Our little family is really starting to expand, in every sense of the word. We started with just Little Love and I, then added Andy, then Love Bug, and now little Harrison is on the way. I'm scared... This pregnancy caught us so off-guard and it's been a whirlwind of overwhelming since. I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing; it's just...different. I know nothing about little boys. I think that's what's the most disconcerting.
Expansion is usually positive in the sense that things are growing, whether it be family, business, etc. Just in the past week, we've purchased a new vehicle, Little Love started Girl Scouts, and I added a new member to my Thirty-One team! After finding out we were pregnant with Harrison, we knew we needed a larger vehicle. A Hyundai Elentra and PT Cruiser just can't handle 3 children in car seats. We were originally thinking of purchasing a smaller SUV because I've always been stone cold set on NOT having a mini-van! Well, after looking at prices and sizes, we got a mini-van. Although there's really nothing mini about it. It's an 07' Dodge Grand Caravan. I've always owned small vehicles so driving this monster has been interesting to say the least. So far, I'm really happy with our purchase and our growing family has plenty of space now so hopefully we won't feel like sardine's when we head to the beach this year!
Little Love had her first Girl Scouts meeting this past Thursday. I'm not sure she knows exactly how she feels about it yet. She did say that she was disappointed because she thought that they'd be going camping and having s'mores and doing that kind of stuff. I tried to tell her that this is her first time and those things will be coming up, just not today. LoL! I'm a little nostalgic heading into the weekend because I'll be visiting the 4-H store where I used to shop for my patches and Girl Scout items to get Little Love's vest and patches. I can't wait to see her in her "uniform"!
Thirty-One has been pretty steady so far this year. My goal for this year is to grow my team. I would realistically like to have 4 girls under my lead by the end of August. I'm not sure how feasible that is since Harrison will be born in June, so June, July, and most of August will be consumed with adjusting to life with a new baby plus a toddler and not-so-little kid! I'm definitely going to try though. I've pretty much mapped out my game plan for the coming month's of what I'd like to have happen so we'll see how it all falls in to place. My first recruit signed up yesterday and I'm totally stoked about that! She's going to be a fantastic consultant! Now comes the learning process for me of being a mentor. :-)
Well, that's about all I have for now. I'm going to get ready for the day before Love Bug makes her appearance. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!
♥Courtney♥
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
DIYing - Hit or Miss
Recently I have been scouring Pinterest looking for ways to be more economical not only on my wallet but also towards the environment. Something I really want to do is make my own cleaners. I sometimes have trouble with commercial cleaners because of the smells, especially now that I'm pregnant. I don't particularly like the strong smell or amount of chemicals found in commercial cleaners either. And I really don't enjoy the price tag on a lot of them.
For the past 8 months, I've made my own powdered laundry detergent and have loved the results I get with our CD, but it doesn't seem to work as well on our clothing. My best guess is it's not working as well because we wash everything on cold except CD, which get washed on hot. The soap isn't really "melting" during the wash cycle. I found a liquid version of detergent that pretty much uses the same ingredients over at the One Income Family Living Blog and she had the same observations I did. It seemed incredibly simple and doesn't have many ingredients. Plus, she raved about the liquid version she tried so I was incredibly stoked to try it but severely disappointed in the results. Now, I don't know if it didn't work well because of the type of soap I used (Soft Soap instead of Fels Naptha) or what but I was definitely bummed about it. Actually, I still am... I might give it one more go and use Fels Naptha since that's what the recipe calls for and see how that works. Moving on...
I am in love with smells (good ones, not bad ones, in case you needed clarification). I'm a Febreeze junkie but can very rarely justify spending the money on it (even when I have a coupon), especially with how much I use it. I, of course, scoured Pinterest and the One Income Family Blog (if you click the link it'll take you to the recipe) had a recipe and I'm in LOVE! I bought a bottle of Snuggle in the Sweet Blossoms & Wildflowers scent and it smells amazing. I use it mainly on our bed linens in between washings and it's working just as well as Febreeze, plus it's ridiculously cheaper!
Another DIY recipe I found was to make hand sanitizer. I found this recipe over at the Little House Living blog and I LOVE it! (Hm... Pattern much??) I used Up & Up's green, moisturizing aloe vera gel in mine even though she says to use plain aloe vera gel. I like that it has more moisturizing properties and works just as well. It doesn't dry my hands out as much as regular sanitizer does. This is a fantastic alternative to washing your hands all the time, especially us mamas that are constantly changing diapers. I put in an old pump soap dispenser from Bath & Body Works and keep it near the kitchen sink.
The next DIY recipe I tried was making citrus infused vinegar. I really like the cleaning properties of vinegar but many times cannot stomach the smell. Side note: I still don't understand how people put vinegar on french fries! Over at My Merry Messy Life, she posted how to make it. It's sooooo easy! I used it for the first time this past weekend to clean my daughter's bathroom mirror and was pleasantly surprised that it cleaned just as well as Windex and left no streaks! I'll definitely be making a lot more of this to clean with. Now, I'll just have to eat more oranges. The next batch I want to make is lemon and lime.
The next few things I would like to try are making my own liquid hand soap (we run through it like there's no tomorrow and it gets expensive), making my own pad of paper (I use these all the time), and making my own fabric softener. I'll give my reviews once I make and try them.
Now on to more family oriented entertaining... I had my spring Thirty-One open house this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. Even though I only had 2 guests, it gave me a chance to sharpen up my talking points on the new products from my add-on kit, well brush up period because it's been a few months since I've had a home party. I have a party set-up next month and one in March already. I'm really hoping to get to the point where I'm doing at least 2 parties a week but would like to be doing at least 4 a week. I am working on building a team and have one lady who's about to join and another who may potentially join. My goal is to be a director by the time Harrison arrives in June.
Speaking of... I can't believe that I'm already half-way through this pregnancy! It feels like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant and in less than 6 months, we're going to hold another little baby. I am beyond excited but also a tad apprehensive. I don't know anything about baby boys! We're still trying to figure out the logistics of where Harrison and Love Bug will sleep in relation to each other but we have some time yet. :-) In the meantime, I'm just working on establishing some semblance of a cleaning routine and actually making/knitting some things for him. On an even happier note, I got the call from my OB this morning that my glucose levels came back normal so I don't have gestational diabetes! No finger pricking 4x's a day for me!! :-)
Well, that's about all I have for now so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
P.S. If you want to check out things I'm making for my LO's, check out my crafting blog, On My Needles.
For the past 8 months, I've made my own powdered laundry detergent and have loved the results I get with our CD, but it doesn't seem to work as well on our clothing. My best guess is it's not working as well because we wash everything on cold except CD, which get washed on hot. The soap isn't really "melting" during the wash cycle. I found a liquid version of detergent that pretty much uses the same ingredients over at the One Income Family Living Blog and she had the same observations I did. It seemed incredibly simple and doesn't have many ingredients. Plus, she raved about the liquid version she tried so I was incredibly stoked to try it but severely disappointed in the results. Now, I don't know if it didn't work well because of the type of soap I used (Soft Soap instead of Fels Naptha) or what but I was definitely bummed about it. Actually, I still am... I might give it one more go and use Fels Naptha since that's what the recipe calls for and see how that works. Moving on...
