Shopping While You Travel

Most people consider shopping while they travel to be an inevetiable part of the vacation process, something that they are going to have to do and something that will cost them an awful lot of money. Others however, consider it an intergural part of their vacation. These are the people who know how to find the best deals, not just souviners, but treasures!

I was introduced to this kind of vacation shopping while on my last cruise. While in port, I found that I am suddenly in a forgien country, a country wih different regulations non manufacturing and production, a country with very inespensive treasures. Now I am not talking blood diamonds, I do my research and I am aware of who to bargain with and who to walk away from. But I am talking Tanzanite, one of the worlds most beautiful and rarest gems, designer watches at half the price and purses, jackets, dresses & shoes galore! Not to mention some of the typical authentic country fare that everyone loves when you bring back.

The key it to find high quality at a great price, bring it back and sell it. You can buy cut Tanzanite at a tenth of retail price in some countries and sell it here for a gorgeous profit. The same goes for purses, watches etc. Learn it, know it, pay for your next adventure! :) Happy Travels!

Quick and Easy T-Shirts

My daughter came home from school the other day and needed me to buy her some gym shorts and a gym shirt with her name on the back. Luckily for me, my mother owns a Yudu machine and it whips out screen printed t-shirts like it's nothing! In no time, I had a professional looking t-shirt with her name screen printed on the back. Happy girl... check!

Disney Trip Souvenir Suggestion

 Disney trips can be expensive, at best! And then buying souvenirs can really break the bank. I have come up with a few ideas for my children that have really helped keep things in check. Below you will find the things that we do to keep our souvenir budget under control.

• Postcards: My Favorite! My kids each have a "photo album" with the little sleeves. Every time we go on vacation, they are allowed to get a new photo album. I typically pick them up from the Dollar Store and let them decorate their own. Then as we are traveling, they get to collect postcards from each place we go. They are also encouraged to write about their favorite thing that they saw or did at the location where the postcard was acquired. This has really added a nostalgic touch to their postcard memory albums. 
• Postcards range from $0.25 - $2.00 each. Photo Album $1
• Disney Trading Pins: These are a fun and semi-affordable way to remember your Disney vacation and possibly make a new friend in the process. The way it works is, you buy two pins that you like. You keep one and you trade one with someone else. Disney has special areas and times where everyone gets together to trade their pins.
• Individual Pins range from $10 - $25 and Sets range from $13 - $130
• Pictures: From a Kid's Eye View! I LOVE giving my kids a disposable (now a cheap digital) camera and letting them have at it! They get some of the most interesting pictures. But the best thing about it... the pictures they take are from their vantage point and they remember! They may take a picture of the Moose topiary in front of It's a Small World, something that I would have never photographed. However, that is something they found amazing and wanted to remember. Paired with a few pictures that I take of them, their pictures make the BEST memory books!
• Disposable camera: $9 Developing: $12

These are just a few of my favorite ways to save money when my family travels to Disneyland, but are easily (and often) transferred to other destinations. Happy Travels My Friends!  

Refinishing and Refining

Well, it must be the time of year, the changing of the seasons, that brings out the crazies in me. I have decided to re-do the stairs in my house. I am removing the carpet, refinishing the tops, tiling the faces and hoping not to have to use all of our annuity to do it! It should be gorgeous when it is done and no more of the disgusting carpet, but the work in getting it there, could quite possibly be the death of me!

Pianos in the park...

Pianos in the park, on the sidewalk, beside the fountain.... Wait... what?!? Yep, you heard me right. An article on KSL today said that a British artist has beautifully and eclectically hand-painted pianos and placed them strategically around the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. Now who would want to sit around and listen to a complete stranger play a piano while enjoying their Ben & Jerry's ice cream at the Gateway? Who even cares about music without a Numark mixer to mix it all up, right?!? Well, you would think, right? Well, I guess not. There are still people that appreciate the fine art of piano music and beautiful hand painting, because these pianos are drawing quite a crowd. And anyone can just wander by, take a seat and practice their hand at tickling the ivories. The British chap came up with the idea while sitting at a laundromat. He wondered what people would do if they had a piano, right there while they did their laundry. What an amazing visionary! While I'm doing my laundry, i am wondering what in the world possessed me to come to the Laundromat!

