Category Archives: Being Mom

Time is All We Have

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I put “Time is All We Have” on a clock that was given to me as a graduation present.  Here’s why:

The most common post-graduation questions I hear is:  “What are you doing with all your free time?”

I am not sure if “free-time” equals time away from work and other duties though supposedly there is time, that is free and I have more of it now.    I’m sorry to burst bubbles though I haven’t found it yet as there are still only 24-hours in my day (unless it is today and DST gives us 25-hours in one day).   Time, to me, is a passing of connected opportunities that we either take or we don’t and which we never get back.

I wanted to get my Master’s so in essence, I was already spending my “free time” fulfilling what was required to check something off my bucket list.   Now that it is checked off, I am working on other bucket-list worthy items using the same time previously spent doing homework.

At any given moment in time, you are choosing to do something.  Maybe it is a verb (sleeping, playing, eating, working, reading, blogging) maybe it is a state of mind (reflective, meditative, mindful).  Regardless of what you are doing, it is using your time and that time will pass and so on and so forth.

The best part, you get to decide if your time is used to check things off your bucket-list or to just simply do something because it brings you other forms of enjoyment, fulfillment, health, sanity, or fill in the blank.

Cut time spent on the unnecessary things/people

Recently a book was recommended to me called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** (pardon the language) and it was one of my first post-graduating reads.  It could also be called “The Subtle Art of Spending your Time Wisely” or “Drama-Free Living” though I am sure we can all agree those titles aren’t as catchy.  If you can get past the f-bomb in the first few chapters, then you too will enjoy the art of cutting out the things that don’t matter and the things shouldn’t require your time (I even made a list to keep me on track).  Once you do that, guess what happens?  You find more time to spend doing things you enjoy like checking fun things off your bucket list.

“Someday I will <fill in blank>”

Usually what is filled in this sentence is your bucket list ie: Get Married, Have Kids, Visit Bermuda, Get a Master’s Degree, Drive a Convertible.  What is missing from our bucket lists is the “by when” (sounds like SMART goals, right?)

Years ago (circa 2002), I was a certified instructor for a Franklin Covey course, “What Matters Most” (which has since morphed into a different course).  There was one activity in particular that resonated with me and helped me to figure out the “when”, and I will share it with you.

Go get a piece of paper.  Seriously, go get one (drawing is involved).

  1. Make a timeline; start with the day you were born.
  2. Add some of your life milestones; school, married, kids, Olympic gold medal, retirement, etc.
  3. Add “someday” on your timeline, as this is usually the time frame that we choose for our bucket list. “Someday I will….”
  4. At this point in the activity, you realize that “someday” doesn’t exist. It’s arbitrate, fictitious, and meaningless.
  5. Instead, go back and add in when you will do your bucket list items to your timeline.
  6. The next steps would include figuring out what is needed for you to then achieve your bucket list items, and then spending your “free time” doing these tasks until you can check it off your bucket list.

So, what’s on your bucket list?  When will you make it happen?

Mine is visiting Bermuda in 2019. 🙂

Hey Mom, It’s time to do Homework

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I know what you’re thinking…you don’t have time to fit school in your already busy life of being Wife, Mom, Employee, etc.

Finding the Time

To learn how to get more time in your day, visit the blog of my long-time mentor whose work can be found at The Art of Really Living.  Once you learn how to get more time, then we can fill it in with more things like life, interests, maybe even college while maintaining Harmony in your Life.

There are many benefits of returning to school, many that I did not consider before taking the plunge to start my journey to obtain a Master’s in Social Media Marketing.

Finding the Reason

First, it has helped me figure out how to blog in a more meaningful way (vs. a diary of stuff no one wants to read).  Some of my earlier blogs were geared towards how to maximize your Networking Marketing Career (ie: Isagenix, Young Living, Younique, etc).  So, if you are actively selling and working on your downline, check out my earlier blogs for tips, tricks and networking ideas.

