tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58477590939199636462024-02-22T13:52:12.901-08:00Ms. Erika's WorldPlease join me on my journey to balance the many sides of me.
Stilettos, Moon Sand, networking, evasive parenting, exercising, personal development, jeans that are comfortable enough to wear while teaching children & sexy enough to open the door for the new UPS man...I should probably stop there.
But there are many more sides to me and this is where I plan on trying to work on balancing them all!Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-59565473825449656872011-04-24T21:54:00.000-07:002011-04-24T21:54:21.175-07:00Extreme Couponing..or saving a dollar or two ever so oftenI will never be an extreme coupon queen. That requires organization, time, patience *shivers* I feel slightly off balance even typing those difficult words.<br />
But, I will cut a coupon and I will pay attention when something cool comes across my Facebook newsfeed. I mean who can resist free Nivea bodywash? lol<br />
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I know some of you are paying attention as well and since I just stumbled on this very cool calendar I thought I'd share. If I had come across this sooner, I would've shared it with Thatman. He is told his co-workers on Friday to be sure to bring in their Sunday coupons to him tomorrow so he could hand them to me and look like the loving, supportive man that he is lol Sadly, they will all come to work tomorrow empty handed and he will think that they want him to look like the average schmoe..but that's not the case. There were no coupon inserts because it was a holiday :)<br />
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Below is the calendar of inserts for the remainder of the year...enjoy!<br />
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May<br />
1 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble<br />
8— Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
15 — (2) Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
22 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
29 — No Inserts scheduled (Memorial Day)<br />
June<br />
5 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble<br />
12 — Smart Source<br />
19 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
26 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
July<br />
3 — No Inserts scheduled (Independence Day)<br />
10 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
17 — Smart Source<br />
24 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
31 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble<br />
August<br />
7 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
14 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
21 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
28 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble<br />
September<br />
4 — No Inserts scheduled (Labor Day)<br />
11 — Smart Source and (2) Red Plum<br />
18 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
25 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
October<br />
2 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble<br />
9 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
16 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
23 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
30 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
November<br />
6 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble<br />
13 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
20 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
27 — No Inserts scheduled (Thanksgiving)<br />
December<br />
4 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble<br />
11 — Smart Source and Red Plum<br />
18 — No Inserts scheduled (Christmas)<br />
25 — Procter & Gamble<br />
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btw just to amuse me..could you please be sure to wear some heels when you go shopping with coupons? According to the TV show, tending to your personal hygiene and wearing heels makes you a DIVA! And since we are already fabulous.....<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mseriswo-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B003ZVUIZ8&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-79701972693492927882011-04-05T11:58:00.000-07:002011-04-05T11:58:05.990-07:00I love stuff that makes me look creative!I love words and I love looking creative when really I'm about as creative as...NO everything, anything is more creative than me!!<br />
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Okay, I'm not going to explore the whole lack of creativity at this moment because, frankly that's depressing. I'm trying to find things that are upbeat and a totally useless waste of time. Because if I don't then I might actually be confronted with the piles of paper I'm supposed to do something with.<br />
How do we live in such a fantastically, magical time filled with wondrous technology that does so many mundane tasks for us but yet, I still have plastic shopping bags filled with paper to sort and file?<br />
