Scratch Map

OMG!  Have you guys seen this map called Scratch Map?  It is a FABULOUS way to track where you have travelled to.  I am so excited about it, can you tell?!!

Each country you go to, you just scratch off that section of brown and it has the colorful country underneath it!  By the time you scratch everything off, you would have an awesome looking map to hang up.


It would make an excellent gift for anyone who loves to travel.  The good news it's under $30!!

There is also a USA map for those who don't leave the country very often.  This one is under $30 too.

I asked for one for Christmas, so let's see if I get one!  I am looking for frames already!

Extra Cash for Christmas

As of this post writing, there is only 66 days left until Christmas!  Crazy!  Is it just me or has this year flown by?

Anyway, are you going to pay CASH for Christmas or are you going to put it on credit cards?  I am so hoping that you said cash!  I don't know your personal finance situation so I will just show you a few places to get some cash for Christmas.

These are some survey sites and mystery shop sites that you can earn extra cash to spend for the holidays.  Even though these don't pay "that much" money, they can add up over time.  What if you were to do them for 6-10 months leading up to Christmas?  When you are mindlessly watching TV, just login and complete some.  They don't take very long.


These are legit companies that I have personally used and have personally gotten checks from.  (note:  these are accounts where I may get referral fees, some of them I don't).

Surveys from Inbox Dollars:  I have personally earned around $100.  There are lots of ways to earn money on IBD, like surveys, paid emails (just click the button), grocery coupons (I haven't done this), games, apps, etc. 


Mystery Shop companies

TrendSource
Intelli-Shop.com
MarketForce.com
Sinclair Customer Metrics



Garage Sales or Consignment Stores-Clean out your garage and/or closet to make extra $$.  If you have some "nicer" stuff then I would take it to a local consignment shop to get money.  If you have random stuff, maybe have a garage sale instead.   Take a few days to make a pile of stuff and sort it out by garage sale (ask friends if they want to join you) and by consignment store. There are a ton of shops that take children's clothes too.  I personally like going to consignment stores that the stores portion of the proceeds goes towards charities that I support, but that is a personal thing.

YOU CAN DO IT!!  Even if you only earn $20-50, that is $20-50 that doesn't have to go on a credit card.  Hustle out there to be debt free. :)

LinkedIn Lawsuit-Should it be?

I received the following email today about a settlement between LinkedIn and it’s users.  It came across my phone this morning and I almost put it in the spam folder, thinking it was a spam email.  I didn’t want to open it and it get a virus on my phone, you know?  I opened it on a laptop computer and I actually read it.  Then I googled it just in case it was fake!  It turns out that it is a legit lawsuit.

Linked in had a service that when you signed up you could import your email contact list to send a note saying to connect with you.  However, LinkedIn sent two more emails to your contacts if they didn’t respond, causing “spam mail”.  In the terms of the original email contact list the user only agreed to one email being sent to their contacts, not a total of 3 if they didn’t get a response.  Thus the lawsuit.

The lawsuit pays up to $1500 per claimant, but it probably wouldn’t get that much after everyone signs up and lawyer fees are paid.  And if

I have a couple of problems with the lawsuit.

1.       Spam emails are annoying, especially if I didn’t consent to them anyway.  However, it is the original user that is getting the settlement, not the person who was spammed (even though I was added to people’s emails and did get spammed myself).

2.       Who actually reads those agreements anyway?  You are looking for a way to connect with other business professionals, not reading fine lines in user terms.  I am willing to bet that it was a lawyer or another like-minded person  (i.e. sue happy person) who filed the lawsuit.

3.       Is it fair for a company to pay the person who consented to one email to get the money when they aren’t being spammed?  I get spam emails ALL the time, do I need to expect payment for something that I can just hit one button and never see emails from that company again?

I’m not saying that the company should not be penalized.  When you do wrong, you should be justly penalized for it.  It should be noted that LinkedIn has not admitted wrong doing in this case and has since revised the terms of using the “Add Connections” feature.

I also read that the money will go to the lawyers regardless of whether or not people file claims.  I am torn whether or not to file a claim.  I think it’s a really stupid lawsuit but then I don’t think it’s a stupid lawsuit!  I think the terms of the lawsuit are 100% agreeable because LinkedIn should not have sent the email out, but then again….REALLY?!  Is it that big of a deal.  Just stop sending them!  $13 Million??!!! 

