This is my favorite time of year…The wonderful holiday season filled with lots of love, family, friends and great food! As you all know I love to cook and especially during this time of year.  As the years go by the food tends to get a bit traditional and boring so I thought what I could do differently this year to still provide that comfort food that everyone loves, but come up with some new dishes.

During Thanksgiving in our home while growing up we would always have the same traditional dishes every year. And while these dishes were absolutely delicious and I will always eat them. They do get a little boring. We would have both turkey and ham because my dad was a meet man. Always need to have protein so we could grow up big and strong. Then we would have the traditional sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn and my favorite green bean casserole.  Oh and of course we would have yummy homemade gravy to serve over top.  They would also have cranberry sauce, but I was never a fan of that and nothing has changed. I am sure there are other dishes served during these times…I would love for you to share some of your family traditional dishes to help give me some new ideas.   

Last year I attended a holiday dinner party and tasted an amazing dish that I have craved all year long. It was a Cauliflower and Gruyere cheese. Oh my goodness; this dish was amazing. The wonderful lady who made it started off by making creamy rue and then mixed in the cheese and cauliflower, followed by baking it and it was the hit of the dinner that night. I also had a dish that a girlfriend made for me about 4 or 5 years ago that I cannot forget about.  Apple sage stuffing and boy is it yummy! Now prior to having this I was not a big stuffing fan because it was boring. Cooked bread with chicken flavors…yuck! Today you can actually buy breakfast sausage that already has sage in it and then diced apples for a sweet flavor along with your traditional stuffing mix, onions and celery. It over flowed with sweet and savory flavors that melted in your mouth.  While these are previous year recipes they are on my list of favorites that I do not get to have that often.  

This year I have been watching my traditional Food Network channel and trying to come up with some new ideas for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner and I have found a few tasty recipes thus far. The vegetable of the season seems to be Brussels sprouts. And while this was not my favorite veggie as a kid I am curious to try cooking it a few different ways that might peek my liking. My dad would just steam or boil them and my mom would put the cheese sauce on them to help cover up the bitter taste of them. I have found two different recipes that might be really good. One was a Brussels Sprout and cheese casserole. It reminded me of the cauliflower dish I mentioned earlier.  Another one was Brussels sautéed with nutmeg, salt, pepper and think pieces of pancetta bacon. Looked very tasty too! I do not have many green bean fans in my family now so the traditional green bean casserole is out of the question. I also saw a recipe for Leek bread pudding made with cream and cheese. Hmmm cheese seems to be the theme. I promise I can eat vegetables without cheese it just so happens to be the trend in the recipes that I have found this year. Any other ideas are welcome for sure. I am responsible for a few side dishes this year so I am collecting ideas.

If any of these dishes sound good to you let me know and I will pass the recipe along. If I happen to try any of them I will let you know how they come out too. In the meantime please send me some of your favorite dishes for the holidays! And I wish the best to you and your family during your Thanksgiving Day of Grace!!

It’s always a fun time of year for most as we get to dress up in costumes and parade around town without a care in the world. The question I have is do we really know how Halloween got started or where it originated? I am sure many people do not and there are many others who do not even celebrate the holiday as they feel it is celebrating evil.  So I thought I would share a little history with my fellow trick- or-treaters.

According to Wikipedia the roots of Halloween came from the Celtic Festival of Samhain and the Christian Holy day of all Saints. It originated in Europe and then came to America by immigrant settlers. The word Samhain means the summer end. The Celts believed the border between this world and the other world became thin during this time allowing evil spirits to enter into this world so they wore evil customs’ to trick the evil spirits into thinking they were evil too so they did not harm them (Wikipedia.com). They use the colors orange and black to represent Halloween because orange represents the harvest and black represents the evil spirits. It gives you a better understanding of the holiday and the history behind it.

I personally love this holiday because I enjoy dressing up. I have never been much of a creative person so I enjoy watching the creative minds of others. Over the years I have seen some really neat costumes. One year I saw a guy who dressed up as a night stand. He wore a lamp shade and then made a table around him and dressed it up with an alarm clock, reading glasses and a book. It was pretty neat!

 For Halloween I normally just go out and buy something to wear verses trying to come up with something on my own. However this year I could not afford to go out and buy anything so I needed to come up with something using whatever I had from past years and clothes in my closets. So I decided to be a Greek Goddess because I already had gold rope, gold jewelry and a white dress…put it all together, do my hair and you have a Greek Goddess costume. It was very easy and I got a lot of compliments on it. My boyfriend was a pimp using parts of a Halloween costume from a few years ago. His brother and sister-n-law dressed up as gothic punk rockers using old costume parts and his cousin was a 70’s guy using some of his parent’s old clothing. No one spent any money and we put together some great outfits.

It’s a fun time of year and I can’t wait until I have children to celebrate with and carry on the traditions. I see Halloween as a time to go trick-or-treating, have fun dressing up in costume, telling ghost stories and carving pumpkins. For those who celebrated, I hope you had a great time dressing up and carving pumpkins.               

Rasmussen unfortunately does not have a football team so I support our local University called UCF.  Also many of my friends and my boyfriend attend school there so I go to the games with them to show my support.  Not to mention I have a love for the game and watch a lot of football; both college and NFL.   Well I went to a game this past Saturday and I just had some fans really bother me so I thought I would share my experiences with all of you.

So we all know that football is a sport and sports are mostly competitive, right? And usually at a football game fans of one team with taunt fans of the playing team, right? Yes and while all of this is normal boys and girls it is just a football game. We can be completive without being rude or nasty. And that is what I experienced this weekend. And the sad part is these guys probably never even went to college or at least this college. I was watching UCF vs. Miami and some of the Miami fans were out of control. They were telling the girls how stupid they were and starting fights with the guys. These girls and guys were students of UCF trying to support their team and school.

Now this is something I might expect at a pro game, because there are a lot of rude pro football fans, but this should not be happening at a college game.  So there really needs to be game day etiquette and the visiting teams and home teams need to be aware of this proper etiquette. The visitors need to respect the home team fans and prevent from saying insulting outburst and if you act like a goof then expect to be treated the same in return. There should be no acting out against young girls and most certainly don’t get mad when one home team fan is sticking up for another fan. If you had too much to drink before the game, eat something and drink a coke cola.

 And for the home team fans… Make sure you keep your team spirits contained. It is not necessary to shout profound language to the visiting team, even if you think their team cannot play. And if your team isn’t playing well you have no room to talk about the other team. Keep the mouth closed…

 I enjoy going to football games and will continue on going and hopes that one day I can take my children to games too. I do not have a problem with being competitive, but there needs to be a fine line to draw at any game college or professional. Make sure you are aware of your surroundings and do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. What are your thoughts on game etiquette? Do you feel this way too or am I out of control? I would love to hear others and their experiences at football games.

 May your favorite team win the National Championship!!    

Yes, it’s the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month http://www.nbcam.org.  And I am amazed at the number of supporters that I have seen locally and nationally.  As you all may have read in my blogs earlier this year; I had a scare with breast cancer and many of my family members have too. It is a very scary thing to go through and many women face it throughout the year.  They say 1 in every 8 women is diagnosed with breast cancer.

The problem with breast cancer is that there are no symptoms so many women go without knowing and by the time they get diagnosed it is too late. That is why it is very important to educate the women around the world; young and old and encourage them on education so they are aware. It is all about prevention so the more people know the better off they are.

