Tips For Starting Your Garden With Seeds

Author: Jamie
Many gardeners want to get started from the earliest stage of the process. This involves planting flowers and vegetables from seeds. Starting a garden from scratch is possible, as long as you follow all the basics.
Flowers and the majority of garden plants are divided into three groups: annual, biennial and perennial. These are started from seeds. The seeds would grow into seedlings, which can be planted in the garden.

Preconditions

To get plants started from seeds, you will have to consider several factors. The first thing to plan is
the type of soil. You may want to plant the seeds in pots and then to move the seedlings to the garden.
Go to a garden store, where you will be advised about the best type of soil for the needs of the specific plant.
The water that you use for the plants should contain no chlorine or salts. Fill a container and let it stay overnight before watering the plants.
When it comes to light, you will have to be more careful. Some seeds need darkness to germinate. These seeds should be covered by soil. Others need sunlight and have to be placed on the surface of the soil (petunias, for example).
The optimum temperature for the germination of the majority of seeds is 15 to 18 degrees Celsius during the night and 21 to 23 degrees Celsius during the day.

Planting the Seeds

For best results, you will have to plant seeds into pots before moving them in the garden. Fill a pot with soil and get it wet. Press the soil slightly with your hands so that it becomes more compact.
Put the seeds on the surface of the soil and use some more soil to cover them. Sprinkle water over the seeds. Place the pot on an even surface and cover the pot with plastic foil, which should not touch the soil.
Maintain the soil wet until the seeds germinate. Once the young plants sprout, the amount of moisture can decrease. The surface of the soil should be dry before you water the plants once again.

Fertilizing Seedlings

To grow, the plants use the nutrients and energy stored in the seeds. You will have to start fertilizing the plants only after several leaves get formed.
Fertilize the plants once a week. Choose a proper water-soluble fertilizer. You can also choose an organic fertilizer, in case you are planting vegetables and you want to keep the plant production ecological.
If the seedlings grow to be too tall before you plant them in the garden, you can cut off the top. Always cut the area above a leaf or above the place where a branch has formed.

Moving the Seedlings to the Garden

In order to get the plants naturalized, you should start taking the pots outside one or two weeks after the seed germination. Maintain the soil moist.
In the first few days, take the plants to a shady part of the garden. After that, you can position the pots in a sunny place. Before you plant the seedlings in the garden, you need to keep them outside at least two times overnight.

Plants That Can be Started from Seeds

Which types of plants can be started from seeds?
You can give various flowers and vegetables from seed. These are easy to take care of and grow.
Try some of the plants which are best for beginners. You can try more difficult tasks once you gain some experience and get acquainted to more complicated planting procedures.
Some of the flowers that you can grow from seeds include marigold, convolvulus, dahlia, petunia, nasturtium, cyclamen, primrose, mimosa and aster.
Other plants that are easy to start from seeds include hibiscus, mountain ash, juniper, chestnut and sycamore.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/tips-for-starting-your-garden-with-seeds-4911409.html

About the Author
Jamie Highland is an article writer and enjoys plants and gardening as a hobby. If you enjoy gardening, then check out these baby shower seed packets, the perfect baby shower gift for gardening enthusiasts.

HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!

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NEW AVON Opportunity Video!

Check out our new video about the AVON Opportunity! Find out how to join out team today from anywhere in the country.

Nutcracker Themed Gifts From AVON

The magic of the NUTCRACKER! Dress your table with the classic holiday theme.

Plates and Holder Set

Nutcracker Appetizer Plates and Holder Set

AVON EXCLUSIVE 4 appetizer/ dessert plates with decorative holder. Each, 7" diam. Ceramic, metal. Microwave and dishwasher safe. Imported.

Item#: 088-440 Price: $19.99 the set

Snack Bowls

Nutcracker Snack Bowls Set

AVON EXCLUSIVE Red bowl (6" diam.), green bowl (5" diam.) and blue bowl (4" diam.), with illustrations inside. Ceramic. Microwave and dishwasher safe.  Item#: 088818 Price: $12.99 the set

Spreader Set

Nutcracker Spreaders Set

AVON EXCLUSIVE 5" L, each. Ceramic, stainless steel. Top-rack dishwasher safe. Imported.

Item#: 088-894 Price: $9.99 the set

Enchanted Scene Nutcracker Enchanted Scene Choose motion, lights and music or motion and lights only. Uses 2 AA batteries (not included). Includes built-in DC jack. 7" H x 8" W. Plastic, resin. Imported. Item#: 086083 Price: special $24.99 (Click here to order from Campaign 23 with item number for sale price) Will be $29.99  Click here to purchase any of these great products to celebrate the holiday season with direct shipping from AVON.

