My family and I caught up on movie new releases, last week.
We watched, Brave Town with Josh Duhamel. It definitely was a movie that went straight to DVD. It had lots of twists and turns. It ended kind of oddly. The movie follows Josh, a wild, teenage DJ who uses drugs and lives with his alcoholic, single mom in NYC. He overdoses and is sent to live with his estranged dad (actor, Tom Everett Scott) in a small town in the south. Josh struggles fitting in. His counselor is Josh Duhamel's character. Apparently, most of the town has suffered the death of a friend or family member in the war. That brings a lot of emotion and brokenness.
A nerdy, underclassmen befriends Josh (he's the same kid that played SJ in the Blind Side). Josh ends up helping the failing dance team, by mixing tracks for their performances. The dance team captain, is Josh's older sister, Mary. The team starts winning with Josh's help. They're now competing for State! Josh works through his demons and starts dating Mary.
See what you think...
Next, we watched The 100 Foot Journey. It's quite charming and a feel-good movie. It features the timeless Helen Mirren as the nemesis. It's about an Indian family who has a family restaurant in India. The mother taught her son to cook, focusing on the flavor of spices. In a time of political upheaval, their restaurant was burned to the ground and the mother dies in the fire. The family moves to England. Then they move to France. As they drive through the country, their brakes fail. The dad says the mother spoke to him and they should live there. They buy a big house with a restaurant. It happens to be 100 feet away from a Michelin 1-star, French restaurant owned by Helen Mirren's character, Madame Mallory. She tries to sabotage them, but they open and are eventually successful. The son/chef gets interested in french cooking and Madame Melanie hires him to work and learn at her restaurant. Soon he does and earns her another star. Bigger restaurants start calling and he's off to Paris. There he becomes a star and his work envelops his life. Along the way, he finds love and where he belongs. Check it out!
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Thursday, July 16, 2015
22 Thrifty Tips
I'm all about saving money and being thrifty. Here are some of the big and small ways I've found to do it:
1. Cut Cable in favor of Hulu. Earlier this year, I gave up cable in a bid to save more money. This blog documented my process. I'd originally planned to also get Amazon Prime, but I haven't needed it. I've started watching HGTV and A&E shows from my laptop to my TV via Chromecast. I haven't missed cable much and love the money I'm saving!
2. Water: I hate wasting anything, especially water. When I take a shower, while waiting for the water to warm up, I collect that water and use it to water my plants or to fill my humidifier. I also use the water from when you're done showering and and hit the button to make the water come out of the nozzle. What can I say? I'm a nerd. :)
3. Thrift Stores: I'm not ashamed to shop thrift stores, I've found a lot of terrific name brand items for next to nothing. Also, I sell clothing and shoes at a trendy thrift store near my apartment.
4. Shut Your Blinds and Curtains to keep from having to run the heat or A/C more than necessary. In the summer, I don't sleep with any covers. I'm not paying to cool the place enough for me to need covers; to me that's ridiculous. I also run the unit fan continually in the summer when I'm home, which helps to save my A/C unit from having to run more. I also adjust my settings when I leave the apartment. I'm not paying to heat or cool a space I'm not currently in. In the winter, I use candles to make the place a little warmer. Pro tip: a colleague shared that adjusting your heat or air by more than 2 degrees will send your unit into emergency mode, which ramps up costs; knowing that has saved me lots of money.
5. Reuse Items: I use plastic shopping bags as trash bags for trash cans in my bathroom and bedroom. I reuse Ziploc bags and butter containers.
6. Airport Parking: I use a parking punch card and will get 4 days of free parking for my next trip. This saves me $40 I can spend on more bracelets (my weakness).
7. Product Samples: I save product samples as they're the best size for traveling.
8. Always Carry-on Luggage: this saves at least $25 per trip. The only time I don't carry-on is if I'm shipping home wine, as it's over the limit for liquids. I use a carry-on sized bag for trips up to 10 nights. The key is not to bring something you don't think you use at least four times. I went to Italy for 10 days and Ireland for 8 with a carry-on sized bag and I brought back lots of souvenirs.
9. Pack your own snacks: especially when traveling. This saves on the overpriced, unhealthy, poor selection at the airport. This also saves people from having to deal with my "hangry" attitude. ;)
10. Bring your own water bottle: fly with an empty bottle and fill it up along the way. If you're in another country make sure the water is drinkable. Recently, I went to an outdoor festival in the heat of summer. I packed three water bottles that came in handy and saved my friend and I a lot of money that we could then use for something else.
11. Coupons: I'm all about coupons for restaurants. Yes, I'll fill out that lame survey if I can get a free side next time! This makes me feel less guilty about spending money eating out.
12. Eat at home: If I know I have food that must be eaten by a certain date, I'll turn down that lunch invitation or throw the item in the freezer. I try to limit the amount of times a month that I eat out. My goal is less than once a week. For me, as I'm single, eating out is more of a social thing. Last year, when I had three unexpected bills related to my car, for four months I had to turn down invitations for eating out. Instead, I offered to cook for my friends, from my stash of food in my freezer, that way my friends didn't feel abandoned.
