The month is coming to a close and this last week has been dragging a bit for me. I think that is why I was so touched when I got the most wonderful package in the mail that was totally unexpected and unprompted. In it were these beautiful little felt pins and the kindest note thanking me for featuring her site in the notebook entry. It was so kind that it brought tears to my eyes and I want to publicly thank Kimba, from A Soft Place to Land, for sharing this sweet gift with me. She makes the most beautiful handmade things in the world so please, please think of her when buying your next gift and head over to her wonderful Etsy Shop to pick up a pin for someone special in your life. It will make any outfit you have special and I have somehow found how to work one of these pins in with everything I wear. Even my aprons. Or my sweat pants. Or my television appearances. Thank you, Kimba, from the bottom of my heart!

As if that wasn’t enough, I got another completely unexpected package in the mail. It is the boxed set of Anne of Green Gables. I hang my head in shame and tell you I have never read these books and I have never watched the movies. In fact, I think I was clueless that I was entering a contest on Metropolitan Mama and was just commenting on family films we had recently seen. I am horrible about entering giveaways and rarely enter them so that is why it was like a wonderful surprise when I found out I won.

I love a little pick-me-up when I am down, don’t you?

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

I am back from The Mike & Juliet Show and am trying to recover from a terrible head cold that I caught on my way out there.

You can watch the segment here on Work-At-Home Scams. I am sure I don’t have to tell you that I am disappointed that I did not get to share with women what a wonderful resource MomAdvice.com could be for helping moms navigate working-from-home. My soul purpose to leave my family for two days was to be able to help educate women on work-at-home scams and showcase a true work-at-home success story. Time ran out and I am very sorry for that because I had a lot to share.

You can’t control live television, I have discovered, and sometimes the opportunities pan out and sometimes they don’t. I once did a news segment on behalf of a company and they would not agree to say my website and the company I was representing because it was too long. After hours of preparation and a sleepless night trying to get ready for it, that was my first taste of how things different things can be, particularly when you are working with a show that is not local.

As I stood backstage this week, I talked with another one of the guests about that mystery shopping scam that was highlighted in the segment. I told her that there are legitimate opportunities out there and that I would be happy to share with her real information on mystery shopping. Perhaps, that was my moment and the reason for me coming there or maybe my story will help another mom who is struggling financially and looking for work. It is desperate times like these in the economy, when people find themselves victims of these scams because they are trying to put food on the table for their families.

I spent $45 on this trip on just eating. It was one of those things that I obviously could not control, which makes me sad since I had done so well on the No Spend Challenge so far. I am bummed, but I am still proud of how well I have managed this month with three out-of-town trips.

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

We received another foot of snow outside so it was another snow day at home. What do my boys do on a snowy day like this? They bundled up and headed outside to build the world’s largest snow fort and then record themselves with the camcorder destroying it. I would show it to you, but my little guy has a pretty shaky hand. Each time he let out a giggle, it would shake and lose focus from what they were showcasing and I am sure it was one of those things that would only be funny to us. It was so cute to watch them out there though and see Ethan laughing until he couldn’t breathe. I was spying on them through the window, loving how enraptured my kids are with my husband.

Emily & I snuggled together on the couch and watched a little Food Network. I then got busy making the cocoa, some homemade waffles, and getting the table set for a warm and yummy dinner.

Wouldn’t you know in the middle of cooking that I realized we had run out of syrup. I felt a little panicky, but then remembered that I am a resourceful girl, and pulled the ingredients out of the pantry to whip up some homemade pancake syrup. I love when I am able to make something at home instead of having to run out and buy it. We now have plenty of syrup and we didn’t even have to spend any additional money to make it.

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

Snowy day. Comfort food. Homemade bread. Fresh clean towels. A delicious little library book. Snuggles from my sweet girl. Boots and footed pajamas. Dancing with my kids. Warm gooey brownies. A good movie. Snuggling up with my hubby on the couch. All free and all wonderfully perfect moments.

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

It has been a busy week and I really need to unwind. I decided to whip up some chicken enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce, Mexican rice (will share recipe later), and lemonade for an evening on the couch with my family. We needed this. I needed this. A little quiet, a lot of good food, and some Simon.

I am pretty proud of how we are doing so far with the No Spend Challenge. I will not say there hasn’t been temptations, but I have been doing my best to ignore them as much as I can.

How are you all doing with your own challenges? I hope it is going well! I think of all of you that are doing the same thing as me and wishing we all lived close so we could have coffee at my house.

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

I packed my coffee and a lunch for two. Emily and I headed over to my friend Jessica’s house for a fun play date and visit with our friends. Emily was pretty tired when she got home, but we made it home in time for…

Another play date with another great friend. I actually met my friend Renee (@ReneeCrabtree) through Twitter, if you can believe it. She was my first friend that I made virtually that I met up with in real life. She saw me tweeting about knitting and said she wanted to learn. I offered to have her over and teach her and we have been friends ever since. And her knitting? Amazing! She has been doing lace patterns and whipping up things I haven’t even dreamed of trying.

Best of all, she is a work-from-home momma and has two kids around the same age as my children. It is so good to have a friend who can understand the trials of working from home and juggling the children. I am very thankful for my friendship with her and look forward to our knitting dates more than I can say.

Good friends. Good coffee. Good yarn. What more can a girl ask for?

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

While Emily played with some of her homemade play dough, I worked on making dinner and tidying the house. Of course, there is no fun in having a meal and not sharing it with someone else so I called my parents to see if they would like to join us for dinner. I worked on making my Rotini with Turkey Meatballs, garlic bread, and even managed to make some Oatmeal Muffins (still testing recipes, but I promise to share a really good one when I find it!)

They were so excited to get to spend time with their grandchildren and we looked forward to sharing a meal with them. Sometimes the days feel longer without me running around so much and having some company during the evening helps to break up the length of the day. Best of all, we can spend as much time as we want together while relaxing in our own home. No waiter to give us the boot and I won’t even ask for tips!

This No Spend Challenge just gets better and better.

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!