Honey's Bits and Pieces: 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Bryant's 3rd Birthday - Cake

I made this Toy Story themed cake for my brother's godson, Bryant. Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Riley's 2nd Birthday - Princess Cake

You'd think by now, I would have plenty of practice making cakes covered in fondant and working with gumpaste. This is my 5th attempt and there is so much to learn - especially when transporting a 3-tiered cake over 40 miles away.

The cake made it in one piece, but not without a few minor upsets. The 2nd-tier's fondant cracked a little, and the 2nd and 3rd tiers slid forward a bit as you'll see by the pearl boarders on both. One thing I learned is not to use my pan with the well in the middle for fillings as it does not hold up well under the pressure of an additional tier. Live and learn.

I did, however, enjoy making this cake for my cousins little girl. I only wish it would have been perfect.

Riley's 2nd Birthday Cake - Princess Theme:

Katie's 10th Birthday Cake & Orlando's 40th Birthday Cake

I wasn't quite ready to do another cake, but my niece asked me to make her one for her birthday. Of course, I couldn't say no. My niece and brother share the same birthday, and my sister asked if I would put one together for him also. So... 2 cakes for Saturday August 14th.

Katie's 10th Birthday Cake:

Orlando's 40th Birthday Cake:

I had a little trouble with Orly's cake. It was still warm when I put the second layer on and the cake was so moist it cracked. My sister helped me to disguise it a little with gold shimmer dust, but you can still see it. Oh well, all that matters is that he liked it and enjoyed eating it.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Jaxon's 3rd Birthday - Ghostbuster's Fondant & Gumpaste Cake

I made this cake for, my grandson, Jaxon's 3rd birthday. He's the pride and joy in his "Honey's" eyes. I love him so much.

This is my second attempt of decorating cakes using fondant and gumpaste. I did a lot better this time mixing the colors into the fondant. You definitely learn to do a little more with each try.

Jaxon wanted a Ghostbuster themed birthday cake. On the cake you'll see Slimer, Ray, Winston, the car, Stay Puft man, and several different ghosts along with the ghostbuster logo.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Alexa's Princess Cake

I've been trying my hand at making cakes using gumpaste and fondant. This is my first fondant cake. I made it for my niece, Alexa's 4th birthday. My niece is very particular about what she wants and told me her cake had to have ladybugs, roly poly's and "Larry the Lizard".

Towers were not attached in this photo.

There's Larry the Lizard

I wish I would have put some decorative flower or gumpaste cutout to cover the few places where the color and fondant were not incorporated well.

Gumpaste flowers were made without the use of tools. I found some great videos on YouTube to help make these flowers.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Human Resource Professionals – How Do They Represent Your Company?

What happened to the days of common courtesy? Companies spend thousands of dollars each year employing Human Resource professionals to represent them in their business.

Human Resources staff members are advocates for both the company and the people who work in the company. Consequently, a good HR professional performs a constant balancing act to meet both needs successfully.

Depending on the size of the organization, the HR manager has responsibility for all of the functions that deal with the needs and activities of the organization's people including these areas of responsibility (recruiting, hiring, training, organizational development, communication, performance management, coaching, policy recommendation, salary and benefits, team building, employee relations, and leadership.)

The longer I'm unemployed, the more upset I become over the lack of consideration given regarding applications, and resumes submitted to companies for employment.

Let’s rewind and go back to the time before the internet. An individual looking for a job searched the local newspaper classifieds for employment, networked with former colleagues, or signed up with personnel agency.

Once you found a job matching your skills, you mailed your resume to the company advertising the position, and receive a letter back from them acknowledging receipt of your resume.

The general consensus would be if you were a match for the position, you would receive a call setting up a time for an interview. Or, you received a letter informing that the position had been filled, and that your resume would be placed on file for future reference. This is common courtesy, and was done at the company’s expense – the cost of a stamp.

Today, the internet has paved the way by eliminating the cost of postage, but does your HR department handle the simple task of representing your company well? After all you’re paying them top dollar for their services.

I have literally sent out hundreds of resumes trying to find employment. Yes, I know the economy is bad, and in the worst shape I’ve seen since I’ve been alive, but come on people; you have a job – I don’t. Have the common courtesy to respond back and let us know something.

They have auto responders that will do the work for you. The auto responder will acknowledge receipt of the resume, and once the position has been filled, it can reply back with “Thanks – No Thanks – The Position has been filled for you. All this is done with a click of a button. With technology this advanced – are you just lazy, or is this how you represent the company for which you work? We just want to cross you off our database, and move on to the next opportunity. It’s rough enough out here! Your insensitivity and lack of professionalism is shameful.

