27
November
Happy Gobble Gobble Day!
26
November
Two Angels In Heaven
They will not go quietly,
the cats who’ve shared our lives.
In subtle ways they let us know
their spirit still survives.
Old habits still make us think
we hear a meow at the door.
Or step back when we drop
a tasty morsel on the floor.
Our feet still go around the place
the food dish used to be,
And, sometimes, coming home at night,
we miss them terribly.
And although time may bring new friends
and a new food dish to fill,
That one place in our hearts
belongs to them. . . and always will.
- Linda Barnes
25
November
They are AMAZING!
- What’s the difference between Frustration-Free Packaging and traditional packaging?
- What comes in the Frustration-Free Package? Do I get everything that’s in the traditional package?
- What other types of products feature Frustration-Free Packaging?
- Why aren’t there more products available with Frustration-Free Packaging?
- Why does Amazon usually ship a box inside another box?
- Why do I sometimes receive multiple shipping boxes for items that I ordered at the same time?
- What if I want to send this item as a gift?
- Does Amazon throw away the original retail packaging and re-box items in Frustration-Free Packaging before shipping them to customers?
- What is Amazon doing to reduce packaging waste?
- What else is Amazon doing to help the environment?
What’s the difference between Frustration-Free Packaging and traditional packaging?
The Frustration-Free Package (on the left) is recyclable and comes without excess packaging materials such as hard plastic clamshell casings, plastic bindings, and wire ties. It’s designed to be opened without the use of a box cutter or knife and will protect your product just as well as traditional packaging (on the right). Products with Frustration-Free Packaging can frequently be shipped in their own boxes, without an additional shipping box.
What comes in the Frustration-Free Package? Do I get everything that’s in the traditional package?
Yes, products in Frustration-Free Packaging are exactly the same — we’ve just streamlined the packaging.
What other types of products feature Frustration-Free Packaging?
We currently offer a selection of Toys and Consumer Electronics products in Frustration-Free Packaging. It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging.
We’ve pulled together a video and a few pictures that demonstrate how frustrating packaging can be — feel free to send us your pictures and videos by visiting www.amazon.com/upload.
Why aren’t there more products available with Frustration-Free Packaging?
This is just the beginning of a multi-year initiative. It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging.
And because “wrap rage” knows no national boundaries, we’re committed to expanding this program to our international sites, making this a truly global initiative.
Why does Amazon usually ship a box inside another box?
A product’s original box often is not designed to be shipped directly to the customer. To ensure it arrives safely, we may place it inside another box. With Frustration-Free Packaging, the products have been designed to ship in their original containers directly to the customer.
Why do I sometimes receive multiple shipping boxes for items that I ordered at the same time?
The most common reason for an order containing multiple items to arrive in more than one box is when the products ordered are being sent from different locations.
What if I want to send this item as a gift?
Frustration-Free Packages ship in their original boxes, without an additional box for shipping. If you want the contents of your package to remain a surprise to the recipient, you should select the ‘Gift Wrap’ option during check out. Your gift-wrapped package will be sent in an additional Amazon shipping box. If you include a gift note but not gift wrap, your package will ship in its original box and the contents may be visible to the recipient.
Does Amazon throw away the original retail packaging and re-box items in Frustration-Free Packaging before shipping them to customers?
No. Instead, we work directly with manufacturers to box products in Frustration-Free Packages right off the assembly lines, which reduces the overall amount of packing materials used.
What is Amazon doing to reduce packaging waste?
Amazon’s efforts to reduce packaging waste don’t stop with Frustration-Free Packaging. For instance, we’ve developed software that determines the “right-sized” box for any given item based on dimension and weight. As a result, we’ve achieved a dramatic reduction in the number of packages shipped in oversized boxes, significantly reducing waste; our goal is to always have the product ship in the “right-sized” box.
What else is Amazon doing to help the environment?
Learn more about what Amazon.com is doing to save energy and reduce packaging waste on our Amazon and the Environment page.
Disclaimer: This information was taken directly off amazon.com
24
November
I have been sucked in…
Thanks to all the awesome ladies on the NC Nestie board and the none stop talk about Twilight; I had to pick it up from Border’s last week. Even though I am NOT a vampire sort of person, I figured – if I don’t like it Rob will read it, but I was willing to give it a try. Well I am 100% sucked in and so far LOVE it.
