Friday, May 24, 2019

I now choose to heal my body.

Years ago when I was battling childhood cancer, my mom would make me repeat this mantra several times per day:

I am Happy and Healthy and Strong, and I now choose to heal my body.

I always thought that she was silly for making me do it, and even now as an adult I tease her about her "voodoo-Dr" cures.  I don't think that we should completely replace regular Dr's, but I have to admit that the messages that we tell ourselves are very powerful and they can make a huge difference.

Over the last few days I have re-adopted this mantra.  I am no longer battling cancer, but I am struggling with exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed.  But I notice that when I say "I'm exhausted" it makes me want to feed my daughter cereal for dinner and curl up on the couch as soon as I get home from work.  When I tell myself "I am happy and healthy and strong and I now choose to heal my body," it reminds me to be thankful for the things that are going right and somehow gives me the energy to cook dinner for my daughter and play with her after dinner.

So if you are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, I encourage you to look at what you are saying to yourself.  Even something like "I'm exhausted" could make your exhaustion worse.  Adopt my mantra, or find your own and just see if it helps...

Thursday, May 23, 2019

I Commit to Telling My Truths

I am in the middle of a storm.

I'm on a spiritual journey- a quest of body, mind, and spirit.  I have already been learning valuable lessons and I have had some interesting life experiences.  I am 40 and I still don't have it all figured out yet.  But I'm on a path of self discovery, trying to figure it out.  I am not sure what the best medium for me will be (if it will be blog, video, book or some other form), and I am still struggling to find my voice, but I think if I just start where I am...  I need to start somewhere.  I hope I can admit my shortcomings, celebrate my successes, and hopefully help others along the way.

I've been reading Rachel Hollis' "Girl, Stop Apologizing", and it has inspired me to take some action into embracing and achieving my goals.  I have a lot of great ideas, and I've had a lot of interesting experiences.  Maybe if I just start writing and sharing...

For so long I have tried to put on the front that "everything is ok".  Now it's time to share my truths:  my personal struggles, my hopes, my dreams, my fears.  I commit to share the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I commit to put myself out there.  I commit to put mommy guilt aside.  I commit to stop caring what others think of me.  I may not always be perfect, but I commit to be myself and to keep doing the best that I can.

I believe in the power of intention, so maybe I should start by listing some of my dreams/ goals:

  1. Support myself and my daughter
  2. Visit every continent
  3. Visit every US state
  4. Travel writer
  5. Unlock the secrets of the 4 hour work week
  6. Become a New York Bestselling author
  7. Invest in Real Estate
  8. Sell on Amazon
  9. Become "the banker" (not a banker)
  10. Get an advanced degree in choral conducting
  11. Create the most entertaining shows that people flock to see my shows
  12. Grow my audiences
  13. Lead my chorus on the international stage
  14. become a successful business owner
  15. Have all the time that I want to spend with my daughter
  16. Own several businesses
  17. I want it all!
  18. Help others create connections
  19. Foster win-win relationships
  20. Write books
  21. Make movies
  22. Teach people to be better parents
  23. Inspire others to follow their dreams
  24. Be a motivational speaker
  25. Become an Opra or an Ellen
  26. Start a non profit to help single moms
  27. Become a music therapist
  28. Become a school counselor
  29. Lose weight
  30. Get married
  31. Have more kids
  32. Start my own record label
  33. Start my own film company
  34. Teach others how to get control of their finances
  35. Start my own clothing line
  36. Have a farm and sustainable living
And some of the businesses I'd like to own:
  1. Real Estate Investing
  2. Music School
  3. Alternative to Health Insurance
  4. Chick-fil-A
  5. Country Store and restaurant
  6. Penny P's Pick-your-own Pumpkin Patch
  7. A Production company (for live events and films)
  8. A recording company
  9. Store owner
  10. School of Finance
  11. Non-profit to help single moms
  12. Non-profit to provide scholarships for music and arts education
  13. Travel agency
  14. Matchmaking/ husband training business
These goals are in no particular order.  As you can see, I have varied interests and I dream BIG.  Some may say that they are too lofty, or that I'm too old or it's too late to start.  Some of my goals may change or evolve over time.  Admittedly, I may have to choose which ones are the most important bucket list items... But here they are in all their glory.  So if you see me try and fail... I'm still learning.  If you see me try something and then start something completely different... It may look random to you, but it's not random to me.  At least I'm trying, and I'm doing, and I'm figuring it out as I go.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Saving for later

Just looking for a way to save this link.

https://54189dreriyr4t9ixvsq1m0la4.hop.clickbank.net/

I've tried all the FREE methods, and now I want to try this.  Potty training in three days.  I wonder if it works!