How about that money ALL go to a charity and be done with it??!!!  I think I am going to write a claim or denial for the money to all go to a charity, but I haven’t decided yet.  

DID YOU RECEIVE THIS EMAIL?  WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?  WRITE YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW!! :)

Read the full email lawsuit below:

NOTICE OF PENDING CLASS ACTION AND NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT PERKINS V. LINKEDIN CORP.

You are receiving this e-mail because you may have used LinkedIn's Add Connections feature between September 17, 2011 and October 31, 2014. A federal court authorized this Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

Why did I get this notice? This Notice relates to a proposed settlement ("Settlement") of a class action lawsuit ("Action") against LinkedIn Corporation ("LinkedIn") based on LinkedIn's alleged improper use of a service called "Add Connections" to grow its member base. What is the Action about? The Action challenges LinkedIn's use of a service called Add Connections to grow its member base. Add Connections allows LinkedIn members to import contacts from their external email accounts and email connection invitations to one or more of those contacts inviting them to connect on LinkedIn. If a connection invitation is not accepted within a certain period of time, up to two "reminder emails" are sent reminding the recipient that the connection invitation is pending. The Court found that members consented to importing their contacts and sending the connection invitation, but did not find that members consented to LinkedIn sending the two reminder emails. The Plaintiffs contend that LinkedIn members did not consent to the use of their names and likenesses in those reminder emails. LinkedIn denies these allegations and any and all wrongdoing or liability. No court or other entity has made a judgment or other determination of any liability. What relief does the Settlement provide? LinkedIn has revised disclosures, clarifying that up to two reminders are sent for each connection invitation so members can make fully-informed decisions before sending a connection invitation. In addition, by the end of 2015, LinkedIn will implement new functionality allowing members to stop reminders from being sent by canceling the connection invitation. LinkedIn has also agreed to pay $13 million into a fund that can be used, in part, to make payments to members of the Settlement Class who file approved claims. Attorneys representing the Settlement Class will petition the Court for payment of the following from the fund: (1) reasonable attorneys' fees, expenses, and costs up to a maximum of $3,250,000, and (2) service awards for the Plaintiffs up to a maximum of $1,500 each. The payment amount for members of the Settlement Class who file approved claims will be calculated on a pro rata basis, which means that it will depend on the total number of approved claims. If the number of approved claims results in a payment amount of less than $10, LinkedIn will pay an additional amount up to $750,000 into the fund. If the pro rata amount is so small that it cannot be distributed in a way that is economically feasible, payments will be made, instead, to Cy Pres Recipients selected by the Parties and approved by the Court. No one knows in advance whether or in what amount payments will be made to claimants. You may also learn more by clicking on the following links: Settlement Agreement Class Action Complaint Orders on Motions to Dismiss Legal Representation Attorneys' Fees Cy Pres Recipients YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM If the Court gives final approval to the Settlement, this is the only way to be eligible to receive a payment. Deadline: December 14, 2015 EXCLUDE YOURSELF This is the only option that allows you to retain your rights to sue LinkedIn about its alleged improper use of Add Connections to grow its member base. Deadline: December 14, 2015 OBJECT Write to the Court about why you object to (i.e., don't like) the Settlement and think it shouldn't be approved. You may mail your written objection to Judge Koh's Case System Administrator at the United States Courthouse, 280 South 1st Street, Room 2112, San Jose, CA 95113. Alternatively, you may file your written objection in person at any location of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. You must also mail your written objection to Class Counsel and LinkedIn's Counsel. The address for Class Counsel is: Larry C. Russ, Esq., Russ August & Kabat, 12424 Wilshire Boulevard, 12th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025. The address for LinkedIn's Counsel is: Jerome C. Roth, Esq., Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, 560 Mission Street, 27th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105. Deadline: December 14, 2015 GO TO THE "FINAL APPROVAL HEARING" The Court will hold a "Final Approval Hearing" to consider the Settlement, the request for attorneys' fees and expenses of the lawyers who brought the Action ("Class Counsel"), and the request for service awards of the plaintiffs who brought the Action ("Class Representatives"). You may, but are not required to, speak at the Final Approval Hearing about your written objection. If you intend to speak at the Final Approval Hearing, you must include your intention to do so in your written objection. Follow the procedure described above for providing your written objection to the Court as well as to Class Counsel and LinkedIn's Counsel. Deadline: December 14, 2015 DO NOTHING You will not receive a payment, even if the Court gives final approval to the Settlement. You will also be giving up any claims you may have against LinkedIn based on its alleged improper use of Add Connections to grow its member base. You may be eligible to receive the non-monetary benefits of the Settlement, if the Court gives final approval to the Settlement. No deadline More information? For more information about the Settlement and how to take the actions described above, please visitwww.AddConnectionsSettlement.com or write to the Settlement Administrator at Perkins v. LinkedIn Corp., Settlement, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 808012, Petaluma, CA 94975-8012,info@AddConnectionsSettlement.com. You may also contact Class Counsel by calling (310) 979-8244. Do Not Address Any Questions About The Settlement Or The Litigation To LinkedIn, The Clerk Of The Court, Or The Judge.

