How Many Rachel McAskill's?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So even though there are 362,962 people in the U.S. with the first name Rachel and there are 390 people in the U.S. with the last name Mcaskill....there are no other people in the U.S. named Rachel McAskill. Truly I wasn't really expecting any!

I am surprised by the 390 McAskills though....because my family alone has quite a few....so that means most of us are probably related somehow...scary!!!

More importantly: Rachel is statistically the 156th most popular first name. (tied with 3 other first names)....I bet years ago, Rachel was higher on the list. But again, not disappointed...I don't want other people with my name!!

And I did find this tidbit interesting...more than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Rachel are female. So are you telling me that there is someone out there who is MALE and named Rachel? Wow....too much!!!

Find Storage Nationwide

I am moving to Corona, CA in about seven months! Many of you who have moved local or across the US know that one of the main things you have to do when you move is find some type of storage unit. Some people are lucky and move right into a new house, and have room for all their stuff. However, there are others who have to store items until a new house is bought, room has opened up or you are just simply ready for your stuff.

There is this site that helps you find the best deals on storage units across the USA and Internationally. You can find storage nationwide by logging on and searching for storage by city, state or zip code. Once you find the area you are moving too, you can receive up to four local storage quotes, thereby optimizing your competive bids....tell me, isn't this much better than telephoning all those places individually and then trying to compare them side by side on your yellow pad of paper? Plus, if you are moving internationally you definitely don't want to be phoning people long distance and racking up big bucks just to find someplace to store your stuff!!!

Then you decide which company to contact! They don't contact you and bug you...that is great! The site has so much more information for you in relation to moving as well: packing supplies, real estate services, mortgage services, truck rentals and more.

Scrapbook Room

Oh My! I spent two and a half hours cleaning my scrapbook area tonight!! I've known forever that everything was a mess and nothing was organized. But I've just been working amongst the chaos. Well, I went upstairs tonight, and thought to myself that I was just going to buckle down and get started cleaning stuff out and getting rid of stuff. Although I didn't put much in my don't want to keep pile, I did throw a ton of stuff away. Now, no panicing in the streets...I was simply organizing things and throwing away containers and plastic bags and other crap. The main thing was getting most of my pictures put in one container for now, and all my paper into my big scrap suitcase.....I had paper scattered from one end of the place to another. I was finding paper in bags from the stores that I hadn't even taken out yet! Ugh...now all my paper is together in one happy place....now I can actually use it! So after 2.5 hours, I was tired and decided to throw in the towel. I'll be back up there tomorrow or one day this week to finish my mess. I want to finish cleaning and organizing so I can get some projects done. I have stuff I want to make for christmas presents and such!!!! My goal is to make all the "project" type stuff I have up there before Christmas!!! So let's see how I do!

FAFSA Online

Are any of you college students, or individuals who are thinking of going back to school for that degree? Then one thing you need to think of is FINANCIAL AID....aghhhh....the dreaded part of anyone's experience with college. When I was in college, I had to go to a pre-meeting about FAFSA (Which is your free application for federal student aid), then fill all the paperwork out by hand, and then mail it in. A long process for the chance to get money from the government. Now, they make things so much easier!!! You can fill out your entire FAFSA application online! Yeah, FAFSA Online, who thought of such a marvelous idea?

The website starts you with a free walk through and tutorial so you know what you are doing every step of the way. Take it from someone who knows, the application when you are doing it by yourself can be difficult. The site also has a 9 page guide that gives additional insights about maximizing your federal financial aid....I totally wish I had this! When I decide to go back to school, I will definitely using this website.

How do you like secrets?!? FAFSA Online has 9...yes, 9 of them! Here's a hint for you! Secret #8 "Test Drive the FAFSA". This is where you can prepare a planning sheet before you actual file your FAFSA so there are no mistakes and such when actually submitting your application!!!! This is also known as FASFA.

$12,500

Do you see that number!!!!!!! That is how much money we made tonight at our very first auction for Masters Commission fundraiser! $12,500! We did amazing tonight, people were just crazy!!! They were fighting and doing bidding wars on stuff! All of our packages were silent auction and they went for over $8000.

