Walk in Tubs

This is the beginning of a short series I am going to write for one of my clients - Safety Tubs LLC®. The series is going to cover all aspects of their walk in tubs; what they offer, comparisons, features specific to their brand, etc. Don't worry, this isn't going to be an advertisement. More of a guide. Please share this with family and friends.
I'll start with who they are, their mission, philosophy and the basics of their product.

Who is Safety Tubs®?
Safety Tubs® is the inventor and manufacturer of the acrylic walk in bath tub. They recognized there was clearly a need for a product that would allow individuals with mobility problems to be able to maintain some semblance of independence, comfort and security at home while bathing and showering. The founders of Safety Tubs® not only saw this need and desire, however were resolute in fulfilling it. They knew a product of this nature would increase the amount of quality time people could live safely and securely on their own.

Out of this came the very first generation of Safety Tubs®. Safety Tubs® have improved over time and continue to do so with direct input and feedback from clients. Because of their innovative past and their willingness to listen to their customer, the walk-in tubs they produce today are exceedingly specialized for superior quality and ease of use. They are also, for the first time, constructed with high gloss acrylic for easy maintenance, health and beauty.

The mission of Safety Tubs® is to give people a walk-in bathtub complete with the latest and most comprehensive therapeutic technology and features around. Their customers can expect only the highest quality workmanship, construction and customer service.

Merry Christmas

Here we are again, another year gone by, another Christmas sneaking up on us. This year I am feeling happiness and a bit of sadness all at the same time. Many mixed emotions. I am looking forward to spending time with my sister- HAPPY! She is in town for a short while- SAD!. Having our youngest open his first presents will also be a happy time, although sadness will be in the back of my mind knowing how fast he is growing and that this will be his last first Christmas. I am happy to be spending quality time with my family and friends, although sad for those who do not have family and/or friends to spend Christmas with, or maybe have family/friends serving in the military to ensure the rest of us have the freedom and protection to enjoy Christmas. Sad for those families who are struggling financially and therefore may not have a Christmas at all. I am happy and grateful that we have a new year ahead full of hope and possibilities, and sad to see another year go by as my kids grow up so quickly before my eyes. So many things to be joyous about, so many gifts and blessings we have, yet during this blessed season let us not forget those who may not be feeling so blessed right now. Merry Christmas to all and God willing, a great 2009!

Do Two Wrongs Make a Right?

Cyberbullying Suicide Stokes the Internet Fury Machine

This is a tough one. Cyberspace gives people a level of comfort to do things they might not normally do otherwise. Unfortunately too many people are making really bad choices and not thinking them through.
Tell me what you think?

"Grandma's Letter"

She is eighty-eight years old and still drives her own car.

She writes:

Dear Grand-daughter,

The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a Honk if you love Jesus bumper sticker. I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting.

So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper. Boy, am I glad I did, what an uplifting experience followed.

I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed.

It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd never have noticed.

I found that lots of people love Jesus!

While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, 'For the love of God!

'Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!'

What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Everyone started honking!

I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people.

I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!

There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach.

I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air.

I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant.

He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.

Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back.

My grandson burst out laughing.

Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!!

A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me.

I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed.

So, I waved at all my brothers and sisters grinning, and drove on through the intersection.

I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared.

So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away.

Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!!

Will write again soon,

Love, Grandma

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your stuffing be tasty may your turkey plump, may your potatoes and gravy have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious and your pies take the prize, and may your thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs!

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend- Thanks to Suicide.

I am shocked to get the call that you are gone. I can't believe my old friend, a woman so young could depart this world with so much left to do and share and give. How could this be. So sad, so terribly sad.
As shocked as I was to get that call, it doesn't come close, not even close to how terribly stunned to hear how you left us. How could you do it? What was going through your mind? Your heart? What about your kids? What about your friends? Your family? What happened? How could this happen? So confused, angry, sad, so terribly stunned and sad. Surely this can't be true. Not you. No way not you!
You were the girl so strong and stubborn who would stay on this earth forever to spite everyone who got in your way or pissed you off. You were the girl with the most beautiful smile that lit up any room you entered and the best sense of humor that could make anyone and everyone laugh. You were the girl who always told everyone exactly how you felt, no holds barred, feelings be damned. You were the girl who never let anyone live anything down. You were the girl so intelligent you could do anything you wanted to.
Although I suppose I haven't known you so well lately. We have lost touch over the years. Maybe you aren't the girl I knew back then. Surely that girl was still there though, somewhere, just hidden maybe. Hiding behind the sadness, the gloom, the lonliness, the desperation or maybe just the desire for it all to end. You have such beautiful children and more friends than I can count. Yet still you chose to leave them, us, your future. Why? A question I will always have and will always ponder. I wish I could have held your hand, given you a hug, or given you whatever you needed to know it would all be ok. I'm sorry I couldn't give you that. I'm sorry you wanted it all to end. I'm sorry you couldn't stay to share your big beautiful smile with the world just a little while longer, or maybe forever. I am sorry you are gone. I will miss you dearly and cherish the many memories I have of us "girls". How much fun we had, the trouble we got into, the friendship. I will always be grateful for knowing you. Goodbye my old friend, so sad to say goodbye, especialy when it's thanks to suicide.