Jabba's 1 year Angel Birthday

Today marks one year that my dear baby boy went to Heaven to hang out with Jesus.  I am a little sad (OK, a lot!) but I know that he is having fun, eating a lot of catnip treats (without calories!), and hanging out on clouds.  It’s not fair to be sad when Angel birthdays are a good thing for those that get them, only us on Earth are sad.  I can celebrate with him in spirit though.

I am planning on going to my sister’s house on Sunday (Jabba is buried there) and bring cupcakes (for me and my nephews) and catnip treats for him and my sister’s cats.  Who doesn’t love a good party or a good cupcake?! 

I have been sad all year about him and other things that have happened to me but it is time for me to step out and be all that God created me to be.  I can’t live a small life anymore, I am destined for greatness.  I can choose to live in the past, future or my present.  I am going to live in the future.  Today I will release what has happened over the last few years and press on.  I think God knew that I would need some time to process what all has happened over the past few years (that hasn’t all made it to this blog) and has been preparing and clearing a path for me.

So, this weekend in honor of Jabba’s 1^st Angel birthday, will YOU please join me in stepping out of your comfort zone and being the person God wants you to be?  When you take control of your life and be who you are destined to be, God will bring you to places you never thought possible.  I’m excited for the journey!  You have no right to live small when you are meant for more.

 I can’t wait for Jabba to greet me at those gates (along with Jesus, my grandfather and many others I have and will lose before I get there) and jump in my arms to celebrate me living my life to the fullest.  We only get ONE life on this Earth.  Do you want to be sad and mope about what has happened to you or would you rather leap abundantly into your future that God created before you were born?  The choice is yours to make.

Happy Angel Birthday, Jabba!!! See you in Heaven.

Where Art Thou PSL

I have been soooooooo patient.  So very patient.  This hot weather is driving me crazy but I will really miss it and be complaining (sorry, but get ready for it) when I am freakin' freezin' in Jan/Feb.

I WANT A PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE, DARN-IT!!!!!  I have been googling and stalking the Starbucks official FB page but no mention of my favorite treat in 2015.  I only get a few of them this year because I am on a #VegasDiet through our trip in early November.

If you have the scoop...let me know. ;)

Let me tell you about my favorite things about fall...

George Observatory

On Saturday night I went to the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park to view the stars with two of my friends.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wait, wasn’t that a #BucketList item??????  Yep!!!  I am ON A ROLL! :)

We got there around 7:15 pm (it’s about 1.5 hours from Houston) and went straight to the gift shop to see if there was an ornament to add to my collection.  I try and get an ornament each time I complete a bucket list item or travel to a new place.  There weren’t any ornaments at the gift shop, but there was a patch that had the observatory, so I just bought that.  My options were a patch or a pencil, I chose the patch. :)  I can easily add a ribbon to the back to make it an ornament. 

We had a few minutes to walk around so we went to the lake/swamp to see if we could find any alligators sticking their heads out of the water.  We didn’t have any luck but we did see several huge frogs.  We were looking away from the lake when we heard a huge splash.  By the time we whipped our head around, whatever it was went back into the water, but we could still see the ripples.  It must have been either an alligator or a big fish.  Who knows.

The light poles have little information boards about different stars/planets/constellations/asteroids.

We went to a short lecture (about 30 minutes) at 8 pm where they tell you a little information about what you will be seeing in the telescopes.  A lot of it went waaaaaaaaay over my head (even though I took two semesters of Astronomy in college) but it was interesting. 

