I can’t believe 2012 is almost over (It’s not over here just yet, but will be 10 hours from now)! It really flew by for me!!

Last year I made some goals and guess what, I didn’t get any of them accomplished – not a single one!! How bad is that?

My year was a little screwed up and therefore I fell in some holes that I struggled to get out of. The beginning of the year went well – I was able to stay focused and put 4 eBooks up on Amazon. I didn’t make much money with them though, maybe $50, if that.

Then came the emergency work that was needed on the house. I didn’t get any warning time and had to immediately stop everything for a few months. Well, I didn’t stop completely, but I didn’t get anything accomplished either.

During that time though I purchased a new script for a different site and that has been where my focus has been ever since. I had a tough time with it and still am having difficulties with it, but I learned to ask for help instead of trying to figure it out all on my own. I am stubborn in that way – trying to figure everything out without seeking assistance, but that has changed.

Now, that site is coming together – I need to get it ranked in the search engines and have so many changes to make, but I am working on them daily and have already seen my Alexa rank improve right before my eyes, literally. That alone, is encouraging and helps me to keep on going with it. I still need to get a press release written (will probably have to hire someone at fiverr because I have no clue how to write one myself) and then eventually have the site completely automated. Only a very small portion of it is automated at this time, but it helps by getting fresh content out daily and allowing me to fix what needs to be fixed

Then Hurricane Sandy decided to come along and rip most everyone’s lives apart. Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to deal with the devastation that most others did. We did get our roof fixed (well, just the 1, this spring the guys that worked on the house will be back to do our garage), but still have a boarded up window to deal with and a large tree stump to contend with – but very minor compared to most. That was 4 days without Internet, so nothing was done then either and I tried hard to catch back up and pushed Black Friday and Cyber Monday and got ZERO sales – I worked 80 hours a week and got absolutely nothing! Well, that really pushed me in a hole because I have not had income for MONTHS!! Once again I am starting the New Year off poor! It’s going to change this year – it has to because I have nothing right now!

So, my goals for 2013 are as follows:

1. Get my FreebiesnDeals site ranked on the first page of Google

2. Blog more on my freebies site – I started a new blog with intentions of highlighting certain products and/or websites, but I haven’t been in the mood to write.

3. Get the required sales at Clickbank so I can get my First check – been trying hard there too, but no luck – I need to place some ads and hopefully I can get that very soon. It’s going to be a nice one

4. Cut back on drinking beer – actually I have already started that one – but some weeks are not too good (costs too much too and really can’t afford it anymore).

5. Lose weight – I did start on this one too a month or so ago and lost 3 pounds in a week, but that flopped – will try again though very soon.

6. Finish my first product – the healthy living one I started last year. I realized that I had too much going on at once and I needed to concentrate on 1 thing – and that 1 thing has been my freebiesndeals website. Once that gets done, then I can move on to the next project

I think that is it – they are all very achievable, but my #1 priority is my website. I’m already working on it, so it should be bringing in sales very soon

I am not sure I will be around this blog all that much – but I am still around. Feel free to stop by my other blog and say hi or send me an email – I miss you all, but I need to stick to my guns and keep on going with what I have started

So, in closing – did you accomplish any of your goals in 2012 and what is your most important priority for 2013? Leave your comments below and as always, please share this post with you favorite social media sites ~Thanks~

P.S. Happy NEW YEAR!! May you have a Safe, Healthy and Prosperous New Year! I wish you nothing but the BEST!!

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Did you know that you can turn just about any smartphone into a WiFi hot spot? I didn’t really know about this until one day before Hurricane Sandy hit us – I was on Facebook and saw someone mention something about it for their iPhone. I don’t have an iPhone, just a simple smartphone that allows me to do what I need to do, so I didn’t think much of it.

So, after the Hurricane struck, my Internet went out and it was out for 4 1/2 days – which seemed like forever to me and I was getting quite annoyed at the length of time it took to come back on, considering my neighbors had it and I didn’t. After getting no where with my Internet provider, I decided to do a search on my phone to see if there was anything for my Nokia. Found something and it had rave reviews, so I downloaded it. Not expecting much, I fired up my laptop and turned on this WiFi app and sure enough – I was online! WOOHOO!!

Best of all, it was FREE!! Now, this particular app only works with Nokia smart phones – it’s called JoikuSpot Light. The free version is Light, but you can  upgrade to the Premium edition for around $18 (which is a one time fee) to allow you to do more with it. Considering I just wanted to get online, properly check my email, websites, etc…I didn’t need anything else.

