The 7 biggest mistakes you can make before hiring a coach

The Seventh Biggest Mistake – Having “Lone Ranger” Mentality.

If you think that the best way, or the only way for you to achieve your goals is to do it by yourself then you have Lone Ranger Mentality. Do you believe that reaching out to someone, and a professional someone for that matter, somehow indicates that you aren’t “something” enough? That it somehow means you’re incapable and not smart enough, strong enough or good enough?

Well let me assure you, the people who come to coaching are all of those things, extremely capable, smart, strong and a whole lot more. They choose coaching because they are ready to accelerate their personal or professional lives and work with a professional who will enable them to achieve their goals faster, easier and with better results than they could on their own.

A coach will facilitate your self discovery, the identification of your goals and the prioritization of those goals. Your coach will help you create your action plan as well as prepare for and overcome any challenges you encounter along the way.

Your coach will hold you accountable for taking consistent action toward the realization of your goals. Accountability is one of the greatest payoffs of coaching. It is so powerful because it can make all the difference in terms of you being a Goal Achiever instead of just a Goal Setter and someone who walks the walk instead of just talking the talk.

Think of your coach as your success partner, whose reason for being is to help you get what you want quicker, easier and with better results than you could on your own.

The Sixth Biggest Mistake – Settling for Good Instead of Going for Great.

If you’re thinking your life is good and you’re relatively satisfied, congratulations! That did not happen on its own. You have obviously done some fabulous work.

You’ve already proven you’re the kind of person who proactively goes after what you want and you get it. So why would you settle for anything less than great? Why would you settle for living in black and white when you could be living in technicolour? Do you really want to play it safe and stay comfortable? Playing it safe and staying comfortable can take you no further than good.

Most of our clients are people who are already very successful. Now that they’ve personally experienced the power of coaching they tell us that they realize just how much less they were settling for, for themselves and their lives. They were settling for good when they could have been experiencing great.

These clients also tell us that coaching has dramatically increased the quality of their lives in all areas, from increased sales to enhanced relationships and from better health to increased productivity. They feel, many for the very first time, that they are fully and vibrantly alive.

So we challenge those of you who are settling. We challenge you to stop settling for good. We challenge you to go for GREAT and beyond with coaching.

The Fifth Biggest Mistake – Believing that You Have to Work Harder in Order to Achieve Your Goals

Do you have dreams or desires that you’ve left unfulfilled because you can’t imagine bringing them to life without adding a lot more to your already jam packed schedule?

It may surprise you to know that coaching can enable you to be more, do more and have more by working smarter instead of harder.

Your coach will lead you through an efficient process. You’ll begin by getting crystal clear about what you do and do not want in your life. What’s great about that is that when you figure out the things in your life that you’re tolerating or doing just because you feel like you should you can create a lot of extra space in your schedule to tackle the things that are truly meaningful to you. Next, you will develop an action plan that details what it’s going to take, the what by when, for you to reach your goals. Finally, you will stay focused and on track by being accountable to your coach for taking consistent action and you will learn how to overcome any challenges that come up along the way.

If you want to learn how to work smarter instead of harder, coaching is a wise investment of your time and money.

The Fourth Biggest Mistake – Blaming external factors for what’s not working in your life and waiting for them to change so you can have the life you dream of.

Do you find yourself wishing other people were different; easier to get along with, more positive, more successful, trustworthy or kind? Or, do you find yourself thinking about how your life would be better if your circumstances were different if only you had a better job, more money, more time or more opportunity?

Are you telling yourself that these external factors are responsible for what’s not working in your life or for preventing you from having what you want?

It can be very tempting to get caught up in this paradigm. But the reality is that if you are looking for or waiting for something outside of yourself to change and give you what you want, you will be waiting, and frustrated, for a very long time.

The reason for this is that you do not have control over anything outside of you. What you do have, though, is total control over yourself. You have total control over your thoughts, your actions and your results.

It is a fact that your circumstances will change when you make a committed decision to do the things that will move you in the direction of what you want to experience in your life, and then do them. Hiring a coach is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure you take control and create the reality you want to experience.

The Third Biggest Mistake - Wasting your time and money on stuff that doesn’t get you the results you want and is not ultimately fulfilling.

Let’s face it; there are an infinite number of things that you can spend your hard earned money and valuable time on these days. When you know you want things to be different or better it’s easy for you to waste your time and your money in one of two ways.

The first one is spending your time and money collecting information that comes in the form of books, software, seminars, reports or programs. You are collecting information that you believe can help you get what you want.

Now don’t get the wrong idea here, information is a great thing. We are big believers in books and programs being critical tools in helping you get where you want to go, but we want to make something very clear here.

Information alone will not get you results. You cannot expect that your sales will automatically increase just because you read the Guru of Sales’ latest book and you can’t assume that your monthly expenses will automatically organize themselves just because you purchased the newest expenses tracking software. You will get fulfilling results only by taking consistent action toward achieving your goals based on what you’ve learned from the information you’ve collected.

The second way you may be wasting your time and money is by acquiring and participating in things that have nothing to do with, and even go against, you having what you really want.

Have you ever allowed a month to go by where you indulged every food craving you had and did not exercise regularly, even though your deepest desire is to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight and lifestyle? Have you ever gone out and bought an expensive gadget you don’t really need or can’t really afford when what you truly desire is to feel successful and experience financial freedom?

If this sounds like you then you know what it’s like to be running on the hamster wheel of short term gain, in the form of immediate gratification, leading you to long term pain because your life experiences don’t match up with what you really want?

It’s very important to realize that spending your time or money on things that give you immediate gratification but have nothing to do with your goals and values will always leave you feeling empty. Completely and totally empty and looking for the next quick fix.

Instead of wasting your time and money, why not invest in yourself in a way that will accelerate your personal and professional development? Working with a coach on an ongoing basis is the most time and cost effective investment you can make in yourself and your quality of life.

Your coach can teach you how to make the most of what you’ve got and how to do more with less. Your coach will hold you accountable for taking consistent purposeful action towards achieving your goals.

By working with a coach, you will get crystal clear on what you really want, why you want it and how to get it. Having clarity takes the guess work out of things. That way, you will be able to evaluate all future investment opportunities, and by that we mean any and all opportunities for you to spend your time or money, according to their ability to enable you to fulfill your purpose, your vision, your values and your goals.

The Second Biggest Mistake - Waiting for a “good” time to make a change or go after the things you really want in life.

Guess what, there is no good time. Life will always be busy. There will always be family and business obligations to attend to, errands to run, chores to do, TV programs to watch and people and projects that want your time, energy and money. Your life will always be busy and it will always get in the way of what you really want, if you let it.

Wondering what you can do about it? You can stop kidding yourself. Today. Stop kidding yourself that the perfect time is just around the corner or sometime off in the future. Instead, decide to join forces with a professional who can teach you how to make the most of every moment starting right now.

Your coach will hold you accountable while keeping you focused and on track to achieving your goals no matter what life throws at you.

The Biggest Mistake – Telling yourself you can’t afford a coach.

The truth is that you can’t afford not to have one. Coaches are highly in demand these days because coaching has proven itself to be an extremely effective method for facilitating personal and professional development and fulfillment.

The word is out everywhere, it’s in the media, it’s in corporations and it’s in the community. The word is out that coaching makes sense and it really works. In studies that have been done on the impact of coaching, the results have consistently shown a return on investment of more than 100%.

Coaching clients from all walks and areas of life consistently report that it is the best money they ever spent because their investment in an ongoing coaching partnership enables them to achieve their goals. What’s even better is coaching enables them to achieve their goals quicker, easier and with better results. Now think about that for a moment. Think about what that means for you. Anything you want is available to you quicker, easier and with better results through the vehicle of coaching.

If you are still unsure consider this, it’s not enough for you to say you want things to be different. Just wanting something doesn’t make it so. You must make a decision and then take purposeful action toward what you want. When you put your money where your mouth is and invest in a coaching program you demonstrate your commitment to achieving the thing that you want and at the same time you cut yourself off from any possibility other than total success.

Becoming a parent - a decision to take a price to pay

After the first child is born you ask him if he still wants six children. This time, he tells you that four or five would be just perfect. But after the second child arrives, maybe taking you by surprise, you’ll hear your husband “reviewing” his “great expectations” and cutting the number down to three children. Even if you, in the meantime, think to have even four kids, he will shock you after a while by saying that he wants no more than two children. You just smile back to him – thinking: “Works for me!” – and say in a loud voice “Perhaps someday you would change your mind!”.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE FAMILY PLANNING

1. Income

Many families plan to have children after they will have at least a regular income that should cover the costs for raising a child. For some people, to have a child is even a luxury, because of the financial challenges involved as daily care, education, health, etc. Sometimes we spend a lot of money on things that we do not really need, using them only once or twice and never ever after that. Even if you plan to have more then one child, the same thing happens. And all that is because each of us as parents wishes our children to have what is the best for them.