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Okay, I may not be creative but obviously I'm great at getting side tracked. My intention today was to post something that to me is so cool!<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3416809/Ms_Erika%27s_World%22%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20title=%22Wordle:%20Ms%20Erika%27s%20World%22%3E%3Cimg%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20src=%22http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3416809/Ms_Erika%27s_World%22%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20alt=%22Wordle:%20Ms%20Erika%27s%20World%22%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20style=%22padding:4px;border:1px%20solid%20#ddd%22%3E%3C/a%3E">Wordle</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRclqdOLdKhWXNzry2vM9M-SZ888Y_4bDEibzKb4LOgzSUh4hfSYstdIjynk9SBlrF5UE9GST1wpyb0HlblLlFDpQxVRsdjR06wkAIJuyJPYXi12ohZ_KjeH9dU_mNMAobglppGi0g0hOD/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRclqdOLdKhWXNzry2vM9M-SZ888Y_4bDEibzKb4LOgzSUh4hfSYstdIjynk9SBlrF5UE9GST1wpyb0HlblLlFDpQxVRsdjR06wkAIJuyJPYXi12ohZ_KjeH9dU_mNMAobglppGi0g0hOD/s320/Capture.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><pre id="embed"><a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3416809/Ms_Erika%27s_World">
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<pre id="embed"> </pre><div style="text-align: left;"><pre id="embed" style="font-family: inherit;">How cool is that?!</pre><pre id="embed" style="font-family: inherit;">In a 70's, spent my childhood at the art museum everyday, kind of way. </pre><pre id="embed" style="font-family: inherit;">It is every word that I've ever used on this blog. Now some could take it as I just don't post that often</pre><pre id="embed" style="font-family: inherit;">but I prefer to think that it shows that I am a concise thinker. I don't need to use a lot of </pre><pre id="embed" style="font-family: inherit;">unnecessary words.</pre><pre id="embed"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"></span></pre></div>I'll let you decide.<br />
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Afterthought...<br />
Thanks to this blog I learn something new all the time LOL I had no idea how to save the darn image because it was some kind Java Apple thingy I couldn't just right click and save. I now know how to "snippet" YAY! If you want to know (in case you're in the elite club I just got kicked out of that is full of people that don't know how) just ask me!Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-49541892558517297972011-03-23T17:16:00.000-07:002011-03-23T17:16:17.373-07:00Advertising on the internet or as I like to still call it...the world wide webWhat a week! Heck, what a friggin month!!<br />
I have been abused by customers, had a tantrum like one of the preschoolers I care for and yelled "I'm done! If you can't play nice then I'm not going to play...daycare CLOSED!". Then decided I have done this too long..I ammm Ms. Erika. I need to put on my big girl panties and figure some things out.<br />
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I have then in the last 72 hours had supporters come out of the woodwork and compliment me on review sites; had a local tv news choose my childcare as representative of a quality program that accepts childcare subsidy; had a real nice provider call me today to tell me that she spoke with me a year ago and made big changes in her program & marketing thanks to my suggestions ... she is now full, successful and happy; this same provider was prompted to call me because while browsing Living Social she saw that my childcare was the only one listed on their list of 365 things to do in Omaha and <a href="http://livingsocial.com/cities/50-omaha/articles/17539-best-childcare-spot-for-green-parents">I'm #160</a>! (for that I have to plug <a href="http://livingsocial.com/">Living Social</a>..it's like Groupon's sister). I don't know how I got on there but I'm thrilled I did!<br />
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The sudden kindness of so many, many who barely know me and some who didn't know that I was so horribly burned out, has been almost overwhelming. I am sitting here wobbling between having a big head and feeling not quite worthy. I think it would be best for me right now to go with the big head. We all should bask in the shade that our own noggin provides sometimes. Lawd knows that we get enough negative shade thrown our way at times and I have certainly sat in other's negative shadows for the last month or so.<br />
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So I'm sitting here with my big head bobbing to some good old fashioned hustle music (you know <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4xTxoO58jQ&feature=fvwrel">Busta Rhymes </a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIovk4lZiio">womanopoly</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/rickrosstv?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/0/QeYUwSzUVTc">Rick Ross</a> ,<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpKAA2VxWY8">Dolly Parton</a> ) and questioning if so many think that I'm good how come I only have two children enrolled?<br />
I know part of my problem is that I tend to tell the truth, "Little Johnny isn't crying when you leave because he's having separation anxiety. Little Johnny is crying because as soon as you leave he won't have an adult around that he can manipulate. I said out loud, hunh?" I'm working on my edit button as well as my patience. This has been a lifelong struggle for me but I won't give up.<br />
