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The last post was around the time that I went to Adtech and when I got home from that Jon and I decided that we wanted to spend some quality time together before he started law school and we did just that.

We went on a nice vacation to Mexico and ended up coming home early becuase we were bored.. yes, bored.  The whole swine flu outbreat caused people to cancel trips and our entire resort was empty.  After thinking about it, we really just love being home.

One of the biggest things to happen to us was we adopted another dog.  She is an Australian Shephard just like Legend and she even has his same colors.  She was only a puppy when we got her but now she is maturing really fast.  We named her Bella and she is amazing.  Such a sweet and loving dog!  She fits right in and Legend and her are like peas in a pod.

Jon and I opened a tanning salon.. yes, finally.  We named it Hot Bod and we have been running it since July 1st.  It is very promising and we cant wait to see what we can do with it.  We are learning SO much, its crazy.

Jon started law school.. he is going to do really well, I am proud of him.  We were both really scared about how it would effect us when he started because we had never been apart since the day we met other than 2 times where we had to travel without eachother.  We spent every moment together since the beginning and now with him starting school we were afraid of the distance but things are actually going great.  The time apart just makes the time we get together much more enjoyable.

I have been trying to decide what direction to take with my affiliate marketing. I will always do it and be part of the industry but I am not sure how vulnerable I want to be.  As an affiliate I am open to getting screwed out of my earnings and having money stolen from me, contracts broken, etc.  I am sick of all of the BS that is involved in the industry.  Stealing, lying, ripping consumers off.  There are ways to make money in my industry without setting up weight loss blogs and work from home blogs.  Too many people do it and look what happens.. Oprah decides to sue.  I am glad I was not part of that!

On a similar note, One of the networks I ran with that i raved about screwed me in a big way.  I promoted then a lot in my blog and got TONS of people to sign up under me.  The deal was that I would earn 2% of what they make forever.  This is what they told me which is why I promoted them.  Anyway, they decided to take away one of the people I refered so I was no longer getting paid.  The shitty thing is that they tried to be sneaky about it and they lied to me and said that it was a direct track error. Then when they realized I was not going to quit demanding to know about it they came up with an excuse that was ready and waiting.  It is really discouraging in this industry when networks decide to be shady. It not only makes you not trust any other network but it makes the industry in whole look really bad.

Aside from all of this, Jon and I have just been spending as much time enjoying life as possible.  We had an AMAZING garden in our yard and its still going strong.

I am not sure of the fate of this blog, I will probably always keep it, just not sure what direction I want to take

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I never would have thought a year ago that my life would be as it is today.  Ive had some reminders of Providence come hinder the changes that have happened to my life since I moved here to St Louis.  I am glad to know where I am and where I want to be and this is it.

The year has been great so far. I am branching out with some new niches for my business in online marketing.  In 2 weeks I am going again to San Fransisco for the Adtech convention.  I am really excited.  I am staying for a week while Jon visits with his family in Florida.  Justin is coming also and we are both hoping to talk some business and make some new connections as well as meet some of my new affiliate managers that I have been working with since the start of the year. 

I know that I have posted some photos of the kittens we adopted in the past but sadly, we lost one of them.  The boy, his name was FiddleStix.  He was a great cat and we spoiled the hell out of him for the 6 few months we had him.  I noticed that he had been acting depressed for a few months so we took him in for some blood work and they found a fatal incurable disease called FIP.  It is rare and only happens to every 1 in 5000 cats and he was so young that it compromised his immune system too fast. We were going to just let it ride out and eventually he would die from it but he started to get unbalanced and couldnt stand up so I had to put him to sleep.  It was really hard watching him take his last breath but he knew he was loved and we will miss him.

Many people are not sympathetic to animals and dont see the seriousity in having a pet that you love die.. but those little pets are like family and it just sucks to see an innocent living creature suffer. 

SO.. here is one of the last photos taken of FiddleStix.  He is the one on the far right. to the left is Legend and Fuzzball.. his sister (who did not get the disease). 

Legend, Fuzzball and FiddleStix

We finished remodeling the guest bathroom in our house and next will be the kitchen but we are probably going to hold off for a few months.  There is too much going on right now.  BUT I am really excited this time because I took before ans after photos. The bathroom had a nasty bathtub that didnt drain right and was off color. The vanity and toilet were so gross so i tore out everything, knocked down a wall and redid some electrical work and plumbing.. Who would have thought that I would be able to do that huh!?  haha.   So I am proud to show the photos here: 

BEFORE

AFTER

What a change huh?   Its pretty rewarding to do something and have it turn out nice!

I am going to finish up this post and get some work done outside before it gets dark.  We put in our vegetable garden, it was SO much work with the landscape, tilling and now transplanting all of the veggies and herbs I have been growing, but the work will pay off in the end! Check out the photo

Jon & Me in the garden!

I will post again soon when I am in San Fransisco. After that we are going on vaca to Mexico for a week, I CANT WAIT!!!

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We got it last week and I love it. I used to have one just like it but it was old and beat up, this one is immaculate and I intend on keeping it that way.

