What do you buy for the person who has everything? I have no idea, I tell ya! My cousin, Erica, is pregnant with her second child. At our church, the youth held her a baby shower and I was absolutely clueless as to what to buy her. Erica already has a little girl, Ava, and saved all of Ava’s old clothes and toys since they knew they would be planning on having a second child. So, Erica basically has all the essentials already. This seriously left me clueless because there are only so many outfits one kid can use, ya know? All of our family had already planned on buying little Klara outfits as well as gift certificates for diapers.

This is the time that I wish I knew about FriendGiftr which is an online site where you can buy gift cards for all occasions. If I would have known about the site ahead of time, I would have bought Erica a gift card to Pottery Barn Kids since she has been talking about buying a new crib for Klara and already had one picked out there. If Erica decided she did not want the gift card from Pottery Barn Kids, FriendGiftr allows the receivers of the cards to swap out their card for a different merchant’s card at no additional cost. I mean come on, how cool is that? Also for those gift emergencies on the go, FriendGiftr services are available through their website, Facebook, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android! They are literally accessible everywhere! Obviously, FriendGiftr has now been bookmarked and will be kept in mine for this upcoming holiday season! Gift cards are the gifts that keep on giving!

Since going back to school, it has been really hard for me to find a job. Obviously, I haven’t found one yet since I’m still unemployed, but one day I hope to find a job that is willing to work around my crazy school schedule. It has now come to the point that I have been looking for online courses for my degree. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of options for a teaching degree, but I did find a very reputable online teaching degree program offered by the University of Southern California.

Honestly, there are so many benefits of an online degree, especially while earning a Master of Arts Teaching degree at a school that is internationally renowned research institution. USC has had a stellar 100-year history of educating teachers to be agents of change which fully fits my education philosophy. I like how their school not only teaches you the basics, they also teach you how to go above and beyond which I believe every teacher should do. The program also caught my eye since USC has been ranked #22 in the United States and #9 among all private universities by US News & World Report as being on of the best schools.

At first, I really thought this program would be too good to be true because how would I get field-experience from a college all the way in Southern California when I live all the way in Georgia? Lucky for me, the program features a lot of interactive online learning with field-based experience in your local area. Not only would I be getting the information I need, I’d also get field experience as well which is very important. The school also have tuition reimbursement programs designed exclusively for graduates which in this horrible economy would be greatly needed. Another great benefit to this program, aside from being taught by some of the biggest contributors to modern education, is that anyone enlisted in their program receives all the status and benefits as any other USC student and is eligible to participate in commencement ceremonies along with free lifetime Alumni Association memberships. So even though I’d be located in Georgia, I’d still be a member to the Trojan family!

I’ve already sent off for their program information. I also talked it over with the hubby who also believe it’d be a great opportunity for me since it’d allow me to work full-time and go to school in my spare time. Right now, I really need a job so I can help pay bills and hopefully save up for our own house.

I visited my dad yesterday for Grayson’s party and my uncle Kenny was there as well. When we arrived, my uncle and his family decided to leave but not before I heard him and my dad talking in a loud whisper. Evidently my grandfather is getting even worse and now they are wanting to put a security system in as well as a video recorder and voice recorder. Evidently, Alice purposely leaves the doors unlocked and encourages my grandpa to run away. My grandpa, dad, and other uncle all live on 150 acres of land so you can imagine what would happen if my grandpa got lost on our land. Also, there is a busy highway near the farm as well. I really believe Alice is waiting for him to pass away so she can take over the land and give it to her family. Ever since the conversation I overheard between my dad and uncle, I’ve been researching security systems and reading consumer reports.

I want a system that is reliable and will alert us if he tries to leave the house. We also prefer a security system with hidden cameras and a voice recorder. We’d like to know exactly what she is saying and doing to him. They also think she is over-medicating him but that is almost impossible to prove that she was doing that on purpose. We’re in a no win situation. Since I can’t help with what she is doing, I’ve been busy researching security systems online. I honestly don’t care who the system is through even though I’ve mainly been checking out Home Security Team and also been piddling with the site http://www.broadviewsecurity.com/. Hopefully if I can gather some research, I can hand it over to my dad and uncles so they can make the decision. I don’t want to be in on the decision but I will do whatever I can to provide them with adequate information since I am a lot more tech savvy than any of them. I just want the situation to work itself out. I just don’t want to see my dad and uncles hurting because of how someone is treating their dad.