Meet a Superstar and enter a Giveaway

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The Giveaway is now Closed.  What a great group of entries!

Sandi Sullivan, AKA Mom CEO,  helps mothers start their own home businesses in the natural household products industry.  One of my readers, Danielle Ray, took a risk, clicked on the square button ad and sent Sandi an email.  Now she is head of the fastest growing team in the company!

Intrigued?  Me too!  Let’s ask Daneille a few questions:

Q.  Tell us about your family.

I have been married for 13 years.   My husband is a high school student pastor so our lives revolve around teenagers!   We have 4 kids: Bronson 11, Cohen 9, Lanna 7 and Gavin 5.  We raise chickens for eggs, take care of a garden and we always have a project going!  Right now we are adding on a covered porch to the back of the house.  We also home school so we can have the flexibility to take trips and vacations when we want.    I think my goals for my children are like most people, I want them to be independent adults who make wise choices and learn from their failures.  I want them to be confident enough to do something different if what they are doing is not working.   I want them to be able to set goals and pursue them.  I want them to be able to get their groove on on the dance floor. I want them to do hard things.  I want to be a good example to them.

Q.  What was your career before starting your home business?

A. Up until last month, I worked as a nurse on weekends in Labor and Delivery helping new people come into the world. While my job was very rewarding it also required me to be away from my family for 12 hour shifts. Our hospital is requiring more and more classes, certifications, and in-service hours in order to keep working. I realized no matter how much I worked my income potential was not going to change without sacrificing more time. The month I decided to resign, my check from M* was $11,580. I figured that I would have had to work at the hospital everyday, 12 hour shifts for an entire month to make that much money. The difference is that I had only worked about 30 hours total for the whole month in my M* business!

Q. How did you first find out about MomCEO?

A. I have been following The Grocery Shrink blog since the summer of 2010.  I was looking for ways to stretch our dollars with 4 kids!  I love the advice, stories, and encouragement Angela offered.  One story was about a lady, Sandi Sullivan.  She talked about how she was able to be at home with her family but still have an income working her business in her spare time.  I sent her a message through the MomCEO button and she called me the next day.

Q.  What made you take the leap and join Sandi’s team?

A. After talking with Sandi I decided her company really met a need we had in our own family.  Not only did she offer an alternative to conventional products, but they were focused on wellness and better health.  That really sparked my interest because I have been a nurse for 15 years. I know it is better to prevent health problems than to treat them after they have already started!  From the products to the business concept, it really made sense.\

Q.  How has starting your own business changed your life

A. I would say my life has been “enhanced”.  We have always managed our money well.  We have a budget.  We enjoy “re-purposing” things, growing a garden and raising chickens.  The difference is that now, we have the time to do more.  The things that we dreamed of doing one day, we are getting to do now.  We have been able to save enough money for our whole family to visit my sister in South Africa.  The best part is, I don’t have to get permission for extended time off!  I have been able to set a schedule, and work as much or as little as I wanted.  Time is a freedom that you do not have working a normal 9-5 job (well, for a nurse a 7-7 job).   I am able to stay home with my kids, but still have a full-time income

Q.  Your personal team is now the fastest growing division in the nation.  What things did you do that were so successful

A.  Our success comes from working together!  It really is about being a team and helping others reach their goals.  Some people are just looking to supplement their income, some want to replace their income.  Sandi has coached my team and helped us every step of the way.  It helps that she was there to guide us to avoid the trial and error that comes with starting something new.  She helped us do well from the start.  Some people can set high goals and get there, but for me, it was all about baby steps.  The best part of setting little goals is reaching them, celebrating, and setting the next goal.  This is what made it fun for the whole family.  We made goal charts that my kids filled in so they felt like they were a part of the business too.  I don’t know how it happened that we became the fastest growing, I just know it has been fun.  So, I guess fast is fun

Q.  How does your family feel about your home business?

A.It really has been a blessing for our family in more ways than just making money, we are also saving money. By learning about a new way to shop, and planning what we need for the month, it has kept me from running to the store every week to pick up a few things and leave having spent $75 each time. After 5 months of shopping with M* my husband called me in a panic because he thought I forgot to make the house payment. He said we had more money than usual in our checking account. I assured him I had made the house payment and it was because I was not going to the store every week now. The savings are continuing to accumulate. We still shop primarily the perimeter of the store, cook and eat at home, and wait for things to go on sale. For all those little things that seemed to rob our budget before, we are getting better quality products that we use delivered right to our door.My kids appreciate our home based business too. We went to the beach last week. We stayed in a very nice beach house, went to meet “Winter” from the movie Dolphin Tales, took an ocean safari boat ride and played on the beach. Bronson, my oldest said, “We never took vacations like this before. It must be because of M*.” We are getting to do more. We have more time, more money, and more dreams to fulfill. It has become our motto to save more, give more, and do more. I remember the way I thought it was going to be when I became an adult and had a family of my own… now I feel like I am doing life the way I had always imagined.

