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5 Ways To Make Money From Home

by 12:00 AM
How to make money from blogging

As you may or may not know I have been working from home for just about 3 years now. Needless to say I get a lot of questions about how I got started, made it work, and keep it going. Dealing with a chronic illness, I really needed to figure out a way to make a decent income and be able to lay in bed with a heating pad at the same time. While that is a huge perk getting to this place has been a lot of hard work. Since I tried just about every trick in the book to get to the point of working from home I figured I would share with you some ways I made money working from home work. No scams, no survey sites, legit businesses and real money.

1. Upwork:
This is where I started when I was looking to begin working from home. No matter what skill set you have you can find yourself work on Upwork.com.  I know there are a lot of freelancing sites out there but this is the one I personally have the most experience with.
While there is a large amount of competition, you can set yourself apart by creating a detailed profile, include a portfolio if you can. Craft personal proposals, as tempting as it can be don’t copy and paste, tailor each proposal to the job you’re applying for. Finally, start out at a lower hourly wage to build ratings and reviews. Remember that the goal is to build stable income streams, that is going to come from being able to have the ratings to continue getting new jobs and eventually start receiving invites. 3 years in, we don’t typically apply for Upwork jobs anymore, we get enough invites to sustain this income stream.

How to Make Money From Home

2.Blogging:
Yes, you can make money blogging. However, it does take time and it is not just as simple as posting things and having some ads on your blog. You also really cannot go into blogging focused on just trying to make money. Start by creating valuable content to build an audience. Write about things your passionate about. It doesn’t even all have to jive together, as long as you can tie it all back to your personality. This also set you up to the real ways bloggers make money, sponsorships and affiliate programs. Once you have an audience, you can leverage those programs to sell things you and your audience love.

3. Spreadshirt, Redbubble, etc:
Do you like to draw, design things, or take photographs, turn that into your at home income stream with a site like the above. We have shops set up with both Rebubble and Spreadshirt and I like them both equally. Although I have heard that the quality of redbubble’s finished products are better, I do like the capabilities of Spreadshirt better. There are more ways to promote your store, work with SEO and google analytics, and make it more marketable in general.


4. Re-selling on Amazon and Ebay:
This can be a really great way to earn money from home and you can get up and running pretty quickly. We specifically drop shipped but there are plenty of options out there from that to flipping craigslist and garage sales finds. The biggest thing is that you need to ensure you are following eBay’s rules an regulations to the letter, I have seen 100,000 a year businesses get shut down over something really simple. This is why my suggestion is to use Amazon or set up your own website. Amazon has fees and there are restrictions if you're looking to dropship but, it takes less marketing efforts on your part. You can go the route of starting your own site (personally I like Shopify.com for e-commerce sites). You have the freedom to sell whatever you would like but, have to spend more up front getting the store set up and with marketing.

5.
Do A Combination Of All Of The Above:
While the advertising business we’ve created has been our biggest source of income, we don’t rely on just that. Combining all resources for making money online has been the biggest reason our income maintains stability. Even if we only sell 1 shirt on RedBubble or Spreadshirt than we have blogs or Amazon to make up for it. My biggest advice is to concentrate on solidifying 1 stream of income and then expand.
This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making money online, there are a lot of ways you can build yourself an income at home. The biggest thing you need to remember is that you should treat each one of these as its own business. All of these things take time and effort and will not happen overnight. Yes, Andy and I make decent incomes working from home but, we also work about 10 hours a day on average with an ever growing to-do list. We’ve found a groove because we love everything we do. We have utilized online tools to do the things we are passionate about. That is the ultimate way to make money online.

Love you all!


Travel Tuesdays :: Nashville

by 12:00 AM
Things to do in Nashville

I was sort of a terrible blogger while we were on our trip in February. I had really grand plans to write a bunch, take pictures, and be a real life travel blogger that month. That just totally did not happen. So trying to make the most of my Daredevil binge watching (yes Jillian it’s finally happening) I decided to write some posts and tell you all about our trip.
The first stop I really want to talk about is Nashville. I am obsessed with this place. My obsession may stem from one of my dearest friends in the world living there and showing us around that day but, for real I would move there in like a second.


So, here are a few suggestions of places you should go visit if you ever find yourself in Nashville. Yes, they are mostly all food places….good places to eat is legitimately the reason I like to travel. 