Second, I am a role model for my girls.  In full transparency, the oldest is a “bonus (aka: step) daughter” though I shall loop her in as “girls” for simplicity of points I will make as Mom and because she is exposed all parts of our life.  Regardless of title, when they see me doing homework, it makes it a bit easier when they have to do homework as well.  (And yes, they do ask about my grades.)

Lastly, I am bettering myself and not just in the scholarly sense.  Participating in forums where people of diverse thoughts and backgrounds post complementary or opposing views on a variety of topics keeps me grounded.  It allows me to explore other perspectives, research topics that interest me, and helps me be a better person at home, work and in life.

Finding the Balance

How do I balance a career, home, school and still stay fit?  It’s all in finding my balance and maintaining composure when things get “nutty”.  I maximize my time at work, home, the gym and during my kids activities and I still have downtime to goof off with my family and friends. Here are some of my tricks:

  • While my youngest is at gymnastics class, I workout.  I read a book (textbook or novel) or reply to emails while I do cardio then quick circuit strength training to keep my heart rate up.  This is my time, twice a week, to recharge and burn calories at one time.
  • I work at odd hours instead of tossing and turning in bed.  For example, it is currently 11:35pm and I’m not sleeping so I am being purposeful and adding more to this blog.  Sometimes, the best ideas keep me up and getting them on paper is the best way to clear my mind.
  • For schoolwork, I choose to write papers about topics that are relevant at work (two birds, one stone).  This helps me to be a better employee and after all, if work is paying for my degree, they ought to reap the rewards of my labor, research and time at school.
  • I am a distributor (and 5 year client) for Isagenix (best darn protein shakes ever, taste like milkshakes) and I also enjoy their Greens , Vitamins and Ionix Supreme (stress-buster),
  • I do meal-prep for lunches and dinners and I eat sweets (and drink wine) in moderation.
  • I also enjoy “witch voodoo” aka: Young Living Essential Oils for a variety of reasons, mostly because all of it makes me feel healthy.

Stay tuned for my next blog on other ways to find your Balance…until then, enjoy the Harmony of Life!

 

 

 

 

The York’s Nickelodeon Adventure

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Why & How You Should Vacation at the  Nickelodeon Resort in Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.

This blog is purely a representation of our experiences and is no way related to any official website for the Nickelodeon Resort.  (Just felt I had to disclaim that this is just my perspective.)  Overall, we highly recommend this property and we would absolutely go again (like tomorrow).  So sit back, grab an umbrella drink and read along to help  plan and enjoy your trip.

Before You Book

Deciding on a family vacation can be daunting, so here are a few things to consider when booking your Nickelodeon Vacation.  There are a few types of rooms; we had the “Flat Swim Up Suite”: King Bed, Full-size Pullout Couch, Twin Rollaway Bed, patio and a SWIM channel (aka: pool off your room porch) that is shared with a block of 8 rooms.  We had room 4110 and I would absolutely book this room again as it is in the middle of everything and very quiet (plus, it faced the Pineapple Villa).  Note: Rooms 4102-14 are in the same block and would also be our preferred rooms.

Book On-Line at Nickelodeon Resort (it is the least expensive way to book).  Once you choose a room, they will call you to confirm it is available, it is a $300 deposit (the remaining balance is paid a month before you arrive). If your room choice is not available, then get the $300 refund and start over (otherwise you may not get the 45% discount).  Note: There are bigger rooms/swim ups though they were in an area that was bustling with vacationers which is not what we were wanted in a room atmosphere.

Hot off the Press Southwest Vacations  also had airfare/hotel deals at this resort! 🙂

               

Pricing & Flights

  • This resort is all-inclusive (with a few exceptions outline in “The Extras” below) and usually has a 45% off special (just watch the website for this discount).
  • We flew Southwest Airlines (if leaving MHT/BOS go through BWI not MDW bc it is a shorter flight).  Thankfully we had plenty of Southwest points from our credit card so we saved $3,000 in flights (we only paid $400 for the 4 of us).  If you decide to get a Southwest Visa, let me know so I can refer you and we both get “free” points to fly somewhere warm again soon.
  • Total for the room (5 nights) was $4,200, Flights $400 and “the Extras” on-site were $400 so… $5,000 total for this awesome vacation.

