Never Ending Surprises!

For my uncle’s 30th wedding anniversary to Aunt Beth…me and cousins were cooking up a special treat for them. We bought them tickets for an Asian tour and on their flight back home, we arranged for a quick side trip in Greece for them! The tour bit is the easy part of this whole wedding anniversary plan. It’s the preparation for the party that’s the tricky part…flowers, reception and venue, menu, guest list, gowns and tux, you know the works. Now for the wedding anniversary party, I wanted to look classic and elegant for my fiance. So I ordered online at PearlsOnly.com a bridal pearl set fit for the occasion. I got this lovely set of South Sea pearls with each piece having a luminous and luxurious glow. Those pearls, especially the necklace, gave me the elegance I wanted without having to spend too much unlike other jewelry. Considering the amount that my cousins and I shelled for Uncle Jim and Aunt Beth’s tour, my pearl set is an elegance that’s affordable. Now there’s one portion in the party that really threw me off…in a divine way, of course. Who would have thought??!!…During the reception, my fiance proposed to me!!!

Building a Brighter and Stronger Future with the Help of Walden University

A better life. That’s what everyone wants for himself. Through higher education, I have easier access to better opportunities both in career and in life. I’m a mother of two girls and I work as office assistant in a counseling clinic. With the goal to help others professionally and effectively, I enrolled in Walden University's online degree programs. With this, I can be a mom and wife, without having to give up my work, while at the same time earn M.S. in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling degree!

Walden University’s education program is flexible, practical and attainable without compromising quality education. For online education, you can discover more of WaldenU.edu which offers a variety of options to help fulfill your desire for personal and career advancement. You can learn about Walden at http://learn.waldenu.edu. You don’t wanna miss building a brighter and stronger future by missing Walden!

Cubby Labels for the Kids' Play Room

Guest post written by Millie Robbins

Well over the Christmas holidays, we installed a set of cubbies in the kids' play room, along with some fabric drawers so that we can teach the kids to put away their toys in an organized manner. But the thing is that they're just throwing the toys in any of those drawers and have to dump all of their toys onto the floor just to find one specific one. I knew that wasn't going to work and was kind of defeating the purpose of our new organizational system.

I went online to try and find a solution or a cute way to label these drawers. When i was doing that I came across the website clearwirelessinternet.com and after I looked through it a little bit I decided to switch over our home internet service to the provider.

It's a really simple idea, but I decided to make a cubby sign for each cubby and also a little label for each of the drawers so the kids could put the right drawer in the right cubby.

Yet another weight loss resolution

Guest post written by Dawn Bernstein

I know I'll probably eat my words in a few months, along with some chocolate cake, but I'm making yet another New Year's resolution this year to lose some weight this year. I've always struggled with my weight, so I thought that I could make a real effort this year to change my lifestyle so that I can get into better shape and stay in better shape. I've started to get more concerned with how my weight may cause other health problems.

I went online to check out some different weight loss plans and ideas to see how I could apply them to my life. While I was looking up some inspiration and ideas, I randomly found some CLEAR BUNDLE prices that looked pretty good, so I chose to sign up for one of satellite internet packages I also found.

I think that I'm also going to share my goals with a friend so that they can help hold me accountable for and encourage my efforts toward my weight loss New Year's resolution.

Wedding on New Year's Eve

Guest post written by Rachel White

When we started planning for our wedding over a year ago, my future husband told me that we should get married on New Year's Eve 2010 so that we could get the tax benefits in 2011 for being married during 2010. At first he was just kidding, but then I started thinking about how fun it would be to get married on New Year's Eve.

So after about five minutes of discussion, it was decided that we had a wedding date. Now, finding a venue to book for the holiday was a little tougher, but we got it done and will be man and wife in a few days. I was actually online about a week ago looking through pictures of our venue just to pass that time, when I came across the website http://www.ClearWirelessInternet.com and looked through it some. We still hadn't set up all the utilities in our house we're moving into, so I ordered an internet package off of it.

I can't wait to dance the night, year and my singlehood away at my New Year's wedding!