Futuristic Highways

Netherlands is ahead of the world!

Check out this YouTube video below.  You will be amazed!  I was blown away with the technology being implemented there.  There are so many things that Americans are missing out on in regards to energy saving technology that we have not implemented.  

When I travel to Europe, most escalators are only running when a motion detector is activated as a person steps onto the escalator or moving walkway.  How simple is that?  Could you imagine the energy savings here in the US?  The savings in maintenance costs alone would be great considering the devices do not run as often and the break downs would probably be less.  

Check out the cool video below in regards to the highways in the Netherlands.  It is so cool!

Become Organized: One of the Key Steps to Discovering Success by Guy Ludig

Organization is a problem that many have and want to fix.
But if you want to increase your pride and see success, you need to do more than just say "I want to get organized," you need to make it happen.

So how you do transform your resolution from a goal into a reality?

There are 6 key steps to getting organized.

1: Determine what areas you want to organize.

You are more likely to see success when you have a guide to follow. Start by determining which areas of your life you want to organize.

Do you want to de-clutter your bedroom - clean out your car -or organize your office?

2: Create a to-do list.

Creating A to-do list will increase your chances of success. Having a guide to follow is important.
To make your to-do list -- Write down each area of your home you want to clean, as well as your car, office, garage, pool house, and so forth.

3: Create a plan of action.

The first step in becoming organized is to rid yourself of clutter.
You need to find an appropriate place for items.
For example, eliminate that stack of files on your office desk by purchasing a filing cabinet.
4: Expand your to-do list.

You should create a bunch of headings for your to-do list. For example, your child's bedroom or playroom.
Before setting foot inside the room to clean and organize - know what you need to do. This keeps a project that should only take two days from turning into a two-week project.
Your detailed list can include sorting your child's clothes and donating those that no longer fit - collecting old toys to sell or donate - and so forth.


5: Take it one step at a time.

Being organized is a huge but important task. If you want to organize and de-clutter your entire home, it could take you months. If you try to rush the process, you will get overwhelmed and see poor results.
Start with one room and work your way out. Cross each task from your 'to do' list as you finish.

6: Share your goals with others.

Organizing and remaining organized is not something that can be done alone. Share
the experience with others -- and share a few tips on how they can help.

For example, is your husband known for tossing mail off to the side? Buy a desktop sorter and encourage him to use it. Do you have a small child? They are never too young to learn about cleaning up their toys or helping in the process.

Guy Ludig

About the author:

Guy Ludig is a former editor and publisher of a weekly magazine. He is now operating a marketing, communication and event management company.
http://thebestofyourlive.com

Waterproofing Your Bathroom Is More Important Than Most Realize by Kasey Riggs

Just bought a house? Congratulations! You're stepping into the big, beautiful world of real estate. There are a lot more decisions to be made than just which curtains should be hung up in the living room and which color would look best on the walls. Just as you're going to have fun with decorating, you're also going to have "fun" with maintaining the house. There are going to be parts of the maintenance process that are absolutely annoying, but that doesn't mean that you aren't going to be able to step back and appreciate how everything comes together. Whether you realize it or not, you have to take care of the property in order to help it grow over time. You can always tell a house that hasn't been maintained properly. Even if the outside looks nice, there are hidden signs that there may be more lurking underneath the surface than meets the eye.

Image courtesy of Mr. Lightman/Free Digital Photos.net

What about your bathroom? Your bathroom is a place where moisture can run wild and turn into a big variety of problems -- namely, mold and mildew. Mold is something that directly threatens your family's health, so it really does make sense to knock out mold as soon as possible.

The best way to treat mold is to honestly make sure that you aren't getting it in the first place. This is generally done through waterproofing the bathroom so that you cut off all of the little cracks that mold can get into. If you haven't guessed by now, mold is very opportunistic when it has dark, moist spaces to grow in. The mold will spiral out of control quickly, choosing to grow as much as possible until it's killed off. This is a costly process that can take longer than expected. The bottom line cannot be stressed enough: waterproofing your bathroom really is the first line of defense against mold.

