Welcome to Something for Nothing

Well, as you can see my blog hasn’t gotten much activity lately. I wish I could say that things were going to get better, but the fact is that you probably won’t see many posts from me for the next 2-3 weeks. I’m going to Italy with my wife. I will give you a little look at where we’re headed in Italy.

Rome
We’ll be flying into Rome arriving about 10 AM. We’ll spend most the afternoon going around Rome. I think that Trevi Fountains, and the spanish steps are tops on my list of places to see in Rome. I also love going to St. Peter’s and watching the painters.

Napoli
After touring Rome we’ll hope on a train and head down to my friend’s place in Napoli. She is the sweetest lady. She said she’d have dinner waiting for us and a key to her house so we can just come and go as we please.

The next morning we’ll be touring some of Italy and I definitely have to hit Piazza Garibaldi to get me a suit and some other Sunday clothes for church. I was also told that there will be a baptism Saturday night. This happened last time I went to Napoli (truthfully Pozzuoli). It’s so much fun, because I get a chance to see a bunch of the members all at once. The next morning I’m sure we’ll enjoy church in probably the most beautiful chapel I’ve ever seen. Well, at least the view from the chapel is the best.

Amalfi
Monday we’ve got a nice hotel lined up in the beautiful town of Amalfi. We’ll probably check in to our hotel as early as possible and then head up for a little hike to the waterfalls just above Amalfi where they use to make paper. It’s an incredible hike that feels like you’ve gone into a completely different world. Got to love Valle Dei Mullini.

Positano
After spending the night in Amalfi, we’ll be taking an early morning “chicken bus” up to my favorite place in Italia:Sentiero degli Dei (Trail of the Gods). It’s about a 4 and a half hour hike. At the end of the hike there are 1000 steps to reach the beautiful city of Positano below. We’ve got a hotel lined up in Positano which will be a certainly welcome relief.

Napoli - Pompeii and Vesuvius
The next morning we haven’t decided exactly what we’ll do, but we’re considering heading to Pompeii since it’s in the area. However, if we’re too tired we might head back to Napoli and go to Pompeii later. I would love to take the boat from Positano back to Napoli. The boat is a lot of fun and a nice soothing ride.

Venice
After spending a couple days with friends in Napoli, we’ll be heading for a romantic weekend in Venice. I can’t say anything about Venice. It’s absolutely the most unique place I’ve ever been. It’s Romantic. It’s incredible and I can’t wait to stroll the streets with my wife. Not to mention a nice gondola ride.

Bologna
I’ll be meeting a friend of mine in Bologna. We’ll be attending church in Bologna which should be interesting since we’ve never been there. I’d rather go to church somewhere else, but I really want to see my friend Maria Rosaria so we’ll do what we have to do. Sunday after church my friend will pick us up and after eating some of her mother’s fine fine Italian cooking we’ll be heading to Florence.

Florence
We haven’t decided how many days we should spend in Florence. We’ll stay at least a day and up to 4 days. I must admit that my wife and I aren’t that into art and so I’m not sure how long we’ll want to stay in Florence. I think we’re probably going to want to head back to Napoli to spend more time with friends.

Well, that’s the general round up of our trip through Italy. Most things are subject to change, but it doesn’t really matter. No matter where we go or what we do we have nothing to worry about, because the best part of Italy is….

THE FOOD!!

Hopefully I’ll be able to at least blog a little from Italy, but if I can’t then we’ll see you after our trip.

last week I saw Oprah for the first time in almost a year. And I was happy that it wasn’t some celebrities on promoting their new movie or something stupid. The show was about little inventions people made. It was a contest, where the audience voted the best invention. The person who won got a deal with QVC.

There were eight products showcased. There were about three I liked and would maybe buy. The one product I thought I would actually turn in to QVC and buy won first place.

It was a pan where the sides could fold down or come off. Thus making it easier to dish out a casserole or frost a cake. It is something I would love.

None of the products seemed all that inventive, meaning it didn’t take a genius to come up with the idea but with that said I never came up with any of the idea they had or any inventions. I think I am going to search my brain for the next coolest invention and send it to Oprah and maybe next year I can be on Oprah with one of my very own inventions.

Since our Scooter was stolen and we couldn’t pick it up before the cops had it towed we had to go pick it up from the towing company yesterday. And one if the stupidest things about the whole situation is they wanted cash. They didn’t take checks or credit cards. Who uses cash? We use our Credit Card for everything. Not because we don’t have money to pay for things but because a credit card helps us earn better credit and our specific credit cards helps us earn free airline miles.

I don’t think credit cards are for everyone. I don’t think any teenager should own a credit card without having to take a class on one beforehand. I know I was way too young when I got my first credit card and I really didn’t understand all that they entailed. You have to be diligent and able to pay off your credit card. Credit cards shouldn’t be used (at least in my opinion) to buy something you can’t afford.

