A New Location That The Whole Family Will Love

If you are thinking of moving home, there is likely to be plenty that you have on your plate. This is especially true if you are moving from one location to a quite distinct one, as there is often more to consider in such circumstances. One of your main concerns is likely to be ensuring that everyone is as happy as possible with the new location which you intend to move to. But finding such a place can take a lot of time, effort and sometimes a fair share of worry. In this post, we are going to share some advice on how to find the ideal location for all of the family.

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Consider Every Member Of The Family

One of the most common causes of consternation when families move to another location is that someone - or a couple of people, in some cases - was not considered fully or properly. You need to do whatever you can to really consider every member of the family during the move. If you are going to be taking your kids’ grandparents with you, you might need to find nursing homes, or else look for a home which can support them sufficiently as well as the family. If you have children, you will need to think about whether the new location is suitable for them - have you looked into schools, local parks and so on? It is only by thinking carefully about everyone who is involved that you can hope that everyone will be happy.

Don’t Rush Into It

If you find that there is something of a tendency to rush into things in your family, this could be one occasion when you really benefit from slowing things down a little. Over-rushing in such a case can easily lead to more stress than is necessary, and it is even possible that your children will over-act as a result of this. When this happens, it becomes difficult to tell what expressed opinion is genuine and which is just a spur of the moment response to the stressful situation. Avoid this stress, and its related worries, by simply giving yourself plenty of time to make the whole process. The more time you have, the better it will be for everyone.

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Is A Family A Democracy?

If you think it will help for your family, you might want to think about holding some kind of a vote as to where to live. This is best done when you already have a few options to choose between, of course - and you probably don’t want to do this if your children are too young to really understand what they are voting for or against. But in the right circumstances, this can actually be one of the better ways to move home while keeping a family close-knit throughout.

Looking for the right location can always be a little stressful. However, as long as you approach it sensibly, you should find that you are able to find the ideal spot without too much worry. Then it’s just a matter of the actual move itself.

We Have Found Our Dream House in Peculiar, Missouri!!! #PeculiarMO

Welcome to Professor McLoughlin's Home for Peculiar Children. We are moving to Peculiar, MO, population under 5,000, from Overland Park, KS, population around 190,000... and we could not be happier!

Things we can have in Peculiar that we could not have in stuffy OP:

1. Chickens
2. Fireworks
3. Fun on things like ATVs and lawnmowers
4. Peace and quiet
5. Stars

No, really, this is my place now. I still can't believe it. We move in right before Halloween!

Here are some pictures so you can check out our new home as of October 17. The searching for it for over 2 years was the EASY part. The getting our 1966 home ready to sell has been the CRAZY part for the last 6-plus days since we found out our offer was accepted.

First of all, the house came to my email inbox Sunday before Labor Day. One week after my grandma died. I was chilling by my aunt's pool, which we ADORE and thinking how much it stunk that pools always close on Labor Day and how great would it be to have your own pool?! And my husband was joking about how fun to have a bar ... like my aunt and her husband have ... just a fun place to entertain.

We went to see it on Labor Day. We were the first to see it! Then people started coming in droves! And making offers! And our amazing realtor, Jacqueline Elbert, stood in the front yard with us and prayed about the house. And we just kept praying. And waiting for what seemed like forever but really ... it was not long. Wednesday night after coop we got a text from Jacqui saying to order the POD. Aron was at work and I was wrangling kids and I saw the text and started crying happy tears. I felt like Miss America or a lottery winner.

Turns out the plan is to HOMESCHOOL at the bar and out by the cement pond. The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres are coming to mind for me here.

Digressing. Sorry about that. I'm shocked my brain works at all anymore and that I have found five minutes to post this. Things like hygiene and eating and sleeping have gone by the wayside.

So I'm just going to write later about all the cool signs that pointed toward this place being ours and how disappointed I would have been had it not worked out and how excited we are to meet everyone who lives around there, including TEENAGERS!