My buddy Jay is flying out here next week and it is supposed to be 70+ degrees all week so we will be taking the doors and top down on it and having a blast.

The spring cannot come soon enough!

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When we moved in, our bathroom was extremely outdated.  One day last fall Jon was out doing yard work and I was brushing my teeth and looking at the shower behind me through the mirror and I decided to rip the entire thing out.  I grabbed a hammer and tore out the entire plastic lining of the shower and tub, as well as all of the rotting drywall.

We installed wall tile and then we decided to rip out the floor and put a nice clean white tile down.  The toilet for our bathroom had been leaking into the sub floor for who knows how long so we had to deal with removing rot and replacing the toilet seal while keeping the new tile and grout clean.

Finally it came down to the vanity and the mirror and lighting.  We ripped out the old vanity and medicine cabinet and today finally finished replacing it with a nice modern sink and cabinet with BRIGHT lighting.

Had we paid somebody to do all of this for us, it would have cost about $2,500.  Our total costs are around$700 because we did it ourselves.

Next is the downstairs bathroom which we are removing the tub and putting in a corner shower. That will be fun! Then the kitchen. Between this and our work it is keeping us really busy but I am not complaining.

Check out the photos of before and after…  Please ignore the lack of completed paint. We are finishing that.  Also replacing all of the light switches as well as re-glazing our bathtub so it is as white as white can get!

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I am looking forward to what will come from having him elected.

This has been a crazy week. I have been catching up with ideas and work left over from Vegas and also finishing construction on the house. One of the bathrooms is done, i finished grouting it last night and it looks amazing. I will post some photos soon.

Today we had contractors rip out over 200 feet of old chain link fencing from our yard. Lowes is delivering our new 6 foot privacy fencing tonight (lots of it) in about 20 minutes and the contractors will start installation tomorrow. Really excited.

Not only will this increase out property value but it will make us happier. We love out massive yard and the pets will too.

While we are on the subject of change.. I decided that Legend needed his first hair cut today. He looks 20 pounds lighter. Pix below

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The beginning of the year started out new as it tends to for me. I moved from my apartment in Cranston, RI to another more modest one near Providence, RI because of problems I was having with a crazy landlord. It was a good start. Within 3 weeks I had found a great PPC campaign that I was running on Google Adwords & YSM and it started to make me a killing with my finances.

February 2008 was the month that would change everything for me. I had my first $1k earning in a single day having spent only $50 in advertising on Google Adwords. It was a great campaign but it was not run properly from the network and the merchant pulled it. I have learned that THIS HAPPENS. No good offer will stay the same forever so you need to make sure that you have another one that works for you or another network to run it on.

During the first week of Feb, I met the man of my dreams. Who would have thought this would happen to me? I had been through hell and back with putting my trust into people that were not the ones meant for me and I guess the karma paid off for me. Jon and I could not be happier and I plan on spending the rest of my time on this planet with him. He is the best person I have ever met.

We spent every waking moment together aside from when Jon had to go to work m-f 9-5 and then I went to San Fransisco for AdTech. This was the first time we had been apart for so long and it only showed that something real was going on. When I got home we decided to go on a vacation which did not turn out as great as we had hoped and then we got down to business.

Jon had to decide which college he was going to for grad school. I told him that I would leave Rhode Island and go (almost) anywhere with him. I fell in love and figured that if he were leaving, then I would be leaving with him. He decided on Washington University in St. Louis, MO and he would be attending for law.

I had never been to Missouri but I researched it and we started looking at homes to buy. After months of applying for loans and getting finances and paperwork together it almost failed. We could MORE than afford the house, in fact it would be cheaper than what I have EVER paid in rent and utilities on the east coast but the fact that we were both now “self employed” and Jon being a student, the banks were not liking it.

In the end, it all worked out. We got the house in July and moved in August. Right around the beginning of July Jon has asked me if I would marry him. Earlier in the year I had given him a commitment ring just to show him that I was serious but I never intended on marriage and I also never really cared for gay marriage. The whole topic bothered me a bit because I always thought that it was pointless unless you lived in a state where it was recognized or legal.

My opinions changed once it was done. I think that because he is the first person I have ever been with whom I have really been IN LOVE with. That came and went and we have since moved here to Missouri.

The first few months were depressing for me. I missed my friends and my family. I had never spent such a long time away from New England and never lived anywhere but MA and RI. Jon had lived in Canada for years when he was going for his Bachelors Degree so it was not something new for him. So I concentrated on the house. We came up with so many plans and ideas and have been working on them ever since.

I never thought that I would be able to gut out an entire wall of a bathroom, install new drywall and then tile. Well, I figured it out and did a great job! We have been replacing many of the appliances which has become fun. I never thought I would be excited to have a new front load washing machine or a refrigerator with an ice dispenser and fresh filtered water but I was.

Jon deferred school for a year so that we could get settled into the house and work on it. We have inherited 2 new kittens who appeared on our lawn one day when we were sitting at our fire pit. Now the house is full with animals. We have Legend my dog, then 4 cats. Fruitcake, Funky, Fuzzball & Fiddlestix. The great part is that we have no cat box. Jon and I installed a cat door in the basement so they can go outside instead of in a box.

