Month: December 2013

Grow Your Blog Link Up

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

I have had a great opportunity to join with Toni over at One Chocolate Box to take part of a new(ish) link up. I am super pumped because this is my first link up that I’ve even been apart of.


Welcome to the Grow Your Blog Link Up!

It’s a link up specifically for new bloggers (those with less than 500 followers per social medium are welcome too). It’s also a chance to meet other new bloggers, and hopefully build networks and friendships.

There are no fees for co-hosting. Just email me at onechocolatebox@gmail.com if you’re interested.

Link ups start every Wednesday at 3pm NZDT (that’s Tuesday 6pm PST and Wednesday 1pm AEDT if that helps).

Each week, one participant will be randomly selected, and gets featured on the following week’s blog hop. More free exposure!

There’ll also be a giveaway from time to time, so make sure to check back each week.


1. You don’t have to, but I’d appreciate it if you could follow One Chocolate Box.

2. Follow the co-hosts! Let them know you’re following from the Link Up, so they can follow you back.

3. Link up in the appropriate section using your blog URL or profile URL. Remember you can only link up in the section if you have less than 500 followers in it.

4. Visit and follow at least 1 other blogger. Let them know what you like about their blog.

5. Return the love, follow your new followers!

6. It would be super if you shared the Link Up via Facebook or Twitter. The more people join up, the more potential followers you can get.



7. I’d love you forever if you grabbed the button below and place it on your sidebar!




A big welcome to my lovely co-hosts this week:
Meredith at MereLynne


Lindsay at Wedding Rings to Teething Rings
Thanks so much for co-hosting ladies!


This week’s feature is Mary at The Clarity Chase

The Clarity Chase

Make sure you go say hi, and check out this post of hers. A little heartbreaking, but great insight!

And without further ado… link up, link up!

Makeup Free

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

MakeUp Free

I’ve started a new trend: I am going makeup free on a daily basis.

 Now hear me out before you gasp in disgust.  I love makeup, I always have.  I remember the first time I put on eyeliner was in the 7th grade and I fell in love with the smokey eye before it was even cool.  Then I saw some school photos of my perfect smokey eye and realized that I didn’t quite have it down yet.  But hey!  We all go through those phases.  Like the phase of wearing a t-shirt with a white lion on it back in high school.  I wore that shirt all the time and thought it was the greatest.  I think I was way ahead of the times because that shirt would total rock in today’s world, but back in 2002 it didn’t.

Anyway I am digressing.  I’ve stopped wearing makeup.  I am not one of those health nuts that thinks it’s better for my skin because honestly I haven’t noticed a difference in my skin texture at all.  I don’t think the make-up is horrible and am throwing a protest against the beauty industry because that would just be cruel!
make-up free feels good
Honestly, it’s because I am lazy. Yep, I said it.  I am going makeup free because I am lazy!  I like to sleep in late, too late most mornings.  Plus I work in an office by myself.  Tell me how much motivation you would have to dress to the nines when you sit in a chair in a brightly painted yellow room with no one to talk to.  You wouldn’t or at least the majority of you wouldn’t.

I do like to get dolled up for date nights with J or when we are going out with friends.  But for a day-to-day basis my make-up sits in its little bag on the bathroom counter.  I’m sure the eyelash curler and foundation brush are pretty lonely, but at least they have each other.  Perhaps one day I will snap out of this phase and realize that I should be wearing makeup so that I do not scare small children, but that day hasn’t come.  OR perhaps I am just getting more comfortable in my own bare skin and this phase is here to stay.

Only time will tell.

Time Management Tools: So You Can Do More

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

time managementDeveloping time management tools are key in your professional life, personal life, and just to keep your sanity in the crazy of it all.

Almost everyone has felt at some point that there wasn’t enough time to get it all done.  If only you could have just 2 more hours in your day.  You could get your to-do list done, have more time to spend with family, cook more homemade meals, and sleep the recommended eight hours a night.

However learning time management tools will help you achieve more in just 24 hours. The first thing you have to do is give your time a monetary value.  They say time is priceless, invaluable if you will.  But if you do not know how much your time is worth then it is easy to let the unimportant tasks consume your day.  The value can be whatever you want or feel is appropriate.  For me, my day job bills my time out at $100 per hour.  Now that might be way too much for my personal time, but that’s what I am use to so that is what I use.

After you have valued your time then decide how much you are willing to “pay” for each activity that you want to do.  Is hand wrapping Christmas gifts worth an hour of your time over putting everything in a bag with tissue or paying someone $5 to wrap the gift for you.  Now do not get me wrong, I love living a frugal life.  I like to save my money and spend it wisely.  However, the time I could be wrapping gifts is time I could be spending writing a freelance article that will pay me money.  That’s how you have to look at your time.

I tend to work on merelynne.com during the evenings, after J has gone to bed and it’s just me with the two pups sitting downstairs.  For me that time of day is my discounted rate.  I can’t do too many other activities at 10pm.  J is in bed, most businesses are closed, and my friends are at home with their families.  Therefore, it’s perfect to spend an hour or two pouring over articles to learn how to grow my little blog.

Next, I work a day job from 8-5 so that time is pretty valuable.  Because if I am taking off work to do something else than I am missing out on my pay.  This activity that requires to be done between 8-5 better be worth it.  It takes a lot for me to miss out on actual money.

