Identity Theft Prevention to Keep Us Secure for the Move

I really like services that help make life easier when difficult things happen. I've been quite impressed with the identity theft protection service offered by lifelock. Their CEO gives out his own social security number in every print ad and commercial, because they stand behind the security of their product completely. They have a million dollar guarantee which states that they'll pay up to $1,000,000 to cure a failure or defect in their identity protection service, per member, per lifetime for all incidents in the aggregate, regardless of circumstance. If something happens to your personal information while you are a member with them, they will completely handle the situation with creditors, law enforcement and the credit bureaus to ensure that your family's financial reputation is not harmed.

As I said, I'm really impressed by what they are offering and intend to take advantage of this myself. Since we're moving, changing mailing addresses to a new state, and moving all our records, I believe it will help keep our personal information secure throughout our move and beyond.

Parents - Here's A Great Engineering Program for Your College Student

As parents of soon-to-be college students, you are certainly evaluating which colleges and universities will be the best choice for your child. As important as the choice of college is, it is just as important to evaluate which program of study will best prepare him/her for the career and real world experiences they'll need when they graduate. Engineering is always a top field for graduates. Employers look for graduates with real-world experience gained by participation in top quality engineering co-op programs.

As a daughter of an engineer, who once aspired to join this profession myself, I heard time and time again, as my dad prepared to hire new graduates into his division, that the quality of engineering program they came from was paramount. Kettering University has one of the leading Co-op programs and maintains an edge by ensuring that they place students in companies in their freshman year and rotate them between school and their co-op job alternating every 3 months to gain practical experience from the beginning of their Kettering education. Their students are ready to add immediate value when they join their employers, this translates to higher salaries as well.

US News and World Report ranked Kettering University as "the #1 University in the nation for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering" in its annual "America's Best Colleges Guide for 2008". As far as engineering majors go, industrial engineering is easily one of the fastest growing occupations in the world. My eldest daughter already shows propensity to enter this field. As the granddaughter of two engineers, and the niece of another, it just might be in her blood. Thankfully, the science and math programs they have now starting in elementary school are already preparing her to enter a top engineering program should she choose it. I am happy to see that the colleges, such as Kettering, are ensuring their students' future success with their co-op program.

Naked Hair?

I've written here before about the benefits of using natural shampoo and skincare products. I believe that many of the chemicals used in common hair care products are really bad for you and for the environment. There has been a lot in the news about phthalates and how bad they are for everyone, especially kids. When I stopped using "regular" shampoo earlier this year, my head breakouts and irritated skin disappeared. So I'm an advocate. I now only use natural products on my children too.

I had the chance to try out a new haircare line called naked naturals. I was very happy with the results, using the Awapuhi & Lavender scened shampoo and conditioner for Color-Treated hair. I, again, had no reactions when I used the shampoo and conditioner. My hair smelled clean and fresh for two days ( I am ready to shampoo again right now). I can definitely recommend this as a product to try if you're looking for a great all-natural shampoo. An extra benefit is that it will make your hair 7 times stronger with regular usage. I think I'm going to try some of the other scents too, since I like Aloe Vera & Chamomile. The products are now available everywhere so take a look and get naked hair!

Dumb Oysters!

My kids love corny jokes. They're really on a kick about using classic jokes these days on just about anyone. Here's one:

First Oyster: Where ya from dude?
Second Oyster: I dunno.
First Oyster: What do you mean, you don't know where you are from?
Second Oyster: Oh, dat's right - Flori - Duh!

LOL! I know it's stupid, but jokes like this are supposed to be. Anyway, Florida is home to many varieties of yummy oysters. Some of the best are Gulf oysters from our own Gulf of Mexico and Appalachiacola Bay. If you love oysters, you need to be aware of precautions to be sure you don't get sick from eating them. The website Be Oyster Aware has great information about oysters, how to prepare them and and great recipes too!

