Top 8 Websites That I Use Daily

While I still prefer to keep track off many things with good old fashion pen and paper, there is no arguing that the Internet has made scheduling and task management much easier.

I have compiled this list of my favorite programs for each section of my life and why I like them. Some of them I have been using for a few years now and some of them I have only been using for a month or so. If you know of any websites or programs in any of these categories that you think I will like better then what I am currently using then please don't hesitate to share in the comments.

Email: Gmail

For my everyday email I use Gmail. I have two separate Gmail accounts, one for personal and one for blogging and everything related to my blog. I love Gmail because it is simple to use and I really love organizing my emails with their "labeling" system. You can file emails under their preexisting labels or create you own labels. bI have it broken into categories like Personal, Receipts, and Household. I then have it broken down further with sub-categories like Bills, Subscriptions, School, etc. I also love that I can choose to have certain emails bypass my inbox altogether and go straight to the folder of my choice. For example I have all emails from NB Power and Roger's go straight to my Bills folder. It saves me having to read through a bunch of unnecessary mail and keeps my inbox free of clutter. Another thing I LOVE, is that you can use Remember The Milk as an Add-On with Gmail and view your To-Do List/Tasks right on the same page as your inbox.Which brings me to the next website...

To-Do List/ Scheduling- Remember The Milk

I am currently using Remember The Milk for my to-do lists, scheduling activities, appointments and managing my families day-to-day life. I have only been using RTM for about a month now so I have yet to unlock its full potential. So far I like that I can organise tasks by family member and level of priority. I like being able to "Tag" tasks and then I can search for multiple tasks under the same tag. As I mentioned earlier it can be used as an ad-on with Gmail and my To-do list appears right next to my inbox when I sign on Gmail, saving me from having to check the RTM website every day. One thing that drives me nutso about RTM, however, is that there is an icon of a calender when scheduling dates, but when you click it nothing happens. There is no pop-up calender to chose a date from!! Yes, you can type in "next Friday" and it will automatically detect the date, but I need to actually see a calender in front of me when scheduling a date in order to see the actual day. As a result, I have to open another program to check a calender, which kind of defeats the purpose of saving time. A pop-up calender when selecting a date is standard on any scheduling program so I don't really understand how Remember The Milk didn't think of this.  This is the one thing preventing my RTM experience from being the most efficient. If anyone can suggest a better program for task management and to do list please let me know as I am definitely open to trying a new one.

Pictures- Picasa

I have been using Picasa to manage my photos for over a year now and I love it. I upload tons of photos on a monthly basis and Picasa allows me to upload straight from my camera to Picasa. It is easy to organise pictures and you can edit them with Picnik from Picasa. It also has online albums and the option to email folders or single photos which makes sharing with family and friends extremely easy. Adding captions to photos is another option I really like because it is kind of like when you write on the back of a real photograph, you can add details, the loaction or just a cute comment and it can be seen on the online albums. When I am looking for a picture from my blog it allows me to browse through Picasa, instead of tiny thumbnails, and simply copy the path and post to Blogger. It is much easier for me that way because I can find a picture, crop and edit it and then add it to my blog all from Picasa.

Music and Burning CD'S- Blubster

I have been through so many music programs, including Bearshare, Kazaa, Limewire, and many of them caused issues on my computer or just didn't work for me for one reason or another. I have been using Blubster for about a year and a half now and it has been the best so far. Mainly because it hasn't slowed down my computer or gave me a virus...yet. I use it to download songs, organise my music and burn Cd's. Well actually, I don't actually use Blubster to burn them, I use Windows Media Player to burn them, but I download them on Blubster then simply drag the songs from Blubster to my Media Player burn list and push burn. It is super simple! One downside to Blubster is that while they have millions of songs, songs that are less popular and not as well known can be difficult to impossible to find. It is frustrating when you have a song you really like but you cannot find it. However, I have yet to find something better (Feel free to recommend one:) so in the meantime, Blubster it is!

Music and Videos- YouTube

Okay, I know that Youtube isn't really a website I "need" but I honestly can't go without it. I use Youtube every single day. If I am looking for new music to listen to or I want to just listen to music without downloading it, Youtube is what I use. I also use it all the time to find tutorials on things such as crafts, makeup, etc. While I love written tutorials, I am the kind of person who has to see something being done as opposed to just reading about it. The downside to so much Youtube is that with Roger's High Speed Internet you have a monthly cap on how much GB you can use (I think it is usually 60GB, but you can pay for a higher cap) and once you reach 100% of your usage then you are charged by the Gigabyte. It is stupid and I learnt the hard way that Youtube sucks up usage like there's no tomorrow. Trust me when you are streaming videos it doesn't take long to reach your limit. But until I can find a better ISP I am gonna keep on YouTube-ing.