The Extras

  • Character Breakfast : $27-37/ea.  We did the all character one, it was an hour with a buffet breakfast (pjs are welcome) and individual photo opps with Dora, Boots, Wanda, Cosmo, Marshall, Chase, Patrick & SpongeBob. They only do these on Thur/Sun so consider that when determining your arrival/departure dates. Note: You can book this a week in advance.

  • “Private Slime”: $50 to get green-water dumped on your family’s head (you can wear goggles) = priceless! Note: you can also book this in advance.
  • Dinner Reservations: The food was included, our bottle of wine was extra. We only went to Verdello (Italian) and it was good.  We wanted to go to Spacewalker and it already was booked.
  • Room Service Bottle of Wine is extra (again, food included, not wine so go out and get a few glasses and bring them back to your room, LOL). While we are on this subject, my ONLY bottle of room service wine smelled and tasted like stinky feet water (yes, they comp’d it).  So again… get the exercise and walk to a bar!
  • Hair Braiding is done at Vassa Spa and is $7/braid (or full head for lots more).  You can make an appt in the courtyard (there will be girls there taking appts).
  • Some nights, there is a Caricature drawer, he charged $10/ea and did fun B&Ws of the girls.

What to Pack

  • It is cool at night/morning and we did see some rain (& the room has an umbrellas) so make sure you have some warm layers.  Funny…I forgot to pack anything longer than capris which was not smart at all. While we’re on clothes, the first layover was raining so Krysta and my clothes were soaked (thankful for sunshine to dry them out).
  • The fancy restaurants have a “dress code” so only pack dresses/pants/nice shorts for the nights you want to go there. Otherwise, you can be in any resort attire.
  • Bring your own Swim Gear: Goggles, Floats (Amazon.com) as you can use them in any pool plus it is less expensive than the ones they have there.. like these fries (speaking of which, I ate fries like, every day).  The lazy river does have tubes to use (they are kind of large for the littler kids).  Pools are 4ft deep (toddler pool is ankle-deep).

Arrival at the Resort

  • The shuttle drive is about 35 minutes from PUJ (it was included in our hotel fee).
  • Nothing is better than seeing palm trees, and then they give kids slime drink (banana-ish tasting green colored shake) and champagne for the adults. They drive you (via golf cart) and your luggage to your room and point out many things along the way (which you vaguely remember though you have a map, phew).
  • They also give you a “schedule” of events for the day and have a new schedule every day which you can retrieve in a variety of places like the lobby.
  • Your room key goes into a slot and this provides power to the room (not power to the key) so ensure there is always a key in there or there is no power to your room (and it is VERY dark). And, good luck with F/C to get your room a pleasant temp (I could divert to a story from Quebec City though this is about the DR).
  • At some point (depending on the time of your arrival), the concierge will invite you to a 90-min welcome breakfast. This is totally optional! Because we didn’t know better, we went to this breakdast.  (Keep in mind it had raining that morning and as we started this journey, the sun came out.)  I will not judge you if this interests you, just want to ensure you are aware of what you’re really getting into with this “breakfast”.
    • The welcome breakfast is really a code-word for “we want to sell you a membership to keep coming back to Karisma resorts” (they have a few other tropical resorts).
    • The top membership is only $90,000 for 100 weeks of vacation (um, if I only take a vaca like this 1x a year, I will have them until I am 142!?).  Or $26,000 for 30 weeks.  Or $15,000 for 15 weeks.
    • This membership fee guarantees 40-60% off the cost of the trip (which I got booking online without this membership).  So, you become a member (with a fee) to get a discount on the room (which I had already gotten).
    • They say it is not a “timeshare pitch” though it’s as close as you can get… 120 minutes of lost sunshine we can never reclaim and $80 for the girls to spend at the resort.
  • There is a mini-bar in your room and your concierge will help you get what you want (ie: different beer, more water, etc).
  • Oh , and bring smaller bills to tip a variety of people, they are all very helpful and friendly and deserving of tips.

