Danelle Johnson

Congratulations!!  I will be sending you an email with the instructions on how to claim your prize.

Thank you all for participating in this wonderful giveaway!  Please be sure to check out Personalized Teddy Bears website and remember them when you are looking for a great personalized gift!  Christmas is coming soon and this is a fantastic gift to give that someone special!

Be on the look out for more giveaways soon!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

Recently I was asked to review this book, Shotgun Shopping by Sheevaun Moran, for my blog Books 4 Moms.  I was really pleased with the book, loved reading it, and realized that I needed to do more than just read it.  This book really spoke to me.  I knew that I could learn a lot from it.  I knew I needed to go through the book again and do all of the lessons and exercises thoroughly.  That’s when I decided that I would blog about each step and how it’s going as well!  That way you all can see how well it works and see if it’s something you want to do.

So the first “Mini lesson” is about buying shoes.  And it just so happens that I need to buy some shoes!  I know, crazy coincidence huh!  LOL!  I need two different types of shoes.  I need some tennis shoes (running/jogging/walking/exercise type shoes, that I never wear for exercising unless you consider walking around the store exercise), and I need some sandals.  It’s kinda the wrong time of year for sandals, but well, I’m going to stay optimistic about it anyway.

The lesson says

Shoes are the ideal item because they are easy to buy on the fly and a perfect example of how “Shotgun Shopping” works.  They are small, portable and can be tried on in the quickest manner…. So if the shoe fits only buy it — if you really need it and it’s exactly what you want as well as the price you want to pay and in your budget.

So  basically this is what I’m supposed to do.

• Make a list of the shoes I want in detail (size, color, brand, etc) with the price I want to pay (with or less written next to it) with the date I want to buy them by (or sooner written next to it).

This list MUST be hand written, not on the computer.  Sheevaun Moran says that writing it on the computer doesn’t give you the same “feel” or the same importance as a hand written list.  So that is what I’m going to do (and I hate hand writing anything!).

This is my list! 

So now what I have to do is keep the list with me at all times and when I go shopping I can bring it out and see if the shoe fits.  Pun intended!  hehehe  When I find the shoes, I will tell you all about it!

Now, I’m not going to blog about this at regular intervals… we all know how well I do with regular blogging.  LOL!  What I will be doing is blogging about this when I’m working on the lessons though.  And when I actually do the Shotgun Shopping, I’ll let you know how it turns out, what I get, and for how much!  Then hopefully, we’ll all learn a little something about manifesting what we want together!  So stay tuned and wish me luck!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

Even when they are ugly, they are cute!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

Dear Mr. Spammer Commenter,

I know you’re working hard to get you link on as many websites as possible for SEO stuff and page ranking, but you’re going about it all wrong.  There are so many things that if you just did them just a little differently, I’d be more likely to approve your comment. But as it is now, I just delete them all.  Which is a waste of your time and a waste of mine.  So here are a few simple things that you can do that will make me MORE likely (although its certainly no gaurantee) to approve your comment.  If you’re interested that is.

1. If you’re on a site that is in all English, post your comment in English.  I don’t care if your English isn’t the best, and I don’t give you points off for spelling or grammar (this is the internet after all not a English class).  But if I can’t read/understand your comment, it’s going in the delete folder.
2. I don’t mind links to your business website, but if you’re going to leave a link to your website, USE YOUR NAME not the website’s name in the comment.  It doesn’t have to be your whole name, hell it doesn’t even have to be your REAL name, but a name it does have to be… otherwise I would have called that box “Website Name” instead of “Name”.
3. If you leave a comment that is supposed to be in response to my post, make sure you READ THE POST before you leave a comment.  I almost never write a very long post, so it should be easy enough to do.  But if the comment does not make any sense what so ever to the post itself, then it gets deleted.  For example…. don’t leave a comment that says “this was a great post.  I’ve been looking for information on this and you’ve given me a lot to think about” on my COMMENT form!  Truly, there is nothing on the page but the form, so really, were you looking for information on that??  How difficult is it to read a real post of mine, and then just say “thanks, I enjoyed reading this.” and leave it at that?  There’s nothing more frustrating than to read a comment celebrating my informative writing style then to find out you commented on my “contact” page.  DELETE!!!
4. Don’t leave a comment saying you found my blog by searching for lyrics (electronics/viagra/whatever else funky ass website you’re pushing) and then say that other people can find the thing you were searching for on your business site.  If you were really searching for those things, it would have shown up in my google analytics, and it hasn’t!  You’ve been caught!  ~  DELETE!!!
5. If you’re going to leave multiple comments, don’t think that a name change is going to fool me.  If you post the exact same thing, from the exact same IP address, and the exact same website address…. I’m going to know it’s you!  DELETE!!!!