So here are some photos from today when we went for the inspection. The owner was there AND I LOVE HER ... she reminds me of my Aunt Cathy so much. Yes, the one with the pool. And her grandkids called her husband POPPY ... don't get me started on the Poppy sign (my dad and my grandpa).

Michael and Sam singing songs while scrubbing up old carpet glue.

I spent part of the morning with a paintbrush and Goof Off trying to get years-old paint off the wood floor from someone who painted the trim without taping the floor and then put carpet down. BAD KARMA upon you. I have half a mind to look you up in city records and read you the riot act.

See that? Yeah, that's our SALTWATER pool that the owner herself told the kids they could test out. Cheaper and better for your skin. And HEATED. And possibly open late October. Stay tuned.

Is this a dream?

How many homeschooled kids can say they were schooled at the bar?

Gotta have drinks for the schooling. What would Pink Floyd serve? Toaster oven and you're all set.

Downstairs living space

The boys' bedroom is hugemongous! This is one end of it.

And this is the other end of it.

Plenty of space for all our homeschool books and supplies.

So many great family photos are gonna happen right here.

Okay, gotta get back to the Goof Offing white paint thing and then more carpet glue scraping and mopping floors and staging. Half our stuff is in a SAM (store and move). They went out of biz but Fry Wagner here in town got their storage units so I was surprised to see this and it was so funny!

We had some AMAZING helpers and the PROCESS of getting a house ready to show was torturous and I don't recommend it. People tried to warn me but I didn't listen. I like to learn things the hard way :-)

UPDATE: Pre-Review of "The Queen of Distraction: How Women with ADHD Can Conquer Chaos, Find Focus, and Get More Done"

Scroll to bottom for update if you've already read this post!

So as I was doing my morning walk today I realized I was all done listening to "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo on Audible and was ready for something new. It's hard for me to find time to sit down and read a book, plus I get distracted easily and just can't focus on the words anymore. Audiobooks while I walk are the perfect solution for me ... exercise and knowledge in one = perfection!

When I was at the library recently I saw on a shelf nearby someone had put this book on hold:



I'm like, why are they writing a book about ME????

I put it on hold at the library for the print copy but realized that is laughable since I can't focus on reading it so I'm using my own affiliate link to get it on audiobook!

I listened to a sample on Audible and was nodding my head like an idiot while I was walking. Stacks of papers? Yes. No clue how to prioritize the sorting of them? That's me. I'm sure that explains a lot of people who don't necessarily have ADHD but the way I procrastinate and can't stick with boring things and constantly run after new, shiny things drives me nuts about myself! And when I get focused on something I enjoy, time passes so quickly and then I'm late for things ... often rushing the kids around to get out the door late for something because *I* can't get my crap together.

This is a 6-hour, 18-minute audiobook so give me until November 15 to post my review, please! I can only fit in about 30 minutes of walking a day and only then if the weather is 48 degrees or above!

Women and me like me who might have adult ADHD ... there might be help for us. Also, I see these traits in one of my daughters, so it would be AWESOME to be able to help her while she's not even 8 years old yet!

If you want to buy the book now because I have you all excited, please use my affiliate link above! If you want to wait for the review, that's also cool! Oh, and it will try to make you get the paperback by default. I just clicked on the item name from my shopping cart and went back to the options and clicked Audible and used my credit :-)

Happy November!

**Update September 10, 2017: I never finished this book, which is typical of women with ADD. I have to laugh!

5 Underused CTAs For Emails That You Need To Try

You already know that every email marketing message you send out should have some sort of call to action (CTA), but there are so many different ways to type and place those CTAs. Let’s take a look at some underused CTAs that you could try including in your electronic communications.

Text

Many people think of CTAs as a graphic or a button that entices people to take action. But, your CTA doesn’t have to be visual, it can just be text. It’s up to you if you want to link the text to anything, or just make a bold statement. This is a good way to qualify leads. If a reader takes that extra step to email or call you for more information, it means they truly are interested in what you have to offer.

