Extra Luggage

    We've been trying to get a handle on simplifying, downsizing, decluttering, and organizing for decades now. Even before the Fly Lady went viral in 2001, there was the Pigpen to Paradise in 1977.  When did stuff become such a problem? As a child, I remember having one shelf in the closet where both my sister and I kept all our games and toys. We shared a dresser and all the clothes we owned between us fit into it and a small closet. I grew up and had no idea what clutter even was.

    Clueless about clutter, I went out into the world. I lived in a dorm room for the first three years where I had a dresser for my clothes and a locker for any valuables I wished to store in a room I shared with three other room-mates. Although my work clothes consisted of a set of military issued uniforms, I did have a small set of civilian attire. When I got married and moved into base housing, the furniture began to accumulate. We bought our first table and chairs for $25 from a lady advertising in the Trading Post. We traded our lawn chairs and milk crates for a donated couch and two end tables. Our tax refund was spent on a new queen size bed. We could still barely afford groceries so even though we were accumulating enough furniture to fit in an average size U-haul we were still a few years off from the clutter bombardment.
    The first time I noticed that clutter was encroaching on our lives was shortly after we had our first child. In addition to the bare essentials; the baby clothes, bottles, walkers, and diapers; we seemed to be taken over by toys. These were not the few toys we could afford to buy for our child but gifts given to them by dotting grandparents and aunts and uncles. By child number three, I had an overflowing closet full of stuffed animals and each  child had their own over-flowing box of toys. By child number three, we had accumulated a few toys ourselves- our first computer with its software and disks as well as our first video player and camera and thier associated video tapes.  With each child came memoribilia that was kept to remember their firsts and ongoing acheivements in every area of their life from sports to academics to just plain cuteness.  As technology changed, so did our paraphernalia but we held on to the old media hoping to convert it's contents to conform to our new media players. With every change, came new toys and gadgets and with every age,came new interests and the accumulation of more paraphernalia and sentimental memorabilia. Soon we were taken over with-- well-- CLUTTER!
   My attempts to contain it by simplyfying failed. The simple life of my uncluttered childhood seemed to vanish as soon as my first child was born into a material world. My attempts to diminish it by downsizing were futile as my fear of getting rid of something I would need in the future persisted. Decluttering attempts failed for the same reason. Organizing temporarily masks the problem until it is obvious that there is just too much clutter to organize. So what is the problem that clutter masks?
   The problem that is never addressed in any of our clutter buster strategies is the underlying reason our clutter accumulates in the first place. What is your motivating factor in keeping what clutters your living spaces? What makes it so hard to part with material objects or papers in their varying forms? Although, when it comes to material things, we know that less is more it is still difficult for many of us to just "let go." How do you know what to keep and what to let go of? How do you determine what is worthy of your time and effort to organize and maintain?
   One way to decide what stays in your life and what to let go of is what I call the suitcase method. Pack a suitcase for a trip and decide what gets to go and what gets to stay. You get to pack a suitcase full of things you will use while you are there and a carry on full of things you will do along the way. The first choice you make is where you are going. Then you can start deciding what kind of things you'll need to take along the way. If you could go wherever you want for two weeks, where would you go? What you put in your suitcase and carry on represent the kinds of things you need most to get you there and to enjoy you're time while you're there. These are the things you should keep more of and everything else represents things you could do with less of.
   This method works very well if you actually take your suitcase on a trip with you. Because you can make a list of the things you wish you would have packed and the things you miss from home while you are gone. The list may include people, pets, or activities you miss while you're away from home. What items did you take out of your suitcase the most and what items didn't you need on your trip? Use the experience to list what is important in your life and when you get home-- clear out the junk that isn't.
   Where are you going in life? Where do you want to be in the next two years? What do you need to get you there and what do you need when you get there? Only keep what you need to make the trip in your "suitcase"-- let the rest go! You will find your trip is much more relaxing and worry-free when you only have to maintain and organize the material things in one suitcase and one carry on bag. Carrying around extra luggage makes life more cumbersome and chaotic!
   
