Freelance Writing Guide to Freelance Writing – Get Paid to Write Online

Freelance Writing GuideDo you want to become a freelance writer and get paid to write online or offline as a well paid writer? Do you know what freelance writing is and how much money you can make as a freelancer? Do you want to quit your job and work from home writing freelance articles, perhaps as a newspaper or magazine writer, and get paid to write?

Maybe you are a stay-at-home mom or you lost your job in the recession and want to know how to become a freelance writer and work for yourself without the stress and worry of where the next paycheck will come from. Well then, you should seriously consider the fact that freelance writing is an excellent job opportunity you or anyone else can do in the comfort of your own home!

What is freelance writing? Wikipedia defines a freelancer or freelance writer as a self-employed person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any particular employer. There are many different types of freelance writing gigs and jobs available where companies and individuals seek to hire freelance writers who know how to produce great content on the web or print copy, such as newspapers and magazines.

Freelance Writing Business
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Genealogy, Family Tree Maker Family History Software, Genealogy Records Research

Family Genealogy RecordsGenealogy research and tracing my family tree history has been an interest and hobby of mine for several years. October is Family History Month and there is no better way to celebrate but to begin creating a family tree of your own with names, stories, photos, vital records, birth dates, marriages, divorces, deaths etc for a complete family history of your ancestry and roots.

Genealogy or ancestry research can seem rather daunting for a beginner, especially when you consider the time it takes collecting family documents and records kept in old Bibles, going to libraries checking through large volumes of books and files, family history databases, charts and vital records reports.

Then there are the newspapers, obituaries, cemeteries, tombstones, census records, church records, land and property records, deeds of ownership and much more. It would be great if diaries, personal letters, Bible notes and photos were all we needed to build a family tree, and it would make the process of building a family tree pretty easy.

Free Family Tree Makers

When I first started searching for information on relatives and ancestors to create a family tree online to pass onto my children and grandchildren, I wanted to collect as many details as I could for free. There are genealogy search engines and websites that provide information about family records and data for little or no cost at all (Geni.com), to get help in finding your family tree history and create a family tree online, or you can use family tree software on your computer.
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Most Popular Christmas Toys 2009-Hot New Toys For Kids Christmas

LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical TableChristmas 2009 is here. Are you ready? Every Christmas holiday season parents ask, “What will be the most popular hot new toys for Christmas this year?” The latest trends in new toys for Christmas correspond closely to the economy, which is why the “Recession Christmas” or frugal Christmas gifts term is often used by people looking for affordable Christmas gifts for their kids and teens.

Toy makers and manufacturers understand that people have less money to spend on Christmas this year and are making smaller versions of large more-expensive toys, with one example being the new mini version of last years big Fur Real dinosaur from the Hasbro Fur Real Friends line of toys.

A hot new trend in toys for 2009 are Eco-friendly, “Green” or recycled toys that are made out of recycled materials to help the environment. Toys made from environmentally friendly materials are called Green Toys, such as the Fuzz That Was by Mary Meyer, which are stuffed toy pets made out of old recycled water bottles.

Green Toys for Kids

An Eco-friendly green toy company in California called The Green Toy Company sells “Made in the USA” toys for kids from 100% recycled materials, including a toy recycling truck, a toy dump truck, indoor gardening kit, jump rope, sand play set, an Ecosaucer, a toy cookware and dining set, toy tool set, a toy dish set, a toy chef set, and a toy tea set – each made from recycled milk bottles.
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Oprah Winfrey Show Coming To State Fair of Texas Dallas Fair Park

Oprah Winfrey State Fair of TexasUPDATE Below: Oprah Winfrey is coming to Dallas Fair Park, the home of the State Fair of Texas, on Monday October 12th, according to an WFAA news release. All we know so far is that Oprah Winfrey is scheduled to tape a show at Dallas Fair Park on October 12, but details of how Dallas/Fort Worth area people may be able to obtain tickets to see Oprah tape the Oprah Winfrey Show at the State Fair are still unknown.

Mike Devlin, WFAA president and general manager said, “We are pleased to welcome Oprah back to North Texas. Oprah is scheduled to be out and about, on the road across America this fall and Dallas-Fort Worth was one of the first cities chosen for a visit.”

“Oprah and her on-air contributors will be highlighting our area, and sampling the best of what North Texas has to offer. WFAA is pleased to provide assistance in bringing her to our viewers during the State Fair of Texas,” said Devlin.

UPDATE: Local residents interested in more information on Oprah’s visit to North Texas at Dallas Fair Park and How To Get Tickets to see Oprah at the State Fair of Texas in October, please go “www.oprah.com/audience” for ticket reservation info. You can also follow the State Fair of Texas on Twitter to receive updates on Oprah’s Dallas visit next month.
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Recession Christmas – 12 Frugal Christmas Present Gift Ideas

Frugal ChristmasReady or not, the Christmas season is upon us. Stores are stocking up on anything and everything related to Christmas gift-giving, while many families are trying to find ways to survive Christmas during a recession. Christmas may not seem so “Merry” for those affected by job layoffs, home foreclosures and in some cases, outright poverty. Many families are in need of life’s basic necessities, due in part to the economic downturn, and will be in need of Christmas donations from those more fortunate.