The Premium also allows for a secure connection, while the Light is not. So, if you were wanting to get online to do some shopping, you would really want the upgrade, which is very inexpensive, if you ask me!

I also got to thinking – if you just use a laptop or ipad, not a desktop, you could probably get rid of your Internet and just use your Phone. But, you do need unlimited Internet on your phone and you’ll also need to recharge it quite often, but for the small fee – think it would be worth it.

I don’t know of any other apps for other kinds of phones, as I don’t need them, but just do a quick search on your favorite search engine for “Free Wifi App For (then put the make of your phone here)”. I am sure you will find something that will work for you!!

So, have you ever thought to use your Smartphone as a Wifi Hot Spot? I want to know!!

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For those of you who don’t know – I live in New Jersey where Hurricane Sandy made landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane on Monday, October 29. I have lived here my entire life and have never been through anything as scary as Sandy.

Our once beautiful state now looks like it was part of a war zone in so many places. In our immediate area, we suffered little damage compared to the majority of the state. We lost a lot of shingles off the roof to our house and detached garage and actually a piece of the garage came off, but thankfully it remained standing and for the most part unharmed. We did have a major window blow out in our basement and lost a small tree. We also didn’t lose electric, like the majority of the state did. I am not sure if living out in the wide open country side helped us and not having large trees close to the house probably helped as well.

My Story

I wanted to share what it was like when the strong gusty winds came in around 6pm Monday night. It was like something out of a horror movie or something. We didn’t have much rain with this storm so flooding was not a problem here inland. It was all about those 80+ MPH constant winds that lasted for what seemed like forever.  At one point my son wanted to go outside – so stupid me not thinking, let him out. I am actually glad he did go out because our mailbox ripped right off the post and was heading for his windshield, so he was able to grab it and put it away.  He was out there for awhile so I went outside in those winds and I almost blew away, literally. I am not a tiny person!! I had to run around the other side of the house and in the midst of it all – a wild animal – I think it was a rabbit went flying right past me. I did a lot of screaming that night..lol. My son is trying to tell me about something in front of the house and I couldn’t understand him because the wind was blowing so strong. I went to go in the garage and it sounded like it was going to collapse. This wind made some very scary noise – extremely LOUD! Well, I finally made it back in the house and noticed the basement door was getting a draft coming through. So, I went down there and realized the window had blown in and the wind was coming in so bad and all my wires to the house were down and blowing around – I thought the house was going to fall down..lol. I was scared out of my mind, so bad that I could barely breath – basically I was having a PANIC ATTACK!

No Lights!!

THEN the lights went out so I was standing in the wind in the basement with no light! Thankfully my son made it back inside and he grabbed the flashlight and we HAD to find a way to fix this window. So, he ran back outside again and came in with some wood, I found a piece of wood that almost fit the window, but it needed to be held in.  After a long time, we finally gathered everything we needed and he was able to fix it so that it is temporarily held in.

We have yet to get anyone out here to look at the  damages because as you can imagine they are busy helping those in more need.

Most people in the immediate area lost trees, roofs and sheds. Many lost their vehicles by the falling trees and some lost parts of their homes due to the trees. 

The majority of the people around here also are still without electric and many have been told it could take many more weeks. But, thanks to our Governor stepping into action yesterday, he has called on help from states all across the country to come in and help get electric back on. Roads are literally covered with downed poles, trees and wires. Very difficult to get around and worse yet is the fact that gas is in short demand. The average wait to get into the gas station is 3 hours and there is no guarantee there will be gas once it is your turn. The lines are long for both cars and people with gas cans for their generators. It is absolutely CRAZY out there. I have not ventured out as I don’t have much gas in my vehicle and there is no place I need to go, so I will gladly stay home in my warm house and go out when the roads have cleared and the lines for the gas are not so long.

This picture is just up the road – the barn lays on the other side of the road and a pole is down on the ground with wires in the roadway. A very common scene around here, although most have trees in amongst the wires.

These are just random pictures I am finding at NJ.com – just so many pictures, it is hard to pick ones out.  So heartbreaking to look at them!!

You can find a slew of videos on YouTube as well. Here is just a random one I picked out! This is where I used to go when I was a kid.  Just unbelievable!!

I just wanted to say that this was the absolute worse thing I have ever experienced and I really hope I never have to go through it again!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings and am so very thankful to not have taken a loss like so many others have during Hurricane Sandy. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who lost everything!!

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