Sexy for Life, Avon, Herbalife and My Life

Real Quick Update

2011-12-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

Life has gone crazy on me I am selling Avon and Herbalife and I have had another job I really did not care for in the mean time.

Now my grandpa is in the hospital and I have the most flexible schedule so I have been spending time with him and working on getting his apartment cleaned up. He has always valued his independence and has never been much for inviting us over and it looks like his ability to keep his house up has been going downhill for a long time.

I have had a lot of good things happen though. I realized I really like selling the products that I am selling and I am having fun doing it. Building the sales has been slow going but I don't want to push too hard. I do need to learn some more skills to close a sale without bullying people. I am too timid much of the time.

Well if you like these products and would like to help out click on the links. I am working hard to reach presidents club and lock in my Avon discount by campaign 7 but I unless a miracle happens in the next week or so it won't happen with Herbalife. Avon does not reset till around March so my efforts are focused on that but Herbalife resets in January. I am hoping to get things on the right track very soon and make a good living selling and building my sales teams.

I have so much more to update but this is just a quick one have a great Christmas season!

I am moving

2011-08-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of moving so for a few weeks updates will be few and far between.

Again My Life Is Insane

2011-08-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I am moving! We have decided in order to save money we need to move back into the duplex we pay a mortgage on. We will save at least $700 dollars a month by moving back into the place and just using both units. The thing I hate is having to be a landlord and I know for sure I don't want to do that again. My hope is for Ryan to get back to work and my sales career to take off. Then we can save enough to build a house or buy something we really like but with the housing market so depressed in our area this will have to wait.

I am a little stressed out because I would like to get it done as quickly as possible but some things need done first. We will put carpet in the lower unit and a few other things. Will use mostly the lower unit so I would like to make a few minor cosmetic improvements before we move in and fix the small things that need fixing. Hopefully the water meter will be replaced today. Then we can turn the water back on and we can have the gas turned on.

Gonna have to get the measuring tape out again!

2011-08-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Well I have stalled on my actual numbers on the scale but I can still see a slow but defined difference in my body. I am looking better and I even had to buy some clothes because everything I had was too big and I am not quite small enough to fit into my old summer clothes. If it was not in the 90's I would just suck it up and wear jeans but it is not so I bought a few work out outfits and a few things I could wear that were nice. When I say a few I mean I got one top and one dress and three workout outfits.

I work out at a mixed company gym and when your top keeps falling off or down under your bra you know it is time to get something new unless you really like giving the opposite sex a show. I don't so I spent less than 40 dollars on work out clothes at Walmart and got 3 outfits.

I have been trying to get to the ten pounds lost mark for 2 weeks now and I am feeling a bit frustrated about that. I have been eating well most days and even when I don't it is not like I pig out it is more like I eat healthy all day and then have something bad for one snack or for dinner. I have changed my diet a little in the last two days and got rid of a half a pound. I added some healthy grains back into my diet not many and not often but a few days a week I can have a whole wheat bagel or some whole grain toast. I am kind of wondering if my cravings make it harder for me to loose weight.

So for the record since I have been on Herbalife I have lost 9.5 pounds and since the January I have lost 24.5 pounds. I just have to make it over this hill and with all the time I am putting in at the gym I should get there soon. I am going to have to break out the tape measure to check and see if the inches are coming off like I think they are.

9 Pounds Lost With Herbalife and I Sell Avon now.

2011-07-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

Selling Avon
Well as of this week I sell Avon products. I am really excited about this because Avon products are pretty easy to sell. They also support a variety of great causes and offer fundraisers to help support local causes. I love Avon make up and I really like their naturals line of bath and body products. I hope you will all check out my AVON website. Go ahead and order direct from the site if you like the products I still get credit. If not thanks for looking and supporting me!

Loosing with Herbalife
I have lost nine pounds thus far on Herbalife products the last pound has taken some more time because I got lazy with all the family functions going on. I didn't get to the gym for like 4 days in a row and only worked out at home one of those days. The worst part is the food I ate at these functions. Most of the time I went hoping for something healthy to eat and I am not going to be doing that any more. Having watermelon for a meal (because it is the only healthy option) didn't cut it and I had to eat other stuff. From now on I am going to have a low calorie Herbalife shake right before I go to anything like this unless I can obtain food details ahead of time.

I am going to have to be down right rude in some cases because I am sorry I just don't want to be fat anymore. If people have a problem with me not eating there food I am just going to have to try to nicely say I am trying to eat healthy and if they keep bugging me about it I am going to have to find a good method of stopping them in their tracks.

Why you might ask? This is because once I start eating crappy food I start craving it. I messed up on my diet but not any one whole day but then everything my hubby was eating was a temptation. Nearly three weeks on my diet and I had no cravings even with my hubby eating chips and garlic bread right in front of me. Then I cheated and ate fried chicken and cheesy potatoes and a few other bad things and I started craving crunchy starchy things.

So now I know I need to be prepared if there will not be healthy food at the event I need to have a shake before or take on in a Thermos. I can't make good choices when there is only junk food to choose from. The worst that can happen is I eat before and there is healthy food that I want to try in which case I can just have small portions.

I am actually pretty proud of myself for not going crazy with the bad food. I did not gain any weight back and still lost another pound since my last post. Now I have less than a month until my birthday and anniversary so I have to kick it back into high gear and get down as many more pounds as possible. I have been back at the gym the last two days and plan to go everyday until Friday.

8 Pounds Lost

2011-07-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

Okay I have been loosing a good 2 pounds a week for a month now. I love the Herbalife shakes and I have tons of energy. I have picked up weight lifting again. I joined a gym so I could have access to weight machines at least until I get stronger. It is a lot harder to hurt yourself on the machines. I have been working out 5-6 days a week and I dug out my heart rate monitor so I can keep my heart rate up during cardio.

