Check This Out!

My sister-in-law, Kristin, sells Arbonne. If you've never used Arbonne products before then I'll just say you're missing out...I'm not kidding...and I'm not just saying that. Their prices aren't cheap, but it's quality and it works...so in the long run you actually end up saving money.

Kristin has been gracious enough to allow me to do an online catalog show and a portion of the proceeds are going to go towards The Common Bond! (How great is that?!?!) I'm super excited about the whole thing and very appreciative to her for the support she's given towards TCB.

Please check out her website: www.genatone.myarbonne.com for the Arbonne products. If you want to place an order send her an email at kristin.genatone@yahoo.com and she will call you back to confirm your order and get your credit/debit card information. Make sure you tell her the order is apart of The Common Bond catalog party.

Let me know if you have any questions...we're going to keep the "show" open until Friday, December 5th...it's not much time. And please pass this along to all of your family and friends...this is a great opportunity to raise some money for The Common Bond.

Thanks, Kristin!!!!

Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is a pretty cool thing and I hope I win but today is the last day to enter!! Go to the link and then you'll post the link to your blog and that enters you for the drawing.

The Almighty Cell Phone

James and I bought new cell phones this weekend...and let me tell you I'm impressed. You could probably fly a plane with the technology they have available on cell phones now a days. Which by the way, Hayden has added to his Christmas list that he wants a cell phone so he can watch Disney anytime he wants. I told him he's not getting a cell phone...he said, "Maybe...you don't know...Santa Clause could bring it"...I then advised my children that everything Santa brings is approved by Mommy and Daddy first--he makes a call to us the week before Christmas to double check their "good standing" and to verify that the gifts are appropriate. I hope this has closed down the Santa can do anything stuff.

Anyways, back on track--about these new snazzy cell phones. I was so impressed with all of the features and have pretty much been checking my facebook profile every hour until I checked my email and received this FWD. Which I don't like FWs--they drive me crazy, but this was good so I thought I would share it with all of you.

Cell phone vs. Bible
Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several time a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

Oh, and one more thing...Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

I'm not giving back my cell phone...in fact I'm a gadget junkie and I think that's okay...but I think it all comes down to what we value the most. I hope this has helped you reconsider your priorities as well...it sure did for me.

Missing Family

There are times when I really miss not having our family nearby...birthdays, holidays, baseball games, special occasions...moving a 175 lb TVs into the house...

On Saturday, we bought a TV for our living room because our "good" TV had become possessed and would intermittently turn off and on by itself which, apparently from what James says, makes it quite difficult to watch a football game without losing all patience.
(Side note...can you believe how good our Titans are doing?? Two things I thought I'd never see...Gas below $2 a gallon again and the Titans undefeated at this stage in the season, who knew?!!?)
Anyway, back to the TV....so I found this great deal on Craigslist...a 36" Toshiba TV only a few years old...the thing is it's a standard definition tv...which means it's extremely HEAVY especially for someone who lacks any upper body strength to help her husband carry it in the house. After we got it out of the back of the car...I almost immediately dropped it (screen facing the cement walkway) I was in tears wondering how in the world we were going to get this in the house. It was not a pretty sight and if any of our neighbors were watching from their living rooms they got a great laugh. We did get it in the house...eventually...and to top it off--we even got it onto the tv stand...which was even more difficult than getting it in the house. In fact when we hoisted it up onto the stand (and it didn't break) I literally was jumping up and down dancing...Hayden thought it was hilarious. Here's a picture of our proof that we did it.
Because I'm okay with admitting I'm a wimp...I will tell you my arms are killing me and my lower back...well I can barely bend over...it's a great Monday!!

Oh and when we move...we're hiring people to do it for us because we will not be moving that tv by ourselves ever again! I must give props to James...he did an excellent job doing pretty much most of the work himself...and he did not get frustrated at me once for being such a wimp.

Switching gears
On a serious note...if ya'll have been checking in on the families we've been meeting thru The Common Bond, please go to my site (linked on the right at the top) we have a couple of new posts on there. These families are in desperate need of our prayers.
And if you're interested in ordering some jewelry for Christmas gifts let me know--a portion of the proceeds subsidizes the financial assistance we're able to offer families thru The Common Bond...I will be able to fill orders received by December 10th in time for Christmas. Thanks for ya'lls support.

