Heather Kate's Personal Journal

WE Inspire Conference

2010-04-14T14:13:00Z

On March 30th, Main Street Web Development attended the first annual Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference in Oklahoma City. With a goal of 400 attendees, the Oklahoma State University Riata Center for Entrepreneurship outdid themselves with an attendance of over 650 women entrepreneurs! Talk about exciting!! I’m here to tell you that the future of America was sitting all in one room that Tuesday. I’ve been to lots of conferences in my various fields of study, and I’ve never been to a more motivating venue.

The conference was not full of hype and marketing hogwash that fills the typical marketing conference, however. It was real women telling real stories of how they rose from average to extraordinary in their careers. It was real women sitting around me living the true American dream of creating their own jobs and jobs for other people out of their sheer determination and persistence.

Listen to this line up of some of the main speakers:

Shannon Carter, who launched Crayons to Computers, a free school supply store for teachers that is now found in 41 cities around the country

Cordia Harrington, “The Bun Lady”, founder, CEO, and president of the Tennessee Bun Company, who supplies buns to national chains such as McDonald’s, Chili’s, and Pepperidge Farm. She also founded several other hugely thriving companies.

Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop® and winner of many, many prestigious awards

Dian Stai, founder of Owen Healthcare, and perhaps my favorite speaker of all, for her bravery to take her company forward when all the odds were against her

Both of the breakout sessions I attended were led by Dr. Michael Morris, the N. Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship at OSU and head of the new School of Entrepreneurship at OSU. Dr. Morris taught sessions on “Guerilla Marketing: Radical Thinking is the Key” and “Types of Ventures and Types of Entrepreneurs: Knowing Where You are Going”. Both of these sessions gave me valuable insight into my own goals and plans and how I can best go about accomplishing them.

Attending the WE Inspire conference gave me a new appreciation for networking. I’ve always believed in networking--establishing relationships with people outside of my usual circles for our mutual benefit and future potential. But I’ve never before realized so much potential in once place for women that I truly need to have in my life both now and in the future. I met people like Emily Ginn, a virtual assistant, who I might need to call on for administrative work in the future; Amy Morgan, a corporate training consultant and fellow web designer, with whom I am discussing business processes with; Jami Cervantes, a health insurance representative, who gave me some very valuable advice about health insurance for small business owners; Shea Alexander, an artist, designer, and crafter who is starting her own business sewing handmade items. And the list goes on. When I signed up for the conference, I thought I was signing up for good conference speakers and a chance to market my product. I had no idea I would walk away with relationships I intend to keep for the rest of my life.

My friends and fellow entrepreneurs Christa Murphy, Jenni McCadams, and Cara Perez joined me as I set up a table for the Networking Reception. I seriously could not have done this without them. We joked on the way there: “Main Street Web Development. Have awning, will travel.” Bill designed and built an awning frame for the event, and I designed a pattern and sewed the canopy for it. It was a marvelously fun project, and it really made the table look more look like a little storefront. MSWD is not located on Main Street, but the clients we are aiming to reach are those small businesses that are typically located on Main Street in any Smalltown, U.S.A. We want to give small businesses a chance to have great-looking websites in a price-range they can afford. But I digress. At our booth, we had the 24” iMac scrolling through our portfolio and theme gallery, and it garnered lots of attention from passersby, as did the FREE WEBSITE GIVEAWAY we offered for those who gave us their contact information. Very few people turned down the opportunity to win a free website. We even gave extra chances to win for those who did homework, like becoming a fan on Facebook, linking to our website, etc.

And that brings me to the original point of this article--the WINNER. Join me in congratulating Mary Jane Maness, a Broker with Heartland Realty & Consulting, LLC. Mary Jane is a delightful lady, and she does NOT have a website at all, so we are absolutely thrilled to give her the opportunity to get a free website for a whole year. What a great way to start the spring! Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest.

The WE Inspire Conference was a very profitable and enjoyable event, and we at Main Street Web Development look forward to next year’s event. If you live in Oklahoma and aspire to be an entrepreneur, you definitely won’t want to miss it.

In The News

2010-02-26T04:52:00Z

Main Street Web Development was featured in the first edition of The Altus Aviator today. Here’s what The Aviator had to say:

McKelvey offers affordable websites

“The DigiFix Web Design Studio, the answer for Altus businesses seeking affordable internet presence, has just made personal web design even more inexpensive.

“Heather McKelvey, founder and executive director, says the web sites are easy to use and easy to find. She is announcing her latest endeavor, Main Street Web Development, where websites can be created for less than $30 a month.

“‘I basically offer a broad range of services, from affordable theme-based websites to high-end custom designed websites,’ said McKelvey.

“‘The websites have everything from e-commerce to real estate listings and everything in between,’ continued McKelvey.

“The Digifix offers an Identity and Branding package as well. With the package, the customer receives a logo and stationary visually consistent with the website. ‘Once the website is complete, we hand you your business cards, letterheads and envelopes right along with your website,’ McKelvey said.

“Some of the local websites McKelvey has designed include:

enchanteddoorgifts.com
altuschristian.org
gallagherorthopedics.com
fbcaltus.org
discoveraltus.com

“More information is available at sitesonmain.com, thedigifix.com or you can email info@sitesonmain.com or info@thedigifix.com or call 580-471-1745.”

Now how’s that for kicking off a new product launch?

Introducing Main Street Web Development

2010-02-18T15:36:00Z

Cheap websites are a dime a dozen. There are plenty of places on the web you can go to get a website for just a few bucks a month. Problem is, they’re kind of ugly. And if, indeed, you do happen across one that really looks great, you have to do it yourself! Now for do-it-yourself kind of folks, this is a good proposition. But for those of you who don’t want any website DIY in your life, you’re kind of up a creek if you don’t want to make the initial investment a custom website requires.