I would like things to happen faster but when I measured my inches last week I was down quite a bit more than I expected and most of my clothes I have been wearing are too big. I don't have much to wear which would normally be a good thing but I have a lot of places to go that I need to wear clothes. There are weddings and family gatherings and picnics and church and the gym. So I may have to go and grab a few dresses or something on clearance and I am sure I will have to grab some gym clothes. I have at least 2 more sizes to go before I fit in my old gym clothes.

So I have decided that I am going to sell Avon in addition to the Herbalife products I already sell. I am doing that because I already have a few customers and I think I can pick up more if I have some books when it is time to go to the events I have planned. I will only change my mind if I get the call and the cost to join has gone up or there are too many things to do to get involved.

If you are interested in my products or selling them let me know. You can email me at sundcarrie@yahoo.com or you can visit my Herbalife Website. I don't know what I will need for an Avon website yet but it might be something I choose to get.

Down 6.5 pounds and 12 inches!!!

2011-07-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Results!
I have to admit I was very discouraged this week because the scale just wouldn't budge. I was at 144.5 for five days. Then this morning it went down. I added some serous weight lifting this week and somehow I hoped it would make the numbers on the scale go down. I knew from a logical standpoint that I should be taking measurements instead but it is a lot harder than just getting out of bed and stepping on the scale.

So this morning I took my third set of measurements, biceps, hips, bust, waist, calves and thighs and I am down 6.5 more inches for a total of 12 since I started this program on June 22. I really am going to have to focus on the inches more now that I have a good strength training regimen going.

Gym
On Monday of this week I joined a gym that is less than 5 minutes from my house. The gym requires no contracts and it was only 100 dollars down and 10 dollars a month. Yea for me I now have somewhere to lift weights. I found that I also like the cardio bike, something I used to hate. It loosens up the hip I broke and helps with more fluid motions in the leg.

I have been sore for days but it is the good kind of sore and I know if I keep it up I can look like Jillian Michaels in no time. Yes that is my goal these days to have a body like hers and while I have a weight guideline it is not set in stone because I want to have some serious muscle tone.

My membership included 2 personal training sessions and the first one was just paper work and goal setting. I don't have the cash for more sessions but he did show me some great exercises and my sister in law also helped me learn to use the machines and showed me some great core exercises. I am all set to succeed for now as long as I keep it up.

Setbacks
Everyone has setbacks and mine seem to have to do with scheduling. I have not really messed my eating up because I have kept all the really bad food out of the house. I have however had a few days where poor planning has had me to the point of my stomach grumbling and me reaching for anything and everything to eat. If I had junk food in the house I would be in big trouble on those days.

I think the worst thing is finding time for exercise 6 days a week. I want to stay on a 6 day plan for the rest of my life but there is always something to do or some family function or a wedding or ....well you get my point, and that leads me to my next section about working in the fitness industry.

My New Job Is Getting Fit
I started my first (free) course to become a personal trainer. I have been reading the book when I have the time but some of it is overwhelming. I did graduate from college with a great GPA but I didn't learn a whole lot of science and the book is loaded with it. So I borrowed some textbooks from my sister to help me get a better grasp of some of the terms.

It won't be a breeze but it is not super difficult either and it gives me some time to prove to myself and my hubby and potential clients that I can get in great shape. Then when I am close to my own goals I can start to take the ISSA course that seems to be accepted everywhere.

I want to stay in great shape and I want to help other people stay in shape and what better way to achieve this goal than to have a career in fitness.

Diet
Just an added note I am on a diet of sorts. I am using (and selling) Herbalife products. I love them because they give me energy and they are great for a quick meal when I am on the go. I can take a protein bar to the gym and eat it before a great work out and come home and have a shake. I am on a 2 shake a day program but I have been known to have another on for a snack especially now that I am lifting weights and need a protein boost without having to cook something. I eat a lot of veggies, salads and nuts for snacks and I eat a good meal but I am NOT counting calories. I get way too obsessive when I do that. I am also not cutting out red meat or potatoes but I am staying away from bread for right now. I eat ground buffalo and lean steaks but not everyday and I sometimes have potatoes cut up and grilled. I am staying away from the bread because I think I am addicted to it when I eat a little I just want more and more.

We went to the Outback the other day and I had a small steak with veggies and a sweet potato and one little piece of bread and once I took a bite it took everything in me to leave the rest there I don't even have that much of an issue with sweet things. I always thought my vice was sweets but come to find out it is bread. Not sure what that is all about but maybe I will learn in my personal training courses.

Good luck with your weight loss programs and thanks to all of you who have supported me over the years. This time I am going to get it done and by the end of October you will get the before and after pics.

Herbalife, Personal Trainer and Gym.

2011-07-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well I am loving the Herbalife products the only thing I am struggling with is when I lift weights I need more protein. I am going to order a protein powder to add to my shakes when I place my next order but I can't keep spending money before I make money. I have been feeling really tired and sore when trying to build muscle and I know I am just not getting enough high quality protein.

The next thing is my lack of equipment at home to get a quality strength building routine going. I don't have a lot of free weights or a weight machine so I could use another way to get those exercises in. With my hubby still laid off I can't go spending hundreds of dollars on a weight machine but I might be able to join a gym. There are a few newer gyms in town that offer a reasonable down payment with a very low monthly fee and no contract. As far as I can tell the lower the initial fee the higher the monthly payment so joining will depend on a few factors. Do I think I will be able to afford my own equipment soon? Do I think I will drive to work out at the one with the lower down payment? How long do I think I will go?

