How to create a favicon.ico...

Ok so WHAT IS a favicon.ico? Look up at your address bar.  See that icon to the left of it?  That is called a favicon short for favorite icon.  These show up in tabs, bookmarks, and next to the address bar.  These are handy little tools to help "mark" your website and just give it a little something extra.  Also, I think they are pretty neat in general.  Doing them is a LOT easier than it sounds too.

First off I recommend downloading this 100% free program called Photobie. I have been using this program for a couple years and I have to say, it's pretty amazing for free. And no, I am not getting paid or bribed to say this.  Although maybe I should because I think I tell EVERYONE about it!

Keep in mind that some images just won't look good at 16x16 pixels, which is what a favicon is.

Ok, so you have downloaded photobie (or a program that can do the following). Open your image up in the program then go to file>save as and name it favicon and instead of gif or jpg pic the ico extension.  Make sure this has NO CAPS.  Go to your websites file directory and upload the file in the documents section, not the images section.  I use Microsoft Live Web as my directory because it is free and you have a great amount of free space available.

Once it is uploaded to your site of choice it should look something like this: http://jocelynbrown.web.officelive.com/Documents/favicon.ico

Now in your html code find /head and RIGHT ABOVE IT put this code :



Easy Shmeezy Neck Wraps

I started making these neck wraps about a year ago, and while these pictures do not do it justice (would LOVE a professional camera-but that won't happen for awhile) they are still cute in my book.

Go to your local fabric store like JoAnnes and find the section of PRECUT quilt squares.  Only get cotton materials and avoid fabrics like fleece and velvet as they do not do well in the microwave.

Take your favorite one (or all) and fold it lengthwise with the pattern facing inward like so:
At the fold, with fabric scissors cut upward as straight as you can. I never get it perfect and it doesn't have to be.

Take one half and set aside. With the other half, again fold in half lengthwise, pattern facing inward.  I suggest a sewing machine to sew these but I have done them by hand before. They just take longer. Sew from the bottom, up the side, and to the top but leaving about an inch unsewn like this:
So as you are looking at it, it is inside out so you want to, through the hole, turn it right side out like how it is in the picture above.  Take the unsewn corner and fold it over and down so the top resembles a triangle like this:
Where my finger is is a good place to put a button so that it is holding piece down. So you would put the hole where my finger is and underneath on the not-folded piece of material you would sew the button. The reason I do this is because I use these wraps ALL the time when I am sick and with this button I can empty out the rice to refill it for different scents and wash the material.  If you want you can just sew the hole up entirely.  I put mine in the microwave for no more than 1 minute otherwise it will get to hot and your button can melt.

These make great gifts, they are easy to make, and they are from the heart. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Budgeting Basics and Tips

It took me and my husband 2 years of very poor spending to realize that regardless of how much you make you ALWAYS need to keep track of your expenses and have a budget.  We didn't keep track of the outgo vs ingo and now we are climbing our way out of debt. But we learned early enough that we can thankfully fix it before we eventually retire.  As far as actual budgeting goes there are a few things I would like to point out:
Having a system is KEY! I use an excel spreadsheet similar to this one HERE. I have no clue where I found this from as it has been sitting in my documents for quite some time.  Mine is more detailed however and has four tabs in my excel sheet.  The first tab is our monthly expenses, the second is our debts that we are paying off, third is all our login info for bills (which I recommend password protecting if you let others use your computer), and I keep what I call a Temporary register.  I sit down twice a month and pay bills.  Each time I do so I go into that tab and at the top type in what our balance is. Then I type out what bill I just paid, how much it was, and the balance after.  This way I can keep an eye on the bank account to make sure it all goes through. Once it does I erase it for the next set of bill paying.  I also on the first tab of monthly expenses have a color code.  If the balance is in black it is paid on time no problem. If it is in red we are late or owe on that bill, purple means it is not yet due but I know how much it will be so I can plan ahead, and blue means it is taken out of the account automatically every month.  I suggest if you are trying really hard to get a handle on your finances and budget to do it manually for a few months so you can see where it all goes first hand. And if you have a bill that takes out every month that overdrafts your account every time, you need to fix that.  That being said here is how you start this process:
1.  Sit down (if you can or have one, with your partner) and gather up ALL your monthly billing statements.  Things that are due EVERY MONTH (or like one of mine, every other month) like your utilities, mortgage/rent, phone, etc.  Sometimes you have to look online at your account to get this information if you are doing estatements so do not forget about those. Here is what is should resemble:

Company	Date Due	MARCH
Daycare	1	$120.00
Mortgage	1	$0.00
Dish Network	11	$0.00
Time Warner	12	$8.72

So you have the company you pay to, the date in which it is due (and if you notice I list them in order) then under the month in which I have to pay them how much I owe. After a few months of doing this you also start to see trends in your bills. Some are higher than others in certain times of the year, others are consistent which helps you get a baseline for your finances should you get overcharged for something at some point.  You will see a red flag when the amount due is higher than normal. This is actually a funny month for me to be giving an example because we were ahead in our mortgage, that was our first month of Dish so it was free and I overpaid Time Warner the month before so that is all I owed lol. I promise you, my bills look NOTHING like that lol.  Moving on.

