So … I bought a new camera yesterday. I settled on going “cheap” and stuck with what I know - the Sony Cyber-shot. I picked up the DSC-S730 (which is really just a way newer model than the one I’ve had for almost 6 years now). It has way more options and takes great shots. I can mess with settings and even the iso with this camera which makes me happy. Issue I am having right now is that I am trying to follow this tutorial for getting rid of the red eye in a photo of my son and dog. They BOTH got the red eye! Grr! So, my brain just isn’t understanding said tutorial …

I am also fighting with my son (ahh! three year olds!), watching the Backyardigans (sigh), reading Harry Potter fan-fiction and checking out home gyms. How’s THAT for multi-tasking?!

If you are looking for a CAREER and not just “another job” than why not consider becoming a certified Cisco technician? The computer industry is MASSIVE and there are jobs everywhere in any state. Cisco is a company that is well known and provides its clients with everything from business solutions to internet security to huge networks of communication. You can receive your certification in many different areas including IP communications, network security, routing and switching and voice. There are three levels of certification so you can work your way up. In addition to general certifications, network professionals can enhance their core networking knowledge by achieving specialist certification in technologies such as security, IP telephony, and wireless.

Take my husband and I for instance – I am mostly into website design and marketing; he on the other hand is into hardware, software, setting up networks and internet security. He would love to eventually start his own business where I handle what I handle (I’m the artist of course!) and he will handle building computers and installing (for lack of a better word) home and business networks. A Cisco certification would be perfect for him and would teach him all the ins and outs of the trade.

Like I mentioned, this industry is massive and still growing. So many people in the United States (and abroad) own personal computers; and not everyone knows how to properly secure a network – or even just make sure their personal firewall is working. This is THE field to get into – and Cisco just made it a little bit easier for you. So get out there and get your certification! You could be well on your way to becoming the CEO of your very own company!

My husband has been working his arse off while he’s been gone - in fact, he’s even been blogging each day from overseas with his workout routines! He’s making me feel like a lump!! But, when he came home recently (due to me and my non-cooperative body) I gotta say he looked GOOD! His arms look toned and his belly has shrunk - it’s NICE I think if he keeps working out like he’s been working out he will need horse supplements because he will just be so big! (I’m so totally kidding babe!) Since he’s been home he’s been using our son as a weight and working out with him - it’s cute to watch.

You’ve gotta check out his blog; he’s also been posting funny videos lately.

That “pregnant glow” you think you see might just be the millions of products that I’ve been using to clean my face during this pregnancy. I think it’s starting to form radiation … because my face still hasn’t cleared up. It’s not just acne; it’s shine where there shouldn’t be, it’s dry where it used to be oily … and we won’t even discuss the weird redness and blackheads. Pregnancy hormones wreak HAVOC on your skin, and believe me - the face isn’t the only place getting hit.

I found a new place online, however, that has a TON of products meant to help you get your skin back to “perfect.” It’s called iDerma and they have everything from anti-aging products, moisturizing creams, cleansers and sunscreens, to mineral makeup and more.

I’ve heard personally that Mineral Makeup is ESPECIALLY great for pregnant women. It’s gentle and won’t make your face break out as much as tradition off the rack makeup (I find myself wearing WAY less makeup now that I am pregnant). I’d love to check out the mineral stuff! As far as mineral makeups go - at iDerma you will find bronzing powders (yeah for fake bakes!!), dusting powders, a base powder (complete with spf 20), mascara, gloss and concealer! They even have every makeup brush you could possibly want!

You will also find products for people with hyper pigmentation and also supplements to help with everything from pre/post surgery nutrition to supplements for helping your skin

Even better? They even have a 115% price match guarantee AND free shipping over $75! Awesome!!

We’re in an age of information … it can literally be found EVERYWHERE (be it good info. or bad info.). When you are pregnant for the first time (and maybe even subsequent times) you look online (and in books) for information: what will my body go through, what is my baby doing, where has my mind gone). I won’t say that the internet has replaced information from doctors completely; but I see a lot of questions being asked in message boards and livejournal that really should be asked of a doctor. Yes it’s fine to get opinions from those who have “been there - done that” but it’s no replacement for your health care professional.

Baby/Pregnancy message boards drive me nuts. I used to troll them literally all day when I was pregnant with my son three years ago (gosh, almost four now!). I think the information I found on them made me even more crazy! Not to mention the debates! OH the debates!! Cloth diapers vs. disposables; circ vs. anti-circ; breast vs. bottle; crib vs. family bed …. People get RUDE a lot of times with their opinions, and it’s really best to stay away from that drama. It will just totally STRESS YOU OUT!

This time around? I’ve got a nice birth group on LiveJournal (so far, no drama) and I only occasionally visit a couple other ones. I’m avoiding the DRAMA this time around. I know what to do with a baby now; whatever *I* decide.

I’ve been cleaning lately … which usually happens while I watch something on HGTV or Learning Channel … which usually leads to obsessions with decorating. So, I get online and start bookmarking, lol! Here’s a few of my favs! I don’t have an apartment - but I simply ADORE “Apartment Therapy” because it’s a great product review and decor blog! I’ve been getting tons of decorating ideas off the site (and might I add they have some super awesome nurseries!) I think the reason why I like the site is that the decor normally is done to homes that are rented … Living in military housing or rented houses is boring when you can’t paint. So I love getting ideas that don’t (usually) involve paint.

