Mother's Day Celebrated

The origin of Mother’s Day dates back many, many years ago to the annual spring festival of the Greek's dedication to Rhea, the mother of many deities, to the offerings of ancient Romans made to their mothers of gods and to the Christians honoring Mary, mother of Jesus.

In the United States Mother’s Day started more than 150 years ago by an Appalachian homemaker. There were many other events by other mother's such as Anna Jarvis that occured thereafter also. However, in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday.

May 9, 1914 - "Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the said Joint Resolution, do hereby direct the government officials to display the United States flag on all government buildings and do invite the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."

Later it was decided that Mother's Day would be celebrated on the second Sunday of May, although many countries celebrate it on differents days at different times throughout the year. In some countries the celebration lasts for two days. The occasion is now celebrated not so much with flags as with flowers, gifts, cards, hugs, thank you's and other tokens of affection.

To this day Mother's Day continues to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States. It is the day when you acknowledge your mother's contribution in your life, her love and you pay a tribute to her, often with cards, flowers and gifts. The traditional flowers for Mother's Day are white carnations, as they are said to typify the virtues of motherhood. Mother's Day also complements Father's Day the celebration honoring fathers.

A mother is the truest friend. A mother's love is unconditional and she always understands what her child did not say.

*An old Irish Proverb says... A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.

"Happy Mother's Day" to all the wonderful and loving mother's of the world!

Victorian Architecture

Victorian architecture the style that emerged from the period between 1830 and 1910, under the reign of Queen Victoria, has always been my favorite style of home. Victorian homes are really elaborate pieces of art and full of history from the era of a long period of peace. As you approach a Victorian home, you can clearly see the detailed art work and intricate design all around it. A fine and timeless craftsmanship. When you stand inside a Victorian home, you can almost feel its strong history, wealth and the serenity of the era. The style is about romance, grace, beauty and excess rather than practicality, so they don't fit the needs of the modern family of today. Victorian homes are wonderfully large and ornate with wrap around porches, lots of color, beauty and a elegant combination of style. However, the rooms and closets within them are usually small, which doesn't make them very practical by today's standards. Although they are no longer in fashion, you can still find many of these wonderful pieces of art around the country, usually in historic communities. Many owners of these fine pieces of architecture have updated them and still use them as their primary homes. Others have turned them into a comfy and cozy Bed and Breakfast, conversational Tea Rooms, Museums or elegant Restaurants. Since I am in real estate, I enjoy and appreciate many different styles of homes and architectural designs but my first love is Victorian Architecture.

White Chocolate Strawberry Parfaits

Now here is a "Light" dessert that tastes heavenly!

It's made of lucious layers of white chocolate mousse, juicy strawberries and yummy vanilla wafers. These decadent treats are only 198 calories and only 3 grams of fat.

To serve 4, you will need:

1/2 cup low-sugar strawberry preserves

1 1/4 cups of sliced fresh strawberries

1 pkg. (1 oz.) of sugar-free, fat free white chocolate instant pudding mix

1 1/4 cups (1%) low-fat milk

1 1/4 cups thawed frozen fat-free whipped topping from 8 oz. cont.

24 mini vanilla wafer cookies from 12 oz. pkg.

A few whole strawberries, optional

In microwave-safe bowl, microwave preserves on High in 15-second intervals until melted. Add sliced strawberries; toss to coat. In separate bowl, whisk pudding mix and milk until blended, 1 minute; let stand until thickened, 3-5 minutes. Stir in 1 cup topping. In each of 4 (8oz.) dessert glasses, layer 1/3 cup pudding mixture., 2 Tbs. sliced strawberry mixture, 6 cookies and 1/4 cup pudding mixture. Top with remaining sliced strawberry mixture. Cover; refrigerate 4 hours. Just before serving, top with remaining topping. If desired, garnish with whole strawberries. Delicious!

Porsche 918 Spyder Concept

Who would have ever thought that Porsche would embrace the green concept? As a long time huge fan of the Porsche, I was excited to see this new 2011 Porsche 918 Spyder Concept was green and still a supercar! Porsche says that, when driven accordingly, the plug-in hybrid 918 Spyder Concept gets an outstanding 78 mpg, with an emissions level of just 70 grams of C02 per kilometer. Great mileage, fast and beautiful! I don't think it has gone into production yet, so a price hasn't been firmly established. You can bet it won't be cheap though. Check out these links on this awesome fast supercar!

http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/geneva_auto_show_2010/1320/Porsche-918-Spyder-Concept

http://www.automobilemag.com/green/news/1003_2011_porsche_918_spyder_hybrid_concept/index.html

More Ideas For Your Home

We can all use some helpful hints to make our lives easier around the house and I wanted to share a few that I have tried.