So get this! The only thing we did "live" was a dessert auction. We had desserts from various places donated and then we auctioned them off! Guess how much the most expensive dessert went for? $710 and then someone felt that they were unfairly outbid....so they paid the SAME AMOUNT as a donation......so basially $1400 for one dessert. Then there were the people who bought a dessert, and then put it back into the mix to be auctioned off again!! Most of our cakes were going for $300! Can you believe it!?!

All in all, I would say that we had a very succesful auction. We not only made money tonight but everyone that came was excited and having fun. Thanks to all that helped and made this a success!

Flashlights

Do you live somewhere where the electricity goes out frequently? Do you hunt or fish in the early morning hours where you need a dependable and hands free flashlight. How bout flashlights and other nifty gadgets for those people who need to have binoculars, microscopes, night vision scopes, sunglasses, and so much more!!!!

I know that those who live in the Pacific Northwest should have more than one reliable flashlight because of all the flooding that is going on and the hardwork that is going in to saving homes and lives. Best of all.....you can use a brand new flashlight when you and your friends decide to play hide-n-seek in the dark!!!! Tell me you have played this game before? It is so much fun! Yes, you do play in the DARK! And everyone needs a flashlight. If you shop online you get tons of discounts as well as free UPS shipping for all orders over $29.95....order now so you can get to playing hide-n-seek. Check out the following: Streamlight lights, Pelican flashlights (I simply like the name of these; however, they are quite cool....they go UNDERWATER....that's right they are submersible.....what are you doing underwater that you need a flashlight is what I want to know!), lanterns (these come in handy when you work for KMPS and need a lantern hanging in your booth at night to see people), law enforcement and police flashlights (my question is can I still buy one of these even though I'm not in law enforcement?), and much much more!

Auction

I'm off to work our auction all day and all night.....we have already broken even and made a bit of money with the sale of our tickets. So if everything fails, and we sell nothing tonight but just have fun...then we are ok! However, we would like to make some money on this fundraiser in addition to having fun. So I am praying people bid on everything and jack up other bidders!!!! Did I mention that they have to bid on dessert as well? I know, I know.....we are coming between women and their dessert...maybe they'll shell out big bucks then!!! :)

Wish us God Luck! If anyone wants to come out tonight they still can, I do have a few tickets left....we are having it at the Liberty Theatre in puyallup.

by the way.....I am so disappointed that Joey got eliminated from Dancing with the Stars!

Christian Debt Help

Are you in debt? I admit, I am...I was very unwise with my finances when I was younger and racked up a lot of credit card debt, which unfortunately I am still paying for today at 32! There is a Christian debt consolidation site that helps people like you and me who are struggling with this issue. What better way to get help then from people who understand where you are coming from, and share in the same belief system you have. So instead of struggling with your debts on your own, have these individuals show how to do it by implementing God into the factor and the solution!

Page Ranks

So in my quest to make money on payperpost, I am learning new terminology. Did you know every website page is ranked by Google? And that you have a page rank out of 10? I didn't! So I went and Googled page rank, and found out that with the Google toolbar I already had on my internet explorer I could actually see my page rank. So, just to let you know, I am a 3/10....now if only I could figure out if that was good or not....hmmmmmmmmm....the things i am learning!

Greener's Christmas Song

There is this unsigned band, Greener, who has a Christmas Song that they are asking everyone to download. A couple of years ago they had 1,000,000+ downloads of their song, this year they are trying to beat that. They have rerecorded the song with professional electric and acoustic versions, AND a portion of the proceeds will go to benefit LIFEBEAT, a group dedicated to reaching America's youth with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention. Click to hear the Greener's Christmas Song and help benefit LIFEBEAT!

Greener's" Christmas Song

My how time flies

Does it seem weird to anyone that Thanksgiving is a mere two weeks?? My oh my, where does the time fly? Alright, since you aren't ready to eat turkey just quite yet....

....we are having an auction on Friday night. Yes, I am a little stressed. I've been to auctions before, but I've never helped run one. We still have 16 tickets to selll to make our minimum (anyone want to come? Tickets are $35 a piece and includes dinner), we still are waiting on some items to arrive in the mail (if they don't by tomorrow I have to start doing some creative rearranging), I'm hoping what I am doing for check in and check out works well and doesn't cause long lines with stressed out people. Have I told you I am a little stressed about this?