My Holly Jolly Christmas

Guest written by our friend Mason Abbott

I always get so excited when my favorite animated Christmas special is on my satellite television from http://www.cannonsatellite.com/hd-programming.cfm. Every year around the early weeks of December I anxiously wait for Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer to air. This stop-motion animation is not only a great story morally, it brings in a great dose of nostalgia that makes me feel as if I'm a child sitting in front of my television again.

There are so many interested and wonderful parts to this special. The highlights of this show would definitely have to be the music. Who can forget Burl Ives and his mesmerizing introduction and song "Holly Jolly Christmas?" One of my favorite songs has got to be "We Are Santa's Elves." I am always singing along to that song!

The characters are truly unforgettable. The reason why they are so special is due to their flaws. In the world of holiday perfection, Rudolph and some of his friends stick out like sore thumbs. Hermey is an outcast in the small elf community due to his love for dentistry. There is even a whole island where misfit toys stay. All these misfit toys want is a home and owner to cherish them and play with them. If that doesn't tug at your heart strings I don't know what will!

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is a classic in so many ways. It captures the hearts of children and adults everywhere who know that being a misfit is all about. However even misfits have their day!

Santa Clause 2: One Scene's A Wonder!

This guest post from Lewis Beck

My favorite non-animated Christmas special is Santa Clause 2 with Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell. I always seem to find it on Satalite TV, just before Christmas day. When I do I stop everything, pull close whatever family is around, and bask in the Christmas glow.

The whole movie is good—a battle between North Pole workshop automation and elf-crafted tradition—but one scene really steals the show. In it Scott Calvin (aka Santa Claus) escorts the feisty but deep down kindhearted Principal Newman to a gloomy teachers' Christmas party. Scott decides to liven up the party by holding a Secret Santa, but Principal Newman is certain there are no gifts. To everyone's surprise Scott produces a huge bag of gifts and when he pulls out the first one, it's addressed to the most sullen of all the teachers, John Pierce (Scott asks, “Didn't your Mom call you JJ?”). John grabs the gift out of Scott's hands and, as he's walking back to his cheerless colleagues, tears off the wrapping paper. His eyes widen: the gift is Toss Across, his favorite of all childhood Christmas toys.

After that each of the other teachers receives a gift, always perfectly selected from their Christmases past. And then Scott Calvin walks to Principal Newman with her gift and, well, you enjoy watching the rest yourself!

The Most Famous Christmas Special Of All Time

Guest post from: Bruno Smith

We all know it. We all love it. We all anticipate it running for 24 hours straight starting on Christmas Eve. Yes, A Christmas Story is going to rear its beautiful head again this year. This has to be the most famous Christmas special of all time. We all have traditions built around it, too. Don't deny it!

In our family, we like to watch A Christmas Story on satellite tv from www.direc4u.com/. We watch it as we are preparing some of our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. My kids will put on their Christmas PJ's so Santa will come and visit them. Then they will come into the kitchen and help make cookies, help me clean the collard greens, and get out all of the spices we need to season the turkey and all of the other good food that I will be preparing during the night. It is a tradition and I have been doing it since they were born.

I like that my kids will have this memory with them and hopefully they will pass it on down to their families. They will remember how good the house smelled on Christmas Eve while they watched A Christmas Story and laughed with mommy while we prepared Christmas Dinner.

College Football Means More Time With My Son

Post contributed by Josue Durham

I don't get to see my son very often because he owns his own business and is constantly working to make it a success. While this is great for him, it has meant less time for him and I to spend together. And I'm the one who came up with the idea in the first place. However, there is a silver lining. My son has the option of working his own hours. Most of the year, he will work twelve-hour days. But he is a big college football fan. This means that when the college football conference championships come around, he will be coming over to watch the game with me. This is a real treat. We cook on the grill, catch up on things, talk about some old memories, and then sit down to watch the games on my directtv deals.

I grew up as an Ohio State fan, which makes sense since I grew up in Cleveland and went to OSU. My son is the type of person that needs to find his own way. He got out of Cleveland as fast as possible and ended up going to USC. This was tough, but at least he came back home to the Cleveland area after he was done with school. It will also be nice this year since my team has a much better chance at the title than his does. I'll try not to rub it in.

