Facebook Business

So I have talked about this new group of mommies I have found on Facebook.

They are all trying to market their items to the masses!

We share each other's businesses and get each other fans - and business!

I have found that auctions also get us some fans and some extra money!

People hold auctions once they reach so many fans - and want people to participate in their auctions! You priovide pictures of items, starting bids, bid increments, and shipping.

Once the auction is done you contact the winner and there you have it!

People get introduced to your business and your items!

Nothing like making a little extra cash here and there!

Thankful Thursday

I am so very thankful.

I have been networking with some great mommies who have a passion to find their niche in this start your own source of income world.

I have been encouraged and empowered to find my niche.

My friend Jessye became certified to teach group fitness and now has her very own boot camp.

I have plenty of mom friends who are crafty and selling their kids clothes, bows, decorations, and everything (and I love their stores!)

I am so thankful I have now found the energy to keep up and actually running my first full mile this morning with my friend Petra. Walking 3 miles in the afternoon with my friend Jen and using my very own (garage sale purchased) double jogging stroller for the kids.

I can't wait to keep things rolling and new things starting!

Crafts are on the plate for this weekend as I have some swaps to get out the door - stay tuned!



Fireproof & The Love Dare

When I was pregnant with Ryley and Nick was away at EFMB the first time I went to the movies with some friends from church to see the movie Fireproof. Kirk Cameron rocked when I was a kid in Growing Pains so I was a little shocked at how cheesy some of the action was in this movie.  I can say though the meaning of this movie has forever stuck with me. Nick - who is not a fan of religious events (church basically) even like it and has watched it countless times with me.  He even got me the book "The Love Dare" that is the 40 day challenge that goes with the movie. I have gone back to this "dare" a few times in the last couple years to refresh my love and appreciate for my husband and the Lord - which is the ultimate goal of this book/movie.  I encourage you try the dare and watch the movie!

Healthy

First and Foremost:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

My little girl turns 4!!!

This leads me to my post today:

I want to be here for her and her sister as long as I can.

I recently jogged (people walked it faster than I jogged it) my first 5K. I think I died a little - my legs took 4 days to heal. Note to self - you might want to try to train some before just trying to do it because it is free!

I realized that I am out of shape and eat like crap. I love food and hobbies that I sit down for, what can I say? I decided that even though I am not a fan of torture like running - the fact that it was so hard for me hurts. I used to be a competitive gymnast who could do anything it seemed. I know it will not happen like that again - but I would really like to be able to play with my kids without huffing and puffing the whole time.

My goal is to walk our town greenway at least 4 times a week and jog it 1 time a week. It is a paved 5K :)

I love food - all kinds of it and especially the fair food that is awful for you.

I hate water - HATE IT. Forced to drink it for those 8 years of gymnastics ruined me. But soda is going to kill me faster. No soda - or at least not one a day :) (or two if we are being honest).  I bought myself a cute little cup for work and plan to drink water out of it because our water cooler is free to me and who doesn't want to drink out of a cute cup!!??  I am also going to start bringing my lunch to work because that keeps me from buying the crap they serve to us. If you can't tell what it is - how do you know it is healthy??  I have been buying more produce and less frozen, cooking more and heating up less, and even if I am not a fan of it - I will still eat it.  I also can tell you I have been eating breakfast every morning - a cup of coffee and oatmeal - what a difference that makes!  I am not hungry till lunch (most days) and can tell you I have lost weight just from cutting the soda and eating oatmeal - go me!

My plan is to continue this trend. I want to be a better version of me both inside and out. I just value some things more than I did and I am glad I got that point loud and clear about a month or so ago. I will never be the skinny girl after two kids - but I can be the healthy girl who has meat on her bones!

Craftiness happened last night as Nick was on staff duty - so you will see that post soon!!

Please don't forget to sign up for the giveaway from Emma's Boutique from yesterday found

HERE

So....

It is amazing how you can go through so many things and you find out where people really stand.