I did work a half day today, that was a nice bonus. I say bonus like it is out of the ordinary for me to work. Sheessh....I guess it is out of the ordinary when I work, since I only had 12 days teaching last month! One part of me is kinda digging this whole not working every day, while the anal retentive side is screaming and bashing her head against the wall because a nice solid paycheck is coming all the time! Oh well, God will take care of that anal retentive side and banish her to outer borders of somewhere! Ask me in February if I'm panicking about money. That is when we are going on our mission trip and I will be gone for two and a half weeks...which means I obviously can't work! God knows, God knows!!!!!

ok....so happy Thursday and I'll let you know on Saturday how I survived our auction!

Free Songs from Vimo

Do you like FREE STUFF? How about free songs, with no credit card needed and no scams about free trials and then your credit card starts getting charged? All you have to do is review your doctor and then you receive credit for 5 FREE song downloads at emusic.com. And these are MP3's so you can play them on your handy little Ipod (which I am still trying to buy!). How easy is that? Not only do you get free songs for EVERY doctor you review, but you are helping Vimo help other customers who are doing some healthcare comparison shopping. So go on get started right now!

Sunny Days?

Well here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest we have been facing rain for days. As I look out the window right now, the sun is shining; hopefully, it'll stay sunshine for awhile. However, due to the rains in our area many of our rivers have flooded. Meaning people are out of their homes, and in some cases people have lost their homes. The picture you see is of a house floating down the Cowlitz River. We tend to take for granted the flooding that happens here, because it happens every year. I hadn't even realized at one point that it was so bad...you know just a little rain. I didn't watch tv all day yesterday and then I turned the news on last night and WOW! It was amazing the amount of water that had come down from the sky. Road closures all over, people displaced from homes, people sandbagging in hopes of saving any bit of anything, levees breaking and more.

I speak peace and comfort to any and all that have personally affected by our local floods, and pray that they are soon back in their homes. I am also holding out for this sun to stick around for a few days at least. It is amazing how much the rivers recede with just a few hours of no rain!

Rain, rain go away...come again another day!

Mortgage Fraud

Yes, I know you are wondering why I am writing this post when I don't even own my own house. However, I believe in being prepared for the future, and I like knowing that my friends are aware of things around them. So for those of you who own a home or are thinking of owning a home, please check out this site about mortgages where they go into depth about mortgage fraud and other issues. They are a good site that protects customer data through Secure Trust which guarantees compliance with FTC, Do Not Call and CAN Spam regulations. This may or may not be the right site for you, but isn't it nice to know you have somewhere to start when you are thinking of that next big step in either obtaining a new mortgage or refinancing your current one?

Celebrate

A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.

So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.

The head monk, says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monasterywhere the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years.

Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing,"We missed the "R" ! , we missed the "R" !"

His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?"

With A choking voice, the old abbot replies, "The word was... CELEBRATE!!!"

Scottsdale, Arizona

As I sit hear listening to the rain and wind buffet the house, I am thinking that somewhere warm would be nice! How about a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona? If you are thinking of vacationing there or moving down there here is a good site to visit for Scottsdale real estate. I have friends of friends that live there and they love it.

One Year Blogging

Whoo---Hooo! I hit my one year blogging anniversary just recently! It has been great being able to share my thoughts, my life, my pictures, and other random stuff with you all! Even if no one reads my blog (This obviously doesn't apply to Marcie when she is bored at work!), I still have fun creating posts and such....it is just as much an online journal for me as it is for you to catch a glimpse of my life. I know that my mom reads it, and feels like she is connected (I'm not the best at calling regularly...sorry). I know my sister in Cali reads it every once in awhile....to see new pics I have up and such! It is simply a fun and relaxing way to let you know more about me!

Life has been pretty slow the last week....my school district had conferences all last week, so I didn't work at all...and I didn't get called in today either. I seriously need to pick up some work or I am going to be hurting financially again next month! Ugh...I'm having a hard month this month too...although at this point almost all my bills are paid...so just have to some creative money making in the next week or so to pay my phone bill and insurance. But you know what? I'm not overly worried about it! God has everything under control.....he is Jehovah Jireh...my Provider!