Now, at first glance, this might sound like the world's toughest project, and you don't want to take care of it. There's nothing that says every homeowner has to handle all of the maintenance on their home by themselves. That would just be downright exhausting. It actually makes a lot more sense to think about getting waterproofing done by a trained team of professionals. Not only will they make sure that the job is done right the first time, but they're also going to be willing to fix any and all work that goes awry. If it's their fault, they'll take care of it for you.

This is going to be a task for a company that's truly an asset to the area. You want to try to find the most established companies in the marketplace. Ask plenty of questions to get a good idea of what they actually bring to the table in terms of value. You have to step back and be able to ask -- and answer -- a very simple question: is this company going to be able to deliver what I need in a reasonable fashion? If the answer is yes, then you can move forward with them. But if the answer is no, then you're better off looking elsewhere.

Overall, now is the perfect time to talk to a contractor about waterproofing the bathrooms in your home. You'll truly be glad that you did!

About the Author:

Getting ready to get bathroom waterproofing? You're definitely on the right track! Ready to take the next step? Just check this site out.

Finding a suitable acne treatment by Kelly Grace

Acne brings that feeling of embarrassment and low self esteem within a

person irrespective of their age groups. Although the acne may leave

small marks but still that much is enough to invoke a feeling of self

consciousness when a person steps out. Even if others wont talk about

the acne on your face but still you need to get rid of acne for

professional reasons and to enhance the physical appearance. To get

rid of the acne from face one should turn to popular acne treatments. 

1. Acne removal creams: Most of the people rely on creams to get rid

of those acne marks that pop up on the face. All the cosmetic

companies sell the acne removal creams with the promise that applying

them once, twice or thrice a day will bring the results. But before

trying on any acne removal creams it will be better to judge your skin

type. Mostly these Acne removal creams give good effects depending on

ones skin type and body type. Don't stick to one cream only if it is

incapable of bringing the desired effect on your skin instead try

different creams which suits your skin and which you feel can bring

the good effects. If you feel the acne removal creams are not bringing

any desired effects then search for other methods of treatment. 

2. Acne removal lotions: People may find some interesting acne

removal lotions on shelf which are expensive. Although all the

cosmetic companies produce such lotions but the method of application

may be different. Some lotions are to be sprayed on the skin then they

are to be scrubbed off using some some cloth or rinsed off. These

lotions are very expensive ones. So before investing on such acne

removal lotions think of the expenses and the outcomes because most of

the times it is found that such treatments are not that effective. 

3. Acne shots:Other than this acne removal creams and lotions some

people also rely on acne shots. These shots generally dry out the skin

around the scars where they are injected. But this is not free from

side effects as the acne may disappear but it will leave the dry skin

around.  Acne will disappear almost immediately, but not before

peeling off the skin in your entire body. As long as you don't apply

the moisturizer all over skin regularly there are chances of skin

being peeled . 

4. Blue light acne treatment - It has been found that more acne

affected people are now relying on Blue light acne treatment is a

breakthrough . Blue light acne treatment may be alternative to those

patients who have lost hopes of erasing the acne scars after trying

many other traditional therapies. The process is explained as below "

Blue Light gets at the core of what causes acne eruptions: P. acne,

the bacterial responsible for causing acne inflammation, pumps out

tiny molecules called porphyrins.  

When those porphyrin are exposed to certain wavelengths of light,

they produce free radicals that kill the bacteria. Without P. acne

around to cause inflammation, acne clears up". It has been found that

skin heals up fast when exposed to red light so the effective acne

treatment is the combination of blue and red lights. The advantage of

this Blue light acne treatment is that it is 100% natural and non-

invasive. It is drug free with no adverse effects. 

5. Acne laser skin treatment: Many people also go for laser

treatments. There are many types of Acne Laser skin treatments-  

Non ablative Lasers: This type of acne laser treatment can reduce the

wrinkles and tighten the underlying skin. 

Carbon dioxide lasers: They can shot bursts of energy to skin which

will remove the damaged tissues layer by layer. 

Erbium laser treatment: This acne laser treatment  is used by the

people with shallow to moderate rashes on skin. 

Although more and more people are nowadays preferring to laser

treatments for erasing the acne scars but even such treatments are not

free from their share of side effects. Skin discoloration, skin 

crusting and swelling of the affected areas are some of the side

effects observed in this area.  

Hopefully you may be attracted to one of this treatments but simply

choosing a mode of treatment is not the important thing but choosing

the mode of treatment to which you can make the commitment is more

important thing. Treatments only work when one can stick to them or

commit to them. Pros and cons of every treatment should be analysed

with caution before committing towards it. 

