Confident Foundation

Best Tools To Use If You Work Remotely

I’ve been working from home for going on 10 years now (wow!!) I absolutely love it and am so thankful that I’m blessed to get to work remotely. In the past, I’ve shared my journey throughout those years and all the different ways I’ve worked remotely.

Today, I wanted to share some of my favorite tools in case you’re working remotely, too!

Time Clock Software

Time Clock Software – Buddy Punch

Through my different remote jobs, I’ve had a mix of flat-rate work, and also hourly jobs. Currently, I am in all “on the clock” positions.

If you or your team also work “on the clock” remotely, then using a tool like Buddy Punch is a great option for you. Punching in & out is intuitive for you or your employees & easy for management to view & export time. Employees can clock in using a browser or an app. Management can view who’s working, their GPS position or even limit where they can punch. It also has a facial recognition feature that allows employees to punch in and out, or login in and out by just looking into a camera. Very cool!

Quick Communication – Slack

When you work remotely it’s not easy to just pop your head into your bosses office for a quick question. You also miss out on the typical morning chat around the coffee pot. Email is still a great way to communicate, but not for quick questions or conversations. That’s why so many of the teams I work with love Slack. Set up like a messenger, you can divide your team into channels or send DMs. It’s fast, easy, and great to use from your desktop or the app.

Face-to-Face Time – Zoom

When you’re working remotely face-to-face time is critical. Thanks to video chat options this is easy and affordable. My favorite tool is Zoom. It’s reliable so it doesn’t drop or glitch often. It’s great for Face-to-Face, screen sharing, and recording and you can use it from two people to an entire team. I use it with one of my bosses multiple times a week.

Time Zone Helper – World Time Buddy

For one of my jobs, I handle complex scheduling. My boss is a co-founder who continually meets with other CEOs and founders of huge corporations. Often these are phone calls taking place with people across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, or even China! This free tool makes coordinating time zones a breeze and has been a lifesaver for me many times.

Task Management – Basecamp

When you’re handling multiple projects for multiple clients staying organized is key. I’ve used a few different task management software programs. Different ones are great fits depending on your business. I’ve personally loved Basecamp the most, though. It’s super intuitive and I love that you can create things based on teams or specific projects. It gives you a place for discussions, to-do lists, links, and files.

Team Collaboration – Google Suite

I’ve raved about how much I love the GSuite before but it really is just amazing! It’s the one tool I’ve used with every single remote job I’ve had for the past 9 years. Google Sheet & Google Docs are my two favorites, but they have a great calendar system as well.

There are my personal favorites! What tools do you love and swear by for working remotely? Leave me a comment! I’m always looking for ways to work smarter, not harder!

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5 Budget-Friendly Ways to Show Military Families and Veterans That You Care

Are you wondering how you can support a military family or veteran in your community, but you are worried you don’t have the funds to make an impact? Service members and veterans face many challenges, and the support of civilian neighbors makes a big difference in their ability to thrive. However, you don’t have to spend a lot to show you care. Here are five budget-friendly ways you can make a difference in the life of a military family or veteran.

Carpool with a military family

When a spouse is deployed, the parent who stays behind functions like a single parent. For months, the military spouse is in charge of looking after the kids and house all on their own. It’s a lot for anyone to handle, and worrying about a deployed soldier only makes it harder on military spouses. You can lighten your neighbor’s load by offering to drive their children to school and extracurricular activities along with your own kids.

Show your gratitude with a care package

Whether you mail it to a service member abroad, gift it to a veteran, or share it with a military family, a care package is a wonderful way to say, “Thank you.”

Luckily, the items deployed troops appreciate the most are inexpensive — lip balm and batteries might not seem like luxurious gifts, but they’re precious comforts to soldiers abroad. As for veterans and military families stateside, ask what they need around the house, and shop at low-priced retailers to buy basics at affordable prices. You can always find a sale at big-box stores like Kohl’s, and if you pair in-store discounts with Kohl’s coupon codes, you can pay well under retail for quality basics like cookware and school supplies.

Buy from brands that support veterans

There’s another way you can support the military with your shopping: Buying from brands that support veterans. You can shop with companies owned by veterans, companies that hire veterans, and companies that donate to nonprofits supporting veterans. If you don’t have money to donate directly to a cause, doing your regular shopping with pro-veteran brands like Walgreens, Starbucks, and Clif Bar is a no-cost way to make an impact.

Help a veteran with health care

It’s no secret: Figuring out your health care is difficult, and the situation is compounded when you’re a veteran. Between VA benefits and Medicare, it’s often confusing for them to understand what’s covered and what’s not. So, take an afternoon or evening and put your heads together — as a team, you can determine what they may need. If they require more coverage than the VA and Medicare provide, then they may need to look into something like Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan F and Plan G. Both plans will cover many costs, including Plan A deductible and Part B coinsurance and copayments. At the end of the day, it’s important to discuss what they need, what they can afford, and what suits their healthcare needs. 