Unstick a Rusty Screw
A screw and a nut that have rusted into place can be difficult to remove but here is way that might make it a bit easier. Soak a soft cloth with cola and wrap it around the rusty pair. Leave it on for a couple of hours. It is the phosohoric acid in the cola that will wear away the rust allowing them to come apart easily.

Fast Way to Find Something Small
So you have dropped your contact lens or small earring on the carpet and can't find it. Now here is an easy solution to finding those tiny missing items. Cover the end of a vacuum hose attachment with a cut-off piece of pantyhose and secure it with a few rubber bands. Then hold the hose about an inch above the carpet and run it over the area. The suction will pull up the missing item, but won't let it go into the tube. It will be right there on the pantyhose for you to retrieve.

Good Way to Clean a Lampshade
Instead of using a cloth that can leave streaks behind, try using a lint roller. Just lightly run the lint roller up and down the outside of the shade. The sticky surface will pick up all the dirt and prevent it from floating to other surfaces.

Keep a Shower Curtain Clean
One of the best ways to keep a shower curtain clean is to rub it with the juice of one lemon. Lemon's natual disinfectant stops mildew growth and eliminates odors too!

Lift Floor Gunk Naturally
Just add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to a bucket of water and use your favorite mop on the floor. The vinegar will cut through grease buildup and gunk to restore your tiles' sparkle. (If you have marble tile do not use this vinegar solution)

Helpful Ways to Find Things You Lose

We all get busy with so many things in our everyday lives. Many times we misplace the items that we need or use the most. There are several ways that we can increase the odds of finding items that we have lost or misplaced. There are easy no cost ways to prevent losing items or finding them and there are low cost gizmos available to help us out. Try a few of these:

Keys - If you tend lose or misplace your keys (we have all done this at least once) then perhaps a Key Finder would work for you. They contain a transmitter and receiver that send out a beacon directing you straight to its location. So check out the KeyRinger device at KeyRinger.com. It costs a small fee. You attach the locating device to your keys, and when they are lost, all you have to do is press a button on the locater, and your keys will beep and flash from up to 300 feet away. Another one to try is FindOneFindAll.com. You can also use these to find other objects like your remote!

Cellphone - How many times have you lost your cellphone around the house, garage or yard? If you don't have another phone handy to call it and hear it ring, then go to WheresMyCellphone.com or PhoneMyPhone.com and enter your cell number and your phone will ring! Then you can follow the sound right to its nearby location. Here is another helpful hint...Put your contact information on your cellphone wallpaper along with the words "Please return this phone to... just in case you leave it in a public place like a restaurant.

Car - How many times have you lost your car in a parking lot because you forgot where you parked? Well now there is a little gizmo available to help you with that issue too. Check out the C-Car Finding Keychain at: X-tremeGeek.com. It costs about $4 and uses a compass to lock in your car's location and then direct you back to your car. How about a free method to help you find your car...With your cellphone, take a picture of your car and any other identifiable landmarks or parking aisle numbers. When it is time to go to your car, then look at the picture you took on your cellphone and your car is found!

Wallet - Experts say that the best way to ensure your wallet is returned when lost, is to make sure you have a lot of family pictures in your wallet. Apparently wallets with baby photos are returned to their owners 88% of the time and those with family photos returned 50% of the time but those without any photos, were only returned 15% of the time. So make sure you have a cute baby photo in your wallet to increase the odds of it being returned if lost!
You can also use one of the locating devices mentioned here for your wallet.

Lost your Mind - You are so busy that sometimes you feel like you lost your mind and you can't remember what you are suppose to do next? Well don't fret because there is something available to help you find that too! Now you can set a reminder for yourself with the help of a free service at: textmemos.com. Register for a free account and then set your schedule of reminders for the day, month or year. You will receive a text message reminding you of what to do next and you will never forget an important occasion or feel like you lost your mind. You can even have your remindes emailed to you or posted on your Twitter account. You can also send your reminder messages to a friend. If you have a Yahoo Calendar or Google Calendar you can do the same thing with those.

Get the Help You Need Without Spending a Lot of Money or Leaving Home!

Now you can get the important help you need for your small matters without leaving home or spending a lot of money! There are so many helpful websites with free or low cost advice from professionals who are willing to share their expertise and assist in a pinch. For Example: Do you have a quick legal question but don't know any lawyers? Do you have a question about depression but don't want to see a therapist? Not sure if you need a mechanic for a car problem?

Well you don't have to waste a lot of time hunting for answers or spend a lot of money. You can get the answers you need at home online. Just take a look at some of these great websites!

Get a Lawyer's response without the big fee!

You can get free legal advice at: FreeAdvice.com or LawGuru.com. You can send an email and get a response within a few minutes or up to a day. If you need an even more detailed answer you can go to WorldLawDirect.com and have an attorney contact you within 24 hours for just $9.95.