There are  a few other things that you could probably do to make yourselves seem a little more legitimate, but if I give you all that information, AND you listen to me, then spammers would be harder to detect.  The 5 things listed above are just really getting on my nerves and I’d either like you all to be a little smarter or change it up a bit!  Really, I don’t mind giving people the ability to link to their websites from mine.  But if you’re going to do that, give me the courtesy of actually reading my blog and commenting on it.  Sure it’ll take you a little longer than just copying and pasting your form comment, but it’ll be worth it!  Because I won’t delete your spam then!  I’ll let it slide because it’s relavent and on topic, rather than annoying.

I realize that you, Mr. Spammer, probably haven’t read this article.  You’ll probably continue to annoy me with your rediculous spam in Russian, hocking your crazy diet or gamer websites, leaving no name, over and over from the same IP… and I’ll keep delete your comments and those of your friends as well.  But at least it’s out there now.  You COULD figure it out and stop being annoying if you really wanted to.  I know you don’t really want to, but I’ve said my peace anyway.  So at least I feel a little better now.

I’m sure I’ll see you again soon on this site.

Sincerly,

Wyndsong

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

Personalized Teddy Bears has given me permission to offer another amazing Personalized Bear to my readers!  I absolutely love their bears!  Everyone who has received one of their bears loves them too!  So I  know that who ever wins this amazing 17 inch Panda is going to be thrilled!!!

What:

You’ll receive a 17″ inch Panda with a personalized hoodie of your choice.  (Value $44.99)

When:

Enter to win between now (August 10th) and Tuesday August 24th.  (Entries will close at 9pm PST)  Winner will be chosen by Random.org random number generator and posted here on August 25th.

Who:

Anyone in the US & Canada can win.

How:

Main Entry – Leave a comment below telling us who you’d like to give this Panda bear to.

Extra Entries -

• Follow Personalized Teddy Bears on Twitter
• Follow me on Twitter
• Tweet about this contest!!!
• Become a Fan of Personalized Teddy Bears on Facebook
• Become a Fan of Wyndsong Writes on Facebook
• Share this contest on Facebook
• Follow this blog on Facebook or Google Friend Connect
• Add my blog button to your blog (see code on right sidebar)
• Blog about this contest and link to this contest and Personalized Teddy Bears in the post.

Remember to leave a comment below for each entry!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

I watched this TV show last night, Hoarding: Buried Alive, on TLC (The Learning Channel).  It disturbed me greatly, but not because of how messy and cluttered the homes were… but how familiar it all was.  Although my house has never been anywhere near as messy or cluttered as most of the people shown, I know the tendency is there.  And that scares me!

The problem is that I have a hard time getting rid of things.  When I try I have various degrees of panic attacks.  Sometimes I just end up crying, other times I end up having a hard time breathing.  I know in my head that I need to get rid of something… but what if I need it sometime in the future?  What if suddenly I lose all the weight I want to and can fit into those jeans again?  What if I need a candle, that’s blue, and tapered, and smells like lavender???  And I threw it away or gave it away!!

