS I LIKE

Penny Pinching Polly-she's always got great giveaways and deals on her site. Absolutely love this site-The Queen of Giveaways!

I was able to visit shining2save and sign up to be a product tester for Kids II Generation Moms Network. Visit the website for more info. Also there's a Simon Flash 48 hour giveaway. Be sure to check it out!

Jessica's Coupons has listed two free nail polishes by Zoya a $16.00 value, all you pay is $6.95 shipping; there's a few other great deals on the site as well.

Sparkling Creations by Melinda she designs some beautiful jewelry and the prices are extremely reasonable!You can have jewelry to match every outfit and for all occasions. You should definitely check out her site!

Teething Bling It's fashionable necklaces that's also safe for teething babies. Really neat idea. Check out her site!

Well that's all I have for now. I haven't gotten any new free products in the mail yet, but as soon as I do, I will definitely be posting my thoughts.

Until next post...BE BLESSED AND BE SAFE!

It's Monday Again!

Good Monday afternoon my fabulous readers! I hope that everyone has an awesome weekend and now it's back to the grind....

So here's some updates about the new products I've tried (these opinion are expressly my own, I purchased these products with my own money)....I gave my daughter the Yobaby yogurt and I don't think she's liking it all that well. She had a few spoonfuls, I would say maybe an ounce overall and that was it. It was the blueberry flavor. I highly doubt it will go to waste, because my teen daughter just got braces last week so, the yogurt will do her well since her mouth has been a little bit sore.

Her braces look really nice on her, she got 'pink' and they are a far more advance 'model' from the type of braces the kids used to get when I was growing up.

I also tried the Marie Calender's Flavor Steamers microwave dinners. I had the Teriyaki Chicken...oh my so good!! I still the the Sweet and Sour Chicken in the freezer which I'll probably have some time today or tomorrow, since the hubby is cooking today.

As I posted before I have been on a sweepstakes/giveaway/freebie mission. Hopefully, I can win a prize or two. sweeptight.com has some really nice giveaways, there's also a page on her blog where she lists giveaways on other blogs. I've signed up for a few freebies on freeflys.com and shopathome.com. For some reason my toolbar disappeared, which you will need to download this in order to enter some of the sweepstakes and sign up for the freebies. Also I like justmarriedwithcoupons.com, which hosts some really nice giveaways as well. If you would like, you can just click on the sweeptight button on my sidebar.

It will probably be a few weeks before my free items start coming in the mail, but as soon as it does, you know I'll be posting. Also, please feel free to follow me on twitter @afambuswmn. A few of the giveaways I have entered, I tweet about, which is also an option when you're entering, so that will be another way to stay informed of giveaways.

Well, let me get back to being busy. Until next post....BE BLESSED AND BE SAFE!

Just Want to Be Better...

Hi all!! It's been a couple of days since my last post, so I just wanted to let you all know that all is well. I'm still enjoying married life-the family is great as well.

I've been looking back over this year that is pretty much over and I must say it's been a great year. I look at my baby and can't believe that she is almost 10 months old and becoming such a big girl. I told my husband I wanted another baby and he gave me a quick 'no', didn't take two seconds to think about it, but it's fine. I'm 38 and I'm done having babies. I'm just enjoying my baby while I can. She's starting to babble a couple of words, I think 'da-da' is a universal word. She's even starting to stand by herself for a few seconds. I can say that it has been a great year. My daughter was born in February, I got married in November, and I started this blog. I am truly grateful to have been home for almost the entire first year of my little one's life to watch her grow and reach those many milestones that occur within the first year. I also have two interviews set up for Monday, so I'm also excited about that. I'm sure I'll be returning to work soon which is really bittersweet, because I know I'm going to miss my munchkin but we have goals that we want to accomplish in the coming year, so I need to return to work.

I'm looking forward to 2012. Everything that happened in 2011 is over, done, finished, it happened, on to the next year. My goal is not to be bigger, because I've never been the kind of person that needed my name in bright lights or my name on a billboard, but I do aspire to be better. I want to grow spiritually and become a better mother, wife, friend, daughter and sister. I want to do more next year than I did this year. Whatever I may be knowingly or unknowingly holding onto, I want to let it go. Life is too short and the end of the day is not promised.

I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and your aspirations for the coming year.

Until next post, Be Blessed and Be Safe--Look for your Rainbow in the midst of your Rainstorm.

You Don't Have To Be Old.....

