Have a Better Life

Lately I have been noticing that some bloggers are not happy with their hosting service. Different hosting companies, different problems, I guess that sometimes things just doesn’t work out and people start looking for a better hosting company.

For those looking for hosting service I advise you to take a look at the webhostinggeeks.com site. Why? This site provides information about web hosting awards and ratings meaning you can check who are the best rated web hosting companies as well as the companies that received awards for their service.

Speaking for myself I must say that having a full time job, a house and two kids to take care (not to mention the husband) I want to be assured that my blogs are hosted by a good company so that I don’t have to worry about poor quality service, cpu problems, etc..

So, if you are having problems with your hosting service check the rates at webhostinggeeks,com compare services, quality and prices and choose the one that suits you the best. Don’t forget to take a look at the free domain names with web hosting and take advantage of the promotions.

Following the general idea of this blog having a better life also means being Greener and therefore helps saving the environment. Before deciding on your web hosting company takes a close look at the green web hosting where you can find Eco friendly companies. These companies are taking a major role in improving their daily work in order to be ecological. Some companies are already using alternative energetic sources for their servers without lowering their quality and efficiency has a web hosting company.

2009 is here and how not make the change now. Get out of free hosting and get control of your blogs and sites and remember Green is healthy living.

Speaking of starting New Year with two steady incomes and card debt under control I must say that January 5th was definitely not a good day for news about our financial life.

To explain how things work, I have a steady income from my full time work, every month the same amount, I always know how much money I can count with. My husband has a very low steady salary and receives extra hours when he do them, meaning that if he makes 50 extra hours a month he receives his steady salary plus the amount for the 50 hours. Extra hours were a constant so we always counted with them to pay our bills.

Due to the crisis that is going on worldwide, bosses are cutting all extra expenses and trying to negotiate low salaries. On Jan 5th my husband’s boss said he had no money for extra hours so during an unknown period that can be of several months there will be no extra hours and if there is a lot of work and my husband has to do extra hours to finish the work, these hours are going to be paid at very low rates or even for free.
So, starting now, I have much less money to spend on a monthly basis. I really don’t how we are going to do it because we need that extra money to pay for all the expenses we have.

Measures must be taken and shopping is going to be affected. Learning to living modestly, cutting on no essential food is one of those. I know there are great bloggers blogging about saving on shopping and I really I’ve been reading a lot about it. So I made a short list of my priorities, here are 10 tricks to make me save money:

Make a list of what I need
Arrive at the hypermarket with only the money I will need to shop. Take a calculator and don’t go shopping when I’m hungry or depressed.

Check the cashier ticket
Claims increased in the last months. I have to check the ticket before I leave the cashier to avoid problems.

The hypermarket must stick with what is written in the leaflets give away with promotions.
In case there is a difference between the leaflet prices and what are in the shelves, I’ve got to claim the lower amount.

Don’t search in places with excellent offers but low price products.
I spend gas and I probably will get the product at the same price in another place or in another day.

Prefer cheaper products
Buying white brands is a good strategy to save some money and usually they are of the same quality of the well known branded products.

Go straight ahead to the section where the products I need are
Walking along main corridors just makes me buy products I don’t need

If I don’t need, don’t buy
I can’t get tempted by promotions/sales by buying some product I don’t need but as they are on promotion I want to take advantage of it. Valuing my money and thinking twice before spending it is something I always did but that sometimes I forget and regret later.

Be careful with the Take 2 by the price of 1
These products are worth buying if I really need them and use them. I have to make sure which is the unit price to check if it’s worth taking advantage or not of the promotion.

Teach my kids to buy
If possible I always go shopping without my kids at least. They ask for everything and most of the time I end up buying products they won’t use and they don’t need. Other times I get surprised with some product that show up in the basket that I didn’t knew about.

When you finish your shopping, take a close look to your basket.
Don’t feel shy if you really that you bought a product that it’s more expensive than one you found in another shelf that has the same quality and do the job.

If you have some more tips for me just leave a comment or a link so that I can check what you do to save money.

