The Path To Riches

Attracting Car Discussions

2013-05-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

Weird subject line, but stay with me. If you have followed my posts for a long time, you'll probably know I believe in the law of attraction, that what you concentrate on and think about the most tends to come your way and no this doesn't have anything to do with the car pictured, I just happened to like it and had the picture handy and this relates to cars.

This week I'm attracting car discussions. Of course being that I was at Jiffy Lube the one time and Discount Tire another time, makes sense that people would be talking about cars, but this isn't a normal occurrence for me. People generally don't come up and talk to me out of the blue.

When I was at Jiffy Lube on Sunday, it was just me and a guy with his daughter. After he saw my car go in, he starting talking to me about how GM no longer makes Pontiac and we went into talking about big engines and he mentioned that in addition to his loaded new Suburban ($47,000-$57,000) that was getting an oil change, he also has a 7 series BMW ($71,000-$129,000) and a Dodge Viper ($100,000). It was an impressive lineup, almost $250k worth of vehicles and those were just the ones he brought up. I think he is a business owner, as I heard him say he was moving into a bigger office when I walked in the door. I mentioned that to the wife when I got home, since it's not every day you meet a guy with $250k+ of vehicles that is openly sharing those details with you for some reason.

Then at Discount Tire Tuesday evening, I was just there to get the free rotation/balance and I was the only guy in the main waiting area. Out of the blue a guy comes over and sits right next to me and says "Hi, is that your Pontiac G8?"...Yep, sure is..."I just sold my G8 GXP and have a bunch of performance parts that I was about to put on the boards online and wanted to see if you might want any." I didn't specifically want any of what he was selling, but he proceeded to tell me he just sold that car, he has a Pontiac GTO that was getting wheels/tires on, he also has a sup'd up Chevy Impala and just bought a new Mustang as well.

I mentioned that to the wife when I got home as well and she said "that's very odd, that's the second time this week." I didn't closely relate the two stories initially, but that is true and very weird. Why twice in one week are people coming up to me and striking up conversations about having multiple high end/high performance vehicles. Do I have "Please come up and tell me about your vast car collection" written on my forehead? I checked, that would be a no.

I wanted to try and figure out why, so thought I'd type it out as I was going through it. Could be a few things, I have been really focusing on this Forever Affiliate online program and talk daily to other folks trying to succeed online in a private Facebook group and perhaps my focus on that is bringing successful people with $$ into my consciousness. However, really all we talked about was cars, so I'm not sure if they were successful or rich, or just up to their eyeballs in debt or ? But I'd like to think perhaps I'm attracting successful people into my circle to learn from in some way.

The other thing is that I've been talking to a friend from high school, Paul and he just bought a ram air/cold air intake and exhaust for his car that he just purchased, which is the same car that I have. I'd been planning to purchase the ram air/cold air intake this week and have been researching it and reading about it and so actually, that makes sense that the guy at Discount Tire came up to me and asked if I would be interested in purchasing performance parts. The cold air intake was one of the items he was selling actually, but it was not the same type/model I'm looking at, but that is still real freaky. I know this law of attraction thing works, it's just still freaky when it happens.

So yeah, just wanted to mention that little bit of weirdness. Bottom line, which isn't specific to my story above, but be sure to use the law of attraction to your advantage. If you really want something or really want to accomplish something, focus on that as much as possible. Write it down, always keep it in your thoughts and most importantly, make sure it is a positive thing! Don't focus on wanting to get rid of something negative, as that will just attract more negativity. Stay positive, stay focused and great things can happen!

Happy Anniversary!

2013-05-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

Today is our 9 year Anniversary! Hard to believe it was 9 years ago that we were getting married on the beach, 20 miles directly south of where we live now. We celebrated our Anniversary a little early with a trip to Mexico 2 weeks ago and had a wonderful time. We haven't picked where we're heading to dinner just yet, but we will be sure to have a nice dinner out to celebrate tonight as well!

You're the bestest wifey that I could ever ask for and I'm always looking forward to sharing new exciting adventures, the best is yet to come! Love you lots and lots!

Ways to Help Victims of Oklahoma Tornadoes

2013-05-21T21:10:00.000-04:00

In the wake of the terrible Oklahoma tornadoes, that continue to be a threat all over the Midwest, you may be looking for ways that you could help out. I copy/pasted the majority of the items below from the nightly news website(s) to share here in one spot.