13. Pick up that penny. Money is money: even if it's only a penny on the sidewalk, I pick it out. So far, this year, I've collected almost a $1. Though this may not seem like much, it adds up.
14. Check out Books and DVDs from the local library for free: I go online, place a hold on it, and when it comes in they contact me and I pick it up right at the front desk. I get books for 3 three weeks and movies for 1 week. Libraries are great about getting what you want via interlibrary loans. In the winter, my parents and I rent movies nearly every weekend. I'm now saving $10/weekend by getting free movies. They're pretty good about getting new releases fairly quick.
15. Research Studies: I live in a town with a university that is always looking for people to help with research by answering surveys. They generally pay and don't take much time at all. For a 10 minute survey, I was paid $10 this spring.
16. Discounted Theater: the local university also shows movies that have left the theater, but haven't yet been released as DVDs. My dad and I saw American Sniper 3 months ago for $2 in a spacious, nearly-empty theater-style room in the student union.
17. Student Discounts: even though I work full time, I'm also taking one class a semester towards my MBA. As a student, I get into our university's baseball games for free. I also get discounts at our town's movie theater, among other places. Using student discounts really saved me a lot of money when I was in Ireland.
18. A Second Job: through my university's daily emails, I learned about job openings for Track & Field officials. The pay was great for a few hours of work on the weekends. I also get to choose what meets I work. Also, recently I've been pet-sitting for friends. Just a couple hours on the weekends and I can give people the peace-of-mind that their pets are being cared for.
19. Shop at Aldi's: though the place isn't glamorous, the prices are unbeatable. They're even starting to get healthy and organic items. You bring your own shopping bags and pay with cash or debit card, but the savings are terrific. There I've found my favorite granola and applesauce.
20. Buy and Sell Things Online: I buy and sell my textbooks online. This helps me find books for competitive prices and gives me a larger audience to sell my books and clothes to. I've made terrific money doing this. In college, in the space of a year and a half, I made $1,500 selling textbooks on Half.Ebay.com and that was over 10 years ago!
21. Choose Water: this can save you up to $2.50/meal. I'd rather save that money and use it to travel; one of my greatest passions. Money on soda adds up fast, plus soda isn't good for you anyway. I try to only drink it when I'm sick.
22. Pay off your credit cards every month. The interest on credit cards is enormous!
Let's all be thrifty together!
1. Cut Cable in favor of Hulu. Earlier this year, I gave up cable in a bid to save more money. This blog documented my process. I'd originally planned to also get Amazon Prime, but I haven't needed it. I've started watching HGTV and A&E shows from my laptop to my TV via Chromecast. I haven't missed cable much and love the money I'm saving!
2. Water: I hate wasting anything, especially water. When I take a shower, while waiting for the water to warm up, I collect that water and use it to water my plants or to fill my humidifier. I also use the water from when you're done showering and and hit the button to make the water come out of the nozzle. What can I say? I'm a nerd. :)
3. Thrift Stores: I'm not ashamed to shop thrift stores, I've found a lot of terrific name brand items for next to nothing. Also, I sell clothing and shoes at a trendy thrift store near my apartment.
4. Shut Your Blinds and Curtains to keep from having to run the heat or A/C more than necessary. In the summer, I don't sleep with any covers. I'm not paying to cool the place enough for me to need covers; to me that's ridiculous. I also run the unit fan continually in the summer when I'm home, which helps to save my A/C unit from having to run more. I also adjust my settings when I leave the apartment. I'm not paying to heat or cool a space I'm not currently in. In the winter, I use candles to make the place a little warmer. Pro tip: a colleague shared that adjusting your heat or air by more than 2 degrees will send your unit into emergency mode, which ramps up costs; knowing that has saved me lots of money.
5. Reuse Items: I use plastic shopping bags as trash bags for trash cans in my bathroom and bedroom. I reuse Ziploc bags and butter containers.
6. Airport Parking: I use a parking punch card and will get 4 days of free parking for my next trip. This saves me $40 I can spend on more bracelets (my weakness).
7. Product Samples: I save product samples as they're the best size for traveling.
8. Always Carry-on Luggage: this saves at least $25 per trip. The only time I don't carry-on is if I'm shipping home wine, as it's over the limit for liquids. I use a carry-on sized bag for trips up to 10 nights. The key is not to bring something you don't think you use at least four times. I went to Italy for 10 days and Ireland for 8 with a carry-on sized bag and I brought back lots of souvenirs.
9. Pack your own snacks: especially when traveling. This saves on the overpriced, unhealthy, poor selection at the airport. This also saves people from having to deal with my "hangry" attitude. ;)
10. Bring your own water bottle: fly with an empty bottle and fill it up along the way. If you're in another country make sure the water is drinkable. Recently, I went to an outdoor festival in the heat of summer. I packed three water bottles that came in handy and saved my friend and I a lot of money that we could then use for something else.
11. Coupons: I'm all about coupons for restaurants. Yes, I'll fill out that lame survey if I can get a free side next time! This makes me feel less guilty about spending money eating out.
