Surviving Vacations with your Little Ones

Since we are on a budget we couldn't do too much this summer but we did go on one trip with my beautiful girls.  We decided to go to a waterpark down the Jersey shore.  It was a small waterpark but so much fun for the kids.  Now that the girls are older and very into vacations, I was only half prepared for the fun ("fun") we had.  Since this experience, I now know more and would like to share my lessons that I have learned.

Pack Snacks and Activities - Even though our drive wasn't too long (only and hour and a half) I had some activities packed to keep the kids busy during the drive.  One thing I've learned is that kids are impatient and the words "Are we there yet?" after the first two times get quite annoying.  I brought along my iPad with plenty of games for my kids and also through my daughter's iPod in there as well. (Along with a pair of ear buds.  As much as I love Angry Birds, the music can grind on your nerves!)  

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Writing Successful Blog Posts & Articles; Beginners Tips

Many freelance writers and bloggers start off worrying what to write about and how to write it well.  They may write an article or blog post and hesitate about pressing the "send" or "publish" button and making it final for others to read.  That feeling is completely normal, worrying that your writing isn't up to par for being published. You may wonder if others will be receptive to what you have written.  Especially to a new writer who wants to impress an audience, this feeling can be so overwhelming and can cloud the real vision of their writing.

Honestly, without strong content, a blog or article is nothing.  Content is what engages people, what keeps them coming back and what keeps them on a blog or website for a good amount of time.  (In more technical words, it reduces your bounce rate.)  To write well, follow these simple steps.

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A post for National Sibling Day: Adoption and Finding who you really are.

I don't really remember the exact age I found out I was adopted, I just always knew and grew up learning all about adoption and knowing that I had two families who loved me very much.  Since I was born in 1985, my records were sealed and it was a completely closed & private adoption.  The only information I had was the small amount of non identifying information that Catholic Charities had given my parents at the time of my placement.  

All my life I was brought up as an only child and wondering if I had any siblings that I could have grown up with or known.  Even though I was extremely happy with my family and even though I was so thankful that my birth mother decided to give me a better life, I always wondered what could have been if she had chosen a different path and kept me.  I think that's a completely normal thought and feeling for all adoptees who don't know where they came from.  It's just a piece of the puzzle that most people want to know.

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From Blogger to Business. Writing a PR Pitch to Companies.

The most frequent question on bloggers' minds is, "How other bloggers get products to review & giveaway?"

While it might seem exciting to get something for free to review, it's also a lot of hard work to write the review and please the company.  It's not getting something for nothing, like many think.  It's getting a product to review to give the company publicity and writing an efficient review to go along with it.  Basically, the free product is getting paid for the review & real estate on your blog.

Let the company know why you are unique and what you can specifically do for them.  When pitching a company it's imperative to include this information so you can hook the company into reading the rest of your pitch.  Explain to them why you are unique and why they should choose you and your blog for their PR needs.

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Misconceptions & Myths about Work At Home Moms

Work At Home Moms or WAHMs make up a large portion of mothers in this day and age.  While there are many different reasons a woman would choose to be a WAHM, being home with her children and/or saving on childcare is one of the main reasons.  Childhood goes by so quickly and many women want to be able to enjoy every single minute and milestone of their child's life.  However, there are some large misconceptions and myths about Work At Home Moms, as there may be for other career paths/choices.

1. Work At Home Moms just sell for a living.

While there may be many WAHMs that do sell various products or services for a living (Avon, Mary Kay, Insurance, etc...) there are many women who do not.  The majority of Work at Home Moms have their own businesses and are working on developing their brand and business.  Women are brave & brilliant and most have the motivation, determination and drive to jump in with both feet to kick start their business and build it to success.

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Product Review vs Promotion

Let's start with  the question so many people have, "Why are companies willing to send bloggers free products to review?"  Simple!  Sending bloggers an item for review is a very dirt cheap way of getting items promoted.  Companies hope that people who read the blogs the item is posted on will visit their site and buy the featured product, or even other products.  Occasionally, to certain companies, it doesn't matter the blog has 100, 200 or 20,000 readers; any exposure is good exposure and any hits the site might get was worth the small amount of money the company lost while sending that free product.  In reality, if a company was to contact a larger media outlet for promotion, they would have to shell out a free product and a good amount of money to be mentioned at all.  Companies find advertising with bloggers to be a steal.

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Starting a New Job vs. New Girl in Class

Starting a new office job is like walking in as the "new girl" in the middle of the school year.  You want to look your best and dress to impress everyone, but you also are very nervous and don't know if you'll be able to make friends.  Maybe adults don't have "cliques", is what I was trying to remind myself, but I wouldn't know until I actually got there and found out.

Thankfully, as I walked into the old warehouse converted to office building and into my "department", everyone seemed very kind and nice.  My boss introduced me to everyone and explained to me that I was in charge of contacting for the Boston and Houston divisions of our company, yay me.  She then asked me to sit in on my other co-workers calls, just to see what I would have to be doing, no problem!  It actually seems pretty easy, important and yet still a little fun.  My job is a lot of hard work, which actually will make the day go quickly once I finally start doing all of my actual duties next week.

