(image from HoumaToday.com) I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July yesterday! And I hope while you took time to relax, eat bbq, drink a cold beverage and spend time with your family and friends.. you took a moment to truly be thankful.

Here are a few things I wanted to share:

Independence day prayer:

On this Independence Day I am reminded of all those who have sacrificed for my freedom, following the example of your Son, Jesus Christ. Let me not take my freedom, both physical and spiritual, for granted. May I always remember that my freedom was purchases with a very high price. My freedom cost others their very lives.
Read the rest of the prayer here:

Information about The Fourth Of July, can be found here at USA.gov

Darlene, Kellie and Trinitie made it to the HoumaToday.com website, for the Forth of July Celebration.  Follow this link to HoumaToday to watch the video.  In the video, around 1 minute 5 seconds, you see Trinities hand holding and waving an American Flag.  Then you see Darlene and Trinitie, and then Kellie gets to tell the world what Fourth of July means to her.     Good answer Kellie!

a few pictures taken from Kellie’s Myspace ~

Thanks Kellie!

Looks like eveyone had a wonderful time at the parade!  Happy Houma is finally having their own 4th of July celebration!  Hopefully next year the girls won’t have to wait 2 hours for a snowball!  lol

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Send some positive thoughts, good vibes and prayers to my mommy!  She wasn’t feeling so hot yesterday morning and drove herself to the hospital.   She is hanging out for a while, letting the Doctors poke, prod and scan her to see whats going on.   Happy to say, Scott and Melanie took a ride from Texas last night so they can go say hello and give her some love and support.  Kellie visited and brought mom some necessary items, my dad is also going this morning, and Rosemary and Janice went to visit last night.  Thanks Everyone!

So if you have a moment, send her a positive thought.  A simple prayer.  Some good happy vibes.   Send them her way, I will surly appreciate it and I know she will appreciate it as well.

To mom:  I hope you start feeling super fine today! I was going to post you a pretty flower…. then I thought a pretty picture of you…. but none quite said I love you enough as this one..

here is a handful of special family members… aren’t you proud! lol, we love you!

Can’t wait till our next family gathering! Probably my baby shower! 

June 17, 2009
I went to my local Target and purchased a few grocery items.   Prior to my trip I printed a Target Web Coupon … you know since I am on super budget so I can buy my baby a tricked out diamond encrusted pacifier!  At checkout my Target Coupon would not scan, the cashier said she could not accept it.   She called over the manager, and the manager said “if it doesn’t scan, we can’t accept it.”  I said, but it’s a “Target coupon that I printed from target.com and it says right here in all caps TARGET WEB COUPON”

The manage said “NO, I am not accepting it.  If it doesn’t scan  we are not allowed to take it.”  I said well don’t you have a list of current accepted Target coupons? Her reply was “Sorry there is nothing I can do.”  I asked her to type in the numbers to see if it would work. Her reply was “we are not allowed to type in the numbers.”

What?
So I took back the coupon and completed the transaction.  I made it outside and told Pat,

I can’t let this go…

I am going back in to customer service.  I was explaining it to the associate when the phone rang, and the other associated answered then turned her back towards me and told the girl helping me, “the manager already told her that she would not accept the coupon.”

What?
Where is that woman?  Is she spying on me or something?  I couldn’t believe the manager called over and didn’t give the associates the opportunity to try and solve a customer issue.

I was so disappointed and in shock!  Target, my favorite store of all time, had just betrayed me by not accepting the coupon they gave me in the first place.

My sister Faith, stumbled me some Target contact info, if I decided to call or write a letter. Well I didn’t want to call, I was just to upset about the situation.

I sent an email to the CEO on June 18 at 11 am

Dear Mr. Steinhafel:

I had a disappointing experience yesterday at my favorite Target store.
I tried to use a Target web coupon that was from Target.com, the cashier refused it, the manager refused it and customer service refused it.   The problem was that it would not scan.

The coupon clearly says
“TARGET WEB COUPON”  all in caps.

