Aaah... The Spa

My daughters and I have frequently discussed our taking a "Girls Trip" where we go away for a weekend and relax, shop, relax, shop, and relax some more.  We all are in agreement that the word "spa" be the core of our trip.

There are many all inclusive spas which absolutely look divine.  The one we really like includes healthy meals prepared for you.  In addition there are smoothies and healthy snacks.   You can participate in free yoga classes, and Pilates   Like I said, it seems wonderful but then there is a price tag.  A price tag most, if not all of us, can not afford.

There are websites like Devachan Salon and Spa where you can purchase your own spa supplies and make your own specialized, personal spa.  We could have any and all spa treatments we want, and when we want, and at a much more affordable price.

Then this would allow us to shop when we want... which will be much, much more convenient.  There is also the eating element, but with all the money we save on purchasing our own spa supplies, we can dine like queens.

Aaah... The Spa.  I can feel it.

This is a sponsored post for Devachan Salon and Spa, however, all the points and views are my own.

The Things You Can Do... If You Know How

For Halloween this year I made a Peter Pan costume for my two year old grand daughter, and a Tinkerbell costume for my one year old grand daughter.  We had high hopes of their Trick or Treating together, but my greatest idea was to have a picture taken of the two of them.  I had big plans for this picture.

I wanted to be between the two of them and all of us with big cheesy smiles.  It would be great if we could have our hands on our cheeks and just look like we are going to burst.  I would take this picture and create the most amazing Christmas card that read:  "Think of the happiest of things."  But then hurricane Sandy came and Peter Pan was stuck in New York City.

My son in law whose a graphic designer decided that we might be able to make this happen anyway.  With all the technology today with photo shop, etc... I could take a picture of Tinkerbell and he would take a picture of Peter Pan and we could some how blend the two.  Sounds great, but I would seriously need Premiere pro classes to even begin to think about accomplishing this task.  I'm just saying.

Yeah... there are things you can do... if you know how.  Right?

This is a sponsored post for the Training Farm, however, all the points and views are my own.

New York, New York

There are so many things I love about New York.  The food.  The people.  The way of life.  The cultures.  It is simply a marvelous city with so many interesting observations.

For one thing, there are very few overweight people.  And virtually no extremely obese people.  You would never survive New York in this condition.  I never really thought about it, but you are walking everywhere.  There are stairs every ime you enter and exit the subway.  A very overweight person just wouldn't be able to get around.

Another thing is the comfort level.  People where whatever they want, and let their hair do whatever it wants.  I live in a state where your hair is like primary importance in your appearance.  In New York, it's pulled back in a ponytail, or just there.  Nobody worries about straightening, or curling.  There hair does what their hair does. 

And then there is the attitude.  Some people find New Yorker's very stand offish.  I call them direct.  If you can't make up your mind ordering a pastry, then you better move out of the way for the person who does.  If  pull out in a car in front of someone, or heaven forbid you stop for a pedestrian, oh boy are you going to hear about it.  And I don't just mean horns.  People will be screaming out their car windows!  And can you imagine for example, brooklyn car dealerships?  I am quite sure there is no pussy footing around the price.  People are direct.  If you want to pay a certain price, you better just spit it out and see if it flies.

Aaah... New York, New York.

This is a sponsored post for the Kings Auto Show, however, all the points and views are my own.

It's Simple

We all have heard the repeated advice to drink plenty of water.  But believe it or not, you can drink too much water.  I learned this when I was having kidney trouble.  Well, actually kidney failure.  The doctor told me to keep drinking water, so I immediately assumed I should drink lots, and lots, AND LOTS of water.  I actually drank too much water!  Then he told me, that you should drink as much water as you put out.

This has got to be a tricky proposition.  I mean, when I'm in the hospital, they have that little catcher thing in the toilet so they can measure.  I doubt very much, that people are using these in their homes.

Then I was told to drink half my body weight in ounces.  I weigh 120, so 60 pounds, and there's 16 ounces to a pound, divide that by 8 so I now how many cups to drink, and that comes to 120 cups of water per day.  That can't be right!