The other day I was listening to a local radio station XL 106.7 who happen to be big supporters of NBCAM and one of their callers was telling a story about a friend who she encouraged last year to go and have a lump in her chest checked. The friend did as told and got results back saying that something in the test was abnormal and they needed her to come in for further review. Well she got too busy with life, work or whatever and never went back. Finally 8 months later she found time to go and at that point it was too late and she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. What a horrible story… if only she had been educated on the seriousness and how it was important to act quickly she could have prevented this and saved her life. And then you have another story where a lady goes to get checked and they tell her it is nothing so the next time something appears she thinks it is nothing so doesn’t get checked and it happens to be cancer.

So I am proud to see we are starting to take these things seriously and more people are promoting awareness. I was watching a NFL football game on TV this past Sunday and the players were wearing pink on different parts of their body/uniform. Some players had pink on their shoes, hats, pants, shirts and around their arm…It was all over. Also last Friday it was the day for everyone to wear pink- I would imagine people did this nationwide, but I am not sure. I know everyone in Orlando did and it was pretty cool. On Friday everywhere I went I saw men and women wearing pick to show their support.   

We are heading in the right direction with Awareness and I hope we continue on this path. Someone said to me last week that they love how we are doing this for Breast Cancer, but there should be similar things for other cancers and illness too. I do agree with them, but we have to take one step at a time.  This has been going on for years, but only recently people have been opening their eyes. Thank you to all the supports and much love to all the survivors! May we continue to fight!!!

A few weeks ago I took part in my best friend of eighteen years wedding. She found the love of her life and they have now entered into the next phase of living. Now I wanted share the moments I experienced in this amazing wedding because it was not your typical wedding as they are not your typical couple.

Just to give a little insight on the couple…Jaime who is my best friend of many years is a wonderful individual with a great big heart who is always there when you need her.  She is an identical twin, but nothing like her sister. Jaime is very free spirited and cares more about life, earth and people than anything else.  She is extremely intelligent and is a science research specialist by trade.

The new addition to the family…her new husband Ronnie whom I have known since I was in high school too is probably the most laid back individual I have ever met. In high school he was the guy that always sat around playing acoustic guitar in the park while everyone else was running around and being crazy. Sweet, sweet guy also with a great big heart and the two of them together are a perfect match.

Jaime wanted to do something different for their wedding. They live in the Beautiful Blue Grass state…Kentucky and had their wedding in a local horse park. The grass and trees during this time are amazing. This time of year the beautiful colors of the grass, trees and cool weather were perfect for an outside wedding. She wanted to incorporate some history of their ancestors into their wedding and this is where it became interesting.  In doing so she decided to let loose a little and make this special day costume oriented. Yes…costumes and she did an amazing job at organizing the wedding.

They both have Apache Indian in the ancestry background and wanted to bring some of the wedding rituals into her ceremony.  In doing so she needed to represent The Universe, Life, Time, Water, Air, Earth and Fire.  The wedding party became each element and had a reading within the ceremony to talk about how they were going to incorporate their new lives together. For example I represented time so I actually read an Apache Wedding Blessing called Blessing of Time. I was fortunate as my dress was black, but everyone else had to dress according to what element they were representing…like fire wore a dress with orange in it. We each had wings to wear which matched our dresses and we represented fairies….very different!

They also did things like washing their hands and getting rid of past sins. They each combine sand together to illustrate how they will become one. They also had fire dancers and little kids running around with streamers. The guests were allowed to come dressed in medieval times like clothing. We also released butterflies representing new life…and everyone sat in a big circle as the couple sat in the middle. It was really amazing…we were not sure how it was going to turn out, but she did a great job of organizing it, researching and implementing. There was not a dull moment that day and there were a total of 150 guests so it was fairly decent in size too.

It was a wonderful wedding and as odd as it might sound everything turned out really well. We all enjoyed being a part of this wonderful day and will remember it for many years to come. I wish them both all the love and happiness possible and may they have a loving, prosperous life filled with lots of family and friends.

Summer Semester is finally over, and I do not have any plans for fun…Wow! Normally around this time I am packing my bags to take a little trip. It is nice to have a two week break every eleven weeks. However this break I am broke and staying home. Not to mention I went on a little break already before school ended. It wasn’t a vacation, but a best friend got married and I was in the wedding. There is more to come on that later.

So I ask myself…what I am going to do during my break. I will be relaxing as I always seem to be on the go and on the computer so I am going to take a step back and breathe a little fresh air. This week I have been a little under the weather so a little R&R is good for me. I am also going to take this time to study for my Real Estate exam.  I finally got approved to take the state exam… Whew, what a relief!

I am also going to take time to do some little things around the house that I have had on my list for way too long. You know…like spring cleaning except it is fall time. Spring came and went way too quickly I did not have time to do any cleaning.  It is amazing how quickly the year has passed us by. Not to scare anyone, but the Holiday season is right around the corner.    

No the less, I am going to sit back and relax. I really value the next two weeks and do not know what I would do without it. These days it seems like I have so much I want to do and just not enough time in the day. Not to mention I do not have as much energy as I use to so I can only go full throttle for so long.    

 I hope all of you have better plans for your break….Be safe and don’t forget to stop by and share your stories.

There are many football fans out there that all wait for this time of year to come. In fact many of us are lost once the season is over.  I am a huge football fan and love this time of year just for this simple reason.  Pre-season actually started a few weeks ago, but I do not really get into that as much. Mainly because there is a lot of warming up to do, getting use to playing with new players and they do not even play the good players as much; other than during the first quarter or two.

Now when it comes to Football there are college fans and there are NFL fans. I like to watch both and I have a love for both while many people only prefer one or the other. Some of my friends refuse to watch NFL because they say the heart and love is not in the game because it’s all about money.  I do agree to a point because these players are paid way too much to play a sport they love. And this is in all sports not just football. However the college players are playing to be noticed so they can make it to an NFL team so it’s kind of a double standard.

My team for NFL is Tampa Bay Buccaneers who is based out of Tampa Florida. They are the closest NFL team to me in Orlando so I have just always followed them. Now the Tampa Bay Bucs have had some good years and they have had some horrible years.  We have had some great coaches and some okay coaches. Overall I feel the team has struggled from lack of something. I do not know this for sure and this is just my speculation, but both of our last 2 coaches Dungy and Gruden were pretty amazing coaches and have led many teams to championships, but for some reason did not do well with our team. My question is…Are they given full authority to lead the team? Is there someone holding them back or restricting them? Who knows….we may never know. Now we have a new coach Raheem Morris. Raheem has been with Tampa since 2004 so he knows the team very well and hopefully will make great strides.  The only problem I see thus far is the fact we have so many new players on the team it may take a year to get use to playing together.  Oh and not to mention we have a very difficult schedule this year. We shall see….

As for College I watch two teams. Orlando’s home town team UCF and of course the Florida Gators. I have a love for both and watch all of their games. Well if they are aired on TV. The UCF games we try to attend a few here and there, but tickets can be pricey so we cannot go to all. Florida is hard to get tickets too. You literally have to know someone to get tickets, but I have been to a few and I love going to their games. The energy and love you feel throughout the whole stadium is amazing. UCF last year just built their own stadium on campus so that was very exciting for all the fans. Hopefully now we can start playing like a real football team.

Well here is to a good season. I will keep you updated with home team games as we attend for UCF and Tampa. As well as my thoughts on how we are playing. I would also like to here if any of you have a favorite team. And how do you expect your season to make out this year.