After the lecture it had turned dark and we got in line for the big telescope.  There are three dome stations (2 small and 1 large) and also several amateur people with their telescopes too.  They take a group of about 10 people in at a time to the big telescope and let you look through the really powerful machine.  After an 1.5 (ish) hour wait, we finally saw a globular cluster.  This cluster was in the Hercules constellation, but I am not sure which one it was.  I think it started with an M.

Anyway, they said that it had about half a million stars in this cluster.  They didn’t count each star because the stars are constantly moving and they can’t tell if they counted one or not.  To guesstimate the number of stars, they took a picture, counted the stars within the picture and used the size to make an educated guess as to how many stars are in the cluster.  Pretty cool.

One more thing:  BRING BUG SPRAY!!!!  OMG.  Seriously.  I was being bit by mosquito after mosquito, even through my pants!  We bought some mosquito repellent wipes but they were still snacking on us. 

Happy 2nd Birthday Kali!

My niece, Kali Claire, turns two today!!!  I love you sweet (bratty) girl!  I am so glad that God brought you into our life a year ago when you moved here.  I am very honored to be your Aunt Steffie.

I buy a lot of her clothes (I can't help it, the clothes are so cute!) and the other day she was wearing a cute flamingo outfit that I bought (duh!).  I said "Oh, Kali Claire, who is your stylist?  That flamingo outfit is really cute." and she said "Steffie".   LOL.

Princess

Sitting on her princess thrown

Wearing the dress I bought her in Cozumel

Cool shades.

Movie night

This is her "I can't party until I'm 21??" face :)

Universal Studios Hollywood

FYI:  I changed my picture page to this link instead of the old one.  Go here for more pictures.

Last weekend I traveled to Los Angeles with work to host a special cocktail reception for some of the Special Olympics delegation that were in town for the World Games. I flew in on Friday morning and the reception was that night.  The next morning I took an Uber car to Universal Studios in Hollywood to spend the day there.  Originally one of my co-workers was supposed to come with me, but she had to change her flight to that day for a family issue, so it was just me at the park!

I honestly liked being on my own at the park.  I didn’t have to ask anyone what they wanted to do next or where they wanted to eat, I just did what I wanted to do.  Honestly, the longer I’m single the more selfish I grow. LOL. :)  I was able to go in the single rider line for all of the rides I went on, which helped with the mammoth sized crowds that were there that day.  So. Many. People.   At around 1 pm that day, the wait for The Mummy ride was 170 minutes.  CRAZY!

The first thing I did was eat lunch at the Krusty Burger in Simpson Land (Town??).  My options were fried food or fried food at all of the locations in the park, so I just tried fried food. LOL.  Who doesn’t love burgers?!  I then went to Moe’s Tavern for a “Flaming Moe” which is an orange soda that I think has dry ice at the bottom.  You get to keep the cup, but I didn’t have a bag to put it in, plus I don’t like souvenirs like that anyway.

I went to the Studio Tour line and it was REALLY LONG.  There were a few employees giving away fast passes for the tour later in the day so I got one.  He asked me how many people and I said just me, but then he said just go to the line and tell them you are a single rider and they will let you in a special line that gets you close to the front of the line.  That worked and I got on in 10 minutes!!!  It pays to be by yourself! :)

I really liked the tour, they did a great job showing you around.  You stay on the tram the entire time but you see a lot.  You see the back lot, the front lot, Jaws, WhoVille, New York sets, etc.  So much!!  The tour lasted about 45 minutes and they pack in a lot of stuff.  There were 3 ‘rides’ on the tour where you experience different special effects.  Two of the ‘rides’ (King Kong and Fast and the Furious) use special effects and green screens to enhance your experience but the “Live Movie set-Subway tunnel) has fire, rushing water, breakaway buildings and more.  I think the subway set ‘ride’ was my favorite!

They take you to see the streets of New York, a little Mexico town (with the flood waters), a western town, and even the town square they shot Back to the Future and Ghost Whisperer!  We went to the sleep little town in Jaws and saw a shark attack a poor, innocent scuba diver and then the shark had the nerve to try and attack our tram!  :)  I’m telling you, I loved the tour!!!

I went through the iconic Jurassic Park gates next and got SOAKED on the ride.  I went through the super-fast single rider line and unfortunately I made it to front of the car where you get the most wet.  Oh well, it was awesome though. At first the ride is much like the movie with it’s serene dinosaurs just eating grass but then things get wild and crazy with sparks flying and evil Raptors.  Those raptors like to eat anything!  So scary.