Your second step is to sit down and add up (bank statements come in handy for this) how much you spend per month on NON bill things.  Such as groceries, eating out (this is separate from groceries), clothes, shoes, etc.  Things that you know you need/want but you do not actually get a bill once a month to pay it. An example would be:

	March
Clothes	20
Eating out	50
Groceries	600

If you have a hard time knowing what you spend your money on, look at your bank statements, start saving receipts, and sometimes you can get your financial institution to provide you with a breakdown of the previous years expense report which will show you restaurants, grocery stores, clothing, etc. Our credit card does this and seeing 60% going into eating out was an EYE OPENER!  But we were living out of a hospital room..and that is another blog for another time.

Now that you have those two tasks done, add up what you make each month.  What is your AFTER TAXES income?  Add your monthly bills separate of your NON bill expenses.  Now compare those two numbers with your income.  Are you scared yet?  I was.  You think on a daily basis "it's only 10 dollars" but those dollars add up.  Ever gone to the dollar store and next thing you know you spent fifty bucks?  The whole time you kept thinking "wow this is only a dollar!" and you walk out fifty dollars poorer.  How many of those things did you NEED?  It took me a LONG time to get out of that habit.  Now I talk myself out of everything and it drives my husband nuts lol.

Looking at those numbers, what can you cut?  Do you HAVE to have the QUICKEST internet just to facebook?  Do you have that quick internet for gaming?  Cutting out the gaming and lowering your internet can save you anywhere from 20-50 dollars per month depending on your internet provider and gaming costs if you have any.  What about your cell phone plan.  Do you need 1400 minutes? Are you even using those? Look at your usage for a lot of your expenses and you will notice you can cut back a lot.  I got rid of my blackberry because I am a stay at home mom so I have my computer handy and do not need internet.  By doing that I save 30 a month.  Now they have tiered plans which aids in that amount but I still do not need that excess.  Do you go out to Starbucks EVERYDAY?  Limit yourself to once a week and find a local coffee stand to purchase from.  These little places are privately owned so that money is going right back into your community, most of them have punch cards where you can earn a free one, and the prices tend to be lower.  Also when you become a regular the girls actually make an effort to get to know you where at Starbucks sometimes they do not care as much.  I will make another blog about some more money saving tips, but this is a good start for you.

I hope that this helps and you find that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel of debt.  It can be a little overwhelming at first, but do not be afraid to seek help from financial advisers, your bank, or even a family or friend!

GOOD LUCK!