We have been making all of our food from scratch. I make a lot of breads and vegetarian meals and Jon makes amazing things like fresh pasta and ravioli. It gives you a good feeling when you make something so good that people ask for more. One thing I have been making a LOT of is a vegetarian chili recipe that i invented a few months ago using a crock pot. One day I was in the supermarket and I just started grabbing a bunch of things that I thought would taste great in a chili and 8 hours later it was done!

Of all things I am proud of this year, it is that we quit smoking. It was really hard because everywhere we go, every bar or restaurant here in MO it is legal to smoke in. We go bowling a lot and the place is full of smoke. We learned to suck it up and after a few months it got to the point where we got grossed out by the smell of it. I can handle being around it now but not smoking is a pretty great thing and I am so glad that we decided to do it.

Jon and I have talked about opening a business here in STL. We registered our business name with the state and it is called Hot Bod, LLC. There is a place near our house called the U-City Loop and it is historic. It is where a lot of the tourists go to eat and shop at famous places where some celebrities used to spend their time. There are hippy shops, tattoo shops and it is right near the colleges. There is not a single tanning salon and being a fanatic of having a tan I figured we should maybe give it a shot and open one up. That is perhaps our project for the beginning of 2009 but we need to do a bit more research before it will happen. It would be a nice secondary source of income next to my affiliate marketing ventures and the best part is that I would be able to run that place and work my marketing out of it. I am really bored with working from home.

Our second project will be a massive garden that we are both excited for. We have a giant yard and are going to be planting every veggie and herb known to man and what we cant keep at the end of the season we plan on drying it out or canning it. This will help with our working out goals, yoga and our limiting drinking only to red wine. Its all about being healthy.

Today is the last day of the year and we will be spending it with friends. I could not think of a better new year and I cant wait to get the FIRST real kiss I have ever had by somebody I love at midnight.

Next step is off to Vegas in a week and a half for Affiliate Summit West and then it is down to business. We wake up every morning at 6 and I think with all that is lined up to do I will have some long days ahead of me but I cant wait.

This has been the best year of my life. I am still making music and will always make music but it is not my first priority anymore. I want to be settled down, work hard, write, learn and live and moving here was the best start.

I want to wish everyone and I love and everyone a I don’t a happy, healthy and successful 2009. Here are a few photos from Katy’s wedding.  The baby is her beautiful little girl Adelaide! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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I ripped out our upstairs bathroom one day because it was really ugly.  We were going to hire somebody to put wall tile into the bathtub/shower area but I decided to learn to do it myself.  I replaced all of the drywall, added new copper piping for the faucets and installed all new tile.  I got a lot of advice from my dad on how to do it and it came out looking GREAT.

The next step is to tile the flooring on the upstairs bathroom which will be much easier than the wall was.  After that, a new vanity and sink and then we are going to remodel the guest bathroom and the kitchen and THEN put a new fence in around the house. SO I have been too busy to post.

I have been having great record months with my PPC campaigns. It is funny that there is a recession going on with our economy but I am still able to make money.  Aside from my Copeac referral commissions I have been experimenting with other niches and have stepped aside from the myspace PPC for a little bit until they get themselves out of the horrible beta.

Jon and I are flying back to RI in a week and a half and I am very excited, I miss all of my friends and my family and it will be a nice breather for a week.  Ami will be staying here with the dog and 4 cats.. yes we got 2 new kittens because some stray cat gave birth in our back yard!  I named them FiddleStix and FuzzBall. I will post photos when I have time.

We are also looking forward to flying to Vegas for Affiliate Summit West convention.  I had to cut ASE in Boston short because Jon and I had to move out here to MO.  I have never been to Vegas but I am more excited about making some connections and seeing how all of my fellow friends in the industry are doing.  Jon still has much to learn about what it is that I do but he has been such a great help and has some ideas that help me thing outside the box.

We registered our first LLC, called Hot Bod .. Yes Hot Bod. Haha.  This is separate from my affiliate marketing business, but we are planning on opening a tanning salon here in University City, right on the Delmar Loop, massive spot.  We plan on opening it up, getting it off the ground, advertising it and then expanding.  It will give me a chance to work from somewhere outside of my house and the business will pretty much run itself. Ami will be doing most of the managing of it full time and now we just need to plan it all out… After that we have ideas for 2 other businesses in the area.  It feels good to have so much ambition and drive AND it will give me something to do when Jon goes back to school.

ANYWAY, I am so happy that President Barack Obama  has won.  It has restored my faith in this country.  I know that I have not always liked him but once I saw him speak and gave him a chance, it reassured me. I have never seen so many people come together in my life and it was worth waiting 3 hours to vote.. Plus Ami, Jon & I got on NBC news when we were waiting in line because Governor Jay Nixon came to shake our hands. Was pretty awesome!!

I will write again soon and post some photos once I have time to sit down. Happy Holiday’s everyone!

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Pix and video below!

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