The third thing I wanted to get out in a blog post today is that I think I am going to go through the program to become a personal trainer. There is a program I have only heard good things about and I am looking into that one. The only thing is I don't want to spend the money at this time unless I can make it by selling my products. I would love it if my readers would pass along my website www.shopherbalife.com/csund to anyone they think might want the products. My phone number and email is on the website so I welcome questions. If I don't know the answer yet I will check into it and get back with you. I could really use a boost in my sales before my big debut party near the end of this month so if you need to loose weight or boost you energy check out the site.

Feeling Great and Loosing Weight!!

2011-07-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been a bit since I last posted. I have been kind of busy cleaning up the mess from the business I started. I have a lot of plans for it now that I am seeing results. I have only lost 4 pounds in the almost two weeks I have been on the products but i have lost 5 and a half inches.

I have a ton of energy most days. Nothing really helps when I don't sleep (like on Sunday night when my neighbors thought fireworks till 3am was okay). I am sharing one of my favorite Pink videos with you today for some reason this video makes me want to get up and move.

I love the Herbalife products and if you want to try some here is my website www.shopherbalife.com/csund. I am so glad to have more energy because I do like to work out I just have not had the energy to do it lately.

Career Plans

Well my new plans for a great career are to get my but in shape and then maybe get a certificate in personal training. I have been looking into a few different education programs but none of them are as expensive as more college.

The thinking behind this madness is that I want to help people, hence the 4 year social work degree. If you have read this book at all about a year ago I was looking at being a life coach but that didn't work out because it seemed like I needed an expensive education for a "certificate" not a degree and I started to wonder if anyone would pay for those services here in a severely depressed economy.

Then I found Herbalife products and I was thinking how can I maximize my sales and create an ongoing relationship with clients. Then I started thinking how can I use my degree to make this work. So I really have no idea where to start with this but I am calling myself a wellness consultant. I am going to read up on nutrition not just in the form of the products I sell. I am going when we can afford it take the courses to become a personal trainer and possibly some nutrition courses if that is not covered. I am going to be come a well rounded wellness coach and I am starting with practicing what I am going to teach. You can't have a personal trainer that is 30 pounds over weight......Oh wait I am not that much over weight now I am only about 16 pounds from a good healthy weight and about 26 from my goal weight.

So I have to plan a map of my new goals starting with how to turn my dining room into a small gym. I have a few ideas up my sleeve for cheap stuff that works. I am going to keep checking craigslist for great equipment. I have an elliptical and I can put something else in that room but we have to install the a/c unit. We could use a new treadmill and a stationary bike. I would love a compact and nice weight machine but that is something for the future. My first piece of equipment will be a free standing punching bag I can get a pretty nice one for about a 130 and then some gloves. So my first sales goal is to pay for that piece of equipment. Then I am going to work to pay for my education and the average price is 500-1200 dollars for the entire thing depending on the program you choose.

Well if nothing else it helps me stay motivated to stay on the program I am on and get this extra weight off have fun everyone I must run and get a killer leg work out in and a long treadmill walk on a high incline to get the heart pumping see you soon.

My Crazy Life

2011-06-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

This is just going to be a bit of rambling because I have had an almost unbearable week. I have had some victories but it is hard to focus on them with everything that has happened to me. The first big thing has something to do with the Herbalife business that I am starting. I want to say that it is not Herbalife that I have a problem with it is the people/company I came in with. Then there is the duplex that was broken into and all the copper pipes stolen plus a broken window.

Now in the midst of this stuff I started my new diet plan. I am on the Herbalife quick start plan and I love it. The shakes are amazing and I eat 4-5 times a day just replace two meals with shakes. I am still working that out because I need to get some protein in with my snacks. I have been having a lot of salads and sometimes I save the last snack for the evening and have home made ice cream but I have been eating just a very small portion of it. I need to figure out the calories in each batch but I am still better off than much of the grocery store ice cream. It has a lot less sugar in it and none of the extra stuff you can't pronounce.

I started at 150 on Sunday and have worked out everyday since (5 days) and I am now at 148 so that is not too shabby for less than a week. I have to work out the diet plan a bit but the work outs I am feeling good about. I have been pushing myself and on the days I feel like I can't do it I just keep doing it even if it isn't as fast as yesterday.

I started off really motivated but right today I am feeling like giving up because I am so irritated with life. I am not going to give up! I just can't!

So you want to know what else happened well I went to incomeathome.com and signed up for an online business. They were very secretive about their product and their methods. They are a group of people selling Herbalife products in a different way and it is a very high pressure and deceptive way. I am not going to go into details because I already feel like a huge idiot for letting them dupe me out of money and tons of time before I could even start selling the product. If I had not stood my ground it could have been worse. I have been fighting to get some of my money back and it is not working. I have almost 600 dollars into it and I have one quick start package which would have cost me 110 dollars had I signed up locally. That doesn't count the phone minutes and the 20-30 hours of my time on phone calls and training that did not teach me much about the products.

So I canceled everything I could and filed the BBB reports that I could and I called Herbalife and asked if I could just be a regular distributor. I found a nutrition club with the help of some great friends and I was very impressed with the way they do business. It was not high pressure and they were very transparent about the costs. I was able to taste some very good shake recipes and I am excited to sell the products. I just can't get the bad taste out of my mouth with the experience I have been having. I have been fighting for hours each day with the many different companies that I have signed up for because the training said I HAD to have this and that and NONE of it is required to sell the product.