Finally, early mornings are the worst for me.  I am not a morning person. At. All.  I despise the mornings.  I mean the idea of getting up to go to the gym early in the morning is similar to going to get a root canal.  It’s just not worth it.  That means that if I am having to get up before the sun rise then it better be one of the most important tasks.

Driving to see my family is one thing I will get up early for.  Taking the dogs to vet.  Spending time with J.  You may notice a trend here.  Morning tasks are usually strictly saved for family.

Time management tools are important to have.  When you value your time and then value your tasks you will see what is important and what can be done at another time.  Next up on the time management series we are going to talk about getting organized.  If you’re just joining in on the time management tools series then you can read the first post here to learn all about it.

10 Things I Learned From My Parents and That I Will Pass On

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

ImageChef Word Mosaic - ImageChef.com

It’s not news that I am in awe of how great my parents are.  When it came to the parent pool, I hit the jackpot.  My parents were always there for me, my sister, and what’s surprising, my best friends.  There is nothing my folks wouldn’t do for their daughter and the ones we love.

J and I are not planning on having children anytime soon.  We would like to be married for a few years so we can really get to know each other and our quirks.  I want to make sure that when the time comes for our children to be grown and gone, J and I are still madly in love.

But after planning a wedding together with the help of family, I started wondering what lessons I would like to pass on to my kids.  My parents instilled a lot in me over the past twenty something years.

It’s hard to pick out just 10 things I learned from my parents, but these were the ones that stood out.

1)be independent and self-sufficient
2) work hard, play hard
3) be dependable
4) tell your kids stories and let them tell you some too
5) be open with one another
6) it’s okay to let people go
7) there will only be few people that travel through each life stage, cherish those friends
8) learn how to budget and save money
9) live a little
10) be the house with the best snacks so kids want to hang out there

My parents are pretty amazing. I pray that I will be half the parent they are to me because if I am, then I know my kids will be successful in their personal life, career,and emotionally.

Cheers!

Dreaming of a new Planner

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

With the wedding gone and over its time to rethink my planner situation. I have a slight addiction to planners, organizers and todo lists. I’ve mentioned my love of todo lists before, a few times.  Read here about how I keep to=do lists and take notes to fake it.
UntitledUntitled
For the wedding I was carrying around a letter size At-A-Glance calendar filled with post-it’s, paper clips, slips of papers and binder clips. It kept me on track of all the things that needed to get done for our big day, and it really did work perfectly.  However, now the wedding has come and gone.  Now it’s time to get back to a simpler way of keeping my life organized.

filofax metropolI’ve been eyeing this Metropol planner over at Filofax’s website for awhile now, but just can’t force myself to pull the trigger yet.  So, I turned to Ebay and have been patiently waiting for one to hit.

My dream planner consists of:

month @ a glance – weekly on two pages – to-do lists – goal sections – pockets

Here’s to keeping my fingers crossed for my dream planner to appear.

Slow Cooked Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Note: Some links in this post contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for supporting my blog!

broccoli cheddar soup

I love fall more than any other time of the year.  Something about the crispness in the air, the dark pretty colors in the trees and all of the family time.  The most natural thought of something that loves fall is that they must love soups because they scream fall.  But, not so much.  I love one soup, I tolerate a few others, and dislike quite a few.

The one soup I love is broccoli cheddar.  I have always wanted to make it myself, but was never brave enough until I saw Dani’s recipe over on This Workman Life.  I adapted the recipe and added a few things to make it my own.  You can see her version here.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 ½ cups milk
1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
10 oz pkg frozen (and chopped) broccoli
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried, chopped onion
⅛ teaspoon salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients into your slow cooker, turn to low and let it cook for about 4 hours.  It’s best to stir the soup deliciousness occasionally while it cooks.  Once done, switch your slow cooker to keep warm until ready to serve.  My slow cooker is amazing and I can set the timer for how long I want it to cook then it will automatically change to the keep warm setting.  I would recommend a slow cooker like this Slow Cooker so you don’t have to worry about your meals overcooking if you get busy and forget to switch the setting.

 

slow cooked broccoli cheddar soup

Let me tell you, this soup is pure deliciousness.  Hello Fall!

Time Management Tools Series

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

time management tools

Welcome to my series on developing time management tools.

I’ve been tossing around this idea for the past few weeks to talk about time management tools.  Not just talk about it, but also share what I’ve learned from trial and error, from others, and from all the books I’ve read.  I’ve mentioned here how I love to read books that make life easier.  Developing time management tools will make your life so much easier and you will be so much more productive.

Now for a little confession, you see time management is a touchy subject for me.  I haven’t always been good at it.  I can still hear my Dad’s voice in my head saying “You are burning the candles at both end.  You are taking on too much.”  Yet, I would never take his advice.  In the end, I would wind up sick and exhausted.  In high school I would plan in one day what should have probably been done in two.  Just because I hate missing out and I want to get every memory that I could.

As I’ve gotten older I still hate missing out, but have learned how to be better at time management.  That way I can take on a lot, still have fun, and get things done without getting myself sick.  It’s a pretty good feeling to know that you have a lot on your plate and have it all under control.  I guess I thrive in those situations or get something weird out of them.  I am not sure which, but my brain is hard-wired to be busy.

Sitting still was never fun for me.  Ever.

In this series I am hoping to share some time management tools that can help you do more and be more successful.   I plan on sharing tips so you can get organized, do more, and boost your efficiency.  Can’t wait to get this party started!