American Red Cross
The Red Cross has set up shelters in various communities. You can donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here, and the organization also suggests giving blood at your local hospital or blood bank.

If you're searching for a missing relative, check Red Cross Safe & Well's site. And please register if you're within the disaster region. The site is designed to make communication easier after a tragedy like this.

If you want to send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message, you can do so by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. As in the case with other donations via mobile, the donation will show up on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your balance if you have a prepaid phone.

The Red Cross also accepts frequent flier miles as donations. Delta, United Airlines and US Airways partner with the Red Cross throughout the year, which uses miles to help get volunteers and staff to key locations during disasters. (Note: The donation is not tax-deductible as the IRS considers it a gift.) For Delta, email: delta.bids@delta-air.com with your SkyMiles number, the number of miles you want to donate, and specify the Red Cross as the charity. You can donate miles online at United Airlines Donate Your Miles and US Airways Dividend Miles.

Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767); for Spanish speakers, 1-800-257-7575; for TDD, 1-800-220-4095.

OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund
The state of Oklahoma, coordinating with the United Way of Central Oklahoma, on Tuesday established the OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund to help "with the long-term medical, emotional and educational needs of victims of the May 20 tornado in Moore and the May 19 tornado near Shawnee."

Donations for can be made online at UnitedWayOKC.org.

Phone: 1-405-236-8441.

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, working with the Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, is seeking monetary donations. To donate, visit the regional food bank's website, or give $10 by texting the word FOOD to 32333.

Phone: 1-405-972-1111

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief
This organization says donations will "go straight to help those in need providing tree removal services, laundry services and meals to victims of disasters."
It is requesting monetary donations (It says clothing is NOT needed). For more information, and to donate, visit Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief's website.
You can send checks to: BGCO, Attn: Disaster Relief, 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, OK., 73112.

Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is organizing disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day, and to South Oklahoma City.
In Little Axe, Okla., the organization said, the army's Central Oklahoma Area Command Disaster Service Unit was busy feeding breakfast, lunch and dinner to people, "even as one of our Salvation Army family member's home was destroyed."
Supporters can donate online via the organization's website, SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cellphone.
If you want to send a check, the Salvation Army asks that you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157.
Phone: 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

Feed the Children
Feed the Children has set up five locations in Oklahoma City to accept donations to help victims of the Moore tornado. The organization is accepting items including diapers, canned goods, non-perishable food, snack items, water and sports drinks. The organization is also supporting mobile canteens in partnership with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.
You can donate online, or make a $10 donation by texting the word DISASTER to 80888.
Phone: 1-800-627-4556

United Way of Central Oklahoma
A disaster relief fund is being activated as of May 21 so that individuals can specifically donated to tornado relief-and-recovery efforts, the organization says on its site.
"Financial contributions are the best way to help unless otherwise requested." Donations can be made online at United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund is open. Donations may be made online here. Checks, with a notation of "May Tornado Relief" can also be sent to the United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK , 73101.

Feeding America
Through its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America, whose mission is to "feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks," says it will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to communities in need, in Oklahoma, and will also "set up additional emergency food and supply distribution sites as they are needed." You can donate online here.
Phone: 1-800-910-5524.

Operation USA
The international relief group, based in Los Angeles, says it is "readying essential material aid — emergency, shelter and cleaning supplies" to help Oklahoma's community health organizations and schools recover.
You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word AID to 50555. Checks should be sent to: Operation USA, 7421 Beverly Blvd., PH, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 1-800-678-7255.

Convoy of Hope
The Missouri-based nonprofit organization has done work in other disasters, including the Haiti earthquake, with a mission of getting food and water to those after disaster strikes. Now it's doing the same for Moore, Okla. You can donate online here. Convoy of Hope is also going the crowd-sourced route, using HopeMob, a site similar to Kickstarter but for raising money to help disaster victims and others in need, which charges no fees to the organizations that use it. Convoy of Hope's goal on the site is to raise $15,000 in seven days to help Moore.

