Decorate for Less

I have been searching for the perfect oil painting reproduction to hang in my family room. Today I came across the website Paylesshomestyle.com during my search.

Paylesshomestyle.com has beautiful pieces of art for sale along with glass vases, clocks, statues, iron art and pottery. They have been in business online for about a year and want to help you, the customer, decorate in a way that fits your style and budget. Whether it be the "perfect" painting for your family room (like what I was looking for) or affordable artwork for your office, Paylesshomestyle.com is there to help.

I really recommend that you go check out their website. You'll pay less for the artwork itself and they offer FREE shipping!

Snoring

Our cat snores sometimes, but not nearly as loud as this little dog in the video. Had to put this clip on my blog. It is just too cute!

Short Story

In his new book, Hunger and Other Stories by Ian Randall Wilson, you will find several spell binding stories. One story, in particular, that I found interesting was called The Wire Man. This story is about a son who can't stand his father, a self-made entrepreneur. The son, divorced from his wife and separated from his son, decides to strike out and go into business on his own. He ends up getting deeper and deeper into debt, all the time hearing his father's taunting words of his failure in the background. He soon realizes that he is starting to act just like his father, causing his own son to look at him through different eyes as well.

Ian Randall Wilson is a very talented writer and has a unique way of colorfully approaching the human dilema. I highly recommend this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

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Wednesday Woes

Last night our furnace started messing up. It would try to kick on then shut off, kick on then shut off. It did that a good ten times before finally kicking on enough to heat the house. It did this all night long, every 20 minutes or so. I called the repair guy this morning and thankfully he was able to come out this afternoon. He looked the furnace over and all it needed was a coil or something cleaned. it had carbon buildup on it and wasn't reading the temperature of the flame or something like that. Anyway, it's working fine now. Just glad it didn't decide to mess up when it was super cold outside. Today it is in the 40's so I've not had to worry about bundling up to keep from freezing.

Forums

You've probably seen the commercials on tv, like the one where the blonde woman is wanting to go into the ocean and play with the "dolphins" (they're really sharks). She then gets hit in the head with a box from Vonage and the announcer says One smart decision among many many stupid ones.

If you're wondering what Vonage is all about, there is an excellent website that will answer pretty much any question you might have about them. Just click HERE to visit. The Vonage VoIP forums have categories that discuss the technical aspects of Vonage as well as the pros and cons of using their service. You can visit these forums as well as sign up for their newsletter.

40th Anniversary Pictures

I FINALLY got the anniversay pictures back that I took during my parents open house. Thought you might like to check them out.

Friends of the family

the table runner that was on all the tables

the serving table

more guests

the picture collage of my parents throughout their years of marriage

The happy couple

more guests

more guests

the cardinals we set in with the greenery to give more color to the decor

floating candle centerpiece that was on each table

the anniversary cake

Let's Save Some Money!

I love to shop online and anytime I do, I try to find the best deal out there. Sometimes that means finding the website that offers the cheapest product, but my favorite way to save money online is by using coupon codes. This way I can shop at my favorite online store, Brylane Home, and save money even if the price is a bit higher then other websites.

CouponChief.com is my favorite place to find coupon codes. And right now, Brylane Home has several deals listed, such as 20% off your favorite item! Just in time for me since I'm redecorating my master bedroom and am in need of several new items. I'm sure I'll be able to find my "favorite"!

What a Whopper!

While out fishing this past weekend, this humongous fish jumped out of the pond and into my son's fishing net. You should have seen the one that got away!



And if you believe that fish tale then I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you:) Actually, this is a pillow. It was one of several things that he received for his birthday over the weekend. WHY on EARTH anyone would want a fish pillow is beyond me, but he seems to be enjoying it and it is kind of comfy.

I'm having withdrawal symptoms!

My email program has been down all afternoon and it is really starting to cause me grief. Email is my lifeline to the outside world and my friends. I don't know what the deal with it is either. I've called our service provider and the tech guy said to give it a bit then try again, there wasn't anything wrong on their end. So I did that, but still nothing. Argh! It's amazing how much we rely on technology now and how quickly we go insane when it's not available.

Mint Credit Cards

If you live in the UK and are looking for a credit card, the Mint Credit Card could be just what you are looking for. Mint offers credit cards with 0% on purchases and balance transfers until December 1, 2007, 0% bonus offer until August 1, 2008, on balance transfers done in February 2008, typical 16.9% APR, up to £7500 credit limit and several other fantastic options.

MINT introduced the Mint credit card in 2003. The card was offered as two versions, a standard credit card and the MC2 card which has the bottom right-hand corner removed. This was the first change to the shape of credit cards in the UK for 37 years.

Mint also offers gift cards, which were first launched in September 2006. It is basically a pre-paid credit card that you can give as a gift. Giving this card as a gift gives the recipient the option of shopping in whatever store he or she chooses rather then being tied down to just one particular store. Gift cards can be given in amounts ranging from £10 to £250, can be personalized with a special message and the recipient can keep track of the balance by signing up for text message alerts.

If you are interested in learning more, visit the MINT website today.

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Son's Birthday

Tomorrow is my son's birthday. He'll be twelve years old. My baby is no longer a baby:( But then he hasn't been for awhile. This boy, well, young man is already taller then me and has been for at least two years now. No longer a baby in appearance, but he will always be my baby at heart.