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Don't accidentally float down the street this week with all the rain! If anyone wants to watch the CMA awards with a bunch of people tonight, KMPS is hosting a CMA party at the Emeral Queen Casino....come on down!

Earth Shots

There is this great site that has daily Earth Shots on their websites. These are great photos submitted by individuals such as you and me. Each photo submitted to the site are actually being submitted for a photo contest. There are a few rules, but the most singularly important rule is that your image be interesting and striking. You can submit a photo of anything or anyone! I think I may need to go back through my photos of Asia and see if there is a great photo to submit. Once you enter your photo, you can then subscribe to their feed which allows you to upload your pics as well as view others. There really are some amazing photos on this site. And the cool part is that they have a photo of the day, which means there is something new every day...so you can visit this site without getting bored. My favorite photo of the day is a white pine with aurora--check it out. Have fun, and let me know if you submit a photo and it gets accepted!

Scrapbook Convention

I had a fantastic weekend! I stayed in Bellevue and attended the CKC--Creating Keepsakes Convention! To you non-scrappers, that is a MAJOR scrapbook convention. It was two cram filled days of classes and a vendor fair....that's where all the vendors have booths and then you get to go around and shop! I did good though...I only spent $25, most of it at the Rusty Pickle booth. BUT I made out like a bandit in regards to what I brought home! I volunteered for 3 shifts to help out in classes on Friday and Saturday. In return for volunteering, I was give $30 for each shift to spend in the CKC booth or take a class...yep, your math is correct...$90 to spend. With those vouchers I took a class from Lickety Splits Scrapbooks where I got to make this awesome Mickey mouse board book (Seen here)....it is like those chunky baby books you buy. It has tags, ribbons, and of course tons of Mickey Mouse colors and papers. I was excited for this class, and I was the last one allowed in! Yeah...some of my cruise pictures are going to look great in here!


One of the classes I was a TA in was for a company called S-E-I.....they have the cutest stuff....papers, iron on transfers, embellishments, and more....and I LOVE the colors of all their product! The class teacher Reena was great...she gave me a sample of the scrapbook in a bag that the class was taking....it is this great album that you are able to do in one hour! Sounds like I have a project to work on next week after our MC Auction.

Then just for helping Reena gave me one of these cool new sewn tote albums. They are like a hard/soft plastic that is stitched all around and fastens on the side. Inside it is a two ring binder with page protectors for an 8x8 album....totally nifty!!

Reena was also just cleaning her closet out and gave me a bunch of stuff that didn't match any of her kits and such so she gave me that as well.

I also helped with a class from Boxer where they did an accordion calendar inside a little mint tin. Angie, the instructor, gave me a kit for this as well. I am going to turn it into a travel photo calendar for next year!

Let's see what else did I get? A CD of designs from Epson for digital scrapbooking, some small make 'n takes that I did and a couple of layouts from Scrapworks...another class that I helped out with. Yesterday we ended the night with dinner at Azteca with a bunch of girls from the Two Peas in a Bucket Gallery. When we got there, there were gift bags for everyone on the table that had paper, prima flowers, embellishments and more in them. Then they were doing door prize drawings, and guess what? I won a door prize! Yep, that's right...lucky me! Inside where Prima Chipboard letters and paper that will fit perfectly inside my new album that I got from SEI. So yes, I am a fanatic, an addict, a mad scrapper....but what better way to scrap tehn to scrap with stuff I got for free!

PayPer Post Wedding!

Hey all those who are dating, courting, engaged, seriously involved with a member of the opposite sex....or anyone who simply wants a wedding paid for in Las Vegas, NV!!! Payperpost (PPP) is looking for you!!!

Yep, you heard it right, PPP is looking for anyone who wants to get married in Las Vegas. So you want a payperpost wedding...click it and check it out! Now remember, it either has to be a first marriage or a second marriage (third or fourth....), but cannot be a simple renewal of vows. Which I don't know why you'd want to renew your vows in Vegas anyways....usually people save Vegas for the first spur of the moment wedding. Go to this payperpost wedding if it means that they are paying for it. You can't go wrong with a free wedding, can you?