Political Humor from Stone Soup

Comics and Editorial Cartoons: Stone Soup on Yahoo! News

Walk in Tubs

Check out this informative Walk in Tubs Buyer's Guide for anyone with senior or elderly parents or if you know someone who is handicapped or has to live with other painful physical ailments. This is one of my clients and I am very proud to do work for them. They are an amazing company with a fabulous product.

What a Sad Halloween.

Happy Halloween

Body Worlds- The Story of the Heart

Wow! That's all I could say for several hours after attending the Body Worlds 3- The Story of the Heart exhibit at The Leonardo at Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City. What an amazing exhibit. The creator, Gunther von Hagens of Germany, uses the most amazing technique called plastination which allows them to keep the original form of the body, preserving everything that is normally dissected out. Almost freezing the body and all of it's intricacies for us to see in awe. What is amazing about this approach is not only does it allow you to see the body in it's true form completely, but it does so in a beautiful not grotesque way. I highly recommend this exhibit to anybody except small children. I saw some small children that were pretty freaked out and confused by it all. I would say 13 and up. And forewarning, it does have the complete reproductive system on display.
If this or any other Body Worlds exhibit comes to your city, take it from me, it is well worth your time and money. It's a real eye-opener.

BODY WORLDS 3

Going to see this at The Leonardo Museum tonight with my mom. I can't wait! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

BODY WORLDS 3 » Welcome

LDS statement seen as open to liquor law change

Maybe our liquor laws will finally start to change.

LDS statement seen as open to liquor law change

YouTube - Timothy Ferriss - How to Peel Hard-boiled Eggs w/o Peeling

YouTube - Timothy Ferriss - How to Peel Hard-boiled Eggs w/o Peeling

Remember Me.

No matter who you are voting for, no matter where you stand on the war, let's not forget our soldiers.
http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay=1

In remembrance.

May we never forget!

Religious Funnies

Who says religion can't be funny?

How to tell if a Catholic is driving too fast



Jewish Olympic Swimmer


Church can be hilarious!

Nature at its best- Oh and Abba!

Chiquitita English version

It's a Gas, Gas, Gas!

Deseret News | Ready to wed

Deseret News | Ready to wed

Good point!

After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching
prospect said, 'Let me see if I've got this right:

'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their
disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their
dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a
love for learning.

'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs
and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self
esteem and personal pride.

'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship,
sportsmanship and fair play. You want me to check their heads for lice,
recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure they all pass
the state exams.

'You want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of
their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents.
'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a
bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that
will qualify me for food stamps. You want me to do all this and then
you tell me:

I CAN'T PRAY?

I want a vacation.

I am going to stay in one of these villa's someday!

Back to School, Back to Work. Yes Summer is Over.

It's hard to believe summer is already over. It went by so fast. This year having a new baby made it quite an interesting summer. No camping trips and no vacations out of town this year. We still had a great time watching our new guy grow and grow like a new flower in the garden. His big brother and big sister kept us plenty busy too with all of their summer activities. All in all it has been a nice but busy summer. I do look forward to getting back into some semblance of a routine. It will be easier this year now that both kids attend the same school. Not to mention having Granny work their as well so she can take them to school every morning. I will miss those days at the swimming pool and late movie nights with my mom though. I am slowly working my way back into my freelance work. That has been nice. I always enjoy working. It allows me to be creative and step out of "mommy" role for at least a few hours a day.
So goodbye summer until we meet again next year. It's amazing to think how big my "little" guy will be this time next year. WOW! They grow too fast.

Marriage

Sorry it has been so long since I have written. Life has been all too busy with our new baby. He has been such a blessing and a joy in our life, although with only a few hours of sleep a night at times it can also be grueling being a new mom. Thankfully I was able to take some time off of work and just be home to take care of myself and my new baby as well as the rest of my family. I am warming back into work now, gradually. This is a great benefit of working at home, freelance, with a great company and clients that are flexible and understanding of the priority of family.
Before I wrap up I wanted to share an amazing blog post with all of you. For those of you who know me and my husband, you know we are very dedicated to our ministry of Engaged Encounter which is an international organization that helps prepare engaged couples for marriage. Another couple who are our friends and are also a part of our EE community in SLC forwarded this amazing blog post about marriage called The Marriage Promise. I completely relate and agree with this post and I thought I would share it with all of you and hope you share it with all of your married and/or engaged friends and family.

Maternity leave

Wow, how quickly time flies. I will be having this baby next week (hopefully) and will be on maternity leave for an undetermined amount of time. I will try to keep up on my blog while I am at home with my new little baby. In the meantime I wanted to share some awesome photos with all of you. These are before and after photos from a renovation done at a place called "Palm Garden of Ocala Spa" where they installed a new walk-in tub. What an amazing transformation.