Last Minute Father's Day Gifts

T-48 hours and Father's day will be upon us. If you are anything like me, you already have an amazing father's day gift picked out,. wrapped with a beautiful bow and hidden somewhere where he'll never look. Haha! Yea right, because I am the perfect wife and mother, my house is spotless, my make-up always perfect and I never forget anything! And I am on a TV show called bolognaville! Life is WAY too crazy to keep up. Gifts, even for the most amazing Men in our lives, tends to take a back seat to Soccer & Dance practice, PTA Meetings and dinner. Holidays sneak up on you and you are left wondering, "what do I get my sweetheart?!?"

Well Ladies, if we were Men we could just get them chocolate, flowers or wine. But for us, it's just not that easy.... or is it? You would be surprised at some of the amazing and beautiful custom flowers  that can be done for the Men in your life. I have seen fishing themed, archery themed and even beer themed floral arrangement that will make him smile. A fishing arrangement could include some of his favorite brand of lures, the archery one had the arrows he'd been wishing for and what guy wouldn't love a flower arrangement built around 6 bottles of Bud Light (or Mtn. Dew in my husband's case!)?!? Believe it or not, flower arrangements are not just for us anymore ladies! Not when you can customize them anyway they'd like!

Stuck in the Airport

I believe that anyone who has traveled has experienced delays, cancellations and/or extremely long layovers when flying. We live in a society that accepts this as normal and acceptable because flying is more convenient than driving. Personally, I believe that airlines need to be required to step up and start providing better customer service. I don't think that they should be able to call up the Houston fence company, have them wrap a fence around the airport and say "NO! You are sitting right here until we are ready to let you leave." I have spent the better part of 36 hours stuck in the Houston airport and let me tell you, it was not pleasant! It was due to the mechanical failure of one of the planes. Now, don't get me wrong. I have NO desire to be on a plane with mechanical issues, however, you would think that they could come up with a satisfactory second choice. 36 hours in the airport is not a good option! I sincerely believe that if more people would take the time to let the airlines know that customer service is important to them, you would see a difference in your flying experience.

Father's Day 2012

Father's Day is just around the corner and here I am with no gift! I was going to do a pin-up calendar for him, but then realized that those only look good when the ladies do! LOL Now I have another "great" idea. A couple years ago, we got him a flat panel TV. It is currently sitting downstairs on his toolbox... i.e. his place for all prized possessions. But I am thinking that it would go perfectly on the wall. So now, I just need to find a place that sells flat panel stands really quick and pretty cheap! Suggestions?

Now, there is just no sense in putting that beautiful TV on the wall and never using it. So along with the TV stand, I am thinking a romantic dinner, served in the family room with candlelight and his favorite movie (I'll likely be enjoying my salmon while suffering through yet another round of Paint Your Wagon). I just borrowed this AMAZING recipe for Salmon and have been dying to try it!

Term Life Vs. Traditional Insurance

I have been pondering this for a long time. I am still not sure that I fully understand the differences between Term Life insurance and Traditional Life Insurance. Well, not necessarily the differences, but the benefits of one over the other. I guess what it will come down to, in the long run, is price, more or less. Does anyone know the best site for term life insurance quotes and traditional life insurance quotes? Hopefully, getting a quote will help me better understand the differences and benefits to each.

My Brother-In-Law found a job!