Organizing/Bookmarking Projects/Recipes/ETC-Pinterest

Until about a week ago I had yet to jump on the Pinterest bandwagon. Not because I didn't want to but because I could not get them to send me a damn invite! Finally, after begging another blogger on their comments to send me an invite, I finally got to see what I was missing. And boy, was I missing out!! I absolutely LOVE Pinterest now for quickly bookmarking things such as projects, activities for the kids, cleaning tips, you name it! I love how you can make several different bloards for whatever you wish. Right now I have a pinboard for Valentine's Activities, one for Organisation and Cleaning Tips, Projects/crafts to Try, etc. Plus, the "PIN IT" button on my toolbar makes it a cinch. So to the creators of Pinterest: THANK YOU!

Financial- Scotiabank Online

For financial stuff I simply use my regular banks online banking service. I do almost all of my day-to-day banking online because it is just easier then calling them or dragging the kids all the way to the bank. Pretty much anything I can do over the phone or in person I can do online (except cashing cheques and withdrawing cash obviously). I can pay bills, transfer funds, check my balances, review my statements, order cheques, etc. It saves time and is environmentally friendly (no more paper statements!) However, I do NOT get any emails from my bank containing any personal or banking information. This is because I don't feel that email is secure enough, and I was right!! My Gmail account just got hacked last week!


Organisation/Meal Planning/Calender- Cozi

While I use Remember The Milk for my To-Do lists, I use Cozi for all my other family planning and organisation. I use the calender to schedule appointments, activities, school stuff, birthdays, etc. There is also a meal planning feature, a journal, shopping lists and more. I am currently using the Flylady version because I LOVE Flylady. There are also some neat extras and ad-ons available for download such as the Cozi desktop widget (To display your tasks on your desktop) or the Cozi screensaver (which not only posts reminders but also a slide show of all your photos on your screensaver). Just make sure they are compatible with your version of Windows before you download them. I downloaded both and turns out I don't have the right version of Windows for them to work properly: Overall, the Cozi webpage is fairly easy to use and navigate and I will continue to use it until I find something better.

So, there you have it! It is so hard for me to remember what life was like before all these great programs! Or imagine having to go without them! So, what types of websites can you just not live without? Feel free to suggest any programs that you think I will like better!!

OOTD: Mommy and Baby version

So I have noticed that pretty much all my favorite mommy bloggers have started doing the Outfit of the Day feature. I personally love seeing what other mommies where and where they buy it, how much it cost, etc. I also love seeing how other mommies dress their children and I got the idea to do an OOTD for my daughter from Mandy over at The OMG Mom, who did an outfit post of her daughter on her blog, which you can view HERE.  So, since there are some days when I have absolutely nothing even remotely interesting to blog about I decided to jump on the OOTD bandwagon. I will try my best to include prices and where I got each item but some things I have had forever and I have a hard time remembering what I ate for breakfast, let alone where i bought something three years ago. Alright, enough of me rambling on, lets do the damn thing.

OOTD: Mommy Casual

This was worn to basically bum around the house and for a quick grocery run.

Sweatpants (12.99$) and Hoodie (18.99$) from Giant Tiger
White tank under sweatshirt (10$) from Urban Planet
'Guess' necklace was gift but similar styles are online for between 40-60$ (See closer pic below)
Cupcake Slippers (12.99$) from Wal-Mart
                                                                                                                                                              

 OOTD: Toddler Edition-

I decided to do this outfit because I LOVE it on her. It is two pics because I wanted to show it her outfit without her coat and then with it. These were both taken at the same time though.

Shirt (19.99$) from H & M

Black Leggings (12.99$) from H & M

Brown Riding Boots (24.99$) from H & M (Closer pic below)

Coat (Reg. 54.99$ on Sale for 34.99$) from Old Navy

Hat and Mittons (9.99$ each...Sold seperately) from Baby Gap

Cutest. Boots. EVER

New Year's Resolutions 2012

Every single January I start out the New year with the best of intentions. I am determined to stick to my resolutions and follow through. Then, every year, by February said resolutions have been long since forgotten. Well not this year I tell ya! This year I promise, no I VOW, to stick them out. There are three things that I am determined to change in 2012. Each of things will change my life for the better and I have NO excuse to flake on them. So, without further ado, here are my 2012 New Year's Resolutions:

Number 1: I resolve to quit smoking cigarettes. Yes, I know it is a disgusting habit. Yes, I know it is terrible for my health. And to make matters worse I have had asthma my whole life! I am surprised my doctor hasn't strangled me yet. I am not fooling myself into thinking this will be easy. I know it will be tough stuff, but i have overcame much MUCH more challenging obstacles. Hubby and I plan to quit together. I am sure that this is going to be a huge factor in my success because I am telling you right now that I will have a VERY hard time quitting if i have to see packs of smokes lying around and deal with him still smoking. Plus it is always good to have someone going through the same thing. You can support each other, help each other get through the cravings and just knowing you are not alone is a great help. I would ideally like to quit sans any type of aids such as the patch, however, I am not going to swear quitting aids of completely because i know a few people who had success with various types. I think i will just see how it goes quitting on my own cold turkey and if that ends up being to difficult then i may try either the patch or a prescription quitting aid such as Chantix. I am NOT going to use the gum because it tastes like ass and I would rather eat shit then chew on that. I havent worked out the logistics yet but i am going to pick a "quit date" and really really try to stick with it. I feel sorry for my children for the first few days though, as I am sure I will be far from in a chipper mood. Hopefully I am not to unbearable to be around. I know it will be worth it in the end though when i can breathe better and I am not spending almost ten bucks a day on smokes. Plus, it is setting a good example for my kids. Monkey see, monkey do and all that crap.



Number 2: I resolve to begin working out regularly again. This is something else I really want to do that will greatly benefit my health. Number one sort of ties in with this as it will be easier to workout when I am a non-smoker (See what i did there? Not 'if' but 'WHEN' I am a non-smoker..Getting in the mindset!) I won't get winded as easily. As it stands right now the stairs to my front door almost do me in. I had been working out regularly a few months back but I began skipping days and planning on making up for it then not doing it, then my motivation kind of just fizzled out completely. I did buy a lot of great workout equipment during that time though which I still have, so there is no reason why I can't start up again. I lost almost ten pounds in the last month or two,  down from 147lbs to 138lbs, from doing nothing differently except walking Coder to and from school daily.. This has given me a bit of motivation to continue and try to reach my goal weight of 125. Although, I am not really looking to lose weight as much as I am to tone up, get rid of the love handles and and increase my energy. I do want to lose that pesky last ten pounds but that is all. When I was on my workout kick I stumbled across a great FREE website called www.sparkpeople.com that offers a free workout and nutrition guide where you can log your eating habits and exercise minutes. It also has a ton of other awesome features like great articles, workout videos and demos, a very supportive community with forums and blogs and much more. If you are looking to lose weight or simply become more active I highly recommend checking it out. It costs nothing and is a great tool for anyone interested in getting in shape. This is also one of  hubby's resolutions so hopefully, like the smoking, we can help keep each other motivated. I will be doing all my workouts at home since I am too cheap for a gym membership, but this works out well for me because I can squeeze a quick workout in anytime, such as early morning, once the kids are in bed or during naptime.

Number 3: My final resolution is to get my house more organized. Right now our home is in a constant state of chaos. There is definitely much room for improvement in the organization department. Closets and toys are huge problems areas, as is the bathroom. I also need to adopt some type of filing system for important papers, bills and school forms, etc. Right now my counter is kind of a catch all for any and every paper that enter the house. And with Christmas just days away, and a bunch of new stuff coming into the house, what better time is there to get organized. I am always browsing cleaning and organization blogs and I come across tons of great ideas. I will see something, bookmark it with the intention to do it, and then never give the page another glance. But not this year! This year I am going to become an organization QUEEN. Well, maybe not. But I am definitely going to create some sort of system for organizating the various messes in my house. I don't have a ton of money to drop on fancy schmancy closet organizers and cubby systems so much of it will be ideas that are cheap and fairly simple and that use everyday items. One of my favorite organization sites is I'm an Organizing Junkie, so I will definitly be looking there for ideas and tips. The main areas in need of an overhaul are:

• Closets
• Kids roons/Toys
• Kitchen cupboards/pantry/fridge
• Important papers/school stuff
• Bathroom (Makeup, hair products, etc)

I will be posting each project I tackle along the way so be sure to Follow for tips and ideas as well as pictures of my progress. Also, if any of you have any ideas for organizing any of the above categories I would be thrilled if you would share. If I really like it I will even feature it!! I am thinking about doing some type of organizing series in 2012 but the idea is still in the works as of now so stay tuned in.

So there you have it! My resolutions for 2012 are official, now it is up to me to stick them out. Be sure to Follow to stay up to date on my progress. I would love to hear what types of New Year's resolutions everyone else hopes to accomplish. What are your top three resolutions for 2012? Do you normally follow through on resolutions? Please share!