Kelly Grace is part time beautician who has been writing skin care tips for various newspapers and magazines since last 20 years. For more Skin care tips please visit www.skincare-help.com.

/article/Fashion/Beauty/Finding-an-suitable-acne-treatment.html

    

Skin is Affected by Lack of Sleep

Did you know that not getting enough sleep not only has negative results on your body, but it also affects your skin in many ways. Our bodies need sleep and this is essential for good health. When we sleep, this gives our bodies time to restore energy and rebuild body tissue and cells including skin tissue and cells. There are several adverse effects on our bodies from lack of sleep. Some of these include tiredness, being cranky and being unable to focus our minds and concentrate on our daily tasks. Short term lack of sleep causes little physical harm, but when it occurs on a long term basis, it can lead to serious health problems and it can also damage your skin. When our bodies get at least 8 hours of sleep, it not only benefits our health, it also brings benefits to our skin. One of these benefits is that it improves the texture of the skin and it gives your skin a new glow. During sleep, our skin is being renewed and restored. This takes away some of the stress and harmful effects that we have obtained from daily living. By not getting a sufficient amount of sleep, we are robbing our bodies of it’s natural process for self-renewal. It is a proven fact that if we do not get enough sleep, our overall health will be affected including the health of our skin. One of the most noticeable effects on our skin from lack of sleep is the area beneath our eyes. This area of our eyes is one of the most delicate areas on our bodies and the skin here is much thinner then other areas of skin. The adverse affects from not sleeping on your eyes include dark circles, puffy eye bags, fine lines and wrinkles. There are some specialized skin care products and treatments available that can help with some of these problems, but that can also be expensive and time consuming. The best thing that you can do is prevent this from happening in the first place. As I said earlier, there are products that will help, but they will not be a complete cure. We have always heard that adults need at least 8 hours of sleep, but as we all know, some of us can survive on 6 or 7 hours rest. Eventually, lack of sleep will show on your body, especially the older you get. There are many things that can prevent you from getting the proper amount of sleep. One thing is the heavy workload that you have to deal and all the stress that you have in your life. You may have special need kids who need care during the night hours or your teen kids may be coming home late at night and waking you up. Some of us may have our aging parents living with us who have to get up during the night and this breaks our rest. These are just a few of the factors that may contribute to your lack of sleep. The sad part is that there is really nothing that we can do to eliminate a lot of these situations.

Author name: Brent Cullen

Author info :   I am a 53 year old retired mill worker from Northern Maine. I am happily married with 3 wonderful boys. My main interests are my family and God.

Social Media and Mobile Marketing Tips by Amit Kapoor

In the age of smart phones, mobile sites have become an upcoming trend. Users across the globe are concentrating on using the mobile sites for accessing the social media websites. Today all prominent social networking websites have created and customised their mobile sites and have seen a dramatic increase in the revenue generated.

Websites like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, all are making substantial modifications to satisfy the thousands of users who are logging in on a daily basis using their smartphones. It thus goes without saying that it will be beneficial for brand to establish their sites and use them appropriately to market their product. A few of the brands have been instrumental in creating effective mobile sites and are able to garner huge profits as well. Tips for better marketing are;

1. Customise the pages of your mobile site- Of course, there is a significant difference in the way a page appears on the phone and the way it appears on the computer, laptop and tablets. There is a very clear need of implementing the and modifying the website pages in a way that they can be properly visible, fit within the resolution limits of the smartphone and direct a user to the correct links. Customising the site will generate a further liking for the product as not all brands provide mobile site facility as of now. As explained earlier there is a sudden growth of the mobile marketing industry, even the brand’s official Facebook, twitter pages are being customised nowadays to suit the needs of users. Both mobile compatible websites and the social media presence matter a lot for a full proof marketing strategy of the brand.

2. Mobile Searches- This marketing industry is new and not many players have ventured deep into it. Searching on phones differ from that of a computer or a laptop. As such the websites as well as other content is to be marketed well using effective tools in order to optimise the search. Putting valuable codes and html settings along with certain alterations in the mobile search engines will prove to be beneficial to the brand.

3. Checkins- The entire concept of checkins is very luring for some of the brands. It acts as a good marketing tools, increases awareness of product/service and also provides with back links. Checkins through mobile is very famous for platforms like Facebook

4. Notifications- The concept of receiving notifications is an old one specially in case of all social networking websites. Users tend to rely largely on notifications for any kind of activity that takes place on that particular website in lieu of the user’s account. Notifications increase the credibility of the account and also add to the relevancy factor of the website. Websites when show notifications about the latest happenings, about the messages from the brand or from any other user, increases faith of users in the site and correspondingly the brand. So as to, any kind of interaction that takes place on the phone web is easily tracked and assessed once the user is notified about it.