It's been a rough time for them, but luckily my brother-in-law has found a job. It's a ways away, up in Vernal, but it's money coming in to support his wife and three kids still living at home. Why is this a big deal for me, you might ask? Well, that would be because I currently have his motorhome sitting in my driveway, awaiting repair. So I guess this means that we had better get our tushies in gear and get some motorhome repairs done asap, because I believe he will be needing something to live in until he gets a little bit more settled down up there. Although, I can not even imagine having two little children (especially these particular children, Eli is just a sweet little bundle of energy) and a teenager all crammed into this motor home. Wow! I hope he gets himself settled down quickly!

But I love Vernal. It's where we took our very first "real" family vacation and it's where I went through the temple for the very first time. It holds a special place in my heart. I am very excited for my sister and brother in law and for the adventure this new job brings for them.

Legoland: Family Fun

On our vacation, we included Legoland as one of our stops. There were many reasons for this, the first being that my two boys had never, ever been there! My Lego freak boys, had never set foot inside Legoland. The second, they just revealed their Star Wars miniature land. You guessed it! My Lego Freak/Star Wars Junkie boys were in heaven! I am not exaggerating when I say that between the two of them, they took over 1000 pictures!

Then, on top of the pre-made Lego kingdoms, they found rides too. We rode a spinning, twirling ride, made completely out of Legos. And then there was the workshops. We found an area dedicated to making and racing Lego cars. This was the Lego version of a Pinewood Derby, complete with slick surface raceways, release gates and lights. The boys each built a car or two and raced them against other kids there. Now if you think it was like pulling teeth to get them to leave, your wrong. It was much, much more difficult! They really had a good time and I had a ball watching them.

Guns & Stuff

I am not much of a Gun Person, but my husband is really, really interested in getting a 9mm, for self protection. I would rather something that we could hunt with, as in times of trouble, that will put food on the table and deter possible dangers. However, he feels that a 9mm is the best option to start with. I am still on the fence.

But, I am playing the good wife and getting dragged along to gun stores to look at Glocks, Rugers, Colts and Smithfields, blackhawk holsters, hard-sided plastic cases and gun safes. I have test fired a 9mm Taurus, Glock and Ruger and found that I HATE shooting 9mm's. I just don't get the satisfaction out of shooting them that I do from shooting a 22. The 9mm's kick harder and for some reason, the brass likes to come right back at me.

So far, we have only purchased a nice gun safe, which is now installed in our basement. I am liking that it locks and keeps the kids out and I now have Mom's guns locked safely up inside of it. But as of yet, he has not settled on a hand gun. He still wants to test fire the Smithfield, I think. But before long, you can probably bet, that I will be the proud new owner of a gun that I hate. LOL

I just might be getting old?!?

Ok, really, I'm not that old. Early thirties, but I look in the mirror and I see the fine lines appearing, starting right around my eyes, and I don't like it one bit! So shortly after I begin seeing these small signs that I am getting older, I get a text message. It reads something like this...

Hi, My name is Kendal. I am a friend of Angie's and she gave me your name. I am a Mary Kay consultant and I am trying to earn my directorship. I am trying to do one hundred facials in 30 days and I am about 20 faces short so I am resorting to contacting complete strangers. Would you be willing to help me out?

I think, humm..... Mary Kay? The last thing I need is overpriced make-up. I seldom wear makeup as it is. But wait! Don't they have some of the best wrinkle creams? So I agree to a facial. But I took my 11 year old daughter along for moral support! (Am I the worst mother ever, or what?!?)

It's a Saturday afternoon and my little girl and I set out to get ourselves a facial! We show up to this really cute gals house and get started. It involved all your regular objectives... cleanse, exfoliate and moisturize. It was great for little Ladybug. She learned alot about taking care of her complexion. Then came a surprise. Mary Kay calls it Satin Lips, I call it oddly wonderful! It's exfoliation for your lips followed by a luxurious lip balm. My lips were all sorts of tingly afterwards. Ladybug didn't know what to think.

Then we started with the makeup. Kendal sorts through her sample size makeup and hands Ladybug and I each a set. I start with a mineral foundation, followed by a creme eyeshadow, lip liner and gloss and finish it off with a bronzer. Needless to say, I LOVED IT! It was exactly the look I have been looking for. Ladybug was a little more hit and miss. I loved the clear gloss lipgloss and light pink lip liner, but the mascara was too much for her.

