FamousAshleyGrant

Rather than answer today’s NaBloPoMo, I decided to answer a question posed in an email to me from BlogHer: Where Were You 10 Years Ago?

10 years ago I was 19 about to turn 20. I had been dating my husband for a year and was about to enter my third year of college. I think this might have also been about the time I was debating about whether or not I wanted to be a teacher and was contemplating a different path.

This was also about the time I was working as a substitute teacher and moving out of my parents house. I knew I wanted to live at least one year on my own before marrying my husband just to prove to myself I could take care of myself without a man.

It’s kind of wild sitting here thinking about the fact that I was on a completely different path back then. I was on track to be a social studies high school teacher with a steady job and summers off but a gut feeling that I wouldn’t be happy in that life.

In the past 10 years I’ve changed my major twice, gotten married, finally graduated college, had two internships, several writing gigs, published two books, written hundreds of blog posts, traveled to a few more states, finally got out of the United States and grown and changed more than I ever thought possible.

In the next 10 years I want to visit between 10 and 20 countries, publish 10 books or more, get to my goal weight, earn enough income to retire whenever I want and continue growing and learning. I don’t know what else the next 10 years will hold for me, but I’m very excited about the path I’m on now as a writer and photographer 🙂

#selfiebration #blogher14

Yesterday I received an email from BlogHer that posed the question: What Does Blogging Mean to You? It got me to thinking about what my answer to this question would be. So, rather than do today’s NaBloPoMo since I don’t have a good response for it anyway, here is what blogging means to me:

Blogging means the opportunity to write how I feel and what I think. I have written restaurant reviews, bar reviews, movie reviews, product reviews and more. Blogging has allowed me to share my thoughts on all of these things with the world. Sure, the world may not be reading what I’m writing right now, but the fact that blogging means the world potentially could read what I have written excites me in a way that is hard to explain. Being able to share my stories with others is an exciting part of blogging. It also allows me to grow my audience via social media and discovering the different ways that I can do so. When I began a friend of mine told me about social media services similar to SocialFollow, which could help to get instagram followers it was something he spoke highly of, and while I looked into the service, I wasn’t ready to look social media at the time and wanted to get my blog off the ground first. I’ve accepted now that using social media and gaining followers comes with the territory when looking at blogging as a source of income as it helps to grow your brand.

Blogging means new avenues of income. In order to be a successful blogger, I quickly realized the need to use an excellent web hosting service. Luckily, a friend who was already blogging told me about hostiserver.com. When I began my career as a writer I knew I didn’t want to be the beat journalist writing the same thing every day. With blogging I get to write for a travel agent one day, a wedding planner the next day, a website all about Tampa the following day and I could do something completely different the rest of the week. This is my favourite part about being a blogger. No day is the same and that’s always exciting. When it came to writing, I felt more productive once I had my very own home office and added in modern office furniture. I was able to work in the best way I felt comfortable and that’s what makes this job even easier.

Blogging means I get to do what I want. Through blogging I’ve had some pretty spectacular experiences and for the most part have been able to write and get paid from any place that has an internet connection. As it stands right now I am working a full time day job, but I like to think that blogging will get me to my ultimate goal of making money writing and taking pictures from anywhere in the world.

In a nutshell- to me blogging means freedom! What does blogging mean to you?

#ProductReview #ReviewBlogger #Tequila

At the Tampa Bay Metro “Summer with Style Party” on May 1, 2014 I had the opportunity to sample  Casamigos Tequila. Here is the description from their website: George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman bring you Casamigos, a
small batch, ultra premium tequila made from the finest, hand-selected
100% Blue Weber agaves, grown in the rich red clay soil and cool climate
of the Highlands of Jalisco Mexico.

I sampled the Blanco. This tequila is better than most tequilas I have sampled in the past. I came to this conclusion before learning that George Clooney is one of the folks behind the bottle by the way 😉

It was smooth as a shot and also tasted really good in the mixed drink that was being offered at the party. With most tequilas I need salt and lime to be able to handle a shot, but this tequila didn’t really need the fluff. It was good on its own.

The Blanco Casamigos Tequila is aged for two months. Their “agave piñas are roasted in traditional brick ovens for 72 hours” and their “Master Distiller uses a special yeast blend to ensure refined flavor, unlike the commercial yeasts others use.”

