Best day yet!

This may be boring to you, but my AdSense earnings continue to amaze me ~ this is my best day ever! Yes, I wanted to get to this point "someday" but I didn't think it would be so soon. Now I know that this AdSense thing will be bigger than I ever expected considering I thought it would be nice if I could ultimately earn $300 a month with it. Now I don't know what I want my "ultimate" goal to be.

I'd love to be able to average that much per day in the near future ~ that would be over $400/month from AdSense alone. Everyone can use an extra $400/month. It's so cool because it's money that's just there every day. Yes, I have to work on my site and promote it, etc, but I'd do that anyway, so it's not like I have do to something every day to earn this money. This passive income stuff is so cool!

If you haven't taken advantage of Google AdSense yet, click on the white Google AdSense button in the right margin to get started today.

For Fun - Definition of "Moms"

You may have already seen this via e-mail, but I just thought I'd share.

THE DEFINITION OF "MOMS"

Why God made moms: Answers given by elementary school age children to the following questions...

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nicein the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly usestring, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your Mom?
1. My Mom has always been my Mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he getdrunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your Mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work & work at home, & dads just go to w work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'causethat's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your Mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind ofplastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on her back.

My Girls - Wedding Picture

Here is a picture of my three girls. They were also part of my sister-in-law's wedding back in January. I'm still waiting to get the pictures the photographer took of our family at the wedding. I haven't forgotten to post them, I still haven't received a copy so I can't share them until I do. This picture I took myself as we were all getting ready for the wedding. The girls loved getting all dressed up and were so excited that they got to wear their dresses all day.

Click on the image for full size view.

Proof of Progress - Gotta see

This is why I love Mom Masterminds. I just looked at my AdSense earnings from back in July of 2005, before I joined and I compared it to how I'm doing this month. It's cool to see how far I've come. Click on the links below to see the before and after. Remember, this is just one income stream from my online businesses. You'll see in increase in earnings as well as an increase in traffic (showed by increase in page impressions and clicks). All of that is attributed to what I've learned as a member of MM. So is the membership fee worth it? I believe so, absolutely, yes. Like I said before, my increase in earnings more than cover my membership fees and the resources available there are just awesome. Of course, it's not a magic fix. You don't earn more simply by joining, you have to "do" as well. Learn and apply.

But anyway ~ on to the good stuff. Here are my earnings ~ I couldn't fit the whole month in the screen, so you'll only see what could fit, but it's most of each month. Also, two columns are blocked off because I heard somewhere else that that part shouldn't be shared? I'm not sure, so I just blocked it so I don't get in trouble.

Before MM: July 2005
Now: February 2006

If the image is small, click on it and and icon should come up that allows you to "expand to regular size".

My new business "toys"

Yay! I did it. I got my tax return and bought the things I wanted to buy for business. So here are my new "business toys."

First on my list was Easy Article Marketing



And second, I got my subscription to The WC. There's a special going on right now ~ $21 for a 6 month subscription, but I decided to go ahead and just do the 1 year subscription for $40 ~ saved a few bucks by going that route. It's less than $4/month. Plus, The WC has a new look and I can't wait to get my first issue with the new and improved look! If you want to learn more about The WC ~ click on the banner below.



Then I also went ahead and picked up my non-business toy, a baby sling for my son. I bought it at www.monkeybums.com ~ I chose the "desert branches" print. Can't wait to get that!

Don't take away my MM!

Due to a problem with billing (or more like payment arrangements with PayPal) my MM subscription was cancelled! I was so furious and upset. I knew I loved MM, but I didn't realize how much it would bother me to have it taken away. Well, thanks so much to Kelly McCausey (mentor at MM), everything got straightened out and I'm making one final payment (for the remainder of my year) so that I never have to worried about not having access to MM!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, MM stands for Mom Masterminds, a business mentoring program that is just invaluable! I have learned so, so much there. There is no way I'd have the increase in income that I've experienced since August in such a short period of time without them.

Revamped Dog Site!

I really didn't care for the layout and design of our blue pitbull site, and last night I had some ideas of how I wanted to change it. Well, I completely revamped the look and feel of the site and am much happier with it now! I can't believe I finished just about all of it all in one day. All I have left to do is our "About Us" page and the 2nd page of our picture gallery. Other than that, it's all ready to go so I got it up and running this afternoon!

Just to give you an idea, here's the old layout
http://www.808bluepitbull.com/archive/index.html

Check out the new layout at www.808BluePitbull.com ~ what do you think?

Problem with turning 30?

One day last week it hit me ~ this is the year I turn 30. 30! That sound so grown up. I so do not feel as "adult" as that sounds. I've always thought of myself as a "young mom", after all, I was only 19 when my oldest was born. Now I'm just "regular mom" age. Not as special. Thirty sounds like someone that's reached the "when I grow up" age.

I've also always thought of DH and I as young people getting a jump on saving for retirement. Now we're "regular aged" people and our "jump" is not what I would have liked it to be. Financially, we're not quite where we'd planned, but we're already taking steps to change that and get back on track by end of the year so I'm not really worried about that.

