Words That Really Matter

Romans 5:1-2 

 ¹ Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. ² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

(NLT)

Revamped Dresser

Time for the reveal! Here is the "after" shot of the dresser I made over for E's room.

Remember the "before"? A tad different, isn't it?

 I found this dresser at the thrift store two weekends ago for $15...yep, that's right! They were having a 50% off sale on all furniture. I almost had a heart attack thinking someone else would try to swipe my pet fur, mouse poo & dust infested dresser before I had the chance...but luckily, no one else was interested:o)

So I started by deconstructing the whole piece. That was the easy part:o)

 The tough part was making the MDF box to go in the center of the dresser. This was my first attempt at using a table saw, and let me just say that there was a lot of heavy praying going on while using it. On three different occasions, MDF literally shot off of the table saw..thankfully I wasn't on the receiving end!

 Since we currently are no longer in possession of a miter saw, I had to use a miter box to cut the trim pieces, which was A-O.K. with me after the frightening experience with the table saw! I used 1 1/4 inch trim to frame out the box, and base board trim for the base.

 

 I filled in the gaps with some wood putty, and got it ready for paint.

 It now resides in E's room with new hardware. 

 He is extremely excited to have it in his room now....

 So much so, that he thought it was a great place to climb on top of and leap to his bed...BAD IDEA!

Mommy worked waaaaay too hard on this for little grubby feet to be climbing on this puppy:o)

So anyway, that's that!

To see where I got my inspiration, check out 

THIS LINK

Participating here:

Welcome customers into your business on Google

(Cross-posted on the Lat Long Blog.)

When we initially announced the Business Photos pilot program, we wanted to give business owners an easy way to get customers in the door online using interactive, high-quality, 360-degree images of places on Google Maps and on Google Search results. With thousands of businesses under our belt — from salons to gift shops — we’ve been hearing the same question again and again from both business owners and photographers alike: How can I participate?

Well, with the overwhelming success of the first pilot, we’ve decided to unveil a complementary initiative that will help us reach more interested business owners, more quickly: Trusted Photographers.

View Larger Map

Click and drag to view the inside of Spice Market, New York City.

It’s simple. Visit our new website and search for a Google Trusted Photographer in your area. Either email or call a photographer in your area to schedule a time and agree on a price that you will pay the photographer for a photoshoot of your business. This self-serve model makes for easier scheduling and quicker turnaround, while also supporting the local photographers in your community. During the hour it should take for the shoot, you can collaborate with the photographer about how best to display and capture your business. When finished, the photographer will upload the images to Google, and shortly thereafter, you’ll see 360-degree panoramic views of your business on Google.com, Google Maps and on your Google Places listing.

See how Business Photos has helped Toy Joy of Austin, Texas.

Trusted Photographers are available in 14 U.S. cities, as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France. Don’t see a photographer in your area? Let us know, as that will help us determine where more Trusted Photographers are needed.

Posted by Gadi Royz, Product Manager, Google Maps

My New Bedding & a Sneak Peak

I got some new bedding...and I love it!

I feel like I have a completely different room:o)

I decided one day to stop by Pottery Barn to see what they had..not really expecting much in the sale department...and low and behold I found this duvet cover for $31...a steal, I know.

I needed to accessorize this new awesomely cheap bedding...

So I went into Mission-Pillow-Hunt at Stein Mart. They had one pillow sham that matched the duvet perfectly...but only one. Ahhh! Panic mode had set in. I called all of the surrounding Stein Marts including some in Tennessee. I only needed two more people!!  Apparently this is a popular pillow because all of the stores except for one (just outside of Nashville) were sold out...and that one had only two. Talk about

 luck! Thankfully my mother happened to be in the area the next day and was able to pick them up for me...such a sweet little momma:o) 

Aren't they pretty?

Did you happen to notice the ruffly pillow? Wanna know what it was BEFORE it was a pillow? A table runner! I found this table runner at T.J. Maxx for $12.99. They had a few colors to choose from, but this color suited my room the best.

 It just so happened that my shabby, well-slept-on king size pillow was the perfect size to slip inside.

 So I ripped the seams at one end.

 Slid the well-slept-on pillow inside, and stitched it back up.

 Fancy:o)

Are you loving it? I know I am:o) Next on the "to buy" list is a new bed skirt. I want a fru-fru bedskirt that is really full and girly:o)

 And this is a sneak peak "before shot" of the dresser I am working on for E. I have changed it up a bit and finished painting it today. I'm hoping to share the end results with you all either Thursday or Friday.

You won't believe what I paid for it...any guessers? 

Words That Really Matter

Our memory verse this week...have you guys jumped on board yet?

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

80% Customer complaints come from 20% of your customers? Part 1

Complaints are bad, simple. Not only do they consume time, it also means we are spending extra time and resource for a piece of work that was already supposed to be "finished" (apart from further damage that can come from word of mouth). We know from experience that no matter how big a corporation is, the customer service can only go so far in satisfying the customers. But if very high number of your customers are usually satisfied, then it is safe to say that you can keep your business running (at least for now haha).

With Internet and social media in everybody's lives, customer complaints about businesses are reaching far audience and new searchers who are looking for information on the Internet. These complaints reach people through review sites, complaint boards, public forums, rating sites, social media sites, blogs and various other ways people share their experience (Google, yelp, facebook and twitter being the biggest playgrounds). It is impossible to deal with them on a daily basis, and it is more so difficult to control because of the freedom of speech on the Internet (well that could well be gone if SOPA and PIPA are passed!). Bottom line--more people read about a business online now a days, and if your customers are talking about you on Internet, you might be losing business just because of that. It is not a joke, a single click of a button with a unhappy client can put your entire sales staff look stupid!

So if 80% of those complaints are coming from 20% of the customers, and assuming some of the complaints aren't really truthful, how do you handle them especially when you know a lot of them have no ground? There is always a chance that competition might have a role to play in this, but do you hire somebody to monitor and analyze this? (It would be another topic to discuss how are the reputation management companies faring in that department--do all of those really have the skill set needed to monitor and analyze?). What other factors are responsible for consumer complaints? Are businesses measuring the severity of the complaints(later "damage" if reproduced online or via word of mouth), so that the impact of the complaints can be minmized to improve business.

Ideas to Make Life Easier

Here is an email I received today. Thought I would share this tips with you all!

Enjoy!

Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture

will disguise dings and scrapes.  Rubbing a walnut

over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings

and scrapes.

Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or

computer screen with WD40.

Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box

by securing with a rubber band.

Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets

inside one of their own pillowcases and there will

be no more hunting through piles for a match.

Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod

in a bowl.  The concave shape amplifies the music.

Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.

Add this item to your beach bag.  Baby powder

gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?!

Attach a Velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.

Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls

against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the

floor.

Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a

stocking over the vacuum hose.

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting

crosses into a box lid.

For those who can’t stand the scrunching and

bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.

Forever losing your bathroom essentials?  Use

magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers

and clippers, behind a vanity door

Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty

soles rubbing on your clothes.  And you can

find them in just about every hotel.

A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy.  Magnets

hold the plastic cups down to make them

tip-resistant.

Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so

much more fun and easier for kids to eat.

Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper

bag.  Much healthier and cheaper than the packet

stuff.

Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough

over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit

or ice-cream.

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing

sunburn relief.

Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.

Use egg cartons to separate and store your

Christmas decorations.

Pretty cool, huh?