Saying So Long, but not Good-bye!

We are moving our website to a new home! Please follow us there! We’d love to see you! The Mommy Mentor

It’s Football Season! Ladies, it’s time to get out of Dodge!

When football season arrives, ladies, do you feel as if you are single again? Are you overlooked on Sundays from noon until about 10-11PM, then again on Monday nights…not to mention the occasional Thursday night? For the last few years, I have used Sunday’s as “My Time” and I conveniently leave the kids at home and run errands, spend time in book stores, go grab a nice quiet bite to eat, you know, all the things that you don’t get to do when you have kids. I thought it would be nice to plan a trip for a weekend away with just the ‘girls’, staying in a hotel, using it as “My Time” to refresh myself, rejuvenate myself, reconnect with myself and my girlfriends. Even if I don’t plan little “escapes”, I try to take time out of my week to “Pamper Me”.

When planning a trip anywhere, I always think of Holiday Inn. Probably because that is the hotel that my parents often had us staying in when we went on family vacations. It wasn’t a real vacation until we stayed in a Holiday Inn. Heck, we even went a couple towns over during the winter and stayed in one during the cold winter weekend so we can go swimming in their indoor pool! I did some searching and Holiday Inn’s are all over the world! Take a look at these photos and tell me they don’t look amazing! (What I would give to visit Paris or Bali for my “girls get away” trip!!)

Holiday Inn - Paris

Holiday Inn - Bali

I have a nice little contest for you all that will get you one $10.00 iTunes gift card, which would make a great stocking stuffer, should you be selected as our winner!

To Enter: You can pick one or all of your entry options!

1. Earn TWO entries: Check out the new website for Holiday Inn and pick any hotel in the US or International. You can use this time to pretend to go to some exotic location, plan a fake trip for yourself, go where you have always wanted. Check out the actual hotel in that city and comment back to me with the name of the city you went to on your dream “girls get away” and what intrigued you the most about that particular hotel.

2. Earn ONE entry: This comment post is all about you! I want to know if you have fond memories traveling as a child, what do you wish to pass along to your children, what have you passed along to them already, I want to hear your stories!

3. Earn ONE entry: Have you taken a ‘girls get away’ trip? If so, what made your get away special? How long were you gone for, was it for a nice spa weekend, or a party on the town weekend?

4. Earn ONE entry: Tweet about this giveaway and post your tweet link!

5. Earn ONE entry: How do you pamper yourself? Does not have to be all travel related. If you just pamper yourself by enjoying a weekly bubble bath with candle and soothing music after the kids have gone to bed, or if you take the day and just hide out in some remote location, I want to know what you do to just “Pamper Yourself”.

There you have it…you have 5 ways to enter! Enter once or enter all five options to maximize your chances!

Deadline is November 30, 2009 @ midnight, CST! The winner will be awarded one $10.00 iTunes gift card! Please be sure to either register using your email address or provide it within the post so I can somehow get in touch with you should you be randomly selected as our winner!

This is so exciting for me! I can’t wait to get “Out of Dodge” as they say!

Free sample of Carmex

That’s right, you can enter to win a free sample from Carmex. Follow this link to fill out their online form. If for some reason it is a dead link, please let us know so we can correct it here.

www.mycarmex.com

Enjoy!

Hanes Partners with Susan G. Komen for the Cure(r)

Marking National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Hanes is proud to partner with Susan G. Komen for the Cure(r) and actress Sarah Chalke to join the fight against breast cancer. America’s No. 1 Apparel Brand Launched the Pink Collection and Passionately Pink for the Cure(r) T-shirt Design Competition to raise awareness and support for breast cancer.

Hanes is donating $250,000 ($100,000 in cash and $150,000 in kind) to Komen for the Cure

Tips to get involved in the fight against breast cancer:

*Get involved: Passionately Pink for the Cure is a grassroots movement supporting Susan G. Komen for the Cure and an easy way to mobilize your friends to join the fight. Passionately Pink events can be hosted anywhere from backyard barbecues to book clubs, schools to offices – get creative and plan the perfect event to inspire your friends to save lives. Visit www.passionatelypink.org for tips on how to plan your own Passionately Pink event and don’t forget to show your support in matching pink apparel, now available on Hanes.com! *Give comfort in comfort: Lace up your shoes, throw on your favorite T-shirt or hoodie and join one of the many Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K runs/fitness walks. But don’t forget to dress comfortably so you’ll feel good as you do good.

Lastly, Hanes recently created a separate tab on their Facebook page (http://facebook.com/hanes ) for all Hanes and Komen related information.

CitiMortgage: Does Not Play By the Rules

And now, we are getting screwed. I’d like to make this short and sweet, but cannot due to the nature of the problem. We have a Fannie Mae loan, which I didn’t even know we had, but anyway. My husband lost his job in August. He is in construction and the field is just about non-existent here. Hundreds of hard working men and women in the labor field are without a job. They don’t qualify for anything other than a labor job, this is all they know. Again, but anyway.

