The question comes up a lot in conversations that I have had lately, “How did you become the breadwinner in your family?”

Being a new media mom has definitely been a big perk for my family. It all started when I went on maternity leave with my oldest daughter M. I planned to take 12 weeks of leave. After the 11th week, my supervisor called me to set-up my return date. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew right then, there was no way that I could leave my 12 week old baby girl and go to work. My supervisor tried all kinds of schedule arrangements, but it all came down to me ultimately turning in my resignation. I wanted to be the one to raise my baby girl. After I decided not to go back to my corporate job after my maternity leave, I stepped out on a leap of faith and began researching work at home jobs. My first telecommuting job was with Hotels.com. It allowed me to still provide to the family income, all the while still being able to be home with my baby girl. I have telecommuted ever since. Back in 2005, I began to get into internet marketing and started my blog here at OneMomsWorld.com. Ever since then, I have watched the world wide web grow into more of a Web 2.0 web. I knew that Social Media was calling my name and I reached out full force into the social media world. Here I am today, fulfilling my dream in being a social media consultant.

Does work at home moms lack social skills?

The one thing I was very surprised, is how much I would miss adult conversations. I know once my husband would arrive home, I would talk his ear off. He would always comment, I see you didn’t get to talk to anyone else today HA! I have a huge network of online friends that we all have been talking online since early 2003. We all met through a work at home message board and have been great friends and supporting partners ever since. We may have never met in person, but we always know we are there for each other. It is pretty funny to look back on because, you never heard of mom bloggers back in 2004 or 2005 when we all first started and now the internet is so filled with wonderful mom bloggers. Technology is so awesome. Now with social media being such a huge world, I never lack adult conversations anymore. The only thing I lack is being able to shower and get us all dressed before 9am!

So you may ask, well exactly how did you get into the social media world?

I love talking about my kids and sharing our adventures, so what better way than to use social media and blog our adventures. Sharing parenting views and encouraging other parents is what I love to do each and every day. It is just an extra perk to get paid for what you love to do! In all seriousness, success is what you make of your life. If you have a passion for something, run with your passion. I do say though, you definitely need to make sure you have a balance in your work and your family. I make sure to develop weekly plans and outings for my girls. We will have craft time, technology time, and rest time so I can ensure I am getting in my work hours and the girls are not just sitting around doing nothing. The girls can be right there with me on their kid’s table doing the activities so they feel like they are “working” as well!

Grow your network with what you are passionate about. Network with other moms on Facebook and Twitter. Social Media has allowed me to make such lifelong friendships with so many great moms. We understand each other and I will always have encouragement and support at every minute of every hour. You never know who you network with can lead to a job as well, so make sure you are presenting yourself in a positive manner.

My passion is what has helped me get where I am today, sit and think… “What is my passion” – Pray and let God lead you in the direction you need to be in. You may have to start out small just like I did with my small gig with hotels.com but those small gigs are stepping stones to your one ultimate big gig. My ultimate big gig has me now being the breadwinner in the family.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer. Remember, The sky is the limit. Keep reaching for the stars!

Let’s put on a video to get this party started.

Now, that we are all in the party mood, let me serve you with my southern charm. Have a glass of sweet tea please:

I am so excited that you have come to join in the fun here at One Moms World. I am an over scheduled mom that is just taking life one day at a time. Being a mom to two beautiful girls and wife to my husband is what I always dreamed of when I was a little girl. Now, I am able to live that dream in real life.

We are a family that loves to travel and love all things healthy living. When the weather cooperates, we love to spend time outdoors and see what this great country has to offer. We take multiple random road trips throughout the year. The girls have been traveling with us since they were babies, so they love a good road trip just as much as we do.

Mom, here is a tech geek and is passing that onto lil sis and big sis. My droid is always with me (yes, even when I am sleeping) and the girls have known how to run a computer since they were 2 years old. As much as we love technology, I love to have tech free nights as well. Families do need that one-on-one time you know?

Enough about me, I would love to get to know you. Tell me about yourself in comments and I look forward to getting to know you.

Giveaway: To help celebrate the upcoming holiday, I am doing a giveaway of the Original Here Comes Peter CottonTail Movie.