Since I've never had an actual office job before, only retail, getting my desk was very exciting.  It's a fairly decent sized cubicle, but I've never had a place of my own before.  I was really excited to get it decorated a bit to make it more "mine".  Of course, I couldn't go all out and use an incredible amount of pink, but I could still find a way to make my mark on my cubicle. Simplistic, girly and yet me!  That would be my challenge!

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I never thought I'd say this but...shopping sucks!

I know, I know...most people who know me very well probably had dropped jaws when they read the title up there, but it's true.  I'm starting to despise shopping! (Well, ok...I'm lying...only clothes shopping.)  Shopping for myself for everyday casual wear is so completely different, but when you're shopping for clothes for work, it gets frustrating. 

Let's start from the very very beginning of today. 

When I heard both my girls were going to my ex's house for the weekend, I was so happy. LOL! I love my kids, please don't get me wrong, but my two girls fight like crazy constantly and there's never a clean room or peaceful moment in the house.  As they left, I took my mom with me and we decided to go out for a little bit.

I work right off the New Jersey Turnpike about maybe 50 feet from the Holland Tunnel.  It's very easy to get to my office by going down the NJ Turnpike, but in the morning when I leave (8:30) there's A LOT of Holland Tunnel traffic that I just can't get past.  So, my mom decided to take a ride with me to my office but showing me a local way to get there instead of going down the Turnpike everyday.  So we took a ride there and I have to say....DUH! The freaking way she showed me to go is just plain common sense that I should have realized.  I felt like an idiot, actually. (Which happens often, it's not a new feeling for me.)

After taking that ride, we decided to stop at TJ Maxx. My mom wanted to see if she could get a dress for my birthmother's wedding, Alayna needed something nice for picture day on Wednesday and I wanted to look for some desk accessories for work and for some shirts for work.  I found some beautiful shirts that I absolutely loved, but when I tried them on everything was either too short, too fitted, too ugly on me or just made cheaply.  Out of 14 shirts I tried on, I walked out with two.  I hate when that happens.  I also didn't get any desk accessories; they hardly had anything. :(

So now I'm headed out to see a local town show that my best friend is a stage manager for.  Maybe at least I'll have some fun tonight, since my shopping day sucked.  Ha. At least I'm still childless for another day!

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Life....And everything else

Life has been so complicated lately, it's so hard to get motivated to do anything.  Being unemployed for as long as I have been is just frustrating.  It's scary when you're on minimal unemployment, a freelance writer and work is not steady enough to have an income coming in every single week like clockwork.  Sometimes you never know where your next meal will come from or when you'll be able to buy the kids new clothes that actually fit them correctly.  That's pretty much been my life since I got laid off in October.  Frustration, fear, anger with myself and my previous employer; just plain being unmotivated to do much.  (And my house shows that.)

I'm happy to say that I do have a new job, which I start on Friday.  I'm going to be working as a sales rep for a document storage company.  It pays hourly plus commission and has a great benefits/vacation plan.  I'll be working full time, in an office and I feel I'll have a much more positive outlook on life in general.  I'm very excited and can't wait until I start getting paychecks again.  I won't feel like such a failure to my kids and my family.

Since I got the new job, I splurged on getting a haircut and highlights.  My stylist, who I've gone to for 15 years, was so happy that I was starting a new job, he said he was going to do the best style and color job that he has ever done.  I'm very happy with the outcome and can't wait to show it off even more.   I feel like the cut of my hair makes me look a little more sophisticated & smart and since my hair is so thick it's a large weight off my shoulders. (Literally!)  It's quite a bit of work since my stylist says I need to come in twice a month for a glaze, since the highlights are red, but he's willing to work with me and reduce the price or do one for free.  So, I'm not complaining too much. :)

I can't wait to blog here full time again.  My mom actually brought up my lack of blogging today and I really do miss it.  Since I'm more upbeat and happy about my new job and life in general, I have the motivation to post more often.

Talk to you all very soon!

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Long Time No Post

I wish I could say that I've been busy, but that's not even the reason I haven't posted lately. On top of sending out a crazy amount of resumes hoping to get a full or part time job, I've also been working on my virtual assistant business site, hoping to gain clients and driving my mom and kids around. I have also been dealing with a battle with identity theft and the IRS. (I'll explain what's going on in a future post.).

As of this time, I don't have a full time or even a part time job, but I have been getting some prospects from my virtual assistant business of some clients that may want to sign on with me for some temporary work. While its not a job that will pay a lot, it's something to contribute to the support of my family for now. I just feel like I need to do something with my time...I can't just sit around anymore, it's being too unproductive.

On top of that, I've been doing decent at my jewelry business. My Etsy business is really taking off and though I've only had 18 sales in 4 months, it's still great progress. I do what I can!

That said, I am going to start posting more. I just haven't had the motivation lately...

Sorry for neglecting all of you, and I promise that won't happen again.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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