I need a little friendly advice from my fellow bloggers out there. It pertains to my work and referring someone into the company. In the past I was not a fan or referring friends or acquaintances to my employer for the fear of them not working out and perhaps making me look bad at the end of the day. I mean face it you cannot expect people to be perfect or be as dependable as you, right. I mean I do not miss work unless I am deathly ill or there is a death in the family or I requested time off, also I work very hard making sure I am doing the best job possible; not just for the company but for my own benefit.  However I have worked with many, many people who do not practice the same motto.

However despite my fear of referring people I know – I took the plunge to help out an old colleague that had been laid off from work and was not having the best of luck finding anything. It is a very challenging job market and it is hard to get into a company today unless you know someone.  I referred my friend over to HR and of course she still had to go through the interviewing process as everyone does, but she did very well and was presented an offer. After she was hired one of the other employees mentioned to me that we are paid a referral bonus – great free money!  After 90 days you are paid $250 and then additional $250 at six months and a hundred at the one year mark.

Well I called HR upon it coming close to my friends 90 day mark and asked how they go about paying the referral bonus. She mentioned that she was not aware that I referred her, but she will go ahead and set me up to receive it in the next pay period which would have put her there for 120 days. That’s cool – I am ok with that.  Well here is the part I need your advice on….The same day as pay day my friend was let go for lack of performance.  She started at a difficult time and was just not producing deals – well many were not, but they let her go for some reason. They didn’t even try to help her – that irritates me. Anyhow needless to say when I got my check that day there was no referral fee.  She was there longer than 90 days and at 90 days I am suppose to receive $250. Obviously at 6 months she won’t be there so I understand I will not get that, but shouldn’t I receive payment for the time she was there working for the company?

I put an email into the HR lady and now she is ignoring me. It’s a great professional company right? Well I want to collect this money if it is owed to me so I could use a little advice – what is your take on the situation? I feel bad for my friend and I know she put up her best try to make things work there. Something’s are just not for everyone…I wish her the best in her future endeavors and I will always be there if she needs a referral. What is your thought on this….? Any help would be great!  

I wanted to take some time to talk with you guys about making sure you eat right and also keep active in the gym as it is very important too. It will keep you going on those days when you feel you cannot make it another step…We need to stay in good health so our bodies and minds stay in good health. Especially during these difficult and stressful times in the economy today; like loved ones losing their job, or you losing your job, money being tight, challenges trying to pay bills; all these things can build up a ton of stress which can make us ill and cause many health problems.

When starting out your week it is best to plan ahead of time. If you have a really busy work schedule and perhaps going to class too it is easier to plan meals and dedicate an allotted time to working out.  If you plan your meals in advance then you can make sure that you are still getting the good nutrition that is needed to fuel your body. When we do not plan we end up eating foods that are bad for us and high in fat. This is what we want to avoid because what does fat do…it makes us fat. I started cooking certain dishes on Sunday and then freezing them so during the week all I have to do is defrost/heat and eat. Not to mention you can throw in a quick side salad and you have your daily vegetable serving too. To give you some ideas; you can make casseroles or if you have a crock pot you can cook all kinds of meals – They sell books that give you tons of recipes to make (check out Amazon recipe books). You could even prep the night before and then in the morning before leaving put it on low and off for the entire day – when you come home you can eat. It doesn’t get much easier than that unless you have a butler or someone at home cooking for you. I unfortunately do not have either one.  

The next most important task we should practice weekly is exercise. Most of us hate it; we probably all hate it, but in order to remain healthy, live longer and stay in shape it is necessary. First I want to start by saying I am not certified and I am only going by what I have learned in my life of exercise and working with trainers.  If you have not worked out in years it is always best to speak with your doctor before beginning any new exercise. Exercise is not only to keep us in good physical shape, but it is good for our heart which keeps our blood pumping making our other organs run smoother and makes our skin healthier.  It also helps to keep your metabolism up which helps fight off the bad fats we eat and it keep the immune system stronger. I could go on and on, but you get my point. I go to the gym for an hour, four days a week. Now that is asking a lot for many of you so do not panic. They say if you give yourself at least 30 minutes day three times a week you can maintain good health. The key word there is maintaining so if you are trying to lose weight or get a certain figure then you might need to increase.  I have found the best work out plan for me; which would be best for most women is Supersets workout. This type of workout keeps you moving constantly and very little breaks therefore you are continuously burning fat. To give you an example:

Start by doing;

-Crunches/sit-ups

-then run for 2 minutes on treadmill

-then a set of regular lunges (15)

-set of squats- (15)

-set of side lunges (15)

-then back to treadmill for 2 minutes

**All of this would then repeat 2 more times and then I would have another 3 different exercises and so on – until I reach my hour mark. It is pretty intense because I do not take a break, but I feel great from doing it and I know I am making a difference to my body. If you do not have a gym you can walk or run outside and you can do all types of exercise in your own home without ever leaving or buying expensive workout equipment.

I also started taking vitamins because it is very important as we do not get enough nutrients from our daily foods. You can take regular vitamins daily, fish oil is important (I recently started taking Krill oil with primrose-more Omega 3’s then regular fish oil), and then whatever your personal body may be lacking; like iron or vitamin D, B or C.

These are all very simple things to keep you going day in and day out. If any of you have any questions or want some more ideas on working out and different cardio/exercise techniques let me know. I would be more than happy to help to the best of my ability. Happy Health!!    

This is the time of year we always go see Dave Mathews Band as they do their Summer Tour in Florida. We are huge fans and I personally have only been going to see Dave in concert for the last three years.  I am not sure what I was waiting for because this band is amazing in concert. They are all about the action and bright lights, musical instruments and pleasing the fans.  DMB puts on an amazing performance year after year.

The last few years it has rained without fail during every show we have attended. Rain or shine we are always there. There is something about getting drenched while hearing jamming music just makes it all that more entertaining. This year we decided to go to two shows; one in Tampa and one in West Palm Beach. The Tampa show was first on Wednesday and we did not get rained on during the whole show amazingly; however that caused it to be miserably hot will dancing around in the crowds. Still no stopping us… They played 19 songs and it was mostly their new songs which if you have not heard their new CD it is a must. It is called Big Whisky and the GrooGrux King, 2009.

The following Saturday morning we got up early to drive to West Palm Beach which is three hours from home and we rented a hotel room on the beach so we could spend that day and the next on the water. We made a nice little weekend getaway around the whole concert. By the way when I keep referring to “we” I am talking about my boyfriend, his brother and wife. We love going to concerts with each other as no know gets grouchy or wants to leave before anyone else.  Anyhow we arrived in West Palm and check into the hotel and then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to get ready for Dave. During the week when we see DMB we always miss the first couple of songs because we are going right after work of course, but this time we wanted to get there early so we could see the start of the show. 

On the way to the show it starts to down pour like cats and dogs. I was getting really bummed because I did not want it to be raining as we were walking in. Not to fret little one because the rain stopped just in time for us to walk up to the show and find a nice seat on the lawn area. The night starts to fall, people are gathering in closer and closer as we all wait in anticipation… Drums…screening….guitars...and the fans go wild. This show was fantastic and extremely up beat as it was the last show in Florida for this summer. They played a combination of both new and old songs. DMB has only 5 CD’s I believe so we know every song there is and we sing right along with everyone they play.  They played 19 songs that night which is a lot for one show and we sang and danced around the whole time…until the end.  Oh and by the way we did get rained on during the show, but it was only for 5 minutes. By that time it was nice and refreshing. Well until next year…We Love you Dave!