I walked out of that house with a new friend, a lighter wallet and lots of new product to play with. I have since called her back and placed 2 more orders (this was a month ago!) and Ladybug is doing a great job of taking care of her skin everyday. Over all, I'm glad that those little lines showed up and made me try something new.

I went to the gym!

As sad as it is, that really is an amazing thing. While I struggle to keep weight on I am not exempt from getting flabby and lazy and way, way out of shape. I have always been pretty active and with 5 kids I stay pretty busy. I have never really had a need for a gym membership. But then my doctor diagnosed me with a chronic illness and that all changed. First, I knew why I felt crappy all the time but second, I was "allowed" to feel crappy, I had a reason.... and so I did. I felt yucky every day. I would sleep in late, go to bed early and sit on the couch all day.

It finally culminated one day when I could not get out of bed at all. It was after noon, my preschooler was hungry and had been entertaining herself all morning and I was still in bed. My whole body ached, I was tired and I just could not bring myself to get out of bed. Finally, those teary little blue eyes, peering over the edge of my bed were enough to motivate me. I rolled myself out of bed and on to the floor and I laid there until I was so cold that I had to go get in the shower to get warm. That was the day I decided "enough was enough". I was not going to let this control me!

The problem was, I had lived with it for so many years that I didn't know how to change it. I had been through 3 jobs in the interim, all of which were desk jobs. Long gone were the days of trying to keep up with the guys and hauling large boxes and hitches around. My job now consisted of getting to work and sitting in a chair for 6+ hours per day, snacking on whatever treats I had in my desk (and believe me! I had plenty!). I am still very thin, almost sickly looking most of the time, but the muscle I did have has long since turned to fat and that "baby muffin top" that I acquired after numerous rounds of childbirth, had just not gone away.

I have since changed my thinking. I will not let my illness control me. I get up every morning and I go to work and now I am getting myself to the gym. I am by no means ready to win any sport trophies or anything, but I am taking back my life, taking back my body! So today, for the second time this month, I went to the gym!

The Day After Christmas Treats...

The frenzied unwrapping, running from house to house to visit family and friends and loading vehicles with piles and piles of presents is now over and if you are anything like me, all you want to do is sit and relax. The Tony Hawk shoes and rocawear boots are tucked in the closet with the new Abercrombie clothes and the sweater Aunt Edith made you, the toys are scattered throughout the house and the kids are, at least temporarily, entertained. But now it is dinner time and everyone is going to be hungry soon, and you don't know what to fix. Dinners for the last few nights have included hams and pies, gravy's and casseroles, rolls and butter... all the fixin's. You want something light, healthy and most importantly, easy! Here are some yummy ideas to get you out of the "Christmas Food Funk."

Quick & Easy Kid Munchies:

Turkey Quesadillas:

6 Large Flour Tortillas
1 1/2 Cup Leftover Turkey (shredded)
1 Cup Shredded Cheese (cheddar & mozzarella)
4 oz. Cream Cheese
4 oz. Sour cream
3 Tablespoons chunky Salsa
1 Tablespoon Butter

Melt 1/2 of the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add turkey, salsa and cream cheese. Mix until the cream cheese is melted. Remove from heat and add the sour cream and shredded cheese. Melt the rest of the butter in a frying pan and lay one tortilla in the skillet. Spoon 1/3 of the turkey mixture onto the tortilla and spread around to cover the whole tortilla. Top with another tortilla and flip over. Fry until the cheese is melted and remove from heat. Cut and serve immediately.

Warm Up and Relax:

Butternut Squash Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed
32 oz chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
2. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Cooking for the Health of your Skin?