  

A Place Your Heart Can Go Back To

   Every time my husband and I piled the kids into our pick up truck and headed off across the country, it reminded me of a family vacation when I was eight. My father put a camper shell on the back of his pick up truck and built us some bunk beds in the back. My mom sewed up some cushions to go on top. Five kids piled in and set off on a three week adventure to explore the outer reaches of the Northwest. I can't remember many details from the trip but I carry this abundance of joy in my heart whenever I think about it.

    Every time I pitch a campsite,

Watch Out and Guard Your Riches!

     When you live on a horse ranch, there is a long list of things that you need and you needed them yesterday. If only we had a second tractor, if only we had a bigger barn, if only we had a covered arena, then we would what? Be able to keep the horses healthier or safer. We'd be able to have more rideable hours, more convenient feeding schedules, or expend less effort catching the horses. Maybe if we had a new tractor, bigger barn, and a covered arena we'd be as nice a barn as the barn up the street.
     One lesson I have learned living on the ranch is that

FACEBOOK DEPRESSION

   There are so many things on my list to do that I don't know where to start. Let me just say, Facebook is not the best  place to start. If you ever felt overwhelmed by your to-do list, then checking the news reel on facebook and seeing what all your facebook friends are doing is not the best place to get motivation to get down your list.  This is especially true if your list includes chores and your friends are out having fun without you.
    In a given week I actually talk to a lot of people face to face. I have recently been having some candid conversations about the affect of facebook on people. On one hand, facebook

God Loves Me and Wants Me To Be Happy!

My Jazz and Me

    Three years ago I started on this journey. The day began as any other day began with my son in the car with me heading to the bus stop. Just short of the bus stop, I saw a sight that would change the course of my life in an instant. My horse, Jazz, who came into my life 7 years prior and changed the course of my life back then, was acting strangely in the pasture. One leg was raised in the air, flailing around. At first I thought she was having a seizure but then I realized that her hoof was caught in a barb wire fence that she had pulled off several posts and tried to run from. She had been trying to literally saw off her foot to get loose from the monster that had trapped her. I stopped the car, ran between the strands of barbed wire left on the posts and ran near her. Close enough to not get kicked I tried to free her from the wire with my bare hands.

    Since she was in a panic,

Making Time Count

       In a crazy week like this week; jam packed with get-togethers, consoling friends, kid's field trips, and losing a horse on the ranch; when you finally get a chance to stop and access the damage it looks like a tornado hit. Luckily, that storm just missed us but trying to relax seemed impossible in the mess this hectic schedule left in it's wake. Tackling the mess seems overwhelming so where do you start? How do you start? Do you start or just give up?

Set to 10 Minutes and Go!!! 

      Only one tool in my box of tools could help, the egg timer.
      I decided to work on one surface at a time beginning in the kitchen and work my way toward the bedrooms. 10 minutes clearing counters, 10 minutes clearing coffee and dining room tables; 10 minutes clearing the family room and kitchen floors, and a 10 minute workout on my dance floor. Then 10 minutes clearing off my bed and my bedroom chair so I could sit down and take a well deserved 10 minute break.
      The trick is to allocate 10 minutes to a task and quit whether you finish or not. Evenutally

Time to Dance!

The Corner Dance Studio is ready to dance. This is one great place to workout for under $140.
     --The Barre- an unfinished handrail-- $2/foot. (Stain we had on hand)
     --Hand rail brackets- $4 each
     --A gallon of paint- $22
     --The floor- 100 sq ft - interlocking floor mats - $84

Optional Features: Mirrors; DVD player, CD/MP3 Player, Dance Portraits.

     We chose the corner of the basement just at the bottom of stairs for convenience and to encourage the open space to draw you in. My son can't walk by it without hopping on the floor mats and doing a few Karate chops. I even caught him doing a few revele's at the barre. That barre just draws you to it. Located just in front of the laundry room door, I put in a load and this inviting space lures me in. Click the remote on the TV/DVD player we set up on a small entertainment center and stocked with workout dvd's. All set to move our bodies and accelerate our fitness.

