Carolan Ross

Me at Age 3
In one of the few photos I have from my childhood, I'm wearing a cowgirl outfit I got for my birthday. I wanted to be a cowgirl when I grew up, but since I was afraid of horses...I became a teacher instead.

The Queen of Sheba

I brought her home when she was 7 weeks old and could be held in one hand...many moons ago. Sheba remained my best friend for 14 years, the most gentle and sweet canine EVER! Sheba taught me the true meaning of unconditional love. She went over the rainbow to doggie heaven in June of 2010. Someday I hope to have another dog, but there will never be another Sheba.

My Sons

That's my sons when they were maybe 2 and 3 years old. Cute kids, eh? Yes, they were.

And here's the AFTER shot...

believe it or not same boys, now teenagers (send help!)
one in college and the other off soon...GO Mizzou!
NO regrets from mom about always putting her kids first even when that was a bumpy road. They are my heart.

* I was the 8th child (in a family of 10!), born on 08-08 and my first born son was #8 grandchild. Wanna guess my lucky number?
* I love golden retrievers and have had two of them, Leo and Sheba. Both are now in doggie heaven..
* Warm sunshine and water makes me happy. Lake, river, swimming pool, ocean...bring it!
* I love music of just about all kinds. A few favorites would include Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, Santana, Bob Marley, Chuck Berry, Aretha... and MANY more...

You might say I'm obsessed with cyberspace and internet marketing, but I enjoy it and do pretty well. I've enjoyed my online networks of people all around the world who make money online with blogging and affiliate marketing and other ways like eBay and such. Internet Marketing has been a passion for well over a decade. I'm pretty much always focused on things like SEO and website promotion and have a couple of blogs, one called Cross Creations Cove.

Gorgeous man, by George! I'm finished with that 'marriage' stuff, been there and done that, pretty much over the heartaches of divorce. This guy here begs me to marry him ALL the time... he's an actor and even filmed his most recent film "Up in the Air" in my hometown just so he could be near me.

I've graduated from several online classes at Squidoo with a network of some of the smartest women on the web called the Rocket Moms! Below are a just a few product reviews I created while in those classes:

Roomba and Wurlitzer CD Player Deluxe and Jukebox Journal

ART and Creativity

* I like to play with creating unique photos and have had a few pics published, even won a couple of contests.
* Seeing "the big picture" comes easily to me more than the smaller details. I'm intuitive and enjoy creative thinking, can often 'sense' things not obvious to others.
* I am a recovering collectoholic. I collect so many things... coins, rocks, seashells, crystals, books, vintage jewelry, quotes, craft items like rubber stamps and scrapbooking supplies, photographs...
*Art lover who enjoys creativity of all kinds, especially adore the books and art by SARK and also her friend Marney over at Artella.
*I enjoy playing with web tools for creating logos and banners and also playing with fun fonts like below.

* I've given birth twice. Son #1 took nearly two entire days of labor to arrive, while Son #2 was almost born on route to the hospital. He came so fast I called him my torpedo baby.
* Most of my adult life I've been a teacher, but have had lots of other jobs including retail and hospital unit clerk, travel agent, eBay seller, waitress, and internet marketer.
* LOVE humor! I worked in a psych ward while in college. That was often like 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest' and I aced Psych 101 while I worked in the cuckoo's nest.
* I love thrift shops and suppose that even if I won the lottery tomorrow I'd still shop in them sometimes. Flea markets, auctions and estate sales, too.

* I've always loved dolphins and wanted to swim with dolphins in the wild and finally did just that in 2011. Bliss!
* I once spent the Christmas holidays in Colorado and another time on a Caribbean island. Those were some of my favorite holidays ever. Sometimes lately I play Scrooge during the holidays, but in a harmless quiet way.
* I truly believe that laughter is the best medicine, and seek humor and light-hearted laughter everyday.
* I belong to several online networks, many of them groups of female internet marketers
* I used to run and play competitive sports but retired... still play some sand volleyball, also am a lap swimmer.
* Favorite sport is Baseball - Go Cardinals!

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind." ~Bob Marley

"Smart people learn from their own mistakes. Smarter people learn from OTHER people's mistakes." ~unknown

"You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving." ~Author Unknown

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
- Anais Nin

"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." Theodore Roosevelt

"Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable." Denis Waitley

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King Jr.

"In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you." Deepak Chopra

"Don't cry because its over, smile because it happened." Dr. Seuss

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." Mother Teresa

"To be what you want to be, you must give up being what you are." Cat Stevens

"Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it." Dee Hock

"For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Imagine no limitations; decide what's right and desirable before you decide what's possible." Brian Tracy

"To bring anything into your life, imagine that it's already there!" Richard Bach

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." Maya Angelou

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." Lewis Smedes

"Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength." Dalai Lama

"Whatever good things we build end up building us." Jim Rohn

"When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself." Wayne Dyer

"Never look down on someone unless you're helping them up." Jesse Jackson

"Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold." Maurice Setter

"You don't have to be great to start - but you have to start to be great." John C. Maxwell

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought." Peace Pilgrim

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault

"We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails." Author Unknown

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out." Art Linkletter

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." James Baldwin

"People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do." Lewis Cass

"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." M. Kathleen Casey

"A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn." Author Unknown

"The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work." Harry Golden

"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." Garth Brooks

"Turn your wounds into wisdom." Oprah Winfrey

"You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you." Walt Disney

"Sometimes in tragedy we find our life's purpose - the eye sheds a tear to find its focus." Robert Brault

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter." Author Unknown