Now in order for me to practice my own self-control I need to have clients to practice on. The world wide web has done wonders with my Scentsy business so I've decided to explore Google and find other avenues to advertise<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mseriswo-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1884834752&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe> for free instead of just <a href="http://omaha.craigslist.org/kid/2230489092.html">Craigslist</a> .<br />
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This is the little bit that I've learned and if anyone is interested, I will continue to post more as I go...<br />
When a person enters a service that they are looking for in Google...because trust me, LOTS of people do...you want to make sure that your business pops up on the first page under as many different ways to search for your business as possible. For example, if a person enters "Omaha Daycare" I show up on that first page. If they enter "Omaha Home Childcare" I pop up. I think I pop up under "Omaha preschool", too. The reason I pop up on all of those searches is because I am a world wide web junkie. I am all over this thing. Mainly because I have so many friends that live in the monitor and I'm chatting with them all the time. Whenever I chat I am identified as either Ms. Erika or The Kids' Spot. I'm kinda a brand now..and that's a good thing! I NEEED to be a brand. If you have a business, you NEEED to be a brand!! When you tell your kid to grab some mac-n-cheese from the store, do you tell them grab some Kraft or do they just automatically grab it? They just grab it because "generic store name" hasn't put in the work to be at the front of their brain. I need to put in work and flood their brain with The Kids' Spot. When a wife tells her husband, "we really need to put little johnny in childcare because now that he talks I really have no clue" or when a husband tells his wife, "we really need to find a childcare for Little Johnny because I have decided that that I really should get a job instead of just fantasy football." I want them to know to call The Kids' Spot because I <b>am </b>the spot for kids!!<br />
So I'm on the front page, and a lot of other people are, too. How do I stand out from the crowd? For starters go to <a href="http://places.google.com/business">Google Places</a> and claim your business! It's FREE. Free is my friend :) There you can put in all of your business info and add pictures and even a coupon if you want. After, you can sweat it every day like you do the mailman when expecting a refund check. It has an analytic thingy that shows you how many people saw it, how many clicked on it, etcetera. What claiming your space will do is put your listing in with the search results that have that little red bulb next to them and are placed on the map in the Google results. Now I have learned the hard way that if you have a potential client that is pissed at you then they can blast negative reviews all over the net and Google Places does add reviews from other sites. That being said, I have had my Place on there for a few years and have only had this problem once. And since so many amazing people have left positive reviews, I'm thinking he's not a factor so much.<br />
Okay, so you have your Google Place but there are a lot of businesses similar to yours that have theirs, too. How do you get up in the list? Well, the more positive reviews on your Google Place the better BUT also the more times Google sees you on the world wide web the more important they think you are. So I am searching now for free advertising spots. One that I am doing right now is <a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/">thumbtack.com</a>. I am currently creating an ad for <a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/Family-Child-Care-with-All-Day-Preschool-Omaha-NE/service/146459">Family Child Care with All Day Preschool</a> <br />
This will be just one more place that I show up on the web and hopefully, will help to bump me up to the number one spot in the listings.<br />
Of course, I already have a website for <a href="http://www.mserika-thekidsspot.com/">The Kids' Spot</a> so that helps a lot and believe it or not, even my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TheKidsSpot">Facebook</a> page shows up in Google. Which is so cool! Anyone who knows me knows that if I can rationalize being on Facebook to be beneficial in any way...oooh I feel all tingly!<br />
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Well, that is the extent of my knowledge at this point. My knowledge on internet marketing that is .... always a donkey with jokes in the crowd. I'm going to see if that whole html mess I entered up there worked and finish off the thumbtack.com to see if it helps like I believe it will.<br />
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Before I go, I'd really appreciate it if tonight, everyone that is reading this, if tonight when you see a toy that hasn't been put away or realize that you are low on toilet paper or just generally wish for an extra 15 minutes of complete solitude in your day....that you think of me, look up and ask the Daycare Fairy to please send me some sane families with funny kids.<br />
I thank you :)<br />
