Sounds like a simple task, doesn’t it? Continue reading “Fingerprinting”
Pumpkins
I guess I like to carve pumpkins. so I hear.
here are the the creations for 07. A shout out to Cindy for supplying the “canvas” and Stephanie for gutting.
GreenDimes
I have mentioned GreenDimes before in my post on junk mail. I am bringing them up again because they now have a referral program ($5 referral bonus). I sent out a bunch of emails from greendimes.com to hopefully get some people to sign up, plus I would love to reduce junk mail for all. All the proceeds from any sign-ups made through my emails will go to helping fund our adoption. For only $15 you can help the environment, yourself (less mail to sort), and our adoption (thanks).Here is what greendimes does:For a $15 one-time fee, the GreenDimes Junk Mail Reduction Kit reduces your home’s junk mail by up to 90% and includes:
- Automatic removal from major direct marketing lists
- A simple online tool to manage catalog and non-profit mailings
- Monthly monitoring of your DMA registration
- A set of personalized postcards to sign and send to more junk mail companies
- Ten trees planted with one of our non-profit tree-planting partners
For more info visit greendimes.comIf you didn’t receive an email from greendimes today and would like to sign-up,Email Me , I may not have your correct email address, or check your junk/spam folder.
Trying Something New
I tried something new this week. I am not always the biggest fan of trying something new, let’s just say I don’t like to venture out of my comfort zone much. Continue reading “Trying Something New”
no more pink
so i’m ready for this pink color scheme to be done. November 1 the site will go back to the clean crisp white look. Maybe I will build a new theme. im kind of bored of this one. We’ll see what Stephanie says about me wasting time blogging, and building new blog themes when I have letters and autobiographies to write.
What's up with all these ads everwhere?
Hey Matt & Stephanie, what’s the deal with all these ads?
Well blog reader, I’m glad you asked.
Because the cost of adoption is rather high, and funds are tight, extra income is a must. Also as some of you know, we only have 1 vehicle, and stephanie would like a minivan soon after we have our children. So basically we are trying to see how much change we can shake out of the couch cushions.
We have placed some google ads on our posts and side bar, hopefully all items relevant to the post nearby. Our hope is that some of our readers will see an interesting ad, and click through. Each advertiser pays google so much, and we get a cut for each click. We are not asking for you to sit there and click on everything (this means you Cindy I.), just if you see something of interest, go for it. No, you dont have to buy anything for us to get credit, just visit the site.
To date, we have made $0.37. This is a great start to our minivan!
Paperwork, Paperwork, and more Paperwork
We have been working on gathering up the appropriate paperwork to send in to our home study agency, so that we may begin the home study process hopefully by mid-November. Continue reading “Paperwork, Paperwork, and more Paperwork”
Exciting News!
We have decided to adopt!
We are adopting from the beautiful country of Ethiopia and are very excited. We are in the beginning stages and it will be about nine months to a year before we have our children. Yes, you read that right I typed children. We have chosen to adopt siblings and are hoping for an infant and a toddler. We chose not to decide if we should get boys or girls we will see what we get blessed with.We will try and keep everyone up to date here on the blog. So check back often, or subscribe and get email updates.Matt & Stephanie
Keeping Your Neighborhood Beautiful
If you are anything like me, seeing the trash around your neighborhood gets under your skin and occasionally you pick up a piece of trash and put it in your trash can. I have in the past carried plastic bags when I walked my dogs to pick up trash littering my neighborhood streets, but I haven’t done it lately. I don’t really know why, it is probably out of frustration and to be honest some laziness. I mean it is so difficult to bend down and pick up that small piece of trash.
Today I walked to the post office instead of riding my bike because they are working on the road that I usually ride my bike on and I didn’t feel like putting the wheel on my mountain bike and dealing with the fact that it doesn’t have pedals I can use with regular shoes. I was on my way back when I noticed several beer bottles and other glass bottles and yes there was even a plastic bag. I was apparently in one of my lazy moods because I walked right past them, but thankfully I stopped and thought about it, I turned around and decided to pick them up. All that glass was perfectly recyclable and I could easily take it to R.A.M. to recycle when I took the rest of my glass down. Guess what? It only took me about 30 seconds to pick it up and thanks to the plastic bag I easily carried it home, except for one large malt liquor bottle which I had to carry in my other hand, I am sure it just showed how much fun I have on my walks.
The purpose of this post is to encourage everyone, including me, to simply pick up the litter around us and recycle what you can. You have plenty of opportunities to do it, trust me there is litter everywhere. Whenever you are out walking, whether it is with your dogs, on your way somewhere, or in a parking lot just stop for a second and pick up that piece of trash. If we all did this, our neighborhoods would look so much nicer. Of course, I also encourage you to not actually litter if you do that now, seriously there are trash cans everywhere, it’s not that hard.
Edited to add: Apparently there are not trash cans everywhere, I stand corrected. If you are visiting somewhere that does not have trash cans please dispose of trash responsibly.
Vinegar and its many uses
I had heard of a few uses for vinegar like cleaning windows, unclogging drains, and putting out in a bowl as a deodorizer, but apparently this environmentally friendly product has a lot more uses. Did you know it can be used as a weed killer, fabric softener, and a stain remover? See more vinegar uses here.