Monday, October 3, 2016

Halloween Movie Madness... Gettin' in the mooOOood


Looking for ways to get into the Halloween spirit, but need a few ideas of movies that are appropriate for families, kids, tweens, and teens?  Here is a list of some of my favorite Halloween movies to give you a few ideas.  Some of these are specifically Halloween, others could be all-year favorites but with Halloween elements (such as Witches, Zombies, Mysteries, Magic, Aliens, or Monsters).  Some are just for fun, some are comedies, some are eerie, and some make you want to jump or scream.  Ultimately you are the parent, and you know best what will be too scary for your child, but I hope this list gives you a few ideas:

G rated favorites:

  • Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad
  • It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
  • Monsters Inc & Monsters University
  • Muppets from Space
  • Scooby Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (animated)
  • Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy (animated)
  • Vampire Dog
  • Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the Were Rabbit

PG rated favorites:
  • Casper
  • Corpse Bride
  • Coraline
  • Ernest Scared Stupid
  • Goonies
  • Halloween Town
  • Haunted Mansion
  • Hocus Pocus
  • Hotel Transylvania 1 & 2
  • Little Monsters
  • Monster House
  • Nightmare Before Christmas
  • Paranorman
  • Race to Witch Mountain
  • Scooby Doo 1 & 2 (Escape to Witch Mountain and Monsters Unleashed)(Live Action)
  • Spaced Invaders
  • Tower of Terror
  • Watcher in the Woods (this one scared the pants off me when I was a kid, so be careful)
  • Witches
  • Young Frankenstein

These are rated PG, but they are not for super young kids.  They might have been rated before the ratings changed.  In any case, I think they are closer to PG-13:
  • Beetlejuice
  • Clue
  • Ghost Busters 1, & 2
  • Something Wicked this Way Comes

PG-13 rated favorites:

Still need more viewing options?  Here are some TV series that should help keep you busy:
  • Bewitched (8 seasons)
  • Charmed (8 seasons)
  • Grimm (6 seasons and counting)
  • Heroes (4 seasons)
  • The Munsters (at least two seasons)
  • Once Upon a Time (6 seasons and counting)
  • Psych (8 seasons)
  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch (7 seasons)
  • Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments (2 seasons and counting)
  • Vampire Diaries (8 seasons and counting)
  • Veronica Mars (3 seasons)
  • The X files (10 seasons and counting)

A word of caution...  Just because movies have the same rating, does not necessarily mean that they are appropriate for the same age group.  Maybe in a future post I will break down the list by age instead of by rating, and I will update this blog to include links to the movie trailers, but here is a good start to get you going on your Halloween fun.

And a few more that are just for you.  They would require lots of censorship if sharing these programs with your teenagers or children, or see if they are available on VidAngel



  • Being Human (4 seasons)- sensuality, violence and gore.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer (7 seasons)
  • iZombie (3 seasons and counting)

  • How did I do?  What have I missed?  What are some of YOUR favorite Halloween movies?  Let me know in the comments.


    Wednesday, January 14, 2015

    The Most Ridiculous Protest

    Just down the street for Winco in Midvale is a retirement community that is nearing completion.  I happened to drive by the other day, and I saw that there were two people (one man and one woman) in front of the building with a big sign that said, "Shame on Cascades at Riverwalk."  It was right next to a sign that said, "Cascades at Riverwalk- Now Hiring."I was curious, so I stopped and rolled down my window.

    I asked what the protest was all about, and the man said, "We're not allowed to talk about it."

    I was silent for a bit thinking, "WHAT?!  Then why in the hell are you out front protesting?  Why can't you talk about it?"  After awhile the woman said, "But we can give you a flyer..."  It then took her a minute or two to find the flyer and give it to me.