I told you that I would keep you updated with me Real Estate schooling so here it is – I finally finished the school which was a total of 63 hours in two and a half weeks. It doesn’t seem bad when you look at it like that, but with the amount of information that gets crammed into your brain during this time is unbelievable.

So they give you a practice test to take before the first test and the practice test covers all types of random information from the text.  The questions are pretty hard and geared towards real life scenarios and the tricky part is they will have one correct answer, one answer that is partially correct and then two wrong answers. Tricky – well I didn’t do well on the practice exams so I freaked out. I had one more day left to study and needed to pass this exam so I can take the state exam which will be 10 times harder.  Needless to say…I called in sick the next day which I never do by the way, but needed this time to really study. See that was the challenging part of all this. I was attending the classes, going to work, working on my degree and trying to get sleep so I could make it through each day. What I didn’t have was time to truly study.

I spent the next 24 hours studying for the exam the following day. Once I finished my studying I was feeling much better than the day before, however I was still very nervous. They really talk up the test and scare you so you do not know what to expect. We had 3 hours to finish the test and of course the first question was difficult. I needed to get a 75% in order to pass. Now it is on…I went through the exam and the ones that I did not know right away I circled and saved for the end. By the time I got everything finished and went back over the ones I had circle there were 14 questions I was not sure about.  Out of that there was one I knew the answer to, but was a little iffy.  I finished up the exam to the best of my ability and went home for the night. I had not even passed the test yet and I just felt a huge relief of pressure release from my chest. It was like I was floating on a big white cloud. The test scores will be ready before noon the next day…the suspense sets in.

Well…I passed! Wahoo!! The funny part is I actually missed 13 questions giving me an 87%. Now I will never know if they were the 13 that I did not know or if they were a different 13, but it doesn’t matter at this point. I am now waiting for the state to approve my application so I can take the State Exam. Once I get the okay I will be on to the next one and then I will finally have my real estate license. So stay tuned…

As if attending class online for Rasmussen is not enough I signed up for the Florida Real Estate course a couple of weeks ago.  In order to obtain a real estate license in the state of Florida you have to complete a 63 hour course and pre-state exam. Well being my life is extremely busy as is with regular class and working fulltime I went with the night and weekend classes over a period of two and a half weeks.  Let’s just say I did not know what I was getting myself into.

As I am getting near the end I will say it was well worth it, but I had no idea how intense the class was going to be. I did not realize how regulated real estate is until now. I knew there was some government involvement, right because they are involved in everything, but they are all over real estate. It’s good because they are here to protect the public without a doubt and their own pocket of course.   

The class is teaching us about everything from principals, practices and the law. I thought I had a upper hand because I worked in a law real estate law firm for 7 years, but I must say the correlation was very small amounts far few and between. I did recognize some areas when talking about Fair Housing Acts and Civil Rights Act from 1866, but again very small sections. This class did provide me with a lot of history knowledge regarding laws and why the laws were developed. I also learned about financing and mortgage markets, plotting, mapping and zoning. This class also contained a lot of math which makes sense now, but I had no idea in the beginning.

I still have a few more days of class to attend and lots of studying before I take the state exam. I have had many tell me the state exam is not easy and it can take many times to pass. I however would like to pass the first time so I will be wise and utilize all the tools and resources to my advantage to make sure I am fully prepared to pass the exam. I have to get a 75% to pass so I am a bit stressed at this point. However before I can take the state exam I have the exam from the class that I have to pass first. That is the one I am worried about the most right now because I have limited time to study.

Which means I have to run for now, but I will keep you all posted as I pass exams and move along to the next event… If anyone has any stories they would like to share or pointers on preparation and passing feel free to share. I would love to hear what others went through.

 FLORIDA

In Loving Memory ~ Dad  

Well…I hope everyone had a lovely 4^th of July weekend! I had a great weekend and wanted to share it with all of you. I wanted to update you with the news of spreading my dad’s ashes this past weekend.  As I had mentioned in my previous blog; I planned my 4^th of July weekend to spread my dad’s ashes in our old hometown. It was one of his only requests if and when he passed.

My dad took a job offer in 1983 at Ocean Reef’s Resort in Key Largo Florida. He went down there first to assess the position and the living situation. Once he was settled in with the new job; he then started to look for a new home for us. We spoke with him every night and he was so excited about the Keys and could not wait for us to get there. We then followed my dad to the keys where he found a new home for us on Seaside Drive.  We lived directly across from the Atlantic Ocean. It was amazing and we stayed there for a few years.

We had so many great memories while living there. We would go out fishing and had traps set for catching sea food. We use to eat crab, lobster and shrimp like it was chicken. Yum...Yum…I remember it like it was yesterday. That is also the house where we brought my new little baby Brother Rodney home and I got my first brand new Huffy bike with the banana seat. We spent Christmas there looking out the window and seeing the Atlantic Ocean. Wow…so many great memories for me, my dad and the rest of my family which is why he requested that I spread his ashes in the ocean back in Key Largo. Of course at the time I told him he was crazy and I would never do such a thing…

My dad past in October of 2007 and I finally got up the courage to spread his ashes. It was such a great thing for me to do and I finally got closure for the passing of my father. My plan was to take my boy friend and my best friend and her husband. They were there for me when my father passed. I then made reservation for a boat rental so we could go out into the Atlantic and spread his ashes. We got down there July 3^rd early in the morning went to sleep and got up first thing Friday to set out for the hunt of my old house. My mom remembered the name of the street, but that was about it. Well after talking with some locals we managed to find my old house. It was still there and a young couple recently moved into the house. They shared with me some stories of them moving in. I took pictures and reminisced with everyone. There had been some changes to the restaurant across the street and there was another new Lodge directly in front of the house which now was blocking the view of the Atlantic.

We then decided to walk across the street to Snappers which was the restaurant and marina there on the water. After about 15 minutes of walking around and looking at the Atlantic I came to realize it was where the boat rental was located which I had reserved for Saturday. How ironic is that? Everyone got goose bumps as we realized my dad brought me right to our old house and the boat rental place for me to use to go out to sea and scatter his ashes. It brought peace to the whole situation.

Today is the day…We got up early Saturday morning to head on over to the boat rental place. I was extremely nervous and had small anxiety attacks as we were packing up the boat. It was just the nervousness of what was soon to be happening. As we left the boat dock I became calm and felt the comfort of my father.  We went out pass where all the boat traffic was as we wanted to find a nice calm spot to put the flowered lays in the water. I made these flowered lays and attached a collage of pictures of the family and my father. I also had a couple of American Flags attached because my father was a Vietnam Veteran. I placed everything in the water and then I had a moment of silence and then began to release the ashes from my hand into the wind. We shared some memories and another moment of silence. It really felt good and brought a sense of relief to me. We sat there for about an hour as we watched the flowers float away – we also took some pictures for memories and we then began to celebrate the life of my father. We all had a lovely day!!

In Loving Memory ~ Dad 1944-2007

I always like utilizing my breaks to the fullest…This break I am going to take a mini break and head down to the Florida Keys. To many the Keys are known for great snorkeling and scuba, but to me it is filled with many great memories from my childhood. The Keys is also a place my father loved and enjoy thoroughly while he was alive.

To fill you in…I lost my father back in October of 2007. He passed due to heart complications and was at the ripe old age of 63. My dad was a joker so he would get a kick from the statement.  The truth of the matter is 63 is very young. And we were very unfortunate to lose him this early. However he lived a wonderful life as he fought for his country, raised a family of 4 kids, loved and laugh always.

At the time of my father’s passing we had a Memorial Service at a nearby family church and then my father was cremated. I have had his ashes in my possession since because I did not have the strength to release him properly.  I have reached a point where I feel I have enough strength and now’s the time to scatter my father’s ashes.  Each of the children will have a small urn to keep some of dad’s ashes and then the rest will be scatter throughout the Keys. This was what my dad always requested I do if he were to pass. And while at the time I told him he was crazy and I was going to bury him I could not do that now. It is much different when someone is gone…you want to do things as they wished and give them the respect they deserve. So I am granting my father wish and I am going to spread him about in the Keys were he enjoyed life the most; near the Ocean.

I will also have a nice little ceremony and have some flowered lays with pictures attached. I will send them out to sea and say a prayer for my father and his life he led. This is going to be good for the both of us. I need this closure for myself and my siblings.  I miss my father very much and still have days filled with anger and tears because he left me. I believe this will be something I will continue to have for some time to come, but I think scattering him and having some closure will help a lot.  

In Loving Memory of Rodney Reed – Love you dad!

I recently moved within the same complex to a lower level apartment. Economically it was better for me and over all I will save $3600 in rent. I have a dilemma though with the neighbor above me and his out of control dog. I moved in February 2009 and to my surprise I realized that my new neighbor has a dog and not just any dog, but one that missed the obedience bus while growing up. The dog barks uncontrollably and jumps around like he is a child. I just moved from the top floor where no sounds were above me except the pleasant sounds of the rain and now I live below the Ogre and his dog.

My first reaction was to tell the Manager of apartment complex and let them deal with it. My complaint is not only the dog, but the guy walks like he weighs 600 pounds.  It is completely unnecessary and on top of the dog barking out of control it is going to drive me crazy. The apartment manger came back to me with “He just started putting him a kennel so you if you can bare with him until he gets use to it”. Are you kidding me…what about me? She then stated that the neighbor said he would try not to walk so hard.  Well I told her I would do my best to tolerate it, but how long can I really do that?

I complained several times within the my first month and called the complex and told them I wanted to complain to corporate since they were not going to do anything about the situation. Next thing I know there is a knock on my door. Oh and did I mention that the manager is a dog lover.  The knock was the neighbor from up stairs. When I opened the door he was amazed at how loud the barking was in my living room. He apologized and gave me his cell number so I could call him if it was bad.  I asked if he could put him in the closet area or bedroom. That way he is not right over my head while I am studying.  He was going to see what he could do and would try to make the situation better.

Things were better after that for a while and then I think he started getting lazy. He is now putting dog in the front room again. He is leaving him on the porch and the dog pees off the side onto my porch. And I forgot to tell you when the dog is in his cage he shakes it around trying to break loose which makes this horrible rumbling sound.  It is insane and the dog rally needs to go through some type of obedient school.

I am up to my ears with frustration over this dog and his owner. I have tried to be patience while the dog gets use to the cage, but I cannot take this anymore. What is my next step? Can I report the neighbor to the county for leaving his dog locked in the kennel for long hours or locked out on porch during hot climate days? I hate to be mean, but he is not helping either and I have been dealing with this for over 3 months. Does anyone have any ideas? Has anyone ever been in this type of situation? HELP!!      

Today it is very important to network for both social aspects as well as business. I thought I would give everyone some ideas on how to build a Social Network. This can help many people by simply just trying to make some new relationships; to helping you find your next career opportunity. And to be honest…coming from the Employment Industry – if you are not networking it is going to be difficult and take you much longer to find a new career. There are some many qualified candidates in the market that you really need to be talking with people who can hire you directly.

First it is important to start joining social networks that interest you. There are social networks that exist for every conceivable profession, hobby or interest.  It is very easy finding social networks be going to Find A Social Network.com.  You can find many networks that are populated with the same areas of interest.

You will then need to start blogging to allow people to get to know you. You can also comment on other blogs and ask them to check out your blogs. Eventually you will start having your own network to interact with regularly. I have been blogging for a year and a half about the life of an online student. Trying to get people to interact with your blogs can be challenging, but if you search for other blogs and invite people to check out your blogs it can really help in speeding up the process on building your own social network.  It is very important to create an online portfolio so people can learn more personal information about you, which will make them feel more comfortable.  There are several different social network sites like Myspace, Facebook and LinkedIn. Remember when using sites like Myspace and Facebook; you need to make sure there is nothing offensive or discriminating on your profile page. If you are talking to an Executive and he/she checks out your Myspace to find some risky pictures, I do not think you will get the job.

Then lastly you need to Tweet. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I have recently found the world of Tweeting. I am still learning this area and I am still trying to find Tweet sites to visit. So if any of you know of any, please let me know.  Twitter has become incredibly large and everyone from movie stars, musical artist and many others just like you and me are Tweeting and building relationships. Well I hope this information has helped you getting started in building your own executive or personal network. Let me know how things work out and/or if you find out some new sites to check out. Until next week…  

As our lives get busier and the days seem to get shorter we tend to take less and less care of our bodies.  We begin to not eat as healthy because we’re always on the go; skipping the gym for the last three weeks because there is not enough time in the day and before you know it you are feeling run down.

It is very important to take good care of your body. As we get older our muscle start to diminish and our bones get weaker. This is a normal act of aging; however if you maintain minimal weight training and cardio along with eating healthy we can slow done the aging process.  It is important to eat foods that carry lots of antioxidants, proteins and vitamins. There is a book called South Beach Diet which talks about eating healthy and it gives some great recipes too. It is a great source and it can help anyone get on the right track.

As for exercising we can work out to help maintain good muscles and stay physically fit. All of this can be done in 15-25 minutes a day. As for cardio it is good to change it up here and there so one day you can walk briskly, another day jog or ride a bike. A mile will generally burn 100 calories which is good for maintaining good weight. Obviously is you are wanting to lose weight then you will need to burn more calories based on your age and how much weight your trying to lose. As for weight training there are many different exercises we can do right in our own home. I like Self.com because they have a program each month giving you different ideas on exercises you can do. Keep mind that you always want to switch up your workout because your muscles become used to your workout and then you will hit plateau.  Self.com always has great recipes and they share examples of different meal ideas to help you maintain a good healthy diet too.

By maintaining a healthy balance diet and spending 15-25 minutes a day you will feel better and live longer, strong and happier.  May we all live a happy beautiful life!!

I recently became fearful of possibly being a victim of one of the most leading causes of deaths in women. If that doesn’t ring a clue…then it’s Cancer of the Breast. Breast cancer is killing thousands of women yearly. It has been progressively getting worse since the early 90’s. I found a great site that gives more statistics on the cancerous disease which you can check out at www.cancer.org.

About a month ago I started having pain on the left side of my chest. After a few weeks of the pain not subsiding and me giving myself an examination I discovered a lump the size of a ping pong ball roughly. It really brought light to my eyes and I freaked out. Of course being new at my job and I do not have insurance; I freaked out even more. What do I do??? Well I put a call into my doctor, whom I have been seeing for over 7 years. I explained my situation to her and she immediately wanted to see me. She explained that it could be nothing, but we should not play around when it comes to this. So I made an appointment to go in and have her take a look. She felt the same lump as I did and she found a smaller one that I was not aware of. She requested that I have a mammogram and ultra sound to see what it is. Of course I am really worried about money, insurance and if they find something being classified under preexisting. Regardless I needed to find out just so I could go about my normal life, because normal it has not been since I discovered the lump myself.