I am in love with smells (good ones, not bad ones, in case you needed clarification). I'm a Febreeze junkie but can very rarely justify spending the money on it (even when I have a coupon), especially with how much I use it. I, of course, scoured Pinterest and the One Income Family Blog (if you click the link it'll take you to the recipe) had a recipe and I'm in LOVE! I bought a bottle of Snuggle in the Sweet Blossoms & Wildflowers scent and it smells amazing. I use it mainly on our bed linens in between washings and it's working just as well as Febreeze, plus it's ridiculously cheaper!
Another DIY recipe I found was to make hand sanitizer. I found this recipe over at the Little House Living blog and I LOVE it! (Hm... Pattern much??) I used Up & Up's green, moisturizing aloe vera gel in mine even though she says to use plain aloe vera gel. I like that it has more moisturizing properties and works just as well. It doesn't dry my hands out as much as regular sanitizer does. This is a fantastic alternative to washing your hands all the time, especially us mamas that are constantly changing diapers. I put in an old pump soap dispenser from Bath & Body Works and keep it near the kitchen sink.
The next DIY recipe I tried was making citrus infused vinegar. I really like the cleaning properties of vinegar but many times cannot stomach the smell. Side note: I still don't understand how people put vinegar on french fries! Over at My Merry Messy Life, she posted how to make it. It's sooooo easy! I used it for the first time this past weekend to clean my daughter's bathroom mirror and was pleasantly surprised that it cleaned just as well as Windex and left no streaks! I'll definitely be making a lot more of this to clean with. Now, I'll just have to eat more oranges. The next batch I want to make is lemon and lime.
The next few things I would like to try are making my own liquid hand soap (we run through it like there's no tomorrow and it gets expensive), making my own pad of paper (I use these all the time), and making my own fabric softener. I'll give my reviews once I make and try them.
Now on to more family oriented entertaining... I had my spring Thirty-One open house this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. Even though I only had 2 guests, it gave me a chance to sharpen up my talking points on the new products from my add-on kit, well brush up period because it's been a few months since I've had a home party. I have a party set-up next month and one in March already. I'm really hoping to get to the point where I'm doing at least 2 parties a week but would like to be doing at least 4 a week. I am working on building a team and have one lady who's about to join and another who may potentially join. My goal is to be a director by the time Harrison arrives in June.
Speaking of... I can't believe that I'm already half-way through this pregnancy! It feels like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant and in less than 6 months, we're going to hold another little baby. I am beyond excited but also a tad apprehensive. I don't know anything about baby boys! We're still trying to figure out the logistics of where Harrison and Love Bug will sleep in relation to each other but we have some time yet. :-) In the meantime, I'm just working on establishing some semblance of a cleaning routine and actually making/knitting some things for him. On an even happier note, I got the call from my OB this morning that my glucose levels came back normal so I don't have gestational diabetes! No finger pricking 4x's a day for me!! :-)
Well, that's about all I have for now so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
P.S. If you want to check out things I'm making for my LO's, check out my crafting blog, On My Needles.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Goals: Why are they so hard to accomplish?
We are officially one month into the new year so I figured it was time for a goal update. Every time I make goals, especially those related to my business, I find myself trying to be realistic yet no matter how realistic they are, I just can't seem to achieve them. I had a major problem with this last year when it came to my TSFL business. I'm half-way through my first goals time-frame and have 1 client. I know if I want to hit my $2,000 goal by February 29, I'm really going to have to rev up. I'm thinking of different ways I can do that while having a new baby. I'll fill you in on that one once I figure it out.
Knitting: If you follow my crafting blog, On My Needles, you'll know that I'm actually doing pretty well with my 2012 knitting goals. I won't go into detail here since this is my more life/business-oriented blog so if you want to know, check it out!
Blogging at least 2 times a week: I'm doing okay on this one. I posted a total of 6 times in January which is the same as last year. While I didn't hit this goal entirely for January, I still did a decent amount of updating and will continue to strive toward reaching this goal (here's post #1 for this week).
Quiet time: Epic. Failure. It's the first of the month and I am making a commitment to achieve this goal this month!
Relational: I've definitely been doing better with this. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I'm getting better and for now, that's all I can ask for.
I know I'm not perfect and I know that on any given day or any given month I probably won't hit all these goals. I'm okay with that as long as I'm continually working towards them.
The last few days have been pretty uneventful here. I'm just really trying to work on getting the house in order for when Trinity comes. I know that if it's not at least somewhat organized and taken care of prior to her birth, it'll be a train wreck afterwards. I've mostly gotten her room finished, there's just some things I need to get packed and taken to the garage. I, unfortunately, need my husband's help with that and he's not been so helpful as of late (not really his fault though). My main goal for today is to get the kitchen completely cleaned, floors, counters, fridge, etc. Once that's complete, I want to rearrange some things so I can find a place to put away the rest of the Christmas gifts that are still sitting under our tree. All the decorations are off the tree, it's just a matter of the hubby getting it back down in the garage. He was really silly in that when he brought the tree up, he filled in the space with other stuff so now he has to move all that stuff somewhere else to get the tree back in--hence why it's still sitting in our living room. I'm really hoping he'll take care of that this weekend.
My next big project I want to do is get into our garage and start sorting through the yard sale boxes. We have so many of them because we were planning to have a yard sale last year, but our location just isn't ideal for it. So I decided that anything we were going to sell, we're going to send to a local consignment shop and see what happens. The nice thing is, if it doesn't sell, I don't have to worry about it. I'm hoping that once those things are out of there we'll have a lot more room. We'd ultimately like to have our exercise room out there. I know this probably isn't going to happen until at least the end of March or beginning of April. I have a few boxes already packed and upstairs so I'm hoping to get those sent over before Trinity gets here next week.
For now, I'm just going to focus on the next few days. So until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Knitting: If you follow my crafting blog, On My Needles, you'll know that I'm actually doing pretty well with my 2012 knitting goals. I won't go into detail here since this is my more life/business-oriented blog so if you want to know, check it out!
Blogging at least 2 times a week: I'm doing okay on this one. I posted a total of 6 times in January which is the same as last year. While I didn't hit this goal entirely for January, I still did a decent amount of updating and will continue to strive toward reaching this goal (here's post #1 for this week).
Quiet time: Epic. Failure. It's the first of the month and I am making a commitment to achieve this goal this month!
Relational: I've definitely been doing better with this. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I'm getting better and for now, that's all I can ask for.
I know I'm not perfect and I know that on any given day or any given month I probably won't hit all these goals. I'm okay with that as long as I'm continually working towards them.
The last few days have been pretty uneventful here. I'm just really trying to work on getting the house in order for when Trinity comes. I know that if it's not at least somewhat organized and taken care of prior to her birth, it'll be a train wreck afterwards. I've mostly gotten her room finished, there's just some things I need to get packed and taken to the garage. I, unfortunately, need my husband's help with that and he's not been so helpful as of late (not really his fault though). My main goal for today is to get the kitchen completely cleaned, floors, counters, fridge, etc. Once that's complete, I want to rearrange some things so I can find a place to put away the rest of the Christmas gifts that are still sitting under our tree. All the decorations are off the tree, it's just a matter of the hubby getting it back down in the garage. He was really silly in that when he brought the tree up, he filled in the space with other stuff so now he has to move all that stuff somewhere else to get the tree back in--hence why it's still sitting in our living room. I'm really hoping he'll take care of that this weekend.
My next big project I want to do is get into our garage and start sorting through the yard sale boxes. We have so many of them because we were planning to have a yard sale last year, but our location just isn't ideal for it. So I decided that anything we were going to sell, we're going to send to a local consignment shop and see what happens. The nice thing is, if it doesn't sell, I don't have to worry about it. I'm hoping that once those things are out of there we'll have a lot more room. We'd ultimately like to have our exercise room out there. I know this probably isn't going to happen until at least the end of March or beginning of April. I have a few boxes already packed and upstairs so I'm hoping to get those sent over before Trinity gets here next week.