Involved in helping with all the clean-up, food kitchens, donation centers, and prayer time, I found my personal life falling apart.  I stepped down from design teams to help get my priorities in check.

I found that I my family was missing me becuase even through I was helping others (along with the kids), we were not really working together as a family.  I have a strong faith and so of course I turned to prayer and really asked God to help direct me where I needed to be.

I still love crafting and I LOVE all the friends I have made - but I found I was missing out on some things by spending a good half my life in it.  I found that I love to volunteer where I can and I find it important to keep family involved in volunteering as well so we don't get big heads about ourselves. 

You will see this blog evolve as I will still be crafting - just on a much smaller level. 

I will be using it to help organizations with the things I create and to give visibility to these organizations as well.

I will also be showing you some of the other things in my life that have changed and the other things that I create from it.  This blog will be mine again.

Thanks for hanging in and I can't wait to show you some crafty things I will be making for a couple different benefits coming up for different causes.

My Bread!

Check out my bread ladies!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

YUMMY!



How ya like my baking skills Jenn??

Weekend Update!

Hey ladies! 

We had a great family weekend that included minimal crafting, deck building, Daytona 500, bread making and picking out the VBS theme for this year.

We had a family weekend.  Besides for an unfortunate death in a friends family, and a party for some friends moving to Belgium, we had a good family weekend.

Sometimes you just need to take a break to get all your mojo going again!

Guess what it is back! But you cannot see until tomorrow - HA!

I will post pictures of the deck once it is done!

Please head over to Party Time Tuesdays for this weeks challenge and you will get to see my card a little later in the week for a sneaky peak!!!

Also coming up:

 Creative Clear Stamps tomorrow

Stamp-N-Doodle Thursday (Challenge going on NOW!)

Stamping Dragon - Friday (Challenge going on NOW!)

Deedee's Digis coming up ALL THIS WEEKEND!

So Fun!

~ Hug the one you're with ~

Hee - Hee!

So today I was going to post another project when I realized - I need to make some more! I guess I need to make ahead so I can not have this happen again! HA!  I called myself a dork for this one!  Time to go do some blog visiting and play with my Ryley who is holding her feet rolling on her back from side to side.....looks like tickle time!  While I am at that - why don't you check out my family?

http://www.mollyritterbeck.blogspot.com/

I think they are pretty awesome!

~ Hug the one you're with ~

Finally Friday

So you have seen me all week with my scrap used cards and that has not changed, but I thought I might menton something that kind of made me chuckle while making cards yesterday.  I must really like this stamp set by Stampin' Up! called "Let Them Eat Cake." I mean I have used this stamp set in ALL my birthday cards so far.  All of them. I wanted this stamp set and put it off and put it off and went to buy it after it retired. Way to go silly. I ended up finding a friend named Misty who had it and sold it to me.  God bless her too as she didn't charge me out the wazoo for it.  Just kind of made me chuckle while stamping. You may not think the same though!

~ Hug the one you're with ~

My Husband Is My Hero

A break from creating for this update about "Neighborhood Watch Nick" Moment

So....

It is 5:30 in the morning and my husband randomly gets thirsty. He sees that my truck light is on but thinks that I have "had a moment" and left my light on. When he gets done quenching his thirst he looks back out. He notices that there is a guy walking around the corner of our house. He keeps walking, so Nick opens the front door. The guy looks, walks to my truck, shuts the door, and starts running up the street.

Of course my husband is the macho man's man, and takes of running after him in nothing but his boxer shorts.

The guy apparently had grabbed the 1 lb. bag of M&M's that were in my truck to be sent to Afghanistan to a friend., becuase he threw them, yes threw them at my husband as he was running after him.  I think he was hoping my husband would turn into a cartoon and his feet would look like Fred Flinstone, he would remain in place and get away.  Apparently this guy doesn't know my husband. Nick caught him the next house up. I live in an older development - it wasn't that far from the M&M's.