2. Professional Development

Nowadays women are less focused on a family life, but rather on a professional career. The desire for a professional fulfillment is one of the main factors in deciding to have a baby only later in life. Some couples are to busy, each of them has two jobs and therefore no time to think at children. We are more than ever interested how to have success and get easy and fast right to the top; in other words, we are selfish, being preoccupied only by our own welfare. That is why for so many of us it’s difficult to realize the essential impact that children could have on our lives by building our character and contributing to our own development as human beings.

3. Family Context

In many cases, those people born in large families wish to have only few children. On the other side, a child raised in a small family (having only one sibling or even none) later on in life would wish to have many kids. It cannot be stated as a rule, but in a large family, the eldest child either never gets married or will prefer to have only one or two children. It easy to understand why: usually, the elder children in a family are responsible for taking care of their younger brothers.

Sometimes the parents insist in coming with their own suggestions in the decisions that a couple is faced regarding when and how many children to have; in some cases, the parents are quite persuasive in imposing their views. This is especially true in those situations where the new married couple lives with the parents due to the fact that there is no other option available. It is a life fact that for a family to have a stable and healthy relational life, the partners need to take such decisions by their own. Both husband’s and wife’s parents should keep the distance, letting the couple to decide on these matters. A young couple could ask for advice from a gynecologist, but eventually the decision has to be taken by the couple itself. A physician may suggest the methods to be used and tell how many children they can have considering certain medical aspects, but he cannot take the decision that the couple itself has to take. The responsibility on the number and the method(s) used in planning belongs to the couple alone.

DIFFERENT METHODS IN PLANNING

Who decides which would be the appropriate method(s)? Which is the adequate birth control? Which method or treatment would not harm the human life in its earliest days?

1. Natural Contraceptive Methods

Ogino Method (using the calendar)

Simpto-Termal Method

Vaginal Washing Method

Coitus interruptus

2. Mechanical Contraceptive Methods

Diaphragm

Intra-Uterine Device (IUD)

Condoms

3. Chemical Contraceptive Methods

Spremicids

Contraception Pills

Emergency Contraception (The “Morning After” Pill)

Term Injection

Manual Vacuum Aspiration

4. Surgical Contraceptive Methods

Vasectomy

Tubes binding

Abortion

THREE PARTICULAR METHODS

The goal of this article is not to describe each method. You can find information about different methods just searching on the internet or reading books that treat this topic. We would rather describe only three methods considered questionable from a Christian perspective and with tragic consequences for the human life and family relations.

There are several contraceptive methods promoted by gynecologists, but a Christian or at least an ethical approach views them as abortive methods, and therefore they are to be opposed to. However, even the doctors share different perspectives upon which method is to be considered abortive and which one is not. We will now consider three of these methods: the intra-uterine device, the morning after pill and the abortion.

1. Intra-Uterine Device

IUD is introduced in uterus by a gynecologist. This device does not allow the fetus to be implanted in the uterine tissue. That is why in most of the cases, the fetus dies after the first or the second week of pregnancy. In some circumstances, the Intra-Uterine Device could cause different negative reactions in a woman’s body: infections located in the uterine tube or in the abdomen, blood infection (septicemia), anemia, etc.

In a more vivid language, we could describe the IUD as “a child-eating and disease bringer serpent that some women carry beneath their hearts”. In USA, some companies that previously produced the IUD ended up in bankruptcy due the damages they had to pay to women who used the device and suffered severe health consequences. Presently, only several companies still manufacture this product and export it to other countries.

Those from the “pro-choice” side consider that a pregnancy does not begin when the ovum has been fertilized. According to their view, a pregnancy generally begins after twelve days from conception, when the ovum gets implanted. Therefore, IUD does not determine an abortion, but it rather prevents the pregnancy development. From the opposite side, the “pro-live” movement sees IUD as a method that stops the pregnancy and leads to abortion; in other words, the fetus is killed.

2. The “Morning After” Pill

On the 25th of February, 1997, the members of The Christian Medical & Dental Society from Bristol presented their concerns regarding the so-called “morning after pill”. According to their analysis, this pill will not bring a decrease but rather a dramatic rise in the number of abortions. The people are misguided and led to believe that this method would prevent a pregnancy, while in fact it generates the abortion of a pregnancy.

If this treatment is accepted and encouraged by the medical authorities, that proves not only a lack of responsibility, but also a deliberate misinformation of the population. Instead of presenting the emergency contraception as a valid option for family planning, those who work in this field would do better by underlining the sexual responsibility.

Emergency contraception ends the development of a pregnancy when the pill is taken no later than twenty seven hours from an unprotected intercourse.

Its effect goes as following: if an ovum has not been recently released, the treatment hinder its release; if the ovum has been already delivered, the “morning after pill” prevents its fertilization; and if the egg cell has been fertilized, it is assumed that the treatment alters the lining of the uterus and inhibits the implantation. Eventually, if the implantation has already taken place, the pill has no effect (according to several studies on this issue). It is a general agreement among medical professionals and pro-choice adherents that emergency contraception do not induce abortion. For pro-life group the pills can and sometimes induce an abortion.

3. The Abortion

The third method to discus here, i. e. the abortion, is the most popular contraceptive method and many couples use it to limit the number of their children. Some people are doing this consciously; others are quite ignorant in respect of an abortion’s consequences. It is known that abortion cuts out the life of a human being, it kills a future baby who has the capacity to develop till maturation. But no one has the right to take that new life, neither his mother, because a fetus is more than just a part of a woman’s body; it is a whole human being.

Each couple faced with an unwanted pregnancy has to choose between having an abortion or keeping the child. From that day on, the parents will live with the consequences of the decision taken. An abortion will lead to a tormented life and a guilty conscience. On the other hand, deciding to give birth to one child (or more) brings personal fulfillment and self-understanding in the relationship between the child and his/her parents (particularly his/her mother). It is an enormous blessing and a privilege to give birth to a child and to help and assist that person throughout the years in understanding and appreciating the dignity and value of the human life.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we must say that to plan to have a child is a challenge from many points of view. First because you wish (in some aspects you don’t wish) him to follow the family and social values. You can “borrow” some values for outside (especially from media) or you could strive to maintain a Christian ethical perspective. There are a lot of good examples around you or along the history, but it is very important to assume your own decision and responsibility regarding the methods, the number and the way a couple raise a child.

It is not easy to raise a child; we have to carry each day the burden of responsibility for somebody’s life. But it cannot be compared with the guilt and pain that come with an abortion and the burden of responsibility for somebody’s death. And there is no other fulfillment in somebody’s life greater than to have a child. Each time you look to your child, you’ll see imprinted in him or her, your face and God’s face. Each life is a miracle, each miracle brings a challenge, each challenge requires a responsible decision.

Hawaii vacation packages your buying options

How does a vacation to Hawaii sound? If you are like many other individuals, you would think that it sounds great. As much as some would like to take a Hawaii trip, not everyone does. One of the reasons for that is the cost. Unfortunately, too many individuals, mistakenly, believe that a trip to Hawaii is financially out of their reach. If you are interested in vacationing in Hawaii, at an affordable price, you can. You can easily do this by purchasing a Hawaii vacation package.

Hawaii vacation packages are packages that are designed to save you, as well as other vacationers, money. They commonly combine many of the services and accommodations that you will need on your trip. For instance, many Hawaii vacation packages include overnight accommodations, airfare, and entertainment. Before you automatically decide that you cannot afford a Hawaiian vacation, you are advised to examine the Hawaii vacation packages that are available for purchase.

When it comes to buying or reviewing Hawaii vacation packages, you will find that you have a number of different options. One of the most common ways that vacation packages are purchased is through travel agents. Travel agents are nice because they do most of the work for you. If you would like to find an affordable Hawaii vacation package, but you just don’t have the time to do the research yourself, you are advised to contact a travel agent. There are also a number of different ways that you can go about finding a travel agent.

The type of travel agent that you choose should all depend on your personal preference. If you would like to meet face to face with your travel agent, it is advised that you find a local travel agent, one that has an office located near your home. You can easily find a number of local travel agents by using your local phone book. In the back of your phone book, you should find numerous listings under the heading of travel agents or travel. If you don’t mind not physically meeting with a travel agent, you may be able to find an online travel agent. An online travel agent will typically communicate with you over the phone or via email.

