Where has the year gone?

It is amazing how fast a year can go by. We are a busy family. With two kids at home, our son is involved with the Boy Scouts and our daughter involved with Girl Scout time slipped away and I have neglected my blog.
I have been working at home selling cruises for Cruises Inc.
Last fall was a sad time for our family. The children lost their beloved grandmother to cancer. Such a difficult life experience for them. Time heals and in time the bitter sting of loss will not be as sharp and fond memories of her will remain.
The winter was long and cold in our neck of the woods and we were grateful to see signs of spring when the first crocuses came popping up through the ground.
Another school year ended and the kids did well.
Summer brought the new experience of Boy Scout camp for my son and my husband. A week away in the woods sleeping in tents. A young boy delight and exhaustion for his dad.
This summer also has brought a new love into our lives. The kids have had the honor to meet work with and fall in love with two lovely horses, Chica the Paint Princess
and Storm.
A new school year has started and the kids are once again busy with scouts and all the many activities that brings into our lives.

The Exercise Is Becoming Addictive.

The exercise is becoming addictive. My friend who I normally walk with called this morning and she had three friends that wanted to go walking with us at nine am. I do have to say that two of her friends are very fit and bike ten or more miles a day. I managed to go two rounds this morning. This is my personal best for that early in the day. YEAH

We have already gone again today so we have a total of three rounds on the trails so far. I feel invigorated and I like how I feel after I have completed the trail. If the weather holds out I would like to go again after the sun starts to set.

Work has not totally gone to the sidelines. I did have a customer today that I had to get a cruise quote for but have not heard from her since I left her a message on her phone.
I also have been applying for everything that I feel I am qualified for.

I have started trying to plan a head on my meals. I have always done this to some degree, but with the cost of gas I only want to have to go shopping once in a week. This will take some planning on my part but I feel it is a very do able task. I just have to be more focused and plan my shopping trips better.

I Will MOVE My Body.

Today the kids and I loaded the bike rack on the car and we went biking. Actually I was very proud of my son. He helped me figure out how to attach the bike rack to the car, and he helped me load the bikes to the rack and we went biking.

No huge mileage but we went. We were able to make two and half rounds on the trail before we were tired. Actually Sissy Lou was the one to ask if we were finished or not. I forget that her little legs are not as long as mine so she is really peddling to keep up with us.

That actually is the longest bike ride I have taken in YEARS, and it felt good. The worst thing about the whole biking experience was loading the bikes. The rack is heavy and lifting the bikes is heavy. I could not have done it with out Son.

We had a good weekend. Dan took Son to work with him on Saturday and Sissy Lou and I had a girls day at home. On Sunday we went to Church and then spent the day at home preparing the kids room for the new school year that starts next month. We packed away last years curriculum and I now have to do inventory on what new books we need to buy and what classes we have recorded and what classes we need to record in the fall.

A good weekend and a good start to a new week. I will move my body, I want to be a healthy person, I will work on being a healthy person.

Determination

I am determined that I am going to be in control of my health. I do not want to go into my old age already unhealthy.
Today I got up. I rallied the kids and off we went on our morning walk. We walked the whole trail once and then we walked the first half again. No huge feat, but we are increasing our miles. This is great and I feel better too.

I am determined to help with the money income. Losing my main source of income last month hurt. That was our play money. The money that paid for vacations and going out to eat. It also paid for those extra visits to the Dr. or unexpected visits to the er. I am determined to find another source of income.

I am determined to make healthy food choices. I pulled out the George Foreman grill and am trying to cook healthier. I am trying to cut the fat from the diet. Son is loving cooking on it.

I am determined to being a better person in general. I am trying to think before I speak. Trying not to speak in the heat of the moment. Trying to look at the bigger picture. Angry words can hurt for a long time.

I am determined to be a better wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend.

It Has Been A Good Day.

It really has been a good day. I received a lead for a cruise first thing this morning. So I spent the better part of the morning looking up prices and getting the customer their quote.
In the after noon my friend came over she too had gotten a lead and we worked on getting her quote out too.
Son went to work with his father and that gave Sissy and I a girls day to hang out and be together.
I feel pretty good after yesterdays colonoscopy. I was amazed how loopy the anesthesia made you feel even hours after it was over. I glad to crawl into bed last night.
I am planning to get back into my exercise routine tomorrow. It was interrupted with the prep and the colonoscopy yesterday. I can not believe I am even saying this but I have missed the daily walks, the past two days.
I spent so much time today looking up quotes for cruises I did not take the time to look for new opportunities posted on craigslist and monster.com
So once again I am looking at my schedule tomorrow and adjusting it accordingly to make up for what have missed today. Top of the list, exercise and job searching.

Nice Family Weekend.

We had a really nice holiday weekend. Nothing exciting but it was just nice being together as a family. Dan had to work on Saturday but was home early. I spent a good portion of the weekend mowing the apple orchard while J and Dan trimmed the apple trees. This was a much needed chore that we had been putting off. It looks so nice now that it is done.
The picture are two that I took this spring when our flowers were just blooming.

