Pretty In Purple

So my hubby finally got new lighting equipment this past week & he asked me to help him do a few test shots. I am by no means a model, so when he asked me to get "glammed up" I was overwhelmed with nervousness! He's my husband for crying out loud! But I care about his work tremendously & so I agreed to help out. I was pleasantly surprised! I was unsure of what to do but he put me at ease and helped me with my positioning. I didn't know what to expect but I think these came out really well for using his lights for the first time! I was so pleased with them that I don't mind sharing them with you! Here is a sneak peek!

To view more photos from Eric Warren Photography, check out his web pages!

Eric Warren Photography Facebook Page
Eric Warren Photography Portfolio

Eric's Equipment
Nikon D90
Nikon18-200mm Lens
Alien Bee 800s
Paul C. Buff Soft Box & Beauty Dish

Avocado, Bacon, & Tomato Quesadillas

Shame on me! It has been a hectic but boring week for myself so I haven't been able to dazzle you with a new post. I started working again! I absolutely love the salon, the stylists, and the clientele. I think I will be very happy there. I got a new swim suit! It is reversible! Black on one side and pink on the other. So two suits for the price of one! I also got a new watch to record my lap times too! I'll post pics soon. With the new job and trying to get in a work out before the sun goes down has been challenging to come home and prepare a meal! I found an awesome recipe that was easy and fast to prepare and cook! It is lighter & healthier than a pit stop at Taco Bell! Enjoy!

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6-8 Minutes
Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:
Cooking Spray or Crisco
4 7-8 inch Flour Tortillas
1 Cup of shredded Reduced Fat Monterey Jack Cheese
1/4 Cup of sliced Green Onion
8 cooked & crumbled Turkey Bacon Strips
2 small seeded and coarsely chopped tomatoes
1 peeled, pitted, & chopped Avocado
1/4 Cup Low Fat Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Salsa

Coat one side of tortilla with cooking spray or Crisco.
Lay greased side down on to baking sheet or wax paper.

Sprinkle 1/4 of Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese,
1/4 diced seedless tomatoes, 1/4 avocado &
1/4 of cooked & crumbled bacon on half of the tortilla.

Fold tortilla and press gently. Warm a 10 inch skillet
over medium heat. Place folded tortillas in skillet,
2 at a time, and cook for 6-8 minutes
(or until golden brown) turning over once.

Remove quesadillas and place on a baking sheet.
Keep them warm in a 300 degree oven
for up to 30 minutes. When ready to serve,
cut quesadillas into thirds and serve with
salsa, sour cream, & green onions.

Credit Cards {the good, the bad, the beautiful}

{I am not a credit counselor, financial planner, or an expert on money by any means. I do not claim to be. I have had different experiences with many things and I am choosing to share them with you. I am not telling you to do something. If you decide to follow any advice from this blog, you are choosing to do so at your own discretion. I, as the writer of this blog, as well as anyone else mentioned will not be held liable for your financial decisions.}

Eric and I have been married for almost 5 years. As a young couple, we made poor financial decisions that we are still paying for. We were living paycheck to paycheck for quite some time. To make things worse, I wasn't working for a year so we were living off of just my husbands income. Figuring out how much money we were going to make and then dividing it between food, gas, bills, and debt had been extremely challenging. But we always seemed to make it work.

We are feeling more comfortable lately with the help of a tool. We decided to apply for a credit card! Most of you are probably thinking "Uh-Oh"! Now, before I get into that I just want you to know that my husband and I are on freecreditreport's webpage everyday like the toilet. We have monitored our score for quite some time and it has jumped 100 points in maybe a month or two. We paid mind to what was killing our score and fixed it! They have a neat tool that you can input predictions and numbers to see what will affect your score too! So, knowing what was helping and hurting our credit score, we knew that, after paying off one of our credit cards, it was a good idea to apply for another one with a lower interest rate and slightly larger credit limit.

We have decided that we would use the card to pay for things like food, gas, bills, and debt. Keeping in mind of how much we are utilizing the CC, we made sure we never exceed the amount of the hubby's up and coming paycheck! Once we got paid, we would immediately pay off the CC back down to a $0.00 balance! We were not only having a sense of financial freedom, we were giving ourselves a pay raise that also boosted our credit! If you have a credit card with a $1000 credit limit, creditors will look at that when you are trying to apply for a bigger loan and question how you are with larger sums of credit or money. If you maxed out your credit card and haven't shown any financial responsibility by at least making minimum payments, you can kiss that loan request goodbye! If you have a credit card with a higher limit and keep the balance low, they are more willing to loan you more money for a car or home! This method has proved to be very successful if you have the discipline and will power to do what you are supposed to!

Something else that we are going to start implementing is savings. What ever we have left of the paycheck, we move to our savings account. Once we get some of our debt paid down, we wont have to use the credit card as much, which means we wont have to pay it off as much, which means that we wont be using all of the hubby's paycheck at once, WHICH MEANS...we will be able to set aside more money in savings! So, use the CC, pay it off, take remaining paycheck money and put it in savings! Why didn't we do this sooner before?

We didn't do this before because when I had a credit card I bought what ever I wanted.  Laptop, iPod, clothes from Hollister, food, movies, etc. I didn't use it for the right reasons. But now we know what not to do! That is why it will work this time, We know what it feels like to have utilities turned off, no food in the house, no gas in the car, times when we were unable to go out and do anything fun, times where we were swimming in debt up to our necks receiving phone call after phone call because we couldn't pay a bill. But not anymore! And that is a great feeling we want to keep!

What financial tips can you offer?