Well after a recently having the test done I get a phone call from my doctor stating that the Radiologist says he didn’t see anything. However because she felt the lumps herself she wants to wait a couple of months and if things do not get better, then she will send me to a specialist. So here it cost me over $300 out of pocket to have test done and I get no results. Well, no sure answer and I say this because the Ultra Sound technician should have done a complete scan and she did not. She only checked the areas that I pointed out which means she could have been off and just over looked it. Trust me I pray that I do not have cancer, but what I am looking for is for someone to tell me why I am having the pain and what is the mass in my chest. Just some simple answers you would think.

I have to say I am not great about giving myself an examination regularly, but I do go to the doctor annually and make sure I take care of myself that way. However after this and not knowing what is normal or not; I really need to know more about myself. Normally breast cancer does not cause pain which is why many women go without detecting it until it’s too late. Once a year just isn’t enough either so I will do it regularly for my own health sake.

As I sat at the radiologist office waiting, I was listening to many women in the room telling their stories about having breast cancer. Some more than once and some stating the mammogram never detected it. That scares me and really makes me think….why is doctors utilizing a machine that is insufficient. Having a cancer that affects some many women and they can not come up with something better? The Ultra Sound is supposed to pick up what the mammogram does not, but that is not always the case and they do not always do the mammogram.

I truly feel for women around the world and have been donating to the cause for years. Let’s continue our support and efforts to find a cure and help save more lives. Do you have a story or know of anyone who has had to face Breast Cancer? I would love to hear your stories…

Click to Give – Breast Cancer Foundation

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

Let’s face it guys and girls…I do not get to watch much TV, but I do have a few select shows that I can not miss out on. The Pick of the Season this year is Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, Nip Tuck and my favorite of all The Food Network. Now I know that is not a show, but a TV channel; there are many great cooking shows that I watch day and night.  The TV is a great break for me and allows me to unwind after long hours on the computer. I am not a real big TV person as you can tell I do not have many favorite shows, but there are some that I just can’t miss.

American Idol is one of them and I have been watching the majority of the shows this season. I will admit to missing a few of the audition shows, but those are more for entertainment of other people’s expense. I mean some of these people that try out for American Idol are awful.  How do their families allow them to go on National TV and humiliate themselves? I am not saying I do not laugh with the best of them, but geese. I really like the part of American Idol once all the weak contenders are voted off. Then that is when the show really gets good.

Right now they are down to some amazing artist on American Idol. I think it is one of the best seasons in a long time and they have really discovered some real talent. There are a couple people that I am not impressed with like Megan Joy for one. She is just ok and there were many “just ok people”. She is a pretty girl, but no comparison to the others on the show as far as talent. And what is with that cork screw thing that she does while she is singing. Ah it bugs me.  Also Scott Macintyre is another one that I think is just ok and really isn’t all that great. Plus he looks weird when he sings because his top lip doesn’t move. Not that makes a difference, but you know how some things just bother you about a person…that is one of them for me. So anyhow while they have made it this far I really do not see much light at the end of the tunnel for them. Now I will tell you who I really like and I think they are amazing. The first one is Adam Lambert and let me say Wow because this guy can sing. Yeah I will agree the theatric side of him is a bit much sometimes and his look can be a little weird, but that is Hollywood for you, right? He really knows how to use his voice and can do just about anything. I have not heard one bad song from him. I know some may disagree, but I that’s my opinion. Allison is another great contender on the show. Yes I will agree she has had some good and bad choices for songs, but I really feel she has a great voice and sounds amazing. Not to mention she is only 16 and can really show some vocals. Great show this far for the season and I am so anxious to see who makes it to the finals.

My other show that I just can not live without is Grey’s Anatomy. This show has caught my heart since day one. I love every character on the show and I am always in suspense as to what is going to happen next. The last show I watched was Mc Steamy freaking out because of his last surgery and is refusing to do any more. I will agree that he has killed some people in his career, but like Meredith stated he does get them as last hope. He really needs not to be so hard on himself and what is he doing pushing Meredith away…I was ready for them to get engaged. The other character that has been bugging me is Izzy and her talking with her dead boyfriend. That was starting to get old and a little weird, wouldn’t you agree? I am sad to hear she is sick and I wonder what is going to happen next. I have the next episode recorded I just haven’t watched it. I can not wait to see what is going to happen. Do you think Meredith is going to be leaving? Ah see this is what keeps me going. Well stay with me for more of my favorite TV show talks and all of my other blogs as a student’s life.             

I have been taking online classes with Rasmussen College for almost two years now. While all of my classes have been challenging and really require your focus and attention; I will say there are few classes that are really challenging and wish I had more one on one time with a face to face teacher during these times. Not saying classes should be easy, but some things you really need to have a clear understanding.

My classes that have been the most challenging are Accounting I and Payroll Accounting. Accounting one I had to take twice because the first time I just didn’t get it. Then the second time I barely passed. However I passed and that is what really matters. I was studying hard and asking the teacher questions and genuinely trying to get a B or higher, but there is just so much to learn and accounting in general is a hard/confusing subject. The whole aspect of debits and credits are just the beginning of how the process works. The funny thing is I have been in accounting and finance for several years of my working career, but never really dealing with bookkeeping and general ledgers.

Then there is Payroll Accounting which is another difficult subject. I have a new found respect for payroll and human resources managers. Keep in mind when you learn a subject like accounting in college they teach you have to calculate everything manually without the use of a software database. This is a great thing, but it really shows the complexity behind it. Payroll has so many taxes, codes and a guideline that has to be followed it is very complex. There are Federal laws, state laws and city laws. You have different Federal Acts to follow and you must always stay updated because additions to the Acts can take place at any time. One wrong file or late payment to the government can cost you money.

I am currently in the Payroll Accounting class and I had a D mid semester.  This class has been very challenging, but I have been hanging in there and my teacher has been amazing. I have probably spoken with this teacher more then any of my other teachers in the last 2 years. She doesn’t mind and loves trying to help which has made a difference. I have a few weeks left but my grade has increased to a low C and I am finishing the semester strong. If the teacher wasn’t so helpful, I would probably be facing the problems I had with my accounting I class.

Rasmussen offers free tutoring which I wish badly that I could take advantage of, but I am not near a campus. The closest campus to me is Ocala, but for many of you the campuses are near. I recommend if you are having trouble with a class, please reach out to the school tutor. There is online help too through Smarthinking, but that is more for a specific question or paper needs you might have. Great to have...I used it after midnight one night. Tutoring is expensive so having Rasmussen include that in our tuition is great!

Well I will keep you posted as I get to the end of my payroll class. Wish me the best in luck as I near the end of this semester and as always if you ever have any ideas, suggestions or feedback; please feel free to comment.    

Day 22 and still unemployed… Wow when I put it in to that perspective it really hits me in the stomach. I am religiously looking for a new job every day. I sit at my home computer desk and actively search many websites and apply any where between 35 to 50 jobs per day. This keeps me busy for 7 to 8 hrs a day between filling out applications, answering personality surveys, weeding through the junk and fraudulent jobs. I have also gone on some interviews; some were good and some were scams; where they wanted money from me to start something. Needless to say searching for a job is a fulltime job…of course with out the pay. There are good and bad things to go with being unemployed now a day’s. The good side of it is the internet. Back in the day before everyone was on the internet you had to go to your local businesses to apply for a job, read the local help wanted ads and fax your resume. I couldn’t imagine my gas bill if I had to do that. I would also not be able to get out there to as many companies and it would lower my chances of finding that perfect fit. Therefore I am very thankful for the internet and the services that are provided to assist people in finding employment!