Invite a military family over for dinner

Sometimes, the best thing you can offer is a personal connection. Since military families move frequently, it can be challenging to form relationships with classmates and neighbors. Inviting a military family over for dinner is a wonderful way to make them feel welcome and a chance to offer tips about settling into their new community.

Don’t have time to prepare a big meal? Mimic a catered dinner at a fraction of the price by ordering entrees and party platters from Whole Foods. With cooking out of the way, you can focus your energy on getting to know your new neighbors.

Military bases and overseas conflicts make it seem like the military live in a world separate from the rest of us. In truth, military families and veterans are our neighbors, classmates, and coworkers, and they need our support to cope with the demands of military life. With these budget-friendly ideas, anyone can afford to lend a hand to the service members in their community.

Image via Unsplash

Post by Kelli Brewer

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What To Do When You Wish You Had a Maid, But Can’t Afford One

Update: After a year and 1/2 after trying these products for the first time I still use and love them! They really do work for the long run and are absolutely worth the investment, so I wanted to re-post this 🙂

If you could be given any luxury service (personal chef, nanny, maid, hair stylist, makeup artist, assistant, personal trainer) for free for a few years, but could only pick ONE, which would you pick?

I know from a recent Facebook conversation that many of my friends would pick things like personal chefs or a personal assistant. A few would pick hair stylists or makeup artists or nannies.

There was one, though, that showed up over and over and over again. A Maid.

Me? I would choose a Maid (or a housekeeper if you’re being politically correct…is that more correct? Does it really matter? I wouldn’t mind being called a maid. But I digress….)

Hands down, absolutely, no questions asked. Whatever you call them, I’d love to have one. During the entire time we searched for a house I wore hubby out by saying over and over, “You know, if we could buy a really BIG house, I would much rather get a smaller house and a maid instead.” When we looked at the bigger homes that were in our price range when it came down to it all I could see was more space to get filthy that I wouldn’t have the time or energy to clean.

That is one of the many reasons we ended up in our Goldilocks house at 1,702 sqft. Our family of four fits perfectly in it with room to stretch and it’s the just right size for us!

However, as hard as it is to believe we’ve already been here for 5 months!!! While that’s amazing it also means that my ceiling fans are starting to look like this—>

Yepp, getting real with you ladies.

Now, you might be a little surprised if you’re new around here, because, aren’t I the gal with an entire section dedicated to organization? And it’s true, I am, but what’s really funny is this:

I love to organize but I do not like cleaning.

If you’re of the tribe that hates both, you might not have ever realized there’s much of a difference, but oh, there is! I could spend all day sifting through items, sticking them all into special boxes, and getting rid of clutter. When that happens I’m in my zone and happy place!

Show me the furry caterpillars of filth on the ceiling fan or the thick layer of dust behind the screen of my computer monitors….she types as she just now notices it and glares at it…willing it to disappear. Nope didn’t work, moving on…..

Where were we? Ah yes! So when I was getting ready to open my door the other day from picking up the kiddos, and saw a Maid’s Business Card stuck in it, I kept it. One, because I’m tickled pink that we live in a nice enough neighborhood that anyone thinks we can afford one, and two because I realllyyyyy truly would love to have one.

That being said, while I totally do believe in outsourcing tasks that you don’t do well/dislike in order for you to focus on the ones you are great at, a maid for us is just not in the cards nor in the budget at the moment. I have a feeling that you might just feel the same way, and be in the same position?

So what’s a girl to do? Well, that’s just what I put this post together for! I’ve managed to come up with a game plan that will make my cleaning game as effective and painless as possible until I become Insta-famous and use my earnings to hire that sweet maid whose card I still have.

#1 Get a Game Plan  If you’re like me it takes awhile for you to see the mess. I work from home and as long as everything is tidy, I don’t really see the dirt and grime. That is until it’s REALLY dirty and grimy and I go “Oh GROSS!!!” and spend an entire day nuking the bathroom. Yeah, that never works well for anyone.

Thankfully my mom discovered and introduced me to FlyLady ages ago and I’ve relied on her since I got married. Her book Sink Reflections is one that I have read and re-read and always keep on hand to refer back to. Since I’m a weird combo of organized but not a cleaner, I’ve never had *much* of a challenge with keeping clutter free like the first half of her book is dedicated to. I also started in this mindset early in marriage, when we had no money. Because of this my life and home have never gotten into a state of CHAOS as she describes it (thankfully!!). It did, however, let me throw away those ring boxes from the fancy jewelry stores I’d been holding onto for years. I didn’t keep anything in them…but they just seemed, nice, you know??? Please let me know I’m not the only one who keeps weird stuff!

