FAMILY:
Tell us about your family …
AMY:
I have two children- Ethan & Emily. Ethan is five years old
now and is attending pre-k. He is an extremely vibrant and
funny kid. He makes friends with anyone and everyone who will
talk to him. We always leave the grocery store with lots of
new friends and I just love his ability to talk to anyone.
Emily is two and a little more shy, although we have started
to see her warming up to people a lot more recently. She loves
her family and her bunnies, which she totes around with her
everywhere. She has a beautiful sweet voice and she loves
to dance. She pretends she is a ballerina so I am picturing
lots of ballet lessons in our future!
FAMILY:
What is the funniest thing about your family?
AMY:
We love to play video games. Not just one of us…all of us.
My husband found a Wii system on Craigslist for less than
half the price that they were retailing for and that was our
family Christmas gift this year. Ever since my husband and
I were in college, we began playing games together and I discovered
that I have a real talent in fighting games. We would play
for hours and hours in college and visit the arcade at Purdue
all of the time. We love board games too, but playing video
games as a family is a big pastime for us.
FAMILY:
What is the best word to describe your family?
AMY:
I would describe my family as strong. We are constantly working
on building and making traditions for the kids and also try
to carve out lots of time for us as a couple. I have been
with my husband since high school and it is important to us
to keep our marriage strong and also to create a life of great
memories for our kids. We are not much separately, but as
a family…I believe that we can all do great things!
FAMILY:
What is the best thing about your family?
AMY:
I think we are pretty darn fun! We have a kooky sense of humor
and people seem to appreciate that. We love to entertain and
I enjoy cooking for anyone who will sit at my table. People
know that when they come for dinner that they will have a
great time and there will be lots of laughter and yummy food.
We are a fun family and try to make people feel at ease when
they come over.
FAMILY:
What drives you nuts about your family?
AMY:
We are perfectionists and it can lead to lots of unfinished
projects or projects take forever in our house. One perfectionist
in a house is enough, but two can drive a person crazy. When
we complete things in our house or in our work, it is a miracle!
FAMILY:
What do you do to keep your family ties together?
AMY:
I try to make the dinner hour a special time for our family,
with lots of good conversation and food. I want them to remember
that no matter what kind of day they have, that this will
always be a time that they can look forward to in their day.
Some days are really great with lots of good discussion and
other days are met with tears and arguing about food. Regardless,
I really try hard to make our dinners special.
FAMILY:
What is your ideal "family time" together?
AMY:
I love to do things with my kids, but we are on a limited
budget. I try and plan our vacations and day trips all around
free days and events at the museums and local attractions.
I don't know many families that plan their husband's vacation
around these, but that is the kind of family we are. We want
to create great memories for our kids and we do this on a
more limited budget.
FAMILY:
Tell us about your business … mission, slogan, products/services,
website, email address, contact info, upcoming promotions/events/sales/specialty
items, etc.
AMY:
I run MomAdvice.com and we established our community about
four years ago. Our website consists of in-depth articles
on the topics of food, organizing, working, and parenting.
We also offer three blogs on our site- The Mother Load (offering
tips for saving money and parenting), The Mother Loot (reviews
of products for parents), and The Aldi Queen (offering recipes
and tips for shopping at Aldi Supermarket). I appear weekly
on WSBT-TV on Tuesday mornings and share tips weekly on how
to save moms money and also appear monthly in Michiana Family
Magazine, sharing on these same topics. I was recently added
to the Kenmore team and get to share tips monthly on their
website and feel privileged to be part of their team as well.
All of the articles and tips come from our reader questions,
so if you have an idea for a story or would like to ask a
question, please email me at amy@momadvice.com and I will
share my thoughts on your topics of choice.
FAMILY:
How does family play a role in your business?
AMY:
Without my family, I would not have my business! My site is
all about being a mom so my children and their development
have provided a vital role in what I offer on my site. As
my children age, I am able to create more and more articles
so our site will continue to grow as they grow. My husband
is my amazing web designer and without him, my site would
not be as pretty or attract as many people. They also are
my guinea pigs for testing recipes and bearing through all
my number-crunching and experiments for saving money. They
are all such great sports about it and are so supportive!
FAMILY:
How does your business impact Michiana families?
AMY:
I hope that I am helping families learn to save money and
learn that they don't have to live a life of sacrifice in
order to enjoy the good things in life. Michiana has been
so supportive of our efforts and we are so thankful for all
the great news coverage in our community.
FAMILY:
Why is Michiana a great place for your family and for your
business?
AMY: Michiana is just a great family town. We are a
smaller town so there is a sense of community here that I
haven't been able to find anywhere else. It feels good to
know that your community cares about what you do and that
they support your efforts. I get the nicest feedback from
moms in the area and it helps me to continue doing what I
am doing.