The good this week is that the products I got from Herbalife are working very well for me I am so excited. I have a lot more physical energy already. I didn't get my product until Tuesday but I had some samples that I used to try to get through the earlier days. I love the shakes they are delicious and I was really scared they would not be. I would like to loose two pounds a week but I have to overcome my temptation to eat when I get stressed out or to just sit and pout about the money I couldn't afford to loose.

I just need to find the fighter in me and push through all of this and just get it done.

Herbalife for Weightloss

2011-06-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

Trial Period Starting Soon

My starter package from Herbalife is in the mail and I am hoping it will get here today. I would like to start the program tomorrow. The program doesn't seem that hard as far as I can tell there are many options for the shakes and the snacks. I will be getting a lot of veggies from the farm I am working on and I can use them as snacks.

To be more clear on the weight loss program you are encouraged to take their herbal tablets 3 times a day, and replace two meals a day with shakes. You are also encouraged to have two healthy snacks. I am pretty sure organic fresh picked veggies will be included in that.

The great thing is that according to the label on the website I can use these shakes because they don't have artificial sweeteners in them. I have never been able to do a program like this because the shakes gave me migraines. The best thing is that once I reach my goal weight I can go to one shake a day and continue with the supplements. I have not tried them yet but I may have to get creative on my farm days. I get really hungry when I do physical labor so I am thinking those days might be one shake days at first but I will play it by ear and pack a healthy lunch. If I am famished when I get home then I will have a healthy dinner as well if not I will have a shake.

Soon to be Herbalife Distributor
I am really motivated to try this program because if I get good results I will be able to share my story with potential clients. So I am going to document my progress here on this blog. I am very excited to try the products and to sell them. They have a line of all natural skin care products I would love to try as well. I am working through my training right now and I hope to be able to share a website with you soon. I will keep you updated and if your are interested in products let me know.

Multilevel Marketing and Me

2011-06-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Okay I am really trying to find a system that works for me. I have tried Avon and Pure Romance and I have not done well. It was rather impossible to maintain an online business with these systems and I don't like doing parties. I don't mind telling friends and family about products I am selling but I don't like pestering them if they decide they don't want them.

I am going to try selling Herbalife products. If nothing else I get a months supply for myself with my training package. I have always wanted to try them so even if I don't do well I get to try a product that I am interested in. I am determined to figure out how to make money doing something like this. I have not been good at sales in the past but I am going to make an effort to learn how to sell not just hope that this product sells itself.

I have books on marketing and I am going to hit the library for books on good sales techniques. I am going to earn my initial investment back as quickly as I possibly can and then I am going to make a profit. If I hate it then I can quit. I just can't stand the thought of being tied to a desk 40-50 hours a week again. I can handle being at home and working on my time schedule even if I end up putting the same amount of hours in a week. I would like to decide I am tired of work and take a break and spend some time with the dog and the chickens.

My biggest problem with a "regular" job is the time clock. Typically you have to get up at a horrible hour in the morning and start getting ready for work. Then you have to drive to work and stay there 8.5 or more hours. You don't get a paid lunch even if you work while eating you lunch. You definitely can not go play with your dog for 15 minutes in the middle of the day nor can you stop work for the repair man that needs to get in an fix the furnace. I want to be able to go to the grocery store at noon on a Tuesday if I ran out of milk and work until 2 in the morning if I can't sleep.

Maybe it is just asking too much but there has to be something out there that I can do I just don't know what that is yet.

Sunny Days

2011-06-06T06:02:00.000-07:00

Last week was full of sunny days. I have spent a lot of time outside at the farm or at home. I have the plastic baby pool out for the dog and I stick my feet in it and read while watching the dog and the chickens.

I finished two books and am working on reviews for my Dark Novels blog. I am going to work on getting some pictures of my porch garden and the chickens and there coop for the Longing for the Country Life blog today.

I also need to work on some changes to the chicken coop and clean out my vehicles. I am really enjoying my life right now so glad things are the way they are. I am also hoping for the duplex to sell that would make everything perfect. We had a second showing on it Saturday so hopefully sometime soon we will get an offer but who knows.

Exhausted but Feeling Better

2011-05-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

Farming Fun

Yesterday I spent my usual five hours at the farm. It flew by as I met new people and got to know a little about each of there lives. I dug holes for herbs in two long beds and now my hole digging arm is killing me. I have a raw spot on my thumb but no blisters this time. City life has done little to prepare me for the life of a farmer.

I also found a tick on me at the cook out at my moms house. I freaked out a little bit when I saw it and and threw it but that is the first tick I have ever seen. I was not so crazy when I went looking for it. Somehow it got on my hubby's knee when he bent down to look for it. So now I know that I need to have my hubby check me in the spots that I can't see for ticks each time I come home.

Loosing Weight
All this work has left me with little time to worry about what to snack on next or working out. That combination has brought me to a place where I have lost about five pounds in about 3 weeks. So I am pretty happy about the results. I am thinking the first side effect of farming is sore muscles and the second is weight loss. It doesn't seem to be a quick weight lose program but it seems to be rather effective. Not only am I loosing weight but I feel stronger and I can do more each time I go.

While I am tired today I feel much better than I have the last 11 days and that really helps me to see all the good in my life. I love my life right now and I am happy to be alive.

Writing, Reading and Coughing....

2011-05-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Rocks and Lemons
Well when life throws rocks at your head and just won't let up what do you do? I am not sure but I have been feeling like I just can't catch a break the last week and a half or so. I know the old saying is about lemons but I would take lemons over the mucus in my lungs that won't come up and the green snot when I wake up. I might even take a few rocks to the head if it would end this thing sooner.

I don't like going to the doctor but I have no idea what kind of natural remedy will work so I am switching between Sudafed and Mucinex as the symptoms change. I don't want to go get some other pill that will just mask the symptoms until the things plays out.