I read the news about the passing of comedian, Patrice Oneal who died Tuesday morning. He was only 41, and we recently loss a great musician, Heavy D at the age of 44, Bernie Mac and Michael Jackson at the age of 50. It had me thinking, wow, nowadays you don't have to be old to die. Remember when our elders live to be well past 75? Doesn't seem to be happening now. Death does discriminate against race, age, sex, or social status. We all have to meet that fate.

In this day and time it's no guarantee to even see the end of the day. We need to live everyday like it's our last with laughter, having joy, and doing positive things. We also need to do our best to take care of our health. We only get one body and when we don't treat it right, it lets us know. Sure there are people that eat right, live right and still get sick, but, we still need to take care of ourselves.

Also, we need to not procrastinate. I came across an article on a Christian blog called It's Time To Do It, http://www.thechristianwoman.com/devotions/time-to-do-it.html It was really awesome to read because I myself, do procrastinate alot and I need to stop doing that and jump in knowing that as long as I have faith in God that as long as I am doing right He will see me through. Can you imagine the things that these men had on their 'to do' list, but never go to it? How many things are on our 'to do' list that we have been putting off of days, weeks, months, years. People it's time to get it together and do it. Like I said before the end of the day is not even promised to us. So as the new year approaches let's get rid of everything negative, hatred, envy, jealously, arguing, dislike, unforgiveness, etc and go into the new year with a new mind set.

I truly look at those that have passed on and I thank God for all that He has done for me and my family, my natural family and my spiritual family. I will always acknowledge Him because I know without Him, there is NO way I would be here. As I look back over my life, I know I shouldn't be here, not because I lived a rough lifestyle, because I never did, but a couple of incidents that happened to me should have taken me out, but I know it was God that blocked it because there is a purpose for my life and now it's time for me to show Him how much I appreciate all that He has done. God has given me great talents, and the saying goes, if you don't use it, you will loose it and I don't want to loose my gifts because I know that they will help many. It's time for us all to get rid of that 'to do' list and just do it.....

Until next post, Be blessed and be safe!

Good Evening....

Well it's raining pretty good here now, but being born and raised in Chicago and living in Milwaukee for 9 years, I'll happily take the rain. It's evening time, the 'hubby' is meditating with his Xbox and I'm surfing the net. The baby is sleeping after fighting her sleep for almost an hour. I got over 600 swagbucks now from www.swagbucks.com. I'm trying to reach at least 1,000 swagbucks and maybe I can redeem them for a couple of nice gifts. I also received a $10.00 coupon from http://www.soap.com/ which looks like they are an affiliate of diapers.com. They sell general household items like, soap, bodywash, hair accessories, etc. and it looks like they have a grocery section too. I guess you can somewhat compare it to and online WalMart. I'm sure that $10 will come in handy.

I also wanted to let everyone know about a website that you or someone you know could use if they are looking for housing. It's www.socialserve.com. They cover about 30 states right now and several cities. You can find some really nice places on there and you can indicate the price range you're looking for.

Well that's all of my community announcements. My teen is home now, so I guess we'll channel surf and find something good on the TV to watch, well and do laundry--mother's work is NEVER done. If I think of anything else or come across anything else before the night is over, you know I'll post it. Until next post...have a blessed one!!

The Day Isn't Over Yet

Greetings!! I'm so late with today's post. By this time I will have done all of my internet deal hunting and have settled down for a movie. I intended to make my 'end of day' post last night, but after contending and wrestling with my mobile monster, I was to tired to even type a typo.

Well I've had a full day so far and as I sit here with conditioner in my hair, and my baby banging on the window, and pulling at my blinds, I'll try to get this one in.  I had a meeting at my teen's school today, which was a great meeting. They all had such wonderful things to say about her (I wondered if we were even talking about the same child) but they truly love her, so I guess I'm doing something right.

I have a job interview tomorrow, which I'm happy about, although I'm truly enjoying these days at home with my little sweet pea and blogging but if I get the job I'll be happy, but I will not neglect my readers so I'll still be doing my daily posting.

In preparation for my interview tomorrow, I had to do something to my hair! It had gotten totally out of order and disrespectful! Me and the little one took a stroll to the store, I had to get her some more snacks. This time I got the Cinnamon Maple and the Veggie Dip. She likes the Veggie Dip!! I was kind of nervous because she goes crazy of the Cinnamon Maple. I was going the get the generic brand but it had 40 mg of sodium. I thought that was a bit much for an infant snack. After we got back she went through her 'I'm so sleepy, but don't want to really go to sleep, but I can't fight it anymore' act and finally took a nap. It was a race against her 'nap'. I had to try to hurry up and relax my hair before she woke up and before it started burning. I used the TCB Naturals regular strength hair relaxer. I feel so much better. I was going to wait until my daughter got home but if my hair is going to air-day I needed to have it done by a certain time. So that's all done now, and I think I'll go ahead and settle down. Of course, I need to do a little research on the company I'm going to interview with so I'll be prepared.  Wish me luck!

