After School Snack Rut

Guest written by our friend Clara Castro

There is nothing like starving children barreling into the house after a long day at school. It makes moms like me hop up and quickly start dishing out platters of healthy stuff before they get their hands on all the junk food. I try to meet them in the kitchen shooting down whining requests for fully processed snacks but sometimes, we are just bored with the same ole same ole. Fortunately this morning I was watching tvbydirect and one of my favorite food shows dished out some great tips for thinking out of the box for after school snacks. No more peanut butter and Jellies for a while for my kids. I’m having way to much fun making creatures out of sliced veggies and homemade hummus. Plus it’s just fun to have the kids look at me like I need to get a life but they are trying things they never would have otherwise. Thank you Food Network. I suppose the jokes on them because most of my ingredients are prepared ahead of time and it’s so easy to whip out and throw together.

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Business Degree

I appreciate the guest post, Ignacio Phillips

My brother is about to graduate from college with a degree in business. Most of the rest of the people in our family are in the medical field and have little knowledge about what it takes to run a business. My dad recently retired and decided that he wants to open a small business to give him something to do in his free time. He asked my bother for advice on what to do first and how to get started. My brother told him about getting his business license and taking care of all of the legal stuff. He also told him about going to www.t1internet.net to set up phone and internet for his business. It can also help create a website for his new company. My dad is so glad that my brother has a business degree so he can walk him through starting a new business. I think that my brother is also enjoying the fact that he knows more about something than my dad does. I also think this is going to be a good project for them to work on together.

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Antiques Roadshow

Authored by Greg Fletcher

One of those shows that I never thought in one million and a half years that I would like is Antiques Roadshow. I remember when my parents used to tune to that show when we were watching television and I would roll my eyes and stomp out of the room like the perfectly sullen teenager that I was. These days I actually get pumped when I see that show is coming on. I have gotten to where I like to go shopping in little antique stores all around the city and so now watching these beloved old items on television seems like a fun idea to me. They show travels around to different cities holding antique shows and auctions and you can bring in your items for the experts on the show to estimate their value. It is really exciting when someone says that they purchased something at a garage sale or inherited from their grandmother and the item turns out to be worth thousands of dollars. I secretly hope I can find an item like that one day. Check out what direct tv deals you can get online and you can watch Antiques Roadshow too.

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Moving to Our New Home

Last year the family and I moved clear across the country from the east to Calgary, Alberta in western Canada. Having reliable Internet service helped my partner and I search for employment and housing opportunities online before we moved west. For our housing needs we searched through an online data base of rental homes posted at Rent Calgary.

Before we had Internet service, it wasn’t as easy to search for rentals in another province, but with online rental agencies, such as RentCalgary.com, we were able to find a home before we moved. Moreover, the rental website included pictures of units for rent; thus, my hubby and I were able to choose which homes we liked and which ones we didn’t like based on the information and photos posted on the website.

Now we live in an affordable, friendly neighborhood just outside of Calgary, Alberta. My family and I just adore our new home and lifestyle since we moved west.

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Where can I volunteer in my area?

Guest post from: Kent Lara

Every year around this time when the holidays are fast approaching and everyone is rushing around shopping and eating and going to parties I always start to think of those people who are less fortunate than myself. The ones who are living outside in the cold and rain or the ones who can’t afford to feed themselves and their children so they have to choose who gets to eat that night. I always get in the spirit to volunteer my time around Christmas and so I of course take to the internet to check out some volunteer opportunities. I went to satellitestarinternet.com first to get set up with my internet connection so that I can get on the world wide web and check out what places in my area are in need of volunteers. There are not too many good web sites to find this kind of information but I have found that if you check out your local church web sites they can usually direct you to some good places to serve your time.

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Get a job a lose touch

Guest written by our friend Mason Abbott

My dear friend, who was always around all day to chat on the phone when I was at home and kids were at school has gotten a job. I am actually feeling pretty lonely lately. Even though she lives two thousand miles away it was like we were hanging out. We would talk about everything from how I called Addison Texas electricity providers that day to what I thought that I was going to make for Christmas dinner. Even though we were far apart, it was like we knew what was going on in each other’s lives all the time. By the way, I absolutely love cell phones for this, I don’t know what we did when we had land lines and had to pay a lot for long distance calls! Now that she works, I don’t get to talk to her often. We get to text and e-mail but it is still not the same. By the time she gets the chance to call me, my husband and kids are home and I am too busy to talk on the phone. I am trying to cook dinner and get everyone ready for school the next day and try to make everyone get in bed at a descent hour. I’m glad that she got a job, but I really miss talking to her!

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My Split Hair Personality

My hair is a house divided. It has two distinct personalities, and the civil war between my hair follicles had driven me to the point of exhaustion. It has also helped create my signature style, the eternal ponytail.

