Never Judge a Book by its Cover

Never Judge a Book by its Cover

"Never judge a book just by its cover. If you do, then you may never know the truths that lies from within. Some that are beautiful may be filled with lies and misconception while some of the ugliest of covers hold true beauty and meanings."

   Never judge a book by its cover. Never judge a person just by the way they look. Never let the looks of anything deceive you. I keep repeating this to myself almost all the time even though at some points during the day it is very hard. As a human being, I know that I am not perfect and should treat everyone the same way as I would want to be treated. As a Christian, I need to always remember that only GOD can judge his children in this world.

  As some of you may know, I have worked in different type of jobs such as factory, retail, service and now medical. Every time I would start a new job, there would times where I would try compare that one job to my last job. Then that is where the judging would begin... I would catch myself comparing them together whether it was the building, its practices and even its employees. I always did this the very first few weeks I would start at a new job: "Well.. We used to do it this way, why don't you do it like this?" "JUDGING" or "The people were so much nicer at my last job then here. No one is polite and outgoing" "JUDGING". I've said it all and wanted to just quit and go back to my old job because I did not give it time at first nor took the time observe the truth. I was blinded from what my eyes first saw made automatic assumptions. I ACTED before THINKING... That is a BIG mistake. If you open your eyes, pay attention and observe before making a quick assumption, you will see the truth. I did that after I realized what I have been doing before. Not long afterwards, I started noticing how wonderful those people were and that they were not what I made them seem to be. I made great friends. I also learned that every company is different and has to meet their own criteria. Yeah, everyone person and company has it's flaw but no one is perfect. You can change your clothes, your makeup, hair or even face but you are still the same person from within so why hide it. Be true by being you.

So just remind yourself that you must always keep your eyes open and to make sure that you never act quickly on judgment but to give yourself  time to observe. To never just judge someone or something just because what they look or from what you heard. Find out for yourself and learn the truth before judging.


That is my rant for today but I hope you have enjoyed reading. Thanks!  Ashley Meagan Ashley
  

RECYCLE AND REUSE: Dishwasher Tray as Dish Drainer?

RECYCLE AND REUSE

Dishwasher Tray

 

My Thoughts

Okay.. Here is another one of my or actually.. My HUSBAND's great ideas. (lol) Let me explain... When me and my husband moved back to the city, the house we lived and currently still live in did not have a dishwasher. Which at first I was like "Ehhhhhhhhhh... I guess we are gonna have to wash the dishes the old fashion way.." But I don't mind.. I love this house! We thought about buying a dishwasher but a couple factors came to mind. First, I really do not want to spend money on one because they are not cheap. Secondly, we did not have the room to put one in because our cabinets are too small for one. And third, between redesigning the cabinets, paint, and piping we would have to put in, my wanting for a dishwasher went away real quick. Now to finding the perfect dish drainer was the second problem.

We have tried numerous ones. Let me explain about the ones we have tried.

 Plastic Strainer: 

   - These are the basic strainers that you can buy at any store. These are nice if you either live by yourself or if you have one other person that lives with you or you are the type of awesome person that ensures that all dishes are washed, dried and put away at that moment. Well.. I am not.. nor anyone in my household.... like those type of people I just listed above. I am not perfect and I do not always put my dishes up each time.. Normally.. My sink will fill up until I hate looking at it and then I will do the dishes, put them on the strainer and leave them there. Then when more dishes pop up, I stack more in the strainer praying that it stays and does not tip over but eventually end up putting the dishes up. With these plastic ones for the not so perfect family like mine, these tip over, and just not big enough. The last thing is that lord help ya after you  put up the dishes and there is water still in the catch pan and you bump it. Water is going to go everywhere!! I've done this a few times... The pros to this strainers is that it is perfect for single or small families, low cost and are easy to clean.