So Grateful!

Good Morning all....I am going to start off by saying how grateful I am to have been blessed to wake up to see another day and that my family is alive and well. My teen is off to school, the baby is up and on the move, so I don't know how much I'll get done today. I wanted to do a 'good nite' post before going to bed last night, but by the time the little got through with me I was done for. I did get a chance to watch a couple of movies while she took a 'real' nap, so that was a plus for me.

While scouring the net yesterday I came upon a few links I would like to share with you.  I'm not sure if anyone has heard of them or used them before, but you can always pass it along.

With the holidays coming up it seems like alot of our fellow bloggers are hosting some great giveaways. So yesterday I entered the $500 Ziploc give away that was on my facebook page.  I also entered to win a $100 Amazon Gift card from www.bloggiveawaydirectory.com. There's a lot of nice sweepstakes and it doesn't take much to enter. Usually I just like them on facebook and then enter the contest. I don't like to sign up for a lot of things that will flood my email, although I do use a separate email account for things like that. I'll be scouring the net again for some more neat giveaways and be sure to post them here.

Until next post...have an awesomely blessed day.....

Latest Sign-Ups...

So I signed up for Business2Bloggers today, you will see a 'button' if you want to check it out, or you can visit http://www.business2bloggers.com/

This webiste is truly awesome! It offers great advice on blogging, campaigns and how to get paid for your blogging where they will send companies to you that will pay you for your reviews.  I'm very excited about this. I actually found it through one of my fellow bloggers at http://www.armywife101.com/

I also signed up at http://www.swagbucks.com/ where you can earn 'virtual money' through surveys, offers, searching online, etc. So far I have about 614 swagbucks. My goal is to get up to about 1,000 so I can really get some nice items.

I also registered with http://www.inboxdollars.com/ This site is similar to swagbucks but it pays real cash to  do basically the same thing you would do on swagbucks. If you get a total of $30 in inbox dollars you can request them to send you a check for the cash amount. Some of the offers really don't pay a whole lot, but in this day and time, every little bit helps.

Has anyone ever heard of http://www.billmyparents.com/? Well it's a prepaid debit card for your teens.  I signed up for it through swagbucks. I think it will be a great way to teach adolescents real-life money managing and budgeting skills. The offer requires your teen have an email address, which I just went to yahoo.com and signed up for a free email address and their own cell phone number. The cell phone number can't be the same as the parent's. Also they require a credit card which I gave them the card information from a prepaid Wal-Mart Card that I also signed up for on swagbucks. With the holidays coming up, just load up the card and it's the ultimate gift. I think it will make a great gift for our teens.

I hope you will find this information very helpful and feel free to post your comments and suggestions.

She's Sleeping!

...And now I can get some work done. Good evening--late evening, but I hope that everyone had a great day today. The family went to church and enjoyed a nice service. Unfortunately my fiance had to work today, but I won't complain, doing what he gotta do...a big KISS to him!

Today's news......I bought my baby some more of the Li'l Crunchies by Gerber. I bought the Cinnamon Apple and I also bought some wagon wheels. She didn't care too much for those, maybe they looked funny. I also think they were a little bit to hard for her, being that she only has 1.25 teeth. I think the Cinnamon Apple snacks were a little bit softer and easy for her to chew. They also have a veggie garden flavor which I may try. She also has some of the yogurt snacks that melt in her mouth. It took a little bit of getting used to but now she eats them with no problem.

I also wanted to talk about generic formula versus Enfamil. One day I was in my local Food Lion and was looking at the selection of formula when I saw the Home 360--it said compare to Enfamil. Needless to say, I picked that one right up it was a larger can and it was cheaper and she had no problems with it. They also have the Gentle Formula and Soy Based. I have been using this for about 4 months now. When I first started using it, it was a little bit cheaper but now it costs about as much as Enfamil but like I said it is a bigger can so that definitely makes it worth it.

Well readers it's waaaaay past my bed time. I hope you are all enjoying my posts. Feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter, leave me any comments or suggestions. Until next post...HAVE A WONDERFULLY BLESSED NIGHT!