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<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mseriswo-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0042P5DOW&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-55772324290264918392011-03-11T18:06:00.001-08:002011-03-11T18:06:58.273-08:00Testing testing. I can do this.<div><p>Thatman just gave me an Evo phone and I just learned that I can post to my blog!<br>
My problem is that these little letters are smaller than my fingertips.  I might just have to go ahead and start growing dragon lady finger nails again.<br>
"ooh! what could of work could you possibly do with those long fingernails?!"<br>
"I happen to see a very successful blogger with 50,000,012 followers.. thank you."</p>
<p>OR my 13yr old could've just told me about the speak function 30 minutes ago instead of laughing at me for the last half hour :(<br>
So here goes.  I'm going to type a sentence and then repeat the sentence with the speech function.  I have a strong feeling that this should be ticklish.<br>
"I am so thankful to share my life with my four wonderful young men and Thatman."<br>
"I am so thankful to share my life with for wonderful young man in demand"<br>
Okay, well maybe that only tickles<br>
me.</p>
<p>This wasn't the most thought provoking, inspiring,  or even entertaining blog post. BUT I learned some things and that's what's important in life...to always learn and expand our capabilities OH and to tell our children to hursh their laughter while we're doing it!</p>
<br/><img src='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_BxsEDArNaEM/TXrVP3JnoWI/AAAAAAAAABc/L-9QpqsY_dc/1299895590751.png' /></div>Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com0The Kids' Spot Home Childcare, 11502 Newport Avenue, Omaha, NE, United States41.319681 -96.092431tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-73837853198205345262011-03-07T20:30:00.000-08:002011-03-07T20:30:10.524-08:00Laptops, Food and midlife crisis...welcome to my week!<span></span>So I made a big tadoo about how I was going to blog on a regularly scheduled basis. Yeah, well, there are a lot of things I am supposed to be doing on a regularly scheduled basis. Lately if it doesn't have to do with personal hygeine or eating, it's pretty much been put on the master procrastination list.<br />
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I have honestly, had a pretty good excuse and those that don't have me on their friend list on Facebook will actually believe this excuse. The truth is that my laptop has decided that it really doesn't like being thrown across a room when a resident teenager has lost their mind. It also doesn't care for sliding off the bed, hitting the floor and then being yelled at whenever it's owner is trying to reach for another Natural Cheeto (note I said natural..I should get some kind of credit for that). As payback for these personal offenses to it's hard drive, my laptop has decided that the outlet that the power cord enters on the side of the laptop would only stay truly connected if propped up with a bar of Scentsy...and lately only if that bar smelled like some kind of dessert so as to punish me even more. So everytime I got really into typing something completely inspirational and life changing., the little blue light on the side would disappear and the laptop would shut down. Now here is why I know this is a personal beef the laptop has with me...it would <strong>only </strong>do it if I was trying to do anything that could possibly be passed off as being productive <strong>BUT </strong>I could chat away on Facebook for hours on end (not that I know that for sure because really, what kind of no life person would I be to actualy spend all day on FB?)<br />
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To save me from spending the rest of my days being mocked by a funky attitude having laptop and to keep me from enjoying being unproductive Thatman went in on a laptop for me. This was yesterday. Tonight to shut my 13yr old up, I opened the box and decided to come visit Ms. Erika's World.<br />
Now that I have opened this thing my children are arguing over which one of them gets to carry on the tradition of time killin on that old laptop. I told them that they really don't need any help since they have seemed to master that skill and without any electronic assistance what so ever. They still think that they're not truly unproductive unless they're running up my electric bill, though.<br />
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I know that my title mentioned food and midlife crisis.<br />
That is going to have to wait until tomorrow night. And <em>yesss</em> there will be a post tomorrow night. You see I am a woman who thrives on excuses and since this is my new toy, this blog will be my excuse to play on it. I will not visit Facebook from this laptop...yet. I will remain strong and productive. I'll also figure out why there is a button on this desktop that asks if I want to wach Live TV hmmm<br />