Yes, I know that I can just go out and buy it again.  But I’ll feel bad for wasting money, when I just had whatever it is and got rid of it!  Of course, that only happens occaisionally!   Most of the time, when I actually get rid of something, and in the future I need it and have to buy a new one… I don’t even remember that I had it!  And with all the junk I keep and have no place to put it, I can hardly ever find what I need when I need  it and end up buying it anyway!

I know it’s totally rediculous to hold onto all the clothes that don’t fit me… and yet I still have a closet that’s full of clothes that don’t fit me. I have shoes that are almost as old as the boys that I haven’t worn in almost a decade.  Those could probably go to a thrift store or the trash.  What’s really hard for me to get rid of is little nick nacks and trinkets.  They are so cute and I had a place for them at one time, but in a new house, or a new place of work… there’s no room now.  Maybe they were a gift from someone, and I hate getting rid of gifts, no matter how much I like or hate them.

Slowly but surely, I am getting rid of things.  Books I’m giving to friends, selling/swapping online, or donating.  Same with clothes, shoes, and toys.  It’s very difficult to do, because, like with books… books have so much value to me.  I love books!  I would like to have a huge room just dedicated to all the books I could gather… but I know I don’t NEED all the books I”ve accumulated.  Of course with the books, I’ve got tons of free ones that I’ve received for reviews, so that just increases my collection ten fold.

Luckily Steve is very understanding about all of this.  He’s very patient with me.  He pushes me as far as I can be pushed, and then lets go and consoles me when I need it.  He’s really wonderful about it.  Of course he’s a bit of a collector too… but not nearly as bad as I am.

It doesn’t surprise me that I have the hoarding tendency.  My mother and her mother also had the tendency.  Especially books and crafts supplies.  And then there’s my sister, who also hoards a bit.  It goes along with depression, which we all have as well.  So it all makes sense.  I don’t think either of my boys are hoarders yet, but Jack may have the tendency for it.  He’s got a little bit of OCD at times, and hoarding is associated most closely with that.  So I’m trying to fix my problems now, so that I can help him with his if/when it occurs.

Steve and I did a little bit this weekend in the garage!  We went through some of the boxes in there and got rid of some things and now we have some more room in there to walk around.  The weekend before last, we did some organizing in our room.  We got rid of some things and there isn’t piles of clothes all over the place and boxes.  Now I have to go through my closet and drawers and get rid of more stuff.  Then on to my books… which will be one of the hardest things to do.  But I’ll do it!  I know, from experience, that I’ll be much happier when I have less stuff just piled around, and can see all the things on my shelves.  And when everything has a place, I’m much happier!  So that’s what I’m doing, just one little bit at a time.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

Steve showed this to me today.  This is where all of our energy use goes… notice the GIGANTIC portion of “cooling”!  That’s because it’s been in the 3 digits during this last two months.  Our A/C is running almost 24/7 (probably closer to 23.5/7).  But that’s living in Las Vegas for you.  It goes down quite a bit during the fall and spring, and then almost none goes to cooling in the winter.  During the winter we have the heat on.  LOL!  Fun stuff!  I’m just glad our A/C works!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

A couple of weeks ago, a friend & fellow homeschooler, mentioned that she was just getting home from her Co-op with a ton of fruits and veggies for a GREAT price.  Of course I asked her where she got them and how much, and if there was any link she could send me.  She sent me the link to Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op.

This is the way it works.  It’s totally free to register, but to order the food, you have to purchase the “baskets” during a specific window of time.  My slot is Tuesday’s @ 9am thru Wednesday’s @ 10pm.  You can purchase as many baskets as you want, and they also have extras to purchase as well.  Then the following Saturday morning (I had to get up at 6am on a Saturday ya’ll… and I actually did it!), you go to your designated pick up site to pick up your produce.

