Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Giveaway Time!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned I was looking for fellow bloggers to help me get my Etsy shop some more traffic. Well, this week, Molly(a fellow milspouse) over at Carry Your Heart With Me, is giving away one of my 8x10 prints.  If you're interested in possibly winning it, head on over to her blog.

Don't forget to show her some love while you're there!

Friday, March 8, 2013

Things You Should Know

Just wanted to get out some "fun info" to you guys.

1. You may have read my review of my eshakti.com dress a few months ago, if not, here's the link. I'm actually doing another review of a second dress I just received from them in a few days, but I wanted to pass along this code they gave me just for my readers. The code is: NEWGRLNPST
and it's valid for 20% off your order from now until March 20th. I really recommend using eshakti, as they have been a delight to work with and I love the quality of the dresses they make. The best part is that you can customize your dress, which is a huge plus for me, as my measurements sometimes make dress shopping a royal pain.

2. In an effort to promote my Etsy shop, I've decided to try-out a monthly giveaway with fellow bloggers. I'm looking for about three bloggers per month to partner with, who will host a giveaway for an 8x10 (a $25 value) from my shop for the winner, as well as the blogger who hosts the giveaway. If you're interested, either comment or shoot me an email (link is at the top of the blog).

3. I haven't promoted Ebates in awhile, but I thought it was high time I did, especially since the spring clothes buying season is about to be in full force. If you haven't heard of Ebates, it's a program where you go to Ebates.com, look for the website that you plan on shopping at and then using Ebates to nagvigate to that site. It opens up a tracking ticket that records how much you spend and you get cash back just for shopping. Sounds easy, right? It is!  The best part is that Amazon and Ebay both participate in Ebates, although with Amazon there are certain catergories that offer cash back at different times.  Another added bonus is the fact that if you enjoy Ebates and invite friends who join and start using it as well, then you get cash back.  Click here to try out Ebates!


Friday, March 1, 2013

An Update on Life

Hey ya'll (did I just sound like Paula Deen there? If so, good) I swore I was going to stop neglecting my blog and actually get around to posting regularly, but it appears I've lost that battle again.

I wanted to pop in and give my readers an update on what has been going on these last few months.

1. Army- Sean still doesn't have ratings, which is fine because it gives us more time to job search and try to find a place to live once we're out. More on that later. His packet was turned in for a rating in November, so we think it'll be any day now that we get those ratings, but I'm in no hurry to find out. I'm really just hoping for at least 30% for him, as I think that will be best for him (and us) in the long run.  We're still enjoying Ft. Sill. I love it here and I still don't understand why people complain all the time about it. I recently found out that there is a supposed amazing Filipino place in town and I'm eager to try it. For Valentine's Day, Sean and I went to the new Greek place in town, which was delish. I was very impressed with it.

2. Jobs- I hate applying for jobs. HATE IT. I hate tweaking my resume and cover letter for every single job that I apply for. However, what I hate even more is not getting a single interview for any job that I've applied for. I really don't get it. Sean and I visited a career counselor for resume help, so I don't think it's my actual resume, but I'm wondering if it's my sketchy job history since I've been a military spouse. Sean is even more discouraged than I am, because he feels every business that claims they go out of their way to hire veterans is not upholding that promise. He had one interview, which we were really hoping he would get and he didn't, so it was back to square one.  I actually applied for what I consider my dream job about a month ago. It was a digital content writer for the Tourism and Recreation Board here in Oklahoma. I'd be editing guidebooks and other info about the State and I submitted my best example of my resume, cover letter and even a writing sample that went exactly with what I'd be doing in the actual job. Did I hear from them? Not even a peep! One thing that concerned me was the fact that the closing date for this job is not even until July, so I'm not sure what is up with that. The only downfall to the job is that I'd be based out of OKC instead of Tulsa, where Sean and I prefer to live, but it was something I didn't mind doing. If I don't find something soon, I'm going to be temping, which isn't the end of the world, but it wasn't what I thought I'd be doing at age 30.

3. Home- our grand plan was to find a house in the Tulsa area and close on it before Sean got out of the Army. We planned on getting a home loan through a VA agency and we actually were somewhat approved, but we can't truly be approved, because neither of us have a job outside the Army. The most ridiculous thing about all of this, is that the loan guy that Sean spoke with, told him that if he was ETSing, they would have pre-approved us, but because he is being medically discharged he can't. Umm....what sense does that make? Either way you are getting out of the Army! So now it appears we'll be finding a rental house or an apartment until we have jobs and can look for and close on a house. I'm hoping the time in a rental will be short, like six months.

4. Health- I've been having issues with fatigue off and on since I had mono in college, but it's been particularly bad since we moved back to Oklahoma. No matter my activity level, I often feel tired a couple of hours after I wake up and in the afternoon too. I've also gained 15 lbs since June, which is NOT normal for me and with various other symptoms I've been concerned I might have an issue with my thyroid. My grandmother actually had hers removed, so it wouldn't be out of left field to think something might be wrong with mine. I actually had a doctor's appointment about it today and will be going in Monday for blood work. I would just like to get to the bottom of it, because what I'm feeling isn't normal for me.

I think that's all for my update. I'm going to do my very best to post soon, as I have some fun info to share with you guys.