According to a survey by Ing Direct, only about half of American adults (54%) plan to spend $300.00 or more on holiday Christmas gifts this year, a 10% decrease from what Americans spent last year during the 2008 Christmas holiday season. The survey results show that only 11% plan to spend between $1 and $100 in 2009 on Xmas gifts, and 23% plan to spend $100-$299, compared to 21 percent last year.

11% of those surveyed don’t plan to spend any money at all on Christmas toys or gifts in 2009, compared to 7 percent in 2008, a 57 percent increase. 14% of parents are giving children smaller Christmas stockings this year, while others are choosing to not fill Xmas stockings at all, and some will just hang the stockings as a Christmas decoration. Older Americans (55 years old and up) show the most dramatic change, with 61% planning to spend $300 or more dollars on gifts this year, compared to 71% from last year.

41% of Americans say saving more and spending less is a top priority for the remainder of the year and beyond. According to Forbes.com, 67% of Americans say they will continue their frugal ways by saving more money and spending less even after the economy recovers. The recession creates a great opportunity to rethink priorities in life, with less focus on luxuries and frivolous spending, and greater importance being placed on real “needs” vs. “wants”.

If you are being frugal by choice or by sheer necessity, Christmas presents a financial challenge for those who are needing a less expensive, affordable Christmas holiday. Here are twelve inexpensive, frugal Christmas gift ideas that won’t break the bank.
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Caution: Children Should Come With Warning Labels

Caution Children Should Come With Warning LabelsChildren should come with warning labels, am I right mom and dad readers? As a parent, do you have times where you could use a good laugh about raising children? Have you ever wished that your children came with warning labels when they were born?

Do you remember those crazy and frustrating times that didn’t seem very funny at the time, but later on you discovered you could laugh about them?

Although children don’t come with an instruction manual for parents, kids should definitely come with warning labels, such as:

  • Caution: Children Have No Warranty or Guarantee
  • Caution: Motherhood Causes Identity Theft
  • Caution: Teaching Children to Talk Will Backfire
  • Caution: Children Cause Hearing Loss
  • Caution: You are Not Smarter than a Fifth Grader
  • Caution: Peace and Quiet Come with a Price
  • Caution: Children are Not Cheaper by the Dozen
  • Caution: GPS Locator Recommended

Patti McKenna’s new book, appropriately titled Caution: Children Should Come With Warning Labels, is a true and humorous personal story of raising children from birth through young adulthood.
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Blurt! The Uproarious Word Race Game Review and Giveaway

Blurt! The Uproarious Word Race GameDo you and your family enjoy playing fun board games? If so, the new Blurt! game is a must-have for family game night and parties with friends. Blurt! The Uproarious Word Race Game is back with a brand new 2009 edition, after having been sold by the original publisher and taken off of the market for several years.

The first and original Blurt! game was the brain-child of Tim Walsh in 1990, as he was trying to help keep 3rd grade students quiet in their classroom, and failing miserably. Tim was dating a teacher at the time (who he later married) and says, “My job was to quietly entertain a few kids in the corner of her classroom while she worked with the rest of her students on year-end projects.”

Browsing through some books with the students, Tim opened a dictionary and began to read aloud to himself, “The nut of an oak tree.” The 8-year-old students didn’t stay quiet for long. One child mumbled, “Oaknut”, but Tim smiled and said “No, it’s an acorn”. Continuing on with more word clues and seeing the children get more excited as they guessed at the answer, a light bulb went off in Tim’s mind and he knew he had discovered a great new game.

Blurt! was originally released as “Blurt! The Webster’s Game of Word Racing” in 1994 by a small puzzle company in Wisconsin, going on to win numerous awards and entertain families, selling its 1,000,000th copy in 2000.

“Blurt! was invented for kids, obviously, it came out of a classroom”, says Walsh. “Families and kids love it because it’s fast and fun, but go on YouTube and you’ll find more than a few school and college-age kids playing it and having a blast too. It’s not intimidating like trivia and it’s hilarious what people Blurt on in the heat of play.”

The newly updated Blurt! game is better than ever, with new words and clues that make game night fun for all, which now includes a Junior version of the Blurt game for children ages 7-9. Here’s a test of your “blurting” abilities: Think fast. What word means “a partially dried grape”? Hurry! If you are the first player to blurt out “raisin”, you’re well on your way to winning this uproariously funny board game of rapid word recall called Blurt!
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Only Hearts Club Dolls Giveaway Contest

Only Hearts Club Dolls

I recently had the opportunity to review the Only Hearts Club dolls by Only Hearts Club and fell in love with the 9-inch OHC dolls for children. Fortunately, parents are becoming more aware of the sexualization of children through the media, with children’s clothes and toys becoming more and more inappropriate as time goes by.