Shouldn’t the managers have a log or print out of current Target web coupons?   I was, and still am floored that they would not accept it.

I am a store manager for a Pier 1 Imports, and I would never let a customer go through what I went though yesterday at my local Target.

I tried to let it go, but I feel that in this case the customer is right, the coupon is a Target Web Coupon!  I feel it should have been honored.

A disappointed Target Shopper,
Angel Matthews
555-555-5555
myrealemail@gmail.com

Details:
Target located in Baltimore Maryland 555-555-5555
Date of purchase: 06/17/2009
Time: 04:22 pm
Coupon info: Target Web Coupon – Expires 06/20/09
$2.00 off with purchase of two morningstar products

At 7:00 pm this evening I received a phone call from Gregg’s assistant… Greg.   He told me lots of great information.  He called the Target where I had the problem prior to calling me, talked to the appropriate people in regards to accepting Target coupons, said he appreciated my feedback and will use it to coach the team members at the store in an attempt to prevent further similar situations.

Asked me what happened.  He even asked if they tried typing in the number…  and he couldn’t believe the manager didn’t try that.  We had a nice conversation,

Greg also congratulated me on my pregnancy!

He asked my permission to send me a $10.00 gift certificate to cover the coupon and to get me back in the store.  I told him that was more than fair, and the important thing was to coach the team members to handle these scenarios.

I was surprised at the prompt reply from Target.  In fact I wasn’t expecting any feedback at all.   But I am glad he called and happy he talked to the Manager at the store where I had the issue.

I think I did good!  At the time of the incident, I wanted to cry and scream and make them take my coupon!  I sent a short concerned email, and my patience and good-natured attitude lead me to a solution.

Thanks Greg for calling me and setting things right. I am happy to know there are people out there that take consumer feedback seriously.

~album inside~

I had the best morning walk.  I started my day in the resident lounge…  I got a cup of decaf coffee, a strawberry breakfast bar and an apple.    I took my coffee outside and walked around to take a few morning pictures.  It is so beautiful here, and I can’t wait for everyone to come and visit us! I love all the greenery, the mossy walls and the wildlife.  Pat was confronted by a deer on our first walk, it was coming right for him!  lol  I didn’t see any deer this morning, but I saw plenty squirrels and birds.   The river looks very muddy right now, I guess because it has been raining for days.   It looks yucky but it sounds glorious!

I have been busy getting the new apartment all dolled up, and I must say, things are looking fabulous!   Today I will finally finish up a couple websites I been working on.  One is for Gordon and Lynette and their new snowball business Senor Gordy’s.  And the other is for Jeannie and Milton for their new landscaping business Integrity Landscaping LLC.

Have a beautiful day!
Your optimistic Angel

P.S. Things have been a bit stressful for a lot of us lately…  let’s focus on the good things today!  Leave a comment and list at least 5 good things in your life.  At least 5!  and of course you can leave as many good things as you would like.  Spread the love!

Peace, Love and Optimism!

Check out this enormous list of proverbs here at this web site!  Pick one of your favorites and tell us why you like it.  Do you use it on a daily bases?  Would you like to?  Is it just ironic to you?  Is it wishful thinking?  Are you trying to give someone a hint?
Give us the scoop and let us know.  I am all over the place with my emotions and I figure everyone should have some

“deep” feelings today!

Support our troops! Especially Derrick!  Derrick we wish we could have been there today for your party!  I bet you are having so much fun right now….  surrounded by family and friends and tasty food! 

Enjoy your time with everyone and we will see you at the next family gathering.

Hugs and love, we’ll miss you while you are activated!  I hope time flies by for you!

If anyone else has a picture they want to share, send it to me at totallyangel@gmail.com

“Life is an echo. What you send out, you get back. What you give, you get.”

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“Life is an echo. What you send out, you get back. What you give, you get.”

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“Life is an echo. What you send out, you get back. What you give, you get.”

~ Zin Ziglar

They say family is the most important thing in life.   but…..    is it?   Do you appreciate your family or do you take them for granted or hold grudges?  Do you love your family or resent them?