Financial Security

Since I work in the Operations side of a Credit Union and I am very passionate about what we do I feel like there are some pieces of information that I should share.

There is a new scam going around the Middle Tennessee area that consists of an automated phone call stating for the security of your account we need to verify your information...the information they request for you to input is your debit card number, expiration date and PIN. I AM YELLING RIGHT NOW...DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EVER GIVE YOUR PIN NUMBER TO ANYONE!!!!! What people don't understand is that yes, you are protected from fraud...but if you give out your Personal Identification Number (aka PIN) the financial institution is relinquished from any and all transactions that occur on your account. You may think this is common sense...but these fraudelent actions are very persuasive. An example of this happened just this week to one of our members...and he works in finance...he knows better....but his wife was out shopping and he thought that this was coming from his card company and maybe her card had been blocked...he gave all the information. He lost an estimated $500. DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR PIN!

On a second note, this is something I'm pretty excited about and I don't think I've blogged about it...but if so, just humor me...
You can place a security freeze on your credit report. As of January 2009 it will be available online thru the credit bureaus. If you're interested check out this site http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html and click on your state. This is absolutely the best way to fight identity theft. We found out from our credit bureau representative (thru Equifax) that they will be issuing PIN numbers so if you don't want to have to go in and release a block then reinstate it you can just give the PIN to the creditor you allow to look at your credit...anyone else can't see it unless you authorize it. How cool is that?!

So, what did we learn today? Hopefully nothing...hopefully it's just a refresher that you never give your PIN to anyone. I just got an email two seconds ago stating there is a new scam that they've made to look like it's coming from Wells Fargo Bank...asking same info stated above and yet it looks very legit.

American Girl

When I was little I always wanted an American Girl doll...Samantha to be exact. I never got one and now I know why....THEY'RE EXPENSIVE. I made the mistake of mentioning the whole American Girl thing to Abby...now guess what she wants for Christmas? Yep, her own American Girl doll....the jury's still out if Santa's going to bring it, but I thought I'd throw this out there and see if I get any hits--

I don't want to get her the bitty baby because I think she's a little big for that...but the Bitty Twins are cute. If anyone else is looking at wanting to get their daughter, neice, grandaughter, etc. one of these dolls I'd go in halvies with you on one of the twins. It would be about $40-$50.

If this doesn't work out, I may get both and save the extra "twin" for a birthday present. Who knows? But I thought it was worth a shot. Also, anyone interested in purchasing custom jewelry for a Christmas gift let me know...I'm going to have to raise some serious cash for this pretty little doll. :)

You know the real problem is all the stuff I want to buy to go with the dolls. But then I'm thinking....I can't believe I'm considering spending $20 or more on a doll outfit when I barely spend that on my own kids clothes. I am a TJ Maxx/Ross shopping kinda girl and pay nothing at full price...what has gotten into me?! Oh,well...we'll see what happens with American Girl.

Trick or Treat!

Well...we had a great time trick or treating last night. We went to a local church's fall festival and hung out there for a while...which the kids had a blast playing games and stuff. Then we walked up and down the neighborhood trick or treating. I was so proud of them, they did not forget their manners ONE TIME. :) Hey, it's a big thing if they remember to say thank you at every single house...we were pretty happy with these two kiddos.


As you can see we were escorted by a storm trooper while trick or treating. He was all excited about this costume.

And we had our very own pixie fairy--Tinkerbell. She was so excited just because I let her put make up on.

My laptop is having serious issues of driving me crazy tonight...I keep getting an error message every 5 seconds saying framedyn.dll not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem. The problem is I've been trying to re-install, fix, something this error for the last hour and a half. Due to this glitch I don't have any patience left in me and I'm afraid that I may be pounding this computer with a hammer in the next 60 seconds if I don't get off. I'll post more from Halloween on Monday when I'm at work and hopefully no computer glitches will occur.

Hope everyone had fun!