"Why 7 days? In these first 7 days the town of Moore, OK will be consumed with clearing out destruction and accessing their needs," HopeMob says on its site. "Once those needs are known we want to be able to give them the funds to help them rebuild in the long term."
As of Tuesday, nearly $9,500 was raised.
Phone: 1-800-988-0664

Direct Relief
The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based, non-profit organization provides medical assistance and personal hygiene items to those hurt in disasters, as well as in other circumstances.
"So far we have heard from health center partners responding in Oklahoma and are preparing an emergency shipment to help support the efforts there. Direct Relief has been receiving requests for emergency supplies, personal care and protection items — including hygiene supplies, infection control products, gloves, soap, shampoo, deodorant, sanitary napkins, diapers, wipes and formula," said Kerri Murray, Direct Relief vice president, in an email.
To donate, visit DirectRelief.org.
Phone: 1-800-676-1638

AmeriCares
The Emergency Response team for AmeriCares is in Oklahoma, "coordinating deliveries of emergency aid and assessing the needs of survivors and health care organizations in the disaster area."
Since 1982, the Connecticut-based nonprofit has delivered medicine, medical supplies and aid to those in need around the world and across the United States.
You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word LIVE to 25383. Checks or money orders can be mailed to: AmeriCares, 88 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, CT 06902.
Phone: 1-800-486-HELP (1-800-486-4357)

Operation Blessing International
Humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International, which last week coordinated more than 500 volunteers in Granbury, Texas, after that area was hit by a tornado, is working with The Home Depot and dispatching a construction unit, mobile command center, trucks with tools and supplies and a team of construction foremen to Moore.

Late Monday, Operation Blessing International also "loaded and deployed two tractor-trailer truckloads of food and emergency relief supplies from its warehouse in Dallas, Texas, in partnership with the humanitarian organization, Mercury One," said a Operation Blessing spokeswoman.
The Virginia Beach-based group's online link for donations is here.
Phone: 1-800-730-2537

Samaritan's Purse
The international Christian relief organization focuses on cleaning and repairing damaged homes and sent two disaster relief units from North Wilkesboro, N.C. to Oklahoma Tuesday. "The tractor-trailers are stocked with heavy-duty plastic, chainsaws, generators, and other tools and equipment. The units also will serve as command centers for the response," Samaritan's Purse says on its website.
You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word SP to 80888.
Phone: 1-800-528-1980

Jewish Federations of North America
The Jewish Federations of North America is working with the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma, which is coordinating efforts with a local food bank, Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross. The Jewish Federations of North America has established an Oklahoma City Tornado Relief fund. Donors can contribute online here.
Checks can also be sent to the JFNA national mailbox at: The Jewish Federations of North America, Wall Street Station, P.O. Box 148, New York, NY, 10268. Please indicate "JFNA Oklahoma City Tornado Relief Fund" on all checks or in the designation box online.

DonorsChoose.orgDonorsChoose.org is creating a special online fund to collect donations for the teachers and schools of Moore, Okla., to help respond and rebuild. Donors Choose will work with the teachers of Moore to assess what they need for their classrooms and allow them to identify the real-time solutions and supplies their community and their students need: everything from clothing for their students to first-aid kits.
To donate, visit www.donorschoose.org

Toddler Tuesday

2013-05-21T08:06:00.003-04:00

Here are some pics from recent FaceTime sessions with our niece Hadley and nephew Max.

So darn cute! Happy Tuesday!

Weekend!

2013-05-17T10:39:00.001-04:00

Monkey Monday

2013-05-13T07:41:00.004-04:00

We're back from vacation to Riviera Maya Mexico and I haven't had time to write anything about it, but we had a great time! The highlight of the trip was our excursion to the Jungle Place, where you get to hang out INSIDE the world of a monkey sanctuary for a little over an hour. SO cool, will talk more about it in another post, but as I was looking through the pictures this morning this one cracked me up. The monkey and I both have the same expression, HAH...We're both looking at the baby monkey overhead. And I loved that it looks like the other one is sticking her tongue out. I agree, it's the first day back to work after a long vacation, I say PSFT and stick my tongue out to that as well! Happy Monday!

Fun times with Fiverr!

