Real Life Guidance Report: Balancing Work & Family

The Real Life Guidance report, Balancing Work and Family was a quick and easy read. I have a hard time managing my time, I'm always going in so many directions (and I don't even have kids at home) and this report gave me tips and suggestions on a variety of ways to balance things. I'm off to implement a few of Aurelia's suggestions. I would highly recommend this report and all of her other Real Life Guidance reports.

If you need personalized help, you might want to take advantage of Aurelia's wonderful coaching. I have personally benefited from her coaching (and even have met her in person). If you decide to purchase any of the reports or coaching services be sure to come back and leave me a message with your thoughts.

Over $550 later my car is fixed

Last week when we had a pretty good snow storm, I was out and about and the roads where I was had not been plowed yet and I paid dearly for that but luckily it was only me involved. It didn't turn out to be my day, I was running late, got stuck at a train for 15 minutes and then got a green light however a firetruck and ambulance were coming towards me so I had to wait yet again. Then I went to turn left on to the main road and slid across the entire road slamming my right front tire into the curb, really hard. It was so loud that it scared the pants off me LOL

Anyway, it started running funny, my steering wheel was shaking, my tire was wobbling and well, I had to drive on it for another few days until Kev could get to the tire. I hit the curb so hard that my tire rim went all the way into the tire. Luckily we found a tire and rim at the junkyard for under $40. That was all good but I still had the loud drumming/rubbing sound. Went to the car dealer early this morning and was there for over 3 hours while they fixed it to the tune of over $550 OUCH! But all is good, the car drives fine and no noise. I am thankful that my car was the only one involved. I have had this car, a Chevy Cavalier Rally Sport since 1998 and this is the first boo boo HA HA

We keep putting off buying a new car for me because I would rather not have another monthly car payment and I would much prefer to use that moola to vacation in Jamaica on a yearly basis.

Mom's Morning Show: Crock Pot Club

Do you listen to Mom's Morning Show? If not, you should! It's a daily show that starts at 10:30 AM Eastern.

Today kicked off the new Crock Pot Club and it was so much fun. Many of those who listen to the show know that I don't cook. Kevin (my hubby) is the pro and pretty much does all the cooking. But today I took part in their 1st Crock Pot Club and made a meal LIVE with Mom's Morning Show. It was a blast. I had my laptop in the kitchen to watch the chat room as I was putting together the meal and was on the call in line as well. I have to say it was a blast and dinner turned out pretty good.

You can keep up with the Mom's Morning Show show notes here

Here are some pictures of the finished product! The house smelled awesome today. Special thanks goes to Sandra Jensen of Family Foodies who made it possible for me to cook this meal with ease.

A chance to win an Insignia Bluetooth MP3 player

Over at 5 Minutes for Mom they have a contest going to win an MP3 player from Best Buy. This would definitely be a fun prize to win. You should go check it out and enter yourself. They have a picture of this cool gadget on their blog too. Oh and Best Buy is giving away a pair of headphones to the winner too. Nice!

I've been tagged: These are fun!

I was tagged by Tishia to play along with this meme. Thanks for picking me, Tish!

Here we go:

4 jobs I have had:

Pet store
Pet Store (a 2nd one)
Front Desk Supervisor for Marriott Courtyard
Certified Daycare Teacher 2's and Kindergarten

4 Films I Could Watch Over and Over Again:

Grease
Stepmom
Die Hard (any of them)
Gone in 60 Seconds

4 Places I Have Lived:

Maryland
Virginia (quite a few places throughout Northern VA)
Illinois

4 Favorite TV Shows:

Big Brother
Amazing Race
Numbers
CSI

4 Favorite Foods:

Chinese
Spaghetti
Pizza
Sushi

Websites I Visit Everyday:

Google Reader
GoodSearch.com (I use this in place of searching Google because the ISSA Trust foundation benefits from all searches. The ISSA family owns our favorite Couples resorts in Jamaica.)
WAHM.com
MommysHelperCommunity.com

4 Places I Want To Be:

Jamaica
Jamaica
on the beach in Jamaica
snorkeling in Jamaica

4 Favorite Colors:

Green
Purple
Teal
Brown

4 Names I Love but would/could not use for my own children:

Millie
Portia
Eva
Ariel

I have chosen not to tag anyone but if you want to play, feel free to answer this meme on your blog and leave a link in the comment section here so I can read yours.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Brita and The Biggest Loser: Contest at Workout Mommy

Workout Mommy is having a neat contest. You have a chance to win a Brita faucet-mount filter and reusable FilterForGood bottle. I'm heading over to enter now, how about you?