I feel like a zombie half the time and I just want my life back. I am crabby and I don't want to be. I am having trouble enjoying the things I love to do and that is making me angry. My life is great right now but I feel like poo and can't enjoy it.

The Good Things
I have a lot of great things going on in my life one is that my hubby is home and he is on a much earlier schedule now. I get to spend a lot of time with him and as soon as I feel like a human again it will be the highlight of my day. Right now I am having trouble with that because he wants me to do things with him and as soon as I start I have a coughing fit.

Then the chickens are growing at astronomical rates and they just love to run around the yard and eat the massive amounts of mosquitoes we have. It would be really fun watching them if the weather would cooperate which I think it will today. Sitting out in the damp cold probably isn't good for my condition...whatever this condition is.

My dog is healthy and on the nice days I would love to go for a walk with her but again the coughing thing is killing me. I go to the farm two days a week and I feel like death for the next day or two.

I am having trouble mustering up the positive outlook I had just two weeks ago but I know it will come back if I can just shake this respiratory thing.

Any ideas on natural remedies would be greatly appreciated as well as prayers.

When Life is Good Why Must I Get Sick

2011-05-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Where Does All the Snot Come From?

I started feeling bad on Thursday of last week. I was helping my mom clean and I thought my throat was on fire and it was hard to swallow with all the sinus drainage. My mom was preparing for my aunt and uncle who were coming from Florida.

The next day was worse but I went and worked on the farm despite the fiery throat and nasty snot. Again the next day worse but I went to plant a garden and my moms because the plants were started and it needed to be done before it rained again. Then I had to finish planting and go to a family function on Sunday but I did get to rest in the evening.
I woke up Monday with more snot than a human should be able to produce with an inability to stop blowing my noes. I skipped farm work on Monday and made it up Tuesday because I felt better. Unfortunately working yesterday seems to have made today worse.

Today I don't plan to do any physical labor. I need to recover because I have to be back at the farm by Friday. I am working for food so it needs to be done. With my hubby laid off the only way I cam afford to make the switch to organic foods is to work for them. Once harvesting begins I will be earning a significant portion of our grocery bill so I must keep going.

Writing

I have such a wide variety of things going on in my life that I am finding it hard to give a good update here. I have a lot of little writing things going on and possibly some grant writing. I did a test article on Examiner.com about chickens(http://www.examiner.com/urban-farming-in-toledo/city-chickens-toledo-ohio-1) and I earned a bit of money. I believe it could generate a good side income if I were to work on more articles. I just have not found the time to work on it yet. That is not entirely true I have had time I just have not felt like a human most of the time. Either I push myself too much with the labor or I am sick and then there are just days where I can't seem to organize my time.

Chickens and Dogs

My dog has started to get used to the chickens and we let them out a lot more. They are getting big and they can't get out unless they fly out. Thus far they have not tried to fly up very high unless they are attempting to get back into their coop. Asuka, my German shepherd, has decided the chickens are less important than playing with her toys in the yard. We don't leave her out alone with the chickens but as long as we are out there she does great. Sometimes she can't seem to help chasing them but she has not tried to bite them in quite some time.

Farm and Garden

Well as I said before I am working on the farm for food. I work two days a week and it takes me at least an hour and a half to travel there 2x a week. So it takes up a large portion of those days. I would like to work up to getting more hours in on those days but that will have to wait until I am feeling better.

I also have some plants on my porch and in my yard that need tending. I have a few nice boxes with salad greens, a tomato plant and and some onions and herbs on the porch. We have strawberries under the roses in the back and on the side of the house. This is the third year on the strawberries and they are looking great! We found a spot for two pablano pepper plants and a roma tomato plant outside as well.

Then there is the huge garden at my moms with carrots, three types of onions, two types of radishes, garlic, green beans, spinach, at least 5 types of peppers, 5 types of tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. With all the veggies we are growing and the ones I am getting from working I should be able to freeze and can some of it for the winter. I am really excited and hope that everything grows well.

Long Days

2011-05-05T04:22:00.000-07:00

Busy Bee That's Me
Well I have to go get ready for an all day grant writing seminar today. I am excited to go but I am rather tired. We spent a large part of yesterday building a chicken coop with my hubby's grandpa. I felt like an idiot because I was not able to help much. I was able to hold stuff and hand them stuff but I failed miserably at the building part. I don't know how to use power tools that are not designed for the kitchen.

After the seminar I may have to go directly to my moms to work in the garden area. Friday is free at this point and I will have to use that time to work on my many writing assignments and catch up on my blogs and maybe some reading as well. I will also need to get some yard work done and I have chickens to care for.

I am just moving a lot lately and I have a bunch to write about but can't seem to find the right amount of time to sit and write. Hopefully since I am glued to the chair on Saturday I will come up with something and just edit it during the week.

Social Service Burn Out

2011-05-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Answering Phones and Providing Resources

I will be finished with my current job in about two weeks. I work from home a 12.5 hour shift answering calls from people with needs and connecting them with resources to meet those needs. The crisis calls are intense and they pushed me to putting in my notice about two months ago. I can see how people in social services get suffer from burn out. It is not just the crisis calls it is also the people who feel they deserve help and they want you to give it to them now.

I am probably the worst social worker on the planet because a large percentage of these callers were getting on my nerves. I am really good at keeping a pleasant voice while thinking "why don't you have a job" but some people want everything for free while my husband and I work to provide for their needs. Please don't get me wrong there are plenty of nice callers and plenty of people who just want a little help or have a really good reason for needing help.