2013-04-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

What exactly is Fiverr, you ask? It's a site where people will do just about anything for $5! It ranges from the completely bizarre, like a woman that will record a video hula hooping while saying anything you want, to very useful things like website logo creation, business promotion, YouTube video creation, etc. Check out the full post that I did over on my niche site. You'll be surprised at all the different things you can get someone to do for just $5, there really is something for everyone!

Terrific Tuesday

2013-04-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

I like to FaceTime chat with my nephew Max when I get home from work cause he's just waking up and always fun! Monday I got to follow along as we got Max and his cousin Kinsley up from their naps. I love that they're so attentive and they always smile when they see me. I might not be there in person, but it's the next best thing. I also got him to do his head shake thing 3 times, he made the fart/raspberry noise on command and since I said "cracker" they both got to get a cracker as well. You're welcome guys!

Magic Bullet Blender Review

2013-04-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to do a review of our Magic Bullet Blender for a while, so here goes!

First off, I want to give a point of reference. We previously had a Black and Decker BL5000 blender and that thing was the absolute worst for smoothies! I fought with that thing for about a month, thinking that all blenders must work the same way, but all blenders are NOT created equal.

The issue I had with the old one was that the blade would spin forever and none of the frozen fruit would make it down to the blade to get chopped up. No matter what setting it was on, no matter how much liquid I added, no matter how many times I took the glass container off and shook it, it would take forever to end up with an actual drinkable smoothie.

My sister Jen had turned me on to smoothies several months back and she never seemed to have a problem making hers. She was using the Magic Bullet and that is what I decided to try out as well. I read a ton of reviews, some great, some middle of the road, but based on Jen's good experiences I decided to go for it and am so glad I did.

I have probably 3 smoothies a week on average and I think the wifey has one or two as well. I utilize frozen strawberries and a frozen bag mix of blackberries/blueberries and raspberries, along with a banana, sometimes spinach and flaxseed mix combined with some ice and water. I occasionally add protein powder for post workout smoothies also.

The Magic Bullet does a great job grinding down all of that into a super tasty smoothie with no lumps. What I like most is that it is fast and there is hardly any cleanup required. Since the cup is actually what holds your mixture, you only have to clean the bottom blade part after your smoothie is done which takes 2 seconds. Here is a quick video showing how quick/easy it is to make a smoothie:

After you're done drinking the smoothie you have to clean your cup, but that's it. No huge container to cleanup and store each time.

The 26 piece Magic Bullet kit comes with a ton of different cup sizes and tops and mine came with the standard 2 blades and 1 new ice shaver blade as well.

I have utilized mine exclusively for smoothies, well actually I also made one Strawberry Daiquiri with it also, but if you are looking to do lots of stuff with the Magic Bullet, it comes with a ton of simple recipes as well. The wifey utilized it to make fresh salsa one time and it turned out great.

Conclusion

Bottom line, if you're looking for a blender for smoothies, look no further. The Magic Bullet is it! I've utilized it for 4 months now with no issues whatsoever. It just works.

One suggestion, be sure to get smoothie straws also, they work great. Enjoy!

Wedding Weekend

2013-04-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we had a rehearsal dinner on Friday and wedding to attend on Saturday. Our good friends Sean and Rachel were getting married and we were asked to do a reading at the ceremony. They are the friends we hang out the most with and we always have a good time.

I met Sean when we worked together shortly after we moved here in 2003 and we've been good friends ever since. Sean met Rachel at work as well a few years later and Rachel and my wifey became good friends as well.

Our reading had a portion about a truce bell. The bell is for them to ring if an argument arises and they want to put a stop to it. They asked us to do the reading because they say we 'never' fight, not entirely true of course. We were honored to take part in their special day and everything went off without a hitch.

Here is the reading: "Early 16^th century legend tells us that a fishing boat from an Irish village was captured by pirates and the crew taken as slaves. One man, Richard Joyce, was to be married the same week he was captured. Years went by and Richard became a master goldsmith and shaped a unique ring for the girl he could never forget at home. The design was born from their love. At the center, a heart symbolizing their love, on top a crown symbolizing their loyalty, and two hands holding the heart, symbolizing the friendship they shared. After eight years, he escaped and returned to his village to find his love had never married. He gave her the ring and they were soon married.

We ask God to bless this bell today for Sean and Rachel as a symbol of their love, loyalty and friendship. Should a quarrel or lover’s tiff arise, Sean and Rachel should ring the bell to remind them of the love they feel today.