Talk to a therapist without leaving home!

If you don't want to see a therapist face to face to get an answer or advice on a problem, then go to Psychology.com or eTherapistsOnline.com and converse over email or instant messaging. For a half hour session fees are only around $30.

Get assistance from a mechanic!

Having car trouble and just want to ask a question or two without a big fee? Go to 2CarPros.com and get an answer from a certified auto mechanic. Response time could take awhile since it is free but if you want to make a small donation you could get a response quicker...say within 24 hrs. You can also go to JustAnswer.com and list how much you are willing to pay for their advice and you will get a quick response many times within minutes, from a certified mechanic.

Need one on one tutoring without the big fee?

Do you or your child have a math problem or reading problem and need some homework help? Many cities offer free online tutoring to any child or person that has a public library card. Ask your local library if they participate or look on your local library's website. If they do, then enter your public library card number for immediate help. Some that do are: Clark County Library, San Jose public library, Ohio public library, Alabama public library and Burbank Central library. You can also download for free the best selling audio digital titles to your mp3 player, pc or PDA with your public library card and PIN.

Want a virtual doctor house call?

Do you have a symptom that you need help with or not sure if you should see a doctor? Go to FreeMD.com. Tell the virtual doctor what your symptoms are or what you need help with. You will also have to give the doctor a little medical history and will be asked a few quesions. The doctor will provide you with a possible diagnosis and treatment, based on your answers to the questions and medical history. If the virtual doctor thinks you need to visit a doctor's office, the virtual doctor will tell you that too.

Not sure if your pet needs to see a vet?

Sometimes it is difficult to tell if your pet needs to see the vet. You may not want to make that trip for the office consultation for $40 or more. Now you can get advice online by going to AskAVetQuestion.com. A board certified vet will give you up-to-the-minute advice for just $5. Just type in your question or pet's symptoms and you will get a response within a few minutes or up to a few hours. You can also get same day online consultations and personalized diagnosis at OnlineVetClinic.com for just $4.95!

4 Steps Towards Improving Credit

It seems as if 2010 will be the year when everyone finally focuses on improving their credit. With the current economic situation, it is more important now than ever to become more educated about credit card companies, credit and credit scores. In December 2008, Congress passed new credit card laws to change many practices of the credit card industry which had been seen as unfair to cardholders. For more detailed information on this new law go to: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/obama-signs-credit-card-law-1282.php or www.bankrate.com

Step 1 – get your current credit snapshot. If you were beginning a diet you wouldn't guess at your weight right? It's the same with credit; it's important to know your starting point. So get a credit snapshot by obtaining a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit agencies at: www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also purchase your FICO score for a small fee from one of the three credit agencies from the same website.

Step 2 – get smart. Unless you are a dietitian, you probably wouldn't create a diet that you knew would guarantee success. So, unless you are a credit expert, don't go about trying to improve your credit blindly. Start by understanding the basic do's and don'ts of credit management. myFICO.com has a wealth of credit education that can help you become knowledgeable about managing your credit.

Step 3 – build your plan. After you've become knowledgeable, then you can really attack your credit problems. You will have your credit report, score and history length and payment to build your plan. Your payment history is one of the biggest components of your FICO score so you really need to focus on keeping current with all of your bills. Understanding how to deal with each credit problem starts with education and continues with a well conceived plan.

Step 4 – check your status. You'd be surprised to know how many people only check on their credit when making a major purchase. If there's a problem, finding out just before a purchase doesn't leave much time to fix the problem. You'd likely step on the scale every couple of days to see if your diet is working, right? Do the same with your credit, especially if you've created an improvement plan. It is recommended to check your credit twice a year and at least 6 months before making a major purchase.




Source:http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/questions/Improve-Credit-Score.aspx?LPID=FICO337&cm_mmc=yesmail-_-newsletter-_-January2010-_-FAQ1

Want Free Stuff?

In this challenging economy, now more than ever it is very important that we all get the best deal for our dollar. Getting something of value for FREE is an even better deal right? If you think freebies are too good to be true, then think again! There are so many no-strings-attached, no-cost goodies to be found online. I personally have taken advantage of so many of the freebie deals available online. Many of them are not advertised, so I wanted to share a list of them here on my blog. If you want free stuff, then here is a list of deal-finding sites that provide items of value or services for FREE:

Free Shipping.org - A list of free shipping codes for major retailers

Amazon.com, Walmart.com and mp3.com - All these sites have free music downloads on all kinds of music. Just search for free music downloads

HeyItsFree.net - All kinds of free items

FreeStuff.com - All kinds of free items

Buxr.com - All kinds of free items

Mysavings.com - Free samples, free stuff from A-Z and coupons

Sephora.com - Offers free weekly specials with free cosmetic gifts with each order