Here at The DigiFix Web Design Studio, we have realized this conundrum for quite some time, and we’ve been working on a solution that acts like a “crossover” website. With our new line of websites at Main Street Web Development, we are taking the affordable price of a DIY website, the fabulous creativity of a custom website, and DOING IT FOR YOU, to bridge that gap between what you want and what you can afford.

Getting a website has never been easier! When you give us a call, we schedule a Setup Session with you. In this Setup Session, we meet you where you are to discuss all of the features you want in your website. If you don’t happen to live in the Southwest Oklahoma/North Texas area, we can even have our Setup Session by phone, email, or webmeeting. We help you select an available domain name, and we ask you the right questions to find out just what information you want to include. Then we help you choose a theme from our gallery that gives you just the look you want. And that’s all you have to do! Once we get back to the studio, we set up your website, professionally write your content, and give you a call when it’s ready to view.

For all of this personal, one-on-one service, you’d expect a high price tag. But our $99.95 setup fee is all you pay to have your own personal web consultant at your beckon call. We have month-to-month subscription plans, so you can choose the plan that works best for you and upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time. There is no commitment required. Prices this low make it affordable to have a website for yourself and your business.

And one more thing--we’re always glad to update your website for you. Our Upgrade Plan comes with three updates a month. But if you want to save some money and update it yourself, you’ll find the control panel extremely easy to use, and we’ll gladly show you how to use it up close and in person.

Help us spread the word about Main Street Web Development! Every business needs a website, and now it’s even easier than ever to get one.

My Sunday Cup

2010-02-11T19:28:00Z

This afternoon I am drinking from my Sunday cup. It’s one I haven’t used since before I lived in this house, which means I probably haven’t used it since becoming a mother. I drank from this cup every Sunday afternoon BC (before children). Drinking from my Sunday cup was a privilege I only allowed myself on a Sunday afternoon when my entire house was clean and sparkling, something of which I regrettably cannot currently boast. The delicate, ornate, blue and white teacup and saucer were a gift to me from the tea room the day of my bridal shower. Somehow that teacup spoke to me of a life which I had yet to live. It seemed to represent a person, a season, an experience that I had yet to embark upon. Now looking back, I see that my teacup was indeed symbolic--symbolic of my journey into adulthood where fantasy and reality intermingle too delicately to tell them apart.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve been afraid to use my teacup here. It’s been nearly seven years since I’ve filled it with coffee--long enough to forget my preferred proportions of cream and sugar in such a small vessel. I have kept it in a special place in my cupboard, right next to the Waterford stems I have recently begun to use as every day glasses, yes, even right here in my 80’s kitchen. I have seen the cup often, but have never ventured to pick it up at tea time. It doesn’t seem quite adequate for handling the weight my motherhood coffee must bear.

Back when I used to drink from my Sunday cup, it was only to relish in the quiet self-satisfaction of a job well-done and a house well-cleaned. It was a way of rewarding myself for working hard all week at the hospital and working hard on the weekend to keep house. Even then it was something new and different and meaningful to know that I had successfully entered adulthood, and that my childish enjoyment of noise and excitement had finally given way to a strong and grateful preference of peace, solitude, and a few moments to myself.

Now, several years later, my afternoon coffee doesn’t often find itself in the midst of reflection on a blissful afternoon. Nor does it simply exist for a moment of mere pleasure. My motherhood afternoon coffee carries the responsibility of refueling me for the harder part of the day--the part where homework and dinner and bathtime prevail. In some ways, my afternoon coffee really represents me--the me that I am now. And my Sunday cup represents the me that I was then. The Now Me is less me and more Mommy. And that’s a good thing.

Monogram Dishcloths

2010-01-21T02:47:00Z

One of my coworkers at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital got me hooked on hand-knit dishcloths. I used the ones she knit until they literally fell apart. My mom has recently begun knitting cute little dishcloths with all sorts of patterns, and when she sent me a handful of them, I was instantly charmed. And inspired. They have the whole vintage thing going on but with absolute modern style and usefulness.

Over Christmas vacation, I borrowed some of my mom’s patterns to knit some dishcloths for myself, but being the eternal (and Southern) customizer that I am, I was aching for a dishrag with my own fancy monogram on it. After a thorough online search, I found nothing but plain ole patterns for block letters. Bleh! So I searched through my font library and decided to “roll my own” pattern. And here it is, for any of my knitting friends who happen to share the need for an M dishcloth. This is my first ever knit pattern to write, but I’ve checked it thoroughly and knitted it through following the directions, so I’m very confident that it is correct. Still...I make no guarantees. Let me know if you knit it!

Monogrammed Dishcloth - M

Finished Size: 8” x 8”

Materials:
100% Cotton Medium/Worsted Weight Yarn: One ball. (Actually, much less than one ball.)
Straight knitting needles, size 8

Gauge not necessary.

Pattern
Cast on 39 stitches.
Rows 1-7: Knit across
Row 8 and every even (wrong side) row through 54: Knit (K) 4, Purl (P) 31, K4
Rows 9, 11, 13, 15: Knit across
Row 17: K6 P4 Knit across
Row 19: K4 P2 K3 P2 K13 P7 K8
Row 21: K4 P2 K1 P1 K2 P2 K15 P1 K11
Row 23: K5 P2 K3 P2 K15 P1 K11
Row 25: K10 P2 K15 P1 K11
Row 27: K10 P2 K7 P1 K7 P1 K11
Row 29: K10 P2 K6 P3 K6 P1 K11
Row 31: K10 P2 K5 P1 K1 P3 K5 P1 K11
Row 33: K10 P2 K4 P1 K3 P3 K4 P1 K11
Row 35: K10 P2 K3 P1 K5 P3 K3 P1 K11
Row 37: K10 P2 K2 P1 K7 P3 K2 P1 K11
Row 39: K10 P2 K1 P1 K10 P2 K1 P1 K3 P3 K5
Row 41: K10 P3 K12 P3 K2 P2 K1 P2 K4
Row 43: K10 P2 K14 P2 K5 P1 K5
Row 45: K7 P8 K8 P10 K6
Rows 47, 49, 51, 53, 55-62: Knit across
Bind off all stitches in knit.