I realize the job market in Toledo is beyond bad and there are a lot of people out of work. I am not talking about people who are trying in any way shape, fashion or form to improve their lives. I am talking about the caller that got evicted for non-payment of rent and couldn't get anyone to move him or her so they just left their stuff there and now they want free furniture. Not only do they want free furniture but they want it at 3am and they want it delivered.

I thought I had a high tolerance for this but in my opinion there are a lot of people out there that are in need and can't get help because they are not needy enough. The people who get the most help seem to be the ones who just want others to give things to them. I guess what I am saying is there is a huge flaw in the system and you can't help people avoid a crisis. Most of the help is not available until they loose almost everything.

Help People Help Themselves
I wish I had the business knowledge to start a program that was able to help people that wanted to help themselves. I am so sick of the just give it to me mentality I could just pull my hair out on some of these calls. I don't see why it is so hard to help someone who had an emergency car repair and now they can't pay their bills this month yet we can help someone who has not paid their bill in 3 months and now they are getting things shut off.

The government system perpetuates dependence on it and that really bothers me. I am not a particularly political person but I do believe that we as a people have become entirely to dependent on the governmental support. Just so your clear I don't just mean the people who receive food stamps, cash assistance and other common welfare services. I am talking about all the entitlement programs including Social Security and Medicare.

I don't have a solution for the problems but if the government can spend our tax dollars on what ever they want why are more people not fighting for the wise use of their money. I am really glad I don't have television because I would just be angry all the time. I am very good at budgeting and when needed we make sacrifices if the government is not willing to do that I don't believe we will keep our status as a great and powerful nation.

I went to church yesterday and the people who went to Haiti on a mission trip said over and over how much it impacted them. One of the recurring themes was how grateful these people were for such small things. Maybe people in the USA need to learn a lesson from the people in Haiti who truly are needy.

My stance on what a needy person is not a popular one in my given line of work or the current political climate. No one needs a land line and a cell phone and they really don't need a phone plan with all the bells and whistles. No one needs cable television (I don't have it) or even a television set for that matter but they really don't need the 250 package they are paying for while receiving food stamps and cash assistance. You don't need a boat or a new car or........well you see where I am going with this.

There are things you do need I am not going to argue that. There are wonderful people out there who live on the bare necessities and when they call and ask for help I think they should get it. I don't think we should be supporting people who are always going to live beyond their means. People who want someone else to pay their way and have no intentions of becoming self sufficient.

Okay I will get off my soap box now.

The Dreaded Lay Off

2011-04-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hubby Laid Off

We have always known the dreaded pink slip could be coming but this week will be my hubby's last on the job for who knows how long. We have enough saved to live on for quite a while and with unemployment and a quick lifestyle adjustment we will won't have to touch much of the savings. Not that I want to live on unemployment for a long time but it will allow us a few weeks to get some things done together and give us some quality time to spend together.

I am looking forward to the quality time I will get to spend with Ryan. He works 6-7 days a week most of the time and lives on a third shift schedule. I only get to see him in the evenings for a few hours each night. Hopefully he will go on a day shift schedule until he gets called back or finds a better job. That way we can spend a lot more time together.

What Does the Future Hold

The other great thing about this lay off is that my hubby can explore other career options. I have always known that he is not excited to go to work each day so I plan to encourage him to think about what he would like to do. We can make a plan to make it happen even if he really does want to be a goat or ostrich farmer.

I hope it looks like my dreams of having a small farm that produces much of our own food but also generates other types of income. If it doesn't I just have to try to think outside the box and see how we can meld our dreams together. Now that he has time to think I want to give him that freedom.

I had a big segment typed on a few other things I wanted to vent about but I think I will save that for another post. Right now things are okay but there are some issues we need to pan out. I am thinking we might have the time now to really discuss these issues before I write about them. As I was writing I realized that we are polar opposites on these issues because of our spending/selling styles.

I realized that because of our lack of quality time together we don't really want to spend what time we do have hashing out the issues we don't agree on. It would not be fair to write a long public post complaining about them until we both understand where the other is coming from.

Other Money Saving Ideas
Well I am hoping to learn to make a few things at home that will save money but I am not sure it works that way anymore. I was thinking with my bread maker it would be cheaper to make my own bread but I can't really tell. So if any one has frugal bread recipes please send them my way. I am going to make some freezer jam this evening and start having eggs and toast for breakfast. It is more filling and it is cheaper that the kinds of cereal I eat.

As long as we are on food I also plan to make meals with the things I already have in the house in mind. This will only cut the grocery bill until my cupboards, fridge and freezer are empty but it is always a good thing for me to try to use what I have.

I have not had the heat on much even though it gets cold at night, I just don't want to pay the high gas bill anymore. I have it turned down to like 40 so it does kick on if it gets below freezing but that and the use of natural light instead of turning lights on when it is sunny should save me a few dollars a month. We also don't plan to turn the A/C on this year unless it just gets down right nasty. Since we can barley hit 60 right now I doubt that will be any time soon.

As you might already know I have chickens and right now they are costing me a little money but eventually they will help lower my grocery bill. When they are producing eggs regularly they provide eggs for me and I will be able to sell the surplus to family and friends to cover the cost of keeping the chickens. While I am not going to get rich with six hens I will be able to cover my costs and eat fresh yummy eggs.

Please if you have some easy money saving tips for me sent them my way. You can always email me at sundcarrie@gmail.com.

When Everything is Going My Way.....

2011-04-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

I get sick!
At least that is what happened this last week. I was having a great weekend but it ended on Monday with a horrible stomach bug. I woke up at 6 am after a fitful night of sleep and really you don't want to know the rest. Just know that for almost 24 hours I couldn't go to far from a bathroom. Then when that subsided I had a headache and sore throat that could have killed a lesser person or at least if felt like it.