1. Five Daughters Bakery

So for real, if a donut could change your life, it is the 100-layer donut at Five Daughters Bakery. It is seriously the best thing ever. I don’t even like donuts that much and this is arguably one of the best things I have ever eaten.

 2. Burger-Up

Holy homemade, farm to table goodness batman. So I love burgers, we never eat red meat at home so when we go out to eat, I am getting a burger. So a restaurant dedicated to burgers was already going to be my favorite but, add in the fact that they put macaroni and cheese on one of them and you’ve basically described my heaven. It may have been the best burger I have ever eaten...this place and The Red Yeti in Indiana are come really tough competition for each other.

3. The Soda Parlor


So first thing is first, watch this video. 
Now that you’ve laughed for 12 minutes straight you can truly appreciate why I would love a place created by that guy. 

Olan Rogers (guy in video) created the Soda Parlor and it is as cool as he is. Old video games, soda, and awesomely designed t-shirts. This place was awesome. I totally suggest you going.
Also I would watch this video to get the story behind the place. 

4. The Parthenon

Yeah, this is the 1 legit tourist thing we did. But, as you may or may not know. I love a good park and this one did not disappoint. Built in 1897 as a part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition it is truly an architectural feat. I would say the museum inside is worth it but, just as worth it is walk around the park. 

There were so many other great things about this city. I would really encourage you to go for a visit. We loved it!

Thanks for reading as always!

Traveling Tuesdays :: The Adventure Begins!

by 12:00 AM

Well! The journey begins! As you know if you've kept up with this blog, Andy and I have really wanted to have some sort of epic trip adventure, you can see this post, from almost a year ago where I talk about our plans for a road trip adventure.
I'm beyond thankful for this whole thing. We've been building our business to allow ourselves freedom to work for ourselves where ever we want for over 2 years now! With Andy joining the business full time in January we're ready to head out on our first adventure together!  It will follow a route similar to the trip I took back in November only this time I get to bring my husband, which I am pretty stoked about! I am not sure I can even put into words how excited I am or how blessed I feel that this trip is actually happening. We've literally been talking about it for years! It seems perfect that our 5 year anniversary falls right in the middle of our trip, we spent our honeymoon on an epic road trip out to Colorado and it feels fitting to be celebrating this milestone the same way!


We'll spend the first 2 weeks hanging out in KY! While there we're staying with Andy's sister Jillian and her 3 boys!
Some things we're going to be seeing and you'll be able to look for in future posts:
Abbey of Gethsemeni  I missed this on my last trip and I am beyond excited to stop by. I am fully immersed in No Man Is an Island by Thomas Merton right now and he joined this community in 1941. I am actually happy I missed it last time, I feel like I will have a whole different appreciation this time around.
The Red Yeti: I got to go here the last time I visited Kentucky, seriously if you are ever near Louisville, KY or Jeffersonville, IN stop what you're doing and go order their Parmesan Truffle Oil Fries. They are to die for.  
I mean seriously look at those things!

We of course can't miss hitting one of the distilleries. We haven't settled on which one yet but, I think it would be a crime to not visit at least one (a crime I definitely committed last time I was in KY). I am not 100% sure what else is on the agenda for KY, except spending some serious quality time with our nephews and Jillian. I am beyond pumped to see everyone again.

After KY, we plan to head to Florida to spend 3 weeks there! We have a ton planned while we are there! To start with a few things:
March is peak Manatee season, so we are really looking forward to heading to Homassa Springs for some excellent Manatee watching. Possibly some snorkeling too but we're not 100% on that yet.
We'll be in FL for our 5 year anniversary! We plan to spend that weekend camping on the beach, doing absolutely nothing for a few days :)
Since it will be prime Spring Training Season, we will hopefully be hitting up a spring training game with one of our dearest friends from college.

Here's  bit of a preview from my last trip:




After Florida we're hoping to hit Virginia to see some more of our friends from college and then we're hoping to hit Massachusetts to visit some of Andy's side of the family before coming home.

There is so much more in the works I can't wait to take all of you on this adventure with us!

To keep up with it all make sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter (@maybe_heather) and subscribe here for all the goodness and adventures!

Love you all!