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<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mseriswo-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1576754227&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span>Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-2401892288479003832011-01-24T20:58:00.000-08:002011-01-24T20:58:25.199-08:003 Day Cleanse DONE~ no magic but real results!<div style="text-align: justify;">So I woke up this morning and weighed myself. I lost exactly 4.9 pounds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I know dag well that wasn't all fat. I've done enough cleanses to know that you drop a LOT of water weight. Considering there was no salt in my diet for 3 days, I ate plenty of fruits and vegetables, drank plenty of water and tea...my body finally released that water.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BUT by doing that cleanse, I'm not craving salty foods, even foods with "hidden" salt now. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">So let's breakdown how three days has changed me...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>coffee free still..that's a first since 1984!</li>
<li>not craving salt</li>
<li>not mindlessly eating and still feeling like there is "something" I'm still craving</li>
<li>not craving red meat</li>
<li>not craving bread...<b>that's major for me!</b></li>
<li>got me back on track with being aware of what I put into my body.</li>
<li>and since we're talking bodies and nutrition..I've debated on mentioning it but hey we're grown...I am now regular and haven't had gas in 3 days. Now to convince Thatman to drink it LOL</li>
</ul><div>Today I had one Shakeology pack. My plan was for it to replace breakfast but due to how I made it...I snacked on it until lunchtime. After three days and 3x a day of the same flavor I had to switch it up lol I took a bag of frozen raspberries and put them in the fridge last night to defrost. My plan was to put them in the blender frozen but my 13yr old puts away the clean dishes and can't figure out where he put the blades to my blender <i>UGH! </i> Sooo I put them in a large measuring cup with 2 cups of cold water and 1 pack of Shakeology (it was supposed to be two packs but I found the 2nd one unopened on the counter later...still working on being focused without coffee lol), took a whisk and whisked it up!</div><div>Chocolate raspberry Shakeology is like an incredible desert. LOVED IT!</div><div><br />
</div><div>So now that I broke down and tried the Shakeology I need to suck it up and get going <i>seriously </i>on this ChaLEAN Extreme program. I have made some of the recipes in the included meal plan and oh my gosh, they have been gooodt. I have done both of the preparatory DVD's where Chalene Johnson explains how to do all of the moves safely, which impressed me. But for some reason I'm just not moved to really jump on it. Everyone has something that gets them going. I can do dance-style workouts daily! I can walk cross country (walking is my favorite exercise). I can get on my elyptical for 30 minutes daily. I could even do a regular weight workout daily. For some reason the combination of strength and cardio in the same workout....maybe it's confusing my mindset lol</div><div>My alarm is set for an hour early tomorrow morning and I am getting up and doing this!</div><div><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="412" id="flashObj" width="486"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=755085321001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fbeachbodycoach.com%2Fesuite%2Fhome%2FMsErika%3Fbctid%3D755085321001&playerID=5094541001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAGFvgpA~,Dme6miR5QNUh1ZLcCDJ5iaInMZs2JHDS&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=755085321001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fbeachbodycoach.com%2Fesuite%2Fhome%2FMsErika%3Fbctid%3D755085321001&playerID=5094541001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAGFvgpA~,Dme6miR5QNUh1ZLcCDJ5iaInMZs2JHDS&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></div><div><br />
</div><div>If anyone reading this has tried it ..or heck, if you'd like to try it...let me know what you think!</div><div>We could encourage each other! I know I need all the encouragement I can get with this one lol</div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Mantra for the morning: This will increase my metabolism. My arms will stop moving when I stop moving. This will increase my metabolism. My arms will stop moving when I stop moving.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=mseriswo-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=dumbells%20adjustable%20set" target="_blank">Search Amazon.com for dumbells adjustable set</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mseriswo-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div>Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-30732411908783381522011-01-23T13:10:00.000-08:002011-01-23T13:10:02.763-08:00Pizza is the Devil! Or was it said that laziness is a tool of the devil...either way, dieting sucks<span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Today is the third and final day of my Three Day Shakeology Cleanse.</strong></div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div align="justify">I started my day with green tea. Followed that with a chocolate Shakeology shake. I was doing great. Not hungry a bit.