About the Author

SocialAppsHQ is an All-in-One social media marketing and Social media monitoring platform that allows our customers to Listen & Monitor for any keyword across the web, Engage via Post Planner and run super viral campaigns using our largest Facebook App store on planet. Over a million businesses depend on SocialAppsHQ to run their social media marketing campaigns

AVON Earnings Update

Below is our earnings update for leadership only.  This is for Campaign 19.  We had 54 1st generation representatives and one 2nd generation representative. These earnings do not include incentives, bonuses nor our sales earnings.

C-19 Earnings Statement for Leadership/54 1st gen & one 2nd gen

Roasted Okra

This is a hit at our house!  I pre-heat the oven at 425 degrees. I line a pan with foil and spray it with pam. I slice our okra just like we were going to fry it.  In about 1/3" slices.  I put them in a bowl and sprinkle olive oil over them (just enough to coat the okra when stirred).  I then season the okra with whatever I'd like.  This time I used salt, pepper, garlic powder with parsley and onion powder.  However , you can use whatever seasoning you desire...cajun  is even really good too!  

I stir the okra to make sure is is coated with the mixture.  I put the okra on the pan in a single layer.  I added fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden in this photo.  (I simply put the cherry tomatoes in the bowl after putting the okra on the pan and coated them with the seasoned oil leftover then placed them throughout the pan.) 

I cook the okra for 10-15 minutes until some of the okra is crispy.

I think I'll try doing this on the grill next time with whole okra instead of sliced.  I'll post the results and update the blog post when I do.  

The photo is pre-cooked.  I couldn't get a photo of the finished product due to us eating it up so fast!  Enjoy the idea!  YUMMY!

Earnings update

I know I haven't posted our leadership earnings in a while...here is our latest leadership numbers from campaign 14.  We had 30 representatives in Campaign 14 with 19 of them submitting orders.  That means 11 didn't place an order for various reasons.  This is only leadership earnings....it does not include all the ways we are earning with AVON such as bonuses, etc...

Below is our customer numbers.  This is the amount of customers we have registered on our system.  This includes all of our customers both online across the country and our local customers that we have as of today, July 18, 2013.....We had $2265 in sales for Campaign 14.  Campaigns last about 2 weeks.

If you're interested in becoming an AVON Independent Sales Representative sign up using our reference code: donnadarrah at startavon.com.   for more information visit our website at www.youravon.com/donnadarrah.  The opportunity tab has even more information than the home page.

If you're on our AVON Team CROSS COUNTRY and are interested in leadership contact Richard or myself.

Sautéed Tilapia

Sautéed Tilapia

4  filets of Tilapia (thawed if frozen)
1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. parsley
1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. butter or oil

Mix all but Tilapia in a flat bottom container such as a pie plate.

Dredging Tilapia in flour mixture.

Set a skillet to medium high heat Melt butter in pan. Dredge the tilapia through the flour mixture, coating each side. Place the coated tilapia filets in the pan in the pan and cook them on each side.  You can tell when sautéed tilapia is done when the flesh flakes easily with a fork. 

Sautéing tilapia in pan.

I hope everyone enjoys this one.  It's an easy recipe and very quick too, so make sure that your sides are prepared ahead of time.

COYOTE Drive-In Review

Coyote Drive-In, Fort Worth, TX

I was able to go to the brand new Coyote Drive-In near downtown Fort Worth last night.  I went with my husband and our two small girls ages 2 and 4.  We met our friends there who actually called us up early on Saturday to invite us with their 4 year old daughter.  They had went last weekend and actually only knew about it due to Brian seeing it from his pharmacy tech school located in downtown Fort Worth.

It was perfect.  All of us had been looking into going to a drive-in for a while now but the drive to Grandbury, Texas, to the Brazos Drive-In or others were all over an hour away.  That was just not going to happen without having to rent a hotel room to stay the night after attending the movies.  

Drive-Ins seem to be making a come back.  Maybe its because our generation remembers going to them regularly as children.  I remember going to one in Oklahoma City as a teenager occasionally.