For those who have been living under a rock for the past month or so, here is a sneak peak;
Sun-loving Bella meets her demon lover in a vampire tale strongly reminiscent of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. When Bella moves to rainy Forks, Wash., to live with her father, she just wants to fit in without drawing any attention. Unfortunately, she’s drawn the eye of aloof, gorgeous, and wealthy classmate Edward. His behavior toward Bella wavers wildly between apparent distaste and seductive flirtation. Bella learns Edward’s appalling (and appealing) secret: He and his family are vampires. Though Edward nobly warns Bella away, she ignores the human boys who court her and chooses her vampiric suitor. An all-vampire baseball game in a late-night thunderstorm-an amusing gothic take on American family togetherness that balances some of the tale’s romantic excesses-draws Bella and her loved ones into terrible danger. This is far from perfect: Edward’s portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella’s appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist.
I will make sure to provide feedback, once I get done reading it.
18
November
What’s that you saw?
How is everyone doing? How are things kicking?
I noticed that lately I have only been updating my blog with pictures (awesome at that if I may say) and realized that I should probably give a little info on how are things going in our neck of the woods.
Yesterday marked 3 weeks since I started working at my new job (not sure if I can share the name or not, so I will be refer to it as T). So far things are going GREAT. I am getting adjusted to my team members and my boss’. I am still in the some what training stage (even though I have no one training me), but feel like I am starting to pick things up. I can see my self with this company for a long time and could probably even follow my dreams of becoming a Nurse within the company.
Other then that, life is going pretty well. We are getting ready to have Mom & Perry and Aunt Brenda & Uncle Gary over for Thanksgiving and we are looking forward to spending some quality time with family and of course YUMMY food. Rob and I placed our order for the Turkey last weekend at the Farmer’s Market and will pick it up on Sunday. Along with the Turkey will for sure come Stewed Tomatoes, Yeast Rolls, Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce and some sort of Pumpkin related desert. Aunt Brenda and Uncle Gary are also bringing Peanut with them 
and Mom & Perry might be bringing 
Ash with them, so let’s just say that we will have a FULL house - but we are super excited.
The weather is starting to get COLD and of course I love it. We even had snow flurries today and I was grinning like a little kid. A lot of people think I am strange for loving the cold, but I just do. I love wearing my gloves, scary and hat and bundling up to get warm. I love having the fire place lit and watching the rain or snow. I will much rather be in cooler weather then to be HOT. Of course Rob would love it if it was a little warmer, since he has not been able to ride his bike to work and we have been sharing a car. But other then that, I think we are both very happy with being able to experience a season other then summer.
Well, I need to go and get the cupcakes out of the oven and but the brownie in. I will try to update more often. Nite.
11
November
The story of the six chairs…
The journey started about 7 years ago.
See we bought this house and had an actual dining room sort of thing going on in it and we decided that we should probably go and get a table and chairs. Well we had really liked this AWESOME table from World Market and of course the chairs that go with it, only one problem the whole thing would have costs us a fortune to purchase at one time. So we decide no biggie! We will take our AWESOME table home and just purchase a chair or two from lets say every paycheck. Well apparently that idea flew out the window and we never purchased the chairs that went with the table. Fast forward about 2 years and we are having family over for Christmas at our house and we have no where to sit (for those who are wondering, I did pitch the idea of standing and eating but it did not fly).
Any who, so we decide OK OK we will go and get the chairs and just get it over with… well surprise surprise, they no longer carry the chairs that go with our table. So we decide, well we are not going to just settle with any chair, but we needed something to sit on. So we purchased 6 folding chairs that looked something like the ones you see on the right and figure we will survive the holidays and once in for all get the chairs for the table. Well we love to procrastinate and never got around to it (hey we now had somewhere to sit, so who needs to rush right?). Fast Forward some more and about 7 years later we are now in our new apartment in Cary, NC and once again we have our lovely family coming over for Thanksgiving (oh and we sold the chairs before moving) so here we are again, square 1 and no chairs. *Banging head on the wall*
We ran into World Market when we were in Virginia for Halloween to check out their chairs and to see if we could find anything that resembled our table and to our very happy surprise we did (Lugano Dining Chair ) and we came back with a mission - must buy chairs before Thanksgiving, must buy chairs before Thanksgiving. Of course we were thinking… hmmm we could wait till the weekend before and just get them then (do not ask why we both do this - we just do)…But to my AWESOME surprise, someone on the Nest posted about a coupon and I went on my trusty google to find it. And there it was, in all its glory 25% off your entire purchase, but the kicker was that the coupon expired today. So I call Rob and tell him about my awesome discovery and suggest that we go and save our selves $150 (as an extra bonus, they were already on sale at $30 off). So, we walked away with six beautiful chairs and $300 plus in savings.
They are still being assembled, but once they are all up and running I will make sure to update this post with our full dining set (he he). I think my butt is going to SUPER happy to have something comfortable to sit on during Thanksgiving dinner.
And this concludes the story of the 6 chairs!!!
PS: I am completely surprised that I did not add this as one of my 101 goals. It for sure should have made the list.
