#CatholicHippieCallie the Pillow-Making Queen: How To Make a Neck Pillow

So, below, here is us at JoAnn's Fabric Store after a long day kinda out of town visiting my fan-freaking-tastic grandma and aunts with my mom for my Aunt Pat's birthday, above (like an hour and a half away to me is out of town, folks).

And here is Callie making her first pillow! This one may have been for Sam or Joel.

A pillow for sister Eva!

MY LITTLE PONY! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! How amazing!

Michael gets a pillow!

Mommy got her pillow a few weeks later and sleeps with it every night!

So proud of my talented daughter and she is so grateful for her sewing machine she got for Christmas from my grandma and her Great Susie! She just pretty much cuts the fabric however she wants and then sews it inside out, turns it right side in/out and then stuffs it with stuffing we also got at JoAnn's. Then she hand sews the last little bit she left open for stuffing!

Oh, my friend Kay just asked where Callie learned to do this. So here is where she went to sewing camp for a few days end of last summer and learned how to make a skirt from my friend Suzanne. Otherwise, she just did the pillows mostly on her own, with some help from her friend Ana next door. She really like to figure things out on her own and always has!

Top Tips to Help You Pass Your Driving Test the First Time

Learning to drive is an exciting experience, and anyone who is a learner driver is aiming to pass their practical driving test at the first attempt. Although less than half of learner drivers in the UK actually pass their driving test the first time, don’t let these statistics put you off, as it’s perfectly achievable as long as you are willing to put in all of the hard work, dedication and practice needed. Taking the driving test can be a nerve-wracking experience; however, if you prepare correctly, you can help to ease your nerves, build your confidence and ensure that you have all the knowledge and skills necessary to pass.

Photo by Fernando Butcher

Practice Makes Perfect

Whether you are practicing for your theory test, practical test, or both, the more effort you put into practicing, the better results you will see. As with any task, the more comfortable you are with it, the better prepared you will be. If you are preparing for your theory test, it’s important to obtain all of the preparation materials which are available, such as mobile applications, books, CD’s and mock tests available for driving theory online. Practicing for the practical test should be done with a qualified and approved driving instructor from a reputable school. Get the most out of your driving lessons by booking them at various times in order to experience a wide range of driving situations, such as driving in bad weather or in the dark.

Study the Rules

Understanding all of the different rules of the road is just as important as actually practicing your driving. Knowing exactly what you should be doing and what the different road signs which you will encounter mean will allow you to drive to the best of your ability and not make any mistakes which could result in a failure on the test. When practicing on your driving lessons, make sure that you are reading the signs and following them accordingly without the instructor needing to prompt you. If you don’t understand any signs, you should ask your instructor to explain them to you straight away so that you know what to do if you encounter them again. Remember that on the test, your examiner won’t be giving you any prompts or reminders when it comes to signs!

Ease Your Nerves

Although it may be easier said than done to try and calm your nerves before taking the driving test, it’s important to try and stay as calm and confident as possible if you want to pass first time. Learner drivers who have suffered from terrible nerves while taking their test often end up making silly mistakes due to the stress, even though they wouldn’t do that when on a normal lesson. Listening to calming music before the test can help to reduce stress levels, and there are some supplements which you might want to consider taking to help ease anxiety.

Passing your driving test first time isn’t difficult to achieve if you get the preparation right!

I Hate #WeightWatchers New #SmartPoints

Originally posted January 31, 2016

Maybe I am just getting old and set in my ways but the new Weight Watchers SmartPoints stinks. I've done Weight Watchers for many years off and on and it's like AA ... it works when I work it. I started doing it in 1999 and really enjoyed the boundaries and parameters it set for me ... without rules like "no this" and "no that." It was like, sure, you can have all the junk you want, but (1) you won't lose weight this week (2) you will feel like crap (3) you will use up all your food points and then some for the day on one hamburger, fries and shake! It was never a "diet" ... a diet makes you feel restricted and you want to rebel. Weight Watchers always worked when I would do it right. Then ...

(1) They took away my option for my ActiveLink. It was an activity monitor that clipped on my bra that I paid like $100 for and it was cool because I could plug it in and it would tell me how many activity points I got each day just doing any movement. Yes, I could plunk down another $100 for their new version, but no thanks. If I'm going to nuts on tracking my movement, I'll just find a clip-on fit bit or something and have it sync to my iPhone all cool like that.

(2) They changed the plan AGAIN! AGAIN! I know they have to stay fresh and relevant as a company. I get it! But this is not good. And I cancelled my $44.95 a month plan. Here's why:

I used to get 26 points per day of food points and an extra 49 per week. That extra 49 felt like a lovely safety net. Use them or not. Use them all and exercise and probably maintain your weight or lose weight. Use none or some and definitely lose weight. That's a total of 231 per week and it went by fat, carbs, fiber and protein. It was called PointsPlus.

First of the year they changed it on me. Now it's 30 points a day to make me feel like I'm getting MORE. But I only got 26 extra per week. This is a total of 236 per week. It's called SmartPoints and it goes by calories, saturated fat, sugar and protein. More, right? Wrong. Here's why:

THEY CHANGED THE VALUES OF THE FOOD BY A LOT. INCREASED!

My iced coffee in the morning used to be 4 or 5 points and now it's 8. My Greek yogurt used to be 4 and now it's 7. Who is their DANG MATHEMATICIAN OVER THERE? You can't give me roughly the same amount of points per week (FIVE MORE ... WOO HOO!) and then mark up my food by like 50% and more! Oh, and the points are not consistent from their app and their website.

What WW has done to us is they have given us a slight raise in our paycheck and then made the food at their market cost more. A lot more. Not cool.