Only Hearts Club understands the growing problem for parents to find age-appropriate toys for their young girls and boys, with many parents not being too keen on buying Bratz dolls or Barbie dolls anymore, and a lot of parents were understandably very upset about the “Dora the Explorer Going Skank” nonsense that happened recently.

The good people at Only Hearts Club are allowing me to host a Only Hearts Club dolls giveaway contest! For a chance to win, there will be three (3) lucky winners of a 9-inch Only Hearts Club doll of their choice! This contest is open to USA and Canada residents only, sorry. Each winner will be contacted by email and asked to provide their mailing address. Should you be a contest winner, your contact information will be shared with the contest sponsor in order to send your prize.

Only Hearts Club Giveaway Rules:

a) Sign up for my free Newsletter Updates to my blog by email, confirm your subscription with the email you receive (check your spam folder), then come back and leave a comment that you’ve done so (I will be verifying).

b) Visit the Only Hearts Club website and choose the 9-inch doll you hope to win, then leave a separate comment with the name of the doll.

To receive extra entry points to win an Only Hearts Club doll (each task will earn you 1 extra entry):
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Allen Birthing Center, Dallas Midwife Birthing Options, American Association Birth Centers

Allen Birthing CenterThe Allen Birthing Center, located in historic downtown Allen Texas, is the birthing center my daughter chose to deliver her baby in May 2009. Allen Birthing Center is a free-standing birth center, staffed by 3 experienced and highly-educated certified nurse-midwives (CNMs), offering prenatal care, labor support, delivery and exam of the newborn, postpartum care, well-woman exams, family planning, and primary care.

As soon as my daughter learned about her pregnancy, she had what seemed like a million questions and fears for a first-time mother, which is understandable. We discussed birthing options, the average cost of delivering a baby in a hospital vs. a birthing center or homebirth, pros and cons of each option etc, so she could make an informed choice for herself and her baby.

I was very careful to just explain the facts of each option because I didn’t want her to feel any pressure or influence from me about how or where to have her baby. Just because I chose the home birth option to deliver her and her older brother, and hospital births for my first four children, doesn’t mean she should make the same choice I did.

My daughter asked me, “If you could do it all over again, which option would you choose now?” I had to be honest and tell her that if I had known years ago about certified midwives, birthing centers and homebirth options, I would have chosen to give birth to each of my children at home. The differences between laboring and delivering a baby in a hospital vs. delivering at home or at a birthing center for low-risk pregnancies are huge.

I suggested she check out Ricki Lake’s Business of Being Born documentary, and explained that she needed to create a birth plan where she would list her personal preferences for labor and delivery, including how and where she would decide to give birth. I also explained that she needed to decided whether or not she wanted pain medication or an epidural for pain relief during labor, because that would have everything to do with where she would labor and deliver her baby.
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Mother Of The Bride Dresses, Special Occasion Dresses, Cheap Bridesmaids Dresses

After Six Bridesmaids DressesAre you shopping for Mother-of-the-Bride dresses, special occasion dresses, affordable Bridesmaid Dresses or Wedding Dresses for an upcoming wedding? Although I’m not the mother of the bride, but am the step-mother of the bride who is getting married soon, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find a special occasion dress to wear to the wedding.

Until now, it hadn’t occurred to me how time-consuming it would be going from one special occasion dress shop to the next in hopes of finding the perfect dress, in the right color, style and size to wear. The price of some modern, unique, beautiful Mother of the Bride Dresses that were also age-appropriate nearly caused me to keel over and faint.

Special Occasion Dresses

In some local dress shops I visited, the cost of special occasion dresses for a wedding was almost the same as a designer wedding dress for an expensive and extravagant Cinderella wedding! Fortunately, there are Cheap Bridesmaid Dresses that come in every color, style, length and size that won’t break the bank.

I did spend a few days checking out the local special occasion dress shop sections in stores like JCPenney, Dillards, Nordstrom, as well as local discount bridal consignment shops, but I didn’t find anything I liked. When I was looking for a prom dress for my daughter, I went to a bridal/prom store in Dallas called “Whatchamacallit” that has thousands of dresses, but if you’re not a professional seamstress who can fix the fraying threads, missing buttons, broken zippers and other problems, you’d be wasting your time there.

I do almost all of my shopping online, and buying a special occasion dress online is no different. I always check the sizing charts and usually buy a dress one size larger than my normal size to leave room for alterations that are almost always necessary. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all dress, unless you don’t mind your dress looking like a tent or potato sack with rhinestones or sequins sewn on.
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