For now, I'm just going to focus on the next few days. So until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Monday, January 9, 2012
Overwhelmed
That completely describes my mood today. I don't mean just a little, but completely, totally, 100% overwhelmed--by everything. I don't even know what brought on this feeling; well, yes I do. After I got up this morning, the realization that I'm 35 weeks pregnant and in 3 weeks I'm going to have a squirming little bundle of joy crying every few hours really hit me (and I don't remember having this feeling with Kris). I started thinking about absolutely everything I still have to do and get and organize and just freaked! Her nursery is no where close to even being started. Thankfully, we're picking up the crib and changing table this weekend so at least that will be taken care of. I still have to go through bags of clothes that were given to us and figure out a place to put them. My plan was to make her crib set (the bumpers, skirt, sheet, valance, etc.) although now that's not looking like an option due to financial constraints. We haven't purchased the diapers yet and I'm not sure how or when we'll be able to do that. Then I started freaking because I need to find someone who can stay with Kris for the few days I'll be in the hospital so that she can still go to school--and that's not even half of what was racing through my mind today! I'm not going to bore you with my emotional, hormone-driven freak-out so let's move on to goals...
Business:
Tomorrow, I'm sitting down and mapping out the individual action plan(s) for each months goals. I know that having individual steps and breaking down the larger goals will help me be successful in achieving what I want. Once those are mapped out, it's on to putting them in motion.
Spiritual:
The goal that I set for myself was to spend a minimum of 15 minutes each day to read, ponder, and pray about scripture. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I have done some reading, especially each night with Kristi, but not the amount I wanted. I definitely need to step it up on this one.
Relational:
I've been in contact with more of my family and friends in the past week and have made some plans for get-together's--so far, so good!
So on that note, I don't really have anything else to talk about so I'm calling it an early night. Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Business:
Tomorrow, I'm sitting down and mapping out the individual action plan(s) for each months goals. I know that having individual steps and breaking down the larger goals will help me be successful in achieving what I want. Once those are mapped out, it's on to putting them in motion.
Spiritual:
The goal that I set for myself was to spend a minimum of 15 minutes each day to read, ponder, and pray about scripture. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I have done some reading, especially each night with Kristi, but not the amount I wanted. I definitely need to step it up on this one.
Relational:
I've been in contact with more of my family and friends in the past week and have made some plans for get-together's--so far, so good!
So on that note, I don't really have anything else to talk about so I'm calling it an early night. Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Fall is Definitely Here
Oh yeah, fall is definitely here! This morning I took stock of exactly why I was feeling more of fall today than other day this year thus far. I'm thinking it had something to do with the 51 degree weather upon waking up and walking the dogs, the pumpkin bagel with homemade pumpkin cream cheese for breakfast, and sipping on my homemade pumpkin spiced coffee (and by homemade I mean I added pumpkin spice to the coffee grounds). Yeah... I absolutely love this time of year. Not only is it the return of everything pumpkin, but it's that much closer to winter and Christmas, which is hands down my absolute favorite time of the year.
I'm really excited that next Monday is Halloween. Halloween usually doesn't do anything for me, but this year, I actually get to take Kris trick-or-treating. I haven't been able to do that since she was very little. The last time she was here 2 years ago, I was really sick and unable to take her. This year, she's being Ariel from The Little Mermaid (big shocker!). I love that she's so much like me and this is one thing she and I can share together. Sometimes I feel a little left out in that area because she has the He-Man/She-Ra/Thundercats thing with Andy. Anyway...
Business is going great. I had a meeting with my business coach today which was completely invaluable! I have never felt more at ease with this business thing. I have found it so completely overwhelming and she really helped me see that it's not overwhelming at all. Just take things a step at a time, map out a plan, and manage time efficiently is about all I need to do. It makes me feel great and oh-so-excited to work for myself and be here for my family whenever I'm needed. :-)
This week has been pretty crazy so far. We've been dog-sitting Matt's two adorable dogs, so that's been crazy in and of itself. Our family is definitely not used to having to pick every little thing up and closing all our doors. Needless to say, they drank out of the toilet a few times (clean mind you) and chewed up a couple of Kristi's things but all in all it wasn't too bad. Monday I hung out with Wendy a little. After getting my hair done, we went for lunch at Chili's (love that place!). Yesterday we had a play date with one of Kristi's classmates. That was our second play date so far and both have been fun for both the kids and moms. I'm excited to spend some time with another mom which I definitely don't get to do very often. Today was mostly just working my business, knitting the rest of the ornaments for Carol, and spending time with Kristi. Thankfully, the rest of this week isn't terribly busy (definitely a blessing). Kris has a birthday party on Saturday and Sunday we're heading to York for Carol's birthday party. I'm really excited for that. It's not very often our whole family gets together so it'll be nice to spend some time together.
This past weekend was my sister's bridal shower and it was totally awesome! Everyone had so much fun. Here's a couple of pictures from the party:
Well that's about all I have for now so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
I'm really excited that next Monday is Halloween. Halloween usually doesn't do anything for me, but this year, I actually get to take Kris trick-or-treating. I haven't been able to do that since she was very little. The last time she was here 2 years ago, I was really sick and unable to take her. This year, she's being Ariel from The Little Mermaid (big shocker!). I love that she's so much like me and this is one thing she and I can share together. Sometimes I feel a little left out in that area because she has the He-Man/She-Ra/Thundercats thing with Andy. Anyway...
Business is going great. I had a meeting with my business coach today which was completely invaluable! I have never felt more at ease with this business thing. I have found it so completely overwhelming and she really helped me see that it's not overwhelming at all. Just take things a step at a time, map out a plan, and manage time efficiently is about all I need to do. It makes me feel great and oh-so-excited to work for myself and be here for my family whenever I'm needed. :-)
This week has been pretty crazy so far. We've been dog-sitting Matt's two adorable dogs, so that's been crazy in and of itself. Our family is definitely not used to having to pick every little thing up and closing all our doors. Needless to say, they drank out of the toilet a few times (clean mind you) and chewed up a couple of Kristi's things but all in all it wasn't too bad. Monday I hung out with Wendy a little. After getting my hair done, we went for lunch at Chili's (love that place!). Yesterday we had a play date with one of Kristi's classmates. That was our second play date so far and both have been fun for both the kids and moms. I'm excited to spend some time with another mom which I definitely don't get to do very often. Today was mostly just working my business, knitting the rest of the ornaments for Carol, and spending time with Kristi. Thankfully, the rest of this week isn't terribly busy (definitely a blessing). Kris has a birthday party on Saturday and Sunday we're heading to York for Carol's birthday party. I'm really excited for that. It's not very often our whole family gets together so it'll be nice to spend some time together.
This past weekend was my sister's bridal shower and it was totally awesome! Everyone had so much fun. Here's a couple of pictures from the party:
Well that's about all I have for now so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Friday, October 21, 2011
What Not to Crave
So two weeks ago I got a hankering for chocolate. Since most chocolate hurts my teeth (I have extremely sensitive teeth), I thought I'd try eating a Twix bar instead. Big. Mistake. OMGosh all I have wanted and craved in the past 2 weeks is Twix! I never realized just how much I LOVE them! I've been doing really well with eating healthy my whole pregnancy so I thought I'd treat myself and by a small bag of the fun-sized bars. Again I say... Big. Mistake. I have come to realize that I absolutely CANNOT control myself with these babies. That bag was seriously in my house less than 24 hours. So, being the health coach that I am, I now recognize that under no circumstances can Twix bars be in our house. I'm not really sure how I'm going to handle Halloween yet, but I have another week to figure that out!