    First of all, I would consider it an embarrassing failure if only two people showed up to a protest.  Secondly, if they can't talk about it, then why are they out there?  What do they want from people?  What do they expect us to do?  Thirdly, if their objective is to educate people and hand out flyers then they should have them ready to go when people stop to ask about the protest.

    Do you want to know what the protest was all about?  Apparently the construction company that worked on Cascades at Riverwalk doesn't fully pay for family health insurance.

    Call me a heartless bitch, but who really cares?!

    First of all, employers are required to OFFER health insurance for their workers and their families NOT fully pay for the insurance.  Many employers will cover PART of the cost of the insurance for their employee, but I haven't heard of a single company that fully pays for family health insurance.  Some companies don't cover part of the health insurance at all- even for their employee.  My husband's job doesn't supplement the cost of insurance at all.  Health insurance is offered but it's REALLY crappy, and we have to pay the full cost of insurance out of our own pockets.  I have no sympathy for the protestors.  At least they have a job.  If they don't like it, they can look for another job with a company that has better benefits.

    Secondly, they are targeting the wrong people.  They should be targeting the construction company, not Cascades at Riverwalk!  As a business owner, if I were to need something built, I would get a quote from two or three construction companies and choose the one that gives me the best deal for my dollar.  I WOULD NOT check to see if the construction company pays full health insurance benefits to it's employees.  (That's just me)

    They claim that Cascades at Riverwalk is desecrating the American way of life.  Give me a break!  And give them a break!  They are a new business just getting ready to hire employees and open.  Even after reading the flyer of the protestors, I would still apply to work there if I was looking for work.  I would still check out the community to see if it's appropriate for my grandmother.  I think their protest is an embarrassing failure.  Maybe the protestors should apply there to see if the benefits are any better at Cascades at Riverwalk.

    Monday, March 17, 2014

    Clean Up Your Own Clutter!

    I remember an experience as a child where I overheard someone saying that they needed to go home
    and clean so that their cleaning lady could come the next day.

    Growing up in a single-parent household and always struggling to get by, I had often dreamed of having a housekeeper to help us keep up on the chores.  Hearing that this person needed to clean so that the CLEANING lady could come puzzled me.  Why would someone pay to have their house cleaned if they were just going to do it themselves?  Why would they clean their own house, if they were going to pay someone else to do it.  I wondered if they did it to keep up appearances or something.  I thought it was weird, but I soon forgot about it.

    Now that I am cleaning my mom's house twice per month, I remembered my confusion as a youth and now I understand.

    Housekeepers generally DO NOT clean up your clutter.  They come in once per week (or once every couple of weeks) to clean your mirrors, wipe off counters, dust shelves/ picture frames/ knick knacks, scrub sinks, clean toilets, vacuum the house, empty the trash cans, sweep and mop bathroom and kitchen floors, etc.  They need you to clean up your own clutter so that they can do their jobs properly.  They don't live there.  They don't know where you keep your stuff.  They don't want to interrupt your projects that you started and didn't finish.  They won't sort through your mail.  If you leave your clutter out, they will simply dust, wipe or vacuum around your clutter.

    I have not lived with my mom for about 10 years.  My mom is not the sort of person to leave things the way they are.  She is constantly re-arranging the furniture in different rooms, switching the function of certain rooms (switching her office and the kid's play room), reorganizing her dishes, remodeling her house, etc.  Even being her daughter, I don't know where everything goes in her house.  Even as her daughter, I would never sort through her mail.  A paid housekeeper definitely wouldn't do that either.