Transformers Ride, PowerAde Break, Ice Cream Break, attempt to ride the Mummy Ride (failed my mission), and then decided to take a break to see a movie in hopes that they crowd would disperse while I was watching Train Wreck.  I ate dinner and bought souvenirs somewhere in that break too.  I started to collect these different stretched pennies that day! I need to get one of those books to hold them in.

When I got back I went back to do the nighttime tour that was recommended.  I am SO GLAD that I went on the tour again because I saw so many things that I didn’t see the first time.  You do the basic stuff and ‘rides’ but there are a ton more lights with added special effects throughout the tour. 

I went on the Shrek attraction and then called it a day to return to my hotel to sleep before my super early 4 am wake-up call.  

Haters Gonna Hate

I’ve been thinking a lot about the haters of the world lately.  Or at least haters of my little world.  I have decided to not live my life by what they say.  They are miserable people who want you to be miserable too. Seriously!  Misery loves company.

Do the haters pay your bills?  Then why the heck would you listen to them? 

Be happy!   Live your life the way you want to live it.  When they see you successful those people will be the ones who want to know how you did it but they might still talk behind your back.  LOL.  

So party on party people! :)

I love these cute cats!!!!  

Weekend Happenings

This weekend I almost got another Bucket List item checked off, but no such luck.  I bought tickets to the Best Damn Food Truck Festival, but it turned out so awful that I requested a refund on my credit card.

It all started great, but quickly turned south when we got there.  I picked up my friend Tracie and her friend (who is now my new friend) Jennifer at Tracie’s house.  I had bought two tickets online because the FB group said that they were about to sell out, but Jennifer did not have a ticket.  So we made a sign in the hopes that someone would have an extra ticket for purchase. 

We got there and had to pay $12 to park.  I completely understand that you need to pay to park, we just weren’t expecting it since it didn’t say it on the website.  When we got out of the car, Jennifer immediately started holding up her sign and as luck would have it, two girls saw it and told us that they had just thrown away two tickets!  Jennifer and Tracie went trash digging (the papers were on the top) and got two tickets for free!   We stood in line for about 30 minutes and finally made our way in the parking lot.

It was really hot so we went to get a drink right away.  You weren’t allowed to bring in any drinks, so we had to pay $5 for water.  Rip-off city.  They were selling beer and soda for $8 but since it was so hot and we couldn’t bring anything in, we had to pay it. 

We got in line for a food truck but they ran out of food.  We got two samples (two trucks=20 minutes line each) and then three consecutive trucks ran out of food.   That’s right; three different trucks all ran out of food in a row as we were standing in line for at least 10 minutes each.  We got a grand total of 3 samples in the hour and a half that we were there.  They were all small samples instead of the ‘ample’ amounts that were promised.

We weren’t expecting huge samples, just more than one bite!  We paid $36 each ticket for 3 small samples.  That’s $12 each!  For a sample.  Between the long lines, hot sun, no shade, no tents, no place to sit, small samples, and truck that ran out of food, we were done.  When we left, 11 trucks were out of food and they still had hours left to go in the ‘festival’.  We read comments on their FB page that others were just as unhappy as we were.  Some of the food trucks themselves said that the organizers had sold 3,500 tickets but only told them to prepare for 1,000 people.  How does that math work?  

Needless to say, the comments (from everyone) on FB are not good.  People are demanding refunds and tagging the media to get involved.  I googled the event and found the group organizer named Sean Jaehne.  Apparently he did the same thing last year and is even trying to get a Kickstarter campaign to back him to make this his full time job. LOL.  Yeah, right kid. 

After we left the festival we went to Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner and then Sprinkles cupcakes for dessert!  We were planning on going inside but we parked in the back and found the cupcake ATM on accident!  Yes, there is a cupcake ATM at the Houston Sprinkles location.  You just tap the screen, select the cupcake you want, swipe your credit card and out comes your cupcake!  Super cool.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging in my pool and going to my favorite church!  They are organizing a school supply donation so I went to Walmart to buy school supplies for it.  I miss buying school supplies!

I also changed my toenails to Clowning Around theme from Jamberry!  They are so stinkin' cute!  My sister loves bright colors and her toes looked super cute when she bought them, so I had to get them too.

And my nails to Puppy Love!