Anna and Sydney (Sean's daughters) tell us they believe this bell will get a good workout."

Great friends, good times and a very happy couple. Congrats to Sean and Rachel and we wish them a lifetime of happiness together!

Sean and his daughters Anna and Sydney

Rachel and her Dad

You may kiss the bride

First dance as husband and wife

Father daughter dance

Sean and Anna dancing

Sean and Sydney dancing

The 4 of us having a good time!

Our friend Chris and his girlfriend


Cake cutting

Cake feeding, no smushing

Departure time with sparklers

Adios!

Friday Funday - Max Edition

2013-04-05T15:25:00.000-04:00

Our nephew Max is at that so freakin cute/fun stage and it is always great when I get to see him on FaceTime. Today I needed a dose of Max and as always, he did not disappoint! He always does something funny. He is so good at imitating, like if I stick my tongue out or shake my head he will do it also.

Today he was doing something new, his Daddy taught him how to shake his head back and forth real fast and with all that hair he has, he had me laughing so hard that he kept doing it cause he knew I was getting a kick out of it.

And right after, he almost gave his cousin Kinsley another "love" bite. Close call.

And at the end when it was nap time, GiGi told him to give kisses and he took out his pacifier and would give kisses to the iPad screen. So cute. Love the Buddo!

New head shake fun!

Haha, great face!

I'm pretty funny GiGi!

Poor unsuspecting Kinsley ALMOST got another love bite. :o)

Visit From Mom - Easter Weekend

2013-04-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

My mom came to visit Wednesday night-Sunday evening of Easter weekend for some good eats, good times and relaxation. She picked a great weekend weather wise, started out a bit cooler in the high 60s when she arrived, but picked right up to the mid to upper 70s by Saturday/Sunday. I'll give you the full play-by-play of the weekend activities.

On the agenda were visits to several new restaurants she hasn't been to and a few favorites as well. On the way back from the airport to pick her up we spontaneously hit up Seasons 52 at the Town Center. That is a nice place with good ambiance and a portion of their menu changes with the seasons. All the entrees and desserts are under 550 calories or something like that, but they're still filling.

Seasons 52 dessert for Mom

Thursday night we walked over to our local Mexican place and my mom not being a big fan of Mexican, always gets the chicken wings, but we have to say, they are pretty darn good!

In between all the eating, we got in a few nice long walks on the beach. 2.8 miles down to the pylons on Friday and 3.2 miles down to the pier and some shops on Saturday.

Friday night we hit up KC Crave, which is another yummy local place at the beach that opened up within the last year or so. After dinner, we went over to Nippers Beach Grille and Billy's Boat House for some live music, drinks and to check out the sunset over the Intracoastal waterway.

Dinner at KC Crave

Drinks & Live Music at Nippers/Billy's Boathouse Marina

Sunset over the Intracoastal waterway

Interesting Hula girl on the hood of a car in the parking lot

We also decided to hit up the St Augustine Trolley Tour as a little touristy something to do since we were heading down that way for dinner Saturday night.

Freaky machine at the "penny" arcade by the Trolley

Mom on the trolley

St Augustine Bay Front

Magnolia Street with a mossy tree canopy on the Trolley Tour

Apparently, the colder temperatures in the north and one of the first perfect weekends weather wise down here gave lots of folks the idea to go to St Augustine for the weekend. It was the busiest we've ever see it and the Trolley guy said the only other time he's seen it this busy is the 4th of July weekend. He had been pulling double shifts for 2 weeks, since this is Spring break time for lots of folks and the Easter weekend as well.

That turned the normally 90 minute Trolley ride into a full 2 hours just to make the one loop around the downtown St Augustine area. That was fine for something different to do, but whew, it sure was a bumpy ride and so many stops with all the traffic made it a bit long. Had it not been as busy, we could have fit in a stop at the San Sebastian winery or taken a tour of the Whetstone Chocolate factory.

We went to Cap's on the Water for dinner, one of my Mom's favorite places to go.

View from our table at Cap's on the Water

And we ended up the weekend Sunday with some homemade Minastra, which is basically a Zucchini soup type dish from my Gma, that the wifey does a wonderful job with. Not your traditional Easter dinner faire, but something my Mom has been wanting for a while and I love it any time!!