My second and only other pregnancy craving so far has been muenster cheese. This was my absolute favorite cheese when I was a kid. I haven't had it since moving in with my husband 3 years ago. Although, now that I really think about it, I don't think I've had any since I was a tween. Oh wait, that's a lie. Anytime I've eaten at Isaac's, I've had it. I forgot it's on the Boardwalk Gull. LoL! Anyway... I was at the grocery store the other day and picked some up. Cheese has never tasted so good to me. :-) If you haven't tried muenster cheese before, I highly recommend it. Cheese is definitely one of those funny foods you have to be careful with. I mean, in the health sense. There are many positive attributes to cheese like calcium, protein, etc., but if you're not careful, it's very easy to eat more than the recommended amount; therefore, eating excess calories and fat. I've been doing great on that front so far. Speaking of...
On Monday, we had a baby appointment. I got to see my favorite doctor and ask lots of questions. One of the things I wanted to discuss with her was my weight. I guess as my stomach continues to grow, I'm noticing that that isn't the only thing growing. I wanted to make sure I am on a positive weight track with this pregnancy. One of my biggest regrets with Kristi's pregnancy was not eating healthy. And because of that, I am making a conscience effort to eat healthy with Trinity. Granted, I slip-up (um.. read above) but I can say that overall, I'm eating very well in comparison (thank you TSFL!). She said that I am actually under for my weight gain but that it's okay since I was a little overweight to start. As of that appointement, I have only gained 15 pounds and can gain up to 23 pounds by this point so that made me feel really good. She also discussed us getting a level two ultrasound. Since my last one was at 18 weeks, the technician was unable get very clear anatomy pictures. That's scheduled for Nov. 7th so we'll get to see Trinity again (yay!!) and verify that she's definitely a girl. LoL! Andy still thinks we're going to find different anatomy or he just likes teasing me about it. :-) Moving on...
TSFL is going well. I haven't actually signed up any new clients as of yet, but this week I made the decision that this is it. It's either now or never--I'm either going to do this or not. I've been dabbling with this since April of last year and haven't been focusing on my business; although, I still haven't quite figured out why. But this past week, I made the decision that it will be my primary focus. So I've started looking at the training videos, renewed my license, ordered the new file system, set goals, and am continuing to master my craft. I've made it a priority to do something everyday, whether it's 10 minutes reading the Habits of Health or an hour of phone calls--just something. I have found that when I constantly surround myself with it, my momentum stays up. I don't want to just be a health coach--I want to be a GREAT health coach; someone my clients can depend on. I want to work from the comfort of my own home and be in my pj's. I want to watch my children grow up and not miss a single step or milestone in their lives. Most of all, I want my family and I to be happy and healthy and stress-free (yes, I understand we'll never be completely stress-free). I want to be able to participate in functions at school and be an active member of South Hamilton's PTA, more than just going to a meeting every month. I want to volunteer more of my time at church and be a part of all the wonderful opportunities that are there like choir and Upwards Basketball. Being in business for myself will allow me to have all these things and then some. I'm just not sure why it's taken me so long to realize that.
Tomorrow is my sister's bridal shower. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to spend time with her, my mom, and bestie. We're going to have a lot of fun. I'm really looking forwad to her wedding in a couple of weeks as well. It's going to be beautiful as will she. Kris and I had our first fitting for our dresses tonight. I'm really surprised that she only has to shorten Kristi's straps. I thought she was going to have to take the sides in some. On mine, she has to take in the bust, add some extra boning in the back, and hem the bottom. All in all, not too much and she does amazing work!
On that note, I'm going to work on Carol's birthday present so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
My second and only other pregnancy craving so far has been muenster cheese. This was my absolute favorite cheese when I was a kid. I haven't had it since moving in with my husband 3 years ago. Although, now that I really think about it, I don't think I've had any since I was a tween. Oh wait, that's a lie. Anytime I've eaten at Isaac's, I've had it. I forgot it's on the Boardwalk Gull. LoL! Anyway... I was at the grocery store the other day and picked some up. Cheese has never tasted so good to me. :-) If you haven't tried muenster cheese before, I highly recommend it. Cheese is definitely one of those funny foods you have to be careful with. I mean, in the health sense. There are many positive attributes to cheese like calcium, protein, etc., but if you're not careful, it's very easy to eat more than the recommended amount; therefore, eating excess calories and fat. I've been doing great on that front so far. Speaking of...
On Monday, we had a baby appointment. I got to see my favorite doctor and ask lots of questions. One of the things I wanted to discuss with her was my weight. I guess as my stomach continues to grow, I'm noticing that that isn't the only thing growing. I wanted to make sure I am on a positive weight track with this pregnancy. One of my biggest regrets with Kristi's pregnancy was not eating healthy. And because of that, I am making a conscience effort to eat healthy with Trinity. Granted, I slip-up (um.. read above) but I can say that overall, I'm eating very well in comparison (thank you TSFL!). She said that I am actually under for my weight gain but that it's okay since I was a little overweight to start. As of that appointement, I have only gained 15 pounds and can gain up to 23 pounds by this point so that made me feel really good. She also discussed us getting a level two ultrasound. Since my last one was at 18 weeks, the technician was unable get very clear anatomy pictures. That's scheduled for Nov. 7th so we'll get to see Trinity again (yay!!) and verify that she's definitely a girl. LoL! Andy still thinks we're going to find different anatomy or he just likes teasing me about it. :-) Moving on...
TSFL is going well. I haven't actually signed up any new clients as of yet, but this week I made the decision that this is it. It's either now or never--I'm either going to do this or not. I've been dabbling with this since April of last year and haven't been focusing on my business; although, I still haven't quite figured out why. But this past week, I made the decision that it will be my primary focus. So I've started looking at the training videos, renewed my license, ordered the new file system, set goals, and am continuing to master my craft. I've made it a priority to do something everyday, whether it's 10 minutes reading the Habits of Health or an hour of phone calls--just something. I have found that when I constantly surround myself with it, my momentum stays up. I don't want to just be a health coach--I want to be a GREAT health coach; someone my clients can depend on. I want to work from the comfort of my own home and be in my pj's. I want to watch my children grow up and not miss a single step or milestone in their lives. Most of all, I want my family and I to be happy and healthy and stress-free (yes, I understand we'll never be completely stress-free). I want to be able to participate in functions at school and be an active member of South Hamilton's PTA, more than just going to a meeting every month. I want to volunteer more of my time at church and be a part of all the wonderful opportunities that are there like choir and Upwards Basketball. Being in business for myself will allow me to have all these things and then some. I'm just not sure why it's taken me so long to realize that.
Tomorrow is my sister's bridal shower. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to spend time with her, my mom, and bestie. We're going to have a lot of fun. I'm really looking forwad to her wedding in a couple of weeks as well. It's going to be beautiful as will she. Kris and I had our first fitting for our dresses tonight. I'm really surprised that she only has to shorten Kristi's straps. I thought she was going to have to take the sides in some. On mine, she has to take in the bust, add some extra boning in the back, and hem the bottom. All in all, not too much and she does amazing work!