In July I started to reach out to creditors, and our banks to see what can be done to defer payments, etc…because we just could not keep up like we used to. They of course cannot help unless you are late paying them. We filed the paperwork for CitiMortgage and their hardship program. I called them August 17, 2009 and informed them that our income status has changed, that my husband was now out of a job. Oh, lucky for me the gentleman (Roger) says on the other end, we have been approved for a loan modification! Much to my surprise, I felt a sense of relief, like the skies were opening up a bit and things were going to be ok! We would work this out and be ok! BOY was I so wrong! I was told that I would have to fill out a packet of information, sign and sent it back to them, I should have that within 5-10 business days and it would come UPS. At that time, they could work out what my new loan amount would be. I was told to pay 612.66 and be on time, for October 1, 2009, November 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009 and by January 1, 2010 I would have my new loan amount. Wow, that is amazing, thank you!!!!

Screeeeeeeeeech! The tires burn and you come to a complete stop after that! I waited patiently and excitedly to find my packet of papers at the door, only they never came.

I received an account confirmation form to assure them that my contact information has not changed. It stated that if all the information was correct, to do nothing with the form. I filed it away. That was dated 9/1/2009.

I called CitiMortgage back again on 9/22/2009 and explain my situation again. Told (Dion) that I never received my paperwork to move forward with my approved loan modification. I was told that he would put in the request to have it resent, and again, it would be there in 5-10 business days.

Funny thing, I never got that packet either! Now it is 10/1/2009, called to make my first trial loan payment of $612.66, Matt told me he was ‘locked out of the system” and transferred me to Mandy. Mandy told me her system was down and she transferred me to Roberto who was able to process my phone charge and waived my processing fee. A letter dated 10/2/2009 was sent showing the payment was accepted by Western Union.

It’s now 10/10/2009, still no paper work. I called again, spoke with Shawna. She told me that she didn’t even see a request for paper work to be resent. Interesting!!! Well, she said she was go ahead and put the request in right now while I was on the phone, (bless her heart) and that if I didn’t receive it within, yup, you guessed it, 5-10 business days to call back and speak with a supervisor.

10/16/2009 – I call CitiMortgage —why? Because I am now in a default status as per their letter. We are now behind, $3,478.59 WTH??? Ok, so I speak with Sandy tell her about my loan modification problem and she says she will look into it and places me on hold. After 30 minutes 5 seconds of being on hold, I get disconnected. So, I call back. Speak with Julie, didn’t get into details, just asked to speak with a supervisor. Sami is on the phone now. I was assured by her that my credit will not be harmed by this and that she will fix it. She placed me on hold to speak with the loan modification department. Comes back and tells me, that my loan modification papers will arrive UPS in a big packet, with our income/debt statement and a page for us to sign and fax back. Yes, again, it will arrive within 5-10 business days. Guess what, it is now October 27, 2009 and I still do not have ANY paper work. I am NO where other than almost 3 months behind in my mortgage payments and I am, at risk for losing my home.

MY home. A home that three children lay their heads at night. Because we are facing a hardship, and there is something seriously wrong with our government, our banking system, the loan modifications that our President assured all of us would be beneficial and helpful to us, is just creating more havoc, more stress, more sleepless nights, and more foreclosures. What in the world does it take to make people realize that this country, the richest country in the world is such a money driven society that it would allow for it’s people to walk the streets hungry, to have no place to call home, to have children scared and feeling unsafe. How selfish are we? Why does everything we do have to be money driven. Where is the sense of spirit here in the US? We are all dying and drowning and no one, not one person sends out a life raft to help pull us in, instead they throw it out there, dangle the rope in front of you, tease you and then leave you to float out to sea, all alone, in the dark. I have done my research and I am not the only one who shares these feelings. I am not the only one in this situation. I am trying to work with my lender and play by the rules, but I am tired of being taken advantage of and lied to. I won’t and can’t do it anymore. It is time to put a call into action.

CitiMortgage, you should be ashamed of yourself for taking advantage of people in dyer need. Law makers, you should be ashamed of how you are allowing them to do this to hard working, tax paying citizens.

I will be calling CitiMortgage on 10/27/2009, and sadly will call (and tweet to) my local media, my state representatives and yes, I will even write our President (fellow Chicago native) to let him know how much I appreciate all his hard work in keeping Americans in their home.

Balancing Act – for moms

Special Offer: Career Counseling for Moms: 20% off for the first 5 moms to Email Kim@balancingactformoms.com

Balancing Act for Moms provides career counseling and assessment to mothers who want to change careers or balance work and family life. If you want more time, flexibility, control and fulfillment, with less stress and boredom, Balancing Act for Moms is a great resource for you.

Career women and stay at home moms, learn how to take the realities of your life into account without losing sight of your personal and professional goals and identity. This is career counseling for moms, provided by another mom who has the knowledge and compassion to help you get more of what you want, need, and deserve!

Kim Bartels is passionate about helping people with their personal and professional development. In particular, she helps women negotiate the many twists and turns in their careers and relationships once they become parents.