All in all some very good eats, drinks and good times. And of course we were keeping up with my sisters via pictures of Max and Hadley, as they were together for Easter weekend in Mississippi.

Max hunting for Easter eggs

Hadley in a Lamb Chop looking bunny-ish outfit

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!!

iOS 6.1.3 Update

2013-03-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

I am getting into some good stuff of the Forever Affiliate program and need to get back to it, but wanted to let you know there is an iOS 6.1.3 update available and wanted to give you the dealio.

The main thing that this update does is fix a vulnerability where someone that knows how, could circumvent your lock code to gain access to your phone if it is in their possession. This is done by utilizing the emergency call feature and doing a few other things that I won't mention on here. Additionally, there are improvements to Apple Maps Japan. There are no other add-ons, features or fixes. There are however, breaks.

The big thing that this update does is remove the ability to jailbreak your phone and if it is already jailbroken, it won't be any longer. If you do update to 6.1.3, there is currently no way to go back to being jailbroken. In other words, if you have any intention of jailbreaking your iOS 6 device at any point in the near future or enjoy your jailbroken iOS 6 device, do not update!

This has been a public service announcement from someone that feels Apple is doing a huge public DISservice to themselves and the popularity of their devices by locking things back down. The evasi0n jailbreak for iOS 6 has been installed on over 18.2 million new devices since the release last month. That was only 43 days ago, yes 18.2 million.

So, there is obviously a huge demand for having the ability to customize and tweak your device the way you want to and by locking things back down and not embracing the hobbyist/geek community, I think they will lose out on a portion of that community to Android. This is coming from someone that recently purchased a very tiny piece of Apple stock through options (much cheaper way to try and capture some gain on the stock from these levels) that wants to see the company do well and wants to see sales increase and innovation thrive.

Ask, Believe, Receive

2013-03-18T07:59:00.002-04:00

I wanted to get out a new post today and the inspiration came from an email today from the Secret Scrolls, which is an inspirational/motivational email that you can subscribe to on thesecret.tv Start off the week asking and believing and get ready to receive! Happy Monday!

Paddy Not Patty

2013-03-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Photo Courtesy of paddynotpatty.com

Happy early St Paddy's day! Yes PADDY. Who knew? Not me, definitely not George Takei, but lots of his 3 million+ Facebook fans did and they made sure he was aware when he had it incorrect.

You would think that since it is Patrick, Patty makes sense, but as you're probably aware Patty is typically a female name and because of that, it is some what of an insult.

As paddynotpatty.com says:

It's Paddy, not Patty. Ever.

Saint Patrick’s Day? Grand.

Paddy’s Day? Sure, dead-on.

St. Pat’s? Aye, if ye must.

St. Patty? No, ye goat!

So as you get your weekend festivities on, don't be a goat! Post with confidence on all the social media outlets, knowing when you say Paddy you won't be offending any Leprechauns! Enjoy!

Secret Scrolls

2013-03-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned a bunch o' times I'm a big fan of The Secret and I also subscribe to the Secret Scrolls where they will email you something inspirational/insightful about once a week free of charge. I'm also a fan of their Facebook page where they post about every other day. Thought I'd share this one I just read in my email, enjoy!

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

When a big change occurs in your life it forces you to change direction. Sometimes the new path may not be easy, but you can be absolutely certain that there is magnificence for you on the new path. You can be absolutely certain that the new path contains things that you could not have experienced otherwise.

When we look back at a negative event that occurred in the past, we often see how in fact it transformed our life. We see how that event directed us toward a life that we would not change for anything.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

Catch-Up: Oz and Concours d'Elegance Amelia Island

2013-03-12T14:20:00.003-04:00

Thought I'd stop by the blog and say heyyyyyyy!

I've been busy lately with that new Forever Affiliate marketing program that I mentioned a week or two ago. So if I'm kinda quiet here, that is why. It really is an awesome program with the latest and greatest info on how to setup your own affiliate sites and generate sales and I'm about half way through.