The Relevance of Christmas

2009-12-03T15:41:00Z

I’ve a grown a bit weary of the frivolities of Christmas. Cheap strings of lights on houses, larger-than-life candy canes lining driveways, Santa posing for kids’ photos in the mall, junk mail with pictures of shiny red bows on tools offering “More Christmas”...the list goes on and on. All of these things that modern marketing techniques now leverage to benefit our sacred economy threaten to distract us from the real reason we celebrate Christmas. I know, I know, we hear it every year. Jesus is the Reason for the Season. So if that’s the case, than why isn’t He the Focus of the Season? Why do we pour so much energy into decorating our houses and buying gifts yet almost overlook worshiping Him?

Perhaps it is because Jesus’ birthday seems irrelevant to our daily lives. All believers agree that it’s wonderful that God sent His son to earth as a baby to live a sinless life and be crucified on the cross so that all who confess their wrongdoing and believe in Him can have eternal life with Him in heaven. This fact alone should be enough to bring us to our knees in worship of our Creator. But the reality is that we have heard it so many times, it has become commonplace information in our minds. Maybe you are above the numbness of which I speak, but I am sad to say that often I am not. When I hear the Gospel spoken, many times it goes in one ear and out the other, and I take for granted the sacrifice Jesus paid so that I may live.

Similarly, when December rolls around yet again, I find myself shopping for gifts, decorating the house, and taking the time to flip through all the toy catalogs that come in the mail, even though I’ve seen them all twice, with barely a thought toward the virgin-born spotless Lamb of God for which all of this seasonal hooplah originated. And I think it all goes back to the thought of Jesus as a baby in a manger with cows mooing, and horse-tails swooshing, and stars twinkling silently in the dark, damp night. This nativity scene which we celebrate, though it should bring a tremendous moment of worship for those who believe, seems like just a moment in history. A tired mom and dad, a brand-new baby, and lots of hay and animals. What does that have do, really, with my daily life and my daily struggles?

I’m not sure that I can express in a clear manner the thoughts that began swirling in my mind this morning, but I’m going to try. Upon hearing the news of a local girl who died of cancer yesterday, just two years after her mother died of cancer, leaving her older sister and disabled father hurting yet again, thoughts of pain and death and loss and grief keep crowding out the thoughts of what I need to be doing today. Names and faces of people I have known or heard of who have recently died or who are enduring painful trials even now keep making their way forward in my thoughts, and I am faced with the reality that God allows suffering. God could stop disease and death. He could. But He doesn’t. It’s the biggest question perhaps any of us have ever had about God. Why doesn’t He just let us live and be happy? I don’t know. I trust Him anyway. I know that He uses suffering to draw us closer to Himself, to bring more glory to Himself, to make us stronger and purer, but I still can’t reckon it in my mind. All I can do is trust. As I started contemplating these thoughts this morning, I asked God why. Why did He create this broken world? Why doesn’t He fix it? Why does He keep letting innocent people suffer? Why do we have to hurt? How can such a perfect, holy God create something that is now so far from perfection and holiness? My questions aren’t answered and perhaps never will be. But God did respond. “The world wasn’t broken when I created it,” He reminded me. It broke the day sin entered the world. It broke the day Adam and Eve disobeyed. Pain, hard work, suffering, and death--they all started with sin. A person’s suffering may not be a direct result of a particular sin, or even of a life of sin, but suffering itself is a result of sin.

So if we were born into sin through Adam (and forgive me for not researching Bible verses to support this at the moment), then we were born hopeless, and we can’t do good. So sin continues. Suffering continues. And that’s when the relevancy of Christmas hit me this morning. God sent His son to earth as a baby--a baby fully human, thus born into a sinful nature--and yet that baby grew into a boy, a teenager, and a man, who did not do wrong. Ever. He did not sin. Did not disobey. Did not talk disrespectfully to His parents, did not push the boundaries that were set, did not tell a fib, or spread a rumor, or thumb His nose at authority. Jesus did not sin. And yet He was tempted, which meant that when disobedience was offered to Him as a choice, something inside of Him felt an inclination to do that wrong thing, and He had to make a conscious decision to do what was right. If that is not the case, than I must misunderstand what temptation really is. But if my understanding of temptation is correct, than Jesus proved that it is entirely possible for us as humans to always choose obedience. He did it. He was born of a man, (well really a woman), yet He managed to live His entire life making only good choices. So then the baby in the manger is no longer irrelevant to our present daily struggles. The baby in the manger is HOPE. Hope is more than wishful thinking. Hope is being sure of what we know to be true. We know that God has given us every thing we need for life through His Holy Spirit, and the baby in the manger who grew up to live a pure, holy life gives us HOPE that we can do the same thing. While we know that nothing we can do can establish our relationship with the Father besides the blood of Jesus, and we know that Romans 3:23 tells us, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” we can at the same time, stand confident knowing that baby Jesus in the manger gives us hope that we can accept the forgiveness God offers to us and begin to make right choices to honor Him from here on out.

Pain and suffering will continue. And they are perhaps magnified during the Christmas season. But maybe you and I can let the lights and the festivities and the music direct our thoughts toward the baby in the manger that gives us hope--hope that we have Someone to run to when the hurt goes deep; hope that we can be forgiven just by believing in Him; hope that we can honor Him by making good choices; hope that endures longer than the passing of time; hope that is completely relevant to our daily lives.