Oh to be sick and pregnant.

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I have written in my blog. My apologies for the delay. Unfortunately I caught a nasty virus which sent me spiraling into pregnancy complications and even more secondary infections than I have ever had in my entire life. To top it off I had two sick children. Boy was that a fun two weeks. Thankfully we are all recovering well. It is just taking me a lot longer than we had hoped. Now I am two weeks behind in my work. I have a ton of SEO work to catch up on for Cosel USA, my power supply client, and A&R Wholesale, my Safety Tub (walk-in tub) client. I will be spending the rest of this month focusing on them and helping my newest client Danger Rangers to move forward with their site additions/changes. Thank you to all of my clients for being so patient with me during my extended absence. I am so grateful to be able to work from home where I can be on bedrest and still check on my clients and make sure everything is under control. That is one of the many benefits of being a work at home mom!

Great site for our kids!

I have a new client I am working on now called Educational Adventures. They are a multi-media edutainment company committed to the production of premium content that entertains, educates, and empowers children in all areas of safety and well-being. If you have children, you've probably heard of their Television Show called Danger Rangers. Their series focuses on safety topics for children to help teach children about safety in a fun and entertaining way. My kids love it! If your a parent or educator I highly recommend you check out their site. They have online games, downloads, products such as DVD's and activity books that you can purchase, and tons of resources and information on safety topics.
They are an amazing organization and I am looking forward to working with them on their web sites!

Communication with your clients

These past few weeks have been very busy with my walk-in bathtubs client. We have been dealing with some email issues that should not have taken this long to resolve. Why do host companies have to make things so difficult? Any way, I have learned a great deal from this experience. As a work at home parent you have to be even more resourceful than if you were working in an office environment. You also have to be sure to stay in close contact with your client so they know you are working to get the issues resolved. Communication is very important when your working out of a home office since you never have the opportunity for face to face meetings.

Thanks to technology it's easier to be resourceful and to be able to communicate well with your clients. Many vendors offer alternatives to an 800# which you usually end up wasting time on hold with any way. For example, many vendors offer online chats and/or a technical support email address where they can create a ticket for tracking and follow-up. If it's a vendor you deal with on a regular basis, oftentimes they will offer a point of contact person (account manager) that you can contact directly. Use as many of these resources as possible.

In regards to communicating with your client, there are very obvious ways to do this well.

Email- with email you can keep a history and manage follow-ups so you can be sure you are answering questions and getting things resolved.

Phonecall- Usually a simple phone call letting your client know the status of a situation will help them feel comforted that you are working to get the problem(s) solved.

Teleconference- Same as a phonecall, however in a teleconference you can speak with several individuals including the vendor(s) which can save time and hassle.

I/M- Instant messaging is a great way to chat with your client or co-workers as you are working through a problem. It's real time and you can swap documents, links and more which you can't do as easily on the phone.

These are just a few tools you can use as a work at home individual to ensure you are meeting your clients needs.

It also helps if you have wonderful clients which I happen to be lucky enough to have!

Welcome to 2008!

Happy New Year! Here we are in 2008 and as for me, I welcome it. Last year was great overall and I see only good things for this year as well. For a lot of us work at home people January usually means one thing is weighing heavy on our minds- yes that's right, TAXES. I have a very dependable accountant, which makes tax season a lot less stressfull. I highly suggest to anyone working freelance, if your not comfortable with tax "stuff"or just don't like the hassle, get an accountant. It's usually well worth the money. There are a lot of write-off's you can take working from home. I am no expert so I won't give specific advice, instead I will send you on a learning experience. I suggest you do some research on the internet. There are a lot of great sites out there that are full of information. Aboutus.com and the IRS web site both have columns on Office In Home Tax Deductions and Justanswer.com offers free tax advice. However I still recommend getting an accountant if you are unsure and/or want to avoid an audit, which of course doesn't mean you won't get audited, but at least your accountant has your back. So in summary, do your homework and if all else fails, turn to an expert. Best wishes to all of us this tax season!

The end of the holidays- WHEW!

Well we made it. The holidays are behind us. Not that I don't enjoy the holidays. I do enjoy the time with family (especially those from out of town), spending time with my husband and kids, exchanging gifts, the spirit of the holidays and so forth. However, I am glad to be back on a schedule and in a daily routine.
Although I did take time off during the holidays to host some out of town relatives, working at home means you have the ability to "check in" every once in a while so I did cheat a bit by reading emails and checking in on clients a few times during my vacation. I think that is one of the benefits of working from home.
Now that I'm back, I will be spending a lot of time catching up. End of the month reporting, email follow up, etc. I will be focusing most of my time on my walk in tub client. Although I really enjoy helping them manage their websites so it will be enjoyable time. Offering marketing help and ideas and brainstorming with them allows me to be creative and helps me to continue learning and growing. I highly recommend to any work at home parent finding something that allows you the same so that you will never be bored and you will always have something to look forward to in your work.
Only two more months until spring!