It includes some theory/background info, but I'd say it's 90% hands on with step by step videos on exactly what to do to create your own successful affiliate sites. It has helped me immensely so far. I was on the right track with one site that I setup, but I was completely going about things the wrong way. It is definitely worth checking out if you're at all interested in affiliate/internet marketing. If you have any questions, let me know!

This past weekend we wanted to pack in some activities cause we knew I'd be stuck home this coming weekend due to being on-call.

On Saturday, we saw the new Oz movie, it was decent, not a must see in the theater, but good. I especially liked that the flying monkeys were still scary this time around. Anyone who grew up watching the original Oz knows what I'm talking about. Many a child was tormented by nightmares of the wicked witch and her flying monkey army back in the day!

On Sunday, the weather was perfect in the low to mid 70s, so we decided to do something we've been wanting to do for a few years and attended the annual Concours d'Elegance on Amelia Island. It is always touted as one of the best vintage/rare/expensive vehicle showcases in the world and it did not disappoint.

I'd say my favorites were the McLaren's and Lamborghini's. They had everything from immaculate vintage vehicles from the early 1900s, to concept vehicles from over the years, to Ferraris to vintage racing vehicles to the completely strange. Here is a link to several that were up for auction that sold for up to 4.5 million! :-o A few highlight pictures are below.

Hope everyone out there had a great weekend and hope you're enjoying the additional hour of daylight and warmer temps as well! The first day of spring is just around the corner, March 20th, woot!


McLaren

Lamborghini Countach, my favorite when I was a little kid!

New Lamborghini

From the "What Were They Thinking" Category


"Shark"

"Vegas" Style ?

Buddy and Sage Win Cutest Pets of February!

2013-03-08T08:29:00.002-05:00

The wifey entered a picture of two of our kitties, Buddy and Sage, into a cutest pet contest on our Vet's Facebook page and they won! We're definitely biased, but come on, how cute is this picture? They're best friends. We haven't seen them do this again, so we're glad we caught it. Happy Friday!

I take back what I said earlier about them not snuggling since then, I just caught these shots today. Such good boys, at least to each other, not so much towards Monkey.

Happy Birthday Mommasita!

2013-03-05T17:46:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to my MOM today! She turns 65 today, shhhh, don't tell!

If you have her contact info, be sure to Facebook, text, call, etc. and might as well do all of the above cause chances are she won't remember anyway! We love ya mom! ;)

Make $300 to $3,000 in Passive Income

2013-03-01T12:07:00.000-05:00

That is the claim of a new Affiliate Marketing system by Andrew Hansen. He has been successfully doing Affiliate Marketing online for over 7 years and his new program takes into account all of the new Google algorithm changes that took place over the last year. I purchased the program myself and did a more detailed post on my niche site here. If you want to go right to the program details, you can click here.

If you do end up checking out the program, drop me a comment below or email to chris "@" thepathtoriches.com and we can go through the program together and help each other out along the way! I plan to do posts on my NicheSiteTool.com site, detailing my progress along the way, so head on over there and subscribe if you want to follow along as well.

SpaceX Dragon Live Friday Launch

2013-03-01T00:30:00.000-05:00

SpaceX is launching their Dragon cargo rocket up to the International Space station today at 10:10am Eastern time! I'm pretty excited about that, because we missed the last one and since I will be working from home tomorrow and the weather looks good for launch, I'm hoping to have a birds eye view here at the beach.

Unfortunately, all I got to see was the smoke trail. Bummer.

For anyone interested in watching live, check out the live feed below. Also, here is a link to the SpaceX Livestream site. Enjoy!

Live stream videos at Ustream

Kindness Snowball

2013-02-28T13:01:00.002-05:00

Jen S has always been one to participate in and promote acts of kindness and here is another great example of how one act can snowball into a wave of kindness! Keep up the great work and let's keep that ball rolling!

"A new co-worker was hired a little over a month ago. She just found out that I post (inspirational) quotes in our bathroom each week so she sent me a link to her blog where she wrote about it. The quotes reached her enough to write about it, then if you read the 17 comments below the post, 5 of them mention the bathroom quotes. Amazing how one simple act can snowball!"

Wordless Wednesday

2013-02-27T14:03:00.001-05:00

Max Birthday Party Weekend!