I forgot how much fun going to a Drive-In was!  This one has three screens. All three were showing different double features.  The Coyote Drive-In was founded in 2011. They charge only per person in the car and not per carload.  This does add up.  The pricing last night was $8 for adults and $6 for children 3-6.  They have no military, student nor senior discounts yet so that cost our family $22.  We were told that they were working on the discounts and they will be coming soon.  They do take cash or credit/debit cards for entrance fees and concessions. They open the gates during the summertime at 6pm.  No outside food or drinks are allowed.

We arrived at 5:50pm and were in a line waiting to get in.  We were in one of three lines on different streets merging to the one entrance.  We were probably over the 30th car through the entrance gate.  They had traffic directors with hand cones to direct us into one of four gate lanes once through the main entrance gate.  I was impressed with the fact that they had two employees working each lane.  They were actually leap frogging the cars for the entrance fees so the line was moving pretty quick.  Once in we found the Murphy's at Screen 3.  We were going to see the double feature of Monster U and Now You See Me.  All 6 Movies playing were new movies at the regular indoor theaters.  I was quite impressed.  I would advise getting there early like we did.  It seemed like all three screens filled up pretty fast.

Coyote Canteen

My oldest daughter (center) at playground

We parked the car and walked over to the large outdoor partially covered Canteen.  We had a blast.  The shows weren't starting until around 8:30pm and we had almost 2 1/2 hours to kill.  Not a problem to do that here.  Their Canteen had several picnic tables and benches under the Canteen and out and around the grassy sections of the fenced in area. It was quite nice.  The Coyote Canteen had another fenced off Playground area in it, made out of boulders from the local area.  The bathrooms were located in the Canteen area and they had many stalls. The bathroom sinks were outdoor metal sinks located outside of the stall areas.   They were VERY Clean.

The concessions consisted of a large concessions area built into the Canteen with several options and checkout lines.  They do serve beer ($3) and wines too.  The wine is purchased by the bottle.

They also had 3 outdoor vendor truck stands set up around the outside areas of the covered Canteen area.  One sold food items, the other one was beverages and the third sold novelty items such as t-shirts, etc... 

Fun Social Environment before and during the shows.

I was also impressed with the fact that they had a mini-stage set-up with live music playing.  It was a nice environment to be in for everyone and we had a blast.  Again, I suggest you get to the Drive-In early, lock up your vehicle and head over to the Canteen.  Not only did all three screen areas fill up fast but so did the Canteen area.  There is no movie ticket required to enter the Canteen from 6pm-Close and there is free parking outside of the entrance area for those that choose to simply be patrons of the Canteen.

Overall, I was very impressed and can't wait to do it again! I would recommend going to the Coyote Drive-In.  We had a great time!  The large moon rising over the screen while it was playing, seeing shooting stars and the beautiful Fort Worth lit up skyline so close while watching the movies on a wonderful Texas summer night was priceless!  We along with several people actually got to see fireworks in the distance from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's 1812 Overture and Russian Sparklers concert playing at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. This is from their Concerts in the Garden Summer concert series. What a night!

The Coyote Drive-In is located at 223 NE 4th Street, Fort Worth, TX 76164.  Their contact number is 817-717-7767.  Click here for their website.  Click here for their Facebook page.

Coyote Drive-In sent our blog photos for approved publishing.  They also authorized usage of their logo on our blog. Thank you Coyote Drive-In!

Additional notation by author:  Although the Coyote Drive-In was founded in 2011, it has only recently opened its doors on May 10, 2013.

Donna's Easy Pea Salad

Ingredients

• 1 Package of Frozen Peas (12 oz)
• 1/3 c. light mayonnaise or less for preference
• 1 dollop to 1/4 cup of light sour cream (preference to taste)
• 1/2 cup of diced mild cheddar cheese (approx. 4 oz.)
• 1 green chopped green onion
• 4 oz precooked diced ham
• 1 diced hard boiled egg

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Peas must be frozen when mixed with ingredients to avoid mashing of the peas. Keep refrigerated until served.

Footnotes

• Peas must be frozen when mixed with ingredients to avoid mashing of the peas. I use an egg slicer to dice the egg for a faster process. I find that small diced ham and cheese work better. I buy the block cheese and use about 1/4 of a 16 oz block. I also use precooked diced ham. I prefer the green onion over a white, yellow or sweet onion. ENJOY!

 

Honored by AVON

Today I have the honor of attending an AVON division President Club's Luncheon due to my sales success with AVON.  My husband and I have also have the distinct honor of being asked to speak about our success while there.