I’ve got some more thinking to do. Because, despite my desire to not be distracted by seasonal goings-on, I still put lights in my yard, gifts under the tree, and icing on homemade cookies. I love doing those things, and I love the sweet memories Christmas music and traditions bring about. Christmas, while it’s truly about the hope Jesus brought to earth, is also synonymous with warm fuzzy feelings and precious family time. I want to continue my own Christmas traditions in such a way that they magnify the true meaning of Christmas rather than deter from it, and I want to express the Hope of Christmas to my children so that they recognize the true meaning of these traditions.

Student of the Month

2009-11-20T03:49:01Z

The elementary school had their monthly meeting today where all the students gather in the school cafeteria and one class leads the whole meeting. It was a most special time and one I’m glad I didn’t miss. Students from one of the of the fourth grade classes shared responsibilities for welcoming the students, leading the pledges and anthems, and entertaining the crowd. I found the ceremony to be unexpectedly emotional for me. As I stood there watching a few hundred elementary children sing proudly of their country with such beautiful, innocent voices, visions of negative news media flashed through my mind--children singing praises for a faulty human being, rather than in the deeper meaning of what our country stands for, meaning that reaches farther than the limits of one man; children refusing to say the pledge of allegiance, just because gay people aren’t always given equality or because it’s not politically correct; children, brainwashed by unbelieving parents, who will never again regain the chance to have purity of heart born out of innocence and unadorned faith in God. And those images rotated through my mind like a slideshow of our nation’s proclaimed unbelief, while the harmonious music of Smalltown Elementary reached deep into my soul and reminded me that God is still in control of this world, and He is still in control of our government, and He is still in control of our children. No matter what the news portrays to us, the earnest convictions of God-fearing American citizens are alive and well and being intricately woven into many more youthful souls than we will ever hear about on the news. Our school may not preach the Word of God at rallies or pray aloud in the name of Jesus, but God’s Spirit is present and evident nonetheless, and He is working even still as the children themselves proclaim His truths to one another. As long as Christians are in this nation, the United States of America is still a Christian nation. When we teach our little ones to tell their friends about Jesus, and they come home telling us they DO IT...we can have hope that God’s Word will carry on. Praise God we don’t have to depend on the government to spread our faith; let’s raise a new generation that will spread it with us.

But I digress. Or do I? I was so proud of my little man. What an amazing faith and strength of heart he has! The Student of the Month award was well-deserved by him, and for way more than attendance, promptness, good grades and excellent behavior. Will has learned to trust God through the toughest of times--through pain, through impossible circumstances, and through the daily drudgery of unwanted yet necessary medical routines. He has a positive outlook, a humble heart, and an unwavering faith that God will give him the strength to face anything that comes his way. And every day that I drop him off and pick him up, and visit him in between, he smiles from ear to ear as if to say, “Life is good. I’ve got my family, I’ve got a great teacher, I’ve got God, and nothing else matters.” What a blessed child.

To Coupon or Not to Coupon

2009-10-19T03:14:00Z

My family and I journeyed to Tulsa over fall break (by way of Kansas, incidentally, since I failed to navigate one of the more important turns we should have taken in Oklahoma City). While we were there, every time I used something, my friend Holly told me, “Oh, I got that free at Walgreen’s.” “I got that free at Walgreen’s too.” “That was only 99 cents at Walgreens.” It became the running joke to me that if we used it and liked it, it obviously must have come from Walgreen’s. For free.

Holly explained to me how the Register Rewards work, and how through websites like Couponing101 and others, you can really learn to save big bucks at the grocery store and drug store. I made a habit of cutting coupons a couple of years ago, and I finally got tired of having too many Sunday newspapers to throw away, since all it did was just break even for the expense of the paper. But now I know that I did it all wrong. You can’t just cut a coupon and then take it in to the store for your discount. Oh noooooo. You cut the coupon, then hold on to it until the item goes on sale, then pair it with a store coupon, use it when they double it, and get the product for pennies on the dollar. And if you play it right at Walgreen’s, with the Register Rewards you can actually MAKE money instead of spending it. Imagine...making a round through the drug store, picking up a few things you need, checking out, and the clerk hands you your goods and some MONEY!?! It’s possible. Totally possible.

So, being the tightwad that I am, I decided I would be wrong to not at least give couponing one more decent effort. I started online. I read up at Couponing 101 to find out the whole scoop. I scouted and scraped and printed, printed, printed. We’re talking hours of hard labor to gather coupons online. On the way home from church today I stopped in to Walgreen’s for a sales paper (that you can also view online), and I stopped by United for a Sunday paper and a store flyer. When the machine gave one of my dollars back to me, I knew it was a sign that I would save lots of money today. I spent the ENTIRE afternoon cutting coupons, organizing them by product type, and scheming which store would be the most beneficial for claiming each bargain. I even hired some child labor to help with the process.

Finally, armed with my makeshift coupon notebook, the Walgreen store flyer, and VERY detailed lists of what to buy, in what order, and which coupon to use, I headed off to Walgreen’s to get started. I immediately found myself overwhelmed, as I realized that I had to juggle the notebook and piles of coupons to figure out EXACTLY which product, which quantity, and which flavor to buy. You can’t buy the wrong thing, or the coupon won’t work. It’s a good thing I did not take a child with me. I might have headed straight back through the door. I did, finally, find almost everything I planned to buy. I deliberated more than once over whether the cost with the coupons was more than it would cost paying retail at Wal-mart, and I did decide to leave some things on the shelf for that reason. Before I was done I hit the jackpot with the clearance gift bags. At $1 each, they were Dollar Tree prices with Hallmark cuteness. I had been meaning to stock up on gift bags anyway, so that was a perfect little surprise.