</div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxf22ZS2RPTGAvguQCtizAVECWwaFLbjkrZOD3uIrEkxDFypCHmICAvotrR14A0mdxJXgeRbF3QaD7YkcvEii6n0QaeA7qNB8JoXbF48-4U55Dkrm8eJFN42cla74rROxEpQy1CL-eheb/s1600/shakeology1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxf22ZS2RPTGAvguQCtizAVECWwaFLbjkrZOD3uIrEkxDFypCHmICAvotrR14A0mdxJXgeRbF3QaD7YkcvEii6n0QaeA7qNB8JoXbF48-4U55Dkrm8eJFN42cla74rROxEpQy1CL-eheb/s200/shakeology1.jpg" width="148" /></a></div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div align="justify">Then the kids decided they need food, too and none of the healthy convenience snacks I stocked the kitchen with were acceptable to them..spoiled kids. There is a good foot of snow outside and I'm not allowed (according to my family) to drive in it. The only thing that delivers in my neighborhood is Pizza Hut. Do you know that they have Veggie Supremes that you can put jalapeno juice on and it's realllly good?</div><div align="justify">So I told the 4yr old to clean his room the right way and I'll call the Pizza Man or he can do a half-tail job and he'll have soup. Like most 4yr olds he doesn't understand soup :/</div><div align="justify">He ended up doing an incredibly great job on his room and well, a deal is a deal. I ordered two large cheese pizzas for him and his brother. An hour later, my house smells sooooo good and I'm sippin water and shoving orange slices in my mouth to keep from cursing.</div><div align="justify"><br />
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</div><div align="justify">To make it worse...while I'm typing this my 13yr old comes to tell me that instead of getting two cheese pizzas, he just found out one was half pork and the other half my beloved veggie lover with the jalapenos on it! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACz4AaoasPQ_6TAHTQbr1wX8k5EWXFB48PV11ShkHSe6Q7sYS406Pxh4KHyKedEAYN9TD9E0HFLDlsaVRyH0heWChphyphenhyphenENMecVKhyphenhyphenRCAMNWAmSOolzlstpGbj6lwbAjbAs-mpdelVpQrb/s1600/bed+%2526+pizza+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACz4AaoasPQ_6TAHTQbr1wX8k5EWXFB48PV11ShkHSe6Q7sYS406Pxh4KHyKedEAYN9TD9E0HFLDlsaVRyH0heWChphyphenhyphenENMecVKhyphenhyphenRCAMNWAmSOolzlstpGbj6lwbAjbAs-mpdelVpQrb/s200/bed+%2526+pizza+002.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div align="justify">Oh, Healthy Eating G*ds why are you toying with my emotions?!</div><div align="justify"><br />
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</div><div align="justify">So now for the first time since I've started this cleanse my stomach is growling and I have shut myself in my room. <span style="color: red;">HELP!</span></div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div align="justify">Okay, big breathe...I can overcome the evil that is pizza crust. I am submitting this entry and then lacing up my tennis shoes. Elyptical here I come!</div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div align="justify">Please keep me in your thoughts for strength</div><span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mseriswo-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1593155824&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span>Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-30053039001692965572011-01-22T20:34:00.000-08:002011-01-22T20:34:51.662-08:00Day Two of Shakeology Cleanse~cleansing not just my body but trying to get my mind around no coffee!<div style="text-align: justify;">So today is the second day of this Shakeology cleanse.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm really pretty amazed..partially at the Shakeology and a lot at me!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've done the lemonade cleanse (that's not lemonade, it's yellow, demon... welll it's just nasty!) and lasted almost a day!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've done juice cleanses and while I felt pretty healthy, I gained 7lbs in just 3 days UGH!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've done the little pills that come in colon cleanse "kits"..I won't tell you what all happened with that other than to say it made me realize that I really should think about decorating my bathroom more since there is so much potential to spend time in there :/</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All of these cleanses left me starved, evil and in need of more air freshener..not to mention the weird sounds Thatman said my stomache made all night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've recently become a Beachbody Coach. That means that among a lot of things I'm happy about, I'm thrilled that I get 25% discount on their products, I have accountability to really stay on my health goals and ever so often I might get a commission lol I know I shouldn't say it like that because my Diamond Coach above me makes over $1000 a week..I just started so I'm happy to lose a thousand calories a week!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I mention all that to say that one of the products I'm authorized to sell is Shakeology. It's a nutritional drink that can be used as a supplement or complete meal replacement. With only 140 calories it holds over 70 ingredients, 17 grams of protein, 17 grams of total carbohydrates (which is a good number when it comes to me offering it to Taz, my 15yr old who has Juvenile Diabetes), probiotics , amino acids, I can go on a LOT. The only thing it boasts which I'm having a real hard time with is NO CAFFEINE. I'll complain more about that later lol</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My feeling is that I can't sell anything that I'm not 100% into..heck that's why I asked about selling Scentsy, I LOVE them! So I decided I'd take a crash test with Shakeology and do the Three Day Cleanse. This cleanse wasn't created or endorsed by Beachbody (the company behind Shakeology) but after reading a lot about it, it does seem like a great idea. Heck, nothing can be worse than lemons, cayenne and pancake syrup :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today I am on day two and I am really impressed!