Although it is relatively easy to purchase a Hawaii vacation package through a travel agent, you may wish to make your own vacation plans. If this is the case, you will also have a number of different options. Perhaps, the easiest way to find and buy your own Hawaii vacation package is by using the internet to find an online travel company. In a way, these online websites and companies are similar to travel agents, but they allow you to search for, find, and choose your own vacation packages. You can find a number of these vacation package websites, including discount ones, by performing a standard internet search.

You may also be able to find and purchase your own Hawaii vacation package by directly contacting the hotel or resort that you would like to stay at. While it is possible to find vacation packages that accompany Hawaii condos or Hawaii vacation rentals, most packages tend to include hotels or resorts. While it is not always common, you may be able to find a hotel or a resort that sets up their own vacation packages. These packages may or may not include travel accommodations, but they will likely include some sources of entertainment, such as dinner or a guided boat tour.

Regardless of where you purchase a Hawaii vacation package from, it is important that you know what your money is going to. Even if you rely on a travel agent to book your next Hawaiian vacation, it may be a good idea to personally review your itinerary, as well of the cost of it, before giving your final approval. Knowing exactly what is or is not included in your Hawaii vacation package is the best way to save money, as well as enjoy yourself.

Work satisfying goals

Every business talks of goals. No business can run without goals and no business can achieve anything without goals. The goals give direction to the business about where to head and what to achieve. Therefore for every business, goals are most important. Generally businesses set SMART Goals - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based. What about our personal goals in career and work? Are we to follow the goals of the organization and try to achieve them or set some more for ourselves that help us in our personal growth. What about having satisfying goals for ourselves? Let us discuss this further.

As a member of a business organization, all of us have to try and achieve the larger goals of the organization. That is true even for self run businesses. But can we reach the goals of business in a way that helps us achieve our own satisfying goals? We can. Let us see how? In the beginning, decide about what gives you satisfaction in your career. It can be - to learn something new every month, or to increase efficiency of ones work every month, or to work in a relaxed manner always, and so on. Each one of us will have his/her goal that satisfies ourself. So you will have to draw a list of goals that are desirable for your satisfaction and try to achieve them one after another.

For example, my first satisfying goal can be that I learn something new every month this year. I may be handling any work, but I want to learn something new about that work every month. That will make me feel personally satisfied. How do I do that? I can work on my given job, try and achieve my business goals and learn something new along with that. This new learning can also help me achieve business goals in time. Now if my organization makes and sells detergents, I will not only achieve the goals on quantity of sales but also about how as a sales person I learn one more sales method every month (This provided I am working as a sales person).

Setting my own satisfying goals and achieving them will not only make me happy and more confident but also make me move along faster in my career. Many of us are centered only on organization goals. Once we add our own satisfying goals to them we will be moving much faster in all the directions. Trying to achieve personal goals can also help remove lot of frustration and if a management can discuss satisfying goals for every employee and guide him/her about achieving them, the organization will have more of satisfied employees. The only care to be taken is that satisfying goals should help achieve business goals and not distract from them. So start defining your satisfying goals from today.

Cheap mortgage insurance online

When it comes to taking out cheap mortgage insurance then the best way to get a quality policy is to go with an independent provider. As a rule of thumb, an independent provider can help you to make huge savings on the amount of premium that you are asked to pay while providing you with good advice in the process.

However, when it comes to cheap mortgage insurance not all policies are of the same quality, so you need to ensure that you fully understand the terms and conditions of cover.

Depending on where you buy it, some mortgage payment protection insurance providers charge ridiculous premiums for the pleasure of having the safety net that this invaluable insurance can provide. As the media continually highlights, among the worst organisations to purchase your policy from are the high street banks and lenders who have been known to mis-sell policies by putting the consumer last and profits first.

Another big problem when it comes to taking out your mortgage policy is that providers would like you to believe that the cover has to be taken alongside your mortgage. This is not true and if you want the best savings on your premium then shopping around and going independently is the only way to do so.

Mortgage payment protection insurance is taken out to make sure that if you become unable to work through having an accident, long term sickness or through unemployment then at least you won’t be struggling to find the money needed to carry on paying your mortgage repayments every month. Taking out a policy from a standalone provider means it doesn’t cost you the earth while giving you the safety net and comfort of knowing that if the worst came to the worst then you would at least still have a roof over your head.

Another great benefit that you get by going with a standalone provider to get cheap mortgage insurance is that along with being sold the correct policy for your needs because of their experience, you will also be able to get great advice. Cheap mortgage insurance can be found but it is only by going with an independent provider and not with the high street lender that you are able to get the not only the best deal but also the best advice available.

Soap making as a hobby

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Soaps are so taken for granted that we hardly pause to think more about how they are made. The general feeling is that the entire process is far too complicated, industrial, and way out of being made a hobby. In reality, soap making is a simple process, and there are ready-made melt and pour type of kits available that allow us to make soaps with our own chosen colors, fragrances, herbal ingredients, and shapes.

Soap making can be pursued as a hobby, and can even be turned into a small home based business. All it takes is an interest in the making of soaps, and some diligence in the whole process.

Soap is a simple mixture of oils and caustic soda (lye.) The resultant liquid when left to solidify forms soap with a lot of glycerin, hence also called glycerin soap. The industrial soap manufacturers remove excess amounts of glycerin and use other ways to make the soap soft and mellow.

The oils used in soap making are common oils like palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, grape seed oil etc. The caustic soda used should be of industrial quality.

There is some amount of heating involved in soap making, and this therefore requires caution. The exact proportions of mixing oil and lye should also be known beforehand.

A melt and pour soap making kit can introduce a novice into soap making. Simply buy the kit and follow the instructions that come along. Once you are familiar with this process, you may consult other sources and can try making soap oneself.

Everyone of us wants to have a herbal soap, one filled with natural oils and fragrances. Children are delighted with soaps of various shapes such as animal figurines. Pursuing soap making as a hobby can allow you to make soaps as you desire them.

For more information on soaps and soap making, visit - soap making

Giving jesus the first place in your live

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Giving Jesus the first place in your live.

Matthew 6:33 (King James Version)

33.But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We all want to love God more than anithing and give Him the priority in our live's but......The truth is that most of us aren't there yet. Why? maybe because we don't know that we love other things more than we love God. Love isn't something you can show or give with word's but with your acts.

If we love God more than anything means that God is our priority and if God is our priority means we work harder to reach and do God's will within our live's compare to our own goals we set to reach. So if God's will is our priority we should feel the urge to fulfill God's will, the same or even a greater as the urge of paying our bills, eating, studing, working. Our priority is what we evaluate we must do first.

Does this means we need to leave everything and go praying and fasting?"NO"but it means to let our choices we make during the day be guided by God."What? does it mean that we need to pray everytime we are going to make a choice?"NO"and"Yes" praying is comunicating with God, we dont need to be a special possision to pray, we kan also walk and talk with God.

All this is nice to say, but can it be done?"Yes, Jesus showed us that it can be done when He lived as a man between us" Our main problem is that we don't know what God want. So our first stap is getting to know God, Jesus and the Holly Spirit and the getting to know the way they see the things of this world and what they think about them. We can get to know God by reading the Bible and talking(praying, worshiping) to Him.
So by reading the bible and praying we get to know God, that means the more we read and the more we pray the faster we get to know God. So if God is our priority than reading the bible and praying is our priority .
So if God's will is our urge, than geting to know His will is our urge, than reading the bible and praying is our urge. So if reading the bible and praying is our urge, than we do them the most we can. If God is our priority, everything else is less important but still important. So what must we do? What we need to do is stop trying to fit God's will in your sheme and make God's will your sheme, stop looking for time that is left to pray and read the bible;and start reading the bible and praying and do the rest in the time that is left.

If we want to seek God 2 hours a day, than wehe divide the other less important but important things within the 22 hours left in our day, if the day is not long enough don't make God's time less, but something else becase God will is our priority.
Who Love's God does His will, So if we love God, His will is our priority.

God Bless you all in the name of Jesus.

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Bible Verses

Raising bilingual children 10 tips for boosting the minority language

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Your toddler may think that he or she’s a complete superhero -- and when it comes to language acquisition, it’s actually true! In particular, compared to adult language learners. Lena Sandvik in Boston says “I’m amazed that my 15 and 11 year olds have grown up to be completely bilingual. My accent and those silly, grammatical errors still haven’t disappeared, even after 15 years in the country.” As easy as acquiring multiple languages is for small children, the single most important factor in language learning is the quantity of spoken language addressed to the child. So, if you worry that you aren’t providing enough, here are a few tricks to boost your superhero’s inherent powers. 

1. Other kids: Join (or start) a playgroup for the second language. Children of all ages will learn from each other; there simply are no better language teachers than other kids. An added bonus will be that you will connect with other parents of bilingual
   children.