Now that I have had a few small but solid meals and plenty of liquids I am feeling human again. Amazingly my chickens didn't die and my dog is still okay. If my hubby was not awesome they might have been really hungry by today. My husband came to my rescue and went to the store to get me the stuff that sounded good like Popsicles and chicken noodle soup. He also made me Jello and ran to McDonald's to get me a chicken salad for my first solid meal. He didn't check on the chickens as much as I do but he did make sure they had food and water a few times a day. He also took care of the dog so I am happy.

Clean Up Time

My hubby did a great job of taking care of us and he even finished the laundry that I started...well he put it in baskets. Now I have to finish the laundry and clean the mess that has accumulated in the two days I was super sick. I have started with cleaning the chicken brooder and a really good wash on the food and water dishes. I have laundry in the washer, I went to the post office to drop off the stuff I sold on eBay and I went to the grocery store. I still have a ton to do but I already feel very tired stupid stomach bug has me wiped out.

Hope everyone else is having a better week than I am. Hopefully by Friday I will be caught up on regular chores and back to myself again!

Sustainable Living Progress in Toledo Ohio

2011-04-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

Weather in Toledo Ohio

Well I live in Toledo Ohio and I am really starting to wish I lived in Florida or somewhere else that rarely gets snow. We have had a few beautiful days even one day that was near eighty degrees but right back into the just above freezing temps. I think that I have some seasonal depression because I am actually very happy with my life right now and the direction it is taking but I have so much trouble getting motivated. This is causing me to think we may need to talk about moving further south when we are ready to move.

My Progress On Sustainable Living

As many of you know one of my goals in life is to learn to make more of my own food. I have not been able to plant anything this year because of the weather. I do have a tray of seeds that I started yesterday but other than that I am waiting a bit because my kitchen is not big enough to cook in and have plants in there all day as well. I need to be able to put them on the porch during the day then bring them in at night.

I am learning to cook things from scratch even though I have to rely on the grocery store for my ingredients at this time. I hope to have less reliance on the grocery story as my plants grow and my chicks grow up. I also hope to find a few places to volunteer that will teach me how to live as much as possible off the land I am on now. I think I have a few things starting to line up but I don't want to jinx that by posting about it just yet.

I purchased six hens for laying eggs, fertilizing my yard and taking care of my mosquito problem. Okay you got me it was after I bought the chickens that I realized they would be for more than eggs. From what I hear they are going to help me make a naturally inviting backyard. I am loving caring for them right now and I am really hoping I can eventually raise my own meat birds too.

Raising Food VS Buying Food

I have been reading a lot about chickens and how they are treated in the agriculture business. In big poultry houses they are housed in tiny cages and often debeaked and they are either fattened up for consumption or they are dropping eggs to meet our growing demand for convenience. I don't this like it at all! I know from my research that most animals we consume in high quantities are treated in a similar fashion. Now that I know I wish to gradually reduce my dependence on these animals from traditional grocery stores and meat markets.

Also the fruit and veggies we eat are full of toxins from unnatural fertilizer to many different pesticides. I would love to be a great organic farmer but if what I am reading is correct you are safer if you grow your own veggies and just apply pesticide as needed. As far as I can tell large agricultural businesses spray more than one pesticide and they spray on a schedule. They are in the prevention of pests business because they don't have the time or the resources to inspect crops daily.

Call to Action
It all has me wondering if what I eat today is poisoning my body. I don't want to get all crazy and tell people they have to change their lives all at once. If you do a little research and decide you feel the way I do spend a few moments thinking about what you can do today to change things. I am not changing things all at once but I am taking baby steps toward my goals.

If you live in the Toledo Ohio area and you would like to start a group to discuss these topics I can set it up. Just email me(sundcarrie@gmail.com )or comment on my blog and I will start planning a monthly meetup or an online message board. Whatever works best for everyone.

Subheadings for Blog Posts and Other Lessons

2011-04-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Subheadings to Make Your Post Easier to Read

I have been blogging for quite some time now and I have never thought about why some people use subheadings within their posts and some people don’t. I submitted an article to Tribal blogs and gave them permission to change it because I was not entirely sure what they wanted me to do. They didn’t change much but they added Subheadings.

Not only does it make the post look much better it makes it easier to read. It breaks up the large block of text and makes it easier on the eyes. I went to check out some of my favorite blogs and the most of them utilize Subheadings no matter how personal the content. They still write in first person and have a lot of personal stories to tell so they don’t sacrifice personality for style.

Changing my Posting Format

In an effort to learn from my mistakes I am going to be changing the way I post on all of my blogs. I don’t have the time or energy to change all of my old posts but from this day forward you will see Subheadings. It will work quite well for this blog considering I love to write about different aspects of my life. I can create a title that sums up my week and tell you about my diet, my new baby chicks, my exercise, my interviews and whatever else strikes me as important to document. With subheadings you will get an idea of what I am going to talk about in the next few paragraphs.

Extra Lessons I Learned This Week

If you plan to live a life a little against the grain expect many people to get behind you. You must also expect just as many if not more to tell you how crazy you ideas are. I get a lot of support from like minded individuals but I have had to search for them at times. I often run into people who are just extreme in whatever they believe and they really get on my nerves. These are the people you will have the most trouble with.

Bringing the Farm To the City

I live in the city and I just bought 6 chickens (pictures here) I have two patches of strawberries to take care of and I intend to plant a huge garden at my mom’s house this year. I am also hoping for a great big porch garden here because I have not had any luck with an outdoor garden in the area of this yard suitable for gardening. I want to learn to live off the land as much as I can.