Our Food-Go-To’s

  • Doppio: Coffee & Soft- Serve Ice Cream (Sloane loved their hot chocolate too, the cookies were good, the donuts a bit dry). Two Coffees with Milk = Dos Cafe con Leche Por favor!
  • Sugarcane: Buffet-style breakfast, lunch or dinner. Never a line and you can just go get a treat without sitting at a table.  In the back left corner, there was an ice cream station.  To the far right, mimosa station. My picky eater (Sloane) found something at each meal (one breakfast was lettuce and marshmallows).
  • Ice Cream: A a few places, we usually got it at Doppio (like 3-4 times a day), Sugarcane or the Infinity Pool Bar Jazmin.

Our Day

We found a groove to our day, it worked for us to balance what we all wanted to do (we all like different parts, esp the almost 14 & 7 yr old) and perhaps it could work for you too!

  • Sloane is an early riser, she and I would sneak out, get an activity list (from the lobby) grab coffee/cocoa at Doppio (drop one off to Todd), grab our pool towels, secure our pool seats and then play at the beach for a bit. Note: The undertow is ferocious!! I am not kidding, it took out kids/adults when we were Oceanside and we were on the “dry part” of the sand.
  • There is a green “sewer” cap that is wobbly and is supposed to be stepped on (see photo).

  • We would head back; grab Todd & Krysta and enjoy Breakfast (marshmallows and all) at Sugarcane.
  • There is also a toddler-pool area (with little lounge chairs), the water was up to Sloane’s ankles.
  • Then it was infinity Pool time (awesome pool ocean-side.  Note: once done at this pool, if heading to Aqua Nick, return brown pool towels and get towels cards.

  • We took a break for lunch (yup, back at Sugarcane) then it was off to Nickelodeon Place.
    • This was kid-centric with Aqua Nick boasting a lazy river, Slime, Nick Live (games) and our favorite was the foam party (they dump bubbles into the lazy river).  There is a water park with a slide (and a slide only for babies) and a big water dump.  The girls only ventured in that part once, they preferred the lazy river.
    • There is also an in-door activity center, you can drop your kids off and they will watch them (and there is slime making, etc which you will find on the activity schedule.  Sloane only went in here once, with me, and wowzers, it was chaos).
    • Note: Once done here, return blue towels, get towel card.

  • By this time, the sunshine was at our swim-up hotel room pool (yeah, back to the other towel hut for brown pool towels and yes, there are places for refreshments along the way). Sometimes, they kids took a break from the sun in the shade or inside so it was quiet mommy time in the sun with a book. Aaaahh….
  • We usually grabbed some room service for dinner because we were hungry before the restaurants opened (the chix tenders were yummy and I may have had waaaay too many French Fries). Note: The DR doesn’t practice DST so it is an hour ahead of ET in Feb.
  • Then we meandered to various evening resort events, usually to hear music (and visit bars) in the courtyard of the restaurants.  This started as early as 6:15 which were always a different theme.  We didn’t go to any other “show” (though I hear the circus is good) as they started too late for my girls.
  • For the younger ones most nights (not on Tue/Wed) there is “Playhouse Live” in a building that has no # on my map (it’s behind Spacewalker).  It is a cute little show with songs, dancing, a story and an art contest.  Sloane won her 1st try, here she is with Katherine & Johnny on stage getting an award!

We put in 8,000-10,000 steps a day (there are golf carts to take you to/from though we only got on one the whole time) and these girls walked hand-in-hand everywhere (melt my heart).

Departure

  • Leaving is always bitter-sweet so enjoy every last moment on the beach, then return those towels (again) for towel cards (You will need to turn these in at check-out).
  • Find out what time your shuttle is due to take you to the airport (about 3 hrs in advance due to the immigration, etc).
  • If you are flying Southwest, you leave the airport terminal in the A/B/C order onto the bus and then, planeside they call you A1, A2, etc.
  • Customs at BWI (Baltimore) was super quick and easy, then you take your checked luggage to another place to re-check it, and go back through security all over again (helpful to have TSA Pre-Check).

So, there you have it… Nickelodeon Resort 101. 🙂