Christmas Tree Shopping With The Kids

Thanks for the post, Jennifer Mcconnell

I love taking my kids Christmas tree shopping. It's such a great way to spend time together.

We plan on making a really big deal out of it this year, since my youngest son is old enough now to understand and help with it all.

We are going to go to this really nice restaurant before going to the store this year. It's a little expensive, but I have heard it is worth it to go. They bring the food out to the table and cook it right there, putting on a show with it all. I just know my kids will love it. We already have reservations for that day.

So we'll be packing the kids into the van, set the home alarm system from www.securitychoice.com/adt-security.html and then go to the restaurant. After we're done there, we'll head over to the same place we went two years ago to find our tree. I am sure we will find one that will work well; my husband is really good at that sort of thing.

We already have supplies for the kids to make their own ornaments, just like last year. They have so much fun doing that, and it's pretty easy to do.

I hope to make this a new tradition in our household.

Retired Extremely Dangerous (RED) the Best Action Movie of the Year!

Thanks to Darwin Barton

Although the movie Red is quite new to theatres, it is the best action movie I have enjoyed watching. I like this movie because it has a plot that is new to me. This movie is about retired CIA agents that used to be the best. However, the secrets they hold just made them the CIA's next targets. Bruce Willis (Frank Moses), Helen Mirren (Victoria), Morgan Freeman (Joe Matheson), and John Malkovich (Marvin Boggs) star in this amazing movie.

My favorite quotes from Red are as follows:

-Marvin Boggs: “Why are you trying to kill me?”

Frank Moses: “Look, why would I be trying to kill you?”

Marvin Boggs: “Because last time we met, I tried to kill you.”

Frank Moses: “That was a long time ago.”

Marvin Boggs: “Some people hold on to things like that.”

-Frank Moses: “We are going to break into the CIA.”

-Marvin Boggs: “I remember the CIA being tougher.”

Victoria: “Me too.”

-Victoria: “I kill people dear.”

Even though watching Red in the theatre was a great experience, I know I will enjoy watching Red on DirectTV HD DVR much more. The reason being, I am in the comfort of my own home, enjoying a great movie with my family, and saving money. Red is a great movie and I would recommend anyone who likes action movies to see it!

A Little More Green this Christmas

Guest post written by Lynn Mason

One of my New Years resolutions for 2010 was to make our household a little bit greener and I think that I've done a pretty good job of it. We've started recycling more than just plastic bottles at our house though and my house even started a compost pile! But the holidays seem to produce a whole lot of waste, so I'm going to try and address that this year.

I went online to try and come up with some ideas for how we could have a green and sustainable holidays in the family. While I was trying to find some stuff about that I saw the site CLEARwirelessinternet.com and after reading through some of it, decided to change over my internet access to it.

But I think that the biggest challenge will be using green gift wrap. I saved some from last year because I already has my resolution in mind then, but I don't really have enough to wrap all of our gifts, so IÕm going to try and use some things like fabric that can be reused and newspaper and magazines.

Our Crazy Thanksgiving Day

Guest post from: Owen Ingram

Visiting our family is important to us on Thanksgiving. Since we have two sets of parents, of course, we are always splitting the day up to get a visit with everyone. Luckily, they do not live far apart, and the drive between them is only about 20 minutes long. And living in a rural part of Pennsylvania makes for a very scenic drive for the most part.

Before we leave we always set our SecurityChoice alarm and once we are at my parents, we usually just have a small, sit down dinner. My parents are a bit elderly and do not get around as much as they used to, so dinner consists of a quiet meal of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and the like. We generally take the time to catch up on gossip and enjoy a quiet meal together.

Now, going to my wife's family dinner is the rowdy part. With her large family, dinner is a buffet style event that pretty much goes on all night. We usually enjoy some desert and drinks there, and relax with a glass of wine or other beverage of choice. We always plan to watch satellite television when we are there, as there are always so many channels to choose from. Finding a show to watch that we can all enjoy is easy and relaxing after a hectic day. Thanksgiving with us can be a big crazy with the running, but it is a day we love.