Preventing Identity Theft

Losing your wallet or purse really bites! We've spent the last month trying to make sure that we won't become victims, since Tim lost his wallet at a convenience store. He thinks he dropped it in a trash can by mistake, but we don't know for sure. When the wallet went missing, we lost tons of valuable working and personal time trying to make sure we contacted all the creditors, banks and credit bureaus. We hope we got them all. So far so good. We weren't enrolled with a service to help us with all this and save us time. A protection service run by life lock can take care of all this for a very nominal fee. They do all the work for you if you lose any valuable personal or credit information - contacting the necessary bureaus and creditors. They guarantee their services against identity theft for up to one million dollars! That's impressive. And a great way to help keep your family safe, as they also offer the service for your children's credit bureau accounts. I hadn't thought of this and think that this is really a great idea! They say that thieves are targeting kids' credit information because people don't usually keep tabs on it.

Valentine's Day Romantic Outing in St Augustine

There are almost too many things to do in St Augustine to list! It's one of our favorite places to go, not only because it is full of diverse culture, great attractions and fabulous restaurants, but because it's where Tim and I met! We had been correspondents for a long time, when we decided to meet face-to-face and decided upon St Augustine. We met at a still hopping and historical watering hole, aptly named Scarlett O'Hara's. We talked a while, then went shopping along historical St. George Street in downtown. We parted ways after a delightful afternoon.....many months and visits later, I was happy to plan our wedding there as well! Not at the bar, but along the lovely waterfront. We stayed in a bed and breakfast facing the waterway and as our guests partied down and enjoyed the festive bar and restaurant scene, we enjoyed the beginnings of married life together. April will be our tenth anniversary, and we'll be heading back to St. Augustine to celebrate.

Now that we have two children, we always welcome great family vacation ideas. You can find great tour and attraction information for St Augustine by visiting Trusted Tours & Attractions.

When you visit you can also Win a Digital Camera from Trusted Tours & Attractions by signing up for their newsletter about great travel deals to St Augustine and other romantic cities.

Have a Wonderful Valentines Day!

Take Me Away!!!!!

Do you remember that bath commercial that held out the hope for mothers everywhere to be taken away from it all? I don't know about you, but a bath just doesn't do it for me! To really get away from it all, I'd like to really get away! I haven't been to Europe since pre-marriage and baby days (I know, you're jealous) but I'd really like to have that experience in my married life too. I've never been to Spain, so I think it's next on my list to visit. I found very reasonable prices for flights to Tenerife, which is in the Canary Islands. Sounds like my kind of place to visit - more exotic than the Bahamas, let's just say. Maybe for Valentine's Day? Tim.....

Send Some Postcards from the Edge

There a few things people enjoy more than getting mail...or is that just me? Either way, I can sure think of a lot of reasons to take advantage of the deal at VistaPrint for Cheap Postcards.

You could advertise your blog with a targeted mailing campaign.....and get them in as few as three days. You can thank your readers for their patronage. You could advertise an upcoming special sale on your website or offer great coupons. How about mailing all your friends about your daughter's upcoming wedding and have them save the date? I just got one of these in the mail today for a relative's July wedding. They did a simple postcard with simple colors and topped it off with a personalized stamp with their photos on it - it was cute! You could invite your friends over for a post-holidays cocktail hour or sleepover (or both!) Why just let the kids enjoy them (the sleepovers, not the cocktails).....

Anyway, quick postcards are an efficient way to get your message out there. You can create your own design online or have them do it for you in black and white or color. Prices start at 24.99 for an order of 100. I've used them for other print orders and they do a wonderful job - very fast and very high quality! I'm printing some to send from my vacation island to make everyone jealous!

A Great Travel Guide To Save Money

As a family, we're always looking for ways to save money, especially when we are traveling. You can find wonderful information in the www.hotelsbycity.net Hotel Guides which are designed to give you maximum information and to save you maximum money! They offer city guides for 500 popular destinations with links to local cheap hotels and fun attractions for your family to enjoy.

