Earn Your Degree Online

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of USC. All opinions are 100% mine.


Yes, another sponsored post. :) Since I don't have much jewelry stuff to chat about. I am being picky though in the opportunities I select for these types of posts. This one actually strikes home to me, because I actually earned my Bachelors degree online.

My experience with online school was wonderful. I was able to work full time while "going" to school and earning money to help me pay for my tuition (as well as my company providing tuition reimbursement...major bonus!). If I had to go back to school now I think the only way I'd be able to manage is by going online. I think it requires a certain personality to self motivate and work online, but schools are making it easier and more user friendly than ever before.

USC Rossier School of Education’s MAT@USC is offering Masters of Arts in Teaching program that you can study and earn online! Head to their site for more program information.

You can earn your Masters of Arts in Teaching from an internationally known school with a 100 year history of educating the educators - from faculty recognized for their contributions to modern education. Their School of Education has been ranged #22 in the U.S., and #9 among all private universities by US News and World Report. Rossier and the MAT@USC were also awarded by AACTE for innovative use of technology in education - an important thing for an online program.

As a student online you will have access to a combination of highly interactive online learning with field-based experiences in your local area. USC has a groundbreaking tuition reimbursement program designed exclusively for MAT@USC graduates.

Not only that, you get full USC student status and benefits, participation in commencement ceremonies and free lifetime Alumni Associate memberships. All from the comfort of your home (or library...I sometimes went to the library to work when it was too distracting at work LOL).

If you have time right now, they even offer an accelerated 12 month program - you could have your Masters in less than a year!

Oh...and you can officially call yourself a TROJAN! =) How cool is that?

It's a Giveaway!

And while I'm giving away jewelry, it isn't jewelry that I've made. Is that weird? hahahaha I'm weird that way.

My friend Dana of Dana's Jewelry Designs is an incredibly talented artisan who makes more than jewelry. She sews. She writes. She designs gem trees. She even knows how to play with Excel, making her a fellow geek. She is multi-faceted. We met at my soon to be old job and even though she got swept out with last year's icky layoffs, she has prospered and never slowed down. I still can't believe I know someone who wrote a book that is sold on Amazon!

She sent me some of her incredibly beautiful jewelry and one of her handmade jewelry pouches. I'm tempted to keep the pouch for myself...but I won't. I'll buy my own from her shop and let the winner of this giveaway have everything all in one adorably pretty little package.

So...on to the giveaway!

She generously sent me several pieces of jewelry, and even though we're friends all opinions here are 100% mine...no bias whatsoever (okay...well, no one is entirely unbiased right?).

I'm not a huge fan of wearing copper jewelry. I lean almost exclusively to wearing silver - both fine and sterling. Therefore I rarely work in copper, although I have soldered a few brass and copper pieces in the past. Her copper makes me want to change my mind though!

She does an excellent job of tying all these pieces together. Crystals and glass in very subtle shades (a little bit of pink and a little brown in the ring...the earrings have a pale brown...all the rest are crystal clear with rainbow shimmer) that will go with everything you own.

The winner will receive everything pictured here...

• Copper Bangle Bracelet
• Spiral Pendant Necklace
• Spiral Earrings
• Spiral "chandelier" Ring
• Handcrafted Jewelry Pouch

How to enter??? Easy. You will get one entry each for the following...

1. Leaving a comment here (you must either leave an e-mail address or have one easily accessible in your profile)
2. Following my Fan Page on Facebook (if you already do then you're entered once automatically!)
3. Write a post about this giveaway on your own blog and post a link here to let me know about it.

I'm not really sure how I'll pick the winner...probably put all the names into a spreadsheet, assign numbers, and use the random number generator to pick. That can be your comment...suggest how to pick the winner. ha!

::: Fine Print ::: For U.S. Residents ONLY. Sorry to my friends in Canada and other parts of the world. I luv ya but it's a pain to ship outside the U.S. and finding an extra 30-60 minutes to stand in line at the post office isn't high on my list of want to dos. :) ::::

UPDATE - Duh...I guess I should put an end date to this shouldn't I?!?! Just for fun let's make it my birthday...April 8! Get your comments, following, and blogs done by 5 p.m. Pacific that day. GOOD LUCK!!!

Where Were You Five Years Ago?