Are you being affected by the global recession that started back in December of 2007?  {I can't believe that we have been in a recession for my entire marriage, almost 5 years! We wed November of 2007. Challenging times!}

What do you do for fun when the money isn't available?

The Ginger & The Bread

I have been thinking lately. I think all of the time. I have so much to say and talk about. But when I hit "New Post" I'm not quite sure what to share and publish! I'm sure this is just a common but mild form of writers block and it will pass with more practice and planning. Despite that knot in a lock, I have given my self a few pats on the back lately! I hardly ever toot my own horn when I accomplish something quite often ;) It is a great feeling to get things done, "be proud" I say!

Since I have much on my mind, I will just go ahead and leave you with my version of Rants & Raves. It seems to be a common topic that many bloggers use regularly. I would normally link back to a particular someone, like Whipped Moos, but I noticed this trend in passing while viewing several blogs. I shall call it the Ginger & the Bread. Cheesy I know but I'm trying to play off of my theme, which I will explain in a future post. :) So when I refer "Ginger" as rants, I don't want you to think of bad stuff that is happening in my life. Think of it like little challenges that spice things up a bit! Had to throw that out there. Since I know everyone loves dessert before veggies, here are some accomplishments I have had lately!

The Bread

• I finally tried making homemade 4 Cheese 2 Meat Lasagna for the first time ever and it was delicious! Make it for your family too!
• I reached my goal of swimming over 1,600 meters! That is over one mile people! My next goal is to swim 2 miles! My LONG TERM GOAL is to eventually one day someday successfully cross the finish line of an Ultra Distance race...the Ironman Triathlon. I'll quickly break down the distances in Triathlon Races.

1. Sprint Distance:0.47mi Swim, 12mi Bike, & 3.1mi Run
2. Intermediate (or "Olympic" Standard): 0.93mi Swim, 25mi Bike, 6.2mi Run
3. Long Course (Half Ironman): 1.2mi Swim, 56mi Bike, Half Marathon 13.1mi Run
4. Ultra Distance (the Ironman Triathlon): 2.4mi Swim, 110mi Bike, Marathon 26.2mi Run

So, there you have it. All of the triathlon distances. The best distance, in each sport, I have accomplished so far is a Half Marathon 21.1k (13.1mi) Run, & a 1.9k (1.2mi) Swim! I have yet to get myself on a bike and see how far I can go nor train for any sort of distance. But from the looks of it, I could possibly enter a Half Ironman (#3) before to long! I have yet to enter ANY distance triathlon yet. So I might go for #1 first to get my feet wet ;) Anywho, back on track.

• Did you know that Photoshop is my new BFFTIDILYSM?! I had tons of fun making new things to decorate my blog! I custom handmade {I can say that because I used my hands when making these in PS :)} a signature, a blog header, cute social media icons, as well as buttons for sharing! I have never touched PS until now. I have always watched my husband, who is a an amazing photographer, use PS for post process work. I will make a tutorial soon, I promise!
• Eric and I got approved for a new credit card! Some will think this is a scary topic. The reaction you get while mentioning you have a new credit card to anyone these days is like saying you have committed a crime! In my future post, Credit Cards {the good, the bad, & the beautiful}, see why CC's can actually help you!
• I am loving the television series of "The Walking Dead"! A buddy of mine told me that the first two seasons would be airing as a marathon and that I should record it so we all can watch it together.  It is creepy, bloody, gross, thrilling, dead, and crazy! Just my kind of thing! I can't wait to watch the first two seasons before season 3 finally comes out! Here is a little Wiki about the show for you guys: 

Based on the comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead tells the story of a small group of survivors living in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Most of the story takes place in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and then the surrounding countryside, as the survivors search for a safe haven away from the shuffling hordes of predatory zombies (or "walkers", as they are referred to in show) who devour any living thing they catch, and whose bite is infectious to humans. The plot is focused primarily on the dilemmas the group faces as they struggle to balance their humanity with their survival against the zombie horde, and later, how they cope with members being killed and deal with other human survivors they encounter, many of whom are dangerous and predatory themselves.The group is led by Rick Grimes, who was a sheriff's deputy before the zombie outbreak. At every turn they are faced with the horror of the dead walking again, the changing dynamic of their group, and hostility from the scattered remains of a struggling human populace who are focused on their own survival now that the structures of society have collapsed.

 

The Ginger

• I still have not found a salon that I desire to work in. I am looking for a commissioned based salon with lots of walk-in traffic. I can not afford paying booth rent and I need to build clientele so finding a salon like that will be great. It is hard to find something like that here in the desert. I will most likely have to find a job in the Palm Springs area which is about 45 minutes south of here. Eric and I will be heading that way this weekend for some fun at Knott's Soak City water park. I will be taking some resumes with me and dropping them off at any salons I find appealing. Wish me luck!
• I have fallen behind with my Virginia Beach Half Marathon Training. :( The 2 weeks trip to North Carolina is to blame was fun. I brought my workout clothes and shoes but I never made it out the door with them on. =\ I am beginning to think, with 53 days until race day, that I am going to have to sign up for the Half Marathon Relay where 2 people race 6.5 miles each to complete 13.1. But we will see.
• My closet has been a disaster since the day we moved in to our house. I should really get motivated and clean it. Since its not a focal point in my house, I keep putting it off.
• It has been unbearably hot these past couple of days. A strong heat wave came through and doesn't seem to be letting up just yet. It is predicted that we will have severe thunderstorms as well as flash floods. Flash floods are extremely dangerous in the desert because the ground does not do a very good job at absorbing the water. I wouldn't mind the rain, I miss it. Hopefully the heat wont cause any more devastating wild fires.  

Well, that is my update! Hope everyone had a good week and that Friday will be a breeze!