Life has been good to me, I have both parents alive, I have a husband I love and that loves me a lot, two wonderful kids that drive me crazy but that I love more than anything in the world, I’ve got a full time job so, you might say, I have a wonderful life. Why don’t I have the same opinion? Am going having a depression or am I just an unsatisfied person?

Some of the points ‘m about to express were never mentioned on this blog, but having a better life includes personal life, personal issues and even private subjects (including sex).

Here are a few reasons why I’m not fully happy with my life and why I am struggling to go through with my daily life.

• I work full time in an office where I don’t want to be anymore. The environment is not the best, bosses are very demanding, besides regular work I have to take care of some of their private tasks (like buying cigars, but medication for them, pick up their wallet or coat they forgot in the car, etc.). This is not part of my job but I’m asked to do it, if I refuse I’m invited to leave the job. I must refer that I work there for 14,5 years.




• Due to my full time job I can’t pick up the kids at school, I can’t help them with their homework and this is really very upsetting to me.




• Blogging at home is complicated, the kids want me 100% and DH doesn’t make an effort to keep them busy or do some of the things they request me. I guess they all feel that my Laptop is a threat to them although my financial life in 2008 improved due to the money I earned online.




• At home I feel I’m needed 100% ALL the time and they make me feel guilty for wanting to spend some quiet time doing what I want. If I sit down in the couch to watch TV or used the computer I’m immediately interrupted by someone that wants something or just wants to speak. I feel like they are saying: you can’t sit down, we are here.




• When I have a little free time especially when the kids are in bed and for instance I want to watch a movie I’ve got DH stalking me for sex, if I say I want to watch this movie he gets upset because I’m not giving him attention. This subject maybe should be discussed in another type of blog but it is a part of my daily life.

The point here is that I barely have time for myself. Even when I’m able to stay up blogging or watching TV until 2am or 3am, when I go to bed I might be needed for my wife duties. Of course these all situation makes me sad, makes me lose interested in improving sexual life, creates a strange environment, a complicated relationship and I end up thinking: is this my fault? Should I give up doing what I like just to have sex every day? Is it a marital crises? (We started dating 19,5 years ago, married for 14,5).

You can say that sex is not everything, you can talk, you can hug, etc. and I say if I lie down in the couch with him immediately his hands want to go all over my body and most of time I just want to be closed to him and watch TV together. This situation makes me stay away from him; try to be in different couches, different rooms and this is not living.

Communication is tough to handle because he ends up saying that I don’t like anything, that I never want to have sex (if we had the night before), that all other things are more important than having sex and ends the conversation very quickly without wanting to talk any further and this has been a struggle that is getting worse. Before, we had what I called a regular sexual life but now he is insisting in doing many times and I don’t feel up to it.

I don’t talk about this subject with anyone so I don’t imagine how many times a week a couple makes love, but what I know is that I don’t want to feel pressured and having to make love just because he wants to.

Yesterday it happened again, we had made love the day before, I got very sick that day at night for other reasons but yesterday he was really to make love again and…I wasn’t. I told him that I don’t want to make love all the time but for him that’s like an offense. I know today we will be talking as we usually do, we are not one of those couples that stay days without speaking to each other, but the pain in inside me.

This situation upsets me, makes me very anxious, very nervous, I tend to cry a lot and I’m really tired. Am I depressed or am I just not handling things the right way?

Please don’t say that we need vacation…this is a daily life, something we have to deal everyday and it’s not two or three days away that are going to resolve the situation.

I would like to hear some personal opinions on how you handle this type of situation. If you feel more comfortable in sending me an email, it can be anonymous just email me at : soleflor at sapo dot pt. All input is welcome.

Celebrations are over and now it’s time to solve some of the eating mistakes we’ve done this last two weeks. Put high caloric and greasy food away and start eating healthier again.

Today I bring here a healthy low fat salad. This salad can be used as a main dish, in a picnic or as a light supper. I hope you enjoy it!!