Maybe the unemployed should send letters to each company’s President, for whom they’ve submitted a resume and/or application, and inform them that they’re paying the wrong person to represent their company. Maybe then you’ll afford the unemployed with the consideration they deserve. You never know when the shoe is going to be on the other foot.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Stupidly Simple System that rocked the SEO World

Phil Henderson, the Stupidly Simple SEO creator, knew he had struck gold when he sold 22 laptops from a one a page, free site that took only 10 minutes to set up...

Here's his story...

"I had been playing about with the usual methods of generating free traffic, you know things like, Squidoo, blogger, blogs, article writing, forum posts etc when I stumbled on this little site. At first I was using this simply to provide backlinks to my other sites. It was so far down the levels of my linking structure so I wasn't really paying attention to it fully.

Then one day I noticed something weird. The main site I had spent three weeks nurturing using top SEO strategies had been out-ranked by my free one page site I had built!!

I couldn't believe it... I had invested three weeks of my time and energy trying to get this site to page one of Google and here was this one-page site that had took me less than ten minutes to build out ranking me in under 15 minutes. Yep, within 15 minutes from pressing "submit" this site had hit page one of Google, more importantly it had ranked two positions higher than my fully optimized web site!!

It hit me like a thunderbolt... I stopped all my other activities and looked at that one page in detail. I looked at the way I had structured the post, the links I had incorporated, word count, keyword density, anchor text absolutely everything that I thought would have given this one page mini-site a better SEO score than my main site. I found nothing of great significance, nothing that I could see making that much difference.

I knew that this couldn't be a one off and I had to find out why this had happened. The next four hours were spent breaking down each element of the post into minute detail. I simply had to find that "11th ingredient" and then I found it...

It was staring me in the eye all of the time. Excitedly, I began to churn out page after page and they all ranked on Google in a matter of minutes. The quickest being 3 minutes!!

I had found a seam of Gold and it was time to go mining".

When I first read the above I was skeptical; however, Phil has photographic and video proof of the examples above. More than this, Phil has agreed to shoot an "over the shoulder" video that outlines the precise steps he takes when building these one page profit pulling sites.

This system really is a game changer and many people who have struggled to make any real money online are using this to pay their car payments, mortgages and even exotic holidays.

Yes this system works; however, you have to know how to work the system. If you really want a shortcut to online success, this might just be what you have been searching for. But don't take my word for it, go see for yourself.

All the best,

Honey

The Stupidly Simple Way To Rank On Page One Of Google

There's a new system that has just arrived on the scene that offers everyday people just like you and me to achieve page one, top ten results on Google using nothing but a free one page mini-site!

Although these sites are only one page, they consistently dominating the search engines and blowing away many heavily SEO optimised sites, in fact it's not unusual to see these sites within the top five postions where the competition runs into tens of millions.

The creator of the Stupidly Simple SEO System, Phil Henderson, has put together a site that shows the results he has and is enjoying and he's also agreed to post a free video that allows you to watch over his shoulder as he select a product to promote, builds a simple one page site and presses submit and then watch as the site hits the top of Google in a matter of minutes. It truly is amazing!

Phil has created an easy to follow-step-by-step process that a six year old child could follow. He wants this system to be available to all as it truly is a game changer.

Phil Henderson states. "when I stumbbled on this system I knew it would be ideal for those people who have struggled to make even a dime online, I also knew it would be a great addition to any marketers arsenal to generate free traffic to any website or offer they wished.

The fact that these pages can be set up and ranking on page one of Google within 20 minutes only enhances the effectiveness even more. I would say that this system is a must have for everyone as it addresses so many of the issues we marketers face today.

I've released this first part to give people a good introduction to my methods and tools and I will be following these up with even more profit pulling stratgeies over the coming weeks and months".

Personally I'm all for keeping things simple and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the video was to follow. There are more detailed videos and accompanying workbooks that will help you set these site up even faster and so help you to make money far quicker.

You can find out more from the Stupidly Simple SEO site.

All the very best,

Honey

Sunday, June 6, 2010

5+ Months and Still Unemployed

I'm doing everything I can to find another job. I've signed up with a couple of personnel agencies, I'm networking, and searching jobs on Monster.com, Career Builder, Yahoo Hotjobs, LinkedIn, jobs on TWC, the local newspaper. My unemployment is close to running out of funds, and I have no idea whether or not they'll extend benefits when that happens.

Everything is a mess around here. I've worked constant for 27 years, and am feeling pretty low right about now. It's hard for me because I know my family depends on me to make everything right. I'm getting pretty depressed, but I do know God will see me through this - just as He does everything else. I feel like I'm letting Him down too by feeling depressed.

