Celebrating the Unsung Hero on Father's Day

Have I told you about my dad? He's one of the big reasons we're back in the U.S. (But don't tell him that.)

That's dad on the left making faces. Go figure. 

Born in August 1953, he grew up in the Midwest with an older brother and two parents who he doesn't remember a ton about, at least he doesn't talk much about them. There are small stories here and there that come up, something about hardboiled eggs I remember.

Ethel, my grandma, died of lung cancer on her 39th birthday. My dad was 9. Joseph, my grandfather, died of a heart attack at 47. It was 11 days after my dad's 12th birthday.

Dad grew up with a stepmother and joined the Navy as soon as he could. He often tells me about being stationed in the Mediterranean where he worked on the ship's computer. He likes to tell me about the work his ship did for Israel during the early 1970s, which I think is pretty rad. When he was 23 and my mom was 18, they got hitched and started a family in Kansas City, Missouri.

Between the late 1970s and the mid-1990s we lived in Iowa and then Southern Missouri, my dad was a superstar-rockstar manager for a large building materials company that ended up taking their amazing employees for granted, going bankrupt, and the CEOs walked away with boatloads of money.

But it didn't break my dad. He kept on trucking. He kept focusing on his family, working nights, working overtime, working hard and long hours to keep food on the table.

Then my dad suffered through a quadruple bypass surgery, followed by a diagnosis of Lymphoma. But that didn't break my father either. Nothing has ever broken my dad. I can't get over how much he's been through (it seriously brings tears to my eyes) and how much he's been taken for granted by employers, employees, friends, family, you name it.

He's the kind of guy who lays wisdom on you that you don't always get ("If wishes were fishes, we'd all be fishin'"). He'd bend over backwards to make sure a coworker is doing okay. He'd walk home miles if it meant he wasn't putting someone else out. He'd give up everything for his family's happiness (to a fault).

He's really the ultimate hero. He didn't fight in a major war or jump in front of a moving vehicle to save a puppy or create a life-saving drug. He isn't famous. He isn't making or giving millions to save the rainforest or feed starving children. But he's a hero, of the unsung variety.

Why? Because anyone who suffers the greatest losses and comes out still trying, still living, still loving ... that's a hero. To me, anyway.

So tell me about your dad. Why? Because dads rock. They're amazing and they're undervalued in my opinion. Mr. T is an amazing dad who, much like my own father, would bend over backwards to help anyone anywhere (they do say you marry your father, right?).

Then, if you love your dad and you love Target (ahem, who doesn't?), enter the Power Dad’s Smile Everyday Sweepstakes with over $1,000 in prizes starting today!

To Enter: Share a photo of you and your Dad on Twitter or Instagram using #oralbsweeps between June 2 and June 15.

The Prize: You could win the Father’s Day Power Bundle which includes the Oral-B Black ProfessionalCare 1000 Rechargeable Toothbrush, the Braun Series 7 760 shaver, and a $250 Target Gift Card!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Teachers Change Lives: Mr. Eaves, Respect, and Curiosity

Being back in Nebraska, I'm feeling pretty nostalgic about just about everything. The food, the places, the experiences. I've even seen in passing a few people I went to college with, which is strange for me, having been away for so long. Or maybe it wasn't even that I've been away for so long but rather that I've been so far away for a few years that it seems like a completely different world that I once belonged to.

In honor of feeling nostalgic, now seems like the right time to tell you about a teacher who inspired me once upon a time.

Despite me loathing the subject he fancied to the extreme, my fifth grade teacher Mr. Eaves took my curiosity to a new and interesting level. The last year I spent at Stapleton Elementary in Joplin, Missouri, was filled with experiments, trips, explorations into the organic world, and, most importantly, the gift of trust and respect from an adult.

In elementary school I was part of a group of seven girls -- the Magnificent Seven they called us. We ran around the school like we ran the place, and the teachers knew that we were super tight knit. As we all ended up in the same fifth grade classroom, Mr. Eaves took advantage of our clique.

Between experiments with wave bottles (soda bottle + oil + colored liquid), tornado machines (two bottles taped together with water, spin it and tornado), and building rockets that we shot off on a non-school day at a field near the local university, Mr. Eaves put together an aviary in the back of the classroom and filled it with zebra finches. Our task, as the Magnificent Seven, was to spend our fifth grade year taking care of the birds.

We fed them, cleaned the cage, made sure their nests were cozy and clean, and at the end of that fifth grade year, Mr. Eaves gave us each a gift: We got to take some of the birds home with us. Me, being sentimental at that age and having the utmost respect for the teacher who made soda bottles interesting, named one of the birds Teaves.