2. Books: Of course you know how vital those precious one-on-one moments are, but remember that they can be infused with language learning also. Books are the most effective tool for teaching language, and so I advise all parents: “Start reading at birth and never stop!” A good way to add to reading time (and make it really personal) is to create a dialogue, encouraging your child's comments, responses, and elaborations. Talk about what the characters are like and what they might be doing next. 


3. The right stuff: From books, add video, television and games. There are a multitude of aides towards fluency. In particular, games that use rhyming will make the most of language memory, but “I Spy”, “Bingo” and “Memory” with picture cards will also playfully build vocabulary. 


4. Sing and dance: Children absolutely love music, but don't rely solely on recorded music; your own singing, even if it is off-key, will still serve to unite melody and words for your child more surely than any professional recording ever could. Melody is also a fantastic memory aid. Think about how much easier children learn their ABCs when they sing them, compared to just reciting them. And, the combination of music with movement and gestures will enliven it all -- as well as provide a nice outlet for squirmy toddlers.


5. Tap into their interests: Whatever your child’s enthusiasms may be -- whether a love of soccer, dance, or horses -- make an effort to ‘involve’ these passions in the minority language. ”My 3-year old son is a really big “Bob de Bouwer” (Bob the Builder) fan,” says Martijn Fredriks. “So now we always watch it in Dutch, and he’s even started speaking in Dutch when he plays with the Bob the Builder toys.” 


6. Be creative: The trick is to give the child lots to talk about, so draw out that conversation! Encourage them to make up their own stories, play dress-up and pretend in the second language. Even painting, working with sidewalk chalk, or molding clay usually creates more vocabulary than art! Older children may enjoy calling or using a webcam for calls overseas (one such free service is
   Skype).


7. Outside the box: Isabella Vellaccio, a mother in Washington DC, who reached beyond the obvious says, “I wanted my son to hear Italian from someone else than just me, and the playgroups were all during my working hours.” Isabella decided to attend the church coffee after the Italian mass on Sundays. “The older Italian parishioners were thrilled to see him learn Italian.” Needless to say, with that much attention, and Italian cookies, he loved it.”


8. Baby sitter: Find a college student who speaks the language, or for something more consistent, try a nanny or an au-pair.


9. Visits: The ultimate language boost is to visit the country where it is spoken. Total immersion for a couple of weeks has an amazing effect. And visits from friends or family also provide a valuable boost.


10. Enthusiasm: While the quantity of spoken language is the most important factor in learning a language, the second most vital ingredient is the amount of positive feedback the child hears. Early on, when a child is struggling to get those first syllables out, resist the urge to correct…it can actually inhibit language skills. 

There is a myriad of ways to ensure that foreign language time is “quality time,” but like any other aspect of parenting: trust your judgment, employ your imagination, and listen very, very well.

Better chances for recovery

Doctors, during their years of studying and practice, are taught almost everything they need to know about their field. However, no matter how expert medical practitioners may be, they still cannot make certain the future outcomes of their treatments. The highest that they can do is make predictions of the possible developments of their patients' conditions. They make a prognosis of their patient's case based on positive and negative factors. A prognosis is an estimation of the extent of development that a patient will achieve.

Take for example the case of people with depression. They are usually prescribed with medications like Prozac, Fluoxetine, or Effexor. However, medications are usually not enough for a long-term, successful recovery of patients with this condition. Usually, doctors advice their patients to undergo psychotherapy sessions to support the positive effects of the medication and further improve the patient's condition for a long-term basis.

Some individuals believe that medications and psychotherapy should be taken or undergone separately. This means that treatments for depression are either-or situations. This particular belief may simply stem from reasons such as financial limitations or personal preferences. However, most medical professionals will suggest that a combined treatment of medications and therapy will result to more stable and long-term outcomes. When a doctor's suggestion and a patient's financial situation or personal opinion does not agree, this usually poses a limitation on the patient's condition. This is not to say that doctors are always right about their suggestions, which is why it is also usually necessary to obtain secondary opinions from other medical experts. However, most suggestions made by physicians are based on their evaluation of how their patient's conditions can be best improved or treated. They usually set goals for their patients which, by the way, should always be discussed, planned, and set with the consent of the patient himself/herself.

One possible reason why doctors prefer simultaneous treatment administration of medications and psychotherapy is because medications alone, when used as treatment for depression, have a high tendency of relapse or recurrence of depression upon its termination. Some studies indicate that regression of previously treated patients back to their depressed situations are prevented and their chances of relapsing are lessened when they undergo psychotherapy sessions together with or after their use of anti-depressant medications. Also, the risk of committing suicides among the population suffering from depression is managed better by psychotherapy. Lastly, through undergoing therapy sessions, individuals with depression learn how to deal with stress, disappointments, loss, and other psychosocial issues that usually trigger or worsen their condition.

Thus, even if doctors cannot assure a patient's full and successful recovery after treatment, they are still able to plan out certain treatment strategies to increase the patient's chances of achieving this goal. Sometimes, medications like Prozac in the case of individuals with depression may not suffice alone. Supporting treatment approaches and strategies are, therefore, incorporated in the plan to make the patient's prognosis better. The only disadvantages in this situation are the patient's financial limitations as well as some of their personal preferences.

Cruise message boards explained

Are you a cruise addict? Love to travel and discover new places? Or, have you been cruising for months? Then, I bet you will be happy to know that there are a number of cruise message boards online these days where you can post and share your own cruising experiences or ask the other cruise addicts about new places to discover.

But before anything else, I want to make clear for those who don’t have any idea about cruising that the term “cruising” refers to a lifestyle that involves living full time on a boat while traveling from place to place. It refers to trips of a few days or more, and can even extend to round-the-world voyages. It is interesting to know that many cruisers are long term, meaning they travel for a number of years, and perhaps the most adventurous is circling the glove over a period of three to ten years. Sounds interesting, isn’t it?

So you’re now a bit interested about cruising. Well, I have here below some cruise message boards where you can access features as a guest or as a member. Note that there’s a big difference between being a guest and being a member. In the first place, if you are only a guest, there are some limitations when it comes to your access. In most cases, cruise message boards guests are only allowed to view few discussions on the board. The access to the other features like articles, and others also limited. Having said all these, it is then best to register on these cruise message boards as a member. It does give you a full access to the communities’ features, and you are allowed to post messages and replies to the other members of the group. Once you are a member, you are free to meet, chat and make friends with the other cruise lovers.

Here are few of the most visited cruise message boards online:

Cruise-Addicts. com’s Forums

Cruise Addicts is an online community where you can join and meet more than 20,000 cruise lovers from around the world discussion all things related to cruise travel. As what I’ve said earlier, for you to gain full access to the cruise message boards of Cruise Addicts, you must register for a free account. Once you have registered, you will be able to participate in more than a hundred cruise topic forums and browse from over 1.2 million posts. Also, you can communicate privately with the other cruise lover from around the world, post your own photos or view from 23,000 user submitted photos, post and browse member cruise reviews and track your upcoming cruise with the company’s Cruise Tracker. All these and much more are available you when you register for a free account.

CruiseMates. com’s Message Boards

Cruise Mates is said to be an independently owned and editorially unbiased Internet cruise magazine and cruise information guidebook offering accurate and up to the minute cruise information and providing a place for the cruise addicts to meet. One of the company’s features that provide cruise addicts to meet other cruise lovers is their cruise message boards. In these message boards, you can find information about cruise lines, potential destinations, people, practical advices and you can even meet fellow cruisers from around the world on board. However, just like the previously mentioned site, you are also required to register for a free account so that you can access the full features of Cruise Mates’ cruise message boards.

Pitigliano the little jerusalem in maremma

Pitigliano is a small town in Italy, situated south of Florence and north of Rome. Pitigliano is situated on the top of a steep tuff of a volcanic magma.

Pitigliano was considered the home of Jews. They shared the habitat with the gentile population of the town in a harmonious manner and together contributed for the cultural and social development of both communities. The village landscape reminds you of the Jerusalem city. The tuff rock bears unison with the medieval structures. The picturesque of the emerging grayish cluster of buildings from the dark woods brings the memory of the days of the Jewish community in this small religious city. Its culture and civilization is a tribute to the enduring devotion of the minority Jewish community towards this city.

The natural attractions of Pitigliano are the wild forest surrounding the cliff and the creeks that are developed into deep valleys. The largest Italian lake, Lake Bolsena is situated near Pitigliano. The landscape of Pitigliano is beautified with Mount Amiata, a 1738-meter high volcano that was separated from it long time ago. The Maremma coast extends 50 kilometers from Pitigliano with beautiful beaches that are not invaded by the human activities.

The city’s cultural establishments prove the dedication of the Jewish community towards the development of the culture. The Jewish University of Pitigliano was established during the flourishing days of the community in this small city.

Other attractions of Pitigliano are the following.