So anyways, the part of her book that helped me the most was the second half where she teaches you how to “Never Spring Clean Again”. She divides every home into zones and gives you detailed lists for how to get them de-cluttered and then deep cleaned, just a little piece at a time. If you’re interested you should purchase the book! I love having systems in place that are customizable but say “Do this, this, and this”. When you’re busy-crazy they’re so helpful!

Of course, they only work if you do! I’ve now divided up our home into the zones and am going to begin setting my timer for 15 minutes a day of Zone Cleaning, along with following her weekly plans. Once I get those in place and stick with them I’ll never have to see those fuzzy filth caterpillars again, Yey! I did use these systems to keep our apartment in Boston clean and they work great even if you have babies and toddlers!

#2 Get Great Tools

We all know the old saying “Work smarter, not harder.” This is my motto in every area of life. I want to zone in on the ways I’m wasting time and energy and start doing those tasks more efficiently. One way I find great new tools and systems is by paying close attention to whenever my friends start raving about something. However, at my core, I’ll always be the review blogger I was when I started this site. So although nowadays you pretty much only hear me raving about and promoting the brands I love, you can be sure I’m carefully testing out and trying multiple things and companies to see if they’ll be worth bringing to you all or not!

Lately one of the companies I’d been hearing a lot of buzz around was Norwex. Several of my friends were raving about their products, so I poked into a few parties to see what the fuss was all about. Ever the skeptic, one video seriously impressed me–you can check it out here–>

I love third party reviews and so when I saw this I was sure I wanted to try out the products. So when a friend from back home approached me and asked if I’d like to give them a try, I was super excited! Erica so graciously sent me all of the products you’ll see me trying out today!

She sent me a few other videos, and the one that really intrigued me at first was the claim that I could get my windows and mirrors streak free using just the EnviroCloth®, the Window Cloth, and water. If you’ve been around for any length of time you know that I started moving my family away from using harsh chemically based ingredients as much as possible ever since Amber was a baby because of her ongoing battle with eczema.

It was funny, because right when I was writing this a gal reached out and sent me this article about how bad traditional cleaners can be, especially for allergies.  I have to admit, though, that many times I still rely on traditional medicines, and cleaners. Because, most importantly of all, I need something that works, and works well and fast.

I’ve tried lots of DIY and homemade cleaners, some have done great and others have fallen flat. I was excited to give these Norwex items a chance! The first place to tackle? The china hutch!!!

So cleaning the glass on this has always been a nightmare for me. I absolutely love my beautiful hutch that was graciously gifted to us as newlyweds. No glass cleaner, store bought or homemade, has ever been able to keep the glass streak free, though. You can see above what “clean” usually looked like. Such a pain! So I tackled it, inside and out, with pretty low expectations.

HA! I couldn’t believe it. The only way you can tell that there’s glass there now is the reflection of my china–and it’s like that in real life too. Super impressed with these two items I was like, well…..let me come up with something that there’s NO WAY they could clean. Especially since she also sent me Cleaning Paste. As I was cleaning my glass I noticed my amazing silver tea set was getting tarnished. In the past, I’ve always used a polisher which contains known carcinogens (I know, nasty!!! But it’s the only one I could ever get to work!) So I decided to put these to the test again!

The skeptic in me was starting to believe. So basically I then went through the whole house trying to find things that looked like they needed cleaning to see if it would work, haha!

Pretty cool, right?! They really did work well, and quickly! I really wasn’t putting a lot of “elbow grease” into cleaning these either. I’m a big believer that you should use tools that work harder than you do!

You can see above — the one side I used the paste and the cloths, the other side is still super yucky! Plus–aawwww!!! Chubby baby Amber!!!!

Time and time again, from the bathroom with the body cloths to my glasses with the optical cloth, I came away impressed!

I got onto Facebook and messaged this to Erica,

“So I have been using the products this weekend and Holy Cow!! I’m impressed and that is NOT easy to do!!! So excited to share some of my photos!!! ❤ ? ❤”

After my first package arrived she also wanted to send me the dusting tools–which are super fun and great, too! It’s like she knew my ceiling fans looked like that ^^^ without me even having to tell her!

Which also nicely brings us to my next point:

#3 Ask for Help

While you might not be able to hire someone to come and help with housekeeping right now, chances are pretty good that you don’t live in your house alone! This is the part of the post where I tell you that you shouldn’t be doing it all, alone, no matter how much you’ve told yourself you should.

Also! If you have very little children then just give yourself a big ol’ dose of grace, and know that NO ONE expects you to have a spotless house. Please find a good local moms group, get involved, and feel free to send SOS messages when things really get out of hand. Swap watching kiddos so you can each get the house clean, or trade your product or services for something that they offer! And remember, If anyone offers to help *accept it*!!!

