PCS Moves

This doesn't apply to every move. I have never done an international move, and I have heard that, due to increasing budget cuts, do-it-yourself moves are not as profitable as they used to be. But, here are my how-to's and two cents.

Quicken Loans: The Review

I am only reviewing the home mortgage process, I have no experience with their refinancing!

If you look back at my Wells Fargo review, that bank fell extremely short of my expectations. Quicken Loans, on the other hand, made things happen.

We worked with Brian Cook, and, in a one hour phone call, he accomplished more than Wells Fargo did in a month. At first, we just called in for some basic information on their fees and rates. It was the first of the three banks we spoke to that did not try to pressure us or make us feel guilty for shopping around. Brian's exact response was "do whatever's best for you."

The day after we got some quotes, we found out that our current banker at Wells Fargo had left for vacation and would be unavailable for two weeks. That was my last straw before asking my husband to just go through with switching mortgage companies.

Unlike Wells Fargo, Quicken Loans' Brian looked up multiple loans, gave us the rates, details, and explained everything clearly upfront. We made a decision on a type of loan and went forward that day.

Now, the most unsettling issue, though, was the upfront price. They requested $500 to get the process started, but the money was to be used for the total purchase price of the house. It made me uneasy, because we had only given Wells Fargo $11 before everything went downhill, and I was very concerned that having a larger sum of money upfront might kill Quicken Loans' motivation get things moving. I was also afraid that, if everything went sour, we didn't get our loan, or needed to change banks again, then we just lost $500. So, I asked for that fee to be added to my Chase Visa, because, I know from experience that, if there is a dispute, they are very good about getting to the bottom of things and refunding their card holder's money.

It turned out not to be a problem in the long wrong, but I would advise everyone to exercise the same level of caution, just in case. Within the same night, we had access to an online site called myql.com. There, we uploaded all the documents we needed for our application, and, within 48 hours, we were in underwriting. I really liked this online upload site, rather than having to email attachments, because, Wells Fargo would forward attachments around and they would end up lost or corrupted. At Quicken Loans, it was saved into their database so that everyone involved in the loan process went to the same place to get the same access to everything. After the loan closed, myql.com turned into our payment center - no knew accounts, no headaches.

What I also appreciated about Quicken Loans is that they outlined everything upfront. I had my loan number, locked in rate, house information, and everything, right there in myql.com. I could also see what part of the process that I was in, and how many more parts were left to complete before the loan was closed. That's really a great feature that other banks are idiots for not implementing a similar system themselves!

We did run into a problem, however, about two weeks into the process. Due to a lack of specific orders (due to the top secret nature of my husband's work), we were bounced to a specialist. The issue was, apparently, that, because we didn't have orders showing a specific date for relocation to this new state, the bank was unable to green light the loan. It was resolved, easily enough, with a letter from my husband's chain of command. Overall, this bump in the road only took three days to repair, as it were.

After that, it took about another month for the seller (Fannie Mae in this case) to send the title over for review. But, once that was logged, we had the paperwork in hand within a week. After that, we only had to notarize the document, have it returned to Quicken, and we were closed.

A major downside though, was that we were charged to get "points" to get an interest rate, which upped our closing costs by almost $2,000. I'm still not sure what that system is about, but it was a frustration to deal with. That was not likely a Quicken specific issue, but more so due to the fact of the type of loan that we were going with.

Now, I've heard from some reviews that mortgages are sold within three months to other banks, which is frustrating for many. I can't verify whether or not that's true for everyone, but I have not experienced a brokered mortgage thus far.

Overall, Quicken Loans was fast, easy, mostly hassle free, and they delivered on time. I would recommend them, and no, I am not being compensated for this review.

Why I'm Glad to Leave Military Housing

You know you want to watch the drama that is this video. And now I can safely post it because I live a dozen states away from the psycho next door!

A Real Live Prairie Dog

This is boring, but this was my little friendly neighborhood prairie dog when I lived on post. Cute little fella, I hope the next occupants let the hose faucet drip for him. Good luck li'l guy.

Positive Vloggitive

Through my tags online, I learned about Project Positive after posting this video. Not sure if it qualifies, but, eh, why not?

Family Fueding

I think this video sums it all up, but, if you have nosy, busybody families, you can relate.

Rumblefish - Quit Claiming My Personal Content!

This video was made prior to hearing back from Rumblefish, a company that wrongfully put a copyright claim out on my video. Within 24 hours of posting this video Ben, a Rumblefish employee, wrote back and released the claim on my video. Since then, the same video has been reclaimed two additional times.

If this happens to you, I suggest writing YouTubeContentID@rumblefish.com, as well as dispute the claim with YouTube.

Superman Left the US?!

So, I just learned that Superman renounced his US citizenship in Action Comics #900. Apparently, this is a growing trend, and I can see why.

Military Spouses Selling Crap at Home

I have to vent. On the one hand, I support someone who is trying to earn income. On the other, I am sick to death of being told what a bad friend I am if I don't help so-and-so's bff make their Scentsy quota for the month. This work at home concept has gotten out of hand, and, much like everything else, if everyone could pay their rent hocking products from home, then everyone would. Only a few people make money for a reason, loves.

The Military Dependopotomus

Finally, the age old skank has a fresh, new name:

Wells Fargo, So Far You Wouldn't Go.

These bankers aren't serious about your money.

Overall
Rated 1 out of 5

The customer service in the beginning was great, and everyone I spoke with has always been very polite, but their work is not reflected in their social skills.

Before I go any further, and people start to make assumptions, my credit score is in the Excellent range, and almost has a perfect score. My husband's just shy of Excellent in the Good standing. We have no debt, aside from student loans. My husband's pay is stable, and we were never shopping for a house outside of our means. We actually did not look for houses that were more than half of what our pre-approval amount was.

When I was pre-approved, everything happened quickly. We found a home to make an offer on the next day, and had our offer accepted and locked in a contract within a week.

The minute the completed housing contract went to Wells Fargo, things started going downhill.

First, the sellers agreed to pay closing costs of $3,300. Our banker at Wells Fargo wrote it down in their system as $3,030. An easily made typo that I corrected her about, but has still yet to be fixed or applied to our loan information.

We then got a big contract packet in the mail. It listed $60k in debts that were not ours, and that did not appear in any of our credit reports. They said they made a note to fix this error, and, weeks later, that still hasn't happened. The most updated contract I has shows these debts with and * that says "Do Not Included in Total," but, if you look at the total amount of liabilities, they are being added in!

My absolute final straw was the unclear nature of their contract. I couldn't figure out if they were trying to cheat me or if the numbers were adding up properly (but extremely complicatedly), and no one could be bothered to take the time to go over these concerns. My biggest problem was that we were putting 10% down, and paying all closing fees upfront, yet, they claimed that our "Loan Amount" was higher than even the purchase price of the home. The "Amount Financed" section showed a slightly lower amount, but it still did not compensate for us paying fees and 10% down. If I am give the bank cash, then shouldn't my loan be for what I actually borrowed, not the total amount?

Just to give a numerical example (that are not my real numbers), lets say the Loan Amount was listed at $65k, the Amount Financed said $62k, but the house price was only $60k total. By my logic, and the logic of our second bank, if I put 10% down and pay all fees upfront, then Loan Amount should be $54k - period!

Since no one could explain why the numbers were adding up that way, I felt that this might be a way to scam in some extra bucks in interest by pretending that I borrowed the full amount and made a giant payment days later (since interested is calculated and compounded daily at most banks). Yeah, that smaller amount of interest might only be a drop in their bucket at a mega-giant like Wells Fargo, but if you do that to thousands of people, you could come up with billions in unjustified revenue.

My house was being sold via Fannie Mae, and so the contract was pretty tight and standard. They allowed ten days for the bank to do an inspection, and back out if they found any unacceptable defects. The day our contract was finalized and given to Wells Fargo, we were told that they would call us by the end of the week to get the inspection set up. We would have to pay $400 upfront (normal price) and they would take care of the rest.

THEY NEVER CALLED! The inspection/back out period came and went, and never once has anyone said another word about it! If you are dealing with so many home loans, I would think that you would have streamlined and organized the processes better that this. To this day they have still never contacted us to schedule any inspections.

My biggest frustration is with the underwriting department. Nothing gets done, they are slow, they ignore your closing date, they want documentation, and when you provide it, they want it all over again, or want a new set of information. Then, they take at least a week to verify each bit of information when you only have 30 days to close!

Wells Fargo also didn't know anything about their loan types. I was given information about VA Loans that I knew was false, but they assured me that they were correct. Well, a month into the loan process they "suddenly" discovered that they were wrong, but acted like it was my fault. So they screwed up, but do they offer to fix it? No, they wash their hands and tell me that going back and requesting a different type of loan meant that I had to go speak with the loan originator (I believe that's the right term), wait for them to respond and send it to underwriting, and then, after another week or two was wasted, I might hear back with a new list of demands.

Another thing that I hated was that our banker went on vacation right after sending us a list of required documents that they needed ASAP. With Wells Fargo, if your banker is gone, no one else will step up to assist you in their absence. I get that things happen and these employees are people with their own lives, but I want to be able to speak with ANY banker who can access my account and work with me when my designated person is unavailable for more than 24 hours. I just think that's good business sense myself.

They don't value your time or your business as a customer, and I will never attempt to bank there again.

As a side note, when we sent the earnest money to the realtor for the house, we had no local bank to get the required cashier's check, so we went to a local Wells Fargo branch, thinking that they would help us since our home loan was going to be through them. They wasted 45 minutes of our limited time (we had to overnight a cashier's check that day) trying to talk us into signing up for a bank account that we didn't want, claiming that no one at any bank would give us a cashier's check without first having an account with that bank and we would just waste more time if we didn't sign on the dotted line at that moment.

We didn't want another checking/savings account, so we left. Well, next door, the military bank gave us a cashier's check for a $10 fee! Funny how Wells Fargo claimed "no one" would do it when "someone" was just fifty feet away!

It all got to the point where I didn't trust them, and they had made enough errors that I really couldn't rely on anything that they told me. It was a headache, and I was so worried that they wouldn't get their rears in gear to close on time, so I left for another bank.

When I informed my realtor of this change, he said that it was no problem, BUT told me that, in his experience, Wells Fargo and Bank of America are both terrible in their mortgage department. He said that 75% of their home loans don't close for one reason or another, and if you search for either bank's names and reviews, you can see lots of people that agree with that sentiment.


Customer service
Rated 3 out of 5

The two bankers that I spoke with were very polite. But, no one could get anything accomplished. Every little thing needed a different banker to handle it, and the banker you needed always managed to be out of their office. On top of that, it seemed that no one was cross-communicated, which wasted a lot of my time. I don't mind to repeat myself when need be, but these situations were slowing our loan process down by days per issue.


Types/options
Rated 1 out of 5

They don't know their mortgage products, and they wasted a month of our time trying to get us into a mortgage that we don't qualify for. I researched online and found that, if you have a VA loan and pay x% down, you get a lower VA Funding Fee. Well, the bankers knew nothing about that, and claimed it was a false claim on my part, and that the fee was the exact same percentage rate, no matter the total of the loan (WRONG!). They also made claims that credit scores, debt, and down payments don't affect your interest rate when I know that is not true.

My Favorite Web-lebrities

Crazy Japanese 101 - Writing

Here is Katakana and Hiragana:








Far from flawless, but hopefully that points you in a right (or at least better) direction.

How Not to Use Your Credit Cards

This has a primary angle towards the groups I am familiar with - younger students and military families. Hope it helps someone out!

Resident Evil Military Coin - Geek Girl Post

Another neat little PX extra that I found.


And, as promised, here are the photos:

The Potato Girl

I am so torn with the Heidi Crowter story. On the one hand, I feel like "oh snap, that poor girl." On the other, I want to slap the mother for drawing more attention (and more meme's) to her daughter's image that she gave to the internet in the first place.

What's to be done? le sigh...

Commentary on Parental Flaming (or some jazz like that)

I am team XiaoRishu! Apparently, I need to update my chanting to "Team Spring Roll!"

Military Discharge Types

I've heard some spouses get confused about discharge, and, since my husband was in the service and discharged previously, I thought I would attempt to shed some light and give others an idea about what the paperwork means when you fulfill your contract in the military.

Is This Recovering Our Economy?

I see lots of "once in a lifetime" "best deal of the year" deals everywhere. If it's not on television or flooding my inbox, I'm getting a flyer in the mail about it. However, these "awesome deals" are usually reappearing (or getting even better) as soon as the last, limited time only, deal ended. This whole yo-yo market makes me insane, and, overall, paranoid, to purchase.

Princess Boxes

I just wanted to share some of my precious collectibles from DisneyMovieRewards.com. I forgot to mention this in the video, but you can also get points for movie tickets!

Beauty Tag Game

I know, I know, my dear haters, I am laughing at the fact that I am playing a beauty tag game myself!

And now you're all it!



Beauty This or That TAG
MAKEUP:
blush or bronzer
lip gloss or lipstick
eye liner or mascara
foundation or concealer
neutral or color eye shadow
pressed or loose eye shadows
brushes or sponges

NAILS:
OPI or china glaze
Long or short
Acrylic or natural
Brights or darks
Flower or no flower

BODY:
perfume or body splash
lotion or body butter
body wash or soap
lush or other bath company

FASHION:
jeans or sweat pants
long sleeve of short
dresses or skirts
stripes or plaid
flip flops or sandals
scarves or hats
studs or dangly earrings
necklaces or bracelets
heels or flats
cowboy boots or riding boots
jacket or hoodie
forever 21 or charlotte russe
abercombie or Hollister
saks 5th or nordstrom

HAIR:
curly or straight
bun or ponytail
bobby pins or butterfly clips
hair spray or gel
long or short
light or dark
side sweep bangs or full bangs
up or down

RANDOM:
Rain or shine
Summer or winter
Fall or spring
Chocolate or vanilla
East coast or west coast

Student Loans Ruins Lives

I won't type much here, because I have a lot to say in the vlog post itself, but I have found student loans to be extremely predatory towards people who have no concept of what large sums of money are. Take it for what you will, but I am sitting with a mountain of debt on my shoulders right now, and no current hope of repaying it.



And before the haters come out, yes, I SHOULD have seen this coming, I SHOULD have realized it before the debt came crashing down, but I BELIEVED in meritocracy, and I felt very confident that I would be able to find a job that would easily allow me to make the monthly repayments. Lesson learnt and burnt, haha.

Star Wars Charity Pin

This is a Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D special, limited edition pin for charity. They first became available in November/December, but you may find them online, or at certain movie theatres.

Military Tag Game

I guess this post should be pretty self-explanatory. Please post a video response and play along yourself!


If you want to play, please just respond to this video.

Military Tag Questions:
1) How did you and your spouse meet?
2) How old were you when you two met?
3) How long have you been together?
4) Where are you and your spouse originally from?
5) How did you feel about him joining the military?
6) Where did your spouse go to Basic Training?
7) Has your spouse ever been deployed?
8) Ever been to his promotion ceremony?
9) How long have you been a military wife?
10) Did you marry him before or after he joined?
11) How did your husband propose?
12) Where did you get married?
13) How old were you two when you got married?
14) Did he wear his uniform on his wedding day?
15) Where are you and your spouse currently stationed?
16) Do you live on base?
17) How long were you married when you had to go through your first separation?
18) What is your favorite base so far?
19) Do you think your spouse looks good in his uniform?
20) Do you think military life is more advanced than civilian life?
21) Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent?
22) Do you have a lot of military wife friends?
23) What is the hardest part of the military life?
24) Do you own military wife stuff?
25) Do you support your spouse as a member of the military?

I Understand Not What These Men Do...

Seriously, in all seriousness, I am referring to a legitimate friend here (super cereal here), this is not me, I swear, lol.

Mirror Mirror

Okay, not really planned out for this blog post, but I have to say that we had an awesome time going to see Mirror Mirror today. I'm really glad we waited for the event today rather than going last night like I originally wanted to do.

Let me outline this insanity:

1) The theatre on post hired Snow White to come to the lobby and take photos with everyone. They also had a really cut photo opp location of a giant, wooden mirror (not sure if that was sent out by Relativity Media, or if the theatre had it constructed special). And the little dwarf helper was passing out goody bags, so the kids started off very happy.


2) Before the showing (and we were at the first showing of the day), the theatre crew came in and did a raffle on the ticket numbers. All four of our tickets ended up being drawn thanks to there being a huge amount of prizes. So, we got a Mirror Mirror "One Bad Apple" T-shirt, snow globe, compact mirror that lights up, and a Disney Store figurine set of Snow White characters.

3) When we left, not only had the lobby put up a bouncy castle, BUT, they also handed out cute little mini posters.

I'm not sure who all arranged this event - whether it was a movie promotion from the studio, the theatre manager, or a combination of the two - but I definitely feel like we got our money out of this price of admission today.

And just a btw, the movie was fabulous, the costumes were amazing, and the plot was something completely new and unexpected. Usually the previews ruin the entire film and tell you everything, but I was pleasantly surprised all around.

My Vlog Viewers

Hearts, snaps, and more hearts to all my viewers/readers.

I just thought I would give a special shout out to the countries that visit me the most.

On Blogger (listed in order of most views, and just for Megan Vlog readers):
United States
Netherlands
Russia
Canada
Poland
Germany
United Kingdom
Malaysia
France
Pakistan

On YouTube (in order of most watched, for all videos):
United States
United Kingdom
Canada
India
Germany
Australia
Philippines
Mexico
Saudi Arabia
Sweden

Thank you everyone for a great year, 35,000+ views, and all the support (and hate) from around the world.

BFF Tag Game - Girl Talk #5

If you enjoy Dani Quinn and I together, you will love our webshow at blip.tv/2geekgirls!


And, if you would like to play, feel free to use the questions from the game, posted below, and tag our video.

BFF TAG

Questions:
1. How and when did you meet?
2. What's your favorite memory together?
3. Describe each other in one word.
4. What's your dream job?
5. What's your favorite makeup brand?
6. What is something that annoys you about the other person?
7. If you could go anywhere in the world together, where would it be and why?
8. Favorite inside joke?
9. Who takes longer to get ready in the morning?
10. Favorite season?
11. Favorite song?
12. What is it like being best friends with someone who is obsessed with youtube.
13. Heels or flats?
14. Pants or dresses?
15. Favorite animal?
16. If your house was burning down, and your entire family was sure to be okay, what would you save and why?
17. Comedy, horror, or chick-flick?
18. Blackberry or iPhone?
19. Favorite movie?
20. What is something weird that you eat?
21. Do you guys have anything matching?
22. What's your favorite TV show?

Wait Staff - Shut Up!

Alright, I have to admit that crappy waiters/waitresses is a huge pet peeve of mine. I also hate how tipping has become a mandatory idea instead of a reward for good service. Is it just me? Anyone? Anyone else...?

AdSense Update

I never told you guys what happened after I appealed my disabled account. Here's what happened:

Gaming Addition

Here are my thoughts on the topic of gaming addiction (mostly referring to computer/console gaming):


2 Geek Girls also did an episode on this growing epidemic:

My Little Pony Instanity

First, I want to share with you all the easiest way that I've found to detangle synthetic doll/pony hair.

My daughter loves the ponies:


I would love to tell you why this video is so close up, but I have no idea...

Another Thought on Zombies

I posted this vlog after The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 7 had wrapped up, and this is primarily my review of that half of the season. Again, I forgot to post this up in a relevant amount of time, but, being that the second half of season 2 is very disappointing and boring to me thus far, I'd rather relive happier times anyways.

Military Spouse Pros vs Cons

I sat down and weighed in on my opinion of the pros and cons of being attached to the military lifestyle.

2 Geek Girls

Are you watching 2 Geek Girls yet?! We are airing new episodes still at blip.tv/2geekgirls ~ come subscribe!

15,000 Views!

Wow, this is another example of a video that I forgot to make room for in my blog posting schedule while the topic was still relevant.

If anyone is keeping score, I am currently at 27,553 views at the time of posting this vlog.

AdSense the Scam

I could vent for hours, but this sums it up. AdSense is a scam, even after being told that I generate invalid click activity, AdWords sent me free advertising coupons! WTF?!

One Greek Store Review

Okay, to summarize what you'll see in the video I am really impressed by the price to quality ratio at One Greek Store.





Here is the link to the hoodie I got (mine is in Kelly Green, but there are lots of colors to choose from), they are $32.99:
http://www.onegreekstore.com/custom-greek-letter-hoodie.html

This is the large boater tote that I got (my embroidery was on the pocket, the one in the photo is above the pocket), those are $24.99:
http://www.onegreekstore.com/custom-large-boater-tote.html

They also offer an amazingly good package deal offer (website lists the offer good until April 15, 2012). Anyone who shops for Greek merchandise knows that packages can be great, but then they are usually super expensive, and you can also get saddled with items that you weren't too thrilled about.

Well, right now at One Greek Store, they are letting you mix and match your own package (out of the listed items, which I would consider to be the top sellers myself), and the total has to reach $50 - only requirement! Every item in the package, as of today, is under $30, and the t-shirts are just $14 that way. STOCK UP, that is a super deal for something that is so nicely put together! http://www.onegreekstore.com/greek-packages.html


Here are letter colors, embroidery fonts, and additional sew on letter fonts (which is something that I haven't seen very often, so definitely check out the different sew on letters that you can pick out!):
http://www.onegreekstore.com/greek-tool-box#stitch-style

And, just for good measure, here are the garment colors available:
http://www.onegreekstore.com/sample-garment-colors#hoodie


All prices are current as of March 8, 2012, but I can't guarantee that the costs will remain the same forever.

Custom Made by Melissa

I love and still sport my brag bag from Custom Made by Melissa. She has bags available pre-made, custom order, and the rates can vary by whether or not you send her ACUs to work with (which, hey, what else are you going to do with the unserviceable ones, right?).

http://www.custommadebymelissa.com/ is her website, and she is also on Facebook. Please be aware that she only opens orders at certain times, so be sure to get on her contact list, or like her on Facebook, for order dates and details. I don't have this information so please don't ask me - I am just a happy customer and fan!

Crazy Japanese 101 - Syllables Some More

Learn how to pronounce most of the rest of the Japanese syllables (continuation of Crazy Japanese 101 - Syllables).

Please note that I pronounce "wo" phonetically, as I was taught, even though many would pronounce is as "o" (the way it is most often spoken).

SOPA (Quite Late in the Game)

Okay, so I made this in December when SOPA/PIPA were being discussed heavily. Unfortunately, I forgot to make a space for it in my blog posting calendar.

Currently, SOPA is dead in its current form. However, if we do not learn from this event, a similar, or even worse bill, can appear very soon.

Twilight = Military Coin

I never expected to come across this combination, BUT, the PX/BX is offering a limited number of Breaking Dawn challenge coins in specially marked DVD and Blu Rays (there's a sticker on the cover so you'll know which boxes have them).



Here are the still shots I promised:

Home Business Marketing

It's been a while since I've made a post about direct sales/home businesses, so here are my tips on marketing.

When Will Our Lives Begin?

My holiday singing video post, right on time. This is made with my little Valentine Kai.




And a side note on how Kai records. I just let the recorder run until she's done, then I edit them into smaller videos, so this was not a set up, she asked me after her Rio dance to sing with her. haha, she's so funny.

My LaoTong

Are you a woman with a LaoTong in your life?

A LaoTong is a woman with whom you share a sacred bond (often with a secret language, known in Chinese as Nu Shu). You may only have one LaoTong throughout your entire life, and she is your sister of the heart, which can never be broken. Better than a real sister, because you are matched by astrological signs to benefit each others lives, and the bond is more prolific.

For the day before Valentine's day, I am expressing my eternal love for my one and only LaoTong, Dani Quinn.


The Chinese also express women's social groups - LaoTang. The best way to describe a LaoTang is that it is a group of women who are in the same marital status at the same time (ie, single women, married women, widows - but not divorced women, as that was not allowed when this social order formed in China). If you're single and marry, you will dissolve your LaoTang bonds, and the single women will no longer be your sisters. You may then join a LaoTang of married women, whose friendships will again be thrown away.

That is today's Chinese culture lesson. Hearts and love.

The Zombies Must Be Mentioned

With Valentine's Day approaching, I want to talk about something that I love - zombies.

If anyone else has a response for any of these videos, please feel free to post them. I'd love to see how far this rabbit hole can go!




Responses:

TROOOOOOOOOON - Geek Girl Post

You know, TROOOOOOOOOOOOON, like "KAAAAHHHHHHHNNNN" from Star Trek. I feel just as frustrated when watching, and not understanding, Tron: Legacy.

Maybe it's just be and one of those things that I don't comprehend (like how evolution is different from adaptation...) - but, perhaps a more formidable geek can enlighten me and ease my Tron woes.

When The Kids Were Three...

People have asked why my son never makes videos. Well, he gets a little camera shy and likes to dance around in his underwear (so not cute to post online at his age! haha). But here's an old, old video of him singing, which is introduced by my daughter singing Wonder Pets first.

Ironically, Kai is singing about the baby chipmunk in Wonder Pets, and my son is singing the Alvin and the Chipmunks version of Bad Day!



I thought this would be a good video for Belly Laugh Day!

By the by, I get my holiday listings from http://www.calendar-365.com/holidays/2012.html

Sailor Moon Je T'aime - Geek Girl Post

I dearly, dearly miss seeing Sailor Moon on television - or even on bookshelves or DVD stores. Isn't it a shame not to have Sailor Moon on Blu-Ray here?

Why Are People So Entitled?

I often wonder why kids (even mine), young adults, and everyone in between have this unearned sense of entitlement to everything. They "deserve" the best, the newest, the most expensive - and they truly believe it. I see this issue a lot with military wives especially, where there are people buying houses, cars, new electronics, premium things for their kids, etc. None of this is a problem if you can afford it, or saved up to buy it, but then these same wives end up crying online that they can't pay their bills.

The whole idea of entitlement has gotten even worse with children, and I am dreading to see how this next generation will act in the future...

We Need to Keep Score Again!

Are you sick of sports games not keeping score (while all the parents and coaches do)? Do you get report cards like my son, where they refuse to use letter grades and dissect every category, like English and Science, into fifty subcategories? It just becomes a confusing mess right?

And the purpose of this is to shelter our children who need to learn that the world is competitive and everyone can't be great at everything. By not allowing failure, kids never become motivated to seek success, and then the real world hurts all the more.

So let Red Riding Hood's Grandma get eaten by the wolf, have the Huntsman chop the evil beast open, and allow our kids the good with the bad (joy with fear, winning with losing, laughing with crying) - it builds character and will create a better generation of adults!

Hot Topic vs Age - Geek Girl Post

I am developing this complex about the clothes I "should" be wearing at my age, and I'm not really sure what opinion to form.



By the way, for any stupid people who can't understand the difference - you can look/dress/act young without being immature or childish. Case in point, I can wear around my G.I.R. shirt and still NOT act like a mean girl in high school trying to start problems with everyone I meet. So, one can have a young spirit, interests, tastes, etc without acting like a dramatic or spoiled little girl. If you can't tell that there's a difference, then please stop reading my posts. haha.

Anti-College Sentiment

I think these days I have become anti-college. Too many people are going, and there aren't enough college educated jobs to accommodate to all the English, Art, Language, and other degrees being mass produced. Even lawyers and biologists are having hard times getting a job.

And I ask you, why in the last decade or so do we need degrees to be police officers? These need hands on, real world training, not four years of classroom experience (with several years of extra electives that hold no value to the position).




I'm also lumping this in with my review of the Academy of Art University, in which I'm on the fence about ever returning again.

Not Quite a Holiday Song

This cracks me up, and it's all I've got for a holiday song this time around. She's so happy to dance with her Rio Angry Bird plushies, haha. Happy MLKJ Day!

Crazy Japanese 101 - Syllables - Geek Girl Post

This is all pretty self explanatory, but these are the basic Japanese syllables.

Even More on Military Wives

Yes I'm on a role of hatin' I suppose.

All is Not Sunny in Japthenopia

As the princess of the Japthenopian people, I was appalled to find this video!




My response is as follows:


Do not believe the lies of Dani Quinn!

FIRE

If you follow my vlogs, you know that I highly recommend Bath and Body Works in several of my videos. I have a huge shelf in my closet, with over 100 lotions, soaps, and sanitizers from the store. I love Les Wexner, his Center for the Arts is my favorite building at OSU, where I bought the very Mac that I am typing on right now. I even brag about my Black Friday haul at BBW at http://meganvlog.blogspot.com/2011/11/within-consumer-maddness-black-friday.html

So, when I say that today was a horrible experience of a BBW candle (made by Slatkin & Co) becoming dangerously flammable, I am not coming from the stance of being a hater of the company.

Since BBW deleted my Facebook query on what the heck happened here, I am taking the liberty to make my video and photos open to the public. I don't like corporate cover ups for dangerous products! This was a candle purchased at Bath & Body Works in the scent of Twisted Peppermint.













No idea what happened, I opened up my bathroom door and found this today. I already had the candle in the sink because I don't trust glass jar candles (one shattered when I was 14 and set the curtains on fire, so I only light candles in non-flammable locations - never expected a giant flame like this though, it could have set my vanity mirror on fire!). At first, I thought it was some oddity, so I started recording the phenomenon. After about 30 seconds of watching the flame size vary, with no hint of the fire dying down, I had to get the fire extinguisher to put out the fire. This resulted in hot wax being sprayed all over my bathroom, and since my bathroom is all tile, this is a very difficult cleaning process (not to mention all the smoke).

I contacted Bath and Body Works on Facebook for reasons that may have caused this, but my post was deleted without response. Currently contacting customer service now, but I have no problem going to speak with our lawyer if no further responses are given. It's one thing for a fluke to occur in a product and the company to apologize for the situation; it's quite another to ignore it when the customer sends you video footage of the incident - which could have easily burnt down our house!

And no, there was nothing additional that I, or anyone else, added to the candle, except for the single match that I used to light the wicks (it burnt my finger and I dropped it in there). My friend at Crabby Candle Co has helped me search for answers among candle makers, and the consensus is that the fragrance oil did not melt properly, was concentrated in a pocket in the wax, or some other similar problem. I have never seen anything like this happen before in my life, and I certainly will never purchase another BBW candle again!

Pregnant Young Adults

Now teen moms can be a handful, but what about the young moms who are legally adults, but not emotionally ones?

I got a viewer question about hurt feelings and the "obligations" of family to give your baby gifts. I answered it as honestly as I knew how:

Information on Formal Sorority Rush

This is typically how rush works for NPC sororities at most universities. NPHC, Fraternities, and all other sororities outside of the NPC do things differently.

However, remember that if you accept a bid from an NPC sorority, you MAY NOT accept another bid for at least one calendar year. If you initiate into on NPC sorority, you may not join another NPC or NPHC sorority. So choose wisely.

Know Your Supermen! - Geek Girl Post

I am so tired of seeing people wear a black shirt with a red logo and claim that they're wearing a Superman shirt! Why are you buying things that you obviously know nothing about?!

Here are the differences:

The Mommy Club

Are you a mom? Then you're in the Mom's Club. Are you a new mom? Then you need to learn your place in the Mom's Club! Too many new mothers decide that having a baby makes them a grown up, and/or equal to every other mom on the planet. This is not true in the least!

Cosplay, oh Cosplay - Geek Girl Post

Here's my li'l ego trip from 2003. It's all older photos, but, I wonder who all can name everyone that I cosplay as. Any takers to this challenge?

Home Business Marketing

It's been a while since I've made a post about direct sales/home businesses, so here are my tips on marketing.

Oh Yes, I am Ridiculous Like This! Haha

Apparently, my new thing is going to be to make a new blog with singing every holiday, haha.

This is a mash up that I put together for auditions about ten years ago. I never ended up having the nerve to get up there and try out for musicals though - I would probably end up being like Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl - I'm more comedian.