On that note, I'm going to work on Carol's birthday present so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Friday, February 25, 2011
100 Day Picture Challenge
I don't have a lot of time to update today since I have to be up really early in the morning for TSFL Storm Training (it's going to be awesome!). But, I wanted to share this with you quickly. My sister posted a challenge on FB that I totally want to take part in. It's a 100 day photo challenge. Day 1 is a picture of yourself with 15 facts. Here goes:
1. I'm totally scared of bugs, especially spiders.
2. I prefer my hair short (much to the chagrin of my fiance).
3. I have a 5 year old daughter named Kristi Michele-Annette Ruggiano.
4. I love music.
5. I sing...ALOT!
6. I'm working on my Associate of Arts in Business degree.
7. I'll be starting my bachelor's in Elementary Education degree in June.
8. I've had a fear of toilets since I was a kid.
9. I like to exercise (as long as it's fun).
10. I try really hard to be organized but never quite seem to get there.
11. I adore reading.
12. I love Christmas time and winter.
13. I really enjoying baking, especially cookies.
14. My favorite TV show is Gilmore Girls.
15. I'm a night owl.
Really quick update on goals:
Business: Got the second batch of letters addressed and stamped. I just need to record who and when on my spreadsheet, which will be completed within the next 20 minutes (that is if I can stay off FB). They'll be mailed tomorrow. TSFL--Training tomorrow which is going to be awesome. I plan to spend at least 5 minutes everyday working on each business.
Weight loss: Nothing to report other than both Andy and I are back OP as of tomorrow and nothing will be stopping us this time! My goal with this is to see how little time it takes to hit my goal. As of now, I'm hoping by the middle of April.
Quiet time: Not doing so great with this. Since I'm always so tired at night, I think I'm going to switch and get myself up 20 minutes earlier everyday and use that for my quiet time. I just need to do this. The more time I spend reading, the more I'm going to know how to live my life and in turn, will be happier.
Room of the day: Getting back on track. Didn't get today's finished as I wasn't home all day. The time I was home I spent doing homework. Since weekends are usually my days off from cleaning, I'm going to try to do today's room tomorrow. Hopefully being the operative word.
Kris is finally feeling better. Her school has a 24 hour fever free rule which is why she was home yesterday. With that said, she had a great day back today. She was so exhausted from all the fun and excitement that she fell right to sleep! Yay! That's all I have time for (thank you God for giving me the skill of fast typing!) so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Quiet time: Not doing so great with this. Since I'm always so tired at night, I think I'm going to switch and get myself up 20 minutes earlier everyday and use that for my quiet time. I just need to do this. The more time I spend reading, the more I'm going to know how to live my life and in turn, will be happier.
Room of the day: Getting back on track. Didn't get today's finished as I wasn't home all day. The time I was home I spent doing homework. Since weekends are usually my days off from cleaning, I'm going to try to do today's room tomorrow. Hopefully being the operative word.
Kris is finally feeling better. Her school has a 24 hour fever free rule which is why she was home yesterday. With that said, she had a great day back today. She was so exhausted from all the fun and excitement that she fell right to sleep! Yay! That's all I have time for (thank you God for giving me the skill of fast typing!) so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Ups and downs
The last few days have been a roller coaster ride. So as you already know Little Love has been sick. Monday was terrible. Her fever spiked to 103.3 degrees and that was after giving her medication. I picked up some cough and cold medicine for her Sunday evening not realizing that it had acetaminophen in it. Duh! I really need to learn to read everything on the bottle! For some reason acetaminophen just doesn't help her. I guess she's like me in that sense because it doesn't help me either. Anyway... I picked up ibuprofen on Monday after speaking to the doctor and about an hour after she took it, the fever finally came down. I feel so helpless when she's sick because there's just not much I can do to help her other than hold her. She just laid down all day which is very unusual for her. She loves to constantly be on the move. Anyway... Tuesday went off without a hitch. Her fever was gone completely and she was back to her normal self. We stayed at Andy's parents until last night to help Carol with the dogs and what not. Kris and I went for a walk around the block while Andy and his mom went to visit John at the hospital. We took some pictures of the snow covered trees. Kris is a lot like me in that she appreciates and loves snow. She enjoys the beauty of what is does to the earth and it excites her. Here's a few of the shots we took:
We ate at Tito's Tacos since we've all heard raves about the place. My favorite dish to get at Mexican restaurants is Chilaquelas (sp??). It's a bed of homemade tortilla chips topped with shredded chicken, a special sauce, and melted mozzarella cheese and is usually served with a side of rice and guacamole salad (which you totally have to mix everything together to get the full effect). Yum! So I ordered it at Tito's Tacos and was totally stoked about it because I haven't had that dish in at least 6 months. Um, yeah... I thought my tongue turned to ash inside my mouth! I mean, I like spicy food and all but holy cow!!! I ate about 4 bites and couldn't stomach the rest. It was actually making me feel ill :( That was very disappointing because it's one of my all-time favorite dishes. I guess I'll just have to order that one at Montezuma's or El Rodeo.
We stopped at Five Below afterwards so Kris could spend her allowance from the last two weeks. She picked up a really cute butterfly decorating kit for her room and a hula hoop. She was sooooo excited about the hula hoop. Side note--I tried to hula this morning. Yeah, that's wasn't happening. It's really sad that a 5 year old is better at it than an adult!!--End side note. We dropped Carol off and headed home, got Little Love in bed, and watched Glee while I knitted a couple of rows on Amanda's blanket. We went to bed shortly afterwards, only to be woken up at 5 a.m. to Little Love crying. When I got her to room, she was sitting on the side of her bed narfing while crying. So we raced to the bathroom to let her finish. I felt her head and she was burning up. At this point, I'm starting to freak because I realized that the ibuprofen was still sitting on his mom's counter and there was no way for me to take her temp because the battery died in our thermometer and of course it only takes watch-type batteries! The issue with the meds being at his mom wouldn't be that big of a deal except that the battery died on the outside keypad for the garage door opener and the alarm was set inside the house. The alarm keypad would be too far away to deactivate and I was pretty sure that there are no 24 hour stores around us that weren't a minimum of 20 minutes away. I got Andy awake and he, like the truly wonderful man he is (I'm so blessed!), remembered that Giant is open 24 hours. So he went to pick up the ibuprofen and thermometer while I comforted Kris. He arrived back and saved the day! :-) I took her temperature and it was back up to 102.2 degrees and gave her the medicine. She fell back to sleep until 9:30 this morning. She's been running a little fever today and hasn't eaten much so she'll definitely be off school again tomorrow. I'm just hoping that whatever she has I don't get!
Goals:
Business: I got 1/4 of my letters mailed today. I finished addressing and stuffing envelopes for the rest of the printed letters. I have about 60 more letters to finish addressing and printing. Oh the joys of marketing!
Room of the day: Kitchen--complete (including a completely unloaded and empty dishwasher!).
Quiet Time: About to be completed.
Weight loss: This came to a halt due to running out of portable food. But on a happy note, my shipment arrived today and now all my food barring one or two boxes is portable! So, tomorrow will be the official first day back op! :-)
It was really nice to get back into the swing of things today. Even having Little Love home didn't put a damper on me getting done what needed to be done. And it's just really nice to be home. With that said--I'm off. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!