The Master Plan

    My grandfather was a professional wall paperer. When he retired, he and my grandmother bought a ranch style house that he promptly wall papered. Every room had a different color, print, and even texture of wall paper. It was like a house collage. The living room had an open wall to the dining room so basically it was a great room. And yet, the living room and dining room had different wall paper patterns and colors as if they would never be viewed together. The kitchen had a bar that opened into the dining room and you guessed it, the kitchen had it's own flavor of wall paper.
    This spontaneous, use what you have on hand, style of decorating creates a unique, although hodge podge, look for your home. If you want a more polished look

Ballet Conditioning: No Tutu's Required

   Ballet is defined by Dictionary.com as "a classical dance form demanding grace and precision and employing formalized steps and gestures set in intricate, flowing patterns to create expression through movement." All the girls on my street lined up on a barre or two in their  youth and participated in the formalized steps and gestures with varying degrees of grace and expression. We all thought we were ballerinas but none of us went on to make a career out of it.
   Ballet conditioning is actually all that work we did at the barre to prepare our bodies for the rigors of the ballet dance and to earn our toe shoes. Toe shoes, the coveted acheivement of all aspiring ballerinas. Ballet conditioning, done without toe shoes,

Does It Pay?

Do It Yourself or Not?

     We have discussed this topic before, "Should I contract out or do it myself?" Deciding whether to hire someone or do it yourself can be a difficult decision, especially if you are either a penny pincher or a do it yourself-er at heart. I finally completed two long over-do projects this week so let me tell you what I did. I contracted out and I did it myself.

Swift Lists

    I remember my mother sitting at the dining room table making out lists. Some of those lists were followed up with a welcomed trip to the store and a nickel to pick out a treat. She still has notebooks with lists that go back to before the year I was born. Lists of who got what for christmas, what candy was made and who made it each year; reunion lists, geneology lists, and lists that capture the heart of our family life over many decades. I love lists almost as much as Franklin Covey; shopping lists, project lists, and to do lists are among my favorites.
   Making a Top Six List has made my life much more productive.

Results Are In

    Good news and Bad News. Well the weight loss was not as dramatic as last week, only a decrease of -.9 and a -.12 on the BMI. I have hit the normal BMI range for two weeks, which is encouraging. Overall, it's good news. I know that I have not stuck to my workout routine every day but am now claiming that 10 minute daily workout as part of my lifestyle. I am on my third day in a row and I keep reminding myself who the new me is.
    I am my new language:
   "I start my day or time off (whichever comes first) with a 10 minute workout."
   "My drink of choice is Natural Spring Water or Hot Green Tea. Any sweeten drinks are considered one of my allotted snacks should I choose them."
   "I bless my meals (see my new, life changing blessing below) and enjoy my portions at each meal every day. My free foods,

Yoga Stretches

    So glad I was scheduled for Yoga Stretches today. What a great change from the Cardio and Total Body Workout the last couple days. Just a nice relaxing, yet somewhat challenging, routine of moves that really stretched out my muscles and spine. Nice! Tony had us move through 10 moves in 10 minutes. I even stretched a few muscles in my rear I didn't know I had. My core is feeling so strong, it just makes me feel good and alive.
    Today, I had saved a few extra calories for a bigger dinner but decided

Results Not In

     I started Tony Horton's 10 minute Trainer last week. It is amazing. Even though I am not going to share the before and after results until the end of the six weeks, I will share a few things I have learned so far. Since I got home and realized I had gained 2.5 pounds on our vacation, I did two things. I stopped drinking pop and pretty much only drink water and I started the 10 minute trainer workout and diet guidelines. What I mean by guidelines is I work my meals around the ideas Tony presents but not fanatically. I usually don't measure food although I have started reading more labels. I do try to keep to the calorie portions and make sure the food is as whole and nutritious as possible. I am beginning learn to

Buy 4, Get 1 Day Free

   I think we have been getting misled all these years believing a year had 365 days in it. Come to find out it really has 365.25 days in it. Every year we skip a 1/4 day and every four years we get it back. I suppose if we just skipped today, February 29th, and started the March of month like the last three years eventually we would be shoveling snow off our driveways in July.
   Today is a like a free day. An extra day you don't have to pay your car insurance or rent. It's like pay for

Wisdom by Faith

     Some wisdom, gleaned from another's personal experience, can only be received by faith. Soon, for example, it will be time to teach my child to drive a car. When I learned to drive we were told to look out over the hood, line the hood ornament up with the white line on the opposite side of the lane. If you did that, you would be driving down the center of your lane. After years of driving you just get

Day Seven: Our Final Journey (In Pictures)

That Includes You!