The Orsini-Castle - This medieval castle is situated at the entrance of the town. There is an archeological museum inside the Orsini Castle that recollects the ancient Jewish culture and activities.

The Orsini Park: Situated on the road to Sorano is the park that was created towards the end of 16th century. The notable features of the park are the statues and stone seats that are carved from the tuff stones.

Museum of the Giubbonaia – This unique museum is characterized by its collection of agricultural and household tools that were used in the ancient days. There is a labyrinth that takes you to the underground through the foundation of the museum. The labyrinth showcases the architectural talents that the Jews possessed in those days.

Piazza: There is a chapel inside the Piazza that had a collection of frescos. As time and history changed, the Piazza was modified, and now its highlights are the two bars, Bar Centrale and the Bar Italia that rise to the vicinity leaving the chapel underneath.

Synagogue: It is one of the historical remnants of the Jewish culture. It is located under the cathedral in the former entrance to the city via Zuccarelli.

The medieval painters were deeply influenced by the city of Pitigliano, especially its deep and winding streets that lead the city towards the valley. These streets are dug out from the steep tuff, with their walls more than 10 meters high.

Pitigliano bears a romantic tone with lots of memories of its ancestors, who made it a castle of hope. So if you are a connoisseur of medieval culture and art, come and join the league of those famous artists who were deeply influenced by this city.

The secret - collection of inspirational quotes part 1

To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is to be my symphony.

-- William Ellery Channing

Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.

-- Jean-Paul Sartre

For every problem, there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong.

-- H. L. Mencken

Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have--so spend it wisely.

-- Kay Lyons

Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third.

-- Marge Piercy

We do not need more material development; we need more spiritual development. We do not need more intellectual power; we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge; we need more character. We do not need more government; we need more culture.

We do not need more law; we need more religion. We do not need more of the things that are seen; we need more of the things that are unseen.

-- Calvin Coolidge

Accept the pain, cherish the joys, resolve the regrets; then can come the best of benedictions--“If I had my life to live over, I'd do it all the same.”

-- Joan McIntosh

The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why.

-- Albert Einstein

The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao-tzu's dictum:

Those who know do not say; those who say do not know.

When the master entered, they asked him what the words meant. Said the Master, “Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose?”

All of them knew. Then he said, “Put it into words.” All of them were silent.

-- Retold by Anthony de Mello

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

-- Matsuo Basho

Fear less; hope more. Eat less; chew more. Sigh less; breathe more. Hate less; love more, and all good things are yours.

-- Swedish Proverb

Life is easier than you'd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable.

-- Kathleen Norris

How hybrid cars work

A hybrid car is such a car in which two types of motors are synchronized to provide power to the wheels. The most popular combination is the one in which the gasoline engine is assisted by the electric motor so that the gas engine is periodically shut off in order to reserve fuel.

Usually hybrid cars are subdivided into two major categories.

In the first type, only the use of electric motor propels the engine at very low speeds. The electric motor has the inherent ability to assist the engine when more power is required. It helps out the gasoline engine even while climbing or passing a steep road. The Ford Escape Hybrid and the Toyota Prius fall into the initial category.

The second of its kind requires extra horsepower for its gasoline engine to drive while in rapid acceleration or when moving up the hill. It utilizes that excess power only from the electric motor to assist the internal combustion engine. The Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid are ideal examples of the second category. These two engines do possess some resemblances as well.

When electric motor is used to assist the gasoline engine, both of the hybrids extract power from the battery depleting power, which in turn gets simultaneously self-recharged from the gasoline engine. Hence a hybrid car does not need to be plugged into a power source to recharge its battery, which is the most important aspect of hybrid cars.

Hybrid cars usually utilize sealed nickel metal hydride batteries, a technology which is popularly used in laptops and cell phones. These batteries are easy to make, cost effective and long lasting thus making it ideal for a higher valued car.

Hybrid engineers more than often have opted for unconventional design facets to maximize aerodynamics inside the engine, giving rise to its slim structure. These car units originally have very low (ultra low) drag coefficient due to sleek configurations, which make the cars slippery. All carmakers strive to reduce drag, as a vehicle with less drag requires less power as well as fuel to move.

The electrical system is monitored by an onboard computer system. The system is program controlled in such a way that when the vehicle is coasting downhill or the brakes are applied, polarity of the system is automatically reversed as the motor actually turns into an energy generating unit. This process is popularly known as regenerative where the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy stores up power into the battery.

All hybrid cars normally shut the gasoline engine off during road signals so as to conserve fuel reserve. The phenomenon is called idle stop characteristics. It cuts electrical consumption down during idle condition other than fuel saving and emission reduction. On pressing the accelerator paddle, the gasoline engine resumes work getting assistance from electric motor. The process being silent and seamless, the loss or delay in overall performance during this time is almost negligible.

The hybrids are manufactured by a special forging process termed as shot peeing, which reduces friction in the sidewalls of the cylinder thus increasing efficiency.

Hybrid cars, thus, by virtue of their technological advancement, exceptional fuel economy and marginal gas emissions, can be easily termed as the next generation cars

Examining 5 kitchen design styles

As you are planning your new kitchen design, the look and style you select is very important in determining the overall feel your kitchen will portray.

From the country charm of wood cabinets to modern-looking stainless steel appliances, kitchen design styles come in many choices and styles.

So just what determines your kitchen's design style?

Well many of the more successful kitchen design styles are made up of many components go together the right way. The color you select, and the styles of fabrics, furniture, flooring, windows, cabinetry, appliances, and lighting can help to determine a kitchen design style. You will discover that various design elements of the kitchen provide each style with its own unique flavor.

The type of kitchen cabinets you have are an important consideration in regards to the overall kitchen design style. The cabinetry can have a powerful effect on the design of your kitchen.

The style of kitchen cabinet you choose will give personality and a specific atmosphere to your kitchen.

Some of the popular styles of kitchen cabinets today are:

English Country - Consists of open china display racks, unique paints and finishes.

Shaker - This style is characterized by purity, simplicity, and utility. Uses flat panel doors that are inset and flush with the cabinet frame. Other features include wood counter tops, wooden knobs, and brass hardware pieces. It combines simple furniture design with clear crisp lines, and strength.

Country - This style creates an old farm kitchen look with glazes and layered finishes. Includes open shelves, pot racks for cast iron cookware, butcher block, and multi-colored cabinet pieces that look like they are separate pieces of furniture.

French Country - There are so many elements that go into the French country kitchen including the use of large pieces of furniture that are made mainly of light colored woods and can be decorated with ornate carving. Natural materials are an important element in walls, cabinetry and furniture that is used in the design of French country kitchens.

Arts and Crafts - This kitchen design style is becoming a popular style for kitchens. In this type of style glass doors and natural wood tones with a matte sheen are used. The style can be eclectic and artistic.

Contemporary - Kitchens that are done in the contemporary kitchen design style often use plastic laminates, special wood veneers, enamels, lacquers, or metal foil laminate for the kitchen cabinet facings. Cabinet doors in this kitchen design style usually use frameless construction with overlay door and no toe kick panel.

Homes can come in many different styles, and built using a variety of materials. So the same goes for kitchen design styles. However, in most cases, people will want their kitchen to match the overall design and style of their home.

It may not be absolutely necessary to select a kitchen design style that is the same as your home's exterior architectural style. Although it is considered a good idea that you should really try to select the kitchen design style that will best complement your home's style.

Ensuring you have proper roof ventilation

Looking after your roof

A well cared for roof lasts much longer than a roof that is left to it’s own devices. By spotting problems early on you can save yourself a lot of heartache and extra cost from big problems. Your roof is responsible for taking the damage from everything that the elements can throw at it including wind, rain, sun and snow but it is also attacked by leaves, insects and other natural predators. Ineffective roofing can mean that any of these factors find their way into your attic and eventually your home and it is important you do what you can to prevent this from happening.

Small problems lead to big problems

The roof itself is one aspect of the home that is regularly overlooked by homeowners until there is an obvious leak or damage. The best way to prevent these leaks and damages is through a regular, professional maintenance check carried out by an experience roofer on your behalf. These checks are not as expensive as you might think and problems that area spotted early can be fixed before they become worse. One such problem that you should regularly have checked is that you have proper roof ventilation and that it is working effectively.

What is proper roof ventilation?

Proper roof ventilation doesn’t consist of either an intake or an exhaust, proper roof ventilation should comprise of both of these important elements in order to create effect air circulation in and out of your home. Not only will this protect your roof and your house but it will also help control the amount of time you use your air conditioning, thus bringing down the price of your energy bills. There are a number of ways that proper roof ventilation can be achieved and each have their advantages and disadvantages. The best choice for your roof will depend on the size and shape of the roof, and the layout of surrounding trees, wires and other objects.