Shopping for Resale Furniture

Post contributed by Amanda Alvarez

I enjoy the life of the flea marketer more than anyone I know. Most people don't see the appeal or recognize the sheer amount of work it takes to maintain such a business. However, the job requires early mornings and late evenings. There is a lot of heavy lifting involved as well. One of the most prolifically resold items I keep in stock is furniture. Furniture sells better than anything I have on most days because I can charge a decent price and make a good bit of money.

I buy my furniture at several types of locations. Sometimes I receive a few tidbits from storage bin sales. At other times I will find a wholesale furniture warehouse that is liquidating its stock for some reason. Either way, these types of shops provide ample capacity to purchase furniture that really sells.

The other day I purchase an entire bedroom set for only two hundred dollars. It was antiquated looking though it was brand new. I resold it today for five hundred total. In the end it was a really good deal and allowed me to purchase more items. Today I'll probably sell another bed or couch. At the end of the day when I'm watching my direct tv dvr packages and relaxing on my own couch I'll be exhausted, but happy. Being your own boss does that for a guy.

Trick or Treating

Written by Fermin Washington

To me, the best part of Autumn has to be Halloween. Is there anything better than getting to dress up in wild costumes and getting free candy? I think not. Not to mention all the wicked cool haunted houses available to comb through during Halloween night.

First off, I'll admit, I'm a candy fiend. But there's definitely more to it than just the candy. There is just something about dressing up in a ridiculous outfit and going to a strangers house and getting free candy that tickles me. The whole set up getting dressed up, making sure to set my home security alarm from www.Besthomesecurity.com, trekking around, checking out other people's costumes and pigging out on candy afterward is just so unbelievably awesome that it's a shame it only happens once a year. It sucks that I'm getting a little old to be trick or treating though. So far no one has said anything, but I'm sure some people have thought, "Aren't you a little old to be trick or treating?"

I'm thinking about skipping out on the candy and heading out to a Halloween party this year. While my sweet tooth will most definitely miss the candy, it should be pretty fun to see all the different costumes at the city wide party and I've heard they'll have a ton of haunted houses to run through.

Our Fun Halloween Day

The Author of this post is Cheryl Martinez

My kids are going to have a blast on Halloween this year! I have the whole day planned. We will start out the day with pumpkin pancakes. These are delicious, nutritious, and fun to make. I make them in pumpkin shapes too; they're so festive! Lunch time will be “mummies in a blanket”, which is basically pigs-in-a-blanket. This lunch has been a tradition since I was a child. I serve them with a side of “blood”, otherwise known as ketchup.

After lunch, we will begin working on our goodies for our Halloween party. This year, we will be making popcorn balls, rice krispie treats, cupcakes, and cookies. Both of my kids will help with the decorating of the cookies. This is new this year. They are finally old enough to actually understand the concept of decorating the cookies, but I fully expect them to sneak some icing here and there! I think I'm looking forward to this part of the day more than anything. I'll play some Halloween shows on our satellite television from expertsatellite.com and they'll sit at the kitchen table decorating the cookies. What fun memories to be made!

That evening, we'll get all dressed up in our Toy Story costumes, head to the neighborhood houses for some treats, and then to our annual bonfire for smores. We're so looking forward to Halloween this year!

Dancing with the Stars

The Author of this post is Freddy Savage

Dancing with the Stars is an ABC TV show hosted by Tom Bergeron and model Brooke Burke. It's also judged by Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba. To be honest, I don't really care for either host or Bruno and Carrie Ann. They are all campy and boring. The show is all about the celebrities they pair up with professional dancers and Len's brutally honest critiques. I've been following this season on satellite TV from http://www.directstartv.com/compare_directv/directv_vs_dish.html and I have to say I was disappointed with Michael Bolton's early exit in week two. Sure Bolton was a disaster (he has as much talent dancing as he does writing his own songs), but his partner Chelsea Hightower is one of the better looking dancers on the show in my humble opinion. I still have my favorite personalities among the dancers in Max Chmerkovskiy (don't ask me to pronounce that) and Lacey Schwimmer. Plus watching Lacey's celebrity partner, Kyle Massey, dance is awesome. I don't know why, but watching fat guys dance good always puts a smile on my face. It was the same when NFL defensive lineman Warren Sapp was on the show. Anyway, the celebs always dance in front of a live studio audience, which must be both nerve racking and adrenaline pumping. Other celebs that I enjoy watching from this season are Kurt Warner because of the highlight packages with his daughters.