Update: Sparring, Babies, and Shopping

by 1:41 PM
So first thing you should all know is that I am giving up my afternoon nap to write a blog for you. It's a rainy and cold day that is perfect for napping too! But, I figured I should be a grown up and do something semi-productive. Adulting is hard guys. 

I guess since I left my camera at Christopher's and have no pictures to do a more interesting post we'll go with a "what have you been up to Heather" post. I know you are all really interested in my trips to Target so I'll oblige.

We had another pretty full and exciting weekend

We did actually start out with a pretty great trip to Target, call me crazy but, walking around Target is one of my favorite things to do! Technically we were shopping for my niece's birthday but, I couldn't resist getting myself a few gifts too. No, it's not my birthday, I just might be spoiled haha! Anyways, I picked up what has become my new favorite mug ever. Seriously I have used it every day since I bought it, which you know if you follow me on Instagram because I post a lot of pictures of it.
I also bought some Baby Lips tinted chapsticks, the name and packaging is the worst ever but, they are so freaking awesome. I know I say everything is my favorite, but these are my favorite.


Then Saturday I headed off with Sarah to Travel Well for Local Fest, which is an event put on by The Shirt Factory. I was put on "Thatcher Watching" duty for the day. Obviously I was more than okay with that!  It was super great to get to hang out with Sarah and Thatcher for a whole day, it's been awhile since that has happened. Quick fun story about the ball that Thatcher is playing with in these pics, this was actually a ball we bought for Liam so he would have toys at our apartment and sent it off with Drew and Sarah when we moved out. I am impressed it has lasted this long, I think it was $1 from Target almost 5 years ago! Happy to see it being passed down haha!

The first picture is his "Why the heck are you not rolling me back over Aunty Heather" face




I did get to wander around local fest, where I made my routine Shirt Factory stops to AdirondackAromatherapy andSensibiliTeas. I of course  had to buy some new tea for my fancy new mug! I do not remember the name of the Renaissance re-enacting team that was there, I thought I grabbed a picture of the sign so I could remember, but I apparently forgot that too!  Anyways they were doing fire breathing and had a sparring ring set up! So that was pretty entertaining to sit and watch for bit! 




Also on Saturday (we had a pretty full Saturday) we celebrated our neice McKenzie's 5th birthday! It was a really great time that you get to see no pictures of because I left my camera at Christopher's house that evening! But, we did have smores and I almost had my eye poked out by a 5 year old with a marshmallow stick! I know it's hard to believe this really happened with no picture evidence so I'll move on. 

Sunday the most fabulous thing happened, that has not happened it so long. We did nothing. We slept in, took naps, watched movies, and played video games. It was the most glorious day that has happened in awhile. It has been so long since we have had a day with 0 plans.
We did have to get up that evening to send off Seth and Rochelle who head back to Papua New Guinea tomorrow!! But, that was a welcome addition to our relaxing day! A request to you all that you pray for them, especially over the next few days flying basically 30 hours non stop...with 3 boys under 5! I know they would really appreciate it!

I almost forgot! We made new shirt designs! This was actually more like 2 weeks ago but, since this blog is already way to long I am just going to add it in! Shout out to my Supernatural and Doctor Who fans! I did the Supernatural shirt and Andy made the 8 bit TARDIS. I am really excited about these! They might be my 2 favorite shirts we have in the shop :)



These are for sale in our spread shirt store, you can click the shirts or you can click the link in the sidebar! 


That's really it. our weekdays have been filled with boring things like work and doctors appointments! So i won't bore you with any of that! We're prepping to have another full weekend so I am sure I'll have more interesting stories to tell! I do have some more makeup monday's and recipe posts lined up!
I ALSO HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT BOOK CLUB! Well I've sort of forgotten. but, I am working on the books and posts stick with me :)

Okay, sorry to have written you all a novel but, we've apparently been up to a lot!
Love you all!


Life, Things, and Weekend Adventures!

by 2:12 PM

Hello!

It has been a crazy last few weeks between our business hitting the "busy season", family events, and Cheese Tour, it doesn't seem possible that September is almost over and Fall is in full swing!
We did finally get a free weekend, which was exciting! Although, now that I sit down to write about it I can't remember a single thing we did (as per usual haha)!
Saturday Andy headed with Drew to do some shopping for Drew and Sarah's Yurt (how freaking exciting that they'll be able to get it up soon! :) ) I stayed home and got some serious cleaning done. I know that sounds super boring but, I am one of those freaks who really enjoys cleaning or I should say I really enjoy being done cleaning and the whole apartment being all shiny. So, when I get a whole day to just clean the house, it is one of my favorite feelings. (Yeah, I know I'm weird). 