If you are interested in history and fun check out the guide to Saint Augustine, Florida. I took a look through the information, because we travel here a lot. They have a great summary of sites and historical places you should visit listed on one page. You can also check more information about Saint Augustine at oldcity.com, which was a site I found on their page or go to City of Saint Augustine, where the home government page listed even more information. I would highly recommend one of the hotels they list on their page the Ramada Inn Saint Augustine, because my husband's family stayed there for our wedding. They found it to have a great location for the money, with good service. You can search for other cheap, but good hotels, at this link Saint Augustine Cheap Hotels.

I think you'll enjoy this historical city for a wonderful couples or family vacation, or you can certainly find great options at the city guides listed here. Enjoy!

Great Deal on Eyeglasses!

Whoa! I couldn't believe the great value here at Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com for prices on eye wear! They actually offer $ 8 Complete Prescription Eyeglasses plus a Case! If you've been reading my blog, I had a not so great time purchasing glasses recently at a major retailer. My daughter may need glasses this year as well so what a great site to save money! I think they offer some pretty cool styles too! I need sunglasses, so I'm going to give these a try!

How Can A Mom Keep Decent Hair?

You moms know what I'm talking about! I don't think I've had good hair on display since I had kids....well, maybe a few times, when I actually took the valuable hour to prep, shampoo, condition and set my hair and actually use styling products. That would be going on nine years now, by the way. It's quite sad!

Sometimes I go several days without time to actually shampoo my hair, or even take a shower! (don't tell my husband - wait....he probably knows - that's sad too!) I am happy to say that I have found a product that can actually help me and all the other moms out there who need a quick fix up in between that luxurious shower and shampoo time! Salon Grafix Dry Shampoo is really cool in that you can do a quick spray shampoo for those times when you don't have time! They also offer shades of brunette, blonde and silver so that it matches your hair color, while you use it to give yourself a quick hair clean up when you need it! I plan on keeping it in my bag for quick emergency touch ups when I need to head out to meet someone without having time to go home!

Salon Grafix dry shampoo is really a great mom product when the time crunch hits. And when is there NOT a time crunch, especially for you who still have infants and toddlers!

Letters From Santa for Kids

You still have time for your children to receive Letters From Santa in time for Christmas. Children love to get mail and what's better than a response from Santa Claus! They'll receive a personalized letter from Santa, customized to fit their activities and requests, as well as a beautiful postmarked envelope from the North Pole! For one low price and free shipping, the kids will also get a free customized door hanger and a follow-up postcard from Santa for after the big day!

A Great Place for A Family Winter Break

If you've never been to Amelia Island, Florida, you need to make your travel plans now for a great family winter vacation. I've been visiting Amelia Island (home to Fernandina Beach) since I was a baby. It keeps getting better all the time. It is home to beautiful Victorian era homes and bed and breakfasts, fabulous independent restaurants, pristine beaches, and a great Civil War Fort. They are offering a wonderful special for accommodations to stay 2 nights and get the 3rd free at most of the wonderful bed and breakfasts and hotels on the Island! This special runs through February 29, 2008, so you can enjoy Christmas, New Year's and/or Valentine's Day with your spouse or the family. There are 12 participating hotels and B&B's offering this Lodging Special, including some of the one's I've stayed at and enjoyed. I can highly recommend Ash Street Inn, a Victorian home that offers spacious rooms with great breakfasts! I've also been to many events at the Elizabeth Pointe Inn, which sits right on Fernandina Beach!

My sister got married on Amelia Island after living there several years. My husband I have enjoyed the B&B stays for our anniversaries. Between the cute shops, the beach, the great food and the oldest bar in Florida, if not the USA, you can't beat the choices for entertainment. I may have to take advantage of this myself, even though we only live an hour away now.

Johnny Depp - The Best Actor of Our Generation!