Now for those of you, like me, who have older kiddos, be sure you’re having them pitch in! One reason I really love Norwex is that I can feel super good about having the kids help clean out because there aren’t any nasty chemicals in these items!!! In fact, Norwex has entire line of products specifically designed for kids that include kid-sized dust mitts! If you’re not sure where to start hop over and pin my 15 Beneficial Chores Your First Grader Can Do post – some of them you can also have your preschoolers start helping with, and ALL can be done by kids ages 6 and up!

I’ve shared over and over again but it really is true–my kid’s attitudes and personalities are just so much better and happier when they are contributing to helping out around the house! It’s when we start to let things slide and they have fun, all the time, that entitlement issues and unhappiness and bad attitudes abound. Teach them young that you all work together to keep your things nice! I’ve shared before how the ticket system works great in our house, and we’ve been doing it so long now that we’ve stopped using tickets. Now the kids know what chores they have to do each day, and which are extras that will earn them screen time.

Also, if you work from home or outside of the home full-time, it’s definitely more than fair to ask your husband for help and break chores into a game plan between the entire family. Because I still work part time without a long commute, (while hubby works full time with a long commute), the kids and I do all our cleaning. Hubby loves “new toys” though, and he played around with the next product when I got it in and even made a comment how much he liked it for dusting (without even knowing I’d been sent it to review!)

This awesome product is the EnviroWand™ with Two-Sided Sleeve. This was the handy tool that finally killed those ceiling fan dust bats (because if they’re on a fan they wouldn’t’ be dust bunnies..right??) anyways, I loved it! Instead of just knocking down the thick fluffy caterpillar-like yuck I was able to bend it to dust the top and the sides, and it trapped all the yuck in its fun fur (technically called nubby chenille microfiber).

I’m a shorty (5’5″) and I was able to reach and dust the ceiling fans in our high ceilings no problem with it, so nice!

See?? All beautiful and spinny once more!

Just as I told Erica, I’m so impressed with these products, and that truly is not easy to do! I highly recommend them and hope you’ll all be able to get at least a few of them, so that you can have the next best thing to your own personal maid!

Don’t forget to check out the catalog! Also, if you want ALL.THE.THINGS. (because, why wouldn’t you after this post???!!!!) You can have Erica host a party for you and you can earn free products! Check out her website for details!
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24 TV Shows You Can Feel Good Letting Your Young Kids Watch

Alright, first off can we all just promise to be honest with one another for a few minutes here?

School is about to be out. And if your kiddos are young enough to not be in school, you’re right about to hit the Dog Days of summer. In fact, if you live in the south and you walk outside your glasses are probably already fogging up from the humidity. (has happened to me several times when we lived in Texas, true story.)

While you are a totally awesome parent who does everything from creating an elaborate Summer Fun Pinterest Board to actually managing to DO some of those fun ideas, there is going to come a point and time this summer when you will NEED to put the kids in front of some screens so you can work or even just gain some sanity back! (And, well, I’m pretty sure you might be at that point).

Trust me, it happens to us all! If you’re concerned it might happen a little too often this summer I’d recommend doing a Ticket System and having your young kids do chores for TV time – it’s worked great for us for several years now! These days we do a much simpler, scaled back version I’ll be posting about soon–so watch for that!

Although I think screen time in moderation is completely OK for kids (especially when they earn it!) it helps when you know they’re watching great shows that aren’t annoying, dumb, objectionable, and that they might even learn from! Because I’ve made it something of a mission to track down these kinds of shows for my own kids I wanted to put together a list just for you of our favorites! It could probably be a lot longer, but I only wanted to share shows that we’ve personally watched and loved! Most of these are available on Netflix instant streaming, too, which makes them even better, and ALL of them are available through Amazon to purchase. Most are also found on PBS, Disney Jr., or Nick Jr. if you have cable/satellite/or access to a DVR.

All of these shows are great for the ages of 3 to 7-year-olds. I’m hoping to get an updated Screen Time Recommendation post up soon! These are from when my kiddos were this age–so be sure to leave the best and newest shows in the comments!

Educational Shows

Wild Kratts — this fun and educational show features the Kratt brothers and teaches kids all about different animals and their “creature powers”. One of our favorites I love how educational it is without being annoying and the kids love the fun features, suits, and “powers”.

Zaboomafoo — Hand in Hand with Wild Kratts is what I think of as the partner kind of show which is also by the Kratt brothers and also teaches all about animals, which we love! In my mind this show is probably 3-5 year old range and Wild Kratts is more targeted for 5-8, but kids in any of that range could enjoy both.

The Magic School Bus — I grew up on this fun and educational show and I have loved re-watching (and enjoying it just as much) with my kids! My little guy loves learning about our bodies and the episodes about the digestive and immune systems are some of his favorites!

Super Why — this was one of Amber’s all time favorite shows when she was little and I think it’s a big part of the reason she knew all her letters and the sounds they made when she was tiny!