Nick - typical military guy - decides to "smoke" the guy on his way back once he caught and makes him pick everything up that he threw out of his pockets.  Gets back to the house to ring the doorbell - that apparently doesn't work - Becuase I didn't hear it.  Now I did hear the front door open when the chase began, but I thought my perfect lawn obsessing husband was just starting to water the lawn early....like the movie Field of Dreams or something. Wrong.  ANYWAYS....he decides to kick the door and that worked to wake me up.  I look out the front door and see this man in my lawn with Nick holding him by one hand. I thought the guy was hurt and Nick was helping him - nope, this is when NIck preceeds to tell me that the guy was breaking into my truck.  911 here I come!

The guys kept asking to be let go and swore he didn't take anything, tha tis until Nick pulls out my credit card.  The guy preceeds to say "My bad, just that one thing."  My husband starts talking to him with words I cannot repeat. Intersting morning so far, right?

The 3 cops show up.  The first one walks up while Nick has his knee in the guys back (he tried to get up only once) and comments "How's it going little fella?"  They handcuffed the guy, took our info, and so it goes.

About 4 hours later we get a call and they tell Nick "Thank you."  Understatement of the year.  THe guy had a warrant out for his arrest for 3 SEXUAL OFFENSES.  I have 2 little girls. Not cool.

Let me just tell you. My purse was in my unlocked truck that morning - well every morning.  I grew up in a place where you didn't lock your front door at night even if you weren't home. I was lucky becuase nothing of mine was taken. Well it was but we got it all back.

#1 Lock your doors on everything

#2 Keep your purse inside

#3 Do you really need all those credit/debit cards in your wallet?

#4 A Self-Defense class is not a bad thing. (I have a 45 but am I glad I have my husband!)

My husband is my hero. I am forever thankful that he is the man he is and that he gets thirsty at 5:30 in the morning.

More crafting tomorrow.

~ Hug the one you're with ~

Technical Difficulties

Okay - so just let me tell you how mad I am

I had more notebook sets for you to see.

They didn't post when I wanted and now they are gone.

To boot they are erased from my computer and are mysteriously not on my external hard drive anymore.

I can't take more your pictures of them becuase they were gifts and are now gone.

It is not my day.

I am sorry girls...Once I get more things done and more pictures taken.

Ryley Turned One!

My youngest turned one and of course I had to make the invitations! I call her my peanut, but her theme was monkeys...so cute!

The ribbon is Wal-Mart, Making Memories brads that were punched first with my Crop-A-Dile, the corner punch by Stampin' Up!, which is also my cardstock. The monkey is a clear stamp set from Hobby Lobby and was colored in by my favorite BIC marker!! No Changito, but still pretty cute if you ask me! The designer paper I picked up from Hobby Lobby as well...I must get better at remembering the company names....I LOVED THIS PAPER!

Instead of asking for gifts we asked people to bring books that could be donated back to the daycare as some of the books were becoming rather worn. We were able to donate 30+ books so I felt pretty good about that, because the toys would have been forgot about in 3 days.

~ Hug the one you're with ~

My Blog is Carbon Neutral! Post #2 For Friday!

My blog is carbon neutral!

I ran across this website on a Blog Buddy's website. I always try to find ways to alter items in my ever increasing sense to save money and save the earth. I have begun to really try and be concious about we do, buy, and throw away. This website just gave me another shot to help out!!

www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/how-you-can-join

Please copy and paste if it doesn't link right - I can't seem to make it work!

Please go check it out...it doesn't take much, but it makes a world of difference!

~ Hug the one you're with ~

Gone But Not Forgotten

No - You are not seeing things - it is me!

I have been attending to life and missing you all in the meantime!

I actually made cards this weekend - and it was a great feeling!

I am starting to get my collection built so that I can get some posts ready to go...I have missed you all and you will be so happy to see what I have in store for you!

Totally Stolen

I did not come up with the idea for this card....I stole it from a swap.