This comes at the perfect time as you will see in my post below.

Happy Sunday!

The Biggest Loser Show: Million Pound Match Up

Today was the most exciting day. We spent a few hours at Gurnee Mills Mall here in the Chicago suburbs because I had heard about The Biggest Loser Show and MSN's Million Pound Match Up and their tour. A town close to us was the first on the tour. How cool!

It was a whirlwind day really. We met Kae, Amy and Marty, contestants from The Biggest Loser Show. They were so easy to talk to and lots of fun. We took pictures (see below) and the staff there also took a picture which we should get back in 24-72 hours. A great experience to be able to talk to Kae, Amy and Marty. I was also given The Biggest Loser Fitness Program Book, the new Biggest Loser workout, Power Sculpt, magnets and even water bottles.

THEN if that wasn't enough, we had the staff come up to us and ask for a possible TV interview which of course we were happy to do. WOW They are not sure if we will be chosen as one of the interviews but we didn't see too many other interviews the few hours we were there. I was a bit nervous but I think we did just fine. Keep an eye out for us on TV, Kevin and Angie Newton.

And lastly, we both had a weigh in with a personal trainer, our pictures taken for the Million Pound Match Up contest we have entered (you can see our entry page here) and then we met with a wonderful nutritionist who gave us some great tips on a variety of things. She was able to tell us what weight we should be reaching for, calorie goals, etc.

We can't stop talking about what a fun day we had. I'm so thankful they came to the Chicago area.

Angie with Kae, Amy and Marty, contestants from The Biggest Loser

7 Random Things About Me

I was tagged by Tamara to do a meme. I am very new to doing these and hopefully will do it correctly LOL

Rules:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog

7 Random Things About Me:
1) I'm a 35 year old step mom of two, 26 and 24. Hubby is 10 years older than me.
2) I'm horrible at math
3) I am addicted to Reality TV
4) I love to have my feet rubbed
5) I have been spit on by an alpaca
6) I gave up drinking soda and eating Oreos in 2005
7) Toilet paper roll has to be over not under (I see I'm not the only one. My friend Tishia is the same way HA HA)

Now I know I'm supposed to tag seven others however I have noticed that a ton of people have completed this meme so I don't know who to tag. I'll just pass this time but if you want to answer here, please feel free to do so. Have fun!

Win a Hamilton Beach Mixer

I was just telling Kev the other day that I would love a mixer. What great timing.

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

The Prize:

The winner will receive a brand new
Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!!

About the mixer:

From Hamilton Beach’s “Eclectrics” line, this all-metal stand mixer comes with a host of accessories - a Flat Beater for cakes and cookies, a Dough Hook for bread and a Wire Whisk for whipped cream or pudding. The 4.5-qt. stainless steel bowl comes with a Pouring Shield that helps prevent splattering while in operation. The pouring shield has a built-in chute for adding ingredients. Powered by 400 watts, the stand mixer has a two-way mixing action to ensure all ingredients are incorporated into the mix. The quick-release, tilt-up head assists when removing the bowl. 9 x 14 x 14-in. When you’re ready for a kitchen re-do, don’t call in the carpenters! Instead, “counterscape” your kitchen with Hamilton Beach’s retro-designed, affordably priced electrics in happy, sun-saturated colors. Their “Eclectrics” line includes updates to those classic appliances from the 1950s. All of their “Eclectrics” are available in six colors: Apple Green, Moroccan Red, Pineapple Yellow, Intrigue Blue, Sugar White and Licorice Black.

And while you're visiting you should really check out her other blogs too. I took a look at all of them and subscribed to three.