This tequila is gluten-free and has no unnecessary additives. It is fermented slowly over 80 hours compared to the average 48.

Now that I have tried the Tequila I want to buy a bottle of it but sadly…I can’t seem to find a distributor or store that carries it in my area. The only zip code I found that yielded a result was Manhattan, New York. UGH- Come to Florida George!!! People drink Tequila here too!!!

If it’s sold near you, I would definitely recommend the Blanco Casamigos Tequila. It’s smooth, delicious and I want more…

***Update- I just found out you can buy it online HERE!  It’s $44.99 and can be shipped to most states. The states they cannot ship to are: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Massachusetts. Currently they don’t ship internationally.

Save

 

If you have travel in your future I would like to suggest you use your local travel agent for all of your travel needs. In 2012, seven out of 10 travelers booked their own rooms and flights online, per eMarketer (source). Here are just a few problems with this:

1. You are working with robots instead of live people who can answer questions for you

2. You have no one to call in case something goes wrong!

3. It’s more difficult to change your plans should you desire to

4. A travel agent can make suggestions you may have never thought of

5. In booking online you are left to research everything on your own and may not even have anything but a destination in mind when you begin…

Worried about pricing? Think online sites are cheaper? Not only do many travel agents price match, they are there for you every step of your travel adventure. If you need to make travel plans, book through a travel agent, not one of those online sites that could screw you with the fine print!

Lately, my inbox has been FLOODED with emails featuring all these awesome free webinars that hold “the key” to wealth and happiness. At the end of each “free” webinar I’m offered the opportunity to buy their complete program for eleventy billion dollars complete with a bajillion workbooks and if I act right now I’ll also get MP3s guaranteed to help me connect directly to the universe to put in my order for everything I want. Still not convinced? Well, they will throw in a whole bunch of videos and even send me a zip file filled with affirmations and quotes written on cute kitten pictures or a photo of a sunset. Only if I act right now though!

Now, I’m all about positive thinking and affirmations to channel getting the things you want out of life, but with the sheer magnitude of emails I’m getting offering me these promises of my key to wealth, I can’t help but wonder if many of these self proclaimed self-help gurus are just all full of shit and hoping I will buy their program so that they can finally be making the money they claim they already have.

I think I’m going to write a book about how I became a
millionaire and fill it with affirmations and quotes about the Law of
Attraction and all kinds of shit about coaching yourself to wealth and happiness and
sell it for $50 each and promote it as how I made my wealth and then
once I am actually a millionaire from it the damn book will have been
true and I will be a fraud no more!

What do you think? Am I going overboard here? Am I nuts? Or are there just waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many cooks in the kitchen of the Law of Attraction claiming that THEY actually have the key to wealth and happiness and the other cooks stole their recipe?

Okay…this is the end of my venting blog post… Thanks for reading and have a wealth and happiness filled day!

Good
rant! But seriously. Why are there so many coaches out there? I wonder
how many of them are Gen Xers who got shafted out of their careers and
needed to reinvent themselves. Also makes me wonder why so many people
are lacking interpersonal skills, emotional
intelligence, business skills and common sense to the point of needing
paid help? We clearly aren’t teaching these important survival skills in
schools and if parents don’t know the stuff, they can’t pass it on.
And finally, is everyone stressed to the point of crumbling under the
pressure, and without access to supportive friends, getting a coach?
Sorry to hijack your blog, but I really do think about this stuff…

I think about it too Pamela Settle!!! Hence the rant on the blog. hahaha! I agree, there are a lot of skills that clearly are not being taught anymore. Everyone just expects to graduate high school/college and be handed a million dollar payheck. Sorry junior, but unless you are brilliant enough to get drafted by google or athletic enough to get drafted into sports or pretty enough to be in mags (you get my point)…it ain’t gonna happen. That’s why I’m writing eBooks and then know I’ll have to ACTUALLY WORK marketing them to sell them  

This year I turn 30, and at first I was freaking out about this. There are so many things I haven’t done yet. I had this long list of things I wanted to do by 30 and I even started thinking about ways to force them into happening by August 14 just so I could say I did them on time…but I’m done freaking out. I decided I am letting go of my regrets about things I didn’t accomplish. Instead I am just going to keep working on my goals and stop worrying about my age.