I'm so honored and very frightened.  Public speaking on stage is one of my greatest fears.  This is a hurdle that I need to cross.  Once I have done it....look out world!  I will conquer this fear.  My husband will be on stage with me for my support.  I am excited and hope that I do well today.  Besides, it's only 3-5 minutes, right?

We have only been with AVON for eight months and we have become the top sellers in our district.  We acknowledge that our success is through gaining knowledge wherever we can, marketing our business and having great customer service.  If you're interested in joining our team and learning how to succeed simply click here and enter reference code: donnadarrah.  We'll lead you to the knowledge of success but you must act upon that knowledge to succeed!

Best New Performer Award in District

Sales Level Advancement-We not only made President Club Level but Honor's Society too!

UPDATE:  Richard and I won the Best New Performer Award for our district!  Woohoo!  Our projected sales numbers that the Division Sales Manager posted were amazing!  We'll see if we can even can even get close to that $100K+ amount she was talking about.  Phew!  That will be a LOT more work!

Receiving our Best New Performer In District Award

#1 Sales Increase under my Upline's Unit

Mrs. Albee Award for being a PC member

AMAZING GRACE IN CHEROKEE - NATIVE AMERICAN

AVON Collects Donations to Support Oklahoma

This is another reason that I love AVON. Avon is promoting this at checkout on my online store. It is only available to those that submit direct delivery orders from anywhere in the country. Yes, the donation is tax deductible and exempt taxes as indicated in the small print. OK is due for more tornado activity with storms starting tomorrow night. They just can't catch a break. Please donate to the Okies anyway you can. www.youravon.com/donnadarrah

Memorial Day Weekend in Austin

Our family had a wonderful time in Austin this past Memorial Day weekend. We started out leaving immediately after I got off work on Friday for the drive to Austin from the DFW area.  Richard picked me up from work and we headed south around 5:30 pm Friday night.  We thought we were making great time using the new toll road cutting south through the middle of the metro plex until we  were about to get onto I-35W down by Burleson after stopping at a drive thru window to get the girls some oh-so-healthy McDonald's for dinner.  BAM!  Lightening, high winds, dark skies and oh, did I mention the tornado watch?  Yes, I discovered we were in a tornado watch when I scrambled to the weather app on my iPhone.  Great.  We were loaded down with our whole family and hauling a U-haul trailer full of baby stuff down to Austin in a severe thunderstorm.

We managed to make it to our hotel in Austin around 11:30pm after the packed commute down I-35. Still not bad considering much of the I-35 commute was between 10-45 miles per hour.  We made up some serious time when we hit the new toll road around Austin.  The rain had lightened up and did I metion that the speed limit on this new road was 80 mph?  YES!  

After checking in and carrying the girls up to our room at the Staybridge Suites we needed to pull out the sleeper sofa for the girls.  I was using points for the three nights at Staybridge Suites so we could only get a studio suite.  Of course as soon as we start pulling out the sleeper both of our girls became wide awake and bouncing off of the walls.  Besides, they had had a good rest and nap in the Acadia.  Ugh.  Well, after settling in for the night we were able to finally get to sleep (Richard on the sleeper sofa with Brie and I on the bed with our oldest, Abby) around 12:30 am. 

Brie managed to wake us around 6:30am on Saturday morning all happy and energitic to start the day.  We managed to access the free breakfast and slowly get moving.  We made it to his brother's home in Kyle around 10:30am with the trailer full of baby stuff for them.  Their new baby girl is due at the end of August.  Richard and his brother Allen took the trailer to a U-Haul drop off to turn it in after unloading it.  We then decided to hang out around their home and visit while the  girls played with their cousins.  It was a rainy day after all.  

Around 2pm we all decided to take the kids out to CiCi's Pizza to get them out of the house.  Let me remind everyone that my 4 year old has a severe dislike to Pizza.  She absolutely detests it.  I don't know why but she thinks it is gross and won't touch it.  We have to feed her before and after birthday parties that have pizza to avoid the pizza drama.  Ok, well, I was delighted to see that CiCi's has more than just pizza.  Abby was happy with the salad bar and the pasta bar area.  She even went after a brownie.  Great!  Brie was very happy.  She absolutely loves pizza!  She loved shaking the parmazon cheese all over the four slices of pizza that she had.  The weather was starting to clear up and Allen's family had to go to a Boy Scout planning gathering at 5pm so we headed back to our hotel.  Yes, I'm still in disbelief that they had a planning meeting on Memorial Day weekend....