   Our last day in Florida was totally unplanned with the exception of our 6:30pm flight to Kansas City. Check out time was 11am. It was raining in the morning so, no crabbing are us, we slept in (well, the teenager slept in and I read my book). We decided to take a few detours on our way to the airport. Another, off the tourist track, wonderful discovery. The Fort Lauderdale River Walk just across the street from the Science and Discovery Center. We bought our tickets for the IMAX 3D Movie; Journey 2 The Mysterious Island and since the sun came out we decided to use our two hour wait to head down the River Walk and find some lunch. After lunch and our amazing walk, we relaxed at the movie and then made a few science discoveries. This is a great place to spend a whole day if you have time.

    The River Walk is best explained in pictures:

The River Walk

Along the River

   

   

Many Military Tributes Along Our Walk

   

Peaceful Walkways Under the Trees. . . 

Beautiful Nature Parks Tucked In

Walks along the Docks

Fort Lauderdale History Museum Exhibits

Historic Houses and Modern Structures

The Memorial Brick Walk

Everyone is famous to someone, "Who's Rich?"

Friendly Advice from the Locals

Connor Found a Shark

It tried to eat me!

We found a goofy place...

with goofy gear....

and crab cakes... 

...and shrimp...

and lots of good food for Lunch. 

and even a friend for Connor. 

Then off to the IMAX for our Movie...

and Science Discovery

even some Aviation History!

Oh My! I used to work on these in the Air Force.

     

     After the movie, we headed to airport. We had a quick turn-around in Atlanta and then on to Kansas City. The temperatures dropped about 70 degrees on our flight from Fort Lauderdale to Kansas City and when we arrived it was 11 degrees with wind chills in the single digits. Next Year I am taking vacation the whole month of February!

   Thank you all for taking this journey with us. I hope you enjoyed the chronicle of our week in Florida and got a lot of ideas and Tips for your next vacation. 

TRAVEL TIPS: WHAT ELSE WE LEARNED ON OUR VACATION

1. Take a Detour and discover something off the direct path. 

2. Allow some time in your schedule to embrace the local culture. 

3. Arrive at the airport early enough to allow time for unexpected delays such as having a back pack searched by TSA. 

4. Become a member of a Science Center near you and you can visit over 300 Science Centers and Museums for free or at a discount when you are traveling. 

5. Just because you see stuff in a museum that you used to use or fix, doesn't make you old, it just means you used or worked on really old stuff. 

6. When you travel south in the winter, make sure who ever is picking you up when you get back North brings your coat to the airport with them or leave one in your car in long term parking (it's gonna be a cold shuttle ride back to your car but you don't want to lug around a big coat down south)! 

7. Keep a journal of your trip. I like to pick up a local journal or scrapbook when I am there to log my trip. Of course, you can always blog it!

8. Sleeping in or relaxing in your room is not "wasting time"... you're on vacation RELAX!

9. Get recommendations from locals and try some of their ideas. Just cause it's not listed in the tourist guide doesn't mean it's not great. 

10. FINAL TIP: I know you plan to stick together but always identify a place to meet in case you get separated and some one's cell phone dies. For Example, at the airport tell your kids the gate number you are going to on the way, "We are going to gate D8, can you help me find it?" At the museum: "If you lose me, just come back to the Shark and I will find you. Do you remember where the Shark is from here?" 

Day Six: "And Their Off!"

A Day At the Horses!