I wish there was a real job that could be done from home. Not one where I'd have to pay money and then try to market something that may or may not sell. I'm talking about a legitimate job where I could use my administrative skills working from home. I need a steady income to budget my monthly bills.

Well that's where I am - still unemployed - still looking for another job, and praying that it reveals itself soon.

Thanks for listening.
"Honey"

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Rapid Weight Loss Diets

Dieting is the practice of ingesting food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes however aspire to gain weight (usually in the form of muscle). Diets can also be used to maintain a stable body weight.

Rapid Weight Loss Diets

FRIDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) --When it comes to weight-loss patterns, the old adage proclaims that "slow and steady" wins the race, but recent research suggests otherwise.

A new study found that obese women who started out losing 1.5 pounds a week or more on average and kept it up lost more weight over time than women who lost more slowly. They also maintained the loss longer and were no more likely to put it back on than the slowest losers, the researchers added.

The results shouldn't be interpreted to mean that crash diets work, said study author Lisa Nackers, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Her report is published online in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Rather, she said, the quicker weight loss of the fast-losing group reflected their commitment to the program, Nackers said. "The fast group attended more sessions [to talk about weight loss], completed more food records and ate fewer calories than the slow group."

Fast loss is relative. For her study, Nackers said, "fast losers are those who lost at least a pound and a half a week."

The faster loss resulted from their active participation in the program, she said. "Those who make the behavior changes early do better in terms of weight loss and long term [in keeping it off]."

For the study, Nackers drew from data on 262 participants in an obesity treatment trial that included middle-aged women, average age 59, who were obese, with an average body-mass index (BMI) of 36.8 (30 and above is obese).

During the six-month intervention, they were encouraged to reduce calories enough to lose about a pound a week. The follow-up was another 12 months, for a total of 18 months.

When Nackers tracked the weight loss, she divided the women into three groups: 69 were in the fast group, losing about 1.5 pounds or more a week; 104 were in the moderate group, losing about a half pound to under 1.5 pounds a week, and 89 were in the slow group, losing less than a half pound weekly.

At six months, the fast group had lost an average of 29.7 pounds, the moderate group 19.6 and the slow group 11.2.

After 18 months, the fast group was 5.1 times more likely to achieve 10 percent weight loss -- a good goal for improving health -- than the slow group, and the moderate group was nearly three times as likely.

Nackers found no significant differences in weight regain among the three groups.

The results are no surprise to Alice Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston. "It confirms that those individuals who are more adherent to the weight loss intervention lost more weight," she said.

"I think the point is, you want people to make changes in their diet and physical activity patterns so they start losing weight and maintain the loss," she said.

Nackers agreed, saying the study results should in no way encourage people to go on fad diets but to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviors.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate and Me

I've never acquired a taste for coffee, but everyone else in my family and friends love it. I do, however, have an obsession with hot chocolate - and enjoy it anytime of the year. I've found something unique to share with you.

Where Ancient China meets modern Science

Ganoderma truly is the mystery of the east revealed. In China it’s considered a national natural treasure. The Organo Gold China plantation is home to the 100 Percent Certified Organic Ganoderma.

What is Ganoderma?

In Cantonese, “Lingzhi or Reishi”, is the name for one form of the mushroom Ganoderma Lucidum. It enjoys an honourable place in Asia, where it has been used as a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 4,000 years. In China it’s known as the “Miraculous King of Herbs”. The scientific name "Ganoderma" is derived from the Ancient Greek "bright shiny skin". The word “Lingzhi”, in Chinese, means "herb of spiritual potency" and has also been described as "mushroom of immortality".

Thanks to modern science and cutting edge technology, Organo Gold and our strategic partners have created 100 Percent Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum Capsules, Ganoderma Spore Powder, Ganoderma Mycellium Healthy Beverages, Nutrecuticals and Skin Care. And there is even more to come. Organo Gold is dedicated to maximizing the potential of Ganoderma with research, development and an ever expanding line of scientifically developed Ganoderma based products.

The processing plant for our Ganoderma based products is manufactured with GMP standards which are the highest in the world. The exclusive breakthrough is the “Advanced Micro-Particle Technology” that is applied to the spore cell wall-breaking scientific process. This is the foundation that guarantees Organo Gold to be the world leader in 100 Per Cent Certified Ganoderma Lucidum.

The home of Ganoderma may be China, but thanks to Organo Gold and our growing team of worldwide distributors its story is now spreading to the rest of the world.