Q. What advice would you give to someone considering their own homebased business?

A. The best advice I can give to anyone trying to start a home-based business is to team up! It is hard to stay motivated and do well without other people doing it with you. It also helps when you are doing something that whole family can appreciate… getting your children involved helps them understand that the time you are not at home with them is being spent reaching your goal. We always celebrate check day and do something special… the great thing about kids is that getting go to Waffle House is a treat!

Q. You have generously offered a giveaway of some of your favorite products. Tell us about them.

A.  I love our laundry soap.  It sounds funny to say you love a cleaning product but I really do!  I also love the Sol-U-Mel.  It has so many uses but my favorite is as an air freshener.  The best part about all our products is that there is nothing harmful in them.  When I am done cleaning my house does not smell like chemicals, just clean

Thank you for your blog and the time you take to encourage others.  I hope this in some way encourages your readers too.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share.

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If what Danielle is doing sounds like a good fit for you, click here to contact her and find out more.
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Now for the giveaway:  You can win a sparkling home cleaning pack including:Laundry 4-Pack with 96-load MelaPower 6x and MelaBrite 6x Plus DiamondBrite Dishwasher Detergent and Sol-U-Mel all purpose cleaner

$75.00 Value!

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below and be sure to include your email address.  The winner will be chosen this Friday, May 4th a noon–right after I send out the new menus :).

Cinnamon Soft Pretzels

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The Grocery Shrink Plus menus take most of my free time to write these days, but it’s so much fun! The ladies over at our facebook group are amazing and often take pictures of what they cook and share with the rest of us. Last Friday the snack was cinnamon soft pretzels.  Nicole posted this picture on her facebook page:

Baking and photo by Nicole Cotts

Pretty soon she was fielding a bunch of requests for the recipe :).  Nicole, these look fantastic.  Way to go! And for your friends, here’s a printable snapshot of the recipe :).  Click on the photo below to enlarge and print.  As a plus, I took this snapshot from an actual page of the menus so you can get a feel for how they are set up.  If you like it, find out more at the “Menus”tab above.

Smoothie Concentrate

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Smoothies are a great way to get in fruit and veggie servings plus protein. And in the warmer months, this lovely cold thick meal can’t be beat. (I mean, really, it’s like having ice cream for breakfast.)

Now fresh smoothies are easier than ever before, with homemade concentrate.

It’s easier to start with fresh or thawed fruit, since it blends up faster with less wear on the blender.  I used mango chunks from Dollar Tree, ripe bananas, and a can of pineapple in juice.

Blend.

Pour into muffin cups and freeze. (That’s Grants baby finger.  He can’t wait to have some!)

 After a couple of hours, you can unmold them and place in a freezer bag.  To use, mix 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup greek yogurt, and 2 smoothie cups (cut into 4ths) in a blender until smooth.  I like to add my frozen bits a little at a time.  I burned up my motor one time throwing in too much frozen at once.

These smoothie cups are also delicious just eaten plain and would make fantastic popsicles too. Think about the possibilites!  If you like green smoothies, this is a great way to use up all your spinach before it goes bad.

Why I Have Poison Ivy…

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Before

After

Our new home has a jungle for a front yard (and back yard.)  So much of it is beautiful flowering plants gone wild.  Most of the front yard is a lovely shade loving ground cover that blooms all over in purple flowers.  The beauty is spoiled by all sorts of volunteer trees etc. popping up through.  So late last week, while Darren was at work, I grabbed my trimmers and went to work.

One of the weeds spoiling the yard was a very long, healthy vine.  I grabbed it and pulled it out, but I’m not positive I got the root.  I was busy congratulating myself when I saw the tell-tale 3 leaf pattern on the vine.  One of the leaves looked suscpiciously like a mitten.  Oh, dear.  “Leaves of 3, leave them be.”  I ran in the house and scrubbed my hands all the way to the elbow.  I thought about washing my face…but here’s the stupid part.  I had just put on a lovely smokey eye with charcoal gray and gold and I wanted DH to see it.  So I didn’t wash my face.  So now, I have poison ivy all over my face and not anywhere else.  Oh vanity!

I have much work left to do in the yard, but it’s fun satisfying work. I’m planning to remove the rest of the feeble evergreen bushes and replace them with shade loving varities.  Then I’d like to paint my shutters and front door dark gray while repainting the trim white to freshen it up.