    This was probably one of the most laid back days of our entire trip. We were both a little sun burnt and all we wanted to do was find a nice soft place to curl up and sleep. We woke up to the sun shining through our cabin port hole, docked at Port of Palm Beach as if we'd never left. We had stayed up late last night taking in the last shows so we had not packed up our gear and were in no hurry to hop out of bed to do it. We had a late disembark card with a time stamp of 8:30am, although, we were invited to stay on board for the breakfast buffet as long as we kindly checked off the ship by 10:30 am.
   About 8am I heard them announce that passengers with an 8:30am disembark card could proceed to the gangway with their luggage. There was no luggage service to disembark as each person had to be in possession of their luggage when they went through customs and immigration. We reluctantly got up and packed up our gear and headed to the gangway.
   When we got to customs, with our completed customs declarations forms and passports in hand, they directed us to the US and Canadian passports line. The "other country's" passports line had about six people in it and ours looked to have about six hundred people weaving back and forth across the room between roped guide ways that I guess they thought would make us think the line was shorter than it was. I told the guy behind me, "I wish I had a different country's passport."
He said, "I do and I still had to get in this line."
"Where you from?", I asked.

Day Five: How to Feel Rich & Famous for A Day!

Bon Appetit!

     I have yet to stay in a hotel where you go to your room, nod off for the night, and wake up in a new destination. This cruising life is awesome. We went to bed in our cabin and when we woke up we were parked on the dock of an island paradise. Beam me up, Scottie, I must be dreamin'.
    This was the big day, Our Shore Excursion. Did we get on the boat to come here or did we come here to get on the boat? I don't know but either way, here we are! Now if you've been reading the blog you know that before we boarded the ship we were given a list of shore excursions to choose from. On that list was one of the biggest dreams of my life, to ride a horse bareback on a white sandy beach in a bikini. Okay, don't freak out, I've toned that down a little, I'll use a saddle and will wear my swimsuit under my clothes. I was so excited to see that excursion on the list. Although, it felt weird that my sister wasn't here to take that ride with me. Since they wouldn't let us sign up for that excursion online, I assumed we would have to sign up on the ship. I coached Connor all week that riding horses through an island paradise was the shore excursion of choice. But when we got to the Shore Excursion desk they said all of those excursions had been sold out prior to our sail date. Several of the other limited space excursions were also sold out. We'd have to make a second choice.
    Some of my shipmates were going to go out on their own and find some local tours, including horse back rides on the white sandy beaches. They advised it was cheaper than what was being offered on the ship. I had talked to an experienced cruiser, aka my Dad, the night before and he recommended that we did sign up for an excursion since we were new to the port. Once you learn your way around a port you can make a better decision if you want to have a guided excursion or play it ear like my shipmates. I decided not to chance it and opted for the guided tour since we had no idea what we were in for. I signed us up for something I thought would have some interest for both us, the Combo Snorkeling and Our Lucaya Resort Day, which came with lunch at the resort after our snorkeling adventure. And this excursion was teenager friendly as we didn't have to meet our tour until 9:30am. That gave us time to sleep in a little and still enjoy the ship's breakfast buffet before heading down to Deck 4 to meet our group.
    We had signed up for the excursion the night before and our tickets along with instructions, times, and receipts were slid under our  door sometime before we got back to our cabin last night. When we met with our group our tickets were checked and we were all given a wrist band that corresponded to our specific excursion choice. Some were just Resort, some were just snorkeling, and some were both. So we got banded red and handed a towel and led off the ship.

Shore Excursion?

    After immigration to the Bahamas, we were led to our charter bus and rode 12 miles over to Freeport where another guide met us and walked us over to the docks. We boarded our chartered catamaran, met our Captain, and were issued our snorkeling gear: a life jacket, goggles, snorkel, and fins. On our leisurely biat ride out of the bay we were instructed on how to wear and use our gear. After warming our bright white, now kind a pink, skin up in the sunshine for thirty minutes, we arrived at the reef and were assisted in disembarking the boat. Oh man was that cold!