Wordworld — Another Amber favorite and why she got a great start on reading young. This is also one of my favorites, I just adore the characters made up of the letters!

Wishbone — I grew up on this TV show and it is one of my all time favorites. The kids recently got some of the DVDs as presents and now they love it as much as I always did! This is an especially great one for kids in the upper 6-8ish level, and even older kids will enjoy it. I think my huge love of classic literature started with me falling in love with the storylines in this TV series!

Liberty Kids — Another one for the older age group, this is amazing for teaching kids about the American Revolution and  all that time period in history. I love that George Washington and Benjamin Franklin are household names now.

The Octonauts — if you love cute, adorable characters combined with learning ALL about the different kind of ocean life your family will love this show! It’s a top favorite of both the kids–and they still play with their Octonaut toys *all* the time!

Little Einsteins — this is one of Tyler’s favorites! I love how they use the different kinds of (not annoying!!) music and also teach things!

SuperBook — I already did a whole post about this series, but now that we’ve had and watched them for almost 2 years I absolutely LOVE them!! They do such a great job of sharing Bible stories in a fun and accurate way, as well as weaving in valuable lessons that apply to kids “real life” in the shows!

Bo On The Go — this cute, funny little series is all focused on getting kids excited about moving (it’s perfect for those rainy days when you can’t play outside). Bo needs the kids to fuel up her energy and they do that by moving around.

Blue Clues — a classic that came just after my childhood, as a teenager I turned my nose up at Blue and Steve but as a mom I decided I LOVED them! The story lines are engaging for kids and teach all kinds of things.

Sesame Street — ok, ok. So as long as you’re not living under a rock you know about the classic learning program, but, just in case you ARE living under a rock, you should give it a whirl as well. It’s kind of hard to have an American childhood without at least a little bit of it.

Team OmiZoomi — another super cute one, Team OmiZoomi is unique in that its focus is to teach basic math skills through fun story lines.

Book of Virtues — these are great because they have a different focus for each DVD, but it’s broken into TV-length shows. They focus on everything from Fairy Tales to Greek Myths to Bible stories focused around a center theme like Courage, Honesty, or Faith, and all woven into kids daily problems and each with a lesson!

Sid The Science Kid — I’ll be honest, this one *can* get a little annoying and the songs will get stuck in your head (hubby can’t STAND it) but the learning value is good enough it’s at least worth checking out to see if it pushes your annoying buttons or not!

Jake & the Neverland Pirates — ok this one is a little light on the learning side, and might slide more into the next category, but the “gold doubloons” make for good counting learning–especially if you have a little pirate lover.

Just For Fun

While these shows do try to teach things like getting along with others, or life lessons, they are really (in my mind) more about fun. They’re all still very cute, age appropriate, exemplify good behaviors and kids love them!

Rescue Bots — this is the kids newest LOVE. They have watched all the seasons through more times than I care to think about!! It is super cute, however, and I love that it’s a Transformer Spin off that is age appropriate.

Busy Town Mysteries — an adorable show about solving mysteries with the classic Richard Scary characters.

Kipper The Dog — if you don’t like English accents this show isn’t for you, but if like me you love them then it’s a must check out. Sweet and mellow it’s perfect for even the littlest ones!

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood — SO sweet! If you grew up on Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood you need to check out this spin off of it that has sweet family oriented lessons.

Sophia The First — princess loving little girls will adore this fun show about a peasant turned Princess.

Ninjago — another kid favorite, this one is probably the silliest one I let the kids fall in love with, but overall it’s just funny and one that your kids will love!

Sherrif Callie’s Wild West — a little on the fluffy side but a lot of fun!

So there you go! 24 amazing, fun, non-annoying TV Shows you can happily sit your kids down in front of!

((And yes, yes, yes–no screen time for those under 2, and please limit your kiddos screen time–I find that if mine watch more than the recommend 2 hours or under each day they start to get cranky and have bad attitudes, regardless of how great of shows they’re watching, so just save the marathons for those days when you REALLY need them for sickness or sanity sake 😉 ))

I know I’m missing some–comment with your favorite kid TV shows that meet all these criteria–we’re also always looking to expand our list!

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How To Be An Amazing and Well Paid Blogger Right Off The Bat

My personal video training series to help you know all the ins and outs of being an amazing, well-paid blogger right off the bat!

As my long-time readers know, I’ve been at this blogging gig for over 8 years now (wow!!) If you want a blast from the past you can go read my very first post here (if it can even be called that…it was more of a Facebook status update, haha)! I’ve come a looonngg way since the days of a copy/paste blog design and the horridly unoriginal name of “Ramblings By Nicole”.

If you’d like to get the full story of how I started working from home and how this blog went from a “my mom only reads it” to a job, you can check out that whole progress in the post How Anyone Can Successfully Work From Home.

