Go Green - Save Money and the Environment.

There are a lot of ways to go green and save money while doing it. It's easier than you think and with the money you can save, why not? Going green is a win-win situation. Most of us know we can use compact fluorescent bulbs and buy Energy Star appliances, but what are ways to go green that are even easier and cost less?

Here are some easy ideas, along with how much impact they have on your wallet and the environment:

1. Save electricity, purify your air with plants. Having live plants in your home helps to absorb airborne toxins and saves energy costs by not plugging in the air purifier. Not to mention, plants are MUCH cheaper than air purifiers!

2. Use bar soap. Replacing just one plastic bottle of liquid soap with a bar will save 2.5 million lbs. of plastic! Also, let's not forget that bar soap is cheaper!

3. Put a recycling can next to the trash can in your office. This way you can just as easily throw your paper into the recycling can as the trash can. Making one ton of paper from recycled materials saves 7,000 gallons of water AND 17 trees.

4. When building a fire, use an artificial log (like those Duraflame fire logs you can find at most stores) to start the fire. Believe it or not, those man made logs burn longer than wood and give off 75% less carbon monoxide.

5. After you fill up your gas tank, turn the cap until it clicks three times. Each year, 147 million gallons of gas evaporate into the air due to missing, loose or damaged caps. This is in the US alone!

6. Wash laundry in cold water only or use the warm wash and cold rinse cycle. You will save on energy costs and if each home in America did this, we would save 100,000 barrels of oil a day!

7. Use your toaster oven as much as possible. When you need to bake a few rolls, some chicken nuggets, or any other small baking job, use a toaster oven. You will use half as much energy, saving you money.

8. Stop using the screen saver on your computer. Instead switch your computer display to go into sleep mode whenever it isn't used for 5 minutes. This will consume 90% less energy!

9. Use power strips and turn off the power strips when the electronics plugged into them aren't in use. Some electronics use electricity even when they are turned off! If you plug your appliances into a power strip and then shut the power strip off, you will use 87% less energy than if you have the appliances plugged into 6 separate outlets.

10. Return your wire hangers to the dry cleaner. Don't just throw them in the trash. If we did this, we could save 200 million tons of steel each year that could be reused.

Just think of how much money we could save and the environmental impact we could make if we all just did these 10 simple things!

Thanks, I will now step down off of my soapbox and take it to the recycling bin.

Wordless Wednesday

Smile, it's electrifying :-)

Time Changes Everything - Even Marketing

I was just thinking about how much time changes things. We all know the effects time has on us in everyday life. Be it your memory, that extra little ache you may feel in the morning that you didn't feel a few years ago, or that (gasp!) gray hair that has seemed to pop up overnight.

Time doesn't just effect how we feel or look. It also has effects on how we think and get things accomplished. Take the phone book, for example. Ten years ago, if I needed anything from a plumber to a doctor to someone to bring me a hot meal, I'd go right to the phone book. Today, I looked under my phone table and found two phone books from the last two years that are still in their plastic wrap and have never even been opened. At first I started thinking about what a waste of paper. Think about all the poor trees that were cut down so that my phone books could collect dust (which made me realize that ten years ago, I never would have thought that much about the environment, either). Then I realized that, like me, phone books are suffering the effects of time. I wonder how long it will be until they no longer exist in paper format? Most people today just look things up on their computer or cell phone. I know I do. I hope that everyone who has an ad in the phone book has also invested advertising in other mediums. If you haven't, I can just about guarantee you are not getting the most from your advertising dollars. I'm not saying don't advertise in the phone book, I'm saying make sure you advertise in several different places in order to get the most bang for your buck. By just sticking to print, you are missing all of those who do research online and vice-versa.

Another advertising medium that has suffered the effects of time is newspaper advertising. In today's online and environmentally friendly world, most forms of print advertising are on the decline. Again, if you only do print advertising, you are missing a large number of potential clients. Review your marketing, make sure you are keeping up with the times and spread your marketing out among several different mediums such as the web, television and radio. Just think, 10 or so years ago many small businesses and professionals couldn't have imagined the importance of having a web site or blog and now they couldn't imagine going without it. Stay on top of the trends, only time will tell what the best advertising medium will be for you 10 years from now.

Wordless Wednesday

Tickle Buggy!

I'm sure most of you have heard of or played the game "Punch Buggy!" You know, when you see a Volkswagon bug and you yell out "Punch Buggy" while hitting the person next to you? Well, I wanted to teach this game to my son, but didn't want him hitting other people. My solution? Replace "punch" with "tickle". Now, everytime I see a VW bug, I yell, "Tickle Buggy" and give him a little tickle. He loves it! He also loves looking for VW bugs himself and then tickling me if he sees one! We both have fun and I don't have to worry about feeling bad because I've taught him to punch other people, even in fun!

Oh Happy Day!

I had such a great day Saturday that I just had to write about it. I've had so much to deal with lately that when a truly wonderful day like this came along, I just couldn't pass up the chance to share my blessing and write about it.