Peter Cottontail wants to be the #1 Chief Easter Bunny and everyone in April Valley agrees…except for his archrival, evil Irontail. Hop along with Peter and his friends as they race through time celebrating all of your favorite holidays to deliver the most eggs…and save Easter for children everywhere!

2 Lucky Party Go-ers will get their very own copy to help celebrate Easter this month!

All you need to do is leave a comment and we will use random.org at the end of the Ultimate Blog Party to pick our two winners. Good Luck!

Did you hear?! It is that time of year again! The Gap Casting Call is going on right now. You know I have to enter my little fashion diva L. She is just too adorable and loves to ham it up for the camera. Gap has asked for my help to spread the word about the Gap Casting call and in return they are going to give one of my readers their own free pair of jeans. So cool right?

I did want to share a few tips with you so you can capture that perfect photo of your child.

1. Make sure to not pose your child. Let them be natural and snap away with your camera. If you pose them, they will start getting aggravated and will possibly have meltdowns.

2. Stage the photo shoot in front of a solid background. If you have busy distractions in the background, your camera flash may focus on the background noise instead of your precious model.

3. Keep continuously shooting with your camera. Do not stop so you will not miss that perfect shot. Kids move and change poses fast, so keep snapping away.

4. Be upbeat. If you are upbeat throughout the photo shoot, then the child will be happy.

5. Ask the child questions throughout the photo shoot, to spark their creativity. Keep them smiling with crazy sayings. Happiness will equal one awesome photo shoot!

I did a  mini photo shoot with L and did a short video of the photo shoot to showcase the tips above. Watch the short minute and half video to see what photo we ended up entering in the Gap Casting Call!

Now it is your turn to create a photo shoot. Hurry and go grab your camera, your child and start snapping away. Here are the 4 categories:

• Baby Girls (ages 0 to 4 years of age)
• Baby Boys (ages 0 to 4 years of age)
• Girls (ages 5 to 10 years of age)
• Boys (ages 5 to 10 years of age)

GIVEAWAY!

Enter to win a free pair of gap jeans by:

1. Leaving a comment below with your email address.
and/or
2. Tweet about the Gap Casting Call. Example Tweet: I really want to win a free pair of Gap Jeans on @OneMomsWorld Casting Call Giveaway http://ow.ly/2OJYs

Make sure to leave another comment each time you tweet. Good Luck!

* This post is sponsored by BabyCenter and Gap. All tips, photos and video are of my own judgement!

Taking a moment while the girls are on 3 week Fall break to enjoy God’s creation. We so get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, that sometimes we forget to just stop and cherish what is around us. The girls and I are having a blast enjoying the sights and sounds of Ocean Isle Beach. The weather is beautiful. Enjoy!

The other day on the Dr. Oz show they showed how to make a more healthier version of chocolate brownies. Now, you all know my family is all about eating healthier. I am not a big chocolate person, but I do have to say my husband and our girls definitely are! Even though, I couldn’t imagine how black beans would make brownies taste good, I decided to give it a whirl.

I grabbed a box mix of brownies (any mix will do)

1 can of 15.5 oz of Black Beans

and I blended them all together in the blender. I did want the beans to be smooth after all . I poured the mixture into a 13 x 9 dish that was sprayed with PAM. I placed the dish in a pre-heated oven of 325 degrees. The wait was on. My husband was giving me weird looks and saying, I know you don’t expect me to try them. Oh of course I do honey.

The time was here… let’s open up the oven door and see our creation.

Phew… they do look like brownies. That is a relief! Let’s now get down to the real stuff and taste test them. We love whip cream on our brownies, of course make sure it is the fat free kind. We are keeping it healthy you know!

M is our first person to taste test.

L is our second person to taste test.

I think we have a winner with the Black Bean Brownies. Hubby and I really enjoyed them as well and now we can eat brownies without feeling so guilty eating them. Let me know if you try them and how you like. I know.. I know… it does sound like a weird combination, but I can say you will not be disappointed!

That is right my friends, Olive Oil does indeed get ride of lice. I wish I could say that I did not have to experience this firsthand, but a few weeks ago, we indeed did have lice invade the girls and my hair. Oh my, my head is already itching again just thinking about it. I totally was freaked out about this and the first thing I did was email my partner in crime over at BabyCenter Dina. She brought me back down to my senses and told me not to be embarrassed, it just happens.