This amazing blog post by my friend at Alterity is one that every artist and craft person needs to read! It would have helped me to know half of this stuff about taxes with a jewelry business. =)

If you're just starting out head over and read this post because it could save you some heart ache (and money) in the long run!

I actually have an accountant person who has been doing my family's taxes for years and years (my grandfather's and my mother's) so I just kept with him to do my business taxes as well. I still don't know if my taxes are correct but he seems to be able to figure out my notes.

Feeling A Little Off

It's one of those days. The kind where my mind isn't functioning on all cylinders.

First, poor little baby boy got driven to the baby sitters without any straps! I just plunked him down into his car seat, put his blankets and hat on and off we went. When I was taking him out of the seat at said baby sitter's house I realized he was loose as a goose. He could have wiggled free...or worse if (God forbid) we'd been in an accident.

So that's mishap number one.

Mishap number two involves me being stupid at work so I won't be super specific. Needless to say, when I am this tired I get a little sensitive. And I tend to take things that are absolutely not even about me too personally. *sigh*

The whole daylight's savings time has thrown baby boy off his schedule and therefore thrown me off mine. We were doing okay with him going to bed around 7:30. It gave me an hour or so to get things done for the day and then go to bed. Now he's not going to bed until at least 8:30 so I'm not getting to sleep until after 9:30 (too late for me!). I still have to wake up at 5:30 to start getting ready, while he sleeps until I wake him up close to 6:30. So I'm getting less sleep. And it's starting to hurt. Hopefully he can transition back to at least an 8 p.m. bedtime.

And I have all these ideas for jewelry designs and have not one single second of time to sit down and create. Somehow I think the spare time fairy will not be visiting me anytime soon either. I do plan to work on a really super extra long freshwater pearl hand knotted necklace soon...at least it's something I can work on in pieces and use a tray to work on anywhere in the house.

I hope the rest of the day sorts itself out. I'm going to have Chef Boy R D for lunch. Is that wrong?

Randomness on Thursday

Well, I passed. =) Anyone want to buy some AFLAC? (Just kidding, I passed the exam, but don't have my official license yet...so no selling for me until then! But after that...*grin*). I go in tomorrow morning to sign my paperwork with Aflac and then I'll start their training. SO excited!!!

I had a really strange dream last night, or this morning, or whenever. We were living in a trailer, but it must have been a huge trailer because we had two big screen TVs and all kinds of other toys. Several people kept coming to the door to try to sell me something and I finally got mad and rude since they were so pushy. At some point I left the trailer and when I came back all of our stuff was stolen...but for ransom! From the sales guy who had come to the door. Is my subconscious trying to tell me something??? Oh, but he'd left the baby's bouncer so I had some place to put him. ROFL

I have a "lot" of jewelry stuff to do...and by a lot I mean four things. A former coworker's bracelet needs to be restrung. A customer's bracelet that she wears every single day needs to be restrung (any suggestions for restringing a daily wear bracelet so the wire won't break???). A pair of earrings to finish and send out. And ... shoot. There's another thing and I can't remember what it is. It's all going to have to wait until this weekend though.

I'm interviewing someone for my current job today. I *think* she's the one my boss and other boss want to hire. My interviewing her is pretty much just a formality so she can ask questions about the position. Should I try to scare her? hee hee hee ... no, I wouldn't do that because I really need whoever they hire to start NOW so I can train them. I'm actually responsible for quite a bit of stuff in this position...way more than when I first started five years ago.

My ten year anniversary with this company was March 6. I think I get a small cash bonus (I've heard $150 to $250) and it's going into savings to help me pay for Aflac supplies. Plus I now officially qualify for my two month sabbatical, which I'll be cashing out when I leave. It's my own version of severance.

Marshal has discovered his feet. He can entertain himself with them for a half an hour. I wish I was as flexible as he is.

We're trying to teach him sign language and it seems like he's figured out the milk symbol. When we do that one he now opens his mouth. ROFL Now to get him to distinguish between "milk" and "eat" (which is the sign for his rice cereal) and we'll be rolling.

I really miss making jewelry...I haven't made any in weeks and my desk is even messier than it was when I blogged about it last.

So these are my random thoughts for the day (although I'm sure I'll have a lot more...I'll spare you the details). I'm just relieved that the state exam portion of my journey is over.