It was Valentine's Day, but that really had nothing to do with why my day was so great. Nic and I had a full day of nothing but joy. Trust me, after the past few weeks I've had, it is something I so desperately needed and wasn't sure if was even possible. To have a smile on my face the whole day, for everything to go absolutely right...WOW, what a blessing!

Let's start with the weather, it was a beautiful, sunny day. After breakfast we headed to Roanoke. A shirt and sweater was all that was needed. I put a light jacket on Nic in the morning, but by the afternoon, it wasn't needed. We started off at the Science Museum. Nic had been there once before, but it was an "open house" kind of day and admission was free. This meant the place was CROWDED and we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked or done all of the things we wanted to do. Not the case on Saturday. For the first 30 minutes, we were the only ones there. We had the place to ourselves! After that, we only saw about 3 or 4 other families. This was wonderful because we got to spend as much time as we wanted at each exhibit without feeling like we had to rush to give other people a turn. We took lots of time and interacted with each exhibit.

After an hour and a half, we started getting hungry, so we went downtown to grab a bite for lunch. Nic can sometimes be a picky eater and I worry if he doesn't eat enough, especially on days when I know we are going to be busy. He ate like a HORSE! He finished his entire lunch and then started munching on mine. Oh happy day! After lunch, we went back to the museum to play some more. I then noticed that they have a planetarium. I remember as a child how much I LOVED the planetarium and being that Nic says he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, I thought he would really enjoy it. He was fascinated. I wish I had a nickel for every time he said, "Oh, WOW Mommy!" The planetarium was a huge hit. The one in Roanoke isn't a complete dome like the ones I've been to before, it is more like a 3/4 dome, but it's still a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it.

After the planetarium we went BACK to the science museum for another hour or so. After the museum we walked the downtown area of Roanoke and went into a few shops. Again, Nicholas was so good, he didn't play "touchy-feely" with the breakables in the store, he used his manners and even showed me and everyone on the sidewalk his latest "cool trick" (which consisted of him jumping up in the air while kicking his leg). He didn't only make me smile, he made several other people smile too.

We then went to Valley View Mall so he could see some puppies and ride on the kiddie rides. At the mall we got some chocolate chip cookies and then made a bee line for the puppies. Nicholas LOVES puppies. He doesn't have any teddy bears that he sleeps with, but he has (at current count) 7 puppies he likes to have in bed with him, including the one he got me for Valentine's Day that he has now claimed as his own. The ladies at the store pulled out a couple of Shitzu's for Nic to pet. Oh my word...it was so hard not to buy one. They were so cute! Then Nicholas saw a Boston Terrier/Pug mix (I'm told they are called Bugg's) and he noticed how it looked like one of his stuffed puppies named "Georgia". He then announces, "Look, Mommy, he looks like Georgia, can we get him? Oh, wow Mommy, he's laying on his back and I can see his wee-wee!" This last part he said pretty loud and everyone in the store laughed! That's my boy, always bringing a smile to people faces. After leaving the pet store, we went and rode some of the kiddie rides before heading home.

Within 10 minutes, he was OUT! He slept soundly the whole way home. We had such a busy, fun filled day that even with the nap on the way home, by 7:00 he was telling me he was tired and ready for bed.

I've posted a couple of pictures here, but you can also see pictures of our day on our photobucket account (click here). And see video on NicTV (click here).

I know there is no such thing a perfect, but my Saturday was pretty close to it in my book! I give thanks for such a wonderful day!

I was just thinking...

I was just thinking….As soon as you think you’ve got it figured out, something happens to completely throw you off balance.

I was just thinking….About how ironic it is that the economy is getting worse, income is becoming less, however my gas bill is the highest it has ever been and gas prices are quietly starting to inch their way back up. Yet, the oil companies had their best year ever last year.

I was just thinking….How bad things really do happen to good people and we will never really know why.

I was just thinking…..About how much I have to do.

Then…I stopped thinking and was quite.

And I prayed and I listened.

Then I was just thinking....about all of my blessings…

Like…..

Isn’t it funny how it makes YOU feel better as a parent when your kids eat healthy? For lunch today Nic had a freshly made salad with grilled chicken. He eats this better than he eats chicken nuggets and it makes me feel so good! Then for dinner I made his favorite penne pasta (the good kind with alpha omega’s, protein and whole wheat…NOT the white kind), with organic veggies and more grilled chicken, he gobbled it up! These were the two highlights of my day, with me…it’s about the little things. Nic is always my number one blessing and what helps keep me positive.

And….

How very blessed I am to have the best friends a girl could ask for.

And….

How very blessed I am to still have a roof over my head and food in my cupboards when there are so many without either.

And….

How blessed I feel in my life right now. Even with the difficulties I have encountered, I am still hopeful, looking forward to and excited about the future. I am thankful that God has blessed me with these things and with this heart. It is more sensitive and more easily broken, but it also makes it easier for me to be open to love, hope and joy.