Thursday, April 25, 2013

A day in Carmel, California and Food Galore! - Show and Tell Friday








Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!  I'm breaking my own rules this week and not sharing something from my home and garden. Rules are meant to be broken so if you feel the need to break my rule, please feel free to do so!  



I'm hardly home these days but I am out enjoying life!  When I started my blog I was a single mom and I spent most of my time at home. Now that my youngest is going to

Monday, April 22, 2013

AVOID Hauser Group/Hausernet Mail Decoy Program - if you're looking for consistent pay, look elsewhere!

UPDATE: February 26, 2014 - They have been paying somewhat monthly, but still owe me backpay from July 2011 to December 2012. But I have gotten paid for January 2013 to July 2013. So at least I've gotten something, but who knows if I'll ever see the backpay? There is one person on their Yahoo Group who claims to have received all of their backpay, but they seem to be the only one. Everyone else is still waiting.

UPDATE: May 15, 2013 - I did receive a payment from them on May 9th for January 2013 entries, but I still wouldn't recommend signing up to Hausernet because they still owe me a lot of backpay and are still slow to pay.

ORIGINAL POST:

I'm not going to bother linking to them because I don't think anyone should join this company if they ever expect to be paid, but here's the information about them in case you want to copy and paste to your browser:

hausernet[dot]com/opportunities[dot]html

Just replace [dot] with .

I've been a decoy with Hausernet for over 11 years now. At first, it took a while to receive my first payment because I didn't meet their minimum requirements because I wasn't getting enough volume.

From 2002 to 2009, I was getting paid on time. Then from 2010 onwards, they started getting behind a bit on payments, and they would make promises, but would only end up paying to people who complained about not getting paid.

Fast forward to today. The last payment I ever received from them was a check for entries I made in June 2010 to June 2011 - this payment was received on January 2012. This is the longest I have ever gone without them sending any form of payment whatsoever (before, the longest I went without a payment was almost a year, but now this is longer by a few months). And now they're almost two whole years behind on payments, which I still doubt I'll be seeing for a long time.

Back in December 2012, Dave asked me for my PayPal address, which I quickly sent because I thought it meant that I would get a payment soon, but it's now April and I still haven't seen one PayPal payment since they switched to PayPal.

I emailed the person in charge of payments and she told me I would be paid that week. This was back in March and I never received anything. She was replaced by someone else who handles payments now, so I emailed him today and we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, just a warning to others who may be thinking about a mail decoy agent with Hausernet. If you're looking for a little bit of extra cash working from home, move on, because this isn't it. They don't pay on time, if at all. So you would only be wasting your time. All you'll get from this company are broken promises. They have completely lost my trust - I never believe a word that anyone from this company says anymore because it's just going to be another broken promise. I'll only believe what I see, and from my experience in the past couple of years, unfortunately, I haven't seen anything. Thanks for nothing, Hauser.

To be fair, they have paid some people via PayPal, but it's seemingly random as far as who gets paid. I have no clue why some people get PayPal payments and why others don't. But if you're looking for some consistent extra cash, this is far from it.

To any companies who are using Hausernet's delivery tracking services, I would also reconsider and maybe go with someone else who offers delivery tracking. You may be getting the service that you're offered, but Hauser isn't paying all of their contractors for the work they do.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Garden Blooms - Show and Tell Friday






Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!






Spring has sprung here in Northern California and I'm enjoying all my garden blooms!  This weekend it's supposed to be in the 80s so I think we are going straight to summer!






I bought this wood box years ago and stenciled the word "Flowers" on the front of it.  It's been sitting in my backyard for the last couple years and now has a very faded and

Thursday, April 11, 2013

My Eden Roses are blooming! - Show and Tell Friday






Welcome to Show and Tell Friday! 






I love this time of year...when my Eden rose bush blooms again after its winter break!  I sure look forward to having these beautiful bouquets in my home again!  This bouquet will be the first of many! It blooms continuously from now until December! 





I put these roses that I picked this morning in a little vintage cherub dish I have in my

The Little Things...


Do you ever find that sometimes it's the "little things" that make you happy.  
I'm always dreaming up different projects that I'd love to do like remodel our kitchen, add more wood molding or build a porch on the front of our house. The list could go on & on, but I actually find that it's something as little as getting a new wreath or moving things around my house that I already have that makes me just as happy!
Here are a few of the "little things" that I love to decorate with that make me happy!
Adding a green plant or a little bird to a table...

I got tired of the same wreath I'd had for years on my hall tree, so I lined a frame with scrapbook paper & tied a metal key with some ribbon & it was just the change I needed!

I also love something as simple as decorating with an initial...
This is in my entry.  You can see more of it HERE.

Another thing that is simple that can make a big change is spray paint!
I added touches of blue to my upstairs for a much needed change.
I did a whole post about it HERE.
Then when I found this cute magazine holder to put in my bedroom...it would make me happy every time I walked in the room!
It's probably because that space now has most of the things I love to decorate with...
An initial & a wreath!  
This space is also so bright & cheery, which I love!
All of these things are fun ways to make our home feel nice, but nothing makes me as happy as these cute faces...
What are the little things that make you happy?

I'm sharing with these blogs...

Friday, April 5, 2013

Spring Shells - Show and Tell Friday









Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!  






Last weekend I received an unexpected package in the mail!  









I was so surprised when I opened it and found these beautiful glittered shells!  They are from a fellow blogger ~ "M" at OC Cottage!  She had sent me some of these years ago and I display them in my tiered dish every Christmas.  After a couple years they weren't looking so

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Homemade Oreo Cookies

This has been a family favorite for years!
They are my Mom's favorite cookie & she always requests them when I have to bring a dessert!

Homemade Oreo Cookie Recipe

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup Crisco
2 eggs

Mix the ingredients well.  
The dough is kind of thick like a brownie mix...I actually stir & then knead the dough with my hands until it's well blended.

Drop by the spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
 (If I want more cookies, I'll make them smaller and use a teaspoon.  If you want them a little bigger I use a tablespoon) 
Bake for 7-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

For the filling I actually just use the whip vanilla frosting by Duncan Hines.  It's quick & easy!
Or you can use this recipe...
Filling
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons soft butter
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons milk
Beat until the consistency of peanut butter.
You may need to add a little more milk ( add more 1 tablespoon at a time) until it's the right consistency.

ENJOY!!
I'm sharing with these blogs:
Love Of Family & Home
My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia
Thrifty Decor Chick