We had fun when we got back to the hotel.  The weather had broken for  the rest of the afternoon and the girls wanted to hit the pool.  We were the only patrons brave enought to hit the outdoor pool first. Let's just say that the pool was very cool, lol.  But parents do crazy things for their children and ours needed to burn some energy off to be able to sleep for a big day on Sunday.  Keep in mind that the naptime is usually to the wayside when our girls are excited about activities.

Everything was fine until Brie climbed out of the pool's edge and backed away slowly with that concentrated look on her face...."Brie, do you need to go to the potty?" I cautiously ask.  "I poop", was her response.  Ugh!  Poop in the bathing suit is the worst!  I couldn't believe it.  I had just asked her if she need to go to the potty a minute earlier before helping her to the edge of the pool.  She smiles and slowly heads towards the chair with the towel.  As she turns I see the turtle head like structure protruding in her swim bottoms.  I'm thankful she at least waited until after she got out of the water.....off to the room we go for clean up while daddy and Abby continue their fun adventures in the pool.

The next day we rode the Duck Tour Adventures from 6th street in downtown Austin.  It was fun.  The girls loved it when the pirate ship painted tour bus turned into a boat and we entered lake Austin.  I had no idea that so many movie stars were starting to call Austin home now either.  Wow!  We decided not to go see the bats afterwards due to the rainy and overcast weather.  There will always be another trip to go see the largest urban bat colony in the world come out at dusk for their nightly feedings.  We figured that the grassy areas for viewing would have been too muddy.  We opted for a Mexican dinner with all eight of our family party down on 6th street. We headed back to the hotel for a little rest prior to heading over to our family's home for movie night.  The girls absolutely had a blast playing and visiting with their cousins.

We headed back home on Monday morning and I was happy to say we beat most of the holiday traffic and rain on the trip back.  We love visiting Austin.  Next time we'll have to go see the bats and I want to take a trip to the farmer's market on Saturday morning.  There's so much to do there that we'll just have to visit more often to get it all in.

Make Your Multi-level Marketing Business Grow Faster

Dipping your toes into multilevel marketing may be the smartest business move you make. You can't just harvest money from the multilevel marketing tree, though; it requires hard work. It is understandable to be curious about how to get started, and begin reaping the rewards.

You could build your own website for your network marketing plan. You could also use social networking sites as a quick, easy way to get started. A compelling, well-maintained blog can even serve in a pinch. A presence on the social networking sites makes a nice complement to your multilevel marketing website. Think of the internet as a community you have to establish a presence in. A frequently updated, attractive and interesting blog will also help.

A good rule of thumb for calculating an emergency fund is to multiply your monthly expenses by nine. You can get that money through multilevel marketing.

Whatever success you see being achieved around you, seek to copy it. Learn from the people who have been working in MLM much longer than you have. Try to adopt a similar approach and attitude, while following their success. Imitating the best of the best can quickly turn you into one of them. We can learn from our own mistakes, as well as from the success of others.

You can outsource work to another company while you are engaged in multilevel marketing. This will save you money as you may not have the skills necessary at this stage. Hiring someone to conduct your advertising campaign ensures you receive a quality product and can concentrate on running your business.

Try to recruit business professionals from other areas into your network. These types of people, who have worked in sales or on commission tend to have good self motivation and are already used to having the effort put forth coincide with the amount of success they achieve. These businessmen and women are also the ones who will be more perceptive to your recruitment drive.

Structure your multilevel marketing site as a tutorial. A tutorial is an effective way to boost your site traffic, and have your visitors spend more time with your content as well. When you have more traffic and people spending more time on your site, the chance that you will pick up some new members in your network will rise, and this will work to increase your advertising revenue.

When you are writing on your website or writing for a seminar, be unique! Leave no stone unturned.

Before you begin a MLM campaign, you should decide what your budget is, and how tightly it should be stuck to. If you stick to your budget you'll ensure that you have money in both the good and bad times, as well as have some to put back into your business. Once you have finalized your budget, you will have a clear idea as to how much money you can spend.

You can see from this article that there is a great deal of research and work involved in multilevel marketing in order to get results and profits. A good campaign will require you to keep developing it constantly. This article provides a good jumping off point for anyone hoping to grow their business through multi-level marketing.

About the Author

If you're a network marketer, and looking for a way to build a 6 to 7 figure business, all without picking up the phone, holding home meetings or bugging friends and family, check out these 3 'secret' MLM Recruiting Tips.