One of my hobbies is finding a hidden gem on Craigslist or at a yard sale or thrift shop and transforming it. I also love the challenge of building furniture from scratch.
To feed this passion, each year I add to my power tool arsenal.
POWER TOOLS!
Last year I added the Ryobi One Cordless Nail Gun. It’s still my absolute favorite tool.
It doesn’t use a compressor, so it’s pretty quiet, and its cordlessness makes you want to run from room to room nailing things.
This year my new tool addition is the Dremel MultiMax. I’ve only had it for about a month, but I think I love it almost as much as my Ryobi nailer. Its manageable size is great for getting into tight spaces to scrape, sand, or cut metal, wood, or drywall. My kit came with many accessories, and online tutorials will help you. Endless, exciting possibilities!
THE SILHOUETTE CAMEO ELECTRONIC CUTTING TOOL
Last year for Christmas Tim gave me the Silhouette Cameo.
I was a little intimidated by it at first, but again, there are so many tutorials online, you can be up and running quickly.
I’ve used my Silhouette to make many Pinterest ideas come to life. 
After finding this sign (upper left) on Etsy, I then created my own version as a wedding gift for my niece.
We became active with Compassion International last year after I had followed several bloggers that had traveled on Compassion missionary trips. This organization advocates for poverty stricken children all over the world.
$38 per month sponsors a child, providing food, clean water, medical care, training skills, and most importantly, the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ.
We chose to sponsor two children that had the exact same birthdays as our kids. Angela and Fredi had both been waiting two years for sponsorship. We exchange letters (that are translated before we receive them) and electronically send birthday and Christmas presents through Compassion’s website. It’s super easy (and super rewarding) to become a sponsor or donor and support this wonderful mission.
FAVORITE BUSINESS APPS OF 2014
We at Miles & Company recently started using the app, Slack, to help us become more efficient in our inner office communication. If there’s anything I love, it’s efficiency and organization, and Slack has both.
Slack is kind of hard to explain. You actually have to use it to really get a feel for how it works, but the beauty of Slack is that it’s free to use at the basic level and it’s really easy to set up.
All of our company communication is now in one place and organized too! Since I handle the financials of our business, I am not involved in all the client meetings and phone calls that happen each day. Thanks to Slack, I now feel so much more connected to the rest of the team. Each day I can see everything that’s happened in each area of our business.
Have your company use Slack for a week as its only tool for company communication, and you’ll know if you love it or not. I’m betting you will.
I started using Freshbooks last year as our bookkeeping tool. As a previous user of Quickbooks, I immediately fell in love with Freshbook’s simplicity, customer service, and it’s ability to work with other apps.
There’s a monthly fee of $19 to use their basic service, but Freshbooks is so simple, you’ll be happy to pay it. Freshbooks allows you to bill via email by using either a linked invoice, PDF, or by printing and mailing your own invoices. For a small fee, you can have Freshbooks print and mail your invoices for you too.
Invoicing and credit card charges can be automated, and you can import business expenses from your bank account. Freshbooks also generates easy to read reports and is accountant-friendly.
Whatever your business, you can customize Freshbooks to work well for you.
With a 30 day free trial, excellent FAQ on their site, and customer service that will give you a 15 minute personal Q&A session once you get started, you should give it a try.
The links above are not affiliate links, but if you decide to try one of my favorite things, I’d love to hear what you thought!
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