I immediately went out to the grocery store and bought RID. I did not one, not two, but three treatments on our hair and I was STILL finding nits in our hair. I was really over lice at this moment. A good friend back in my hometown Boone, NC had called me to check on the girls and I to see how we were liking our new home and I spilled the beans to her. She said Jen, RID does not work. You have to try Olive Oil. That is what worked for us. You are kidding me right? I just went and spent almost $100.00 on a product that does not work!

I immediately went to the store at 9:30 that night and bought bottles of olive oil (only needed 1 but you know) and 3 shower caps. I drenched the girls and my hair all over with olive oil and made sure our scalps were really saturated in the olive oil. Then I adored our pretty heads with the pink shower caps and we went to bed. Woke up the next morning and washed all our hair out with dish detergent and then regular shampoo. We not only had soft smooth hair but also there were no nits or lice to be found. Ever since that night, we have not been bothered either. I cannot believe I put all those awful chemicals on our head and still had remnants of lice and then one night of olive oil soaking in our heads all night and all the remnants are GONE!

So there you have it… do not use RID or any of those other awful chemicals on your head. Just get some olive oil and a shower cap and you can say goodbye forever to the lice that are so not welcomed in your home or your personal bubble of your head.

As everyone knows, I am a southern gal. Born and raised in the south with the southern accent to boot, that is what makes up me – Jen Houck. I could not imagine life any other way.

Ever since I was a small little girl, my brother and I would be in the kitchen to see what we could create to surprise our parents. My love of cooking has grown even stronger over the years and most evenings, you will still find me in the kitchen. This is why it is an honor to be asked to be a Crescent Cook Pillsbury Ambassador and share my easy and delicious recipes with all of you… busy parents!

Let’s back up here and tell you the time line of how this all took place. Back in June, I filled out an application about why my love for Pillsbury Crescent Rolls was so big. I did not have any expectations, so when I received a call to say I was in the top 100 out of 3600 applicants… there was lots of grinning ear to ear. I had to submit two recipes to see if I could make it to the next round and I DID! It was then telephone interview time, to my surprise, I was not nervous at all. More than likely, it was because I was speaking of a subject that was very dear to my heart. Cooking! I didn’t hear anything for a couple weeks and then the day of L’s surgery, I received the call that I was one of the 4 finalists. I wanted to scream from the roof tops, but I have had to keep it quiet till today. That was hard.

Now fast forward to the winning recipe.

So let’s take Comfort food + Pillsbury

and we have Pillsbury Crescent Chicken Pot Pie that will make your mouth water.

Now does that not look delicious?

INGREDIENTS

* 1 bag (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables or 1 large can of veg-all
* 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
* 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed reduced-fat reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup
* 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed reduced-fat reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup
* 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

DIRECTIONS

1. In large bowl, mix vegetables, chicken and soups. Pour into greased or sprayed 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish.

2. Unroll dough into 2 long rectangles; press perforations to seal. Place rectangles over chicken mixture; pinch center edges to seal. Press outside edges of dough to edges of baking dish.

3. Bake at 350°F 25 to 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.

As we all know, us southern ladies really do love our comfort food. Ok… go on… what are you waiting for? Let’s get to cooking

Once upon a time there was a girl that loved to play in the dirt and build mud pies with her brother and then she came across this keyboard in the dirt. Her world took a major drastic turn. These glasses popped up on her face, these suspenders all of a sudden popped onto her jeans, and she kept saying geek power, geek power, and geek power over and over. The world has never been the same since Jen Houck became an instant geek over night.

That is right, I am a geek and so proud of it. I remember my first brother typewriter and thinking I was all that with my awesome A drive diskettes. I totally still have my diskettes too. My first computer class at public school and my eyes locked with those back in the day apple computers, I just knew it was love at first sight. I knew this was going to be an addiction that would be very hard to break for sure. DOS and typing commands just helped me so much release my inner geek that I would count down the minutes to computer class. A couple years passed and our school upgraded to Windows 95 and IBM computers. I even got my first yahoo email address and received my first email from a boy. Oh this could go downhill very fast, but you know the inner geek in me prevailed and my parents had nothing to worry about with secret emails going out to random people. I had more important things to worry about like how I could get my first paint project printed off.