Our final project was to take the empty, barren space between the two legs of our school building and plan a large garden. We created water features, decided which plants would grow best in the shade and which needed complete sunlight. We built in little walking paths and bridges. We created an entire ecosystem based on our teacher's guidance and our own creativity. It wasn't until a year later -- when we were all in middle school -- that the area was transformed. Mr. Eaves invited us all back for the unveiling, and the picture of most of the Magnificent Seven is one of my most precious.

The spark of curiosity that he inspired in me -- to get down and dirty to understand the mysteries and fun in the universe -- sticks with me even today. We loved Mr. Eaves for trusting us enough to raise birds and build rockets. He gave us the kind of respect that a fifth grader needs before launching into Middle School, which was such a gift for me at that time.

And if you know the kind of person I am, you won't be surprised to find out that the Magnificent Seven went to the lengths of purchasing Mr. Eaves a plaque and balloon on the last day of school to show him how much we loved, respected, and appreciated him. Ridiculous, right? 

Although I fell a bit out of love with science later in life after some bad experiences with honors courses and not great teachers, I still have a fascination with hands-on activities and creating things. As someone who reflects on life through the written word in numerous capacities, I have to think on and thank Mr. Eaves for giving me the gift of trust, respect, and most of all, the gift of curiosity. 

Feeling inspired? I'd love to hear about a teacher who inspired YOU! Check out this video of Chris Emdin, a science teacher in the Bronx who (oddly enough) incorporates hip hop into his lessons to help students see science in a different way. 

Also: Consider donating to Teachers Change Lives by clicking on "Donate to a Teacher" on their website. After all, teachers are doing innovative things in the classroom and you can help them do more by donating!


I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Get a Room (at Room 77)!

My life of traveling -- really traveling, not that driving from Joplin to Tulsa or Kansas City to Nebraska -- began my junior year of high school when the Lincoln Northeast Rockets Concert Choir headed to the trenches of New Jersey for a choir competition. Luckily, the competition was a small portion of the trip that took a bus-load of white kids from Nebraska out of the corn and soybean fields and into places like Harlem, Ellis Island, and to shows like Les Miserables and out to fancy dinners. It was a world I had never experienced before, but that first trip sealed the deal for me. I was going to be a traveler, period. It was in my blood. I loved staying in a nice hotel, I loved having a million channels on TV, I loved knowing that a machine that produced ice was down the hallway and if I wanted an extra pillow, all I had to do was ask for one. That New York City trip back in 2001 changed my perspective on the world (and not just because we had what appeared to be New Jersey mobsters as our "security guards" at the hotel) ...

I want to apologize to Maryl profusely. But seriously, look at my hair!
You can't see the excitement on my face. I think I was pretty much exhausted.

And now?

I've got four flights booked in the next month. I'm heading to Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and then on to Israel. If that's not globe-trotting, I don't know what is! (And when I get to Israel and have some money saved, the first thing I'm doing is heading to Europe ... I've been to Israel four times and I'm moving there, but that's my only out-of-the-U.S. experience!)

A few of the upcoming trips I have I'm staying with at-home accommodations, but with my trip to New York as I prep to head onward to Israel, I didn't have such luck. I had to dig around for a hotel, comparing Hotels.com with actual brand websites with other hotel search engines. Finding out that Room 77 exists makes me lament the stress it took to find a price-friendly, wifi-capable hotel with a free airport shuttle. It took some digging.

Had I had Room 77 -- “an intelligent and easy to use hotel search engine that allows travelers to find and book the best rates from across the Web in one fast and simple search" -- I would have found my hotel in about two seconds flat. Why? Well, Room 77 offers competitor rates (in the vein of everyone's favorite airfare search engines). D'oh! Where were you all my life Room 77?

My requirements for this adventure were a free airport shuttle from the hotel to JFK (where I need to be by 3 p.m. on October 15) and free wifi, because you know I'm going to be Tweeting and Facebooking every single second of my aliyah adventure. And guess what? Room 77 has that option. Genius!

I'm glad I found something, although I probably would have had better/more options to consider had I opted for Room 77. There's always next time, of course, and they do have international location, so that's a huge win for me!

Seriously, friends. Never wonder whether you've gotten the best deal on your hotel room again. Check out Room 77 when planning your next travel adventure!

I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.

A Promotional Post!