Let me start by saying that I have always loved Johnny Depp! It's really hard to say which one of his movie moments are his best, because the roles have been so different and versatile. I'd have to say that two of my favorites have to be 1) Captain Jack Sparrow from the original Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl, and reaching a few years back, 2) Roux from Chocolat.

Fans all love Captain Jack, but I love the way Johnny plays him. Who can resist the swaggering pirate. He certainly channeled Keith Richard. My favorite scene is Jack's movie entrance when he is coming into the harbor and his ship sinks beneath him as it comes into port. I believe this entrance sets the whole humorous undertone for the movie and his character - the scheming, but lovable Jack. And it's done mostly through non-verbal acting. Jack Sparrow is a great character who will stand the time in movie history.

In Chocolat, Johnny Depp plays Roux, an Irish gypsy who falls for the eccentric, but charming, French chocolatier. His performance as the romantic lead made me swoon. I guess you'd say Roux is a similar character to Jack, in that he is on the fringe of society and that is one reason he captivates Vianne, the lead. She is a rogue too, in trying to change the way the town looks at life's pleasures. I think this was a subtle performance and he also showed off his musical talents.

Even though Johnny's Jack Sparrow character will always be my favorite, I look forward to seeing his new characters develop. I'm looking forward to seeing how the singing Sweeney Todd comes to life under Johnny's guidance. I've never seen the stage musical, but I did know what it was about. It sounds very macabre and interesting and Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton have never gone wrong when it comes to presenting a great story. You can visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site where they have great information on the cast, the musical and wonderful snippets to whet your Johnny Depp appetite. You can also visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace to see more about Johnny's latest creation! I'm looking forward to seeing Johnny Depp sing!

First Friday Weekend Artwalk in St. Augustine

America’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida, is home to many artists and art-lovers. On Friday and Saturday, December 7th and 8th, along with the first Weekend of each month thereafter, the city comes alive with music and art exhibits. Grab a date and head out to enjoy your own First Friday Weekend Art Walk. We live very nearby, so we've had the opportunity to enjoy the St. Augustine Artwalk several times. It's really a fun way to spend a Friday evening, especially now that the weather is cooler and the holiday lights are out all over the city.

The art galleries of St. Augustine sponsor FREE, self guided monthly Artwalks, featuring the finest collection of eclectic art in North Florida. You can wander at your leisure, enjoy free appetizers and wine at a lot of the galleries, and get a little exercise. It's sometimes difficult to find parking, so it's really nice that they offer free parking and free Sightseeing Train and Trolley tours.

There's a little bit of everything available to see, painting, sculpture, pottery, photography...you'll find a treasure to take home to remember your special night out. I love the little watercolors of the historic homes and also photographs of the fort. So, maybe we'll see you there in a few weeks to enjoy the arts!

3 Fun and Unique Gifts for Anyone!

Christmas is a time to have fun and enjoy your family! It's a great time to bring smiles to their faces. It's really fun to find a few quirky items for those hard-to-buy-for family on your Christmas list. I've found three fun unique gifts that would make anyone happy! We got a chance to sample these with our family and all of them were hits! We live with my parents and our elementary aged children, so we have three generations of people with divergent tastes to please.

The first big hit was the Video Fireplace DVD. We live in Florida, where in the winter, we rarely have cold weather. It can be really hard to get the mood for the holidays without a fire. That's taken care of with this great DVD which gives you lots of options of fireplace fires to enjoy on your TV. We'll crank this baby up on the 80 degree Christmas Eve we almost always have! Can Santa come down the DVD this year? Does that even make sense?

The second fun little item is called the Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencil. They are really strongly-scented usable pencils with the smells of gourmet foods. We tried out Rootbeer flavor. The kids thought it was cool, it smelled exactly like a freshly-opened can of rootbeer. Smencils are made from recycled newspapers and bathed in cool scents that last! Even the shavings smell good. This would be a really great stocking stuffer for kids of all ages, especially people who love scents. Or teachers!