I almost forgot to mention the most exciting part about Saturday! The Doctor Who Marathon and new season premier! I was so impressed by the premier episode. In my opinion, it has to be one of the best episodes Moffat has written in a long time. I won't get into my thoughts too much because spoilers, I know some of you haven't watched it. (I am looking directly at you Jillian....with my judging face)



Between Andy and Drew's trip and us starting a project on Sunday, we made 3 trips to Lowe's in one weekend! I felt like such a real adult! Well that was until I found some signs that has been rearranged and laughed like a child...I know real mature Heather! 


Anyways, since we have the office set up where a normal table would be in our apartment we've just had our table awkwardly placed between the office area and the kitchen. It wasn't functional at all, we barely even used it. So Andy decided we should put up a bar table! So that was our project on Sunday! We (and by we I mean Andy, although I did hold the level a few times) built this L shaped bar. We still need to add one piece of trim on the side then, next thing is to get some red metal stools that match the brackets! We are really loving getting settled into our new place!

                             

We really had a full day on Sunday, we took full advantage of the fall weather, made some chili and took a walk up the Tow Path Trail. We had a very enjoyable photograph adventure! I love that Andy has really gotten into photography, it is something that we can really enjoy together. Also, to brag about him a little, he has really grown into a fantastic photographer. The last year he has watched just about every photography tutorial on YouTube, as a photographer and his wife it has been really cool to watch him grow and really develop a passion for it. (Hah, develop, that was a totally unintentional corny joke but, I am leaving it)





 (Photo Cred: Andy Cox)


As my dad would say...what a goofball.

Well that's all for now! I hope you guys are fabulous!

Love you all,


Makeup Tuesday :: How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes

by 7:55 AM
Cleaning makeup brushes

So, most likely you wash your face at least once a day as a part of your good skin care routine. But, are you washing your makeup brushes as a part of that routine as well? Let's think about it, makeup brushes get kind of gross. Not only are we caking them in makeup everyday, we're swirling them around on our face and they're picking up all of those oils and dirt! Then depending on where you store them they could be picking up more dirt and dust just sitting there. If you're not cleaning them, every time you put makeup you're just putting all that dirt back onto your face!  Dirty makeup brushes can lead to acne, allergy breakouts, and they can carry germs like no other. Ever wonder why your face is breaking out despite the fact you wash it everyday, dirty brushes could be the culprit!
So what is the best way to keep those things clean?

Luckily, cleaning your brushes is super simple and can be done in about 5 minutes!

Clarifying shampoo to clean makeup brushes


You will need a cup, some warm water, and most importantly a clarifying shampoo.

 *Clarifying shampoo is the best thing to clean your brushes with, it's inexpensive and will remove      all the dirt and oils as this is what it is designed for. What ever you do, ignore all suggestions to use a baby oil or other oil. It is difficult to clean all the way out and can make your face issues worse! 

1. Take your clarifying shampoo and add it to some warm water in your cup. You don't need a lot, just enough to make the water sudsy.
Clarifying shampoo to clean brushes

2. Take your brush and swirl it around in the soapy water,
How to clean makeup brushes

 3. Take the bristles and massage them in your fingers until the shampoo starts to make suds. For your bigger stippling and blush brushes you may need to add a small dab of the shampoo right to the brush to get the middle thoroughly clean.

4. Run the brush (bristles down) under warm water until the water runs clean and all the soap is out. It is important that you face the brush down as to not put too much wear on the glue that holds the bristles in place.
Real techniques makeup brushes

5. (Switch to your cellphone camera because your camera battery died) Place your brushes bristles down on a mat or towel. It is important to prop them up on using a cup so no water settles where the glue is.

I usually do this at night and let them dry until morning. Not only will regularly cleaning your brushes keep your face cleaner, your makeup will apply better! So it's a win-win! Once, clean it is best to store your brushes in some sort of bag to keep them from accruing dust in between cleanings. 

Well that's all everyone! Love you all! 

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