Snorkeling Over the Corral Reef

    That first plunge was so cold I could hardly breath. Once I caught my breath I started testing out my equipment. You have to suck the air out of your mask with your nose to keep your mask from leaking (something I was very concerned with as I didn't want to loose my contacts). Then you have to breath through this tube with your mouth while your nose is suffocating. I kept thinking of my Dad when he woke up from surgery still hooked up to the ventilator. They kept telling him to just relax and let the machine breath for him but let's just say he was not a happy camper about that. It's hard to relax when you can't breath!
   I fought it for awhile and then once I got over the idea that I was going to get cold, salty water in my ears no matter what, I relaxed. Now it was time to swim around and look at some really cool fish along the reef.  I do want to point out that as cool as this was, this snorkeling thing looks a lot easier on the postcards than it is in person. I was getting pretty worn out just floating along the top of the water. Of course, the ocean waves I was drinking didn't help either. Just as I was getting used to it, I noticed our Captain was throwing bait over the side of the boat to attract the fish. That was all well and good until our first mate yells from the reef, "Now if you see the sharks don't worry-- they are just nurse sharks." Bait. Sharks. I think I'm done.
   On the way back we soaked up some more rays. The bar opened and many of our shipmates started telling some interesting stories of their adventures on the sea. It was a rather fun ride back to the dock where we again met up with our tour guide who check our bands and took the red  banded tourists back to the resort for lunch and more sun and surf. I must say, lunch was not impressive but tasted good as we had worked up  an appetite.

   The rest of the afternoon was quite relaxing. We had seven pools and the Atlantic ocean to choose from to swim in. Connor and I spent the afternoon going from one pool to another and walking up and down the beach. I took a little nap in a recliner on the beach while Connor made sand castles. And not just any kind of sand castles, he got sand castle making instructions from a fellow shipmate and I must say, construction quality went way up.

Look who was waiting for us
in our Cabin- Thanks Jay Ar!

    Then it was back to the bus. Glad we chose the 4:15pm bus as we were walking back up the gangway at 5:15pm.  We were all to be back onboard no later than 5:30pm and I think they meant it because we were pulling away from the port at 6 O'Clock sharp. The last bus left the resort at 5pm... I am not so sure those folks could have made it onboard by 5:30pm.

So many SWEEET CHOICES!

 
 I was so glad Connor had requested a late dinner reservation. We both took a shower and a well deserved nap before dinner and then dressed up in our finest cruise attire for our five course, formal meal at the Crystal Dining room. So much fun with my young gentleman. And then a couple more shows at that View and that was about all I could squeeze into one day. I was pretty wiped when I hit the bunk. Connor snuck in sometime around 1am when the Open Water Club closed.
    I wasn't quite ready to call our cruise complete but then again, not sure I had it in me for another full day on shore. If our cruise was any longer I would have to really pace myself with the shore excursions. There is always the option of staying on board a half day or all day if you choose. I noticed the onboard services don't stop just because the ship is docked. They continued to serve meals and offer activities on board all day long.
   Didn't take long for the ship to rock me to sleep tonight.
 
TRAVEL TIPS: WHAT ELSE WE LEARNED ON OUR VACATION
1. Sign up for any "Dream Excursions" as soon as you book your cruise.
2. Use the convenience of ship arranged Shore Excursions until you to know a port well enough to know how to get around and what is offered locally.
3. You don't have to book a shore excursion every day of your cruise: there is plenty to do on ship if you decided to stay on board part or all of the day.
4. Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen!!
5. Take a camera and don't be afraid to ask your fellow cruisers to snap a shot of you and your whole party.
6. Offer to take pictures of others for them especially if they are buying an underwater camera on the snorkeling excursion. How cool to be able to send a shot of yourself in that snorkeling postcard!
7. Allow enough time to relax in between your scheduled events cause guess what? You're on vacation!
8. Bring a backpack along to take on your excursion with you and don't forget to pack a book for the beach.
9. The ship automatically charges for gratuities (interesting concept). We paid $12/day/person that is divided up among the staff. But you can tip extra for those staff members that go the extra mile for you-- it's the only thing  you can spend cash for on the boat.
10. Keep a bottle of water with you to stay hydrated and don't drink the salt water in a foreign country!

Day Four: "All Aboard!"

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, 
A tale of an amazing trip 
That started from this Palm Beach port
Aboard this tiny ship."

      We learned a lot in the hot tub the night before. One, while everyone else was sitting through another "optional" sales presentation to earn a VIP pass to board, we could actually be on our way to the port checking in an hour earlier than our Noon-4:30pm boarding times. Several of our ship-mates were planning to hit some Palm Beach tourist traps before going to the ship but we had learned that free meals and plenty of ship activities would be available as soon as we boarded at Noon. 