Fast forward to 2010 and the total geekiness has reached all new levels. I am such a tech geek and have to keep up with the changing technology even though my purse has been taking a huge hit in the last two years. It was last year in 2009, that I realized my love for computers needed to take me far places in this world. I enrolled into the Computers Information Technology program . It has been an awesome journey ever since.

I am a proud mom of two elementary aged girls who are so into technology it makes my husband’s head spin. On a recent business trip, my 7 year old gets her daddy’s phone and starts text messaging and sending pictures to me of how their day was going. My poor husband was blown away as he did not even know how to even get the text messaging program up on his phone. I am a proud mom!

I work in the social media field which is really taking over the world as we speak. I have been a blogger since 2005. Blogging is just a part of my life journey. I love writing and I love to share with the world. Technology just happens to be a part of the whole blogging world which makes me very happy as technology will always be a part of my life.

I just have to put out there that technology does not have to run or rule your life, but if you use it correctly, it can actually help you run a smoother lifestyle. As I see it, life is just that much better with technology as long as you use it as a family. Yes, I am a geek!

Stop the presses people, Jen has left her beloved mountains for the big city living in Raleigh, NC.

It is true my readers, I had to break off the relationship with the Blue Ridge Mountains. We just couldn’t take it any longer as I kept cheating and driving down to Raleigh throughout this year…. it became more apparent that Raleigh, NC would be our new hometown. Mountains, I still love you though and you are only 3 hours from me, so now I can cheat on Raleigh and visit YOU!

Here is to a new journey for our family. Better job opportunity for my husband, better school system for our girls and a better environment for L and her asthma. Also a better area for green and organic living. Trader Joes is definitely all that and a cup of fresh cheeries. We have already bonded tight!

So here we are… stay tuned on this new ride as I am sure we will have plenty of tales from a county girl living in a big city with a super thick southern accent. It’s all good!

Let’s get you all started on this journey with the girls’ first day of school. My babies are growing up. L started kindergarten and M started 2nd grade. L had a bit of anxiety but with some great pep talks from mom (more coming on that) she had a wonderful first day. M said everyone kept wanting to talk to her… maybe they are just enjoying her southern accent as well

Aren’t they just the cutest, stylish girls on the planet? Of course they are!

We did unfortunately already have our first ER trip and wasn’t even here a full 2 days. My precious L got spider bit. I of course naturally freaked out but all is well again and L’s foot is back to normal. It wasn’t looking so great when it first happened.

You would have had a panic attack too… or maybe I am just a overly worried mom. Yes… that’s what it is I am sure.

Here we go on the rest of our big city journey. Now let me go charge my GPS so I can find my way back to Trader Joes! They do have more than 2 stop lights here you know

I Came… I Saw… I Mingled… I Connected… I Home!

Where do I even start? Such a great experience in NYC participating in the BlogHer 2010 conference. I thought last year was a great event, but this year was even better if that could even be true.

Let’s walk through the journey Jen went on from Thursday to Sunday!

Hanes put out the red carpet for such a great welcome event Thursday afternoon. My first event right off the plane. I didn’t even have time to go to the hotel and get all dolled up but Hanes you know… they believe in comfort so I was welcomed right on in. It was there that I had my very first bra fitting and now know why my bras never FIT. I was wearing the wrong size OH MY. Hanes to the rescue and oh what about the hottie Michael Moloney from Extreme Home Makeover. It is true, he is a super saavy organizer and finally brought me to my senses that I need to quit hoarding clothes from the 90s.

The clock striked and it was time to zoom back through the streets because I had a hot date with Samsung Home Appliances. I will say hands down that this was such an awesome PR event put on. It was so well done that it will get its own blog post coming really soon. The PR connection here was just over the moon and the explanation of their products and where they plan to go in the future with their modern products was just hit out of the ball park. Awesome evening for sure.

I had to unfortunately tell my hot date with Samsung Home Appliances that it had been a long day and Jen needed a little sleep if it was meant for her to carry on to the next day.

Rise and shine Friday morning. I hit the ground running with my partner in crime over at BabyCenter. Have I mentioned how much I love this gal named Dina? NO? Well, just let me tell you. She is all that and then some. We made our first stop at Starbucks of the BlogHer weekend and goodness gracious knew we needed it since we were full speed on the whole weekend.