♥Courtney♥
We stopped at Five Below afterwards so Kris could spend her allowance from the last two weeks. She picked up a really cute butterfly decorating kit for her room and a hula hoop. She was sooooo excited about the hula hoop. Side note--I tried to hula this morning. Yeah, that's wasn't happening. It's really sad that a 5 year old is better at it than an adult!!--End side note. We dropped Carol off and headed home, got Little Love in bed, and watched Glee while I knitted a couple of rows on Amanda's blanket. We went to bed shortly afterwards, only to be woken up at 5 a.m. to Little Love crying. When I got her to room, she was sitting on the side of her bed narfing while crying. So we raced to the bathroom to let her finish. I felt her head and she was burning up. At this point, I'm starting to freak because I realized that the ibuprofen was still sitting on his mom's counter and there was no way for me to take her temp because the battery died in our thermometer and of course it only takes watch-type batteries! The issue with the meds being at his mom wouldn't be that big of a deal except that the battery died on the outside keypad for the garage door opener and the alarm was set inside the house. The alarm keypad would be too far away to deactivate and I was pretty sure that there are no 24 hour stores around us that weren't a minimum of 20 minutes away. I got Andy awake and he, like the truly wonderful man he is (I'm so blessed!), remembered that Giant is open 24 hours. So he went to pick up the ibuprofen and thermometer while I comforted Kris. He arrived back and saved the day! :-) I took her temperature and it was back up to 102.2 degrees and gave her the medicine. She fell back to sleep until 9:30 this morning. She's been running a little fever today and hasn't eaten much so she'll definitely be off school again tomorrow. I'm just hoping that whatever she has I don't get!
Goals:
Business: I got 1/4 of my letters mailed today. I finished addressing and stuffing envelopes for the rest of the printed letters. I have about 60 more letters to finish addressing and printing. Oh the joys of marketing!
Room of the day: Kitchen--complete (including a completely unloaded and empty dishwasher!).
Quiet Time: About to be completed.
Weight loss: This came to a halt due to running out of portable food. But on a happy note, my shipment arrived today and now all my food barring one or two boxes is portable! So, tomorrow will be the official first day back op! :-)
It was really nice to get back into the swing of things today. Even having Little Love home didn't put a damper on me getting done what needed to be done. And it's just really nice to be home. With that said--I'm off. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!
♥Courtney♥
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Spring is in the air only to rain on my parade
This morning, I awoke to birds chirping outside my bedroom windows. This morning, I stood outside with Kristi and my cup of coffee in jeans and a light cardigan without a single chill running through my body. Today, I spent every minute outside without a jacket. Today, I felt the need to put on old clothes and dig in the dirt. Today, my mind raced to planning my gardens, what would go where and what would be in each. Today, I almost opened the windows to let the cool breeze chill my house (until I saw there were stinkbugs crawling all over the screens!). Today, it was the first sign of spring.
In previous years, the first sign of spring was kind of bittersweet, just as it was today. I love winter. I love everything about it. I love the cold air (but not getting the crap shocked out of me). I. Love. Snow. Absolutely everything about snow (well except maybe driving in it). I love how it blankets every nook and cranny with beautiful white wonder. I love bundling up in warm wool sweaters, hats, gloves, and scarves. I love that I can see my breath when I walk outside. I love to feel the stinging of my rosy red cheeks after spending time outside. I. Love. Snow. Now, the bittersweet part comes because I come to a point where I don't want my love affair with snow to end, but I really want to see everything blanketed in plushy green leaves. Spring signals the beginning, of newness, of birth. Spring ushers in sweet smells of fragrant flowers and beautiful sights of pastel pinks, yellows, and purples.
I'm feeling very poetic today but I think that's about enough. Some of you are probably wondering where I went and who me! Rest assured. I am back! From my dreamlike state to ramble on about the wiles of my day(s)...
Andy and I haven't celebrated V-day yet so I'll update that one after Saturday. But, speaking of romance... My ring is finished!!!! Woohoo! We got the call today! :-) I'll be picking it up tomorrow or Saturday! Score! And yes... you will have pictures the MINUTE it's on my finger. I will take a picture on my iPhone and post it. I can't promise that my phone will capture it's everlasting beauty but you'll at least get the jist. Once we get the engagements photos though, I'll post fabulous pictures of it. Our photographer (who is totally awesome and amazing) is going to definitely be taking a picture of it :-)
Business has been keeping me crazy busy this week. As I told you earlier, I spent time at the courthouse creating my individual lead list and sent them in the mail yesterday. I got my first response to them today--a phone call. While my heart jumped for joy that someone had received it and still chose to call, it immediately did a nose dive once the gentleman started talking. Let's just say he was a little less than nice. The thing that made me laugh afterwards was I offered multiple times to take him off my mailing list and was totally polite about it. At the end of the call, he stated, "I'm not going to tell you who I am!" and hung up. I was like, Oooookkkkaaaayyy. And how do you expect me to remove you from my mailing list if you don't tell me who you are? LoL! Oh well. I'm not going to let it get me discouraged. :-) I know I can do this and it takes those rotten apples to get to the good fruit sometimes. I also compiled my first list of professionals, real estate agents. Just in case you're wondering, there are 168 real estate agents in Franklin County. Um, yeah... I have about half of the letters addressed and printed and only about half of those actually signed and sealed. Who knew marketing was so much work? My dining room table looks like it's been run over by the mail truck! Moving on...
While most of my week has been on the upbeat side, my heart was very saddened and distraught earlier this afternoon. I received a phone call from the company where I ordered my dress. I'm sure I told you all about the dress a little while ago. Just in case I didn't, here's a brief synopsis: We want to keep the wedding low key since we're, um, less than monetarily endowed. So, I found THE. PERFECT. DRESS. in January. It's a strapless, ballroom gown with a semi-cathedral detachable train. It has rouching, beading, and appliqué and is just all around GORGEOUS. Well, I got the call today that they can't get the dress made in time for our wedding at the end of May (even though they told me in January it wouldn't be a problem). Okay, totally like the girl I am, I just sat there stunned and started to cry. The dress was only $225 (and did I mention it was THE. PERFECT. DRESS?)! A total steal, especially since the dress normally retails for $1,000. So I asked, just in hopes, what the earliest date would be that it could be made. Well that answer was the end of August. Okay, so now what? (It was THE. PERFECT. DRESS.) Here's my dilemma. You all know I'm currently going through a lifestyle change/diet. Since starting, I've dropped about 12 pounds. I've done this particular diet last year so I know it works and I know I can hit my goal weight prior to the wedding. My dilemma is that if I go to a bridal boutique to purchase a gown, most places that I have experience with or have talked to won't allow me to order a size smaller than what I am now. In wedding dress sizes, I'm in a 14 (normally a 10 or 12 pants size). I'm planning to be in a size 4 jean size by the time I get married, so I'd need a 6 or 8 for my wedding dress size. I can totally order the size I am now but then I'm going to have to pay a crap-ton of money for alterations which doesn't allow me to keep the dress within my budget and there's a possibility of screwing up any patterning/bead work on the dress. Now my next thought is I'm almost positive that I won't find a dress that has everything I want that'll be within my budget. The other issue is that because my wedding is so close, if I do find a dress that is perfect but have to order it, there won't be enough time to get the dress in and properly fitted/altered before the wedding. So then I'm faced with the dilemma of having to possibly back the date up. Ugh! My head hurts... Anyway, I'll keep you posted on that.