She didn't sign her card or put a slip of paper anywhere, so I cannot give her proper credit.

So this is my way of trying to!

The middle portion is raised....the stamp is thoughts and prayers by SU!.

On another note...off to the dentist this afternoon as I have some pain in a tooth they filled...I hate the dentist. Who likes to sit with their mouthing open for that long while people stare into ?

Ryley got new medicine for her thrush, and she is 11 pounds and 15 ounces...she is growing!

Abby had a great tumbling class this weekend, and enjoyed Jimmy's 2nd birthday...

Where do my weekends go sometimes???

Hug the one you are with!

First Day Back to Work

So, today is my first day back to work...BLAH

I was up at 4:30 like always to start getting ready and finish up my card for the Fun-Frilled Design Team...actually it was done, I was just de-bugging my computer last night and could not upload it until today. PLEASE check it out and look at the details for the new contest!

The card for today is posted over at Fun-Frilled so go there for Tuesday's post - it is my day!

My computer is on the up and up *cross your fingers* as it did allow me to upload pictures...my husband's laptop is going to get fixed today and then will be called Molly's laptop :)

I will be posting more cards this week provided work does not kill me...thanks for hanging in there while my computer has not been working and I have not been able to post ladies!

Hug the one you are with!

Nada

Yes - For the first time in a while I have nothing to post more than some randomness...

Please go to Fun-Frilled for some good stuff and a blg candy entry that you don't want to miss!

I found out I liked ham salad yesterday!

I found out that you CAN be over educated!

I found out that the terrible two's have set in...

I found out that it is possuble to have half your face go numb from the dentisit (yes on purpose).

Chew on that until tomorrow ladies - my two year old is screaming about the dog...who is harmless...

Hug the one you are with!

I fell...

So I was getting out of the truck tonight and fell, like I put one leg down and it slid and I went with it on my arm, leg, and side. I am already starting to hurt...tomorrow is not going to be fun. I think a jeans day is in order for my pain and suffering tomorrow at work!

No cards or projects fo rme tonight. After falling and working from home for a couple hours - I was not inspired.

Nick still will not be home tomorrow - but a side note in support of our soldiers overseas... We received an email from a SSG overseas who commended our comapny for the products we make. I work at John Deere in the Governmental and National Sales Department. The SSG stated they had a rough day and went in to rescue 5 soldiers and was able to bring them home safely for the medical attention they needed. They did lose 7 good men that day, but without the help of our product it could have been more. Doesn't that put life back into perspective? I shed a tear at work..when I hear of a soldier who has lost his life, I think of our friend who was killed in action - 2 years this April 12th.

I think I am feeling better now...Hug the ones you are with..nighty-night.

5X5 Card Swap & My Amazing Picture!!

Here is a swap I am in for Turtlescrapper on SCS - it is a 5X5 card and I loved it - bonus of the day is Nick liked it and the hostess gift I made to match! Yes Abby was running amuck in the background...she is just to fast to photograph! :)

Here is a card for a masculine card swap...love this truck stamp set from SU!

Here is my one and only amazing picture from Monster Jam yesterday!

****Side note - please check out the blog I follow "My Own Private Idaho" as she has posted the picture of an amazing journal and mailbox she made....plus the fact that her blog always puts a smile on my face!

Seriously??

Okay - I was actually excited that the ice and snow had subsided (I like the south for a reason - it is actually warm in the winter). Work was going to be a task but still it would be adult converstaion and I could do what I am paid to do! I got up, fed Abby, got her ready, let Tanner out to potty, get in the car, get gas, get to the daycare...CLOSED! REALLYY!!?? The roads are absolutely clear and so is their parking lot! I am out another day of work (which I probably shouldn't complain about becuase I can stamp more now), but I still have to pay! I know, I know, it is a business...but come on - today is fine!

So here we are with another morning of Dora's Pirate Adventure. Time to get something done I supposed - make the best of it, right? Thanks for stopping!