Doggie Doo-Ewwwww

So I've been seeing this commercial come on TV for a game called Doggie Doo. You feed the dog roll the dice, squeeze the handle and yes, the dog poops. I think that's taking 'poop' to a whole new level when you put it in a game. What do you guys think? I don't think it's something I would put on my Christmas list.

T-Mobile. America's First Nationwide 4G Network

Could Have Been Worse

As my fiance was getting ready to leave for work, he calls me and says 'well, somebody stole my radio out the truck' in a calm voice...I don't see how he stays so calm...but anyway, I'm saying 'what!'. He said the whole console was snatched out. Now mind you, it wasn't any type of fancy hi-tech radio system, just a regular digital radio. I mean there's a huge hole where the radio, 4x4 and 2x4 switch is supposed to be. When I think about it, I just thank God, because it truly could have been worse. Supposed for some reason he got up and looked out the window and saw whoever in the truck and went out to confront him/them or the truck was stolen. Although we have insurance, we like our truck. It was truly a blessing and has been a blessing to us. I'm just grateful that all will be taken care of and in spite of it all, we still have our life, health strength and our truck. So, I'm still smiling and thanking God.  Until next post.....Be Blessed!

Reaking Havoc!

My 9 month can single-handedly reak havoc on a house. I had my papers stacked under my desk 'semi-neatly' and she just comes right on over and pulls all of the paper out. It's not good enough that she has toys to play with.....oh noooo, rearranging mom's work space is so much more fun. Never seen a baby that can totally tear up a house single-handedly! She loves paper and anything else she's not supposed to put in her mouth. Gotta love her!

Until next post..........Be Blessed!

Veteran Discount and Freebies

http://www.city-data.com/forum/charlotte/1414797-veterans-day-2011-free-meals-discount.html


Here is a link to a few posts about military discounts and freebies.

Morning Greetings!

Good Morning all! HAPPY VETERANS DAY! Thank you to all of the awesome men and women for the sacrifices they are making. May God continue to bless you and your families!

Decisions! Decisions!

Okay, so I've been scouring YouTube to find some ideas for some half-wigs and lace-fronts for my 'Spice Me Up' stage and I've found some really extremely cute and reasonably priced half wigs that I know would look good on me. I really like one called Isabel from the Isis Collection and another one called Stelle by Outre. Both of these are in a beautiful and bouncy spiral curl style and looks extremely natural and you can style them in some really cute ways. I think I'm going to check out my local beauty supply and see what I find. I think I'll be rocking some 'new hair' for a long time.

On the Reality TV circuit, I can't wait to see the premier of Love and Hip, It's going to be a bash--literally. If you saw the previews you'll understand.

Celebrity births-If some of you haven't read by now, Nia Long gave birth to a baby boy--Kez Sunday Udoka...Congrats Mommy!

Well folks...until next post...Be Blessed!

Gotta 'Spice Me Up'

Greetings all! I hope that everyone is having an enjoyable day as we embark upon the elements of the changing seasons. The leaves are changing to gorgeous shades or red, orange and yellow. It's amazing that with every season there changes in the atmosphere. As I sit back thinking about the weather related changes, I have been thinking about some changes I would like to make--MY HAIR!! I've worn long hair for over 30 years and it's time for a change. At first I thought about being bold and just going for a big chop, and if I don't like it then I'll just put on a wig. Well after many  'loving warnings' from my friends I've been checking out some you tube videos on sew-ins, quick weaves and half wigs and they have some really cute styles. After watching a few I think I'm going to try a half wig and see how I like it. I was thinking about going with a sew-in, but with the length of my hair, and having to braid it down and then sew it in, no thanks, sounds like it's gonna take too long. I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to do my first 'quick weave test' but I know it will be soon. Feel free to comment and give me your suggestions. I know there are hundreds of different types of hair from color to texture to length. My natural hair is brown, so I definitely don't want any crazy colors. Until next post....HAVE A BLESSED ONE!

Oh So Wonderful

Greetings all! I must say that I feel pretty good today. I got a chance to watch a couple of good movies yesterday on Netflix while the baby was sleeping. The weather is a little bit dreary but the birds are still singing. It's amazing that no matter what the weather is, the birds still have a song to sing. If we can apply that to our lives, I think it would make a great difference. No matter what you're going through, how bad it seems or looks, find a song in the midst of it all.

I think I'll get out with my girls later on. My oldest has a project she has to do for school, so you know I'm going to have to put her on a TIGHT budget, because she will act like she needs everything in the world for this project and send my card into overdrive.....Well be blessed readers and remember, 'LOOK FOR YOUR RAINBOW IN THE MIDST OF YOUR RAINSTORM!