Because I jumped in during the “early days” I did absolutely everything the long, wrong way at first. I’m hoping to help save you learning things the hard way, so I put together these blogger-to-blogger training videos for my contributors and also for anyone else looking to pursue their dream of blogging and making an income from it!

If you have anything else feel free to request my So You Want To Be A Blogger Facebook Group, I use it to throw out all the random pieces of goodness whenever I find them!

So You Want To Be a Blogger: Getting Started

Links Referenced in Video:

Correction note from my web guy 😉 : Note: WordPress.org is the self-hosted platform, WordPress.com is where they don’t support ads and there are some issues when trying to make money from the site. It’s technically possible to make money through your site/ads on wordpress.com but it’s not clear and you have a lot of limitations when it comes to customization. WordPress.org is where you would get the install files to host the full version of WordPress for yourself

How Do You Make Money Blogging

Links referenced:

How To Write a Great Review Post

Links referenced in video:

How To Get Sponsored Posts

How To Write a Great Tutorial Blog Post

How To Write a Great Recipe Post

How To Use Google Calendar To Organize Your Life & Business

How To Schedule Out Posts On Facebook

How To Share Blog Posts Effectively Using Social Media

Links Referenced:

  • https://bitly.com/

How To Promote Your Social Media Shares

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Jewelry Wearing Aesthetics

The wearing of jewellery is a big question. In many cases, it is even more important than the clothing itself. It is suitable for wearing it. It is like a finishing touch. If you wear it wrong, it becomes a target of public opinion. It seems to be a public joke. So how do you use the inner charm and function of pet memorial jewelry? The following will address this issue in two ways.

  1. How to wear jewelry in different occasions
    In people’s past ideas, it is believed that only formal and solemn occasions can wear jewelry, and other occasions are not suitable for wearing jewelry. In fact, this is a kind of deviation of understanding. As long as it is worn properly, you can wear jewelry in any occasion.
    Everyone has a deeper understanding of clothing, knowing the difference between formal wear, everyday clothes, dress, casual wear, etc., and knows to wear different clothes on different occasions, but in the wearing of jewelry, it seems that knowledge is lacking. A piece of jewelry is not taken off when it is put on no matter which
    occasions.
  2. Things to pay attention to when wearing jewelry
    For professional women, there are more restrictions on the accessories of professional wear, so we have to take some thoughts to choose the jewelry that suits our temperament and style. Of course, in order to break through the simplicity of the color of professional wear, it is recommended that you can match some vivid fancy
    gemstones on the chest and hairpins, as well as necklaces, so that the solemn professional wear will be transmitted to the vitality and beauty of women. In addition, clever my name necklace can change the shape of the professional wear. For example, you can add a curve-designed brooch to the collar of the suit, which can add a few dynamic movements to the suit.

When you are at home or going to a trip, you should pay attention to the form of jewelry and the combination with the clothing. Generally, in this informal occasion, the design of fancy gemstones and semi-precious gemstone jewelry is matched with the casual wear, and a plain taste reveals a different taste.

As the number of kits increases, the weight of the color increases, and the influence on the color and design of the garment is relatively large. Therefore, be sure to pay attention to the coordination and coordination with the wearing environment. For example, the jade suit is best worn in formal occasions at night, and the green of the emerald can be elegant under the light, while in the daylight, the green is full of glare. Platinum sapphire sets will look more suitable for such occasions and will appear calmer. Ruby and diamond sets will have a good effect under the light. The pearl arabic name necklace set has strong adaptability. In most occasions, it will not look dazzling.

The British Princess Diana has many pearl sets, she often wears pearl sets
are always elegant and luxurious when they attend a variety of occasions. Therefore, it is recommended that you should have a set of pearl sets for use, and its combination with clothing is not very demanding. When wearing inlaid jewelry, avoid hooking clothes and purses, which will cause some looseness. So in general, jewelry should be worn after the clothes are worn. The same is true when unloading cheap personalized necklaces, first picking jewels and then changing clothes.

https://www.getnamenecklace.com/birthstone-rings

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How to Clean Practically Everything in Your House Using Only Natural Ingredients

Are you looking to reduce your family’s exposure to harmful chemicals but don’t know where or how to start?  Here is an incredibly simple guide to replacing toxic household cleaners with safe, natural alternatives, many of which you probably already have on hand.  You’ll find out how to safely clean practically every surface in your house, from the windows to the toilet and everywhere in between.  These cleaners are safe enough for kids to use, so the whole family can pitch in around the house without any concern about what they’re being exposed to.  You will still want to keep these things away from young children who might accidentally ingest them.  While perfectly safe to use for cleaning, some of these ingredients can be harmful if ingested, so make sure they will only be accessible to people who won’t try to drink them 😉

There are a few basic things you’ll need to make the switch to natural cleaning:

  • Vinegar
  • Baking Soda
  • Lemon Essential Oil
  • Various other essential oils (optional)
  • Dish Soap
  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Olive Oil
  • Microfiber Cloth (or any lint-free cloth)
  • Glass Spray Bottles (plastic can break down over time from essential oils)

Using just these supplies, you can clean just about every surface in your house.  Sounds easy, right?  It really is! Here are some specific tips for tackling all of your chores with no harmful fumes or chemicals.