Believe it or not, chocolate is not the worst thing you can do for your complexion. There is far more to it than that. The foods you eat, the air you breathe and even the sleep you get are all major factors in the condition of your skin. Much more so than eating chocolate. Drinking plenty of water will help your body flush toxins that would otherwise be eliminated through your skin. Eliminating your exposure to inhaled chemicals such as gasoline vapors, paint fumes and even make-up removers will decrease your chances of a breakout since these kinds of chemicals put stress on your liver are are ultimately released through your skin.

Eating a diet low in sugars, msg's, artificial colors and flavors and preservatives will also help your skin. Our body can not process these unnatural additives and will therefore eliminate them through the skin, causing an acne breakout.

Treating acne is not an exact science, but more a way of life. There are hundreds of acne remedies out there from diet to exercise to chemical treatments and beyond. Personally however, I prefer to be more careful about what I put into my body because what goes in, has to come back out.

Baking up Your Holidays

I remember Christmas as a child. It always involved decorating the tree with beautifully hand crafted ornaments that my mother had created for each of us. Each one unique, each one special. I don't remember when the tree stopped being decorated with the salt dough ornaments that had come to mean so much to my brother and I, but a few years ago, one Christmas day, my mother brought out a box full of ornaments wrapped up in old newspaper. As my brother and I unwrapped each one, the memories flooded back. Each ornament signified a specific time in our lives, something we cherished at that moment in time.

That was one of the most magical Christmas' to date. But it reminded me that Christmas is not about expensive christmas decorations, lots of tinsel and more lights than your neighbor. It's about family and memories, celebrating life and the ones who make life so special, remembering our savior and the love he wants us to share. Christmas is a way of strengthening our families and building up the kingdom of Heaven.

With that in mind, I have started a new tradition of my own with my children. It still involves cookie cutters and salt dough, but with a twist. New decorations every year. Stars painted in neon pinks and greens or princess crowns and guitars with lots of bling, whatever suits my family best that year. Then I carefully pack them away with newspaper in a box and stick them under the stairs for that Christmas, not too far away, when my children have grown up and have children of their own and have long since forgotten about the days spent sitting around the kitchen table, cookie cutters in hand, flour on faces and the sun shining in through the kitchen window. Then a new tradition will begin.

Getting Rid of Acne

Acne is something that plagues teens and adults alike with little to no relief. However, I believe that the best acne treatment is not necessairly a treatment at all but rather a lifestyle. Washing your face too often and with highly abrasive and drying soaps trains your skin to produce more oil to compensate for what is being lost in the washing process. Wash with soap just once a day and rinse it only the rest of the day. Do not sleep or lean on your hands. This creates the dirt from your hands to transfer to your face. Change your pillow cases regularly. Use a mild, non pore clogging moisturizer regularly. Then your body will not need to produce so much oil to keep your skin moisturized. There are also natural treatments you can use like whipped egg masques that will help to kill the bacteria that causes acne. Hopefully these work as well for you as they have for me.

It can be done!

I just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that it can be done. You can eat well, prime rib, steak, ginger shrimp, delectable salads and rich desserts and still lose weight and do it fast. So here is my solution on how to lose weight very fast. You get a job that requires you to visit the Southern California area once a year, eat like a king and walk your hiney off (over 60 miles in 10 days)! When all is said and done, if you have not lost weight, I don't think there is anything that can help you!

Plan ahead for Valentines Day

I know that Christmas and Thanksgiving are not even over yet, but it never hurts to plan ahead. Feburary brings Valentine's Day, and flowers and chocolate are typical ways of celebrating the love of your life. However, doesn't the love of your life deserve more. Specifically time, thought and creativity. When was the last time you arranged for a babysitter and took your sweetheart for a weekend getaway? How about spending the weekend in Sunny San Diego. The Dana on Mission Bay or the Pacific Terrace Hotel are two gorgeous options in the San Diego area. Sunset harbor cruises are offered on Mission Bay and the tropical feel of San Diego lends itself perfectly to any romantic get away. That's just one thought. Use your imagination and come up with something truly special for your sweetheart.