This is my haul!  I purchased one basket for us, one basket for my Mom & Sister, a case of blueberries, 5 loaves of 9 grain bread and 3 desserts.  The baskets came with the following items:

• 1 Pineapple
• 1 Watermelon
• 6 Corn on the cobs
• 3 plums
• 3 peaches
• 1 bag of grapes (about 1 lb)
• 1 box of blueberries
• 1 romaine lettuce
• 1 bag of russet potatoes (5 lb bag)
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 large cucumbers
• 1 bunch of bananas
• 1 stalk of cauliflower

We split the fruits and veggies up mostly evenly.  I did take more corn and instead of leaving the pineapple & cauliflower with my mom & sis, they gave it to me.  The baskets came with each of the listed items!  And they are all pretty fresh and great.  The cauliflower and bananas aren’t quite ripe, but they will get there soon enough.  All of this cost only $15!!  Can you believe it!?!

The case of blueberries was 12 containers of 12oz each of blueberries.  On top of the container that came in the basket, I left my mom & sis 3 other containers.  We are freezing all of them except for 2 containers, so that we can use them later in recipes.  Steve & I will be using them in our protein shakes.  They are filled with wonderful anti-oxidants and are very healthy!  The case of blueberries cost $21 for the entire thing!

This is a picture of the 9 Grain breads we bought.  For $10 we received 5 loaves.  I gave 2 loaves to my mom & sister and the other three we kept.  I haven’t eaten those yet, because we had some bread still from the store.  So we froze the loaves that I brought home.  They look very yummy though, and I can’t wait to try them.

This isn’t a great picture of the desserts I bought for $12, but it’ll have to do, cuz they are mostly eaten now.   For $12 we received 3 different desserts.  1 pan of chocolate brownies, 1 pan of chocolate chip pan cookies, and 1 crumb coffee cake.  They are all three very delicious!

I have to say that I am very pleased with what I was able to get through this co-op.  There was a little hiccup in the picking up of the produce.  The truck that brings the food to the park where I pick it up was late.  Evidently this has been happening the last month.  However, I was told by one of the volunteers at my site, that they were changing drivers and this wouldn’t happen again.  So hopefully that was fixed.

The park where I go to pick up the produce is less than 4 miles from my house, and it’s in between my place & my moms.  So when I get our stuff, I can pick up theirs as well and drop it off on the way home.  The only problem is that I have to get up at 6am so that I can be at the park by 7am.  They only give you a 20 minute window to pick up your produce or they donate it to a local fire department.  So you can NOT be late!  LOL!  At least it’s on a Saturday when I can for sure get there without a problem.

So far the produce has been great!  Very fresh, sweet, clean, and better than what we get at the local super markets.  I’m definitely going to be using this co-op often.  Probably not every week, because they do give you quite a lot of food for your money!  But we’ll see how long all this actually lasts!

Right now they are in 7 different states.  Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Texas, Arizona, Nevada & Washington.  They don’t have a lot of different sites to pick up the produce yet in each state, but they want to get them up and running in every state!  It’s a totally all volunteer organization, so if you want to start your own site for this co-op, they give you instructions on how to do it.  And if you’re really crazy brave, you can get up before the sun and help to sort out all the produce into everyone’s baskets.  But you have to be there at 5:30am, so you know I”m probably not going to do that.  Getting up at 6 am is too early as it is on a Saturday!  LOL!  Anyway, I hope you’ll check them out.  I’m definitely hooked for sure!

I live in Las Vegas, NV where the summer sun is extreme. My son, who never burns, got his very first sunburn this summer because of how hot the sun is out here. He gets his darker skin coloring from my side of the family, but not from me directly. I am very pale, with lots of freckles and I burn VERY easily. I also have very oily and sensitive skin. I hate using most sunscreens and lotions because of my skin type. So when Neutrogena asked me to try out and review their new Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Daily Sunblock, I was excited but skeptical. Could it really protect my skin from the sun in Las Vegas and keep me from feeling like I had my own personal oil spill?

As it turns out, yes it can!  I’ve been using Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Daily Sunblock for over a week now, and I love it.  I do stay out of the sun as much as possible, but even while driving, the sun out here can burn your arms through the windows pretty easily and quickly.  So I put it on whenever I go out of the house.  So far, I have not had any sun burns at all while using it.