The third fun gift is called Insta Snow Fake Snow Powder. We looked at this tiny bag of white powder with some trepidation. The simple instructions say to add 10 ounces of water and get instant snow! Well, that sounded good too, since we rarely see a flake in north Florida. Here's what happened...we added water to our little packet in a bowl and instantly it exploded into a giant bowl of snow! It feels soft and cool and really looks like snow! The instructions on the website said we could actually make a snowman so we tried this by freezing it for an hour, but the kids couldn't wait that long and hauled it outside to start playing! The photo shows my little one enjoying the Insta Snow in Florida! You could use this stuff to make snow for your little fake Christmas scenes, surround your model train sets, or just play with it. It is also non-toxic, so you could, theoretically, eat some (bleh). They actually sell a size that would make 8 gallons of fake snow - I think it would be funny to dump into someones hot tub! This makes the Fake Snow Powder a great little stocking stuffer for people who can't find the real stuff!

Personalization Makes Your Child's Christmas Special

Personalized Gifts for Children make great Christmas Gifts! Kids love to see their names in print, especially on specially created toys and Christmas items. I have worked each year to create a special Christmas ornament collection for each of the children. I label each year's ornament with their names, so that when they grow up and leave the nest, they'll have starter ornaments from our family Christmases to take with them for their new families. With personalized ornaments, that makes this fun yearly quest just a little easier, since their name will already be there!

Have Greener Christmas by Using LED Holiday Lights

LED Christmas lights are a great way to save electricity this Christmas holiday. They use 80 to 99% less electricity than traditional incandescent holiday lights. LED Christmas tree lights will also last over 50,000 hours versus about 2000 hours for regular lights. You can save money and extend the life of bulbs. How many of you have spent hours trying to find that one burned out bulb any way! A lot of lives are also lost around Christmas when Christmas trees and homes burn due to hot or badly wired lights. Since LED holiday lights operation at only 1 degree above ambient temperature, they don't heat up, so there's less overall fire risk.

I still have video of my then baby girl trying to grab and bite our first year Christmas tree mini-lights. Those of you with kids will appreciate that LED mini light are encased in nearly indestructible plastic bulb which can take lots of abuse, unlike the glass bulbs. So help save some money, electricity and fuel in a time when we need to change the direction our Earth is headed. Oil prices are going through the roof, so make a very easy change to be greener and try LED holiday lights this year!

Mystery Shopping - A Great Way to Eat More Food!

My husband and I have been mystery shopping for over five years now. We've evaluated tons of restaurants, theme parks, attractions and hotels. It's been a great way to make extra money and to get to eat out more. But it's even better for the businesses that we report on. They get unbiased feedback about their customer service experiences. They can improve their business model based on the feedback that we and others provide. To me, it's really apparent when a restaurant or store is using mystery shopping, because their service will always be better, because employees know people are evaluating the experiences that they are providing. It lets businesses know what their customers are really thinking, because mystery shoppers are their customers. I know we make a difference in improving overall customer experiences and satisfaction, plus we get lots of great food and fun at no or low cost.

Now My Kids Like to Clean Their Room

Whoa, I bet you think I'm lying, don't you? Well, anything can be done with the proper motivation. Our Chore Chart motivator is toys. Without motivation my children are basically slugs when it comes to cleaning. That's why we are starting to use the PAYjr allowance system.

PAYjr, the leading online allowance and chore program for kids, has launched a new partnership with Target. Now, allowances can be loaded directly, electronically, and automatically to a free and reloadable Target Gift Card. The perfect program to teach kids 12 and under how to manage money.

We have set up an online Chore Chart for each child, which was easy to do. When each kid completes an assigned chore, we review it and approve payment which will be allocated to that child's Target Card. We have always found it difficult to keep a regular chore chart going and slipped up with tracking - this solves all the problems and makes rewarding them easier.

The children love Target, and they are looking forward to earning more to pay for their toy purchases.