I remember hearing other people talk about turning 30 and I didn't understand why that made it sound like such a big deal, such and unreal thing. It's just another number. I never thought I'd have much of a problem with it. I don't know if I really have a problem with it, I just can't believe it. Lucky for me, my birthday is in the last month of the year. So to all of us out there born in the bi-centennial year of 1976 ~ this is the year we turn 30. Some of us have already reached that milestone. DH will reach it before me since his birthday is in October, but sooner or later, we'll all be there. Are you ready?

Warning to Moms - Please Read

I’d like to draw you attention to an Internet money-making scheme, called auto-surfing, that has stay-at-home and work-at-home moms risking their family finances and luring other mothers in with them. Work at Home Moms Talk Radio is speaking out against this potentially illegal activity and educating moms on exactly why they should be aware.

I highly encourage you to listen to WAHM Talk Radio to learn more about this industry and why it is dangerous to the work at home mom community. Moms have had their online payment accounts frozen and authorities are investigating these too good to be true opportunities. The radio program about auto-surfs first aired on Monday, February 13, 2006. However, the show has been archived permanently as a public service to those who need more education on auto-surfing programs. Listen in, anytime at: http://www.wahmtalkradio.com

My Son the Future Baseball Star Video Clip

Name: Allen
Age: 14 months
Throw: Right
Bat: Apparently Left ~ Click Here to watch the Video Clip
Windows Media Player Format

This is also my first venture into getting a video clip from my video camera to the web ~ so that's exciting as well.

Going to Subscribe ~ WC

One of the things I'm going to do with my tax return is subscribe to The WC. That's the Mini Magazine for the Work at Home Community. It has a cool new look to it and I can't wait to subscribe. Right now they're running a special ~ just $21 for a 6 month subscription. Really, it's worth it to get the great articles and business tips that are included in the magazine.

I got my first issue because I wrote an article that was featured in the magazine, so I received a complimentary copy of that issue. I loved the business tips and ideas in the magazine. They are written by other work at home moms and really shed some light on different business issues from perspectives I would have never seen. It's always good to learn something new and The WC provides another way for me to learn. If you'd like to see what this mini magazine is all about, click on the banner below.

Lovin' passive income!

I'm totally loving passive income from AdSense. My earnings are growing steadily and I should reach the "high" yet, "realistic" goal I set for AdSense earnings within the next few months!

That means it's time for NEW GOALS! I never really thought beyond that goal that I had. Now it looks like I'm going to reach that well before the end of the year. Not only that, I've also decided that I can "realistically" strive for 15,000 unique visitors per month for my softball website. That's about 5 times what I get now. Hopefully, my AdSense income will also grow as the number of unique visitors to my site grows! I realize that it won't grow exactly at the rate, especially since that's not the only site I have AdSense on, but there should be an increase that correlates with that increased traffic.

By the end of the year, I think I can reach about 7,000-9,000 unique visitors per month on a regular basis. If I really work on it, maybe I can reach that 15,000 mark ~ then it'll be time for new goals again.

We'll see how it goes. If you'd like to earn money with AdSense too, click on the white "Google" button to the right to learn more or to sign up today ~ It's FREE!

Get help with dinner!

If you're anything like me, the question, "What's for dinner?" is not always an easy one to answer. With the hustle and bustle of every day life, I have to admit that I rarely have dinner planned out. On top of that trying to come up with meals on short notice, coming up with healthy ones is even more difficult.

Well, I wanted to share a website with you that may help us both with this dilema. Healthy Menu Mailer is dedicated to providing families like yours and mine healthy menu ideas so that we can eat healthy every day of the week.

Each week Healthy Menu Mailer provides:
~ 7 healthy dinner recipes your family will love.
~ a grocery list to go along with it.
~ a personal note from us to encourage you.
~ access to our breakfast, lunch, side dish, dessert and snack recipes
~ access to our members only forum to meet other like minded moms, exchange ideas and recipes and of course we will be there to help you along the way as well

To learn more about Healthy Menu Mailer click on the image below.

Superbowl Sunday coming soon

Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner! I always look forward to Super Bowl Sunday. The commercials are good, there's usually a nice gathering with friends and family and good food, and on top of all that I get to watch a good football game. I like football. :)

This year though, I don't really know who I'm going to cheer for, right now I'm leaning toward Seattle even though I never really liked them. I've always liked to see Pittsburgh and I do like their team colors, but I guess I'm going for the underdog right now. I know as that day approaches and I hear more of the "behind the scenes" stories or stories about different players, I may develop a more "sure feel" of who I want to win.

One day, I'd like to actually go to a Super Bowl, but for now, I'll be watching it from Hawaii on TV. It's an early afternoon game here.

Magic of Pictures ~ 4,811

Four thousand, eight hundred and eleven. That's how many unique visitors came to our Blue Pitbull website in January. It's gotta be the pictures. Just like books and magazines, people like the ones with good pictures. Maybe the same is true for websites. :)

www.AllAboutFastpitch.com also reached a new high of 3326 unique visitors in the month of Januaray ~ nearly double the previous high. So we're doing something right. Now if only I can have that same type of success with www.My-Custom-Silicone-Bracelet.com I'd be well on my way to earning a decent income WAHM style!