Creating proper roof ventilation

In order to create proper roof ventilation that adequately rotates air in and out of the house it is important to get the level of intake and expulsion just right. This should be done by a qualified professional who can work out the figures required and advise you of the best course of action. Without expert advice you may find that you have an incorrect flow of air, which can not only mean a very hot house in summer but it can also mean a moisture build up in your loft and eventually warped, split, cracked or generally damaged roofs.

Causes of moisture buildup in the attic

It isn’t always the fault of the weather either. Washing machines, dryers and other household appliances as well as the occupants of the house all create their own moisture and without proper roof ventilation this moisture will build up on the inside of your roof. With a proper roof ventilation system a negative air pressure is created that sucks the warm air out of the loft replacing it with cool fresh air from outside preventing various types of damage associated with poor ventilation systems.

How to protect your wedding photographs

Wedding photography is one of the biggest of all wedding expenses. The photos are able to tell the story of your wedding beautifully for decades to come. You want to make sure you do everything you can to preserve one of the most important remembrance of your wedding day. You can take several steps to protect your wedding photos.

Digital photography is the most inexpensive way to prevent loss due to disaster. Once your photos are in digital form, you can easily duplicate them. The digital technology allows for quick backup and restore of your images. It is a technology that is becoming almost inseparable from traditional photography. Burning CDs and DVDs of your images has become quite common, and it should be part of the photography service. If your photographer does not offer digital copies, you should walk.

The paper and ink used are of outmost importance. What your photographs will look like decades after you get married greatly depends on the quality of the paper and ink. Ask to see what kind of guarantees the paper manufacturer provides. Ask your photographer to compare different kind of photo papers available on the market.

Your photo album should contain no acids. That includes the glue, paper, and any other material that is part of the photo album. You can contact the manufacturer of the album to make sure. Acids can cause discoloration over time.

Photo albums should be laid flat on their backs. Standing photo albums can more easily bend. Make sure the wedding album comes with guarantees you read and understand.

High temperatures and humidity are among the worst enemies of a photo album. Most areas you would feel comfortable for extended periods are proper storage locations for your photo album. A hot attic during the summer or a cold and wet garage are great examples of bad storage places.

You have planned your wedding for a long time, and you have spent a lot of money on your photographs. Protect your investment!

How to drive the irs crazy

Looking for an easy way to increase your business deductions? Look no further than your driveway.

First, the general rule: your vehicle is deductible to the extent you use it for business.

So, if you drive your car 100% for business, all car-related expenses are deductible.

But if you use it less than 100% for business, do not despair. Less-than-100% use is very typical among small business owners and the self-employed -- you'll still come out way ahead by keeping good vehicle expense records.

For example, if you drive your car 75% for business, then you get to deduct 75% of your vehicle expenses.

Now to the fun part.

There are two methods for reporting your car expenses:

1. Actual Expense Method

2. Mileage Method

With the Actual Expense Method, you have to keep track of all your vehicle related expenses, such as:

-- gasoline

-- oil

-- maintenance & repairs

-- insurance

-- license & registration

-- wash & wax

-- supplies & equipment

-- depreciation expense (including Section 179 deduction)

-- lease payments

-- loan interest

-- state and local taxes

So you add up all those deductions and multiply the total by your business use percentage, which is determined by dividing business miles by total miles driven.

The Mileage Method works like this: instead of tracking all the actual expenses listed above, you

only need the number of business miles driven, which is multiplied by the standard mileage rate published each year by the IRS.

For 2003 the mileage rate was 36 cents per mile.

For 2004 the mileage rate was 37.5 cents per mile.

For 2005 there are two mileage rates: 40.5 cents/mile

from January 1 through August 31, and 48.5 cents/mile

from September 1 through December 31.

For 2006 the mileage rate is 44.5 cents per mile.

If you drove your car 10,000 miles in 2005, your deduction is at least $4,000 (depending on how many miles you drove during the last four months) -- regardless of what your actual expenses might have been.

NOTE: There are 2 actual expenses that are also deductible under the Mileage Method -- interest and taxes.

Now for the obvious question: Which method is better?

Well, here's how I look at it. If you want to get the highest deduction, you should "run the numbers" under both methods and then use whichever method results in the higher deduction.

You are allowed to pick whichever method you want.

But once you pick a method, be careful to follow the rules on "switching" from one method to the other: You can switch from the Mileage Method to the Actual Method, but generally are not allowed to switch from the Actual Method to the Mileage Method.

Having said that, let's be practical. If you hate recordkeeping, use the Mileage Method. It's much simpler and faster. You won't have to keep all those receipts.

Even the Mileage Method requires some recordkeeping, however. You should keep a log that documents the business use of the vehicle. Here are 3 IRS-approved car logs:

1. Daily Log. Yep, you just record all business miles for all 365 days of the year.

2. 90-Day Log. Here's a little-known rule -- instead of keeping mileage records for the entire year, you can get by with just a representative portion of the year -- and a 90-day period is considered an adequate representation of the entire year.

So you would keep a Daily Log for a 3-month period, say January through March. To get your annual mileage total, you multiply the 3-month total by 4.

3. One-week Log. Here's another short-cut: The IRS also allows you to keep a log for just the first week of each month. Then you multiply that week's mileage by 4 to get the monthly total.

Regardless of which method you use, there's a goldmine of deductions sitting right there in the garage.

Plus size clothing outrageous wear

I have a question, and if anyone is able to answer it I would really appreciate it. I am confused about this whole plus size clothing thing on a couple different levels. First of all what chauvinist male came up with that name? Plus size just sounds so unflattering. Men don’t have plus size clothing sections. No they just have bigger sizes. Or they can go to stores like Big and Tall. Just once I would like to see a plus sizes sign hanging over the men’s section of the store.

Second exactly who and what determined what size constitutes a plus size? Does it vary from store to store? I honestly think someone just sat down one day and arbitrarily said anything over this size will be considered a plus size, and who cares about the women who have to shop in that section. I always thought the whole thing was a little humiliating. I mean most people are not proud of being on the larger side, but to have a whole different section of the store set aside with a big side hanging over it declaring you to be overweight must be humiliating.

The entire situation is only worsened by that fact that there seems to be a distinct lack of cute fashionable plus size clothing. So not only do you have to shop under a large sign declaring you to be overweight, but you also have to look over at the smaller section and realize how much cuter all those clothes are. Mostly it seems unfair.

Now don’t get me wrong there are a few good stores that have nice plus size clothing. Lane Bryant is one for example that has some really nice stuff, however the majority of stuff I see out there looks at least 5 years old and not like something anyone would be rushing to buy.

Guide to the blue ridge parkway - favorite things to see and do in nc

Shortly after entering North Carolina on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you will find the first public recreation area on the parkway, Cumberland Knob. At MP 217.5, Cumberland Knob is a 1000 acre park with a picnic area and a variety of plant and animal life, including many species of birds. There are also two hiking trails, one short stroll to Cumberland Knob. The other trail is a strenuous 2 hour hike through Gully Creek Gorge.

Stone Mountain State Park, in Roaring Gap, NC, is a fun attraction a few miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway at MP 229. Camping, fishing, and hiking are popular activities at Stone Mountain. There are also mountain cultural exhibits, including an old moonshine still, the Garden Park Baptist Church, established in 1897, and the restored Hutchinson homestead. Rock climbing and rappelling are also popular at Stone Mountain State Park, but a permit is required, and admission is free.

Doughton Park is a 7000 acre park on the Blue Ridge Parkway at MP 238.5. Here, visitors can enjoy fishing, hiking, camping, picnicking, and even cross-country skiing during winter months. The restored Brinegar Cabin, built in 1880, offers weaving and basketmaking demonstrations during the summer. These handmade wares can be purchased in the gift shop.

MP 259 is home to a popular shopping destination on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Northwest Trading Post. Here you can find locally crafted gifts and other handmade goodies, as well as a unique selection of collectibles. Minutes from the parkway is the New River and a number of canoe and tubing rental outfitters are available for fun family river trip. You can also bring your own boat, like the Coleman Navigator 3-person inflatable boat, and access the river for your own family adventure. The New River State Park is located just off MP 261 with boat access to the river, as well as canoe camping and primitive camping sites. Parkway visitors can also find cabin and chalet rentals along the nearby river, many with hot tubs and fireplaces, for a romantic mountain getaway.

Also off MP 259 are the world renowned Church of the Frescoes. These Episcopal churches are always open and there is no admission charge. The famous fresco paintings are displayed at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and the Holy Trinity Church showcases a wall mural of The Last Supper.