As I aimed my buggy for the register, undoubtedly filled with more goods than the Walgreens buggy manufacturer intended, a sense of dread immediately set in. I had read about how ladies get a bit nervous when they head into a store with an armload of coupons, and I thought they were pretty sissy about it. Why would you be ashamed of being a smart shopper? You walk out richer than anyone in there. But it happened. My heart started beating faster, my knees got a little wobbly, and I realized I had to face the dreaded Walgreen’s clerk with shaky hands and a toppling load of toilet paper. I started my transactions rolling with the first few items that earned Register Rewards. I had SO CAREFULLY planned what to buy with the best coupon and Register Reward combinations. The clerk ran the final total, I scanned my card, and as I signed on the dotted line, I saw my pile of coupons sitting there. Unused. What an idiot! Could this get any worse? I of course became more flustered and then had to sort through the coupons to see if there was any way to rectify my mistake with the next of the three transactions I had to run in order to effectively scam Walgreen’s.

There wasn’t. So I started loading up my goods on to the tiny little counter. Three 9-packs of Big Rolls of Quilted Northern ($2.99 each). Umpteen gift bags. Two Emergen-Cs (Buy 1 Get 1). A motherload of Huggies wipes (whose $2 coupon also made it home). Six padded mailers (that I wasted $6 on since my coupon got stuck in the folder pocket.) A $2.50-gallon of milk. The list goes on and on. The line behind me started to pile up, and I suddenly felt ashamed of myself and frustrated for the people behind me who all had the token 2 or 3 things people normally go to Walgreen’s for. This is NOT Wal-mart. You are not supPOSED to buy a whole buggy full here. You come in for the good deal they lure you for, buy two extra things that are ridiculously overpriced, and check out before you lose your whole paycheck. I could hear all these things fuming from the line behind me, even though none of them were spoken audibly. I would have been thinking the same thing. But I was already in too deep to turn away. I had to USE all those Register Reward coupons for which I bought stupid stuff to receive.

I quickly wrapped up my transaction with coupons, reward certificates, and receipts flying and flew to the car with my buggy, which, unfortunately isn’t made for buggies. They don’t mean for you to actually buy more than you can carry in a sack or two. When I got home, I was stressed, mad at myself, and wondering if I wasted money or saved money. But when I tallied up the total, I was quite pleased with how it came out. Despite missing FOURTEEN DOLLARS of the coupons I had clipped, I still saved over $58. I spent $92, so I counted that to be a pretty darn good coupon trip. Had I used the $14 in overlooked coupons, the totals would have been Savings: $72; Out of pocket: $78. That would definitely have sounded better. I can honestly say that everything I bought was something I would have used in the near future, with or without the coupons, or something I will substitute for something I would have used. Like some things are a slightly different brand, or a different quantity than I normally buy, but still relatively the same product. The only thing I bought that I never ever buy was Zantac. And it turned out to be free with the Register Rewards. The only reason I bought it was because I had a $1 off coupon, which would have actually given me a ONE DOLLAR OVERAGE. And then I forgot the coupon.

I still anticipate saving another $20 with the coupons I’ve clipped that I plan to use this week at my other two stops. So all in all, I think I turned out with a pretty good week of savings. The trouble is, I’ve already spent over SEVEN. HOURS. Yes, that’s right. Seven hours it took for me to do all that scouting and printing and organizing and whatnot. I calculated my wages down to an anticipated $11.31/hour saved/earned by couponing. Had I not forgotten that chunk of coupons, I would have made like, $13 an hour. Or something like that. I think with some practice and some experience, I could probably scootch that up to a decent amount of money I could save by couponing. That’s pretty good return on investment, really. However, if I had actually spent my couponing time on my current work list that is staring at me from the sticky pad next to me right now, I could have made a heckuva lot more money and had time left over to relax.

I’m not quite sure if couponing is worth my time. I’m not done with it altogether, though. If I can find some ways to trim down the time it takes to prep for the shopping trip, and if I can overcome the stress and aggravation and chaos that the couponing grocery trip creates, it might be worth a try. Given these economic times, it’s good to know that I can find a way to save literally hundreds of dollars a month if I put the effort into it. I’m sure there are a lot of ways I could be more organized and more intentional about saving money if I really put my heart and soul into it. The question is whether or not I want to!

Swarovski Flip Flops

2009-09-13T02:11:00Z

Today I blinged my heart out. Inspired by some VERY expensive flip flops, I decided to make my own. I know, big surprise there. Several days ago I searched online high and low to find out how, what, and where. I ordered my fave brand of flip-flops--Nike--and a small assortment of Swarovski rhinestones. Today’s rain kept the kids and their umbrellas and bikes busy enough to afford me some time to bling. But as always...Altus hit me square in the face, right as I sat down with my supplies.

The tutorial I found online mentioned using Perfect Positioners to help pick up the rhinestones. Using tweezers is like, not a possibility, since they would get covered in industrial-strength glue. But I forGOT to order the positioners when I ordered the rhinestones last week. Today I was making these flip flops come rain, sleet or hail, with or without the Perfect Positioners. Of course I had checked Wally world earlier in the week, but they don’t carry them. Another big surprise, right? It’s just a cute little stick with a ball of wax on the end. How hard could that be to make? Well...it’s not! Bill sat at the kitchen counter dipping some manicure sticks into my vanilla-scented candle until he had a nice big ball of wax on the end. Perfect! You touch the rhinestone, it picks it up, then you put it on the glue, and it lets go! We outsmarted Altus this time.

Not so smart, however, was my failure to calculate the number of rhinestones I was using on the first flip flop, especially since I had a limited number and was a little short of the number recommended by the tutorial. I ran about 40 crystals short, and went on a quick jaunt to Wal-mart, hoping...just HOPING...they would have one little pack of crystals. No such luck. So I’ll have to place another order online and wait for them to come in before I can actually finish these shoes. But I don’t mind, because they are really, really sassy.

