Southern Girl Reviews

Yep, in the catching up process there will sometimes be lots of posts at a time, but they will slowly get longer and more in depth as I catch up.  So yes, there will be lots of posts at first, but this is the final one for the night.  I’ve chattered enough tonight about some of life’s changes including our SUPER vacation that we’ll be on in 100 days, done a little ranting about the random contacts I have from companies that obviously don’t know me (like strivectin) and asked for your advice. So with that I have some grading and lesson plans to do and then want to get a decent night’s sleep as it will be a long week.

(warning if you subscribe to more than one of my sites, you’ll probably see this on multiple sites)

Instead of doing a review, I am needing your help. I have all of Becka’s textbooks from the college courses she’s taken so far and I need to figure out the best time and place to sell them. From my experience, I know how little you get at the bookstores themselves so I do not want to sell them back to the bookstores.  I’ve thought about ebay, but am curious if there’s somewhere better?  I’d like to make as much as possible but also want to be able to sell them, you know?  Suggestions?

So I’ve already had an email from one loyal reader (hey…thanks to just these few posts I know of 2 – one that emailed, one that commented…LOVED YA’LL) asking what reviews were going to be coming up so I thought I’d share that I have an adult product review half written, an awesome computer lap desk, and some super Spelling computer software.   And what have I turned down lately? Some toys that I knew Cameron would have no interest in, there won’t be any murad skin care reviews or any on the discounts from various vendors (that I didn’t think were big discounts).    So stay tuned for those few that I’ve started and know that you won’t see the others.

My oldest will graduate high school this year. I’ve told myself the last several years that when she went to college, I needed to go back and get a master’s degree, but from where should I get it? A local university? Or an online university? Convenience dictates online degree programs, but what about cost?  When looking at online opportunities, I found Western Governors University. WGU is fully accredited, but a non-profit organization which makes their programs very affordable.

One of the degrees that I looked at was the master of Education in Learning and Technology. With my current teaching assignment, this one makes lots of sense. An important notation that I noticed when looking at this program is that WGU is the only exclusively online teacher education institution in the nation to receive NCATE accreditation. That’s certainly a bonus. Something else I noticed and found useful is that your degree is based on “knowledge/competencies” instead of necessarily in courses.  As I find myself pretty technologically literate, this might be a big plus. They also have high expectations which I find a plus.  While all courses in this particular program are pass/fail, it takes a B to get a “pass.”

I’m not sure exactly what degree I want yet, but if I decided to take the steps towards a masters online, WGU looks like it would be worth a second look.

As I enter back into the review world, I intend to become much more selective.  Will it make for less readers? Maybe, but I’m pretty sure my readership is pretty low right now as I have been inactive for so long.  What it will do though is allow me to focus and bring you more thorough reviews.  There was a time when I took every review (probably why I reached a burnout of this is not fun anymore and backed off to begin with), and this time plan to come back slow and selectively. Since I don’t use acne products, I won’t accept (even if I would try it) things like acnefree reviews as I wouldn’t have a base knowledge to compare the review to.  So as I start seeking out and accepting reviews look for fewer (but I hope higher quality) reviews.

As I have started planning our family vacation this summer, I’ve actually been contemplating being an online travel agent.  My family loves to travel. It would be great to help others plan such memorable times in their lives, and it’s something I could do while still maintaining my current job to make a little here or there (and I was thinking some of our vacations just might be research and tax write offs?).  We, as you know, are HUGE Disney fans, and this is something I’d really like to help people with, but I also would enjoy helping with people Las Vegas or Branson vacation packages. There’s also lots of places I’d love to travel to (and then help others) like the Northeast. Not sure what all would be involved yet though in trying to start something like this.  I saw mention that it helps it have  an associates degree in travel or tourism (or something like that). I looked at our local junior colleges though and no such option?  hmm..  Maybe just a fleeting thought, but I do think I would really enjoy it.

At one time I was really active with writing reviews, but as life got crazy and something had to give, I started writing less and less until now I have several products that still need good reviews written, and I will do them. I keep these products and paperwork set aside until I do get back into the swing of things, but I also love to read other people’s reviews.  I like to know what people think – who uses it in their house, and how do they use it?  And thanks to the Internet, there are now reviews out there from everything from shoe reviews to colonix review reviews.  You can find everything reviewed now days. My favorite are the As Seen on TV products.  I am a sucker for these products and love that I can now just google them to see what people say about them and their customer service/guarantees. If you don’t read reviews online before purchases, I recommend you start.  I hope to start highlighting some of my favorite review sites as life settles in again.

As I flip over to my email between postings, I get a perfect example of the why send this to me?  How interesting it was that I was just then writing the post about not using anything on my face when I get an email for the best acne treatment? No acne here and I don’t treat anything.  I use hot water and a wash rag…that’s it folks.  But thank you for thinking of me.

I’ve never been one to take care of my skin.  I hide my face in shame, but I’ve never been good about washing my face. I take a shower every morning..that’s when I wash my face, but I have to admit I think I’m start to show that I’m getting older, and I’m wondering if I need to start using anti aging skin products. And use them on a regular basis – ugh!  I hate of thinking of doing such, but if I do, I have to start looking at these products and deciding if the price matters?  Does any of it really help?  Just one more thing to add to my to do list. 

This is what I wonder at all the random phone calls, snail mail, and emails that have NOTHING to do with my life.  Why would you send me things for enhancements on body parts that I don’t have? Or send me catalogs for equestrian apparel when I don’t own a horse?  I think that money could be spent so much more efficiently.  You give your email or mailing address to one or two people and then EVERYONE starts contacting you about everything!  Hello People!!!  Think!