Dusting– This is one of those chores that’s perfect for little hands so I usually let my kids do the dusting, but I don’t want them exposed to commercial dusting sprays.  There are two all-natural dust-busters we use in our house, so I’ll share them both.

  1. The simplest method is to dampen a microfiber cloth, add 2-3 drops of lemon essential oil to the cloth, and simply wipe the surface with it.
  2. If you want extra shine, however, you can make this all-natural dusting spray that’s safe for all finished wood surfaces.  Simply add 1 cup of water, 2 T. white vinegar, 1 T. olive oil, and 15-20 drops of lemon essential oil to a glass spray bottle and shake well.  Lightly spray the surface and wipe clean with a soft cloth.

Tubs,Tile and Grout– A paste made with baking soda and a little water can make scrubbing stains from grout and tile a cinch.  Soap and water will also work on tile for everyday cleaning.

Toilets and Ceramic Sinks–  Sprinkle baking soda in sinks and toilet bowls and let it sit for up to an hour, then pour vinegar over the baking soda and scrub with a toilet brush or cloth.  The baking soda deodorizes while the vinegar sanitizes, leaving your bathroom naturally clean!

Floors (wood, vinyl, linoleum, and laminate)-  A basic solution of 1/4 C. white vinegar and 1 C. water will clean most floors easily.  For extra shine, you can also add 1 T. oil to the mix.  Spray floors with the mixture and wipe with a soft cloth or mop.  Alternatively, you can fill a bucket with 1 gallon of water and 4 cups of vinegar and mop the floor with this solution.

Marble and granite– While vinegar is an amazing natural cleaner, it should never be used on natural stone like marble and granite, which can be etched by acidic ingredients like vinegar or citrus.  Mix 1 C. water, 1/4 C. rubbing alcohol, 3-4 drops of dish soap, and 5-10 drops of any non-citrus essential oil (such as lavender, peppermint, cedarwood, etc.)  Spray on surface and wipe clean.  This solution can also be used for most floors, and it dries quickly without leaving streaks because of the alcohol.

All-purpose cleaner– If you want to keep things really simple and just have one bottle of cleaner for most jobs, this is it.  Mix 3 parts water with 1 part white vinegar in a glass spray bottle, add 15-20 drops of essential oils, and shake well.  You can use this solution to clean countertops, sinks, tubs, showers, windows, floors, and even cutting boards and appliances.  Just be sure to avoid using this one on granite or marble.

If the idea of making your own cleaners is too overwhelming, or you don’t really want your house to smell like vinegar every time you clean something, there are plenty of non-toxic, natural cleaners available to purchase.  I’ve tried several companies over the years, but my absolute favorites are from Red’s Gone Green.

Her products smell so amazing that I genuinely want to clean my house just so I can enjoy the scent of clove-cinnamon-vanilla (which smells just like chai tea) or lavender-vanilla (incredibly calming.)  Check out all of her products here.  The all-purpose cleaners (except the grapefruit-orange-lavender) are even safe on granite and marble, so you can basically reduce your whole cleaning cabinet to just one incredibly fragrant bottle!

Hopefully this is a helpful crash course on how to start swapping some of your commercial cleaners for more natural alternatives.  It really is simple and affordable to enjoy the benefits of non-toxic cleaning supplies.  Have other natural cleaning hacks or tips to share?  Leave us a comment below!

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Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns To Listen

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen

This post has always been one of my most popular on Pinterest, and it’s too perfect for the  summer season not to share again. If you have a little one in PreK or Kindergarten, or if you’re a teacher of young children of any kind you’ll want to own this book! I will say, though, that even my 8 year old still enjoys reading the Howard Series 4 years after we added him into our home library, this lovable little bunny is just a lot of fun!

Here is my original post:

I find that as a parent I try to make sure that most of the shows that my children watch and the books that they reads (or that I read to them) are not only entertaining and wholesome, but also have some type of lesson or learning aspect about them. Fun, silly, “just because” shows definitely have their place–but I want to make sure that we use every opportunity to teach them valuable life skills in a way they don’t even realize that they’re learning!

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen couldn’t have come at a better time as Amber has been having a few problems with learning to listen. You know, REALLY listen and obey right away.

In Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen Howard is having a little problems with listening, to any and everyone including parents, friends, and teachers. Not because he’s purposefully being bad, there is just so much to be distracted by! This book is great because it shows the cause and effect of not listening, such as punishments from teachers, hurting friends or himself, and losing privileges, which are all shown in an engaging writing style. This book is great because it also shows the good things and rewards that good “really listening” bring!