So my little entrepreneurial mind is thinking, “I should go into business!!” As if I have time for that. But I could sell DIY kits…

So It’s Not an iPhone

2009-08-27T05:46:00Z

I am a total Apple fan. I made the Big Switch a couple of years ago when I qualified (for a very short period of time) for a massive education discount off of new Apple computers and Adobe Creative Suite 3. I had drooled over iMacs and Macbooks for months, and shortly after becoming a teacher, it hit me one day that I could actually maybe afford one with the discount. Long story short, I did. One of each, in fact, before my teaching contract ended. Holding the box itself to the first one was like love at first sight. Have you ever felt the packaging from Apple? Pure heaven.

So when the iPhone first came out, I immediately went online to reserve my own. Then they asked that dreaded question: my Zip code. Now I’ve never been one to get too hung up on Zip codes, but let me tell you. I got hung up on them that day. See, Altus only has one Zip code. I think it’s the only one Apple doesn’t know about. 3G service for all mankind? 4G even? Not here, folks. Out here in our neck of the woods, er, um, plains, we’re lucky to get cellular service at all. In fact, the very first time we drove through here, I was actually surprised to find a cell phone store on the corner of downtown. And if you’ve seen our coverage maps, you’d be surprised too.

While all the world has ranted and raved and synced and played and generally become addicted to the iPhone, us folks out here in no man’s land have been stuck beating our chests and using smoke signals. The time finally came that I needed to upgrade my cell phone, and despite my valiant attempts to fool the Apple Zip Code iPhone checker-outer system, I realized I would have to actually go down to that cellular store on the corner and pick out something they have to offer here in Altus. For a freelance web designer like myself to waltz into a cell phone store and walk out with anything but an iPhone is sheer humiliation. I could practically write an app for the iPhone, for gosh sakes.

For the past little while I’ve been accustomed to using a Blackberry, which was a hand-me-up from my little sis several years ago. It’s so ancient by now that I’ve actually been embarrassed to pull it out in public. Yes, I do have a vain streak. I figured I would just upgrade to a new Curve or Pearl or whatnot. And then I saw something curious. An iPhone-looking thing that you can touch and surf and qwerty-type and everything. It was practically glowing at me in the case. Now, I had to swallow my pride to even consider the {gasp!} LG version of a touch phone. But let’s face it. There’s no iPhone within miles of here. It’s either go for the gusto and enjoy the substandard toucheroo, or stick with the everybody’s-got-one Blackberry. I went with the LG Tritan, because once I started touching and swiping and typing, I couldn’t keep my hands off of it. It’s soooo...Appleish. Now that my brain has been doing Mac logic for the past couple of years, the Tritan seems to follow that same intuition, rather than the typical PC vibes I get from the Blackberry.

So it’s not an iPhone. And I’m not pretending that it is. Well, most of the time I’m not. Unless I’m in the doctor’s office and the drug reps might not realize that Altus doesn’t do iPhones. But when I’m out there surfing the net or catching up on my blog feeds, I’m painfully aware that my phone did not come from the Apple store. Yeah, it’s got a few 3rd party apps to purchase, but really. What’s the point?

I usually name my Mac hardware, because I like it in the sort of way that some people like their cats and dogs. If you own a Mac, you know what I mean. It’s like part of the family. I’ll refrain from sharing all of my Mac device names here, but as I held my new Tritan, I thought, this thing needs a name. I like it, and it needs a name. All my favorite electronic devices have names. But after I thought for a moment, I sort of felt like a traitor trying to name something that wasn’t Apple. Crazy, I know, but I did. I thought that. So I didn’t name it. It’s just my phone. Sometimes I think I’m funny when I call it my aPhone. You know, A for Altus? But that’s really not funny. I like my phone. I like to touch it. But it’s just a phone. A data phone, yes, that browses and emails and navigates, but it’s just a phone.

Howevah...this just-a-phone has the cutest dang cover anywhere!! I searched the internet far and wide for knitting patterns for iPhone cozies, and I couldn’t find what I wanted. So I made up my own. I made two, actually, and hated the first one, which was a sock. It was cool, and I learned a new knitting skill--magic cast on--, but I couldn’t use the phone in the sock, nor get it out in a hurry. The new and improved version is a SLIPPER instead--a hot pink slipper with a cute little black bow at the top. Now that’s one sexy aPhone. It sort of takes the sting out.

The Night Before School

2009-08-11T03:41:00Z

Tags are trimmed off new clothes and the door lined with shoes. Packs are stuffed with supplies that have never been used. Uniforms are laid out with white bobby socks too, and my children are sleeping, I know not what to do. Should I blog, should I work, should I sit and boo-hoo? It’s the night before school starts for Thing 1 and Thing 2!

I’ve cried lots of tears getting ready for school. In the very same moments I’ve thought it was cool. School is cool and it’s bad, I must be going mad. I cry when I smile and I laugh when I’m sad. These kids they just do it, I don’t know what to say. I love them so much, so much more every day. But they drive me so crazy! Get under my skin! They whine and they fight and they do it again.

“This color-book’s mine!”
“No! I had it first!”
“Well I have it now!” down the hall voices burst.

“I’m telling mom!”
“Well I’ll tell her too!”
“You can’t have my color-book, or I’ll take it from you!”

How any mom could cry about five days of peace, five days every week with three hours at least, I do not have answers for such silly things. For sobs and for tears over children with wings.

We guide and we teach and we love and we pray. We kiss and we hug and we do it all day. We clean and we wash, we sweep and we fold, we mothers keep house like it never gets old. We do it all proudly, and we do it with love. We do it--goodness knows--with help from above.