My favorite thing about this sunblock though, is that it goes on cleanly, is absorbed quickly, and I’m left with soft skin not oily skin.  I can even put it on my face, which is very oily, and I don’t feel all icky slicky because of the sunblock!  It’s great!  Most of the other sunblocks that I’ve used always leave me feeling too greasy, and I hate that!

Another thing that I love about the Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Daily Sunblock is that you don’t have to use very much of it to cover a lot of your body!  In the picture above, you can see how much I put on my arm, and that covered my entire arm.  Probably because it is so thin, that it is able to cover a lot with just a little.  Whatever the reason, it definitely helps to make a much nicer coverage and is easier on the pocket book as well.

I have to say, that the only thing that I don’t like about the Sunblock is the smell.  It’s supposed to be Hypo-allergenic, and it probably is, but the smell of the lotion is a little too powdery for me.  It doesn’t bother me enough that I wouldn’t use it, but it gives me just the tiny bit of a headache until the smell goes away.   If you’re sensitive to smells like this, then it might not be the best for you.  Personally I would much prefer it if they had an odorless sunblock for those of us who are sensitive to smells like this.

Overall I would say that this is a great product.  I will continue to use Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Daily Sunblock for sun protection for sure.  I would recommend it for anyone who has oily and fair skin.  It definitely covers nicely without leaving a greasy feeling afterward.  I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who is very sensitive to certain orders, but smell it when you go to buy it and see if it’s ok for you.  Other than that I think this product is pretty great!

My rating: 4.0 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from Tidal Labs. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Christine Plaisted

July’s Blog Challenge

Each month a new challenge will be posted. Once you have completed the challenge, add your post to that month’s Blog Challenge Discussion.
Have fun and be creative!

July’s Blog Challenge: {Childhood Ambitions}  Write a blog post about your childhood dreams, wishes & ambitions.  What did you dream of becoming?  What did you sincerely think you would do with your life?  Where are you know along that road?  How do you feel about where you are?

Throughout our lives we are asked this simple little question… “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  It’s deceptively simple though, because in reality, this is not an easy question to answer.  Depending on your age,  you may want to be a fireman, doctor, nurse, teacher, or veterinarian.  For me though, there was always one thing that I always said I wanted to be, that was a mom.

To me, the most important and best job in the world was to be a mom!  I wanted to have 4 babies, two boys and two girls.  I knew I would breastfeed them, because that’s what moms do.  As I got older the desire to be a mom never went away.  Instead how I wanted to raise my children changed and I added new philosophies to my motherdom, but I always wanted to be a mom.

I’ve been a mom for 16 years now.  I only have two sons, so my dream of having 2 of each didn’t quite come about.  I am happy with my job as a mom.  It really has been the best most important job of my life.  And I’ve had plenty of different jobs other than being a mom, but being a mom is the number one job.

I think I’d still like to have one more baby, preferably a little girl, but I just don’t know if I’m really wanting to go through all of that again.  The boys are both teenagers and are practically all grown up, so if I did have another baby, they’d be basically an only child.  I really don’t like the idea of that.  So more than likely my job as a mom is almost over.  I’ll be retiring from that position, so then I will have to figure out what I want to do from that point on.

The other things I wanted to do besides being a mom is to be a writer.  Which is probably why I’m blogging.  I love writing, and this is really my only outlet for writing at this point.  I’ve talked about writing books, but lack the confidence in myself to really try it.  So blogging is all the writing I really do.  Other than writing, I’ve wanted to sell arts and crafts, have a book/jewelry store, and lately I”ve thought about being a professional poker player.  LOL!  But all these are really just dreams that I don’t know if they could even come true.  I’ve never focused on anything other than “just surviving” and being a mom.

I think, that if I could do anything at all, in the whole world, and get paid for it, I’d want to write.  So maybe instead of just having that in my head as something that I’ve always wanted to do, but never thought I could, I should just do it!  What would it be like if I wrote a story and people loved it, bought it, and wanted more??  I think that would be almost as fantastic as being a mom has been!

So what do YOU want to be when you grow up??