For a fun, music filled night of dancing with the entire family, visit the Mountain Music Jamboree, just off Blue Ridge Parkway MP 261 in Glendale Springs. Enjoy square dancing, clogging, and other fun family dances every Saturday night and on Fridays as well during the summer.

Blowing Rock is a short drive from the parkway at MP 291.9 and is famous for its mountain charm, extraordinary shopping, and unique attractions. Here you will find the legendary Blowing Rock and can enjoy the 4090 feet view above John’s River Gorge (small admission fee). One of the most popular family attractions near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Tweetsie Railroad, is also located in Blowing Rock. Shopping in the area includes an outdoor recreation specialty store and Tanger Outlets, with 30 various outlet stores.

Reasons to attend business seminars

Business seminars not only provide you with valuable information about the industry you work for, they also are a way to meet others in your field and create contacts that can be used later on. Most business seminars last two to three days and include many discussions on topics related to business, economics, ethics, and specific topics that pertain to your field. While you may not want to attend every business seminar that comes your way, you should attend at least one per year in order to stay on top of the latest business trends and products.

If you run a small business, a seminar can provide you the opportunity to meet other small business owners and experts who can give you advice and perspective. You will learn new ways to organize your business, contact clients, and you will also learn about the latest technologies that can make running your business more efficient. Local and national seminars are held all the time, so depending on your schedule and what you want to learn, you should find out as much about these seminars as possible. Start locally so you can meet other business owners. This is a good way to increase your business and business contacts.

National business seminars may include additional presentations from those who manufacture office equipment and other technology that may be an important investment when you want to expand your business. You can find out more about who is speaking at a seminar by visiting the website created to highlight the event. You can request brochures, read articles online, and sign up for certain discussions. You can also reserve a hotel room if you need to and contact others who will be attending. By previewing the seminar on the Internet, you can also find out the overall cost of attendance and if it is worth attending.

Once you have started your own business, you may be considering expanding in the future. This may mean having to track expenses differently because of tax reasons, you may need to hire employees, and you may have to invest in better equipment. Before taking the plunge, attend a business seminar that has been created to meet your needs. You will be able to sit and listen to those who have been where you are and who can provide you with sound advice so you can make the best decisions for your business. Keep in mind that you don’t have to take all of their advice to heart, but just knowing that other people have been in your position makes it easier to proceed. You will also learn more about who to contact if further information is needed concerning taxes and hiring employees.

The right home medical equipment for you

Durable home medical equipment, also known as home medical equipment or HME, is a health care piece of equipment that facilitates the aged and handicapped person to do every day activities in an effortless manner. It comprises of items such as walkers, wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, and hospital beds. It also comprises of things such as medication dispensers, rehabilitation equipment, convalescent care products, mobility aids and other things. What’s more, by providing financial support to homeowners and landowners to carry out home alterations, the Federal housing organizations want to have an effect on the lives of aged and handicapped persons.

With overhead costs of a good number of the common durable medical equipment reaching upwards of $1,200, the call for for compensation by Medicare is important. This high charge of medical equipment forces aged people to be dependent on Medicare. But the regulations leading to what is covered are a lot puzzling and time consuming. Find a durable medical equipment dealer and depend on their knowledge, skill and direction.

The supplementary medical insurance program, hire or procurement of durable medical equipment is covered Under Medicare Part B. Nevertheless, certain limitations are specified which aged people have to be conscious of when thinking of acquiring durable medical equipment through a medical supplier.

These limitations can cost the aged person a lot of money if they are oblivious of the limitations leading to coverage of durable medical equipment by Medicare.

Assisting the aged person in pre-purchase decisions of what all the durable medical equipment Medicare will cover can lead to considerable savings. For example, a good number of regular rejections comprise of oxygen and hospital beds, and coverage is not offered to people in accomplished nursing homes.

Aside from home medical equipment, superiority, reliable medical equipment is an essential part of each and every medical practice. It cannot be exaggerated that despite the fact that the practice of medicine is an art, medical equipment is the science behind the execution of that art.

More and more, patients are becoming more refined in their perception of the medical provisions and medical equipment that is being used to take care of them. This means that a health care supplier has to be on familiar terms with and comprehend not only how their equipment functions, but also have assurance that the medical equipment they use is of the utmost nature.

Both the specialized and home health customers are now asking for a lot of their medical equipment and medical provisions right from their computer. Charges are low and the condition is outstanding. If you are employed in the health care field you will require medical provisions to aid you with your work. Excellent products that you know you can be sure of will give you better assurance during challenging state of affairs.

You can read more about that at responsemedical. info plus otherbenefits.

Os commerce - an intro

Executive Summary

eCommerce platforms are being commoditized. Enterprise level solutions are coming down in price and new open source solutions are being made available to anyone with an internet connection for free.

The most robust of these open source solutions is OS Commerce (OSC) – a community driven eCommerce solution that is flexible, scalable, and user friendly. As eCommerce becomes even more a part of mainstream retail, OSC will provide businesses of all shapes and sizes with the functionality and capabilities of the big boys. This brief examines some of the advantages of OS Commerce and provides insights into how it can help your business.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Maybe so, but you CAN get an eCommerce platform for nothing. Offered for free at oscommerce. com, this eCommerce solution provides tons of bells and whistles and provides a user friendly interface to manage the administrative portions of the store. The code is based in the PHP scripting language and runs on the Apache web server – a user also needs access to a SQL database to initially upload the files that manage the categories and products within the admin section.

Now that sounds complicated, but really anyone can do it with some concentrated effort. Much of the documentation online regarding OS is very thorough and provides step by step plans on how to get your store up and running. Any newbie to this type of work will likely come across some roadblocks, but the OS Commerce community forums are only a click away to start trouble shooting.

The solution is community driven, meaning that like minded OSCers are ready to help out their peers with answers to posted questions. Yes, at times this can be extremely frustrating waiting for an answer, but it is very rewarding to overcome a technology bug on your own.

Contribute to the Cause

The best part of OSC is the number of contributions that can be added to your site at any time. Again, there is no cost for these enhancements and upgrades – just the need to be patient in your installations. In most cases, contributions are located on the OS commerce community section and are downloadable via zip files. After opening the file, read the “read me” file which will walk you through the file additions, subtractions, and code changes needed to make your enhancement work properly. If you explore the OS platform be sure to upgrade with the following contributions.

Ultimate SEO URL’s by Chemo

This cool contribution allows the site owner to create static URL’s out of a database driven site. This will dramatically help in search saturation as more pages are able to be indexed. Its no secret that search spiders like traditional urls better than ones that are dynamic and this contribution helps achieve that.

Easy Populate

No need to input product data manually, this contribution allows you to import data from a basic excel file into your store. A true timesaver!

Featured Products

If you have an ecommerce store – certain products are more attractive to sell than others. This contribution allows you to tailor the featured products that you want to showcase within both your home and category pages.

Final Thoughts on OSC

Myself, I am a marketer. But after learning OS I really feel like I have some programmer blood in me! This platform is easy to use and perfect for a small to medium size business in getting online. Yes, there will be headaches along the way but stay with it and you will overcome them and soon have an ecommerce store to bring you in a new revenue stream.

Unique places to take the family trip

I often laugh at the old television shows in which families are always relaxing and talking. These days, a family trip is about the only time you can recreate the magic of television.

Unique Places To Take The Family Trip

When school lets out, it is time to think about that family trip. It doesn't matter if you live in the north, south, east or west - your family needs to have some time away to relax, bond and have fun. Choosing your destination can be difficult at times, but by choosing a place that has many different activities for Mom, Dad, sister and brother, you can be sure to make everyone happy.

One great place for a family trip is Hershey, Pennsylvania. Home of Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey's chocolate company, this small town is a great family spot. The town of Hershey is right in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch country, and side trips to the Amish villages and farm stands can provide a learning experience for everyone in the group. Hershey's Chocolate World, located right in the center of Hershey, is a free chocolate tour and factory experience that's open year-round (closed Christmas day). This educational but really fun tour is great for all ages. After you are done, you can spend some time in the Hershey Marketplace Shops, the Hershey Cafйs or even take a trolley ride through the streets of Hershey USA. For chocolate lovers, this is paradise.

Also in Hershey, Pennsylvania is Hershey Park, a theme park that has rides for kids of all ages! While you are in Hershey, you've got to have some place to stay. The Hershey resorts include the Hotel Hershey, an upscale resort that offers such delights as a spa that uses chocolate in their treatments! There is also the Hershey Lodge, a great family spot that includes plenty of pools, mini golf and other amenities to entertain your group.

Staying at the Hershey resort properties offer some benefits to families who are planning their trip around the Hershey experience – you can get discounts on Hershey Park tickets, and even purchase passes to head to the front of the line at all Hershey Park rides. For Mom and Dad, staying at the Hershey Lodge also offers complimentary admission to the Hershey Country Club's golf courses and the Hershey Gardens. Put another way, we are talking about chocolate, theme parks, chocolate, spas, chocolate and golf. Sounds like a a trip everyone will enjoy!