Now it’s time for Thing 1 and Thing 2 to grow up. I’ll tie on their sneakers and wish them good luck. Though I’ll walk them to class on the very first day, the next day it surely won’t happen that way. I might get a hug with a cheek on my face, but quickly they’ll run--up the sidewalk they’ll race. That big ole school will swallow them whole, then off I’ll drive, very slowly I’ll roll. The tears will be flowing as onward I go. My babies how quickly they managed to grow.

I’ll spend the ride home wiping tears from my face, using every last kleenex that’s found in the place. Then quietly I’ll open the door of my house; not a child will be stirring, and there best be no mouse. I’ll enter my home that once I could claim. I claimed it to be my very own domain. I gave it up for a while, and I’ll give it up yet, to two wild little monkeys with not a regret.

And then it will hit me. This house is all mine. From eight to eleven, I won’t hear a whine. I’ll clean or I’ll work, or I’ll sit and drink tea, and I’ll do it alone, just the silence and me. And then they’ll be gone--those tears on my face. They’ll stop right in their tracks when I reclaim my space. It will not last long, I’ll be racing the clock, but I’ll cheer and I’ll turn up the music and rock. I might miss the ‘Movers with their catchy tunes, but that TV is mine, I can watch it till noon. You know I won’t bother, if you know me at all, but the freedom is there if that TV show calls.

My kids will come back, and I’m so glad they will. My Thing 1 and Thing 2, how I will miss them still. They’ll come bearing homework, dirty clothes, hair and shoes, but I’ll grab them up quickly, my Things 1 and 2. I’ll hug them so tightly they’ll beg I let go, then we’ll snack and we’ll play till the bath water flows. We’ll brush and we’ll read and I’ll tuck them in bed, as the next day of school they will already dread. Truthfullly, I probably will dread the day too, I love lazy mornings with Thing 1 and Thing 2.

School is here; summer’s gone with it’s leisurely pace. I’m both happy and sad with big tears on my face. Tomorrow is dreadful; tomorrow is grand. I’ll have time for myself but have no little hands. I don’t know what I’ll do when to college they go. I want them with me, but I want them to grow. I know at my side they will not always stand, but for now I will hold them as long as I can.

Brimming…

2009-07-31T00:12:00Z

The tears took me by surprise last year when I saw Will off to his first day of kindergarten. I had so looked forward to having some relief from the constant entertainment I must provide to keep his smart little wheels turning. I remembered my mom telling me how she had cried the day I went to kindergarten, then on other monumental years as well. But I thought I had conquered that crying business last year. After all, we’re seasoned elementary parents now, with a big first-grader in the family, right?

This isn’t a real good time to be writing an article like this, since I’d rather not have red eyes before Bill and I head off for dinner to celebrate our ninth anniversary. But I have a few moments of peace, a cup of coffee, and a heart that is brimming over with emotions just as sure as my eyes are brimming with tears. I just have to take a few minutes to let some of them pour out on the computer keyboard--the emotions that is. I’d sure hate to ruin a keyboard the way I ruined one back at the hospital with a hot, sticky cup of coffee one Saturday while I worked overtime. Somehow, though, I always seem to feel better, in some strange way, after laying my soul bare to the world. Like somehow I’ve gained some sort of cyber-hug by anyone who happens by to read. It’s weird, really, to blog such intensely personal feelings in such a public way. I guess that I have this little glimmer of hope that my writing will find someone who identifies with my feelings. Someone who maybe has the same feelings about their own life, but maybe couldn’t quite express it or just didn’t take the time to write it down.

The book I’ve been reading lately, The Wednesday Sisters, has done that for me. It has expressed beliefs and emotions about life that I have held so very deeply, yet never have quite been able to express myself in such a meaningful and tangible way. It has even drawn me back to the idea that maybe I should write my own book. I don’t know where, exactly I will find the time to write more than a monthly blog article, but I love to write. I really do. I never would have known that growing up, but I’ve developed quite a passion for creative expression through writing. It seems to soothe my soul in ways nothing else can.

Goodness knows I need some soothing right now as I prepare for both of my kids to go off to school this year. Last year the tears on that first day of school were unexpected. I thought I was a big enough girl to handle a little school time away from my first born. But this year there’s no surprise about it. I’ve already started crying buckets, even with school two weeks out. Well, less than two weeks by now. It’s gonna take some serious writing to soothe this mommy’s sadness! I haven’t finished my thoughts on this subject, but it’s time for me to go. I guess I’ll write more later…

Where, Oh Where Has My Little Blog Gone?

2009-06-03T19:04:00Z

My friend Andy recently posted an article about his desire to get back to his original blogging subjects--his kids. I had already been thinking about my own blog and it’s unfortunate disappearance, and I had been wondering just how in the world I could ever catch up with all my un-journaled feelings and experiences. Just as I was moseying through my Google Reader, I came across Andy’s post and immediately realized it was time to do something about my own blogging issue. Unlike Andy’s blogging woes, though, mine will be harder to alleviate. While his blog has gone from kiddo to techno, mine has just gone out the window. But at least I know I have a problem. Admitting the problem is the first step to fixing it, right?

My lack of blogging is not for lack of inspiration. If anything, I have more things than ever to blog about. And therein lies the challenge. So many experiences, so many hobbies, so many hours running around with new responsibilities have given me more topics to write about than I can shake a stick at. But they have left me little time for contemplation. Truly, contemplation is what I miss more than blogging. So here I sit, looking out of the fogged windows in my newly (yet cheaply) redecorated studio (which probably should be Hunter’s bedroom), and I’m realizing how much I want to just think. Think and write. Two of my utmost favorite past-times. I keep hearing the kids giggling and banging the walls as they play kickball down the hallway, but somehow I’m managing some alone-time in the midst of it.

I am aching. Aching to dig deep into my soul and think out loud the thoughts that lie there undisturbed. Thoughts I sometimes think while I’m doing something else, or thoughts that exude a tear I quickly wipe away, or thoughts I briefly share with Bill before we’re off into another logistical discussion about life in the ministry with two special needs kids. But I’m afraid to admit that most of those thoughts will probably remain in the recesses for quite long enough to no longer be valid thoughts.

