Even though we might not write as many checks as we once did we still manage to use quite a few of them. I did not like having only one source to get our checks from. That lead me to searching online to find a better alternative. What we found surprised us. We found a place to order checks that had so many different styles of bank checks. We found photo checks that you could put a personalized picture or image on. We had not see n those types of checks before but the thought of designing our own checks with personalized pictures of of images that mean something to us is interesting and opens a big possibility of choices. Sine we live in a small town everyone knows each other and many of the checks we even know by the pictures on them but none of them are this personal. Of course this check source has all of the checks from plain colors to prints and everything in between which is what got our attention. Of course you can get different prices so you can save money from the source we were using which makes ordering more at a time a great idea. I am sure we have all had that moment when we pulled our last check and realized that is what we meant to do the other day but we forgot. Since we can get them cheaper we can afford to order more at a time prolonging that moment of an empty check box.

Have you ever been hungry for something but you were not sure what it was? You knew you wanted something tasty but you could not decide what that was until you suddenly see a restaurant advertising the best steaks in town. Then you realize you want a steak. You can almost taste how delicious that steak will be. This is advertising at it’s best. The ad was in the right place at the right time and it did it’s job. Otherwise you may have had a hamburger! This is how advertising works. It gets the name of your company out in front of the buying customers so when they need your product or service it is your company they refer back to. No company ever made it by being unknown. That is with exception to a restaurant that made it their advertising niche that they were not advertising. I have seen that done a few times and found it to be quite ingenious. A good Advertising Agency works to get the company out in the public at the target audience. There are few companies today that can afford not to advertise. Since there are fewer dollars to go around with so many people holding onto their dollars businesses have to take advantage of every avenue to use the recipe of success to their benefit. Many companies rely heavily on advertising and because of that we hear about them everyday if we are their target audience. It seems we are bombarded sometimes with advertisements and billboards accompanied by magazine ads and radio of the same company. It works because the first thing we do is go to them should we need them because we subliminally feel as though we know them and we feel comfortable with them. This is aggressive advertising and it works. Now that I have thought about it I think I will eat a steak for dinner. Now that is subliminal.

I was surprised by my sister’s invitation to their house remodeling. It did not seem that long ago that she announced she was starting her project. In what seemed like no time at all she had finished remodeling their home on the inside and out. We were not allowed to visit her until it was finished. She wanted a big unveiling when she was finished so she planned a party. We were so excited to see what she had done but with the time restraints we felt that it may not be extreme. When we got near her home she stopped us and told us to wait in the parking lot down the street before we got there so we could all get there together. When we went to her home we found they had added three rooms! Then when we went inside they had remodeled and decorated everything. It was beautiful from the Modern Beds to the fully functional kitchen. The room addition had us all floored until we went outside to find a swimming pool. I do not know how they did it but we voted and we all want them to do that same thing to ours!

Since we moved further out then we were we have noticed a definite change of pace. It is much slower and much more relaxed although there is a lot of work that goes in to running a hobby farm. It is just more fun to live out of the city. You notice and appreciate things that you may not have been able to see in the city like how large the sky is. Many people that live out where we do actually are professional people that still work in the city and make the commute everyday. We noticed that many of the doctors actually have steel buildings that have small aircraft in them for emergencies. One doctor takes his plane every day into work making his commute very quick. In my steel building is farming supplies but his looks cooler!

Thanks for the guest post by Bradly Watkins

Jon Stewart as the host of “The Daily Show” has tapped into a genre of TV that so unique it’s difficult to sum up exactly what his half-hour comedic episode is, but I like to classify it as a talk show. A little David Letterman, with his clever monologues, a little Oprah with his guest appearances and interviews and a little like the news, his entire show is laced with sarcasm but somehow Stewart’s point is well made and perfectly conveyed. After each episode I feel like I’ve learned more then I would! have watching the real news and his interviews of famous politicians, authors, actors, athletes and everyone else between President Obama and Kate Hudson. Thanks to direct TV I get the Comedy Central network, which is the channel The Daily Show is on and it is one of the reasons I keep subscribing. After a long day’s work, it’s nice to come home on the week nights and catch up in a swift half hour what has happened around the globe in a way that doesn’t stress me out like the real news does. In my opinion he’s the best because he’s not afraid to ask the tough questions. While other talk show hosts may feel intimidated by their guests, Stewart doesn’t back down and calls people out when they need to be.

When you hear the economy is having a hard time it is hard to think what that actually means because we hear about it so often. It has come to be commonplace to hear people talk about the unemployment rates but they are real and effecting real people. People are forced to cut back where ever they can because many families are in survival mode. Whether you are in survival mode are not there are some things that were simply can not afford to cut back on. A couple of those things are homeowners insurance and auto insurance. Just imagine if you are on a tight budget and something happened to your home and you had no insurance. How dangerous it actually is to live without insurance on your most expensive possession. Now imagine driving your car everyday risking everything you own as you trust other drivers on the road to not cause an accident. Driving without auto insurance is taking that risk. Companies like PrimeIns are there to offer different insurance plans for people living in the New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Florida areas. They are an online insurance company that can help you to find a plan within your budget. If you talk to your insurance company they can give you suggestions on what plans to use while you are short in budget and then you can change when your budget broadens.

My girls have always loved jewelry. They got that from my wife. They appreciate many different styles of jewelry. They really love beaded jewelry in particular. Jewelry such as the chamilia line are hitting the favorite list of many people because you can put your own style into as you choose the beads you want to create your own unique piece. Unique jewelry is something that is fun because it is not something that you see two of the same and you can not find it in every store. It makes a statement as my girls say.

With a family that really enjoys crafts we decided that we would turn half of our garage into a place spedifically for crafts. We hung boards to hang our tools on. We installed shelves and drawers so we could keep it orgamized. The best part of it is if we are in the middle of a project we do not have to put aways our cutting tools and supplies every time we stop on it because it is out in the house. We can leave it out and come back to it. That is a big deal.