2013-02-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

We drove up to attend Max's Bday weekend festivities and we had a great time! It's great that they have a huge house now that can accomodate lots of us at the same time and thanks to my mom for surrendering her room for the weekend as well!

It was great to finally see little Miss Hadley, she is cute as a button! She makes lots of little noises and some not so little noises as well. We got to see lots of smiles and even a few giggles too. And Buddo was of course the center of attention since it was his big party weekend! It was of course great to see Jen, David, Michelle, James, my Mom, Aunt Cathy, Maddie and Molly as well! And thanks to my sisters for sharing 4 jars of canned tomatoes, woot woot!

When we arrived I told Max to smile and say cheese and he smiled and made what I now call his "cheese face" and this was apparently a new thing that I started without even knowing it! I thought it was something he always does when someone takes his picture, but I guess not. I must have squinted and made a funny face when I told him to say cheese and it is something he repeated throughout the weekend and it is super cute especially with his little teeth visible on top and bottom.

I know I am seriously biased, but I can't get enough of these two little munchkins. They are so stinkin' cute/fun! Hope to see them again soon!

Cheese!

Cheese face with a pacifier.

Max trying out the new motorcycle we got him

Smash cake fun

Looks a bit like an Elvis face...thank you, thank you very much.

Such a cute one with wifey and Molly

Check out my teeth!

Scary face! Roarrrr!

Cute as can be!

Little Miss Maddie

Little Miss Hadley with her single dimple!

Looks like a big girl in this one. Reminds me of Jen as a baby.

Pretty girl.

Baby Hadley

Wifey got Max to mimic her with the "bladle bladle" tongue

noise and he some other noises, so funny!

Acts of Kindness Update and Random Stuff

2013-02-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Blog Visual Fix
You might not have even noticed, but I apologize for an unacceptable visual snafu that has been on my main page since I converted over to my existing layout quite some time ago. For the current blog posts that show on my main page, the beginning text of each blog post wrapped around a set of share buttons and it was visually unappealing. I didn't give a whole lot of thought to it, I just figured it was an issue with the template.

The other day I said to myself, "self, why the heck haven't you tried to fix that?!" I also noticed that none of the share buttons worked anyway, so not only did it not look good it wasn't functional either. That is truly unacceptable. So I manually removed the share buttons at the beginning of each post, which fixed the text issue and I added a Facebook like button to the end of each post. Problem solved!

Max's 1st Birthday Party
We're super excited to be heading to see our nephew Max, niece Hadley and the rest of the gang at Max's 1st Birthday party! Luckily everything fell into place and we are really looking forward to it!

Acts of Kindness Update
I've been slacking on the acts of kindness, so when the opportunity presented itself the other night we took it! I've always wanted to leave a big tip like $50 or $100+, but being relatively frugal it never seemed like the right time.

However, we said that once we sell the house, the $200 we get from the buyer for some household items would be utilized for the year of kindness, so since we got that $ last week it was time! Specifically I wanted to at least leave 1 big tip and see how it felt. We had gone to dinner at Bonefish Grill and we said if it feels right, we will go for it. Our server Jarrod was friendly, personable, knowledgeable and very attentive so it all lined up. Given the relatively high bill, it's not an amazingly huge tip, but it was a start and still fun!

That was inspired by something I had read online last summer called Aaron's Wish. It was about a young guy Aaron that passed away way too early and in his will he asked his friends/family to go to a restaurant and give the server a $500 tip. They recorded a video of the event and it was super fun and emotional to watch.

When the video was posted online it went viral and people wanted to donate so that that his friends and family could do more $500 tips in Aaron's name and apparently they're on a tour around the country right now to keep it going! They're recording video of each $500 tip and it's very fun to see. How cool...they are not anonymous or random act of kindness, but like I said before, any act of kindness is great, whether random or not! I would love to do that at least once this year!

To support the cause, I decided just now to create a PayPal account to be able to accept donations and I put a little donation box in the right hand column. 100% of all proceeds donated will be utilized to support our year of kindness. It would be REALLY great if we can get enough $ to do something similar, to really make a memorable day/week for some unsuspecting/deserving person or perhaps lots of people!

Any amount large or small would be greatly appreciated and I will be sure to post about any acts of kindness that we do either here, on our Facebook page or both! Thanks ahead of time and let's keep those kindness ideas coming!