So Carol came home from the hospital today! Yay! Kris and I went over to her house to see her and hang with some of the Bentzel clan. Kris was really excited to see Sophie and vice versa. We took pictures of them outside and it was the perfect lighting for it. I'll post some pictures once I get them from Shari. The girls played for a little while and we went to visit Pap at the hospital. He looked much better than the last time I saw him. His leg is healing very well. :-)
Well this post was way longer than I meant it to be. (See, this is why I have to start updating every few days!) Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
In previous years, the first sign of spring was kind of bittersweet, just as it was today. I love winter. I love everything about it. I love the cold air (but not getting the crap shocked out of me). I. Love. Snow. Absolutely everything about snow (well except maybe driving in it). I love how it blankets every nook and cranny with beautiful white wonder. I love bundling up in warm wool sweaters, hats, gloves, and scarves. I love that I can see my breath when I walk outside. I love to feel the stinging of my rosy red cheeks after spending time outside. I. Love. Snow. Now, the bittersweet part comes because I come to a point where I don't want my love affair with snow to end, but I really want to see everything blanketed in plushy green leaves. Spring signals the beginning, of newness, of birth. Spring ushers in sweet smells of fragrant flowers and beautiful sights of pastel pinks, yellows, and purples.
I'm feeling very poetic today but I think that's about enough. Some of you are probably wondering where I went and who me! Rest assured. I am back! From my dreamlike state to ramble on about the wiles of my day(s)...
Andy and I haven't celebrated V-day yet so I'll update that one after Saturday. But, speaking of romance... My ring is finished!!!! Woohoo! We got the call today! :-) I'll be picking it up tomorrow or Saturday! Score! And yes... you will have pictures the MINUTE it's on my finger. I will take a picture on my iPhone and post it. I can't promise that my phone will capture it's everlasting beauty but you'll at least get the jist. Once we get the engagements photos though, I'll post fabulous pictures of it. Our photographer (who is totally awesome and amazing) is going to definitely be taking a picture of it :-)
Business has been keeping me crazy busy this week. As I told you earlier, I spent time at the courthouse creating my individual lead list and sent them in the mail yesterday. I got my first response to them today--a phone call. While my heart jumped for joy that someone had received it and still chose to call, it immediately did a nose dive once the gentleman started talking. Let's just say he was a little less than nice. The thing that made me laugh afterwards was I offered multiple times to take him off my mailing list and was totally polite about it. At the end of the call, he stated, "I'm not going to tell you who I am!" and hung up. I was like, Oooookkkkaaaayyy. And how do you expect me to remove you from my mailing list if you don't tell me who you are? LoL! Oh well. I'm not going to let it get me discouraged. :-) I know I can do this and it takes those rotten apples to get to the good fruit sometimes. I also compiled my first list of professionals, real estate agents. Just in case you're wondering, there are 168 real estate agents in Franklin County. Um, yeah... I have about half of the letters addressed and printed and only about half of those actually signed and sealed. Who knew marketing was so much work? My dining room table looks like it's been run over by the mail truck! Moving on...
While most of my week has been on the upbeat side, my heart was very saddened and distraught earlier this afternoon. I received a phone call from the company where I ordered my dress. I'm sure I told you all about the dress a little while ago. Just in case I didn't, here's a brief synopsis: We want to keep the wedding low key since we're, um, less than monetarily endowed. So, I found THE. PERFECT. DRESS. in January. It's a strapless, ballroom gown with a semi-cathedral detachable train. It has rouching, beading, and appliqué and is just all around GORGEOUS. Well, I got the call today that they can't get the dress made in time for our wedding at the end of May (even though they told me in January it wouldn't be a problem). Okay, totally like the girl I am, I just sat there stunned and started to cry. The dress was only $225 (and did I mention it was THE. PERFECT. DRESS?)! A total steal, especially since the dress normally retails for $1,000. So I asked, just in hopes, what the earliest date would be that it could be made. Well that answer was the end of August. Okay, so now what? (It was THE. PERFECT. DRESS.) Here's my dilemma. You all know I'm currently going through a lifestyle change/diet. Since starting, I've dropped about 12 pounds. I've done this particular diet last year so I know it works and I know I can hit my goal weight prior to the wedding. My dilemma is that if I go to a bridal boutique to purchase a gown, most places that I have experience with or have talked to won't allow me to order a size smaller than what I am now. In wedding dress sizes, I'm in a 14 (normally a 10 or 12 pants size). I'm planning to be in a size 4 jean size by the time I get married, so I'd need a 6 or 8 for my wedding dress size. I can totally order the size I am now but then I'm going to have to pay a crap-ton of money for alterations which doesn't allow me to keep the dress within my budget and there's a possibility of screwing up any patterning/bead work on the dress. Now my next thought is I'm almost positive that I won't find a dress that has everything I want that'll be within my budget. The other issue is that because my wedding is so close, if I do find a dress that is perfect but have to order it, there won't be enough time to get the dress in and properly fitted/altered before the wedding. So then I'm faced with the dilemma of having to possibly back the date up. Ugh! My head hurts... Anyway, I'll keep you posted on that.
So Carol came home from the hospital today! Yay! Kris and I went over to her house to see her and hang with some of the Bentzel clan. Kris was really excited to see Sophie and vice versa. We took pictures of them outside and it was the perfect lighting for it. I'll post some pictures once I get them from Shari. The girls played for a little while and we went to visit Pap at the hospital. He looked much better than the last time I saw him. His leg is healing very well. :-)
Well this post was way longer than I meant it to be. (See, this is why I have to start updating every few days!) Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Marketing, Marketing, Marketing
Isn't that what business leaders drive into our heads??? It's all about the marketing. I'm almost thinking I should have went to school for a marketing degree instead of business management. I never realized how much work marketing a small business with an extremely limited budget can be. And I've only hit the tip of the iceberg! They say that you should spend a minimum of 75% of your time marketing a new business. Once you have the sources, the leads will roll in. (Boy I can't wait for that day!)
That said, I'll segment into my day... Today was an awesomely productive day. After getting Kris ready and off to school, I spent about 1 1/2 down at the courthouse doing research. I got 37 leads which isn't too bad since this is pretty much my first time looking through real estate documents (and wow can they be crazy confusing). After I got home, I spent the next 3 hours on the phone hashing out details for different things, paying bills, and setting up the database to keep my research and lead prospects organized. It's been a long time since I've used Access for anything other than an already previously created template. And that was just to catalog our CD's/DVD's. Plus, Microsoft had thebright idea to change the interface of the Office Suite in 2007 so now I have no idea where any of the buttons are. That took me a better part of 2 hours to figure out and by that time, Kris was home. We hung out for most of the evening and while she got a shower, I got the first round of postcards (first marketing endeavor) typed, printed, signed, and stamped. They are ready for the mailbox tomorrow. Now this is where I have intensely mixed feelings. Up until now, this has just been a okay, this is what I want to do and this is what I would like see happen. But now, reality is starting to set in and I know the minute I mail these postcards, I will more than likely start getting calls. That's a little scary to me since I'm still in the learning stage. I guess the one really awesome thing about this job is that it really is a learn as you earn business. On one hand, that's great because I don't have to study for years before starting to make money. On the other hand, that's a little disconcerting for me. I'm one of those I have to know everything before jumping in. I'm excited and apprehensive all at the same time.
Well, I'm off to do homework and finally sit down to knit. I have to at least finish this lace repeat or this blanket will never get finished. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!
♥Courtney♥
P.S. If you want to find out what I'm working on, check out my crafting blog: On My Needles!