Bahamas Celebration

     We took our time sight-seeing on our drive up to the port, arrived at 11am, walked through all the check points: valet parking, luggage drop off, security, forms, checked in and got our boarding passes which would also be our on board credit cards, pre-boarding photo booth, the excursions sign up table, and made our dinner reservations while waiting in zero lines. We sat in the pre-boarding waiting area talking to ship-mates and reviewing our excursion options for about thirty minutes until the gangway doors opened at noon. There was a little bit of a line there as excited cruisers crowded around to hear our boarding instructions. I looked behind me and tried really hard not to laugh out loud at

Day Three: Swimming Around The Rain

A Friend We Met on the Beach

    Today was the day my traveling companion, Connor, was in charge of all the planning. I helped him gather brochures on exciting South Florida attractions such as Air Boat rides in the Everglades, the Miami Sea Aquarium, and the Native American Museum. One place on Connor's wishlist was the West Palm Beach zoo (click the link here to check out the tiger cub cam).
     It was raining when we woke up so Connor opted to sleep in a little late-- but not too late, it was his day and he had planned on us having McGriddles at McDonald's. Our itinerary for the day: sleep in, eat at McDonald's, go to the Zoo, and then come back to our resort and swim in the pool. As we got ready to go out, the sun came shining through our window. Connor asked if I would mind if we skipped the zoo and went back to the beach we found yesterday. "It's your day," I said, "have it your way!"

Surfer Dude

   
     What a great plan! When we first arrived,

Day Two: The Bait and Switch

Some of the best places... really are free!

   All good deals come with a catch unless for some reason you actually deserve a good deal. Don't kid yourself, all good deals come with a catch. To the unsuspecting traveler wannabe, our vacation plans looked like travel of the Rich and Famous. We planned a week at a Florida Resort complete with hot tub and Tiki Bar and a 2 day cruise to the Grand Bahama Island in an Ocean View Suite. Sweet!
   Ever get that call, "Honk! Honk! This is your Captain speaking."? Usually that is a good indication to hang up the phone but as we were two days away from confirming our reservations on a 4 day cruise and wondering if we'd have any money left over in our vacation budget to spend a few days in Ft. Lauderdale, I took the bait. It was the Caribbean Cruise Line offering me some great travel deals

Day One: MCI-FLL

     I have driven from Kansas City (MCI) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) before. I thought flying would be faster. Then again. Maybe when  you go through Texas that is the long way. Despite our delays in Texas, we did make it to Fort Lauderdale in well under the 30 hour driving time. We were so excited when we left. A week of fun in the sun awaited us in Florida and we had booked a 2 night cruise in between. I am glad we had rearranged our travel director's plan. They had us coming in on Saturday morning and cruising that afternoon. I am pretty sure we would have missed our ship. I requested we fly in and spend a couple days in Florida and then cruise. You will soon discover why this plan worked out so well.

No More Stay-cations!

     Last year, we took a stay-cation. It is always good to take a week off work and rejuvenate yourself. I thought I would take advantage of the time off and get a lot done around the ranch. It was relaxing not to have to follow a schedule, to wake up every morning and have the whole day open to do whatever we wanted. Vacation ended there. We did have a vacation from a work schedule. Our to-do list, however, did not get much attention. After using up a week of vacation, not only did I not feel refreshed and ready to go back to work, I didn't feel like I got anything accomplished. I promised myself no more stay-cations.
    We have to put in for our leave preferences for the year in October. So this year, I knew I needed to take off enough time to actually go somewhere. Instead of taking all my vacation time at once, I thought I would split it up and put in for one week in the winter and one week in the summer. I still have a child in school

Last Day of the First Month

     Today is the last day of the first month of your 2012 lifestyle. How are the small changes you made this month going? I had a win today at lunch. If you recall I made a small change to cut back on soda a month  ago. It lead to a bigger change to cut out soda altogether. Today was the big test. I took my son to lunch and as a matter of habit ordered a value meal at a fast food restaurant which came with an empty cup to fill. I had every intention of filling it with Dr. Pepper as I walked to soda fountain, after all it was between noon and four. But as I thought about the thick, syrup filling my cup from that soda fountain  I realized something. I really do not drink pop anymore. I selected unsweetened tea instead. It was light and refreshing although I only drank half of it and went back to my bottled water.
     Change takes time. To make a new behavior a habit