The right side of my hair is full, thick and naturally wavy; the left side is completely straight, lifeless and dull. When I was younger, I tried to get permanents in my hair. There were several reasons I did this, not the least of which being the fact that it was the cool thing to do. I would sit for hours at the salon, getting nauseated at the stench of perm solution, only to walk out with half a head of beautiful curls. Home remedies did not work either. No matter how much styling product I piled onto my hair, the curls would not stay. This drove me nuts, but the funny thing is that it completely infuriated my sister-in-law. Although this was several years ago, she still gets worked up at the memory of my hair. I am not exactly sure why it bugged her so much, but I can tell you that my hair produced much profanity from her lips.

Anyway, I tried to cut my hair super short once, thinking I could rock a boy cut and no one would ever see the dysfunction within my hair family legacy. Two words can describe the endeavor: epic failure. When cut short, the curls on my right side stood straight out, while the left side clung to my head for dear life. I looked ridiculous.

And so now I just go with the ponytail. I pull it back and ignore it. Some may call it sloppy or boring, but I prefer to go with shabby chic look.

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Wearing White to a Wedding?!

The Author of this post is Cheryl Martinez

While checking my favorite celebrity gossip blogs today, I ran across something that caught my interest. As almost everyone who follows celebrity blogsknows, Kim Kardashian got married. While we are going to have to wait to watch the wedding special, pictures of guests going to the event have already surfaced. I couldn’t believe what Lindsey Lohan had on—white!! I still can’t believe it. She was wearing a long, white gown! As long as I can remember, wearing white to a wedding has been a huge no-no. Unless you are a bridesmaid and the bride tells you to wear white or ivory, you should never show up to a wedding wearing the color of the bride. I cannot help but wonder if Lindsey wore white to upstage the bride and simply draw attention to herself. Surely, she should have known that white is breaking the rules of dress for a wedding. I am interested to hear what Kim has to say about this. I need to log-on directstartv.com so that I can catch the wedding special that is going to air in the next couple of months.

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Fashion Advice From a 4-Year-Old

My four-year-old daughter is quite the fashion maven. Today, she has chosen a white dress with pink, green and blue polka dots. She has paired her dress with white-laced tights with the feet torn out, and her choice for shoes is her bright-red slippers.

Although it may seem she merely walked into her closet and came out with whatever she could find, this is not the case. She has very clear reasons for why she chose everything she put on. Her dress she chose because she likes it. She does not care that it is two-years old and not in style. She likes it, so she is wearing it. Her tights she chose because the lace is very pretty, but they are much more comfortable without the feet. And the shoes? Well, those she chose because they are red and white. Who can argue with that logic?

I propose we dress with the logic of my four-year-old - no more changing our wardrobes every two weeks to keep up with the latest trends. If we like something, we should wear it. We should choose clothes we find pretty and make us smile. We should never sacrifice comfort. Shoes would be worn just because we like the colors, or because they sparkle and light up. Light-up, sparkly shoes are intensely cool.

These ideas may not get you on the front row of a fashion show, but they sure will make you smile - run faster - and jump higher.

Contributing Guest Writer

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Loving Las Vegas in the Winter

This guest post from Lewis Beck

I'm a huge fan of traveling. I love to see new things and enjoy various means of entertainment. During the winter, I enjoy going to Las Vegas, Nevada. My friends and I always joke that our trips to Vegas are somewhat like the movie The Hangover, except the female version. So, I gather the girls up and we make plans for our exciting trip to Las Vegas. Before leaving for my trip, I always set my home security alarm from http://www.allhomesecurity.com. Then we are ready to begin our adventurous journey.

Part of the reason I love going to Las Vegas during the winter time is because the hotels in the area have amazing and affordable deals. Plus, my friends and I never run out of things to do in Vegas. We always visit the Las Vegas strip which is full of interesting sights and entertainment. We have also been to several nightclubs including the popular Tryst nightclub. My favorite activity in Vegas was stopping by the MGM Grand Las Vegas. While there, we were able to solve our very own CSI crime. I'm a huge CSI fan so that absolutely made my day. After that, we stopped at Andre's French Restaurant and enjoyed delicious food along with fine wine. Las Vegas is the perfect place to have a fun time with your friends. I had a blast!

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All nighter study tips for this semester

Guest post written by Nina Eckerson

Last semester I pulled some all nighters to study for a few of my exams last semester and I might as well not even done that because I don't think that it really made any difference than if I had gone to sleep without studying. But I'm going to be a little wiser about that this semester so that my effort actually pays off. I'm really hoping that I won't have to pull all nighters because I'll have done a good amount of studying beforehand, but I'm going to be better prepared for it just in case.

While I was home for the holidays I looked up some study tips with my Clear TV Bundle and plan on applying them to my study habits this semester at school.

One of the all nighter study tips that I found is that what really counts the most is the sleep that you get not the night before the test, but the night before that. So I'm going to concentrate on doing that more.

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