And most people don’t seem to research the many options they have. There are credit cards suited for almost everyone. You need to find the one that is right for and your family. Weather it be a cash back credit card, low interest rate, balance transfer credit card or one that offers rewards and incentives.

Like I said before we have a credit card and we use it everywhere we can. It has a low interest rate and there is no annual fee. And each purchase we make helps us earn points for free airline miles. We have had our card less than 4 years and have two free international tickets. Now that is something using cash can’t get you.

post sponsored by moneyeverything.com

my hubby’s scooter stolen in December. Right before Christmas. We didn’t think we would ever hear of it again. And then this weekend wouldn’t you know the cops found it-occupied. We now have a scooter again. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or not. I guess we will have to wait until we pick up the scooter and see.

So I plan Halloween really far in advance. I love it. I love to dress up my kids. And I love to dress up my husband. I have been trying to come up with some theme for all of us but hadn’t come up with anything too good until today. I saw the previews for Grey’s Anatomy today and thought that hubby would make a great Mc Dreamy. And I could pull of Meridith Grey.

We can buy discount scrubs. They would be really comfortable and then we woulds look like doctors. We could dress the kids up as our patients. What do you think?

The best part is we could get scrubs at a good price and then wear them all year around the house because they are so comfy. I am brilliant. I am so excited.

post sponsored by uniformcountry

We hit a huge milestone this week. No! The baby is not officially sleeping through the night. Every other week she decides she would like to wake us up in the middle if the night. i am excited that this week is almost over. I am ready for a full nights rest again.

But back to the huge milestone….Our boy got a haircut today. That is part of the milestone. But the huge part is he didn’t cry or protest.. I jokingly asked if he wanted one and he asked, “I get a Popsicle?” Of course I agreed. In fact he got two because he finished the first before I was done with the haircut.

My boy looks so cute with his haircut. Now I am not a good hairdresser. I can’t even cut a straight line with paper. But my biy has so much hair and it is wavy so you can make lots of mistakes and people don’t notice. Or maybe they just don’t tell me it looks crappy.

All I know is my boy is getting to be so big and I am so glad that he likes popsicles because giving him haircuts are so much easier now.

As I have said before I lived in Guatemala for a year and a half. When I got there I barely spoke any Spanish. I had taken Spanish in high school but didn’t know much other than how to ask to use the bathroom.

In the time that I lived there I learned a lot. I came home and could no longer speak English. However, it didn’t take long for me to forget a lot. And the Spanish I did learn wasn’t Spanish that was going to help me in many professional settings. And my accent was “feo” (ugly).

I decided a few years back that I need to take Spanish classes to learn how foraccent training and help to learn to learn Spanish that I could use in my professional life.

Executive Language Training (ELT) teaches me at my level and at my speed and allows me to get help learning the language in the areas I most need. I loved that is tailors to me individually.

I hope that one day I won’t be afraid to speak Spanish because I no longer have an Gringa Accent.

post sponsored by ELT.

I hate bugs. When we first moved to Hawaii and I was stuck in an apartment without any of our things for three weeks I wrote a poem about my hatred for bugs. I wish I could find that poem now.

It is super hot here in Vegas and that means it is cockroach season. And for some reason this year we have flying cockroaches. I hate them. Luckily they only come out at night. I wouldn’t even know they exisisted if I didn’t get up once or twice in the night to feed the baby.

The thing I hate the most is when I have a clean house and yet I still have bugs. I lived in Guatemala and it was okay that there were bugs there because it was a dirty place. But here in America we are pretty clean and so in my mind it seems like we shouldn’t have any bugs.

Is there any state I can move to where there aren’t any bugs or cockroaches?

My friend just had a new fireplace installed in her new home. It is the most gorgeous marble fireplace I have seen. I was wondering when I went to her house why were meeting in this one room of her house that I have never been in. And then I saw the fireplace and I knew she just had to show off her newest fireplace. If I had a marble fireplace like that I would show if off too.

She got her inspiration from many of the other houses in her neighborhood. As you drive through this neighborhood you are just awe struck with what you see. The houses are huge and gorgeous. Some have huge marble columns out front and others have statues. I love looking at all of it. It just makes the neighborhood and area look so nice.

One day when I own my own house I hope to have my own marble fireplace.

post sponsored by marbleunique.com

If Las Vegas were ever to have a professional sports team I think they should have the name “Las Vegas Heat” The reason for this is because it is always so hot here in Las Vegas. It has been in the high 90’s this past week. The kids and I have been to the pool at least 4 times this week.

I don’t know if I am going to be able to stand another hot summer. It isn’t even summer yet and I am roasting. At least I am not pregnant any more.