That said, I'll segment into my day... Today was an awesomely productive day. After getting Kris ready and off to school, I spent about 1 1/2 down at the courthouse doing research. I got 37 leads which isn't too bad since this is pretty much my first time looking through real estate documents (and wow can they be crazy confusing). After I got home, I spent the next 3 hours on the phone hashing out details for different things, paying bills, and setting up the database to keep my research and lead prospects organized. It's been a long time since I've used Access for anything other than an already previously created template. And that was just to catalog our CD's/DVD's. Plus, Microsoft had the
Well, I'm off to do homework and finally sit down to knit. I have to at least finish this lace repeat or this blanket will never get finished. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!
♥Courtney♥
P.S. If you want to find out what I'm working on, check out my crafting blog: On My Needles!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Weddings and Parties
Yesterday was just an all around AWESOME day! It started off with my sister Sarah, Kristi, and I going shopping for wedding stuff. We started at Chambersburg Mall to look for dresses for both weddings. We found an adorable yellow, blue, and red plaid dress for Kris for Sarah's wedding at Burlington Coat Factory (I seriously forgot how much I LOVE that place). And the bonus--It was on sale for uber cheap!! It's a cotton dress so it'll definitely be good for Sarah's summer wedding at the beach. We also found Kris and Kate's dresses for my wedding. By finding those dresses, I finally settled on colors. I was originally going to do pink and green and more of a pastel palette. But, as I was looking for flowers a few weeks ago, I found this beautiful bouquet that had a dark but bright pink and a brighter orange that was gorgeous so I've been keeping the orange-and-pink combination in the back of my head. Well, after finding these dresses, I totally decided to go for it. They're bright and fun and totally my personality. I unfortunately don't have a picture but as soon as I pick them up, I'll take one. They have orange satin with a pink sheer overlay. The bust area is pleated and there are three flowers underneath. The bottom has a matching satin trim. They are seriously g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s. The other really awesome thing about them is that they are dressy enough for our wedding but casual enough to be worn again which is something I totally wanted. And, here's the best part about it--they're only $25! Score!! Anyway... So the flowers I chose are an orange tiger lily with pink center, green gerbera daisy, and small white flower (don't know the name) with very light pink tips. They look great together and really tie in all the colors I wanted to include.
Of course the bouquets will be bigger but I like the simplicity of just these three in a single vase sitting on top of a mirror as centerpieces. We're not having a traditional reception so I don't feel the decorations should be traditional. :-) Sarah found all the flowers for her wedding and she had a great idea of using her and the bridesmaids bouquets as part of the centerpieces. That'll definitely save money in the long run! All the flowers were found at Michael's and most were 40% off. I totally love a steal!
Moving on to business... Not much has gotten done this week. I was uber swamped with school work and getting the rec room ready for our SB party. However, I'll be cracking down this week by checking out some lead options as well as mailing out my letters. I'll also be finalizing the date of my tasting for TSFL and contacting my business coaches to help with that. I'm really getting excited about these businesses! I definitely have to give props to my friend (and wedding photographer/fellow knitter). She has been starting her own business this year and blogs about her progress. It really inspires me to stay on track with my own, so thanks a bunch Casey!!
School has been interesting to say the least. I have a 95% in management and I'm really enjoying the class. I find the reading fascinating and informative so I'm not having any problems with it. I am, however, having some major issues with international business. So much so, that I actually called my academic counselor and professor to see what my options are for retaking it at a later date (but not so late that it would push back graduation). My professor gave me some tips to help with studying. I've honestly, in my entire school career, never had this amount of trouble with a course--not even AP US History. So this is definitely a new experience. I have until the end of this week to decide if I'm going to drop the course. I'm going to see how the assignments go this week and take it from there. IDK... I really wish I didn't need this class in order to graduate. Such is life...
Yesterday we our SB party and although the Steelers didn't win, we all had a really great time. We had about 12 people who came to hang. I made some really awesome, super healthy food, if I do say so myself. My friend Mel gave me a recipe for buffalo chicken dip (I love spicy food)! You can get the recipe for Frank's Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip here. Here were my modifications for making it healthier: substitute fat-free cream cheese, fat-free ranch, fat-free mozzarella cheese, and grilled chicken breast. Our WalMart didn't have the Frank's hot sauce so I substituted Texas Pete's original hot sauce. I served it with celery and reduced-fat wheat thins. The other dip I created came from Alison Sweeney's website (for those of you who don't know her, she's Sami on Days and the host of The Biggest Loser. If you don't know who that is, well I can't help you!). Click here for the recipe. The one I made was the yogurt and seasoning dip. I couldn't find fat-free greek yogurt, so I just used regular fat-free yogurt. I didn't measure the seasonings but did it to taste. I served this with celery, carrots, and potato chips brought by the guests. I'm a Hellavugood French Onion dip fan but I have to say, I would take the dip I made over theirs any day! I was really surprised at the taste.
I guess that's enough for one day... Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
P.S. If you want to find out my latest project, check out On My Needles!
Of course the bouquets will be bigger but I like the simplicity of just these three in a single vase sitting on top of a mirror as centerpieces. We're not having a traditional reception so I don't feel the decorations should be traditional. :-) Sarah found all the flowers for her wedding and she had a great idea of using her and the bridesmaids bouquets as part of the centerpieces. That'll definitely save money in the long run! All the flowers were found at Michael's and most were 40% off. I totally love a steal!
Moving on to business... Not much has gotten done this week. I was uber swamped with school work and getting the rec room ready for our SB party. However, I'll be cracking down this week by checking out some lead options as well as mailing out my letters. I'll also be finalizing the date of my tasting for TSFL and contacting my business coaches to help with that. I'm really getting excited about these businesses! I definitely have to give props to my friend (and wedding photographer/fellow knitter). She has been starting her own business this year and blogs about her progress. It really inspires me to stay on track with my own, so thanks a bunch Casey!!
School has been interesting to say the least. I have a 95% in management and I'm really enjoying the class. I find the reading fascinating and informative so I'm not having any problems with it. I am, however, having some major issues with international business. So much so, that I actually called my academic counselor and professor to see what my options are for retaking it at a later date (but not so late that it would push back graduation). My professor gave me some tips to help with studying. I've honestly, in my entire school career, never had this amount of trouble with a course--not even AP US History. So this is definitely a new experience. I have until the end of this week to decide if I'm going to drop the course. I'm going to see how the assignments go this week and take it from there. IDK... I really wish I didn't need this class in order to graduate. Such is life...
Yesterday we our SB party and although the Steelers didn't win, we all had a really great time. We had about 12 people who came to hang. I made some really awesome, super healthy food, if I do say so myself. My friend Mel gave me a recipe for buffalo chicken dip (I love spicy food)! You can get the recipe for Frank's Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip here. Here were my modifications for making it healthier: substitute fat-free cream cheese, fat-free ranch, fat-free mozzarella cheese, and grilled chicken breast. Our WalMart didn't have the Frank's hot sauce so I substituted Texas Pete's original hot sauce. I served it with celery and reduced-fat wheat thins. The other dip I created came from Alison Sweeney's website (for those of you who don't know her, she's Sami on Days and the host of The Biggest Loser. If you don't know who that is, well I can't help you!). Click here for the recipe. The one I made was the yogurt and seasoning dip. I couldn't find fat-free greek yogurt, so I just used regular fat-free yogurt. I didn't measure the seasonings but did it to taste. I served this with celery, carrots, and potato chips brought by the guests. I'm a Hellavugood French Onion dip fan but I have to say, I would take the dip I made over theirs any day! I was really surprised at the taste.
I guess that's enough for one day... Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
P.S. If you want to find out my latest project, check out On My Needles!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)