Another site I adore is the Livejournal Community SaucyDwellings! I love seeing other peoples spaces and getting ideas from them. My home is no where near “Saucy” but I can dream right? Someday I will have a saucy home …. Someday.

Digs Magazine doesn’t really “apply” to me anymore (they say they are for the  “post-college, pre-parenthood, quasi-adult generation” which I am not). But, I digress … The magazine has some awesome tips for decorating or playing hostess (or host).

When I actually WAS organized (during last deployment, lol) I used FlyLady. Her tips and organizational tricks are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Seriously. I’m about to hop back on that train and get organized again!

Right now? I need to clean my living room and dining room. Like, seriously.

The new PayPerPost Boards (or now known as all-encompassing “Izea Boards”) is live and raring to be “chatted” at with some obvious changes most likely brought on by the recent Izea customer survey. The slated changes that were to be made to the board were announced in the Izea blog back on the 29th of February. Some changes included adding in more Izea features including SocialSpark, Bloggers Choice Awards, RockStartUp and of course, PayPerPost. The other glaring change was that of the current moderator status - a good majority of the current mods were supposed to be removed (and set to “moderator alumni”) and those left would be “trained” on how to moderate the boards.

There were a lot of issues with the moderator “staff” that caused another board, Posties.us, to be opened by Robert MacEwan (of macewan.org) in hopes that the “posties” (the term that affectionately represents the bloggers at PayPerPost) could speak more freely with less fear of their threads being locked down by overzealous (and rumored non-welcoming) moderators.

There may be some tweaks left for the board to go through, but I was able to log right in with my old login/password. I noticed right away how much more “organized” the boards were, although they will most likely take a little getting used to. One thing that was obvious, as mentioned before, was that of the greatly reduced moderators - including the rumored “unwelcoming” mod. (Who, for the record - I never thought was “unwelcoming” just had a dry sense of humor which I could appreciate.) Gone now is the “Circle of Trust” status - replaced with a nicer and less daunting “Rockstar” status. Also, the Izea Team Members and Mods are obviously noted.

I only wonder now if they have enough Mods. Will there be more added? Will they be “trained” as mentioned by Ted Murphy (the CEO of the Izea company for those who live under a proverbial rock)? Only time will tell I guess!

I’m really lazy about visiting sites while logged into my Christineisms account so I’ve pulled the widget from the blog. I’m not sure, however, how to actually close the account. Has anyone closed an Entrecard account before?

I use Entrecard on my Starryskye blog with great results. I’ve doubled my visitors and found a lot of great blogs to visit. I just hate doing all that I do with Starryskye on Entrecard for Christineisms also. I guess I am just lazy. There’s obviously no EASY way to bring traffic to your website or blog.

I think I’ve just had BLOGS and visiting them on my brain for too long now. Time to look up some luxury vacations and get the heck outta here!

I was poking around online and found a link to a website called Doba which is a website you sign up for, and then sell items on eBay for. Basically, you list an item on eBay - and (hopefully) sell it. Then, you collect the money from your customer, pay Doba for the item - and Doba sends the item to the customer. But, any extra profits from the sale are yours. So, I’d assume that if and item + shipping ends up costing Doba $25.00 and you sold that item for $30.00 then you get to keep $5.00. Seems to me like an interesting deal. I mean, you don’t have to worry about shipping. But, you also have to worry about the fact that Doba might be a scam and your feedback score might go very far down on eBay thus rendering your account unusable for both buying AND selling.

Does anyone have any feedback regarding Doba?

According to their site:

With Doba you can start a business without investing large amounts of money and with very little risk. you don’t have to carry inventory or pay for inventory up front — if the product doesn’t sell, you never buy it.

You don’t have to buy packaging materials or shipping labels, nor will you need a shipping account. You simply set your own retail prices, then purchase the products at wholesale.

Sounds good, but maybe “too good” you know? Let me know what you think of it! I’d love to be able to share other ways to work at home with my readers!

Wow! It’s been a heckuvah week! I’m glad it’s Friday, not that I “work” or anything - but my hubby does and he needs a break from it. I’ve been having some issues this week also - for one, my cell phone disappeared for a few days, during that time the battery died, so I couldn’t even do my old “call myself” trick to find it. Hubby had an epiphany last night and helped me move the couch to find my phone underneath it! That’s what I get for having a tech-savvy 3 year old who loves cell phones I guess.

During the time of the missing phone I got a call from the bank asking me or hubby to call them back. Apparently, someone took our bank card number and spent over $600 at various gas stations in the Queens area of New York! In a few days the mortgage is due and that was 1/2 of it - so, unless the bank EXPEDITES returning my MONEY I’m taking out a cash advance. Blah. Can’t they wait until payday to steal money?

On the good side, I got paid for a few Pay Per Post blog entries in the past couple days and someone bought 2 text links off 2 blogs for $50 total (paid today!) so thankfully, the blogosphere is still good to me. There is someone offering to buy a few other text links in paragraph form on my military blog, but I don’t want to put them on it. I’d rather pimp out this blog or Starryskye

My Firefox just finished updating and I need to restart so I guess I am done for a little bit. Don’t mind me if I spam the blog with a couple more paid posts A girls gotta make a living ya know