We both loved the fun pictures and the discussion questions at the end of the book too.

This book is absolutely perfect for any pre-k – kindergartner or above who is having a little bit of difficulty in this area! (and don’t they all from time to time??)

Be sure to check out their website We Do Listen Foundation for free lesson plans, read alouds, and more!

If you love this book be sure to check out our reviews of the other Howard B. Wigglebottom books as well!

Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey On His Back (a book about lying)

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Courage

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5 Brilliant Ways To Save Money This Summer

Today was the last day of school for the Elliott’s and we are officially happy dancing our way into summer!

Summer for most people brings with it a lot of fun, but that can also mean a lot of extra expenses. Those vacations, road trips, summer camps, and celebrations add up faster than you can say “How is it already June?” So today I decided to bring you some brilliant ways to save money this summer. The best part about them? Any busy-crazy parent or working professional can do them! No complicated schemes or cutting coupons or figuring out things (( #aintnobodygottime for that))

1. Save Energy

I know, I know! But listen, what better way to talk about *saving* money than by giving you a chance to WIN some??!! Complete this Spot the Watt game challenge and be entered to win a $100 gift card! Test your energy-saving knowledge among your family and friends as you navigate your way through three interactive rooms. Learn tips in each room to help you save energy, and money, along the way.

This is such an easy, painless way to save money. Adjust your habits just a little and it will amaze you how much these little savings add up! This is especially so important if you live somewhere HOT like we do in Texas!

2. Trim the Fat–Literally

Summer is a great time to re-tackle your food budget. How are those New Years Resolutions doing? No guilt here, I totally understand! With the warm weather comes a great time to re-commit to healthy living. Hubby and I have been on a healthy living kick over the past few months. It has included participating in races and fixing our eating habits. A huge added benefit? Skipping out on eating out and convenience food has actually saved us a ton of money!

Now, don’t get me wrong. Eating out has, and always will, be one of our favorite splurges. But as we’re getting healthier I’m finding that I’d much rather save up and savor that nice, sit down steak. It doesn’t even bother me to totally skip out on the cheap, fast food options. Though they may seem cheap, compared to cooking for yourself they’re actually super pricey!

And, shocker, losing weight really doesn’t have to involve all those quick fixes or elaborate plans that cost you an arm and leg. Hubby is down 40 lbs (go him!!!) and I’m down 10 just because we quit doing the dumb things we knew we needed to, we controlled our portions, and we did the next step….

3. Re-think Getting Healthy ((newsflash, it doesn’t have to cost a bunch of money))

This one goes hand in hand with the one above but it deals more with exercise. Of course, you need to find what makes you want to actually get healthy, and that’s worth whatever cost! However, I’ve found that personally, I’m a lot more motivated by things that don’t involve a ton of money. If you’re somewhere that’s nice in the summer get outside! Running outside is so much more fun. You might also find a local adult league, there are lots that cost very little or are free. Or spend a little money upfront and purchase a piece of exercise equipment and then USE IT! ((the key)).  What we’re currently doing is investing a little money in participating in races, then doing all the training on our own for free ((running outside, together, with the kids at parks, on our treadmill, pushups, situps etc)). Having the goal in site gives huge motivation, and the training doesn’t cost us anything!

Right now we’re currently training for a 5-mile obstacle run in the fall. Yipes!!!

4. Keep Entertainment Cheap

As I mentioned, keeping the family entertained over the summer can add up FAST! While vacations are amazing and you should splurge, take a good long look at your entertainment expenses this month. Do you *really* need all those subscriptions? How many are you using? We’ve always saved tons of money by not having cable. For the kids we also only have them play free things, with the exception of our one subscription that we play together as a family. Rethink how many camps and special outings you want to send your kids to as well. Chances are great they’d have JUST as much fun playing outside in the neighborhood, running through the sprinkler or throwing water balloons around. Unplug them and then *gasp* let them use their imaginations!!!

Another *amazing* option for summer fun is Vacation Bible Schools. Especially if you’re in the Bible Belt like we are, these are running all summer long. They’re fun, safe, free, and generally welcome even kids from other churches in town with open arms.

5. Break Up With Your Cell Phone Contract

Another huge money drain that so many people still have is contracted cell plans. We switched to a pay as you go service years ago and are savings hundreds as a result. The best part? The service is JUST as good with the plan we’re currently on, we still have unlimited data and minutes. Check out your local stores and see what they have to offer. You’ll probably be shocked at what you could be saving!

So there you go, 5 ways to save big bucks that aren’t that complicated at all! Do you have any amazing money saving tips please share them in the comments!

And don’t forget to Complete this Spot the Watt game challenge and be entered to win a $100 gift card!

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