When it's time to take a family trip, you have many different spots to choose from. While you might think you are limited to states like California or Florida, there are actually many unique spots in all the fifty states. Pennsylvania offers a unique combination of chocolate, theme parks and Pennsylvania Dutch culture that can't be found anywhere else in the United States.

it bags are the classic cars of the fashion set

Handbags are the new shoes, the must have "it" accessory that has all the fashion-istas clamouring for the latest offering from popular designers. It's also a market that has more in common with the male-dominated world of classic cars than you'd realise.

Few of you will have missed the fuss a couple of months ago when Sainsbury's sold 20,000 "I'm not a plastic bag" Anya Hind-march totes for [pound]5 each. Within hours those same unbleached cotton bags were selling for in excess of [pound]150 on eBay. "Every girl has a handbag," says Christie's specialist Monica Turcich, "and every girl wants one. Women now want the 'it' bag and the one nobody else is carrying. They've always been popular and they are the section of our 20th-century fashion sales for which we get the most phone calls, but now they are doing particularly well because everyone wants handbags, whereas 10 years ago there weren't the 'it' bags like we have today, simply the classics."

Like cars, most of the more recent designer handbags which sell through dealers and auction houses make significantly less than their original retail price, losing value the second the initial purchase has taken place. That is good news for both collector investors and handbag enthusiasts, but there are some exceptions to the rule.

Last March Christie's sold a red Hermes crocodile skin Kelly bag for [pound]10,800, this had only been purchased in 1994 and was originally a bespoke product. The Kelly bag is the "holy grail" of the classic handbag world according to Turcich. "Chloe and other more contemporary bags are more driven by what's popular now, but for Hermes and Chanel's quilted bag, these are classics which never go out of style and are always useable." Kelly bags can be bought for [pound]600 and can often be sold on for [pound]1,000- [pound]2,000, which isn't bad for a bag which might have been bought back in the 1960s.

There's no doubt that most handbags are being bought to be used, it's not an investment market in the same way as many other collectables such as paul smith, Abercrombie and Fitch, dsquared etc, but again there are parallels to the car market. By buying a classic bag and looking after it, you are unlikely to lose money, rather see a steady gain with the added return of enjoying using it.

Hindmarch's "I'm not a plastic bag" bags are unlikely to make it to "classic" status, they are after all mass-produced cotton totes, but other handbags from her range might well do so. So far Christie's has-n't sold any Hindmarch bags, but Turcich says she wouldn't be surprised if they start turning up at auction soon and she wouldn't turn them away. "Kylie Minogue was pictured carrying a Chloe bracelet bag around a few years ago which sparked a fashion and now we are selling the same thing at auction."

There is a pristine one in the next auction which is estimated at [pound]800 to [pound]1,000 along with another Chloe handbag in the same lot. "I think Chloe has started the 'it' bag scene" adds Turcich, "I don't know how long it will take for them to become classics of their own, but I'm sure these will hold their value in five or 10 years' time. People just don't seem to have paid attention to the fact that handbags have become the new shoes in the last few years, there is now an appreciation of the design that goes into them. There are shoe designers that are artists and so too with handbags."

It's not always about big names, a few weeks ago Ms Minogue was at the shop of Tony Durante, a handbag dealer at Alfie's in London, and purchased a white raffia bag with a horse's head on the front for around [pound]200. Brightly coloured raffia bags are in at the moment because it's summer. Durante says that Kylie loved this particular bag because it was unusual. Buying it from a vintage fashion dealer she's unlikely to bump into another celebrity carrying one. Durante says that his customers are looking for this "unusualness" factor.

If you do want to retain the value in your handbag then you should go for one that is in excellent condition, is a good design and beautiful. Some "it" bags will undoubtedly go down in value as fashions change, but the classics should stay steady.

The secret - when you can walk on water take the boat part 30

Although still visibly shaken from my frightful ordeal, I continued staring at him. Suddenly, it seemed as if I were looking through different eyes than mine, as if new worlds were opening before me. I felt the presence of an extremely powerful and loving force. And then, as if by a miracle, I began to feel that I was looking at the face of God. I fell to my knees overcome with awe and whispered, “Forgive me, Lord. Although I didn’t believe at first, now I know that You are truly my Lord and my God.”

“Get up,” He said, with warmth and love in His voice, “No need to fall on knees and stuff like that.” I raised myself as God continued. “It's easy to set up barriers and retain those barriers for a lifetime. You've all built walls, not only na - tion against nation, but neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend. You’ve even built walls between yourselves and me. In your present state, you’ve forgotten the joy and bliss of being close to me yet, if you search your deepest memories, you may have vague recollections of what it was like when the sons and daughters of God danced with joy on the morning of creation.

“This isn’t the only place where life forms exist. Look up into the sky some clear night and see the millions of stars—universes within universes. Look up and you'll know that you are not alone in that vast expanse you call space. There are others, many others and all of them are my children.”

While God spoke I sat motionless in absolute silence. I felt such peace and calm that I forgot about my corporation and its financial troubles. Nothing seemed important except to sit there with Him and listen.

God continued, “The universe is dynamic and changing; it continues to grow. Creation never stopped; it will continue forever. Wherever you are is the center of the universe and the mid-point of eternity. Nothing is static. All things change. But I do not change. The part of you that is Me and the part of Me that is you will forever remain changeless. So, even though seasons change and worlds change, I, God, do not change.”

“Lord, I’m overwhelmed,” I said.

To read the rest of the story visit spiritual-simplicity. com

Hypnosis myth reality

Hollywood hype would have us believe that a hypnotist can control and direct our actions, and that we can be made to do all sorts of unimaginable things under hypnosis. Following is a list of some of these common myths which must be clarified before we proceed further.

The hypnotist can make you do things against your will.

Absolutely False. The hypnotist has no powers over you at all, and cannot make you do things against your will. All Hypnosis is really self-directed and self-controlled. The hypnotist merely guides you into a hypnotic state, and feeds your mind with carefully worded suggestions. If you feel uncomfortable with these suggestions, you may reject them at will. Hypnosis is essentially a matter of cooperation between the hypnotist and his subject, not some form of power the hypnotist possesses which will compel the subject to submit to his or her will.

Once under Hypnosis, one can’t come out of the state on his own.

If you are under hypnosis and the hypnotist suddenly left the room, two things may happen. You will either realize that the hypnotist is no longer talking to you, and will open your eyes, feeling fresh and alert. Or, you may drift into natural sleep, in which case you will wake up after a few minutes (or hours). So, the subject can come out of the trance on his own.

Only weak-minded people can be hypnotized.

False. Hypnosis has nothing to do with will power. People often confuse hypnotibility with gullibility. There is no connection between the two. On the contrary, the more intelligent a person is, the easier it is for him to be hypnotized. To be hypnotized, one needs the abilities of concentration, imagination and vivid visualization.

Under hypnosis, the subject is totally unconscious.

At all times during the course of a hypnotic session, you will be able to hear and to think. You are aware of what is going on around you. Although your body is very relaxed, your mind is actually more alert than usual. Many people are worried by stage hypnosis and the fact that the subjects, many of whom do ridiculous things during the session, seem to have no knowledge of anything around them. The unfortunate part of such an activity is that it often frightens away those people who could really benefit from hypnotherapy, but are afraid of losing control.

Under hypnosis, one can be made to reveal his secrets.

As mentioned above, under hypnosis, the subject is fully alert, in fact more alert than usual. The hypnotist can only guide the subject to remember forgotten memories. Whether the subject will reveal them to the hypnotist is entirely at his own discretion.

Hypnosis is dangerous.

Untrue. It is quite the opposite. Hypnosis is a safe and natural process. One fact that most people are unaware of is that we undergo Hypnosis several times in our daily lives. For example, while driving along a highway, very often, people suddenly discover that they have lost consciousness for several minutes. This is actually an example of momentary hypnotism. However, someone with epilepsy should never be hypnotized.

One needs special powers to be hypnotized.

Any average person with the willingness and patience to learn, can master the skills of hypnosis. Like other skills such as playing the piano, or learning a foreign language, some people are “naturals”, and become accomplished with little training while others can increase their abilities through regular practice. A good, confident voice is an advantage, but not a must. Of course, children lacking an understanding and appreciation for the subject (usually below the age of 5) may not respond to hypnosis in the desired way.

The user might become dependent on hypnosis.

You cannot become dependent upon hypnosis because it has no physical effects on the body. However, many people look forward to their daily hypnosis exercises because they become totally relaxed and awaken refreshed.