There are so many services and tools online to help each and every person find a job without ever having to leave their home. The key is to be creative and use your search engines to find all job postings from the big companies and the small companies. It is free to register with CareerBuilder, Monster and OrlandoJobs. So that was a given to register with all three of them. I also search the local news paper online, craigslist and all government websites. I have a friend who has sent out a mass email letting people know I am searching and needing job. I also have Facebook and Myspace where I have posted and emailed people letting them know my situation and would love any information people could pass along.

These service  companies such as CareerBuilder do not only list job posting, but they provide FREE services to help you write a great resume, cover letter and guide you on how to perform a great interview. That was never provided back in the day…And for those that choose to pay there are companies out there such as Allen and Associates who will help guide you in the right direction to get the right job.

Now you think all of this would defiantly guarantee you a job, but unfortunately in today’s market it is not that easy. Every place I have gone for an interview, there have been 10-15 other people there within that hour interviewing for the same position.  That is the scary part for me because I have no idea what I am up against.

Well it’s the New Year and now is a great time to make some New Year resolutions. What are your resolutions for 2009? Do you believe in doing New Year resolutions? I know there are mixed views out there regarding this…some love this time, some people cheat themselves this time of the year and others think New Year resolutions is a joke.  We all have opinions and are free to feel whatever we like, right?

I on the other hand I love this time year. It gives me a start date and end date to really reflect on my life and makes come changes. For me the New Year resolution is a motivator for life changes. I truly take some time to reflect back on my previous year and decide what makes me happy and what bothers me, I then come up with a new plan. I have been doing this even more the last few years because I am getting older and life is quickly passing. I also will make joint changes or goals with mutual friends or with my boyfriend. Then we have each other to push towards our goals for the new Year.

Reflect…

Last year my New Year resolution was to be a better friend. That was a big thing for me because as we grow older we tend to loose sight of the ones we love and care for most. While this needs to be mutual thing, I made an agreement to myself that I would at least try to keep in touch on my end and if my friends do the same great and if not, then there’s not much I can do. While I did do a lot better this year with keeping in touch and even went to visit a few friends. I did not manage to keep in touch with everyone as much as I had hoped.  This year was a challenging year for me mentally, financially and emotionally, while this is no excuse I will not be as hard on myself. However I will continue this resolution into 2009.

This brings me to my new 2009 goals for the year, as always I will continue to keep good health and improve health in some areas. I had a few health problems in 2008 so I am and have been making strides to a better mean. I am also going to try to take more courses during a semester and hope to graduate sooner. It is hard to work 60 hrs a week and make 2 or 3 classes, but I was laid off and trying to find new employment. I only hope I find a good job with a better schedule so I can focus more on school. And for my last goal for 2009, I am going to improve my finances and start to save more money. I am going to really focus on what I spend, make sure I am smart buying and become more stable with my self.

While I hope everyone has goals to work on for 2009, whether you call them New Year goals or just goals in general for a better life…I wish you all the best of luck and a Prosperous New Year!

I am half way through the semester and the day to day stress with work and life has me drained. As I am sure many of us are going through the same things with the economy turmoil, however I cannot help but to think my world seems as if it is crashing down on me. I wake up every day with butterflies in my stomach wondering if today is going to be the day they let me go at work. And these are not good butterflies either. This is just not healthy, I can not eat well, can not sleep well and it is just draining me. Ahhhh…

I can say one positive thing about school is that it gives me a positive sense of security because once I am finish I will have a degree to back me up in my career search.  However right now I do not have that and that is what scares me more than anything in the world. I am on my own with no family to help me if something goes wrong. I know people who have been laid off and it has been months and still no job. What will I do? I am continuously searching the internet and applying to jobs in hopes one bites if something does go wrong with work.  If anyone out there knows of anyone in Orlando that is hiring, please let me know.

As for school my classes are going great! One of my classes is in Customer Service which I really like. It makes some interesting points which causes me look at my job a little differently every time I learn something new. I have also learned there are companies out there that need lesson in training their staff with customer service skills; some people are horrible when it comes to service. I deal with people all day long whether they are clients or candidates looking for employment.  It is very important to treat everyone with excellent customer service no matter what the situation is. I speak with people everyday who are laid off from work and they are stressed; relying on us to find them a job. Sometimes they get upset and irritated because we can’t find them a job quick enough. This then can cause certain people to lashes out. I tell my colleagues it is still very important that they do not take this to heart and should treat them with respect; having empathy. It is only their fear that is making them react this way and we are the only people who can speak with them and give them a sense of security.

My teachers are great and the students in my classes are great too! So far the grades are still up there and I hope to continue on the same path.  All I can do is take one step at a time and pray I make it through the crazy times. Who knows when things will start to turn around. If anyone else is going through the same things; my heart goes out to you and your loved ones.

Strength & Courage

With the election on the forefront of every American’s mind, a woman voter may have more to think about than the average “Joe Sixpack” (a phrase recently coined by vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin).  For instance, some political discussion has taken place regarding positions of each candidate with regard to the Roe v. Wade ruling and its standing in allowing a woman the right to choose abortion.
 
As a woman, having the right to decide whether to carry a baby has been an entitlement to me.  Although I have not personally had to apply such right in my own life, knowing the right is mine is critical to my sense of security and safety, particularly in a society with high crime rates.  Additionally, the medical community today pushes pharmaceuticals to every patient without fully understanding the potential side effects to an unborn fetus.  These uncertainties are concerning and reinforce my opinion that a woman should have a right to decide.
 
Just recently, I watched the struggles of a friend trying to get pregnant in her 30’s.  To explain in detail, this friend had tried for several years to get pregnant, to no avail.  However, on this particular month, she did all the right things.  She charted her ovulation and every single detail to make sure that nothing was overlooked.  Too afraid to excite her husband unnecessarily, she carried this burden alone, with the exception to a few trusted friends.  Suddenly, she started to possess pregnancy symptoms.  However, an early blood test suggested she wasn’t pregnant.  At this point she was relieved for not having excited her husband about something that did not exist.  The only problem was, my friend was convinced she was pregnant.  She recognized changes in her body which were unexplainable.  Another week passed and my friend performed another blood pregnancy test that provided another negative test result.  Although she had missed her cycle, there was no accurate explanation to the cause and the physician’s solution was for my friend to take medication to restart her cycle.  She couldn’t help but question whether she was indeed pregnant but too recent for the tests to detect.  The physician’s nurse couldn’t offer a solid answer.  The point is, there was no guarantee she wasn’t pregnant.  A woman knows her body and physicians know their tests, but sometimes one or the other is wrong.
 
I’ve mentioned my friend’s struggles to point out that even today, in America where land is “free” and your destiny is whatever you make it…, modern medicine continues to be puzzled by many unanswered questions.  If the nurse couldn’t tell my friend with certainty that she wasn’t pregnant, how could she make the decision to “restart” her cycle?  Likewise, my friend ultimately had the right to make that decision.  Flipping the coin, what if my friend WAS pregnant and learned of a pending deformity of the baby.  Shouldn’t she have the right to make that choice?
 
With the election nearing, it’s only appropriate that American’s should consider all things pending.  Women voters especially have more factors to consider than whether our candidates are “soccer moms” and dress well, but rather, “will they truly represent ALL of a woman’s best interests?”  If you are a woman, you have a RIGHT TO CHOOSE…on November 4th.