Forcing myself to get these things done by 30 at this point would take some of the thrill out of a few of the items on my list. The funny thing is, as I approach the big 3 0 some of the items on my list aren’t as important to me anymore. In fact, some of the items were on there because I thought I HAD to do them by 30, but now I realize- there’s no rush.

My main goal for this year is to be debt free. Having this weight lifted will be a wonderful feeling and I’m looking forward to how free my hubby and I will feel after we pay off that last amount of money we owe. I have a plan to make this happen and I’m going to just stay as positive and as optimistic as possible this year, regardless of the fact that I’ll be leaving my twenties behind…

Have a drink you want me to try or a product you want me to review? 

Contact me HERE! I’m PR friendly

This post may contain a link to an affiliate. See my disclosure policy for more information.

Save

I’ve had this question pop up several times since the beginning of the new year: What Would You Do if Money Were No Object?

After really thinking about it I decided I would put it in writing and share it with the universe…

If money were no object, I would be a traveling writer and photographer giving away my time and talents for free whenever the mood strikes. The truth is, I love writing and taking pictures. I want enough money in the bank as quickly as possible so that I can live off the interest for the rest of my life and just spend my days giving away my
time and talent for free whenever I want to.

Source for image above

I have a few regrets for 2013 that I would like to share. It’s not easy to share regrets, but I kind of feel like airing our regrets out is the only way to forgive ourselves and move on.

I regret holding onto anger and sadness for things people have said to me- recent past and even things from long ago.

I regret not working harder towards my goals.

I regret not calling/e-mailing people I said I would keep in touch with.

I regret not spending more time with some of my family and friends. I regret any moment longer that I spent with anyone that I did not want to be spending time with.

I regret not taking better care of myself- including the things I have consumed and my lack of physical activity.

I regret some lies I have told and secrets I’ve kept regardless of the reasons for doing so.

I regret not living more in the now even after I swore I would.

There, I think that covers everything. These are my regrets. Now, I must forgive…

I forgive every single person in my past that has something negative to me or about me. I forgive every single person in my past who has hurt me whether they meant to or not. I forgive myself for bad things I may have said or done in retaliation. I want to go into 2014 with a clean slate in regards to my feelings about people and believing that there is genuine good in folks.

I now forgive myself for not working harder on my goals and intend to spend 2014 doing just that. I will take another look at the things I want in life and spend every day making the dreams into realities.

I forgive myself for not calling/e-mailing and not keeping in touch. I plan on doing a better job of hanging on to relationships and forming new ones in 2014. I will spend more time with people I want to spend time with and stop spending time with those I don’t care to spend time with.

I now forgive myself for not taking care of myself and look forward to going into 2014 with the plan to eat better, drink better, work out more, meditate more and take better care of my mind, body and spirit.

I now forgive myself for lies and secrets and plan to make things right in 2014. I will pay off my debts and free myself of my shackles.

I now forgive myself for not living in the moment. I plan to try harder in 2014 to appreciate every single moment I have and only do the things I actually want to do that will be for the benefit of my wishes, hopes and dreams.

What do you want more of in 2014? What are your regrets? Air it out and then forgive yourself!

Source for image

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately and I have read a lot of self help books. We all have those moments when we want to know why we were put on this planet and that is something I’ve been seeking to find over the last several months. After really digging deep I’ve come up with my mission statement for my life:


My purpose in life is to learn how to be financially independent and how to take care of my mind, body and soul and to teach others how to do the same…

There it is. Why I’m here…To teach.

I have actually known this deep within myself for years and had that epiphany while I was in my freshman year of college. I remember a random bike ride with my mom where I broke down crying and told her I wanted to change my major to education.

Fast forward to today and for anyone who doesn’t know my major and the degree I ultimately graduated with was mass communications. However, the desire to teach never left me.

What I have realized over the past decade (wow- has it really been a decade since I was a college freshman?!? holy crap!!!) is that my mission in life IS to teach, but not in the traditional grade school setting I thought of many years ago.

I think this is why I was feeling the strong pull to become a writer. I want to learn something and then share what I’ve learned and writing has been a wonderful medium I’ve used to teach.

Now, that I have officially determined and written out what I know my full life’s purpose to be, I feel like I can create goals and passion projects that are centered around it.

It may seem silly to you, but simply defining what my purpose is has given me a new sense of excitement and a strong desire to fulfill it.With every project I think of going forward I will know how to center it around my life’s purpose and therefore be more passionate about the things I do and the life I live.