My Favorite Reality TV Show Ever: Survivor

Post contributed by Noah Schmidt

I was just thinking back on my favorite reality TV show. Nowadays, there are so many reality television shows that it's a bit hard to keep up with. Out of hundreds of shows, I might watch one or two per week. A few years ago, it was different. There was this weird new show called Survivor coming on television that featured real people trying to survive on an island. I had never heard anything like this, so I had to check it out. This first week it came on, I fired up my direct tv international channels and started watching it.

I was immediately hooked. There were all kinds of neat personalities on the show. My favorite was Richard Hatch, who would actually walk around the island in the nude. This was quite embarrassing to the other participants of the show. I forget exactly where the show was set. It was a jungle setting. Maybe Borneo. The most exciting part about the show was that at the conclusion of every episode everyone had to come together to vote off one of the other contestants.

The show was a true democracy. Only the person who got the most votes was voted off. So, every contestant had to do everything that he could to get as few votes as possible. Just like in a regular democracy, this meant a whole bunch of lying, cheating, and false promises.

Renting Movies On Demand From The Comfort Of Your Living Room

Guest written by our friend Jan Chandler

For years we would have to make the ten mile trip to town to rent our movies, and half the time we would arrive and all the new releases would be out already. Then it would start, the indecision, the kids fighting over which movie they wanted, always ending up with someone not being happy, or renting more than we planned.

In trying to keep family time as just that family time, we only had one VCR and later on one DVD player in the family room for family night. After the children started to get older, we gave in and purchased another television set and DVD player for the living room, which solved the problem of renting too many movies. However the trip to town remained the same, always fighting over which movies to rent, and now with two TV's, oh yeah you guessed it, more fighting over who was going to control which TV.

By the time our kids were teenagers, we had giving in, every bedroom had a TV and DVD player, and so if they didn't want to watch what we were, well they could rent their own and watch on their own. The problem was still there, the tem mile trip into town to rent the movies, oh and don't forget, the ten mile trip back the next day before the fateful six o'clock deadline.

Well we finally got an answer to our prayers, Satellite, yes Satellite TV from www.direct.tv saved us. We now have it hooked up in all the rooms, and if someone want to rent a movie, presto, click the remote and it's yours to watch. No more driving all the way to town, only to find the movie out already and of course no more late fees.

A Pain-Free Life

Living in suburban allows me to enjoy the pleasures of both city and countryside life. I have been here since I had my first job as a carpenter. It's a childhood dream to be able to spend my lifetime in a comfortable place like this. But I had to work really hard as I planned to start my own family here as well. I could say that my hard work paid off. I was able to save a good amount of money to purchase my own house and moved with my wife and child there. The house was basically built by me being an architect who started out as a carpenter. Thus, I could make an effort every time I have the time to do some fixing and improving with my house. However, came fifteen years after when I felt the onset of osteoarthritis. It was painfully hard for me when I basically realized that I could not do the things that I have been doing because of the disease. Yet I could say that I was still lucky. A friend of mine suggested that I see a doctor and ask about TENS Units which was unfamiliar to me that time.

True enough, my physical therapist suggested purchasing one of those Muscle Stimulators from LGMedSupply.com. To my surprise, I have found so many options through their online site. I also realized that I was not alone in this condition. I have met patients who have also been served by their services and products. The LG-TEC Dual Combo TENS Unit and Muscle Stimulator that they presented me was really heaven-sent. Its 100mA level has been giving me the best possible pain relief any therapist could provide. Even after three tries, I could already feel the benefits. Since then, I was back to normal life, doing the things that I have been passionately doing in my hometown. So, if you want to continue your life even with arthritis pain-free, just Visit LGMedSupply Online. Lastly, their online customer blog is a big help if we have queries which is truly convenient for busy people like us.