After I downed my Starbucks, it was time to go get pretty at Audrey’s and Vera’s Getting Gorgeous event. What a true event for women! This was such a well planned event to get us women more gorgeous. They had clothing brands, technology brands, make-up brands and more there to connect with us. The highlight of the event and well pretty much the whole weekend was meeting Audrey’s family. I have been talking with Sharon and Jane for around 3 years online now and I was so giddy to meet them. They are the most sweet and genuine people you will ever meet. Sharon is one of my hero’s that I look up to when I think back to raising my girls. I so want to have that relationship with my girls when they are adults. Sharon and I shared some teary eyed conversations… she is just an inspiration. LOVE Mom Generation gals!

It was on to have a quick bite to eat. I was so thrilled with BlogHer this year for having such great healthy lunches for everyone. Way to go BlogHer planners!

Since my belly was all filled… it was time to go check out the Expo Floor. It was two levels this year and no I did not get through the Expo floor but I did try my best to make connections with most everyone. I do have to say that it was well organized Expo floor and plenty of room this year to maneuver through all the brands. It is here where I had a one on one chat with a Dream Analyst that Proctor and Gamble had on the floor. We spoke about the dreams I have about my Grandma and I just started crying right there on the floor. Thankfully Amy Hodges was there with me the whole time to offer hugs and smiles!

I gathered my heart and put it back where it was suppose to be and ran back to the Hotel room. It was time to get all dolled up for the Wine in the City Event. I could only stay for the reception but I was so happy that I went. It was in the limo ride there that I met a super fab group of food bloggers and one in particular Rhody Girl Tests. I so can’t wait to begin reading her blog and getting to know her more. She was a real charm! Shannon and Erika put on a great event and I was so bummed that I had to sneak out early.

It was time to get in the Christmas spirit and do my sleigh ride over to the Hallmark Party. They are coming out with some awesome products for this Christmas season. I will be writing more but just let me say, you will WANT these products in your house or to use for this upcoming Christmas season. You know it is in like 4 months right…. YIPPEE

Santa agreed to drop me back off at my hotel if I would give Rudolph some reindeer food so I agreed and was off to the hotel. It is here that I met up with the ever so fab Dina again to head over to the Savvy Sassy Mom’s Ciao Bello Penthouse Party. The party was so jamming up on the 53rd floor and the views were just out of this world. The Gelatto was simply amazing… you must try it if you have it in your area! It was here that a group of the BabyCenter Momformation bloggers were just having a blast hanging out in the fancy bathtub… you know fully clothed in all but with that view of the city and great friends… you couldn’t resist.

My internal alarm clock was telling me that I really needed my pillow and fast so we cruised on back over to the hotel and I had a date with my pillow.

Saturday morning started out with Starbucks of course. They have Starbucks on every street there I think. There were no withdrawal problems in NYC for Starbucks. I started the morning with having an on air TV interview with Yahoo Shine! The Yahoo folks were so courteous and generous with their time for interviewing us and publishing us really soon. Will share details soon.

The rest of the afternoon I visited a couple of BlogHer panel sessions and made my way through the Expo floors. I sure did get up on stage and dance my heart out with the Just Dance team. Just Dance 2 is coming out next month and I will be first in line to get it . It was just so much fun and who cares the whole world was watching me shake my booty… as long as I was having fun that is all that matters right? HEHE!

I grabbed little conversations with bloggers that I haven’t met, brainstormed with PR brand leaders, and shared my Southern Jen charm to finish out the Saturday afternoon.

As soon as it was 5:00… all hats were off and it was time to go have fun in the city. Times Square on a Saturday night was crazy. Who knew it was shoulder to shoulder? I ended the night with falling in the road and slicing my foot open. But Prince Charming aka Police Officer rode up on his horse to call an ambulance… I graciously declined as I had my bloggy friends Carolina Mama and Deb Mom of 3 to help me across the street to Walgreens to be doctored up. There was no way that I was going to be causing a big scene in the middle of Times Square with an ambulance coming to fetch me up HAHA!

And that is a wrap folks. Sunday was a full day of sight seeing that I will give its own post.

It was a blast… See you in San Diego 2011