She has worked for over 15 years in business and educational settings as a Career Counselor, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Talent Assessment Consultant, and Executive Coach. Her areas of expertise include career counseling; assessment of interests, skills and values; women’s issues; and executive coaching for business leaders.

Kim earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia and her B.S. degree in Psychology at Iowa State University. She lives in the Twin Cities, MN, with her husband and two children.

Kim believes that many women value having a strong professional identity. In addition, she understands the joys and demands of becoming a parent. After becoming a mother, Kim reduced her work hours to part-time and learned firsthand what it takes to keep things running smoothly without feeling like you have short-changed one or both sides of the career/family equation. She then founded Balancing Act for Moms with this important mission: Helping mothers with a strong professional identity achieve work/life balance.

UP, UP & Away for the holidays from 7UP and Southwest Airlines

Purchase Specially Marked Packages of 7UP for a Chance to Win A Free Year of Travel on Southwest Airlines!

Enter your codes from specially marked 12-Packs and 2-Liters** of 7UP and Diet 7UP
at http://www.southwest.com/7UP.

Grand Prize: A Free Year Of Travel On Southwest Airlines*

1st Prize: Roundtrip Ticket On Southwest

2nd Prize: $100 Southwest Gift Card

3rd Prize: $25 Southwest Gift Card

4th Prize: Free 2-Liter Of 7UP Or Diet 7UP (ARV $1.79)

Good Luck!

– The 7UP Team

For more information on 7UP, visit us online at http://www.7UP.com.

Must be legal US resident 18 and above to enter and void where prohibited.

Southwest Gift Card is subject to all terms and conditions listed on
http://www.southwest.com.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. See rules for free codes and details. INTERNET ACCESS AND
VALID EMAIL REQUIRED.

ENDS 12/31/09 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time.

*Year free travel includes two (2) Southwest Airlines tickets per month for one (1)
year.
Total of twenty four (24) roundtrip tickets. See official rules for details.

** 2-Liters where available.

*****Please note that Moms With a View has no affiliation with this contest, 7UP or Southwest Airlines.*****

Suze Orman Gives Homework

On her last show (10-10-09), she had a girl that was making $80,000 a year, and ended up leaving a career, got married, lost herself, got divorced and is now in debt living with her sister. Suze asked what is the one thing holding her back and she replied with the exact same answer that I was going to give…FEAR. Suze gave her an assignment to do for the next thirty days and I have taken it upon myself to do the assignment too.

She told her to create a new ‘truth’. She said to write down on a piece of paper 25 times a day, “I am more successful than I ever drempt possible” and to repeat it to yourself a few times a day while looking at yourself in the mirror. Look directly into your eyes and repeat that saying. Do this for 30 days and see where you are and what changes have taken place.

I, being a big believer in the law of attraction, believe that when you think positive, positive things happen. With the way I have been thinking lately with the mortgage, life in general, my husbands lack of work, all the anger, etc…it dawned on me that I am putting too much focus on the negative aspects. SO, once again, it took Suze to snap me out of my weekly funk and I am going to put as much effort in this as I can and at the end of the month, I really want to feel that the saying is in fact my new truth!

I will share my journey with you….

Beefy Bean & Tator Casserole

Makes 8 servings
• *1 pound lean ground beef (make sure to use lean or it will be really greasy)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• *1 onion chopped
• *1 16-ounce bag frozen green beans
• *1 can cream of mushroom soup
• *1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 21-ounce bag tater tots
****1. Crumble raw ground beef in bottom of slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Layer remaining ingredients on beef in order listed.
3. Cover. Cook on high 1 hour, Reduce heat to low and cook for 3 hours.

Personal Alteration from community member Trillmom:
* I used 2.5 lbs of beef, no onion, canned green beans to cover the beef, family size can of great value soup, 2 cups cheese.
****I fried and drained my ground beef first, simply because I don’t buy lean ground beef – it’s too expensive. I then layered everything in the pan, and put it in the oven for at the temp and time for the tater tots. It turned out perfect, and the kids LOVED it!!
This meal cost just over $12.00 – I buy in bulk so the cost is really an estimate – you could probably follow the original and do it for close to $5 – that’s a great way to feed 5 people!

Ground beef – 5lbs $9.88 = 4.94
Green beans – Giant can $3.16 = $1.00
Soup – $1.94
Cheese, 6 cup bag – $5.84 = $2.92
Tater tots $1.33

Get 10% off until September 30, 2009

My Beading Art is discounting orders 10% until September 30, 2009.

Hedy Huk is a self-taught beader and has been making jewelry since she was a kid – when nothing was more exciting than a few hours in a bead store. Her mind would spin as she set eyes on beads she’d never imagined before, mixing and matching new beads with ones in her collection. She dreamed of all the possible designs she could create with the perfect balance of bead shapes, sizes, colours and textures.

See all that she has to offer and get your 10% off use the code “sawitblog” in the “Notes To Seller” portion and wait for the Paypal invoice. Any questions, please visit My Beading Art.