Get Paid to Click - CrownGPT

I participated in the CrownGPT program about a year ago, then it went into something of a hibernation period, so to speak; apparently members were not holding up their end of the bargain on the paid-to-click front. I'm happy to report that it's back up and running! Like other paid-to-click programs, this is a really easy way to make money. Sign up with CrownGPT, then verify your account and make sure you're signed up for Daily Emails. Each day, you'll receive an email. You'll need to do 4 things with each daily email:
1) Click the banner or "click here" link within the email.
2) Click one sponsored link on the website you're taken to by the first link. (Check out anything you're interested in on the next page--I normally click a link there for good measure.)
3) Go back to the email and click "Click here to receive credit."
4) You'll be taken to the CrownGPT homepage where you'll have to prove you're not a robot by reading the letters in one of those "captcha" things and choosing the correct letter sequence from a drop-down box.

It takes less than a minute to do this, and it earns 20 cents. The minimum cashout is $5 and can be done through PayPal, check, or AlertPay. Take that one minute a day and in less than a month, you'll be $5 richer than you were before! Increase your earnings by referring friends; you get 15% of your referrals' earnings (and 5% of their referrals' earnings). CrownGPT also has other paid offers, normally surveys that redirect to other survey sites you're probably already affiliated with if you do surveys, or those "complete 5 offers and win an iPad!" kinds of things where you end up paying out of pocket; I leave those alone and stick to the emails. Give it a shot for some spare cash. You'll be surprised how quickly you can cashout!

Bright Ideas --> Looxsy

I've posted a few times about my favorite online community, Bright Ideas. I've enjoyed being a member of the community (and my husband has enjoyed the monthly $10 Amazon gift cards I've gotten in exchange for my participation!) for about a year now.


Yesterday I received the following email:

Dear Bright Ideas Community Member,

Thank you so much for your participation and involvement in the Bright Ideas Community.  In keeping with our standard practice, we routinely refresh our community members and recruit new individuals to participate.  This process also requires that we remove some of our current members to make room for a new database of participants.  Your account is one that has been selected to be removed as part of this process.  We sincerely appreciate your time and effort in making this online community a success.  The feedback and insights you provide are invaluable.

At this time, we would like to invite you to join another community.

Thank you for your interest in Looxsy Community – a place where women of all ages come to share their thoughts about:

• Current beauty and fashion trends
• Products and services you currently use
• Ideas and concepts for the future!

Leading corporations come here to listen to what you have to say about products/services available today and to find out what you think about ideas they have for the future. 

Registered members of Looxsy will receive a range of different incentives for participating in this online community. Some examples of our incentives are free samples, coupons, or even gift cards.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please click on the link to begin the survey.

Thank you!

So... I'm considerably disappointed that I've been booted from Bright Ideas; however, I'm excited about Looxsy. After looking at their respective websites, I realized that both communities are actually run by the same market research group, LiveBranch. The biggest difference so far seems to be that Bright Ideas was home-oriented while Looxsy is fashion-oriented. I'm okay with that. I hope I'll still get Amazon cards, though! ;) I found a "join now" link on the Looxsy site if anyone else is interested in checking it out.

Contented

Yesterday a student told me, "I always know that you're there."

I know the true purpose of the teaching profession is to educate children. I get that. However, I've always felt there is an equally important goal--not just educating them, but caring for them; not just nurturing the mind, but caring for the overall well-being of a child. I also get that there's a balance between the two that every teacher has to find. If I tried to fix every child's problems, we'd get no learning done at all. But still... I feel like it's a priority.

It made my heart smile to know I came to a student's mind during a discussion of "who we go to with our problems." While it's not in my job description, if my kids know I'm there for them, in a sense that's more important to me than knowing I taught them the most Spanish they've ever learned.

I have a paper taped to the side of my computer that faces my seat at Sims--"Teacher's Prayer." It has been a huge encouragement to me, especially here in a semi-difficult environment with more-than-semi-difficult children. The first few lines are particularly fitting for how I feel as a teacher.

"Lord, let me be just what they need.

If they need someone to trust, let me be trustworthy.

If they need sympathy, let me sympathize.

If they need love (and they do need love),

let me love, in full measure."

A few lines down, it says, "Help me to... temper the rambunctious with a gentle attitude." Yeah... that's the harder part.

Knitty - Winter '11

I accidentally stumbled upon Knitty's latest edition this evening when I went to the site to check the pattern for a skirt I'm ever-so-slowly working on. (The goal was to have it finished by the beginning of winter... maybe I'll have it done by the end instead.) There are so many great projects in this issue I want to try--the cutely brimmed Quest hat, the cable-infested Palisander scarf (which would be one of those projects I'd begin in the hope of finishing it in time to give to my future child when she turns 21--I mean really, it's a foot wide and worked on #4 needles), the Jacqueline sweater (if Michael's still has Thick & Quick on sale this week, I'm stocking up to do this one--I *adore* working with bulky yarn and have been looking for a cute, non-boxy sweater that would allow it), the Shelburne mittens I wish I'd seen before knitting my mismatchers last week, and... (drumroll)... my next Fair Isle project, the Undergrowth cap. I've only attempted colorwork a couple of times, and those have been experimental learning opportunities (putting it kindly).

*Sigh.* Maybe some of these projects can be stash-busters, because I definitely don't need to buy any more yarn--there's nowhere to put it!

Try it.

DQ's treasure--I mean Blizzard--of the month...

Go get one. Srsly. And also, join the Blizzard fan club for a bimonthly-or-so BOGO coupon.

New year, new blog

Let me start by saying this... For those that read Crazy Savers, that was an obsessive part of my life. (Maybe one day I'll be able to explain my tendency toward obsession, but today is not that day.) I love saving and earning money. I'm still a couponer, I still do online surveys, and of course I still enjoy getting things free. However, that's not all my life is about. That would not be healthy. Because of that, I've begun this new blog that will include more than just momentary obsessions. Here's to a new year and a fresh start.


This year has been off to an insane start. After not even a full week of classes, we were hit with a pretty fantastic snowstorm. This kept the kids out of school all week, and teachers in my district had delayed workdays Thursday and Friday. It was beautiful to say the least.

my snow angel on a bank beside Camelot... darn leaves...

our porch and the surrounding area, covered in powder... I love the snow-cone shapes on the trail lights by the porch

my feet got lost in all the snow.

our house and yard

hydrant

squintyfaced--it's so bright with all this white around

a house down the street has a palm tree... which, like everything else, was covered

Scott with his walking stick

just looked interesting under a sheet of ice

I love how our picnic table looks beneath snow.