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It does not taste chalky, like a slimfast or protein powder. It is thick and pretty rich. It's not Godiva chocolate flavor but it's better than a Hershey bar in flavor as far as I'm concerned (not better than a dark Hershey, just the milk chocolate Hersheys lol).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What's crazy is that I am actually FULL! The only problem I have had is the first night I went to get my 4yr old some BK (Yep I'm an amazing mother) and he kept asking why I didn't order the ciabatta chicken. He finally gave up and said that Jimmy John's was better for me anyway. You should've heard the psychotic conversations that were running in my head!! I managed to get home and keep a sane looking smile on my face while I headed to the kitchen to take 1 cup of cold water, 2 ice cubes and a pack of Shakeology, pour them into a shaker cup and shake out ALL of my aggression!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I did go to bed last night with a headache. I believe it was from not having my daily cup of Medaglia D'Oro coffee (or some say my daily mud). I have had a cup of coffee with one tsp of sugar or one pack of Splenda and enough milk to look late'ish since 1984. Haven't missed a day willingly. I woke up with a headache as well but now it's gone! It didn't turn into a migraine either which is CRAZY.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Medaglia-Oro-Espresso-Ground-11-Ounce/dp/B001SB291S?ie=UTF8&tag=mseriswo-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mseriswo-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001SB291S" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mseriswo-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001SB291S" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mseriswo-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001SB291S" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is now 10pm and I'm drinking my second Shakeology. It should be my 3rd but I've been too full to even imagine drinking another until now. *insert confused as heck look*</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I should've done the whole before pics, measurement and weighing ..I procrastinated because I really don't want to face it. I will say that I know I weighed 183 yesterday morning and the scale said I was 44% fat WTH?! So I'm almost half fat. And this is where I admit how vain I am...Thatman knows nothing of this blog. Being almost HALF fat sounds so anti-sexy to me smh</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, you can tell I'm brand new to this blogging thing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm even longer winded in print!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you've gotten this far I thank you :) Tomorrow I will suck it up and post my measurements...maybe a picture if I can figure out how to get each of you to submit confidentiality forms.<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mseriswo-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001SB291S" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/MDSUSH311G?referringRepId=75449" href="http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/MDSUSH311G?referringRepId=75449"><img _fcksavedurl="http://images.beachbody.com/tbb/coo/ad_banners/Shakeology/How/shake_how_v2_300x250.gif" height="250" src="http://images.beachbody.com/tbb/coo/ad_banners/Shakeology/How/shake_how_v2_300x250.gif" width="300" /></a> <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mseriswo-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001SB291S&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div>Ms. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847759093919963646.post-46281724827452871892011-01-19T22:31:00.000-08:002011-01-19T22:31:13.498-08:00My tippy toes are getting damp!Well, I am finally getting my toes wet in this big blogger pond!<br />
I've tried a few sites and I think I like this one.<br />
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My goal is to add one new posts per night for the next five nights.<br />
That's doable lol I'm sure not all of the posts will be completely coherent since I am doing this around midnight but it is the one time my house is quiet....all of the locals are unconscious!<br />
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Please comment on anything you read here.<br />
I am very opinionated and appreciate others that are as well..even if our opinions don't completely mesh.<br />
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I may seem scattered at times but that's what this blog is about...my journey to loving and nurturing the many sides of me! You might see a little bit of yourself here, tooMs. Erikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648652415538215390noreply@blogger.com0