Every now and again, I have the opportunity as a member of the Clever Girls Collective network to participate in some creative and interesting promotions with the opportunity to win goodies of all varieties. A lot of the time, I pass them up, but this one called upon my creativity and I just had to spend some time messing around with it.

From Cottonelle: We think nothing leaves you feeling fresher and cleaner than using Cottonelle Ultra Comfort Care and Cottonelle Fresh Care Wipes*. But this two-step, “enhanced clean routing” doesn’t really have a name. So Cottonelle® wants your help: What will you name it?

Here's my attempt -- with a travel theme in mind. What do you think?

or ...

Think you have the creativity it takes? Head over to the Cottonelle "Name It" Contest and see for yourself!

*vs. comparable leading national brand products

My 2¢ on Financial Fitness

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances. Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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When I was a junior in high school, I got my very first credit card. Yes, I was a junior in high school. Older than most of the kids in my grade, I was 17 years old, and I was eligible to sign up without a co-signer, and my parents hailed the idea as great, considering I had a trip to New York City with the choir coming up and I needed what I like to call insurance, just in case, just in case I got mugged or robbed or found something really awesome to buy. So the card arrived with a $500 credit limit. I had never had so much money in one place in my entire life. The problem? No one ever told me about credit, credit cards, limits, late fees, etc. I thought I had the money, when, in reality, I didn't. Talk about a tough lesson in life. 

I couldn't pay my rent, my bills, nothing. My senior year of college I actually sold books, DVDs and CDs for extra rent cash. By the time I graduated college, I had four major credit cards and lots of store-based cards (JCPenny's, Lane Bryant, Avenue, and the list goes on) with a ton of debt on them. I was in such bad shape I had to borrow money from a friend to make the drive to my internship in Washington D.C. and to make some of my credit card payments. This was a financial low for me.  When I got to D.C., I was living alone, not dating, and I was focused entirely on my work at The Washington Post. I devoted all my time to work, sleeping, and blogging. The result? I suddenly had an excess of cash sitting around. I went through the tough task of researching on the web what was better -- holding onto the cash or paying off my credit card debt. Security blanket or debt freedom? After some careful Googling and watching those helpful snippets on the Today Show and other morning shows about financial smarts, I chose to start paying off the debt. 

I moved to Chicago in 2007, and with my new job, I had even more money to continue paying off the debt. I cut back on eating out, going to bars (where money just disappears), and threw money left and right at my debt. By August 2008, when I schlepped off to Connecticut for graduate school, I'd almost paid down some nearly $10,000 in debt. It was insane, and I was surprised with myself, but it felt good. Finally, in February 2009, I hailed my debt conquest here on the blog. Do you remember it? 

When I thought back on how I accumulated that debt, I remembered what really killed me -- I was withdrawing cash from my credit cards to pay for rent and other things I knew I couldn't afford but just had to have. That folks, is red flag for serious financial stupidity. 

Luckily, I've been blessed with a husband who happens to be an accountant, a very secure and financially brilliant husband who knows about investing and spending wisely, putting money where it needs to go. I thank his family for raising him with financial smarts that I didn't seem to acquire growing up. Although he handles most of the finances, I still have to step back and think before spending a single penny, because I know what the downward spiral looks like -- but this time, there's someone attached to it and that person is my husband. 

So what's my advice to you on the best way to stay smart when it comes to spending? 

• If you see something in a store that you want and just have to have, put it in your cart. Walk around, do the rest of the shopping. And when you get to the register, if you still feel unsure about it, if it's just a want and not a need, think about what buying that item means in the long run. Will it keep you from buying something you and your family need? If so, hand it to the cashier and proudly say, "I've changed my mind." (I do this all the time.)
• Or, if you don't have that much will power, put it back on the rack or shelf, go home. Give it a day or two. If it's still on your mind and bugging you, then go back and buy it. But remember to think about the repercussions of buying that single item. 
• There are a million websites for keeping tabs on your spending. And, to be honest, they're kind of addictive once you get tracking and planning. 
• If you have to have a credit card, make sure it's one with a great rewards program. I have a few, but my favorite is my Sears Mastercard :)
• Never fear calling your credit card company and tooting your own horn to ask for a lower APR. 
• Marry an accountant. No, seriously. They know all of the tricks and tips for tax write-offs, which can come in really handy when it comes down to tax time.

And, most importantly, keep it simple. Don't drown yourself in 10 credit cards. If you have them, you'll use them. I learned that the hard way. It took me eight years to dig out of my hole, and those should have been carefree years without financial frustration. 

Think, spend wisely, and, of course, marry an accountant if you know what's good for you!