My View through a Lens

For Christmas this past year Dan and the kids got me a new digital camera. I have to say that I have loved this camera. I love the instant satisfaction of being able to see the item you are shooting. I have found myself looking at things differently. Even bugs look interesting through the camera lens.

A New Month, a New Challenge

So since 2006 I have been working from home as an on-line digital proofreader. This was a great job. It allowed me to be home with the kids, work when needed and be a parent.
I truly loved the flexibility of this job. Sad to say all good thing must come to an end.
I was really sad to hear the project had been completed.

My search for another position has really been stepped up a notch. I still am taking calls for Cruises, but this really is the slow time of year and not much is happening on that front.
I have set a goal of searching and applying every day for jobs that I feel qualified for.

Exercise
I really have decided to make myself get up and move. I need to make my health a priority. This is day seven and I have walked 2 to 3 miles each day. For most that would be no big feat but for me that is a real effort. It is so much easier with the kids encouraging me and walking right along with me.

Doctors
Well today was my follow up the Dr. after my week stay in the hospital last month for a diverticulitis attack. Sad to say I am having another attack and the light has just now come on as to what has set me off.
For many years Dan has told me I need to eat more cereal so I have more fiber in my diet. Being lactose intolerant eating cereal is no joy. So I bought Oatmeal square. They tasted great and I loved snacking on them. But with in a week I was in the hospital with an attack. Silly me it never dawned on me that it was the cereal. Well last week I tried raisin bran. With in two days my pain was back and I knew I was starting to have a diverticulitis attack. I went today to see the Dr. and I am now again on medicine and I am set up for a colonoscopy next Wednesday. I am not looking forward to the procedure but I need to know what is going on.

A New Day.

I can not believe how much I am loving my new office.
I have been spending so much time in the inviting area. It has done wonders for my attitude and excitement in doing my work.
Day two of my new schedule was a great success. I believe working on my time management is a much needed task.
Yesterday I actually penciled in time to take a break and a walk with my kids. That was a much needed break.
I feel that sometimes I spend so much time working, or working at working, that I forget that I have to take time for physical activity too.

My next goal is to make a weekly schedule for work, home, and family.
I know in my heart that I can make this work.

A New Office

I have a new office.
I have decided that I needed an environment that was appealing to be in. For so many years my home office has been the extra room up stairs. It was a hassle to check the phones, or look to see if work was available. The office just did not seem convenient to where I was most of the time.

So I have moved my office to the first floor of the house. I now have windows that look out on to the back yard. I can see my kids playing all day long. I feel so much more connected to my children's daily lives.
And truly that is why I quit my "out of the home" job. I wanted my kids to come first. I wanted to be the care giver to them.
So this new office on the first floor of our home is working out great.

Taking control of my time.

Time management is my newest goal.
I seem to alway be busy but not completing all the task that I need to complete.

So I have decided to try and schedule my day out a little better.
I truly hope this helps me to be more organized in my daily life.

Prioritizing the events of my day.
First I need to address my customer calls that need to be returned.
Time to proof. I need to schedule time each day so I have time to proof. I need to schedule this in even if no work is on the table. Work can come in at a moments notice.
I need time for the family.
I need time for the house.

I think for the summer I am going to schedule my work life in the mornings and see how this fits.

I need to be more flexible.

Blogging, a new adventure in my quest.

My journey to be a work from home mom started many years ago. I have learned many valuable lessons over the years, and I hope to impart some of those lessons to anyone who is willing to listen.
My hope is that by sharing my mistakes (and my successes) it may prevent others from making the same mistakes that I have made.

I guess I will start by introducing myself to you. I am Onnalie, I am happily married to my husband of 17 years. He is my best friend and my most avid supporter. God has blessed us with two beautiful children. My son Josh is 10 and in 5Th grade. My daughter Trisha is 6 and in first grade.
Our journey to parenthood was a long one and some day I will put it down in writing but not at this time. But my becoming a mother is my driving force behind my desire to work from home.
I was 35 when I had my son and 39 when I had my daughter. I know my time with my children is limited, before I know it they will be grown and on their own. I want to spend as much time with them as I can. Soon they will want to be with their peers more than they will want to be with us. This is the natural way of events, so my desire to work from home is to allow me to have more quality time with those precious gifts God has given Dan and I.

My fist piece of advice I will give you is, never pay for a job. In my early years of looking for a work at home job, I fell for many scams. The ads in the back of the news papers that read, send us $25.00 and we will send you lists of companies that hire for work a home positions.
The lists are not legit. I also fell for the one where you send in $20.00 for the circuit board test. You learn to solder a circuit board and then they will pay you to do it from home. Another scam all the way around. You can never get the board to pass the so called test.
I also fell for the stuff the envelope scam. I have never found a legit stuff or address envelopes at home job. It may be out there but I truly doubt it. Those are a few of my many failures, I now would like to share a few of the real work at home possibilities.

One of the work at home jobs I now have is with a company called US Monitor. It is by no means a full time position. It gives me extra spending cash once a month. What you do for them is Monitor Mail. You will receive mail, not in your name, with codes on them and you enter them into their online site. You are paid per piece that you enter. My husband loves that I am paid to walk to the mail box.

I will post again soon with more legit work at home jobs.