I have lots of plans for the back too!  Hopefuly within the next 2 weeks that will mean clearing this spot:

For these:

I was so excited when Aldi had them on sale for $30 each!  Since I’m wood challenged, this was a great deal for me :).

P.S.  I’m thinking about taking the fake railing thing down off the top of the front porch.  What do you think?

 

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

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It’s hard to believe Grocery Shrink Plus is already in it’s 5th week!  If you haven’t signed up yet you are missing out.  We’ve been trying all sorts of new recipes and tecniques.  It’s so much fun!  And I’m really loving the facebook group.  It’s so fun to see the photos of everyone’s family and food.  The ladies are so encouraging!  I love to see little notes like this one:

We’re really enjoying these recipes, Angela!  Everything is so easy to make, healthy, and delicious.  I feel so much more organized in the kitchen as well. Thank you so much!–Stephanie

With Grocery Shrink Plus, everything is laid out for you.  I hope this is freeing.  Freeing enough that you can relax and let your kids help you in the kitchen.  The day we made chicken nuggets, little Brandon stopped in to help.  I was surprised how good at it he was! Read more…

Play mat disguised as a toy tote

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I saw this on pinterest:

We had a baby shower last weekend to attend and I stayed up late the night before making a fast version for the new mama.  I didn’t have time to do as much piecing and I rushed too much on the quilting, but with all it’s flaws, it’s still usable.

I love that you can tote all the toys in it, and then just spread it our for a clean place for baby to play.  Well done TickleandHide!  You can se their etsy shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/TickleandHide?ref=seller_info

It felt good to be sewing again!  Even if just for a few hours.

Baby steps in the office

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It feels like progress is going so slow everywhere in my life.  For right now, Baby Grant just needs me constantly.  It has been bad for about 9 months this way, but last week he developed a fever and then a rash and has been pretty miserable.  I can hardly get a shower much less keep up with my housework and business chores.  I know many of you mama’s can relate!

But today, DH hung my thread cabinet in my office (after I painted it from brown to turquoise to match my curtains.  It had spilled in the middle of my office floor and stayed there for weeks and weeks until I could find a minute to deal with it.

Isn’t she pretty?

I love how she looks next to the chevron curtains.

 After this picture, I stepped back and thought, “ooh, I think I’d like to sew something…” But then Baby Grant made his presence known.  It’s not my season in life to sew.  So the sisters are wearing mail order Easter dresses on Sunday.  And I’ll wear something old.  It’s okay–we have choir robes :).

Trash to Treasure

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Our new house had a lot of junk in it from the previous owners.  One of those items was this greeting card holder (among other storefront furniture pieces.)

It was covered in 40 year old masking tape and other goo.  So I spent a few hours on Saturday with a razor blade and a can of WD-40.  Then I spray painted it Charcoal.  It now has a new home in the boy’s bedroom.

It doesn’t hold as many books as I’d like, but the boy’s were sure excited to see all the covers!  I figure I can trade all the books out for new ones every few weeks.  Though past experience tells me that trading time comes around faster than I’m ready to deal with it, lol.

 

April Fool’s from Aunt Erica

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I can’t remember how long ago it was, but I had many fewer children–and they were much younger.  My brother’s wife invited us over for a very special dinner–one my children would never forget.  She announced that we would be having a backwards dinner and cake was the main course!  Then she carried in a gorgeous white cake with red and yellow frosting.  And served up thick slices around.  There were yummy red drinks with straws on the table too.  We only ever serve water at home, so when they see colored drinks–that’s super fun.

Oh my kids were sooooo excited!!!!  Until they took the first bite.  All the adults around the table were thinking how creative and clever Aunt Erica was…but the kids were really poised for a sweet yummy piece of cake.  And their mouth reviled at the taste of meatloaf and mashed potatoes with ketchup and mustard.  It was delicious meatloaf, but to a little kid expecting cake, disgusting.

Try your drinks, we encouraged.  Thinking they would get with the spirit of the meal and start to enjoy it.  But, no!  When the drink wouldn’t come up the straw (strawberry jello is like that, you know) we actually saw some tears.  Come on kids–this is fun!

And for dessert Aunt Erica served tiny taco salads that tasted a lot like icecream rolled in chocolate sprinkles in waffle bowls with green and yellow coconut shreds.

For months my kids looked suspiciously at anything Aunt Erica made.  It cracked me up how seriously they took it.  And thankfully it cracked Aunt Erica up too.  So every year she makes something new for April fools day.  This year it was Fish Sticks with Ketchup and peas.  Which tasted a lot like wafer cookies with peanut butter and frosted flakes dipped in strawberry jelly, with a side of sour apple chewy candies.