I had a dream, I was dying…   no one would help me.  I begged the family to take me to the hospital so I can live through the night and nobody would.  Everyone had excuses “It was too expensive.  I am sorry I can’t take you.  You can’t afford the hospital.  I have to take a shower.  I need to make a phone call. They don’t take your insurance.”  No one would take me…   I was dying… and no one would help me.   I needed to get through the night so Pat could help me. After hours of bleeding, begging and guts coming out of my mouth, Pat showed up to take me to the hospital.

Well, I just wanted to send out a reminder to everyone out there, that family is important.
If you are holding a grudge against someone, drop it.
If you are avoiding someone, quit it.
If you are hiding something, show it.
If you want to get something out in the open, open it.
If you owe someone, pay it.
If you only call when you need something, stop it.
If you don’t call at all, make the call.
If you expect the person to be there, don’t assume.
If you have something on your chest, get it off.

Peace, Love and Family!

Yummy!

A delicious fresh glass of decaf iced tea topped off with a slice of lemon.  2009 is THE year for many of us and I wanted to remind us of a very simple thing that we can do to help me achieve an optimum level of health.

Eat Less!

When you pay a little attention to calories and fat, you realize quickly that most of us simply eat too much in a day.  Calories add up quick!  To help curb constant snacking, fix a glass of decaf iced tea.  No calories!  I also very frequently make spritzers!  Seltzer water with a splash of fruit juice is only 20 calories.

Pat attention to serving size.

Last night I had my serving of penne pasta with 1/2 chicken breast and garden vegetable sauce.  I used a small ceramic bowl to hold my food, it filled it up and I savored every last morsel!  It felt as though it should have been an appetizer it was so small, but it had approximately 350 calories in that wee bit.   Last week I would have eaten almost 3 times that much and filled up my saucer plate, thinking of the calories, it would have been about 1000 calories!

I held strong, remembering to eat less.  I had my dinner at 5 pm.  It was good.  No need to be greedy.  I can eat again in the morning.  Spritzer time at 7pm.  Hot sleepy time tea at 9pm.  I wanted popcorn, but I had a spritzer instead…..   it worked out just fine!

If you want to lose some weight, pay some attention to the amount calories in a serving.  Drink more water, decaf fresh tea, herbal hot tea and spritzers!

So far I am 2 pounds into my my 20 pound weight loss goal.  Drinking fancy teas and spritzers help curb my snacking.  What works for you?  What are you doing to help you achieve your optimum level of health?

Turn your New Year’s resolutions into reality!

No time like the present to determine some needed changes in your life and or lifestyle.  I know you were waiting for the big day to make any life long decisions.  I know you drank and ate too much yesterday because you knew that today was the first day of the rest of your life!  I bet you even finished the entire bag of chips, just so it would not be in the pantry. . .  

That day is here!  And here is a little formula I worked up….

Change your I want to I will and determine the how.   Then get your ass moving into the direction you want it to go.    By the way, you do realize that you have control over your ass right?

Example:
So you want to make a dentist appointment?  No You will make that appointment.   How? Call your dentist.  If you don’t have one find one.  Can’t afford it, try a dental school.  Just do it and stop finding excuses.

You want to do yoga.  No you will do yoga.  How?  Start small and at level you can appreciate. The web is loaded with yoga information and don’t forget the library!  Google Yoga and find lots of  yoga goodies. Do not wait to buy the perfect yoga pants or the pretty yoga mat.  Just start it and stop finding excuses.

Keep your goals small.  Ever heard of “baby steps?” If you say I want to eat healthy, that may be to big, break it down and be specific.

I want to eat healthy.”  Try I will eat 3 pieces of fresh fruit every day. How? I will slice a banana and throw it in my morning cereal, pack an apple with lunch and enjoy a satsuma in the evening when I watch Grey’s Anatomy.

See the pattern?

Make your New Year’s Resolutions a reality, you are worth the effort! I am making mine today, I have lots of things I want to do this year differently!  I’ll post mine if you post yours!

Have a glorious New Year!  We love you  2009~