International Phone Calls

Do you like to talk on the phone or possibly have a teen who likes to chat the night away? Have you recently moved to a new state or country and would still like to stay in contact with your friends and family? If you have and hate the high long distance and international calling rates, I have the website for you. Pingo looks to be a great company to buy your calling cards from. The best part is that just for signing up with them they will give you 4 free hours of international calls. Talk about awesome. Or join Pingo's affiliate program and receive $15 for each new customer that is referred. On average, mobile phone users will save 90% or more on their international calls.Guatemala calling cards online are currently going for 11.5 cents per minute. Sounds like a great rate to me. Why not check them out for yourself.

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Is Your Boss Psycho?

Your Boss Isn't Psycho, but Your Boss Stinks

Your boss is probably not mental. Still, your boss is not competent or professional. You may want to transfer departments or get a new job, before your boss sucks out your soul.

Is Your Boss Psycho?

I just have to laugh at this one because my "boss" is my husband and I've told him pretty much the same thing as this blog thing has said for the last couple of years. It's not that he is a bad boss, he just has a bad temper and doesn't think before speaking so that gets pretty old, pretty fast. Ok, maybe he is a bit psycho:)

RockStartUp

I love to watch the new payperpost reality tv show, Rockstartup. Rockstartup is just another awesome addition to the payperpost family where you get to see behind the scenes at the payperpost headquarters and actually feel like you are there with them. You will get to know the “staff” and cheer on Ted as he tries to make payperpost the best that it can be. If you don't know by now, Ted is the guy behind Payperpost. He started it all.

My favorite episode by far this “season” has been the episode where Britt and Veronique head to Vegas for a convention and decide to have a postie patrol wedding while there! Some of the scenes from this video are just too funny! I loved the part when the bride and groom are trying on tuxes and dresses. The poor guy just looked so bored.



I would have liked to see the actual wedding in this video, but I know that they have to save something for another episode. I think it would be cool if Payperpost were to get some video footage of their actual posties too so that we could get to know some of the other people who write about these awesome payperpost gigs.

Truthfully though I'm just happy that Payperpost exists. It has given me a fantastic opportunity to add some moolah to my pretty empty checking account. Thanks Payperpost!

Fun Website

Have you ever been told that you look exactly like a certain celebrity? Ever wondered if you could pass as being related to one? I was surfing the internet the other day and came across a website called www.myheritage.com. It's really cool in that you can download a picture of yourself and the computer will then "match" you with celebrities who have similar facial features as you do. I downloaded my pic and ended up being told that I shared facial features with several celebrities. My best match was with Goran Visnjic (Dr. Kovack from ER). I had a 71% match with him. Other celebrities were Jodi Sweeten (Stephanie from Full House) with 62%, Patrick Swayze with 49% and Nicole Richie also with 49%. I, personally, don't see a resemblance with any of these celebrities, but it was still fun to try it out.

Vacation Homes

Have you ever went on vacation and thought that, even though the hotel you are staying in was nice, it would have been so much better to stay in an actual home? Well, now you can!. There are several vacation rentals by owner out there. Why not check out www.vlbo.com? They have several listings on their website of homes all over the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Or do you have a vacation home that you would like to rent out? They also let you list your home for rent on their website.

We are planning a vacation to Corpus Christi, TX this summer and I've already checked to see if there are any homes available and sure enough there are. Several, in fact, and all within our price range. If you're planning a vacation, why not check out vacation rentals by owner to see if there is anything that you might be interested in.

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It's cookie time!

My brother delivered my girl scout cookies yesterday. Yummy! I'd actually forgotten that I ordered them so it was a nice surprise to have them show up. I'm trying to behave and not sit down and eat an entire package, but it really is hard not to devour them all in one sitting. What is the girl scout motto? Courage, Confidence. Character. Well, I think they need to add Cookies to that list:)

Sunglasses

We are having a swimming pool installed this spring. In order to really enjoy it, I am going to need to pick up some new sunglasses. This way the sun reflecting off the water won't give me a migraine. I know that I can get some really nice RayBans at BestBuyEyeglasses.com


BestBuyEyeglasses.com is the best place to buy RayBan sunglasses, the world's leading sunglass brand. BestBuyEyeglasses.com carry the largest selection of RayBan's at the best possible prices. And they have an easy return policy too. Right now you can also get an extra 5% off their already low prices by using this discount code...ETP5P...at checkout.

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I took the plunge

After several years of debating and saving our money, I finally went and ordered our swimming pool today. I'm excited! We've been thinking about getting a pool for several years now, but something always came up and we'd either have to spend the money that we'd saved for it on something else or we waited too long and didn't get on the installation list in time. That's what happened last year. We were going to get the pool then, but waited too long to order it and by that time it was going to be the end of summer before they would have gotten it here. So we just waited...and this year we're finally going to have one. WooHoo!

It is going to be an above ground pool and by the looks of the outside wall design and the liner we picked out today, it's going to really fit in with our landscaping. We are also going to build a deck around it so that it'll look nice that way too. I can't wait. I wish it was spring now! They are supposed to have it installed by Memorial Day so that is something really fun to look forward to. Yay!

Music

I like all types of music. In my CD collection, you will find rock, pop, country, alternative, even Metalcore Artists. I have recently discovered a website dedicated to the music of unsigned artists. It is called unsigned.com. On this website you will find artists of any type of musical genre you can think of. Unsigned is "dedicated to providing individual artists from solo, trio to bands, the best possible outlet to be heard globally on the Internet."

Unsigned.com allows listeners to build and manage a play list of their favorite artists. It gives artists the chance to be discovered! Visit unsigned.com today to check them out. You will be glad that you did.

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