Mommy Meltdown

Ok moms, I hope you can relate to this and I am not just crazy. But today has to be one of those days where you think to yourself "Why the hell did I become a mom?! I can't take ANYMORE!" I should have known that when I could not get to sleep before 1 am last night/this morning today was going to not be all that great. Then I got up with baby at 4:45 am and could not get back to sleep when I put him back down at 5:30am. So I became Twitter-pated and tweeted to my hearts content.  My kids rolled out of bed at 8 and I was thinking "hey this is pretty cool" because who doesn't like it when their kids sleep in?? So I go to make oatmeal for breakfast for them because I am out of just about everything in my kitchen since I didn't go shopping last week because of my vacation. I have no milk. Oatmeal made with water....ugh. So now, here I am tired, irritated at my empty kitchen and drinking a cup of left-over-coffee from yesterday because I haven't had a chance to make more (Hey don't judge...I was DESPERATE for some caffeine) and my 4 yr old says "I don't feel good my tummy hurts". He says this ALL the time. Seriously. He even said it first thing when he woke up this morning.  I have learned to say "Oh I'm sorry Ryley" and I smile and kiss his tummy all better.  Well this morning apparently he meant it. He started puking. Lovely. I have to get my 2 month old to his 2 month check up at 1030 in the morning, its now 830 and my oldest is puking. I can't reschedule because I have already rescheduled once and I REALLY needed to talk to the dr about his serious issue of constant crying and I knew his lack of weight gain would be an issue.  Call my mom. She can't take him because she has to go see her elderly grandfather and take him some items from the store. Well...he seemed fine the rest of the morning...until we are literally walking out the door and to the bathroom he runs. More puking. Joy. We are going to the drs anyways, so I guess it is fitting.  Now, I live in northern Idaho and like most of the US we keep getting slammed with snow. And, also probably like most of the US, people can't seem to figure out how to drive and park in this stuff.  Parking lot was a disaster...I had to park a mile away (ok so maybe a 1/4 mile but with 2 small children and a car seat, whats the difference right?).  Now the snow is melty and gross in the parking lot leaving behind BIG puddles...I have boys...do you see where this is going? If not here :
SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH alllll the way to the front door. Joy some more. I then proceed to check in where I chew the girls out for there stupidity in my co-pays (saying I had none then sending me a bill for a hundred bucks in co-pays and telling me it's my fault...when it clearly states on my card and they argued with me I didn't have one). I'm already heated and the stupidity and horrible customer service these front girls project just kind of added fuel to my simmering fire. Get your head out of your keester and do your damn job. And don't talk to me like I am an idiot.  I did your job for 5+ years ditz. AAAAAnyways.  We get back into our little room and I started getting a little weepy with the nurse letting her know how very unsatisfied I am with those front girls. I figure after 4 years of being the perfect damn patients mom, I can throw a stink about this, right? Now, keep in mind, my 4 year old is whiney from not feeling good, my 2 year old NEVER is quiet (when he is not talking noise comes out constantly....who put the damn batteries in him I'll never know but if I find out I'm going to kick their ass), and my 2 month old who refuses to really gain weight (and my 2 yr old had failure to thrive his first year of life...ugh) also refuses to STOP CRYING. The nurse leaves and I am waiting for the dr to come in and my 4 yr old threatens more puking so I have him kneel on the stool and keep his head in the sink. Here we are, his head in the sink, yelling at my 2 yr old to stop standing in front of the door, and the baby who won't stop screaming...I'm walking birth control. You have a hormonal, over-worked, emotional, married yet single mother, on ONE cup of STALE coffee who HAS HAD ENOUGH.  Still with me? Now they give my baby his shots, samples of the new OVERPRICED Nutramigen formula which my 2 yr old was on his first year too, and we get sent on our merry way.  Back through that parking lot of puddles. SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH. Curses under breath.

Needless to say I just came home. I am still out of milk. And all other foods. We are down to rice and frozen fruit mix. Oh and crackers, I have a crap-ton of crackers. I also am pretty sure after today I AM crackers.

I can't be ALL complainy because the little old lady next door has been having her son snowblow the copious amounts of snow in my driveway.  And I had a coupon for a free coffee at my favorite coffee place called Dutch Bros. But still. It is only 1230 pm and I am debating on curling up under the covers and sucking my thumb into a self soothing coma.

Ok. Now I can go back to being the perky annoyance you all know and roll your eyes at =)

I just HAVE to tell you my NEW love!

So I went to my in laws for 4 days for the Thanksgiving holiday.  On Saturday night I decided to make a left-over turkey pot pie (they smoke there turkey too...so that alone is mouth-watering).  Well, after 20 minutes of searching the kitchen for all the tools I needed (they were at a wedding so I couldn't ask questions) I started my pot pie.  Now, a little back story...I have a HUGE problem with rolling pins.  I have a wooden rolling pin that I have used for 2 years and this sucker refuses to season.  No matter what you do, it sticks to EVERYTHING.  After ruining many-o pie crusts and cookie rollouts I gave in and bought another one.  This one was one from target and has that no stick surface. Well. It sucked and stuck.  No matter WHAT I did.  Now I watched my mom baking as I grew up so I know the little tricks of the trade for these issues but NOTHING worked.  Now, back to present, er Saturday.  I pull out my MIL's rolling pin, which btw weighs at LEAST 10 pounds, and I start rolling my crust expecting, like usual, for it to stick, for me to fight, curse, and ten minutes later FINALLY get it in the dish. But...NO STICK. Seriously. I didn't do a darn thing and this pin just went at it like crazy. What was the pin you say?
Marble Rolling Pin!














Now I cannot tell you the EXACT brand of her rolling pin because she got it as a wedding gift a gazillion years ago...but I CAN tell you from my research that the marble is the key element.  She hasn't seasoned it, and she really only bakes for holidays as she works 12 hour days.  I'm SO in love that I am going to use some of my Swagbucks to buy some Amazon gift cards to buy this sucker. So I will be getting it for free since I have 4300 SBs and that buys more than enough $5 gift cards since they cost only 450 SB's! BRILLIANT!