 Metal Drainers:

   - The metal drainers can vary in price. Some are really cheap while some can get up there in the price range. Just remember the golden rule. You get what you paid for. This picture shown is the style of metal drainer that we tried. Yes. It was bigger but this had more flaws to it compared to the plastic one. For one, this strainer did not come with a drop pan to catch the water, but we used Shamwows cloths under it. Secondly, the rubber coating over the metal rack started coming off due to the heat assume from the dishes. But it was a cheap drainer so that did not surprise me. And finally the main thing that I hated was that it did not have a place to set the silverware. That really sucked! We ended up going back to the plastic one for a while. If it had a basket attached and a drop pan, then the metal one would not be so bad.

Wooden Strainer
   - Ehhh... Ehhhhhh.. Okay.... Let me tell you about this style. I would not waste my money on this style at all. Let me just list the cons:

• No drip pan
• No place for silverware
• Not big at all and plates would tip and fall over
• After a few uses, it would fall apart
• Hard to clean because parts will fall apart due to nail rusting and coming up. 

I think there is nothing more I can say about this drainer other than do not buy wooden drainers.

Dishwasher drawl with basket:
   - You can buy these from any appliance shop for about 10 bucks (or more) or go to Lowes Hardware but you will pay higher for one. This is what we use now only because is much better,  holds our dishes very well and even has a drop basket to separate and organize our silverware. Even though it is a bigger version of a metal drainer and it does not have a drip pan under it, I just love the idea of using an old dishwasher drawl as a dish drainer Not to mention that because it is bigger that I can clean it better since I don't have to dig or scrub "small or hard to reach" spots. We also use a towel or a shamwow type of cloth under it which is wonderful as well. Not to mention that this drainer is sturdy, strong,  can hold a lot more dishes in a more organized setting and gives me more space and time to avoid actually putting them up.. Yep... lol But I am sure I am not the only one who procrastinate on this.. At least they get washed and sometimes put up.. With kids in the house, they end up getting used before I can even put them up anyways. lol

I hope you have enjoyed my blog post today and have learned something. Thanks for reading and please share! <3 Ashley M. Ashley

THANK YOU BLOG READERS!

THANK YOU!!! 

I would like to thank all of you that has followed my blog, commented, shared and hopefully enjoyed it. Looking at the numbers of the views I was shocked! Over 1000 views.. That is awesome!!! Thank you so much for reading all of my blog posts! So glad to have you all in my life! Love you all and God Bless!! 

:)

RECYCLE AND REUSE- Cereal Bags

RECYCLE and REUSE

"Cereal Bags"

My Thoughts

Cereal bags.. At first I thought they served only one purpose which was to keep the cereal dry and safe from any water or contamination. Then, after you use up of all the cereal, you throw the box and the bag inside of it away. Right? WRONG. Did you know that the bags that hold the cereal inside the box have different purposes you can use? I do and I love using the empty cereal bags. I have been using them for over 6 months now and love it! They are easy to clean, sturdy and do a great job! What do I use these bags for you ask? Let me break it down.

Some uses of left over cereal bags: 

• Freezer Bags:
  
  
  • Did you know that cereal bags make wonderful freezer bags? They do. If you are like me, I buy extra hamburger, chicken, etc to be used down the road to cook. Especially if you don't plan to cook it until next week or so and do not want it spoiling in your refrigerator. But you may have also experienced the pain of finding out that your frozen meat has gotten freezer burn. Which sucks!! Then you invest in buying freezer bags which sometimes still don't work out well... So not only you lost money by food going bad due to freezer burn, you also lost money by buying crappy freezer bags. Cereal bags make awesome freezer bags. It protects my food a whole lot better than any freezer bag (Name brand or off brand) that I have ever bought. Just rinse off bag really good, let it air dry and then stick your choice of meat in side of it and put in the freezer. I use either food clips to keep it closed or bread ties.
   
•  Fruits and Vegetables: 

• Cereal bags also make great bags to cover fruit and vegetables to help keep them fresh longer. You could use regular zip lock bags but they will not stay as fresh longer than it would in a cereal bag. Or you could just buy the produce refrigerator bags but they are not cheap either. So save your money and next time you finish up a box of cereal, save the bag and save even more money. I also use bead ties to keep it closed.

• And more uses:
• Table covers for paint activities
• Cookie sheet
• Small pan cover
• And so much more!

 I love using cereal bags. They have so many purposes you can use and they are reusable because they are sturdy and strong. Thanks again for reading this blog! -- Ashley Meagan Ashley

Next Rating: Recycle and Reuse: Use for dishwasher tray

RECYCLE AND REUSE- Mesh (Onion) Bags

RECYCLE and REUSE

"Mesh (Onion) Bags"

 

My Thoughts:

Okay.. I know what you might be thinking... What in the world has this girl come up with or is planning to do with onion bags. For today's ratings or more-less "thoughts", I wanted to share one of my favorite uses I have for this item. People that know me, know that I love savings, searching for the best deals, and coming up with even the craziest ideas. Like for example... I made bongo drums out of using old t-shirts and large company size vegetable cans. It was pretty cool in my eyes. Recycle and Reuse. So for today, I want to tell you my personal experience with using this item.

Onion (Mesh) Bags = Cleaning scrubber tool?

Even though I am the only one in my household that even eats onions, I still buy the bag of them because one bag of onions does not last that long with me. But these mesh bags are also found in many things like potatoes and oranges. So the next time you buy anything that has this type of mesh bags, SAVE THEM!! Why? Because these mesh bags make wonderful cleaning tools. I use these mesh bags to scrub my glass dishes and stove top with hard to scrub residue on them but are even better for pots and pans. If you have had to deal with stuck on food on your pots and pans, you know how much of a hassle this it. Even if you soak it overnight, sometimes it is still stuck on. These mesh bags are wonderful! Let me break it down.

Mesh bags (Refer to photo above) make awesome scrubbers for dishes and pans because:

• Scrubbing stuck on food (After soaking the dishes of course) is easier.
• It is less messy.
• Easy to clean
• Can be used numerous times
• Safer on "Non Stick" pans then using Brillo pads.
• Works really well when cleaning stove tops, and kitchen/bathroom faucets.

Why don't I just buy Brillo pads or sponges?. Here is some of the problems I have with those items:

• Brillo Pads:
• With Chemicals: They are messy and stink! Not only do I have to keep rinsing the dishes off over and over again but I also have to re-clean everything. Not to mention that they can mess up your T-Fal pans. Also, each pad is normally one time use and just nasty.
• Plain no chemicals: Even though they do make handles to hold this, I am one of those people who do not fool with those and end up cutting up my hands. ha ha ha  But also the pads do not last long, are hard to clean after use and can really mess up your good non-stick pans. Then you end up buying more and more wasting money. 

• Sponges:
  
  • Don't get me wrong... Sponges are great and they last a few cleanings but they also hold bacteria unless you clean them out thoroughly. But even after a couple of uses you have to throw the old one away and get a new one. And even though some sponges may have the scrubs on the back of them, they still do not work as well and if you get a lot of food residue on them, they get really nasty and I end up throwing it away.

There is so many uses just for mesh bags. You can find these on Pinterest and on Google under "Mesh Bag uses". Recycle and Reuse.. Save money and time. :) I hope you have enjoyed this blog today and learned something new. -- Ashley Meagan Ashley

Next "Recycle and Reuse" item: Cereal Bags

We Are Human: Loving the flaws and imperfections. Stop Bullying!

We Are Human: Loving the flaws and imperfections.

 Put a stop to bullying!

I am so tired of all the bullying and judgements that have been going on. People picking on other people just because of their weight, looks, or even likes. This week alone, I have had two of my great friends get put down because of their size. Everyone is beautiful no matter what he or she weighs or looks like. This makes me angry knowing what the media has portrayed on us. Yes.. Sometimes it is the parents fault but I mostly blame the media.

As we grow from child to adult, we see what the media portrays what people should look or act like in magazines or on TV. We ask them for sight of the world so the media gives us glasses. But the glasses they give us only shows what they want us to see. These glasses hide the so called "imperfections and flaws" that we all have. They give us false reality. It is time that we remove these glasses and put on the "Truth".

The truth is that no one is perfect and everyone has flaws. We are all not thin or model pretty as seen in the magazines. But even those girls on the magazines have flaws too. The media uses this little thing called "Photo shop" to rid their so called flaws. Also some people will go "under the knife" to change their bodies to what society and media wants to see. This is not your true self. Beauty comes from within but yet so many of us are concerned with what others see. Our "Flaws and Imperfections" make us who we are.. 
We.. Are.. Human.


We are all human... We are the same. When we get  hurt, we cry. We someone makes us upset, we get angry. We all share the same emotions. No matter who you are, what you look like, or where you are from. When we bleed, the color of our blood is red so that makes us all equal. If GOD was so called "Fat and Ugly" would you pick on him too? This could happen to your parents, siblings, and even your children now or down the road. How would you feel then? What if this was you? What do you plan to do about it?

Makes you think don't it? Makes you wonder? Be the one who makes a difference for better and don't be a bully. I love my flaws and imperfections because they make me who I really am.... Me.


-- Ashley Meagan Ashley
Blogger and former victim from bullying

UPDATE::

  The guy had to make a public apology on Facebook and in person to the girls at the gym or he would be kicked out! I am so glad the gym did something about this! 

Lift and Sift Cat Box

Lift and Sift Cat Box

Brief Description:

• Economical Lift N' Sift litter tray system cleans litter in seconds
• Solid, no-leak construction
• 4-Piece system includes 2 each of solid base trays, 1 each of grid sifter tray and a snap on litter guard
• Works with traditional clay, clumping and silica gel litters
• Measures 20-inch length by 5-inch height by 14-inch width

RATING: 8.0/10.0

MY THOUGHTS

Being a cat owner myself, anyway I can find to make cleaning the cat box process easier is always what I am looking for. I hate cleaning out the cat box but its gotta be done. I want my house to smell clean and fresh, not like a cat box. But getting back to the point... If you have ever owned a cat, then you know this process very well. In a regular cat box, you have to put fresh cat litter in, scoop out the clumps and poop, and after a a period of time, dump the whole litter out, wash out the box (Thats what I do), put your freshness powder in and then your kitty litter again. The lovely joys of this. But I what I hate the most, is having to scoop the litter.. That is disgusting!! So my husband went to Walmart to pick up some dog food for our dog and saw this on the shelf. When he came home, he told me about it and we decided to look it up online. At first I saw the price of $17.98 on it and was like.. Heck no.. I ain't paying $17.00 for a Sh*t box. Sorry for the language but that is exactly what I said.. But after looking at the reviews on it and saw the steps, I finally gave in. The instructions were poorly illustrated but after going online to look for the right steps, it actually works really good. 

Here is a YouTube link on how to properly use it: http://youtu.be/a1_7lBSYiv4 .

The good thing to this, is that... I have don't to scoop the cat box by hand. Which is wonderful!!!!! And also it is very easy to clean and changing the box is so much better with this box. But it does have its flaws. The first thing is that sometimes, no matter what type of litter you have, the screens get clogged. Just tap it on the side of your trash can to get it off but still sucks that it does get clogged ever so often. The next thing is that the box is small. My cat is a fat cat, so when she gets in the box, she doesn't have much wiggle room. And finally, the guard that comes with it (Suppose to help keep the litter in) does not snap in well and if the cat kicks it, it may fall off.

But honestly in my opinion, I do suggest that every cat owner gets one of these because this box is so much easier to clean and reduces the time to clean it out and to face the smell of the cat box. But due to these flaws stated earlier, that is why I gave it a rating of 8.0