And so, as my coffee cup is now cold and empty, so my peaceful moment of contemplation is nearly over. I will click “Submit” begrudgingly, not knowing when I will return to the misty, meandering, often divided stream of my inner thoughts. There aren’t many moments in my jam-packed summer days that will allow for such mental bliss. I do not sign off today with the promise to return sooner than before. I do, however, leave with the hope of returning to this bottomless ocean of thoughts, dreams, plans, and memories and to be carried away to that far-off, yet self-contained place once again.

Discover Altus

2009-05-17T00:18:00Z

Altus is really a great place to live. I’ve blogged about the ups and downs of living in a small, remote Southwestern town many times before. It took a good long while for the place to grow on me, I must admit, since I was born and raised in the deep south. But after being here for nearly six years, I really do love it. It’s been said that it takes at least 3 years to “grow roots” in a town, but I say it doesn’t have to take that long. Time doesn’t grow roots. Time just solidifies whatever it is you are doing. Community involvement is what grows roots; time just makes them grow deeper and stronger.

With all of that in mind, I’ve been a bit disappointed that despite all of the things the Altus community has to offer, there has been no central place for newcomers or potential newcomers to find out about it all. For several years I have mulled this over in my mind, thinking that I needed to build a website that highlighted the local community. The problem is, I stay too busy with paying jobs and sewing projects do create a website just because I want to. Then, in January, the Altus Association of REALTORS® approached me about building a website for them to house their Multiple Listing Service and advertise Altus to the rest of the world. There couldn’t have been a better way to get Altus on the map. The MLS is just what Altus needed to have a great community website with info that would be helpful to anyone looking to move here.

So with no further ado, I present to you DISCOVERAltus.com--a DigiFix-built website that highlights the city of Altus, its real estate, and several of its local businesses. I invite you to explore the site, and see what Altus is all about. When you click on other people’s websites, though, don’t let the lack of graphic beauty dim your view of this fabulous little treasure in the southwest corner of Oklahoma. Altus people are the best in the world, and the quality of life here supercedes any shortcomings. Hopefully DISCOVERAltus.com will be a key that helps unlock the hidden treasure that is Altus.

Family Update

2009-03-13T20:27:00Z

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and written us notes of encouragement over the past several weeks. We are so grateful for our fellow prayer warriors, and I can tell you we have literally FELT your prayers in tangible ways. I am happy to report that the McKelveys are all smiles again, despite the trials, and we are reclaiming normalcy despite our few new routines.

You’ll remember that last month we started Hunter’s daily growth hormone shots. That was quite the experience, and one we would preferred to have skipped. After a couple of weeks of fighting, she finally settled down and let us give the shot with very little complaint (though now she is back to squirming again). It was just in time for us to establish an unexpected new routine with Will.

On one of our weekly trips up to the city for biofeedback therapy, the doctors discovered his kidneys had fluid on them, and they wouldn’t let us leave without learning how to catheterize him. We had known this would be a good possibility in the future, but I was not prepared at that moment to take home a truckload of medical supplies and delve head first into the worst weekend of my life. But we had no choice. Kidneys are important.

I cannot even begin to tell the horrors of our first three days of this routine, but they involved a lot of tears, a lot of prayer, and a lot of bribery. Throughout the entire weekend, I felt an unexplainable sense of peace, grace, and sustenance that only the Lord can provide. God took my hands and my mouth and the entire remainder of my body and made it all work together to accomplish nothing short of a miracle in establishing a routine that Will is likely to continue for a lifetime. We do believe in the supernatural healing of God, and we pray that He will send some of it our way, but we are fully accepting and anticipating that this is not a short-term assignment. God’s grace is big enough to handle that.

Will is now doing fabulous, and I’m here to tell you that he has been 100% dry since we left the doctor’s office with our gazillion dollars of medical supplies. That, dear friends, is the biggest answer to prayer. And now my little guy is a new person. It’s like a weight has been lifted from him--a weight entirely too big for such a young person to carry. What I thought was a strong-willed personality I now know was a medical illness. He is happy, compliant, confident, and feels great too. What seemed like (and was for a little while) the hardest thing we’d ever face has now become the biggest blessing (aside from our salvation and families) that we’ve ever received. We are so blessed and so thankful.

One of the interesting dynamics to this whole situation is the fact that I’m involved in a pretty big website project in the middle of it all. It seems like ill timing for a such a big job when I have such major family trials to get through. But the project itself is a testimony to the Lord’s provision and involvement in the intricate details of our lives. First, He brought the client directly to me on no effort of my own. Next, the week our stuff with Will went down, the client put the project on hold for internal issues. It was just in time for me to have a break from the computer to cope with daily living. Then, right as we got back on track with our routines and ready for the outside world again, the client was ready and raring to go. I couldn’t have managed the process better myself. And I have to say, this is almost ALWAYS how my job goes.

I often say that the Lord gave me my web design career. I honestly think He delivered it to me straight from Glory with a shimmery bow tied on it. I have had to work, and study, and pull my hair out at times, but it’s all because of God’s power that I can call myself a web developer. And every single website I have done has danced around the rest of my life as though someone else were in control, allowing me to care for my family first and my clients somewhere else down the line. Somehow, amidst the craziness of my work-at-home life with special needs children and a husband in the ministry, all a thousand miles from our family, I have managed to make my clients feel pampered while being there for every special little moment for my family. I’m not going to get rich while attending class parties and doctor’s visits, but at least I can do those things and know there’s still extra income to help with these medical crises. I can’t take much credit for all of this. Only God could make all of this happen and do it so elegantly. Praise Him for His goodness to us!