Refreshing Life-Giving Water

    Yahoo! writer Paula Spencer Scott starts us off with 5 Suprising Reasons to Drink Water (below). At Yahoo! Health you can check your symptoms, find a doctor, and read articles on healthly living. DumbLittleMan.com offers Tips for Life including 9 Great Reasons to Drink Water (below). AllAboutWater.org offers 10 Reasons to Drink Water (Below). You can follow their link to learn about water filtration for your home, the differences in the types of bottled water you buy, as well as information about the water you swim and bathe in. Editors of Eating Well Magazine offer 7 Health Shockers (below) that will make you grab your water bottle. Their Eating Well Website offers lots of healthy recipes and menus along with tips on diet, nutrition, and health.

5 Surprising Reasons to Drink Water by Paula Spencer Scott

1. Lowers Stress

2. Helps you lose weight

Synergy

    Just Do One Thing in more than one area of your life and you get a synergistic effect in all areas. If you recall several weeks ago, I did one thing. I effected my physical being by only drinking soda during the hours of Noon to 4pm. Instead of denying myself soda in the morning and evening, I turned it into a chance to discover new drinks I normally would not try. In addition to this physical One Thing, I did one thing spiritually. I started meditating on God's word ten to twenty minutes a day. These two areas have been interacting together fueling each other in ways that have injected energy into the environmental and mental areas of my life as well as the changes they made in my spiritual and physical being.
   After two  weeks of corraling my soda drinking habit into a four hour period, I found my dependence on the substance released. Meditation has added clarity to my mental processes. One day I spiritually knew that

HyVee Wins the Back At Home Faster Award!

     Why are we tempted to drive thru for dinner? Meal planning takes time. Just grocery shopping alone consumes over 250 hours a year. Preparing and cooking a meal is not very complicated once everything you need is on hand and ready to go.  How do you think Rachel Ray whips up those delicious meals in less than thirty minutes? Someone else went grocery shopping for her!

     The next best thing to having a personal shopper is shopping online and either picking it up or having it delivered. When I first investigated online grocery shopping several years ago, it was cumbersome and I quickly gave up on it. But with advances in web designs and online databases I thought I would give it another try. Here is my review of some of the online services available today.

Simple Choices; Profound Revelations

     I am on my second bottle of water today! H20 is my new beverage of choice. I am actually enjoying this. If you read my previous blogs, you remember I limited my former beverage of choice, Dr. Pepper, to between the hours of noon and 4pm. During that time I explored many new drinks and learned to make new choices when it came to that dreaded question, "What can I get you to drink?" I used to avoid restarants that didn't have Dr. Pepper and would drive across town to find a fountain with just the perfect mix. Think of the freedom I now have no longer chained to such a debilitating habit.

Just One Thing

One Small Step at a Time,
Takes you to the Top

   How do big things happen? Just one thing at a time. Think of the big things you want to do this year. If you read the blog yesterday, you wrote down your 7 Top 2012 goals. If you pick just one thing to change or do each month for each one, you will make 12 changes in  your lifestyle, home, or daily activities for each that will add up to big things in your life by the end of the year.
  One of my 2012 goals is to be more fit and healthy by the end of this, better put, throughout this year. It's not just an end goal but a continually improving process. The one thing I am

Stay On Track



Happy New Year!!

    We've zoomed into a new year-- one week in, how are those resolutions coming? Did you pass your one week review?
  
Three Things You Can Do to 
STAY ON TRACK
1. List Your Top 7 Goals for 2012- print them out and put them in the front of your day planner or on your fridge.
2. Make a list of the Top 7 Things you want to accomplish this month that will help you achieve your 2012 goals: print them out and put them in front of your day planner or on your fridge.
3. Make a list of 7 things you can do everyday that will move your closer to your goals. Print out that list and put it in your day planner. I also keep a copy in the clear view window of my wallet.

Keep your daily 7's list simple so you can use it as a daily jogger and eventually memorize it. Here is a