LOW FAT SHRIMP PASTA SALAD

Ingredients:

* 6-ounces rotini pasta
* 1 cup frozen peas
* 6 ounces green beans, cut into pieces
* 2 vine-ripe tomatoes, halved vertically, then thinly sliced
* 3/4 pound cooked shrimp

Dressing
* 1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup plain low fat yogurt
* 1 tbsp nonfat milk
* 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
* Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Add peas to pasta water after two minutes of cooking time. Drain and cool pasta and peas. Cook green beans for 5 minutes in a pot of boiling water. Drain, then plunge into a bowl of iced water to retain color and stop cooking process. Drain again.

Assemble salad in a large bowl. Make creamy low-fat dressing by combining mayonnaise, yogurt, herbs and black pepper. Pour over salad and toss well. Add another tablespoon of nonfat milk if you prefer a thinner dressing.

I found this recipe in: About.com site.

Year 2009 is here and it’s time to start the year with a positive way of looking at the problems. I think happiness should be one of the goals for 2009 therefore today I bring here 30 advices for a happier life.

Although I think I am a realistic person, most people say I am too pessimist therefore I usually give a lot of importance and feel real bad when I can’t achieve my goals. I really need to get a positive and healthier vision of my life because happiness depends on that.

I hope these tips are useful for you as they will be for me.

1. Search your own happiness
Keep the habits you like, think about things that make time fly.

2. Give value to what you are
Don’t look to what others have. Give value to what you have and to what you are.

3. Give value to what surrounds you
Give value to the people that make you feel good, to work, to your children, to health, to your home, etc..

4. Allow yourself to be happy
The unhappy people think in a way that they make themselves sad.

5. Take care of your friendships
You can always count with your best friends, to know about it makes things easier.

6. Don’t be a bad loser
You have to accept things as they are. You can’t be the best in everything.

7. Be coherent with your goals
If you like to be with your family, probably a job that requires travelling is not the best option.

8. Love and say it
Think about what your life would be without those you love. Now that you have them, tell them constantly how much you love them.

9. Moderate television time
In case you watch too much television, each day that goes by makes you want more material products.

10. Accept yourself as you are
Face failure as a isolated incident, not as a supreme truth.

11. Focus on a vital goal
Seven people out of ten don’t have a specific goal, they don’t feel the taste of life.

12. Positive thinking
Facing the uncertain, happy people have a positive thinking. This allow them to be better people.

13. Believe in yourself
If you believe in your capacities you will increase your satisfaction towards life.

14. Have realistic goals
People that have very high goals and that achieve them at a very high cost are not happier than those with more simple and practical goals.

15. Vary your interests
Having a variety of interests makes you get more benefits and in case one of them lets you down, the side back will be smaller.

16. Talk about feelings
People that share their feelings feel supported even when things don’t happen as expected.

17. Laugh out loud
Happiness is related to humor. Including in dramatic situations, we should laugh.

18. Eat well
A healthy diet will make you feel well, energetic and strong.

19. Sleep better
The quantity and quality of your sleep contributes to a positive mind.

20. Practice sports
This is an excellent way of getting rid of tensions.

21. Help others
Helping others will make you feel useful, you will see the meaning of your actions and you will be more motivated for life.

22. Eat Chocolate
Chocolate has ingredients that influence positively your emotions and state of mind.

23. Sleep a nap (if you can)
Besides being a therapy against stress, sleeping a nap makes your defenses stronger and improves body functions.

24. Listen to the silence
Silence is the necessary balsam that allows your body to be free of tension.

25. Get rid of some load (metaphorically speaking)
Having a load on your back makes you sum failures. You have to free yourself from any loads, heavy weights so that you can be able to fly again.

26. Enjoy music
Music fights any adverse state of mind and relieves you from stress.

27. Catch some sun
The sun light gives joy, increases your state of mind and gives you strength.

28. Reduce unnecessary items
Give your house a cleanup and get rid of unnecessary items that make you slave of them.

29. Enjoy nature
Nature gives you fresh air, relaxes and improves stress.

30. Fight bad postures
Adopt a positive posture when facing life. Put your back straight and lift your head.