What I Want to be When I Grow up

If that is not enough to get me admitted to the mental institution my career aspirations might get me sent there in a straight jacket. I also wish to only work part time in my schooled trade and part time writing while picking up various other projects. I am still working on what I want to do when I grow up. I think I want to live on a farm and raise animals, write about the farm life and maybe a fun novel or two, and run some sort of charity where children can come see the farm animals and learn how to grow food. Even I think it sounds crazy but it sounds like loads of fun!

My New Blog Longing for the Country Life

2011-04-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog as an experiment in niche blogging called Longing for the Country Life. I have been reading ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income and the idea came to me. Okay that was a lie. To be honest the idea actually came to me because I didn't want this blog to be all about my dreams of having a farm. I was reading this book but I already had 4 posts on the new blog before I hit the chapter on niche blogging.

I put the book down to read a few magazines on chickens and didn't pick it again because I was learning so much about urban farming I just couldn't focus on a book about blogging. I feel like a new person when I think about my future life as a freelance writer living on a farm and producing much of my own food so the topic was a natural and easy progression. I have been doing tons of research on it and I just decided to share it all in one place.

I woke up yesterday and checked out some of my blog stats and found that the new blog has been doing quite well for a baby blog. Maybe it is a supernatural force guiding me in the right direction or maybe it is just the topic I picked to blog about. Somehow Longing for a Country Life it is doing better without a bunch of blog ads than my other blogs did at this stage.

I am not looking to make a fortune blogging but it would be great if I could make a little while sharing the knowledge I am gaining.So if you are interested in moving to the country or in urban farming visit my new blog. You will find some great tips and tricks as well as fun journey of turning this spoiled city girl into a hard working country girl.

Maybe Life Shouldn’t Be Easy

2011-04-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

Today I was sitting here typing some blog posts and thinking about how sore I was after two days of heavy duty cleaning. I worked on a basement that had not been cleaned in many years and a garage that was in disarray when we moved in. Of course we added to the mess that was already in the garage and basement but never made a move to make things better.

We are always looking to make our life easier from kitchen gadgets that promise to make you preparation time a breeze to garden gadgets that turn the soil when you are sleeping. We don’t want to have to do the hard stuff. I have to wonder though if we all did the hard stuff would we have the weight problems we have today. If I spent hours each day cooking from scratch and cleaning and working in the garden would I need that cardio machine? If we get a farm and I have to get up and milk some goats and collect some eggs, clean out animal living quarters and feed them would I end up lose weight purely because I was physically active as a part of my regular day.

I think I would be a lot thinner if I were to do those things. I think our modern lifestyle of sitting on the couch or in a chair all day is why we must work so hard to lose weight. I am not saying that if you start a light cleaning routine that you reach your goal weight. What I am saying is that many people who don’t have physical jobs are like me. They are so out of shape and out of touch that when they take on a project that requires some moderate lifting, bending, squatting and standing they end up immobilized for a few days. I am saying if we kept it up and added to it we would end up thinner. We would build the muscles we needed to do some moderate physical labor without having to set aside extra time for a good workout. You won't make it to your high school weight or become a bodybuilder with this approach but if you have a couch potato gut you might just loose a good portion of it.

I have to admit I envy the people who get to spend their day working on their land to feed themselves and others. I wish I could have fresh veggies and raise the chickens and cows that I eat. I wish that had to work hard each day to grow and raise my own food. I have not done a survey nor do I have any scientific facts to back up my claims but I do believe if we stopped trying to find the quickest easiest method to accomplish our daily tasks our lives would benefit greatly. So what are you doing today to make your life harder?

This City Girl Longs for a Different Life

2011-04-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

I stopped at a local Tractor Supply store on Friday. I heard they had baby chicks and I just wanted to take a peek. I was so tempted to bring a few home but you had to buy six and I just couldn't see surprising my hubby with that many chickens.

Instead I picked up a few magazines about chickens, goats and gardening/farming. I figured even if now is not the time for purchasing chickens I could at the very least learn about them, and of course look at the cute pictures of baby chicks.

Over the last few days I have read a lot about chickens and I still want my own flock of chickens. I just don't want them right now. I wouldn't mind having them now but there are quite a few preparations to make and then it is the question of how we would deal with long harsh winters and extreme summer temps.

Not to mention the fact that we rent this house and would have to ask permission. I think the one that screams no is that we have a dog that would not like to share her tiny back yard with chickens. She is not much for catching animals but she would be chasing them all over all the time. If she didn't accidental kill some chickens by pouncing on them or trying to make them play like a dog she would give them heart attacks. I would need a place where I could have a designated area for the chickens and preferably a large area. I would want my chickens to have a good sized spot for grazing.

What I would really like is a farm of my own. So here I am going to outline my ultimate dream home for you. Well at least I think it is what I want. We would probably be building a home on at least five acres of land. I would want to find a way to build the home so it was not entirely reliant on gas and power companies. The problem is finding a great deal on land so we can afford to put a house on as well as out buildings and fences. I would also like a pond stocked with fish. I would like to have plenty of room for grazing animals and an organic garden.

What I really want is to live with less dependence on other sources for survival. I would like to learn everything I can about making my own.....well everything. I keep saying to myself I guess I could live without....to save money here and there but it all comes down to living my dream or not.

I am guessing that I would have a lot of fun stuff to write about if I lived on a farm. I would have a lot to do as well and it would be like a mini vacation to sit down and write.

My hubby isn't to vocal about anything but he always talks about wanting goats. I am not so sure I would enjoy them the way he thinks he would but they have the potential to be very useful creatures. So I guess I should get him to sit down and we should discuss what we want and where we want to live. We are not even sure we want to stay in this area (another good reason not to buy animals now) so what we really need to do is work on a plan.