Have you ever sat down and really looked at your spending? I have been financially comfortable until this last year and have reached a point where I need to look at what I am spending before hand. This is a really big must have for me, but it is not going to be easy. I have the same amount of money coming in as I have going out…Yikes

In the last two months I have noticed my money cushion diminishing at a high rate. Having the money cushion is great, but it tends to hide what you are really spending because everything is flowing comfortably. Well, let me take that back because if I balanced my checking account like I should I would have noticed these things a long time go. However this is not the case so going forward I need to be smart and make some wise life altering decisions.

I am not sure if any of you what Opera, but she had a show on last week that talked about saving and spending money on necessities verses wants. Her guest talked about stretching the dollar to get its maximum benefits. Most of the families are cutting corners because of the economy and challenges they have all had, but there was one family who has been living this way for years. This family only lives on the necessities, the husband car pools to work, mom bargain shops for groceries and tons on other cut backs are made. They live on an income of $58k a year with a family of 6. This is amazing and I highly recommend going to Opera.com to check it out – they give great tips to follow.

On the same show there was a lady who has mastered the bargain shopping to a whole other level. This lady gets 3 papers every Sunday and cuts out the coupons and then matches those with items on sale at her local grocery store. Basically she is saying that you need to base your meals on the food that is on sale. This lady had a $137 grocery bills before coupons, but after the coupons the bill came to $37. Wow…that is amazing.

All of the ideas they were giving seem difficult, time consuming and just plain challenging, but I think once you create a pattern and new habits; then things will appear to be easier. I have reached a point were I do not have a choice, I need to learn how to cut back on spending and start saving. The other thing is to get rid of the credit cards. Credit cards should only be for emergencies and nothing else.

So I have first calculated my monthly spending and then looking to see what I can cut back on or get rid of. My next step will be to figure out the grocery bill shopping because I spend a lot on food here, food there and so on. I am always open for help ideas so if anyone knows of any great ideas on savings please let me know.    

I finished the summer semester courses and my two week break seemed as if I blinked and it was here and left before I could enjoy it. I guess that stems from working to much and everyday life stresses.  This semester I am adopting another class as I am trying to expedite my time attending school. I try to take additional classes when I can. However; working 60 plus hours a week doesn’t leave to much room for those extra classes. So I will take two for know and see how things go.

My classes this semester at Rasmussen are E-commerce and Customer Service. The E-commerce class is going to help me a lot in my working career now because I do a lot of online recruiting, marketing and searching for new business. Therefore I am actually excited about this class and anxious to learn a lot. The Customer Service I am not real sure about because I did not know they even had this type of course. It makes sense when you think about it because it is great for everyone to learn how to deal with customers whether they are outside of your company or inside. Inside meaning co-workers because we need to learn how to treat one another too.

Of course as I decide to take on more challenges with school, work wants to give me more challenges too. In Orlando we are really struggling with the economy and businesses are laying people off left and right. It has been addressed that I could be one of these people next. These are the times when I wish I could blink my eyes and be finished with my degree.

I was searching for jobs on CareerBuilder.com the other day with my boyfriend. He has his Bachelors degree from University of Central Florida and I am earning my degree now. The difference and stress levels from his search and mine are completely different. He is searching for areas of knowledge and compensation and looking in one field while I am searching for all of those plus education requirements and looking under several different fields. While there are companies out there searching for people with my experience they are requiring a four year degree. Even the sales positions were requiring a degree. What the heck… He was finding things left and right while I kept running into road blocks. This really scares me and I can only pray that I am not put into this difficult situation again.   

If only I had gone to College right after high school things in my life would be so different; however I did not so I have to move on. Thank goodness for the resources we have now which allow me to earn my degree online and work to pay my bills at the same time. Stay with me this semester as I journey through these courses and hope to learn lots – who knows, maybe I can share some things with all of you.

School is out for break and I need a break….As I am sure we all need a break from time to time. Therefore with the next two weeks off, I thought to myself what I could do…Hmmm. I need something to help me relax as well as focus on strengthening my body, mind and health. What can do this better than, Pilates.

I have heard my friends and coworkers mention taking Pilates and Yoga in the past, but never ventured out to try it myself. After really reading up on Pilates I became very interested and decided to try it out.

Pilates is an exercise that focuses on the core of the body. Once you can control the core of your body you then can build on making it stronger, taller and leaner. In return relives stress, fatigue, troubled joints and back problems. They say if you do this 2 times a week you will feel a difference in 2 weeks, you will see your body change in 90 days. Check out this website for some more information and ideas. http://pilates.about.com/od/whatispilates/a/WhatIsPilates.htm   

I went to my first class at In Balance Yoga and Pilates, in Lake Mary, FL this past Saturday and I absolutely loved it. I learned while I was there that I have some work to do, but I am excited to take on these challenges. At the end of my class that day I felt great and was ready for the next class to start. I felt so relaxed and clear minded it was amazing. I did have some challenges that will take some time in over coming. One of them was breathing...I have never been a good breather and take weak breathhes from the chest up, not tummy up. The other problem was not being able to stretch as far as others in the class and at one point my hips were exhausted that I had to rest. Apparently we hold all of our stress in our hips which is why it is good to stretch them and relese the stress. I went home and relaxed on the coach for the rest of the evening that day with not a care in the world. My boyfriend commented on how relaxed and refreshing I looked. The next day I was sore, but it was a good sore as if I accomplished a great workout. I figured I will go for a month (2x a week) and learn everything needed so I can do this in my living room on my own time.

My day to day experiences can be stressful and challenging which makes me tired, worn down mentally and physically and even gets me ill at times. However by doing Pilates now I truly think this will help me take life to the next level. I will keep you posted on my results as I come along this great journey.

For those of you that had been reading my previous blog may have noticed that I disappeared for a little while. I first would like to apologize and let you know that I am back and ready to blog.

Now as to why I had disappeared is not the most uplifting, but I wanted to tell you all about it and point out a few things. I lost my father unexpectedly at the end of October.  On a Friday morning I received a phone call from my brother telling me that my father had died. This is something you never want to hear when picking up the phone, but it is life. Can we ever really prepare ourselves for this…I think not. My father lived alone so there was no one at home to help him at his time of need. My father died just after midnight of a heart attack. He was 63 and living life like a champ, so we thought any how.

The last few weeks I have been a complete wreck emotionally. My father was very dear to me and I loved him with all of my heart. I have lost a grandma and a great grandma in the past, but nothing is like loosing a parent. We go through life thinking that our parents are immortal and that they will always be here with us. When in reality we know this is not true.

I have my days that I get by and I have those days where I think about how I am never going to be able to talk with him again. I am never going to hear his words of wisdom or his joke of the day and I am never going to here him say “I love you sissy”. This really hurts and scares me to death. My friends have been wonderful while they have been trying to comfort me, but I know time is the only thing that is going to get me through this. I will never get over my fathers death, but I know he would want me to move on and that is what I have to do…one step at a time though.

With all of this craziness in my life I fell behind in school. My teachers were very understanding and helpful to me. They gave me a little time to grieve and then I had to turn in my homework late. I truly appreciated everything they did for me. In our busy lives we never know when something is going to happen. Therefore it is important to always try and stay ahead of the game. This way when something does happen you don’t get put so far behind.
 
Have you or anyone you know lost a parent before?

I would love to hear your story because you can truly relate and understand how I am feeling.