13. Pick up that penny. Money is money: even if it's only a penny on the sidewalk, I pick it out. So far, this year, I've collected almost a $1. Though this may not seem like much, it adds up.
14. Check out Books and DVDs from the local library for free: I go online, place a hold on it, and when it comes in they contact me and I pick it up right at the front desk. I get books for 3 three weeks and movies for 1 week. Libraries are great about getting what you want via interlibrary loans. In the winter, my parents and I rent movies nearly every weekend. I'm now saving $10/weekend by getting free movies. They're pretty good about getting new releases fairly quick.
15. Research Studies: I live in a town with a university that is always looking for people to help with research by answering surveys. They generally pay and don't take much time at all. For a 10 minute survey, I was paid $10 this spring.
16. Discounted Theater: the local university also shows movies that have left the theater, but haven't yet been released as DVDs. My dad and I saw American Sniper 3 months ago for $2 in a spacious, nearly-empty theater-style room in the student union.
17. Student Discounts: even though I work full time, I'm also taking one class a semester towards my MBA. As a student, I get into our university's baseball games for free. I also get discounts at our town's movie theater, among other places. Using student discounts really saved me a lot of money when I was in Ireland.
18. A Second Job: through my university's daily emails, I learned about job openings for Track & Field officials. The pay was great for a few hours of work on the weekends. I also get to choose what meets I work. Also, recently I've been pet-sitting for friends. Just a couple hours on the weekends and I can give people the peace-of-mind that their pets are being cared for.
19. Shop at Aldi's: though the place isn't glamorous, the prices are unbeatable. They're even starting to get healthy and organic items. You bring your own shopping bags and pay with cash or debit card, but the savings are terrific. There I've found my favorite granola and applesauce.
20. Buy and Sell Things Online: I buy and sell my textbooks online. This helps me find books for competitive prices and gives me a larger audience to sell my books and clothes to. I've made terrific money doing this. In college, in the space of a year and a half, I made $1,500 selling textbooks on Half.Ebay.com and that was over 10 years ago!
21. Choose Water: this can save you up to $2.50/meal. I'd rather save that money and use it to travel; one of my greatest passions. Money on soda adds up fast, plus soda isn't good for you anyway. I try to only drink it when I'm sick.
22. Pay off your credit cards every month. The interest on credit cards is enormous!
Let's all be thrifty together!
Monday, July 13, 2015
Blog Readers from 39 Countries
The end of this month, marks two years since I started this blog. It's been a wonderful adventure for me. I've been really impressed with the number of countries my readers represent. Here are the 39 countries, I've had readers from: Macedonia, United Arab Emirates, Cayman Islands, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Australia, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, China, Serbia, Netherlands, Venezuela, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Mongolia, France, Israel, Czech Republic, South Korea, Romania, Spain, India, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Canada, Cameroon, Slovakia, Hong Kong, and obviously the United States.
How'd you all find me? I'm so curious!
How'd you all find me? I'm so curious!
Friday, July 10, 2015
Unspoken
Last week, my mom and I saw the Christian band, Unspoken at the Sundown Salute in Junction City, KS. Their lead singer, Chad Mattson has a memorable voice; together they're a joy to listen to. It was neat listening to the lead singer talk about how God delivered him from drug addiction. Yes, our God is that big! Their music has always been a big encouragement to me.
Here are some of my favorites:
Here are some of my favorites:
Monday, July 6, 2015
How to Remove Nail Polish from Carpet. IT WORKS!
Last week, I vacuumed my carpet and moved my 20+ nail polishes in a container to my bed. At 1:30 that morning, I stretched and launched the polish in the air. The result, my black nail polish broke and black polish was all over my tan carpet. This picture does not do the damage justice. 
So, I got on Pinterest for how to get it cleaned. I didn't think anything would actually work, but I had to try. So, I tried this suggestion to try rubbing alcohol and a rag.
I tried that and a little nail polish remover. After 90 minutes and lots of work, 99% of the stain is gone. The downside? My apartment smells like rubbing alcohol, but I'll take that opposed to ruined carpet. :) Try it, it works!
After:
So, I got on Pinterest for how to get it cleaned. I didn't think anything would actually work, but I had to try. So, I tried this suggestion to try rubbing alcohol and a rag.
I tried that and a little nail polish remover. After 90 minutes and lots of work, 99% of the stain is gone. The downside? My apartment smells like rubbing alcohol, but I'll take that opposed to ruined carpet. :) Try it, it works!
After:
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Electronic Marketing
Last summer, I finished my 4-week, weekday, 2 hour a day class with an A. I really enjoyed the class. I found it interesting and beneficial for both my job and blog. My class had a phenomenal, FREE textbook. It's by Rob Stokes and is called eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World. I took this class through Kansas State University. I've really enjoyed my undergraduate and graduate marketing classes and professors.
I loved talking about social media and trends. It boiled down to the fact that online marketing doesn't have to be very complicated.
I loved talking about social media and trends. It boiled down to the fact that online marketing doesn't have to be very complicated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)