    Even though her house is medium sized (4br, 2.5 bath, living room, family room, kitchen), it usually takes me about FOUR HOURS to clean.  I am lucky that she has cleaned up most of her clutter by the time I get there.  As her daughter, I would help my mom clean her clutter if she needed it, but it would take me much longer to clean her house.
    This is NOT my house.  My house isn't THIS dirty... yet

    BUT I have a confession to make.  Time to air out the dirty laundry:  My house is a MESS!  I go home to MY dirty house, and I want to cry.  It seems the more that I clean my mom's house, the less I clean my own.  I live with my husband, two dogs, and a cat.  We don't even have kids!  It seems like all we do is move our clutter around.  As soon as we get one area cleaned, it is almost instantly dirty again.  I don't remember the last time we wiped the mirrors and counters, cleaned the toilets, etc.  How did my house get so messy?  LIFE GOT IN THE WAY.  My husband and I have been struggling financially for the last year.  We have been busy working multiple jobs, letting our stuff fall wherever it lands and not moving it until we need it again, letting the mail pile up, letting the dirty clothes pile up, not folding the clean clothes, etc.  I am drowning in my own clutter!

    I still dream about hiring a housekeeper but 1) we are broke and we don't have the money, and 2) we have too much clutter in the way.

    I am usually a clean freak.  I like my home to be clean and in order.  I enjoy watching Clean House.  I recently realized that my house was nearly as messy as some of the homes featured on the show.  I keep hoping Niecy Nash will show up at my house ANY MINUTE.  But that's enough of my ranting about my dirty house.  I thought I would have much more time to clean and get my affairs in order when I finished school, but I was WRONG!  Oh well!  That's life.  I will just have to find the time to clean my own house.

    If you have ever wondered why people would clean their house so that their cleaning lady can come... now you know.  AND if I ever become rich enough to hire a housekeeper, don't judge me if I say I need to clean my house so the cleaning lady can come.

    Thursday, January 23, 2014

    The Truth About WakeUpNow

    WakeUpNow is not for everyone.

    Don't fall into the trap of thinking that it will be easy money.  It's not.  It requires hard work, dedication, and time.

    I signed up for WakeUp now in June 2013.  I hoped that it would help me save me money, and make a little extra money while I was finishing school and building up my other business The Peshell Academy of Music.  At first, I was very gung-ho about WakeUpNow.  I loved the free offers, I loved the cell phone discount, I LOVED taxbot.  I liked the discounts that I was getting at restaurants.  I was excited to join the vacation club because of the deals (but I was waiting until I reached Founder 3 to sign up for vacation club because it costs an extra one-time fee).  I was excited to share this program because of all the ways WakeUpNow helps you to save money, manage money, and make money.  I did what I could to "be a product of the product" and share what I had found, but I didn't have much success.

    In August, I organized an open house to chat with my friends and family about WakeUpNow.  My mentor and others in our upline were there, and we ordered pizza.  Many of my friends and family said that they would be there, but NONE of them showed up.

    In September, the floor fell out from underneath me.  I had started my last semester of college, I was having some pretty serious health problems, and my husband lost his job.


    I was tired all of the time and I felt stretched too thin.  I was struggling to keep up in school and fulfill my other commitments.  I didn't have much time to spend on WakeUpNow, and I started to get discouraged.  I fell into traps about how to talk to people about WakeUpNow.  Those that I talked to were put off by the similarities to matrix level marketing because of all of the other MLM schemes and sales parties that they had already been introduced to over the years.  They didn't take the time to realize that WakeUpNow is different.

    According to the information on the WakeUpNow website, once you have three people signed up underneath you, your monthly membership is free (your rank is D3 or Director 3- three and it's free).  Once your three people each have three people, you earn an average commission check of $600 per month (your rank is F3 or Founder 3).  Originally I thought that I would see if these two promises are true, but I can't even get to D3!

    My WakeUpNow mentor heard of some of the problems that I was facing and offered to call some of my contacts for me.  He asked me to make a list of 25 people who I thought would be interested, and 25 people who might not be interested.  I submitted the list of 50 people to him, and he started calling them for me.  Unfortunately, NONE of them have signed up.  In truth, I still like the products.  I would ride out the busy waves in my life and keep working at building my WakeUpNow business if I was already at the rank of D3.  In six months, I was unable to sign up three people.  Since I'm not at D3 and money is tight, I can no longer pursue this business venture.  As of this moment I have disabled auto-renew, so my membership will end when it's time to renew (unless a miracle happens and I get three people to sign up in the next week or so).  I'm going to keep using WakeUpNow until my membership expires.

    If you would like to hear more about my experiences with WakeUpNow, please message me or leave me a comment below.