Add a CTA to the Signature

Email signatures are somewhat forgotten about at times, but, with the help of the ZippySig email signature maker or similar platforms, they’re the perfect place for a CTA. You may want to include your Twitter handle in your signature, or your company’s phone number. You could even use your signature to promote registration for an upcoming webinar.

When it comes to adding a CTA to your signature, consider the content of the email and where the CTA should be placed. This type of CTA should align with the subject matter within your email.

Include Your Social Sharing Buttons

Your social sharing links and buttons are a quick and ultra-easy way to encourage email readers to share your marketing messages. The same way you need to make it easy for people to forward your emails, you need to encourage them to share your content on their social media platforms.

Make It Easier to Forward Your Email

There are people who get confused about how to use email to generate business leads, and rightfully so, it can be daunting. If you already send out marketing emails, though, you’re doing something right!

While email is commonly used to nurture leads into customers, including a CTA to forward your emails on to friends may help to generate brand-new leads with your email marketing endeavours. Some readers will choose to forward your emails on their own, but when you include a specific and clear CTA to do so, even more people may take action.

Optimize Preview Text

When you open up your inbox, you’re usually presented with a long list of emails, right? Well, along with that list of emails is a preview text that allows you to see just part of the email, giving you enough details about what the emails is about so you can decide if you want to open it. However, the preview text is not necessarily the very first line of the email – you are able to customize it to use as a CTA.

You can consider the best copy that you would like your audience to see that will entice them to open your email. This copy ought to be short and powerful. Keep in mind, it may not be the very first few line of your email, though, it could be something further down in the copy, like a portion that highlights the call to action.

Overall, treat this preview text as a chance to present readers with one more CTA – to go ahead and open your email.

Time Is Money, Especially at Home

When you’re presented with a time-consuming task, you usually have the option of throwing money at it in order to speed it up. This usually seems like a terrible idea, but time is ultimately money and there’s more to this exchange than you might think. For starters, let’s assume that you’re moving home. Are you going to drive a handful of boxes to and from your new home, or are you going to hire movers to assist you? Most people would cringe at the idea of hiring someone to drive your own possessions, but if you take the time to analyse the costs and think smart about it, then you’d be surprised at how much money you could actually save.

This is just one example of where paying for a service or putting money down could save you a lot of time. Time is precious, after all, and we need to make the best use of it if we’re going to enjoy life to the fullest. If you’re curious about how you can make the most of your time, then here are a couple of situations where spending money could make you happier in the long run.

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Hiring a Gardener

If you’ve got a fairly large garden, then you might have considered hiring a gardener in the past. Unless gardening is your hobby, then it’s likely something you don’t actually look forward to. Gardeners can be fairly expensive, but it’s usually worth the cost because they not only help you manage your garden but can even give advice and help you design your garden. It’s a lot of space to waste away doing nothing, which is why many people have resorted to hiring services to improve their backyard.

Hiring a Cleaner

Not everyone likes cleaning, and if you live in a busy household then you might spend more time than you’re willing to on cleaning. That’s when home cleaning services can actually come in handy. If you’re willing to put a bit of money down, you can hire cleaning services that not only dust your home and keep it sparkling but can also assist in doing laundry, folding clothes and even polishing your home till it shines.

Hiring a Contractor

Contractors are expensive, but if you want to renovate your home or install something new, then it’s best to enlist the help of a professional. Of course, if you have DIY-savvy friends or know professionals that work in the business, then it might be better to ask them first. However, if you’re not too keen on relying on friends and family, then your next best bet is to hire a contractor that can not only do the work but help with any safety considerations that might prevent you from carrying out your plans.

Hiring a Repair Service

Repairing something like a toilet or broken pipe might seem easy, but there’s a lot that goes into home repairs that you might not completely understand. In a worst-case scenario, you might end up paying far too much money on power tools and materials when you could just hire a repair service to fix your home. Add to that the possibility of you breaking something and worsening the damage, and it’s going to cost way more than just asking a professional to help.