It's just too hard.  I know that there are services where water delivery youngstown, denver, malibu, everywhere.  Maybe that's what it takes.  We let the delivery services figure it out for each of our body sizes and we drink what they deliver!

It's simple.

This is a sponsored post for Cooksey Culligan Water Conditioning of Youngstown, however, all the points and views are my own.

How Did That Happen?

Don't you love it when your car breaks down?  Naturally, I am being sarcastic.  It is just the worst having your car break down.  Well I thought it was the worst.  Turns out that it's bad to have your car break down, and it's really bad having it break down when you are out of town.  Throw on top of that, the scenario where you are in a hurry to get somewhere.  You have an appointment.  And now I think we are at the worst.

For my cancer check ups I have to regularly go to a medical facility in the San Jose area.  We live in Utah.  This drive can be somewhat of a pain in the butt, particularly when you are going to school full time and working part time.  We would drive through the night, arrive, have x-rays, labs, and see the doctor, and then turn around and drive through the night back.  Sounds crazy, even with this schedule, we still miss two full days of school.  Oh... did I mention my appointments with my doctor have to be scheduled for a Wednesday only.

One of these two day trips resulted in the car breakdown.  We were in San Jose, but not close enough to my doctor.  And remember, we had to make the turn around to head back immediately following my appointment.  First thing, San Jose Towing.  While I was conveniently dropped off, my husband went with the tow truck.  I don't know how he did it, but following my appointment, I walked out front, and low and behold he was ready to go back.

To this day, I'm not sure how that happened.

This is a sponsored post for D & M Towing and Transport, however, all the points and views are my own.

It's All About Family

My friend caught me the other day eyeing an ad for kansas city homes for sale and her expression was "huh?".  I explained that I was looking for a vacation spot, my getaway.  Well this only brought more of a concerned or "what the heck" kind of look to her face.  I told her it was all about family.

My Mom is an only child.  My Dad has one brother, so I ended up with one set of cousins.  My extended family consist of my Aunt and seven cousins.  I love them all dearly.  And they all live... you guessed it... in the St. Louis and Kansas City area.

Growing up, I had a crush on my oldest cousin.  He is incredible smart and incredibly kind.  During my illness, he wrote the sweetest email I think I've ever received.  He offered to come and take care of my children and me.  He said he'd take the time of work and fly out just for this purpose.  This is a nuclear engineer who is a deputy on the side.  

I have two girl cousins who are the sisters I never had.  We went to New York together just for the fun of it and made wonderful memories.  Most recently they came to visit so that they could help.  They cleaned and organized my laundry/storage room in the basement.  If you had seen it before, you would not have thought what they accomplished was possible.  

My other five boy cousins are equally as wonderful.  I couldn't love them more.  I can't think of anything I'd rather do more than be with them.  So sure, a vacation home in Kansas City.  Why not?  It's all about family.

This is a sponsored post for Remax Mid-states, however, all the points and views are my own.

The "Beater" Car

My kids have friends who on their sixteenth birthday receive a brand new car.  This is not the case in our house.  We have always had what we lovingly refer to as a "beater" car for our first time drivers.  Why you would put a teenager behind the wheel of a brand new car is beyond me.  But then again, maybe other families have teenagers with perfect driver records, although I doubt it.  The "beater" car is perfect for several reasons.

First of all, it is very low cost to insure.  In fact, we have been able to get our hands on cars with a salvage title, meaning the car has no value.  This makes insurance extremely low because there is nothing to replace.

Second, if you get that scratch or dent, with a "beater" you really don't notice it.  I have teenagers who have hit fire hydrants, mail boxes, trees, posts, parking lot walls and dividers, fences, and naturally other cars.  At first I was trying to teach the kids a lesson in that they needed to pay for the body work to repair the car.  I thought is was good responsibility.  But soon we were in need of car repair from Las Vegas to car repair riverside ca.  They manage to bump and scratch anything within a ten foot radius.  The money was better spent on saving for college.

This is a sponsored post for German Performance, however, all the points and views are my own.