Someone I know said they are losing weight more slowly on this plan but that doesn't make sense to me. They are giving you a tad more points but making food values higher, causing you to eat LESS points (food) and it just made me hangry (hungry + angry because your blood sugar is going insane).

So I'm going it alone and I'm scared. It's winter and I'm not walking. I have gained weight and my knees hurt again. Plantar faciitis makes it even more interesting (heel pain when I walk). I'm not very active in winter and so I have to stick with the eating better and that's the hard part when you just want to snuggle up in bed and on the couch with a movie and your kids. At this point in my life I am not wanting six-pack abs and a jiggle-free, skinny body. Those days are gone. I just want to FEEL GOOD and be able to get around well. I'm looking to the future and being able to travel comfortably and literally chase my grandchildren!!!

So what is my plan? You gotta have a plan! It's to log my food in a food journal daily and be honest about it. I have some points calculator options for my points crutch I need. There's an app I'm going to try out. I'll miss being able to scan bar codes on food and getting instant points values but I'll live. There's also something online I can try. I'm going to pretend like SmartPoints doesn't exist. I'm going to use PointsPlus values.

Here's the app I got for FREE (update = never mind! They go by "food score" and my 1/3 cup of half and half has a food score of 1 ... in WW it would be like 3 points ... I'll keep searching and do an update post):

And here's the online calculator that shows the differences (the WW app told me the same yogurt was 7 points, which is quite a bit out of your daily 30 for just a flipping yogurt that's packed with protein!):

I also got the Trim, Healthy Mama book and cookbook so I'll be reading that when I get a chance to see the deal with that. It would be great to transition to that and now have to keep track of points but just learn how to eat in moderation and eat healthy foods with the occasional treat.



So here we go. I kinda feel like I'm dumping a bad boyfriend and have to prove that I can go it alone ... until I find something better. I'll show you, Weight Watchers SmartPoints! What am I going to do with that "extra" $540 this year?!

I'm working on a blog post about Lose It, which is a free app (with paid option for only about $30/year and they run specials all the time). I love the way it keeps track of my steps and yet I don't carry my phone with me everywhere because I'm afraid of giving it a toilet dunk if I kept it in my back pocket, and I don't always have a back pocket! Anyway ... it has more food options to log than WW and I like it better in general and you can change your goals to come up with different calorie budgets in case you are still feeling hungry all the time. So far I am staying the same weight as when I left WW.

Update: I don't log anything now and my weight is holding steady even though I'm not walking much due to my freaking IT band/knee/hip issues. Trim Healthy Mama is kinda complicated but if I could drink a shake a day that would help a lot! Check out my chocolate shake and orange shake recipes here on the blog under the Healthy Living tag!

Please leave me a comment with your thoughts on the plan change or weight loss/health tips in general!

November 2016 update: Weight holding steady but Jessica commented about a $3.99 app called iTrackBites Plus that will track however you like ... so I'm trying the BITES Plus system and we'll see how it goes.

Four Top Tips for Lowering Your Energy Bill

Energy does not come cheap, and with rates always on the rise, more and more homeowners are looking for as many ways as possible to pay less for heating and powering their home. If the idea of saving energy makes you imagine huddling up on the sofa wrapped in all your blankets with the heating system off, you’ll be glad to know that there are a number of different things which you can do to reduce the amount of energy you use, without the need to freeze. We’ve listed just a few for you here.

Solar Panels

More and more people are turning to self-sustaining living, and generating their own energy via solar panels on the roof of their home. Solar panels can be used to power your whole home – which is great if you live in a really sunny area, or you can use them along with conventional electricity to slash your electricity bills. Depending on the area where you live, you may be able to have solar panels installed at a reduced price or even for free as part of schemes to help homeowners become more eco-friendly.

Seal Air Leaks in the Home

Looking for air leaks around the home is just one simple thing which you can do to help reduce your energy bills each month. Weather stripping and caulking around windows and doors can start to become worn and torn, and leaks allow the hot air to escape from the house and let drafts in – making your heating system work harder to keep the property at a comfortable temperature. Sealing up these leaks will help to keep more hot air trapped inside and keep the drafts at bay so that your home stays at the temperature you need without the added price.

Energy Audit

Carrying out a full energy audit of your home allows you to find any areas where energy is being wasted, and rectify them so that as a result, you’re only using the necessary amount of energy needed to heat, cool and power your home. Audits involve doing things such as checking insulation and finding air leaks, and you can either do them yourself or hire a trained professional to help. Many energy providers will send somebody to audit your home for free at your request.

Switch Providers

With the large majority of energy providers not requiring their customers to be tied into a lengthy contract, it makes sense to keep your eye on all of the different providers to see who’s offering the best rates, and switch accordingly. Staying loyal to an energy supplier who is charging more than their competitors are means that you’ll end up throwing money away, so be savvy and regularly check different supplier websites or energy rate comparison sites such as http://energycompaniesalberta.com/ in order to make sure you’re not paying more than you need to. Switching is usually quick with little to no inconvenience.

How do you keep your energy bills low? We’d love to hear your top tips in the comments.

Soon-to-Be Discontinued #JamberryNailWraps Going Going Gone List Winter 2016

Get them while you can, because they're Going, Going, Gone! It's time to make room! Our new catalog is launching in March, which means we have to say goodbye to some of our favorite wraps so we can introduce some new ones. Our Going, Going, Gone (GGG) products will only be available until February 29, so get them while you can — because once they've retired, they're gone forever. 

Here's the deal, though. I chose to go from Professional Consultant with Jamberry to Hobbyist, which means I don't have a team and I don't have a website you can order from. If you need any of these discontinuing wraps, please email me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com and let me know which ones you'd like and we can arrange payment via PayPal or Square. I always am sad to see them go and always grab up my favorites!

Don't forget to come see what I'm doing over at Catholic Hippie Mom!