Organo Gold Gourmet Black Coffee

Organo Gold Gourmet Black coffee will excite and awaken every coffee lover’s senses. You’ll be delighted by the familiar Organo Gold rich aroma and the flavour of fresh brewed coffee. It’s a convenient “anytime” drink that is ready in seconds. Most importantly, it’s Healthier Coffee. Organo Gold Gourmet Black Coffee is packed with the goodness of the 100 Percent Certified Ganoderma Lucidum Red Mushrooms. It truly is a celebration in a cup for lovers of Gourmet Black Coffee taste.

Organo Gold Gourmet Latte

Organo Gold is proud to offer what coffee lovers have been searching for. A truly healthy Gourmet Coffee Latte. Organo Gold Gourmet Latte is packed with nutrition from the 100 Percent Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum Red Mushrooms that have been acclaimed for more than 4,000 years as the “King of Herbs.” OG Gourmet Latte is made from high quality, aromatic Arabica coffee beans, infused with Organic Ganoderma Lucidum extract and blended with sweetener and cream. Let Organo Gold Gourmet Latte invigorate your imagination and stimulate your taste buds.

Organo Gold Gourmet Mocha

Go ahead. Let temptation run wild. Organo Gold Gourmet Mocha is just like having an energizing, but Healthier, “Liquid Dessert” in a cup. For the most delicious flavor, we’ve blended Organo Gold Gourmet Mocha with the finest variety of cocoa available. And for health and wellness each cup is packed with the 100 Percent Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum Red Mushroom. Organo Gold Gourmet Mocha defines world-class mocha quality for the discriminating gourmet mocha lover. Mmmmm. Enjoy.

Organo Gold Organic Green Tea

With Organo Gold Gourmet Organic Green Tea you’ll enjoy the best of all worlds. The exceptionally smooth, rich, flavorful character of a soothing, delicious cup of Organic Green Tea combined with the benefits of the 100 Percent Certified Organic Ganoderma will have your taste buds jumping. This incredible powerhouse is the envy of flavor mavens and nutritional experts throughout the world. It’s only available from Organo Gold.

Organo Gold Gourmet Hot Chocolate

Cocoa, from which chocolate is created, is said to have originated in the Amazon at least 4,000 years ago. With just one sip of Organo Gold Gourmet Hot Chocolate you’ll understand why the wait was worth it. You can feel good about offering Organo Gold Gourmet Hot Chocolate to the whole family. It’s infused with all the benefits of 100 Percent Certified Organic Ganoderma, but don’t tell your children (or the big kids in the family) that it’s good for them. They’ll just love the rich, smooth-as-silk chocolate flavor.

"The King of Coffee"

“The King of Coffee”. January, 2010 Organo Gold Founder and C.E.O. Bernie Chua announced an incredible new product at the Houston 2010 Lift Off Convention. Organo Gold is proud to mark the start of a new generation with the introduction of “The King of Coffee.” “The King of Coffee” is exclusively produced by Organo Gold. It is the only Healthier Coffee product of its kind in the World. There is simply no competition. “The King of Coffee” proudly features Premium 100-percent Certified Organic Coffee infused with 100-percent Certified “Ganoderma Spore Powder Extract.” “The King of Coffee” is crafted with the exclusive scientific breakthrough of “Advanced Micro-Particle Technology” that is applied to the spore cell wall breaking operation providing an unprecedented 99.9-percent purity.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Strength Training

Strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance and size of skeletal muscles. There are many different methods of strength training, the most common being the use of gravity or elastic/hydraulic forces to oppose muscle contraction. See the resistance training article for information about elastic/hydraulic training, but note that the terms "strength training" and "resistance training" are often used interchangeably.

When properly performed, strength training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being, including increased bone, muscle, tendon and ligament strength and toughness, improved joint function, reduced potential for injury, increased bone density, a temporary increase in metabolism, improved cardiac function, and elevated HDL (good) cholesterol. Training commonly uses the technique of progressively increasing the force output of the muscle through incremental increases of weight, elastic tension or other resistance, and uses a variety of exercises and types of equipment to target specific muscle groups. Strength training is primarily an anaerobic activity, although some proponents have adapted it to provide the benefits of aerobic exercise through circuit training.

Strength training differs from bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting, and strongman, which are sports rather than forms of exercise, although training for them is inherently interconnected with strength training, as it is for shotput, discus, and Highland games. Many other sports use strength training as part of their training regimen, notably football, lacrosse, basketball, hockey and track and field.

Strength Training Resources

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Dental Health 101

It's important to take care of your mouth and teeth starting in childhood. If you don't, you could have problems with your teeth and gums - like cavities or even tooth loss.

Here's how to keep your mouth and teeth healthy:

Brush your teeth every day with a fluoride toothpaste
Floss your teeth every day
Snack smart – limit sugary snacks
Don't smoke or chew tobacco
See your dentist regularly

Dental Health Resources