Origins.com - Every first time customer is treated to a free facial. Plus Origins will give you a free week's supply of any product before you buy

MyKidsEatFree.com, KidsEatFree.com and MommySavers.com - Free restaurant meal offers for kids... by area

FreeBirthdayTreats.com - Birthday giveaways, free birthday meals, free birthday desserts

SilverJewelryClub.com or MyFreeSilverJewelry.com - They offer earrings, rings and more at not charge

ShopDi.com - Search for free jewelry

HouseParty.com - Lots of free goodies and all you have to do is host a product party and invite friends to check out the merchandise

WalMart.com - Free samples weekly

CoverGirl.com - Free offers for cosmetics

WildGames.com - Find software that lets you search for video games online and play them for free

FreewareGames.net - Play the hottest online games for free

MomsView.com - Deals and online coupons

Tropicalbreezefragrance.com - Free men's fragrance sample

Moodflow.com - Free wallpaper and music for your computer

Petmassage.com - Free 26 minutes of audio download on the benefits of pet massage

AnnualCreditReport.com - Only true free credit report site

This list consists of only a few of the free and online deal sites that are available. There are many more that are not advertised but these are a good start. So check these sites out and get your share of the free stuff today!

Three Essentials to Happiness

Did you know that there really are only three essentials to happiness? They are pretty simple when you think about it.

1. Something to do....such as a job, sport or hobby you enjoy
2. Something to love.... such as your family, friend, pet or home
3. Something to hope for....such as whatever your dream is

We all have the ability to do something, love something and hope for something. So think about what you have to do, to love and to hope for and you will realize that you have so much happiness to give and to live. One smile can brighten someone's spirits. One word can improve someone's whole outlook. And, one act of kindness can provide happiness to both of you in a way you didn't see coming. Your time and energy are too precious to spend on anything but happiness. Your life will be much easier to endure when you let out your inner joy.

Remember that the really happy person, is one who can enjoy the scenery when on a detour!

Have a happy day!

State of Nevada Releases Names of Legal Loan Modification Companies

Here in Nevada as well as all across the country, many people are using loan modification companies to help them stay in their home. A legal loan modification company will mediate between borrows and lenders regarding a mortgage loan and will not charge upfront fees. These companies are also referred to as debt settlement companies or debt consolidation companies. A loan modification will do one or a combination of the following: decrease monthly payments, lower interest rate or extend the term of the loan, to ultimately avoid foreclosure and save the home. Unfortunately, there a too many illegal loan modification companies and scams taking advantage of desparate homeowners. Therefore, consumers need to be aware of this situation and make sure they are protected.

The state of Nevada has released a list of 28 companies they say are legally conducting loan modification businesses. A new state law forces those companies to carry a $75,000 surety bond which is meant to protect consumers. The Nevada Division of Mortgage Lending warned they would close any loan modification business that did not carry the bond.

Struggling homeowners can see the list of companies that are authorized to provide loan modifications. Consumers are also able to file a complaint using this form.

For a list of the companies who failed to meet the extended deadline, which was last Friday, please click here: http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11435476

Source of portions of this information: www.lasvegsnow.com

State of Nevada Business and Industry- http://business.nv.gov/PressReleases/PR-2009-11-02MLDBondingDeadline.pdf

4 Interior Painting Tips

Painting is a quick and easy way to liven up a listing. But some smart prep work can make a huge difference in the quality of the results. Here are some tips to help you get your home ready to list.

1.Get the surface ready.
You want the paint to glide on smoothly, so be sure the surface is clean before you start painting. Remove any handprints, dirt, or scuff marks. Lightly sand any glossy spots to avoid streaks.

2. Select a paint sheen and color.
Ah, the choices! Many paint stores are making it easier to narrow down your choices by offering small trial sizes so that you can test the color at home and look for any variations in daylight and night. Lighting has a big effect on the way color appears. Remember: Higher sheen paints tend to offer more durability than flat paints, so use them in high-traffic areas. Stain or low-lustre finishes offer more warmth and depth than a flat paint. Consider a high sheen paint on the ceiling, which offers good reflection in the room.

3. Don’t go cheap on the paint.
It’s always tempting to save a buck, but it might not be worth it on paint. Painting is a big job, so you want the expense and quality to show. The Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute, a national painting education group, recommends purchasing top-quality acrylic latex interior paint, which will go on smoothly and allow for easy soap and water cleanups.

4. Choose the right paint tools.
If you’re using a roller to paint, select the right length of roller nap cover for proper paint coverage. The smoother your painting surface, the shorter the nap should be. Use synthetic materials, which are made from nylon or polyester, when applying latex or water-based paints.

Source: The Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute