New FALL Catalog Coming Soon!

Summer may have just begun in earnest, but fall is right around the corner…leaf piles, apple cider, football games, crisp nights…and the Thirty-One Fall/Winter catalog!  You are going to want to be the first in your circle of friends to show off the awesome new products and fabrics so hurry and book your home party now!  You can contact me at emilypage@windstream.net

Stores have already begun stocking back to school supplies!  Thirty-One has many items that can make that first day of school a little more exciting for your child.  A personalized thermal tote, a cute clipboard to keep assignments organized, a locker caddy for those essential items, a messenger bag with changeable styles to match their mood or outfit, the list goes on and on!  Check out the “direction” catalog for cute and trendy back to school items that will please your child – whether they are  in elementary school or college.  I use my messenger bag every day and I love it!

The following items have LOW INVENTORY so if  any of these items are ones you’ve been eyeing, act now to ensure you receive yours before they are gone for good!

3000 Thermal Zipper Tote-Black Floral; Bubble Pop
3003 Soft Wallet – Burgundy Stripe
3005 Hot Pink Dot Fabric Gift Tag
3037 Pink Thermal Lunch Box
3042 Mini Skirt only – Julie Stripe
3043 Girls Purse – Hot Pink Dot
3047 Skirt only-Brown Floral; Julie Stripe; Giraffe
3048 Organizing Shoulder Bag-Black Quilt
3053 Accent Purse-Deep blue ring
3056 Carryall Tote – Black Floral
(these last two are 2 of my favorite items that I own!)

Thirty-One Photos

Don’t you just LOVE all these fabulous Thirty-One Products?! 

My friend Kim is having an online party RIGHT NOW at www.mythirtyone.com/emilypage

Help Kim have a successful party by clicking on “order from a party” and then Kim’s name.  If you live in Sanford, you can save $4 on shipping by selecting “ship to hostess”.  I will pick up your order from Kim and deliver it to you!  Kim’s online party ends at 7 PM on June 19th!

If you don’t live in Sanford, you can have your order shipped directly to your front door!

JUNE is a great time to buy because in June, ALL embroidery on ALL items in the new “direction” catalog is just $1!!! 

If you would like information on how YOU can host an online or home party to earn FREE Thirty-One products, please leave me a comment or contact me at emilypage@windstream.net

Looking for a way to make extra money while working for a great company? I can tell you how!

Playground Update

Please visit the Stepping Stones Blog to view before and after pictures of our major playground renovation!

Tick Tock…only 12 more days…

…to take advantage of my offer for $25 in free products ABOVE and BEYOND the May hostess special and the regular hostess special!  Don’t let this pass you by…FREE stuff just for hosting a qualified online, catalog, or home party by May 15th!!  A qualified show means you have $200 or more in sales.  Leave me a comment or send an email to emilypage@windstream.net for more information.

To order products directly or to view a catalog, go to www.mythirtyone.com/emilypage

Now Searching for Emily Page

The top search terms used to find my blog lately have been combinations of “Emily Page, “Sanford”, and “blog”.  I’m not sure whether to be flattered or weirded out by that. 

This week has been unusually crazy.  I was so miserable Sunday I didn’t get out of bed hardly at all.  I still can’t kick whatever it is that I have, but at least it isn’t the Swine Flu.  The playground was 100% completed on Monday (pictures to follow as soon as I get some time!) Monday night I had a Parks and Recreation meeting and a meeting at BCC. 

Tuesday I had a meeting with a videographer who is going to follow Lindsay and Monika for a video on the social work profession (super cool!).  Tuesday was also the first time in over a week that the kids were allowed on the playground and I had to take tons of pictures to document the event!  They were SOOOO excited to finally get to play on the new equipment (not only because it is super cool but because they spent an entire week and change watching it be installed).  Tuesday night I had a Thirty-One party. 

Wednesday just seemed to be hectic but I did get to meet a friend for lunch.   It was also Olga’s birthday so her family brought us cupcakes to celebrate.  We were very touched that they thought of us.  Now that the playground is complete, we are hoping to have “Olga’s tree” planted in time to have a celebration of her life around May 25th which will be one year since her death.  She has been in our hearts and minds a lot lately and we were so excited to see her family and to get to meet their new little boy!

Yesterday was also special because Lindsay and I decided on the title of the book we WILL write some day about the ups and downs of running a child care center.  I can’t tell you what it is yet, but I can tell you that the title alone will sell books!  Plus we might just have to do it under assumed names so we wouldn’t want you to know for sure that it was our book!

Today was nuts.  Lindsay and I had a 2 hour training tonight on how to include children with physical disabilities in your center.  We have had plenty of time to prepare for this training but somehow all that time got taken up by…well, something!  So…between 11:30 and 6:00, we went to Wal-Mart to buy supplies and candy (and other things the classrooms needed), we made lots of copies on different colors of paper, we put each of our business cards into those hateful corner slit things in the folders, we stuffed the folders with all the handouts, we heavily edited the slides, Lindsay collected “show and tell” items to illustrate our points, I selected old and new photos to use in the presentation, we put our agency stickers on all the folders, we dealt with cranky printers (aren’t they always cranky when you are in a hurry?!), we wolfed down Arby’s, and just barely had enough time to set up before beginning the training. 

Tomorrow one of the lead teachers and I will be going to a meeting in Asheboro.  Saturday we will be at Belk for the Charity Day Sale (selling World’s Finest Chocolate bars!) from 6 – 10 (AM!).  Hailey has a soccer game at 10:00 and another one sometime in the afternoon.  Sunday is church and a meeting at church at night.

So…in case there was any doubt, I’m going to bed now!  good night!

New Blog

Check out http://mythirtyone.wordpress.com/

Thirty-One Gifts

I’m dusting off my blog to do a little self-promotion!  I am constantly thinking of things I want to blog about but life has just been crazy busy lately.   If someone wants to buy me a purple Asus netbook, I promiseto blog every day!!  Read to the end of this post to find out how you can get $20 in free Thirty-One products!

Last year at the Lee County Fair, I was walking through one of the exhibit halls when I spotted a booth with purses and bags that were oh-so-cute.  I took one of the business cards and considered hosting a party.  I told Ed then that if I was ever going to be a consultant for a direct-sales company, it would be Thirty-One because I loved the products.   They offer purses, totes, thermal lunch totes, beach bags, luggage, luggage tags, kids’ purses, aprons, metal wall art, candles, key fobs, and so much more! And not only are the products great, but almost everything can be monogrammed…and I am a sucker for all things monogrammed.

 

I did not follow up with the consultant to schedule a party or make an order, but I never completely forgot about Thirty-One either.  I really wanted one of their “skirt purses” that allow you to change the look of your purse without having to transfer all of the contents.  You buy either a black or a brown purse and choose a free “skirt”.  You can then purchase additional “skirts”. 

Fast forward to February…I noticed on facebook that one of my friends, Lorrie Yarborough, is a Thirty-One consultant and I told her I wanted to have a party.   I had my party at the end of March and less than 3 weeks later, I signed up to be a consultant.

Thirty-One was founded by Cindy Monroe in 2002.  The name “Thirty-One” comes from Proverbs 31 which talks about what it means to be a virtuous woman.  A virtuous woman is a wife of noble character.  Her husband has full confidence in her.  She works with eager hands, provides food for her family, sets about her work vigorously, opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.  She is clothed in strength and dignity, she speaks with wisdom and watches over the affairs of the household.  Her children call her blessed and her husband praises her.

I am proud to be a part of this company and hope to be able to help other women begin their journey with Thirty-One.  If you are interested in joining this growing company, please feel free to contact me!   For a $99 investment, you get $300 in products and supplies  as well as free training and resources to help you start your journey towards financial freedom.   You can also choose to take advantage of the $149 consultant kit that allows you to personalize your display products.  **AND** until the end of April, you can join for just $25 – if you are interested, ask me how and I will be glad to share the details with you!

If you live in the Sanford/Raleigh/Pinehurst area, I would love to talk to you about hosting a show.  For my family and friends in Washington and Bath, I would be willing to do a Saturday show for you as well! You are able to earn FREE and discounted products just by hosting a girls’ night out in your home!  If home parties just aren’t your thing, how about an online or catalog party?  For an online party, we would simply send out invitations to your family and friends offering them the opportunity to purchase Thirty-One products.  For a catalog party, I would give you catalogs and you would distribute them to your family and friends and take paper orders from them – or you can direct them to my website to make an order.

As an added bonus, if you book a show with me now and close your show (meaning I actually put in the final order) by May 15th, I will buy you $20 in Thirty-One products  – you choose the products!  You can also use the $20 towards a higher-priced item and pay the difference.

You have NOTHING to lose.  I had a great time at my party and I will make sure you have a great time at yours!  Your family, friends, and co-workers will love the products and you will be able to get your favorite Thirty-One items FREE!!

Vist my website at www.mythirtyone.com/emilypage

You can also follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/emilypage31 - no, I don’t let you know when I’m eating ice cream or walking the dog, but I will let you know about the monthly specials and any incentives I may be offering.

You can also send me an email to emilypage@windstream.net with “31 specials” as the subject and I will add you to my newsletter list and make sure you never miss a thirty-one special or sale!!

Zip It – Daggers, Fire, Destruction & Forgiveness – Notes from BCC, 2/22/09

Four types of gossipers:

1. “I love that guy gossiper”  (I would also call this the “Bless her heart” gossiper)

2. Prayer Request gossiper

3. I don’t know when to shut up gossiper

4. I told the truth gossiper

“I find myself in a pride of lions who are wild for a taste of human flesh; their teeth are lances and arrows, their tongues as sharp as daggers.” Psalms 57:4

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire. James 3:5-6

Gossip is destructive, it doesn’t care who it hurts.  Whether you realize it or intend to do it, what you say sparks a fire – doesn’t matter if it is fact. It can set a wildfire in someones life.

The tongue leaves a path of destruction and doesn’t look back to see the destruction it leaves behind.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.”  Ephesians 4:29

Stop talking about people and start talking to people. Encourage people and share the hope that we have within us.

Clean up the destruction by asking for forgiveness – confess what you have done.

“This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then, and only then, come back and work things out with God.” Matthew 5:23-24

We’ve all left a path of destruction behind us, not intentional – we may not even know the effect of what we’ve done.

Your relationship with God is directly linked to your relationship with others.

Who have you left in your path of destruction?  Who must you ask for forgiveness?

The Wonderful World of the Web

My blog is a little over a year old (January 23rd was the anniversary of my first post) so I wanted to take some time to reflect back over the past year.  I have written 193 posts and have received 449 comments.  I have had a total of 28,329 visits.  My busiest day was December 2, 2008 – I received 631 hits that day.  It seems that everyone found my High School Musical 3 post that day…even though I wrote the post in October.   The links were coming in through a movie poster clip I had included in the post.  I ended up deleting the photo because I did not want to drive so much unknown traffic to my personal blog.

So how have people found my blog?  Here are some of the top terms people have used to find my blog:

High School Musical – 6293 – Wow.

Gimghoul Castle  or Order of Gimghoul- 410 – Glad to know I’m not the only one that is curious!

Wall Pops- 159 – I love them, but 159 hits since August 7th?

Fibromyalgia – 141 – I’ve gotten some great emails and comments from others who have FMS – that makes this blog worth it right there!

The Spoon Theory – 133 – Don’t know what it is?  Please take the time to read the post!

Booksfree.com – 137 – Love it!

Emily Page wordpress – 72  – Should I be flattered or a little spooked?  I think I am both!

Emily Page – 62 – ditto above!

Dog and Cat – 56

Olga Horton – 51 – I hope those searching for information on Olga found what they were looking for.  Nothing I could have written could truly have done her justice.

blog all i hear is blah blah blah – 53

High School – 50

Dog eating cat or dog eats cat or cat eating dog- 138 – Don’t you find that a little weird?  Google “cat eating dog” and click on images…that’s my Buster!

avington furniture- 32 – This is our living room furniture from Target.

intellevision – 21

haircut – 21

green monster – 16

clue jr- 16

willow creek animal hospital sanford nc – 14

Zip It – Criticism Gone Bad – notes from BCC 2/15/09

At Brickcity Community Church, we are given note pages each week with key verses and statements.  During the sermon I write down other statements that Bill Maye makes that really hit home with me.  While sitting in church today I had the thought that I wished I had a good way to keep all of my notes so that they would be easy to access and reference.  It immediately occurred to me that I could type my notes into my blog and serve a dual purpose.  Not only would I have a safe, accessible, and search-able place to keep my notes, but they would also be available for others to read.   Hopefully anyone who takes the time to read these entries will find something in the notes that speaks to them or helps them in some way.   It would be even better if the notes peak someones interest enough that they will want to hear the next sermon in the series.  And if you can’t make it to BCC, you can listen to the sermons online.

Criticism Gone Bad

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.  James 1:26

People who constantly criticize others often do not realize the damage they are doing.

Three Root Causes of Destructive Criticism:

1. Jealousy-envy

When you are jealous, you criticize others and tear them down instead of rejoicing with them.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. Proverbs 14:30

Rejoice with those who rejoice… Romans 12:15

Ask yourself, “Am I truly happy for the good things others experience?”

We only have so much time here, do we want to spend it being jealous or rejoicing?

2. Negativity – see everything that is wrong about everything

 For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

Negativity will build up inside you as righteous indignation – this can explode out of you and impact those around you, including your friends and family.

God did not give you the ability to see what is wrong so that you can be the mouthpiece for what is wrong, but to change things and protect those you don’t see the wrong.

…Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Don’t be a downer, be a cheerleader.

…we sent Timothy to get you up and about, cheering yo on so you couldn’t be discouraged by these hard times. 1 Thessalonians 3: 2-3

Who are you going to cheer on?

3. Sarcasm aka “class clown”

The cut-down is the most deceiving of all types of bad criticism.  It tears people apart.

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place… Ephesians 5:4

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others… Ephesians 4:29

Speak words that edify.

It is one thing when we are acting a fool but it is something else when we are doing it to cut down others.  Comedy is funny because it is true – you may say you are kidding, but you and the person know there is truth there – and it hurts.

We need to build people up but we are so focused on us, we do the opposite.

Brickcity Community Church’s Mission is to help people take their next steps towards Christ together.  Our mission is too important and our words are too powerful to speak carelessly and risk damaging people.

In My Life:

If you know me personally, I hope that you will help hold me accountable.  I really try hard to be an optimist and find the good and the positive in any situation.  Even if I get stuck in traffic, I try to tell myself that I might be avoiding an accident by running later.  The sarcasm piece is what really spoke to my heart and it is something I know I will struggle with. Ed and I are both very sarcastic – and I can say with all honesty that sarcastic statements made by me are not intended to hurt or cut down anyone.  They are said for the laugh.  I love to make Ed laugh and he and I understand when we make comments to each other that they are said for that purpose – we don’t mean to be hurtful and since we know that, these comments are accepted between us as a joke.  However, since we do this so often with each other, it makes it second nature for sarcastic comments to come out with others – even our children.   I am going to try very, very hard to use my words to build others up – not to get a laugh.

How much happier would we all be if we looked for the positive instead of dwelling on the negative?